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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by ChrisAnn Hayes in Kailua. "My morning walk today about 630 am or so- really sets the tone for keeping positive and knowing today will be another beautiful day."

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<title>Hawai'i Skies: Keeping positive</title>

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by ChrisAnn Hayes in Kailua.

Hawai'i Skies: Keeping positive

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by ChrisAnn Hayes in Kailua. "My morning walk today about 630 am or so- really sets the tone for keeping positive and knowing today will be another beautiful day." To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.

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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

As stores are starting to release their limited holiday lines, Starbucks is no different.

During the launch preview, Starbucks gave fans an inside look on what was coming to nearby franchises. The typical holiday motifs were present on various types of cups. A few items however, stood out and took the internet by storm.

For all the Sanrio lovers, there was the Hello Kitty and Starbucks collaboration. This line featured a clear plastic cold cup, a stainless-steel tumbler, plushie, mugs and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then there was the glass “bearista” cup ($29.95)."}]

People across all social platforms were talking about the bear and expressing how much they needed it. Special Starbucks Facebook groups were planning when and where they would meet up to ensure one would fall into possession.

[{"type":"text","text":"So, we got in line, too."}]

The Starbucks store near us opened at 3:30 a.m. on launch day, Nov. 6, which meant we started a line at 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. We were absolutely going to get the glass “bearista” cup, right?

As it got closer to opening, about 30 people were waiting in line outside of the store. Because we were first, there was a pretty good chance of obtaining the coveted cup.

But, as soon as the doors opened, it was like a war had just started. Everyone started running and pushing each other, just to get this cup.

There were only four in stock. You could imagine how crazy it was to get one of them. Thankfully, no fights broke out – and it felt like that was a real possibility. Unfortunately, we were not among the lucky few to score the glass “bearista” cup. I guess we were too slow or not aggressive enough.

We did, however, obtain a few items from the Hello Kitty and Starbucks collaboration so, I wouldn’t say this morning’s mission was a loss.

If you would like to purchase a glass “bearista” cup at resale value, prepare to spend. Sellers on 

 are already listing them for $200 to $400 a piece.

If you like the bear look but don’t care about the brand, you could get a dupe on 

Hello Kitty and Starbucks collaboration line

<title>Starbucks holiday launch draws crowds for limited-edition cups</title>

Starbucks released cups that went viral on social media this morning. Aloha State Daily joined in on the madness to see what the hype was about.

Starbucks holiday launch draws crowds for limited-edition cups

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Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Four Hawaiian Airlines flights are cancelled Friday as federally mandated air travel cuts take effect.

 Wednesday that, as air traffic controllers continue to go unpaid during the weeks-long shutdown of the federal government, flights to 40 major air hubs will be reduced by 10%.

A preliminary list of those hubs was released Thursday, according to Associated Press 

. On that list was Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Tara Shimooka told Aloha State Daily that four of the airline’s 150 Neighbor Island flights on Friday will be cancelled: a roundtrip between Honolulu and Maui and another between Honolulu and Kona.

“We know how much our residents and visitors rely on our Neighbor Island service, and we will continue to operate a robust schedule with 20 Honolulu-Maui roundtrips, and 15 Honolulu-Kona roundtrips, in addition to our regularly scheduled flights to and from Līhu‘e and Hilo,” Shimooka said via email. “We are notifying impacted guests with the option to be accommodated on the next available flights or receive a full refund. Hawaiian and Alaska airlines flights between Hawai‘i and the continental U.S., as well as our international routes, are not impacted.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation had not received guidance from the FAA about the proposed cuts. But Director Ed Sniffen sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urging him to exclude the Honolulu airport from the plan.

“Hawai‘i is uniquely vulnerable as the nation's most isolated population center, with no viable alternative to air travel for commerce, health care, or national security needs,” the letter read in part.

Sniffen wrote that the state “stands ready to immediately advance full salaries and benefits for all FAA air traffic controllers … assigned to Hawai‘i facilities for the duration” of the shutdown, and that those moneys can be available via emergency agreements within 24 hours.

