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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Sally Moe on Kauaʻi. "

Here’s a photo with the rainbow over Sleeping Giant on Kaua‘i!!  Love all the rainbows here!!"

To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

25 11 20 Sally Moe

<title>Hawai‘i Skies: Rainbow love</title>

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Sally Moe on Kauaʻi.

Hawai‘i Skies: Rainbow love

Today&#039;s Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Sally Moe on Kauaʻi. &quot;Here’s a photo with the rainbow over Sleeping Giant on Kaua‘i!!  Love all the rainbows here!!&quot; To submit your Hawai&#039;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.

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

The outgoing director of the Department of Law Enforcement has no intention to serve as deputy police chief for the time being.

Mike Lambert was one of three finalists under consideration for the role of chief of the Honolulu Police Department. But despite endorsements by Gov. Josh Green and the vast majority of the State of Hawai‘i Organization of Police Officers, the Honolulu Police Commission 

 to appoint David Lazar, formerly of the San Francisco Police Department, to the role.

The seven-person commission cast five votes for Lazar, and two for Lambert.

While Lambert told media Friday that he has made his peace with the commission’s decision, and still intends to rejoin HPD this year after leaving DLE, he said he doesn’t plan to serve as Lazar’s deputy for the foreseeable future, if Lazar were to offer the role.

“I think the deputy chief has to be in absolute alignment and be willing to defend the character … as well as the vision of the chief, and I’m just getting to know him,” Lambert said.

Lambert said he might reconsider taking the deputy role in a few years “if [he believes] in his vision and what he’s doing, but it’s not a position you should take unless you can look him in the eye and say that.”

One of the largest differences of opinion between Lambert and Lazar was their opinion on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lazar took a hardline stance against HPD ever collaborating with ICE, mirroring a non-cooperation policy held at SFPD, while Lambert said a police chief “can’t say never.”

Whether that difference of opinion played a major role in the commission’s decision, Lambert couldn’t speculate — he said “there were questions about [his] professional development and lack thereof.” However, he said Lazar will have a “steep climb” in winning the support of HPD and the community.

 in front of the Honolulu Police Department against Lazar’s hiring.

“We should be hiring from within and working with … the talent we have here,” Fevella said. “We hire people that’s retired to come here and get a job, and he’s going to be vested for a whole five years. And then he says he’s going to ‘help us.’ Help us, train people so we can hire no more outsiders.”

Fevella called the commission’s decision a “slap in the face … and a kick between the legs” of the Hawai‘i community.

Lambert said he believes many in the community are frustrated that their voices are not being heard. While he said he hopes HPD officers will give Lazar a chance, he added that many officers are concerned about policies at SFPD — such as the ICE policy or the elimination of cash bail — being echoed here.

“I do think he’s coming from a good place,” Lambert said, explaining that Lazar called him the day after the commission’s decision. “I think that he’s sincere and it’s just a matter of being able to deliver the things that the community wants.”

For the time being, Lambert will return to work as an HPD officer — starting over at the bottom of the ladder as a beat cop, he said.

While Lambert said he hopes to be allowed to test for a lieutenant rank when he rejoins, he added that he’s won HPD’s sergeant of the year, lieutenant of the year and manager of the year, but never HPD’s officer of the year.

[{"type":"text","text":"“So I’ll see if I can win that next year,” Lambert joked."}]

However, Lambert said he doesn’t think he’ll run for chief a third time, having been passed over four years ago and again this year.

“I put my family through this twice,” Lambert said. “Part of me feels very selfish for doing that.”

And, Lambert hinted that he has other job offers waiting in the wings. Once he finishes the five more years he needs to secure his retirement benefits, he said he “definitely [wants] to spread [his] wings and help the community in other ways.”

Lambert repeatedly thanked his family, Green and everyone who supported him through the selection process.

So far, Lambert’s last day at DLE and first day back at HPD have not been determined. He has recommended that Jared Redulla, Deputy Director at DLE, take his place upon his departure.

Lambert

<title>Lambert says no to deputy chief role for the time being</title>

Mike Lambert, who will return to HPD later this year, won't be incoming Chief David Lazar's deputy for the foreseeable future, nor will he run again for the top spot, he said Friday.