“Granting this targeted waiver — conditioned on Hawaii's direct funding of these essential personnel — would maintain full flight schedules, protect public safety, and prevent unnecessary damage to a state that contributes disproportionately to America's strategic interests,” Sniffen concluded.

Honolulu airport

<title>DOT offers to pay flight controllers' salaries to avoid FAA cuts</title>

Four Hawaiian Airlines flights will be cancelled tomorrow as FAA rolls out air travel cuts.

DOT offers to pay flight controllers' salaries to avoid FAA cuts

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

 last weekend, the University of Hawai‘i football team returned to its home field undeterred ahead of another crucial matchup. 

The loss to the Spartans ended Hawai‘i's three-game winning streak, a string of victories that began on Sept. 27 at Air Force. At 6-3 overall and 3-2 in Mountain West play, the Rainbow Warriors are currently tied for 

The 'Bows will need help from other teams in order to climb to one of the two top spots needed to clinch an appearance in Dec. 5's Mountain West Conference championship game. With conference leader San Diego State (7-1, 4-0) coming to town for a game on Saturday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, the Rainbow Warriors still feel as though they're in control of their own destiny. 

"That's been the point ever since we started. We understand that we control what we want to do. Every weekend for us, it's just about attacking it one game at a time, one play at a time, and it's all in front of us. It's all up to us," quarterback Micah Alejado said. "This week, like coach said, is all about the details. Being able to control what we control, and going out there and put the best product out."

Senior linebacker Jalen Smith has been a member of the Rainbow Warriors since 2022, back when the team went 3-10 in Timmy Chang's debut season. Although the 'Bows have 

, the team was not shy about their goals heading into the season, which included a Mountain West championship. 

"We got to have this one," Smith said of Saturday's game. "For the stakes of this season, and our goal for this season, we got to have this one."

In order to win on Saturday, the 'Bows would have to get past a stingy San Diego State defense, one of the country's top units. The Aztecs have given up just 10 points per game in 2025, pitching three shutouts. Cornerback Chris Johnson was on the Associated Press midseason All-America team, joining UH kicker 

"Solid. They're a Top 10 defense in the country," Chang said. "It shows on film, the way they fly around the ball, and they're very alert about their responsibility and their jobs. They're really good. It's going to take a really group effort for us to continue to move the ball, move the chains, and then get in the end zone."

Saturday's game, which kicks off at 6 pm. in Mānoa, was previously announced by UH as a sellout. Due to Hawai‘i's unique time zone, it will also be the final game in the country to kick off, giving fans of the sport one last game to partake in. The Rainbow Warriors hope that those who tune in will see their conference title hopes still alive when the action wraps up on Saturday. 

"It's exciting. We've been talking about this. It's one of the games that you dream of growing up just having," Alejado said. "Being able to have the situation, and having San Diego State, one of the top dogs in the country. So, having that situation, sold out crowd, it'll be fun. In front of the state. ... It helps us and makes us want to play even better coming out. I think it'll be a fun environment."

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<title>Hawai‘i football looks to stay in Mountain West race against conference leader San Diego…</title>

The Rainbow Warriors will host Mountain West leader San Diego State in front of a sold-out Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex crowd on Saturday.

Hawai‘i football looks to stay in Mountain West race against conference leader San Diego State

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Columnists

I’ve been to any number of Neighborhood Board meetings over the years at which people vent their frustrations over the often worrisome, sometimes disgusting, sometimes terrifying behaviors of homeless people only to be met with silence by government officials. People say they don’t feel safe. Awkward silence. People ask when they’ll get their parks and sidewalks back. Silence. People ask, why isn’t anything happening. At most they get variations of, “It’s really hard. It’s really complicated. You see, the problem is really complex.”

But I’ve never seen that disconnect revealed so sharply as at the recent McCully-Mō

ili Neighborhood Board meeting in late October. You can watch the entire meeting for yourself 

, let me just show you some of the highlights here, to the call out the reality of the situation, as well as the gulf between what people say and the official non-answers they get. 

The first notable moment, interestingly, came during a presentation of Ala Wai area park improvements, given by Tara Hirohata, East Honolulu district manager for the City & County of Honolulu Department of Parks & Recreation. Describing improvements to the comfort stations, she mentioned a need for new flooring and looked to a team member to confirm if the city would contract that work out or would do itself. That man — I didn't hear a name for him — comes to the microphone and says:

“We have to try to see if we can do it in-house. The problem is, I guess, the people who use it, sometimes they have to be mindful of when we do renovations ’cause they make all of our hard work look like rubbish. So, you know, in this case, we just renovated this probably like last year and it’s already trashed.”

A theme of the meeting is already emerging. He doesn’t have to specify who trashed the new renovations, everyone knows.

Questions and comments are taken after the city wraps up the presentation. A woman comes up from the audience, says she’s Angie, with an adult 7-a-side soccer league that uses the park. She is, overall, grateful for the planned improvements but has one concern she hasn’t heard addressed yet.

“My other concern with this park is the lighting. We play at 6:30, 7:30, and I find it really dark and a little bit dangerous for a single person just walking to and from my car. I’m always on my phone with my husband and he’s like, ‘Call me when you get out of your car and call me when you go back.’ … I think it should be a little bit more well-lit and safer for us walking to and from [the parking lot.]”

The shared frustrations and anxieties are escalating. First, the facilities are getting wrecked and nothing can be done, it just keeps happening. Now, a woman has stood up to say she feels unsafe in Honolulu and hasn’t heard that concern addressed.

Then we get to the centerpiece presentation of the meeting, a roughly 12-minute presentation by Roy Miyahira, the city’s Director of Homeless Solutions, appointed by Mayor Rick Blangiardi in February and commonly referred to as “the homeless czar.”

He spoke about the Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons (HONU) program at Old Stadium Park, a park long plagued by illegal camping and large numbers of homeless. The HONU program had previously been in Kapolei where “we had a lot of success in getting folks who are on the street … and placing at least almost half of these people into next-step type of housing.”

[{"type":"text","text":"But the going is tougher in McCully-Mo‘ili‘ili."}]

“I think the population is more transient, because they’re coming from the Waikīkī area. ... We’re finding folks who are from Mo‘ili‘ili and maybe Kaimukī and maybe as far away as Wai‘anae in some cases but we’re finding a lot of folks who are just from the Mainland. We’re not successfully finding them a place to go because most of these folks just want to stay in place. … There are some folks of course who just don’t want rules, who love their lifestyle out on the street and that is fine for this brief moment and so we’re losing about — maybe 40% of those go back to the streets. But so far at the Old Stadium has been successful. … One of the activities there is that we’re trying to get folks in Waikīkī bussed over to do a bit of a tour to see what sheltering does look like. Then we’re taking them to our Iwilei areas where we have IHS, our service provider. We’re having them take a look at what we have to offer.”

Let’s stop and unpack that for a moment. When the homeless czar says my neighborhood’s homeless are coming from Waikīkī, he’s describing the pattern we’ve all seen of the city’s homeless policies simply chasing people from neighborhood to neighborhood. Barely half of the people they’ve touched get off the streets. HONU drives people around to look at the shelters like realtors showing homes for sale and gets few takers.

He described this, nevertheless, as success. The city, he says, is “attacking” the problem with “comprehensive solutions.”

He spoke in an odd mix of buzzwords: “Market segmentation,” from the business world. “Bed utilization,” from the jargon of healthcare. He had a PowerPoint presentation, and discussed numbers in blue boxes and green boxes, described ever-more precise varieties of “beds.” Emergency beds. Detox beds. Transitional housing beds. Mental respite beds. Affordable housing beds.

Pressed by the board to state what all these bed utilization rates really mean, and what the city’s definition of success is, he doesn’t really have an answer.

“Our continuum of care organization, HMIS tracks [bed use],” he says. “As for your question, what defines success — there aren’t too many standards out there that measure success. ... I think measuring homelessness is almost as complex as the people who are homeless. Everyone’s trying to find the right way of measuring it but from my standpoint if someone tells me only 20% move on to next-level or we get 50%, I’d say it’s successful. Maybe not wildly, but it is successful.”