Lambert says no to deputy chief role for the time being

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

A popular Pā‘ia eatery is a legend — at least according to Only in Your State’s newest 50 Best list.

Mama’s Fish House on Maui was include on the list of 

50 Legendary Local Restaurants Across the U.S. You Need to Try

 does something no other restaurant does: it lists the name of the fisherman who caught each fish on the menu," Only in Your State writes. "Macadamia nut-crusted mahimahi, Polynesian-inspired preparations and a setting that makes every meal feel like a ceremony."

According to its website, the family-owned restaurant is "the product of a grand sailing adventure." Founders Floyd and Doris Christenson and their children settled in Maui after living in the and traveling around the Pacific by boat, a history on the website notes. You can read their full story 

799 Poho Place in Pā‘ia. More information about the restaurant and reservations can be found 

 is a “local travel and discovery resource” that highlights “off-the-beaten-path attractions and unique natural wonders” of each state. 

 is a monthly series that spotlights the best dishes, restaurants and food traditions across the U.S.

, Sprout Sandwich Shop in Kaimukī was named the 

 in Hawai‘i, and in February, the kam bowl oxtail soup from Asahi Grill was named the best soup in the state on the list of 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

I Stock Maui map 052126

<title>Maui eatery included on 'legendary' best-of list</title>

Only in Your State’s newest 50 Best list looks at 'Legendary Local Restaurants Across the U.S.' A popular Pā‘ia restaurant is included.

Maui eatery included on 'legendary' best-of list

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

ako in late December. Since then, the biz relocated and now is popping up several times a week within Kaimukī’s Aloha Bakehouse & Café.

KoLab business owners Jake Co and Helen Lee met Doug Choi from Aloha Bakehouse & Café through mutual connections.

“Doug had a vacancy and was like, ‘Come work out of here,’” Co says.

The biz is still sticking to its Korean-inspired breakfast concept, but altered its menu before soft opening on Mother’s Day.

“We had to amend our menu based on the availability of the kitchen equipment that we have here,” Co says.

The menu currently features three dishes — fresh poke served with crispy waffle rice ($16.95), egg salad sando ($11.95) and joomuk bap ($14.95).

“We get our fresh poke from Diamond Head Seafood,” Co says. “We thought this would be an interesting and unique concept — the crunchy texture from the rice with the poke.”

The fresh poke comes in the business’s “crack sauce,” according to Co.

“There’s a lot of shallots, garlic and chives, with a little bit of fish sauce and lime juice,” he explains. “It's more like a ceviche.”

Meanwhile, the egg salad sando ($11.95) features a sourdough bread, eggs from Waialua Egg Farm and dill from MA

“Everything is organic,” says Helen Lee. “It’s dusted with a fine bit of Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), not the big, bulky flakes.” 

The business’s Joomuk bap ($14.95) was inspired by a dish Co and Lee enjoyed during a trip to South Korea.

“That was our first meal off the plane in Korea,” Co remembers. “We ordered this and it was such a simple dish, but it was so filling and umami. We said, ‘We gotta bring this back to Hawaiʻi’ because we couldn’t find anything in Hawaiʻi like it.”

Joomuk bap features rice from Kubota Rice Industry — which features rice from Japan that’s freshly milled in Hawaiʻi — topped with chopped takuan, tobiko and a mountain of shredded nori. Customers are given a glove to mix everything together to form their own rice balls.

“In Korea, the plate was overflowing with nori,” Co says. 

KoLab’s Kaimukī pop-up is currently open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays.

Open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays

Kolab business owners 051926

<title>New Korean fusion pop-up in Kaimukī</title>

KoLab, formerly located in Kakaʻako, now offers a Korean-inspired breakfast within Kaimukī’s Aloha Bakehouse & Café. The biz offers fresh poke with crispy waffle rice, egg salad sandos and joomuk bap, or savory Korean rice balls.