So now let’s unpack that: the city doesn’t have a goal. Not one the homeless czar can confidently and succinctly assert. Instead, he wings it, and off-the-cuff describes success as something like anywhere from half to most of the problem not going away.

Then we get to the most important thing said during the entire meeting. After the city’s homelessness presentation, a petite and soft-spoken woman comes up to the mic.

She says she is Jenny Suzuki and she has been working in Mo‘ili‘ili since 2008. She asks if something can be done about these sweeps that just move the homeless from neighborhood to neighborhood where they end up in the parking lot where she works. Why this concern?

“So this gentleman scratched up my car,”

 she says, holding up a photo of car damaged far beyond merely scratched. 

“I went out to go to my car and he was scratching it and when I was out there, he asked me if I had money, I said no. So I left my car, I just walked away, and then he asked me if this was my car and he proceeded to tell me that he was going to put me in my car and rape me.”

She says she filed a police report. She says she knows these problems aren’t easy to fix. “It sounds like you’re working really hard but sometimes, you know, they’re still left in the community for us to wonder how we can help and how we can protect ourselves and our property.”

Hold this in your mind. A woman just stood up say she was threatened with rape by a homeless man.

[{"type":"text","text":"Here is what the homeless czar had to say about that:"}]

“I think everyone knows that if there’s a situation where there’s a threat that you will all call 911 and an officer should be right there. In fact, where we are at Honu there are two officers there 24 hours a day. Two different shifts, so if you can’t yell out to them across the street, they’ll find officers to come there, a community police team to be there. What we are also have is CORE which people might not know, it’s a Crisis Outreach and Engagement type of team, they’re part of our emergency services team — the folks in the ambulances — but these folks are more equipped to take care of the homeless individuals where there might be a medical aid situation, but now most importantly outreach. So they can be called between 7 and 3 o’clock, Monday through Friday and the phone number is 768-CORE.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Woman: A homeless man wrecked my car and threatened to rape me."}]

City: Call 911. Now let me tell you more about our compassionate outreach to … the homeless.

Oblivious. Absolutely oblivious. No acknowledgement of her fear. No empathy. No sense whatsoever that he feels any duty to her as he rushes to elaborate on the sensitive Crisis Outreach Teams standing by to help, not threatened women, but the homeless.

I wish I could say the meeting erupted in outrage at that point, but no, it carried on in the usual formal, borderline boring mode of such meeting, as if nothing particularly important had been revealed. As if an enormous distress signal had not just been sent out in the room. Are we numb? Do we no longer care? Have we given up on expecting any better?

In a very real sense, Jenny Suzuki has no rights, none that are being defended, not by anyone in the room. And I don’t see the ACLU rushing to take her side.

There is a precept in systems thinking, one I’ve mentioned before, that the function of a system is what it 

. Not what it’s called. Not what its managers say it does. What it actually does, its real-world activities and outcomes.

— up from last year’s $14 million — and spend it tolerating, enabling, and subsidizing the very behaviors we told them we want stopped.

Since the homeless czar himself had to improvise a definition of success on the spot, allow me to restate, in writing, some pretty obvious metrics of success the people have been begging for, for years:

[{"type":"text","text":"Zero instances of human feces on the sidewalks."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Zero trashed public restrooms."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Zero fear of walking in the park at dinnertime."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And zero, absolutely zero, threats of rape from deranged homeless men."}]

The gap between that, and what the city says and does, should be a wake-up call for you.

[{"type":"text","text":"City leaders get to feel compassionate."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"We get to feel fear."}]

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team. He can be reached at 

Honolulu Hale 020525

<title>Pipikaula Corner: How the City keeps Honolulu afraid</title>

On the issue of homelessness, it's as if the people and their government live on different planets. As an exchange at a recent Neighborhood Board meeting shows, everyday people are expressing real fear that goes unacknowledged by officials spouting jargon.

Pipikaula Corner: How the City keeps Honolulu afraid

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Everyone’s looking to save money and get the most bang for their buck. This series will show you where you can save while still savoring a good meal.

 featuring high-quality meats, opened in April. It celebrated its opening with a $9.95 special combo, featuring kalbi short plate and harami.