New Korean fusion pop-up in Kaimukī

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Ready to make plans for the long weekend? Some of the events coming to Oʻahu soon include 

 ceremonies, a benefit gala for Hawaiʻi Foodbank, and a car show in Hawaiʻi Kai.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Friday, May 22"}]

Want to help create the 38,000 lei placed on the graves of the service members laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific? Join one of these 

bring lei you made at home to one of the donation sites

. Hawaiʻi Foodbank is hosting its inaugural Nourish Gala where guests can enjoy a cocktail reception, multi-course dinner with curated tasting stations and live music from 

, and the Hoʻoheno Duo at ʻAlohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach. The event supports the Hawaiʻi Foodbank. Individual tickets are available for $375. Tickets must be purchased by Thursday, May 21. 

Catch this special exhibit about Robert Cazimero. 

A special exhibit honoring the legendary musician, composer and Kumu Hula Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero has been extended through Saturday, May 30, at Gallery ‘Iolani, which is located on Windward Community College’s campus in Kāneʻohe. Learn more about the 

kumu hula of Hālau Na Kamalei o Lililehua

, which was the kāne overall winner for the Merrie Monarch Festival of 1976, the first year that men were allowed to compete, as previously reported by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He was also part of The Brothers Cazimero, a 

more than two dozen Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards

, which performed decades of May Day is Lei Day concerts at Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell. The gallery is open from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily, except Sunday and Memorial Day. Free. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Saturday, May 23"}]

Head to the Waikīkī Community Center and join in this hands-on event where attendees can make and toss 

. Made of clay, rice bran, molasses and microorganisms, Genki Balls are said to digest sludge and leave water cleaner, although there is 

. Up to 28 participants can attend this event which runs from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. Tickets cost $10 plus fees. 

Head to the Waikīkī Aquarium and support University of Hawaiʻi alumni owned businesses in a special market, starting at 9 a.m. Admission is $5 and includes access to the Waikīkī Aquarium. Want to start the day earlier? Arrive at 8 a.m. for a pilates sculpt workout led by Annie Chang, a current UH student, for $30, which include access to the aquarium, the class and a towel. 

Wear white and head to this yacht party, hosted by Atlantis Cruise. Drinks are available for purchase. Boarding starts at 9 p.m. The yacht returns at 1 a.m. Individual tickets start at $125. A pair of tickets can be purchased for $170, plus fees. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sunday, May 24"}]

Ready to add some dinosaurs to your life? “T. rex” chronicles the story of three boys discovering a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex fossil in North Dakota in 2022. It will be playing at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Bishop Museum’s J. Watumull Planetarium. Admission is $5 per person and includes access to the planetarium’s lobby exhibit, “Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa,” plus a seat in the theater. Tickets to the rest of the museum are an additional cost. 

The Honolulu Museum of Art will offer a guided tour of its Renaissance Collection. These tours start at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Gather in the front of the Central Courtyard for tours which are between 45 and 60 minutes. These tours are included in museum admission, which is $15 for kamaʻāina and free for youth who are 18 years old or younger. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Monday, May 25"}]

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and there will be an oli, a speech from Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, a presentation of wreaths, a firearm salute, a military aircraft flyover, and performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band and Sounds of Aloha Chorus, as well as 

. The ceremony also features taps. Parking is limited. Additional parking is available at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School starting at 7 a.m., and a courtesy shuttle will take attendees to the cemetery. Free. 

Join Gov. Josh Green, Maj. General Stephen Logan, and Lt. Col. John Alamodin for the Governor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Hawaiʻi State Veteran’s Cemetery in Kāneʻohe. There will be a musical prelude by the 

Spend Memorial Day at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, where you can visit the 

 (reservations recommended, although some standby admission is available) or the 

 submarine. Visitors can also book a tour to Ford Island, where they can visit the 

, where authentic WWII hangers hold a variety of aircraft and visitors can step into flight simulators. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial’s visitor center is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Cruise over to the Hawaiʻi Kai Towne Center and check out this showcase of classic cars in the parking lot in front of Costco. The event starts at 2 p.m. Free. 

. This Memorial Day ceremony brings thousands to the water’s edge to release floating lanterns and remember loved ones and fallen service members at Ala Moana Beach. The ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. 

 are available on a first-come, first-served basis with pick up between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or as long as supplies last. Messages can also be added to 

Learn why these volunteers keep coming back, 

Planning to be outside this weekend? Send us your pictures of rainbows, sunsets and more for a chance to be featured in our Hawaiʻi Skies series. Include your name and where the picture was taken plus why the moment was special. 