The eatery has continued to offer a variety of featured specials each month.

October’s special featured a kalbi short plate set ($9.95, original value $18.45) that featured 7 ounces of meat. November’s special ($9.95, original value $17.50) includes kalbi short plate (3.5 ounces) and Misuji top blade (3.5 ounces). The special is available all day.

Sets include salad, miso soup, kimchi and rice. Every November special also comes with a free order of chicken teriyaki (1.75 ounces).

Three sauces are located at each table — sweet and spicy, garlic soy and lemon.

You can still add on a la carte items to your meal. The curry topping ($2) comes highly recommended.

Note: The restaurant doesn’t accept reservations; walk-ins only. The eatery also is a cashless operation (card and phone payments only).

Yakiniku Like grilling 110325

<title>Budget Bites: Yakiniku Like’s $9.95 yakiniku set</title>

November’s special include kalbi short plate and Misuji top blade, along with miso soup, salad, kimchi and rice.

Budget Bites: Yakiniku Like’s $9.95 yakiniku set

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

There’s much ado about DoHo these days — and even more in the works.

 a plan to revitalize Downtown Honolulu — or DoHo, as some call it — passing a bill to extend the current Fort Street Improvement District into a broader Downtown Honolulu Improvement District.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed that measure, 

The Downtown BID will be funded through special assessments on non-residential property owners and is “designed to deliver consistent cleaning, safety enhancements, maintenance and beautification services within the city’s urban core,” the city said in an announcement at that time.

It’ll operate through a public-private partnership model with an estimated $1.9 million annual budget that will supplement services beyond the city’s “baseline responsibilities,” the announcement noted.

According to the city, supplemental services under the BID model may include:

But also doing its part to draw more people Downtown is 

, a nonprofit “whose whole purpose is to bring community engagements, events and just bring life to Downtown, trying to make it a better place and make it a place where people can gather,” chairman 

Westley Starnes, a project analyst for Downtown-based developer Avalon Group, 

Activate DoHo really got its start this year, Starnes says, but the initiatives and ideas behind it began last year with a run club — a group of young professionals Downtown who “got together and just wanted to do something.”

 meets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Fort Street Mall and the Robert W. Wilcox Mini Park for a 1.5-mile run followed by a pau hana Downtown.

“What we saw with that was it actually worked really well,” Starnes told ASD. “The interest was there. People wanted to do it. People kept coming out.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Routes go through Downtown."}]

"You're running up Fort Street Mall, you're running past all the places, you're seeing all the people that you see in Downtown," Starnes says. "It's really a cool thing for the area."

Expanding upon that, Activate DoHo also has a weekly DoHo Yoga Club, at 5:30 p.m. every Monday on the sixth-floor garden deck at Topa Financial Center.

It’s free to participate in the DoHo Run Club — just show up — but the yoga club is $15 per session. You can 

But one of the group’s newest initiatives is taking place this month: the DoHo Night Market is set for 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at Fort Street Mall and Robert W. Wilcox Mini Park.

Starnes says the night market will have live entertainment and performances by students from local schools, food vendors, tables and games for families, security on site and more.

“[We] want to show that Downtown isn’t all what you hear,” he says. “It really is a good place and it can be a safe place, so really [we’re] hoping to change this perception that we all hear about, we all see and to show the beauty of Downtown. That’s what we’re looking to do with the night market."

Admission is free. More info about the Night Market can be 

According to Starnes the inaugural night market is the “first of many,” with the organization looking to first host these quarterly and, eventually, monthly.

The night market coincides with the grand opening of 

 on the second level of Pickles at Forté, Avalon’s air conditioned, indoor pickleball and social club that opened in January on the ground floor of 1032 Fort Street Mall.

Starnes says that Activate DoHo currently has four board members and “a lot of volunteers,” but they’re looking for more.

“It’s just a group of people that is connected to Downtown. We're looking for young professionals that care about this place and want to make it a better place,” he says. “[We are] always looking for more volunteers, more people to help, more people to get behind the vision — and we’re growing fast.”

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Hawai'i Skies: Keeping positive

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