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i

<title>What to do on Oʻahu for Memorial Day weekend</title>

From sewing lei for service members to the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi, there are lots of events happening on Oʻahu this weekend. Aloha State Daily rounded up some of the ceremonies and activities, so you can make plans.

What to do on Oʻahu for Memorial Day weekend

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Ben Sasse is bleeding from the face."}]

He’s seated across from New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, 

, and he pauses to note it. He’s dying of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. One side effect of the treatment is that his body can’t grow skin.

“Yeah, you look terrible,” says Douthat.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Thank you,” says Sasse with a smile."}]

Since his diagnosis, Sasse has appeared on 

 stage, and a parade of podcasts. He uses the time to say what most politicians never dare to.

He talks about faith. He quotes R.C. Sproul. He discusses Tocqueville with the ease of someone who has actually read him.

Sasse is a two-term Republican Senator from Nebraska, a Harvard graduate, a Yale PhD in History. He voted to impeach Donald Trump and took the consequences. Though popular with voters in his home state, he left the Senate to serve as President of the University of Florida.

Now he spends his last days making one argument: American political life has gone badly wrong. Not because the wrong party is winning. Because the whole enterprise has lost its bearings.

Sasse starts with something most politicians would rather ignore: the pace of technological change. Previous economic transformations — industrialization, electrification — unfolded across generations. This one won’t. Robotics and automation will wipe out whole careers within a single working life.

Sasse sees a second shift: disembodied consciousness, the way screens let people leave their world. Families are breaking apart. Communities are dissolving. The local ties — churches, civic groups, the small-scale institutions Edmund Burke called “little platoons” — that help people absorb hard times are being stripped away. The formation of souls and citizens is at risk, and government is mostly ignoring it in favor of clickbait and rage.

He thinks our loves should be ordered, first to God, then to those nearest us, rippling outward from family to neighborhood to state to nation. Caring about a national political party more than your own community isn’t just confused. It’s a disorder of affection.

What’s true of the nation is true in Hawai'i. The legislature introduces three thousand bills a year. How many of those take the large challenges seriously? The demographic shifts, the cost pressures squeezing local families, the slow hemorrhage of young people off the Islands? The floor speeches and press releases gesture toward these problems, but the lawmaking doesn’t match the problem.

Sasse’s example suggests why. He can sit for an hour-long interview on dense political and theological matters because he has a clear philosophy — a disciplined way of working through problems. It also gives him the power to persuade, which is the precondition for coordinated action.

The founders studied rhetoric and philosophy with the same care they gave the law, because republican government runs on argument and clear speech. Most of Hawai‘i’s lawmakers couldn’t sustain an interview like Sasse’s, and the laws show it. There’s no clear direction. No will to rally the public. Few signs that anyone has thought hard about what government is for. What fills the vacuum is performance: press releases, floor speeches written for social media, outrage timed to the news cycle.

Sasse has a simple framework for what a coherent politics looks like. He describes four ways of valuing government, measured in cheers. No-cheer people — hardcore libertarians — don’t understand that government exists to secure liberty. Three-cheer people believe in a state that controls everything. Republicans, he says, are the one-cheer party. Democrats are the two-cheer party. Each has an extreme wing. Hawai‘i’s loudest voices are at the extremes.

What we lack are the one-cheer leaders: those who see government as necessary but flawed, able to secure order but not to deliver salvation.

Government should do a small number of important things well. It should get out of the way of the little platoons. It should never present itself as the path to utopia. Hawai‘i’s government casting itself as humanity’s last best hope has always been faintly comic.

Sasse’s sharpest line comes when he describes what voters already sense about the way their leaders talk.

They know it’s bullshit, he says — and they don’t want to be lied to. Why can’t politics do a small number of important, long-term things?

There is something clarifying about a man making that argument while bleeding from the face. He has no election to win, no caucus to protect, and by his own reckoning, weeks or months to live. What he’s chosen to do with his time is sit down and think hard about what government is and isn’t for, and what we’ve lost by confusing the two.

In watching Ben Sasse die, Hawai‘i might learn something about how to live.

Ben Sasse Getty Images 1231346544

<title>Ben Sasse is dying in public</title>

The former U.S. senator from Nebraska is talking about big ideas everywhere he can as pancreatic cancer takes his life. Hawai‘i's politicians could learn from what he has to say about government doing fewer things well, says ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa.

Ben Sasse is dying in public

Honolulu foodies no longer have to drive to Oʻahu’s North Shore to enjoy poke bowls from Kahuku-based 

The biz soft opened its second location — its first Oʻahu expansion — on May 17. Ry’s Poke Shack’s Honolulu location is next to Jugo Life in the Ala Moana neighborhood.

The Honolulu location is a collaborative effort between Jugo Life/

, operations manager Daysen Masuda and himself, according to business owner Ryan Ching.

“We’ve been looking for any expansion on the west side or town side,” he says. “I wanted to do something with Tommy, too; the timing [now] was just perfect for us. It’s a good collaborative shop; all of us are in this one.”

Ry’s Poke Shack’s original Kahuku location started about six years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, Ry’s Poke Shack opened two locations in California — one year ago in Huntington Beach, and in Pasadena earlier in January — with a third So Cal location coming soon in Lomita.

While the most popular poke flavors are at each location, every store has a few exclusive options, according to Ching. The Honolulu store has two exclusive flavors from Oh and Matsuda.

“There are two new styles of poke Daysen and Tommy made,” Ching confirms. “Daysen made one called ‘Foodxjitsu,’ and we got one Tommy made with a local sauce.”

The Foodxjitsu poke is inspired by Chinese-style steamed fish, according to Masuda. It includes ginger, green onions, cilantro, onions, garlic and a shoyu blend, and is finished with chili flakes and ikura.

“This is something I’ve been doing from Hilo; every restaurant I’ve worked at, I’ve done a version of it,” operations manager Daysen Masuda explains.

Originally from Hilo, Masuda started selling poke bowls during the Covid-19 pandemic, which eventually led to him starting his own sushi business. He offered sushi platters and catering on Hawaii Island before moving to Honolulu.

“I’ve been doing sushi forever; my platters were always used for celebrations, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says. “People were having small celebrations and for me, that was so rewarding.

“I’m just super fortunate; food always seems to bring people together, and that’s the common thing,” he adds. “Being able to work with guys who started from the ground and built up their company is nostalgic for me.”

Meanwhile, the What’s Crack’N flavor includes What’s Crack’n sauce — an umami Thai/Lao-style dipping sauce — with fresh ogo, sesame oil, onions, green onions and a shoyu blend.

Signature poke flavors include shoyu — Ry’s signature shoyu blend with onions, green onions and toasted sesame oil — spicy, and Lao style, a spicy option that includes garlic, fish sauce, Thai chili pepper, cilantro, shoyu blend, onions and green onions.

“Everyone always requests the Lao style,” Ching says. “The lao style seems to be popular at every single place, so that’s the one we always keep (on the menu).”

Customers can order poke bowls, poke by the pound or tsunami nachos ($23.95). The latter is the shop’s version of poke nachos, which features house fried wonton chips topped with tsunami-style poke, two scoops of crab surimi, Ry’s cucumber namasu, furikake and tobiko, finished with unagi sauce and chili mayo drizzle. The wonton chips are fried in 100% beef tallow to highlight its savory flavor.

Poke bowls can include one ($16.95) or two ($23.95) poke flavors; all bowls include Koshihikari (Japanese short-grain) rice and Ry’s cucumber namasu.

The community aspect is important to Ching, who says he’s open to collaborations and supporting other local businesses.

“It’s good for the community to reach out to us,” he says. “Every now and then, Tommy will do his burger pop-ups over here. Daysen is going to [eventually] make his chirashi bowls. This is a collaborative effort; it’s going to be much more unique in that way.”

Ry’s Poke Shack’s Honolulu store is open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until sold out) Wednesdays to Fridays.

Open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until sold out) Wednesdays to Fridays

Rys Poke Shack owners 051826

<title>Ry’s Poke Shack opens in Honolulu</title>

The Kahuku-based biz opened its second location on Oʻahu this past weekend. The Honolulu location is located in the Ala Moana neighborhood next to Jugo Life, and features specialty collaboration poke flavors.

Hawai‘i Skies: Rainbow love

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