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"Golden Retrievers are so athletic, I bet he loves to play fetch..."

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<title>Daily Smiles: Tuesday, January 13, 2026</title>

Daily Smiles: Tuesday, January 13, 2026

 &quot;Golden Retrievers are so athletic, I bet he loves to play fetch...&quot; 

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

 gathered at the Grand Naniloa Hotel on Wednesday, April 8, to kick off the opening of a craft fair. Kamohoalli is the fashion designer of 

, a vendor at the hotel fair, as well as at Merrie Monarch Festival’s Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair. 

“We only dance kahiko, so drums, ipu, everything is pounding as hard as it could be,” Kamohoalii told Aloha State Daily on Thursday. “All the energy, the sweat is flying everywhere, and everybody's screaming and yelling.”

This week, Merrie Monarch Festival returned to Hilo for its 63rd annual event, which runs Sunday, April 5, through Saturday, April 11. The invite-only hula competition is held the last three days of the festival at the Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium. Tickets to see the events in person are sold out, but it is still possible catch the 

Dezigns by Kamohoalii is a Hawaiʻi Island-based clothing company that draws inspiration from kapa makers, who created fabric from tree bark which was stamped with patterns and told stories. The clothing line has been featured in fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, among others, he said. Kamohoalii’s fashion has also been featured at Merrie Monarch’s Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair for more than 20 years.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“This is year 22,” he said."}]

 runs Wednesday, April 8, through Saturday, April 11. Over the years, Kamohoalii has noticed the invitational craft fair has grown significantly. There are also more more offsite fairs now. 

“It's good and bad,” he said. “The good is that it's increasing the economy here, there and everywhere. The bad is that I feel like it's decreasing the quality.”

Despite the statewide storm, Hilo residents aren’t phased by precipitation, he added.

“We're used to rain,” Kamohoalii said. “Hilo people, they're not going to run away when it comes to rain. They'll dance in the rain.”

Like many other clothing designers, Dezigns by Kamohoalii planned special releases for Merrie Monarch. This year, those designs honor Laka, the hula goddess, and Haumea, Pele’s mother.

 ended last night after more than eight hours of continuous lava fountaining, according updates from the 

U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Kamohoalii was not surprised that the volcano erupted with "all the hālau here and every hālau will trek their hālau up to the volcano to make offerings," he said. 

For him, the festival is an opportunity to connect with family.

“I look forward to seeing all the Hilo people,” Kamohoalii said. “I live in Waimea, which is an hour and a half away, and I don't come to Hilo as often as I used to because we opened stores on Oʻahu and go there for work. And then, we still have our store home in Waimea. But Hilo, when it's Merrie Monarch — everybody comes out. I have so much family in Hilo, and so it's so nice to see all of them because they know where we're at, so they'll come by, bring us lunch, or come hang out with us in the back.”

Often, family will jump in and help when the line backs up, he said.

“The energy in Hilo is sort of — what's the word — addictive, maybe,” Kamohoalii said. “People wear their best. They dress their best.” 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii

<title>Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii blends tradition and fashion at Merrie Monarch</title>

With the 63rd annual Merrie Monarch Festival underway, Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii reflects on the festival, the invitational craft fair, and rain in Hilo.

Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii blends tradition and fashion at Merrie Monarch

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

Columnists

On a Monday morning earlier this month, Mayor Rick Blangiardi sent his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year to the Honolulu City Council. The total came in $133 million less than the year before. The operating side grew by less than one percent. There were no ribbon cuttings. The 

 lasted about 40 minutes and drew a few paragraphs in the morning papers.

Had the number gone up — a record spend on city services, a bold new chapter — there would have been more headlines. The budget that doesn’t grow is not a story.

What matters is whether government grows faster or slower than the income of the people paying for it. The University of Hawaiʻi’s economic research arm, UHERO, 

 personal income in Honolulu will grow about 3.7% this year. That 3.7% is the speed limit. A government budgeting above it is spending money its people haven’t earned yet.

Blangiardi’s operating increase of less than 1% means city government is shrinking against the economy. That’s harder than it sounds. Union contracts alone required wage raises above 1%. He covered that and still cut the total.

The pattern elsewhere is mixed — and mostly worse. On Kaua‘i, Mayor Derek Kawakami’s current budget 

, more than twice the county’s projected income growth.

Maui’s Richard Bissen is a different story. UHERO projects Maui’s income to grow about 4% this year. Bissen’s proposed budget for next fiscal year 

. That’s nearly flat in real terms — a return to earth after the fire-driven spending surge.

The outlier nobody talks about is Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda. His proposed operating budget 

 against projected income growth of 3.4%. Nearly as disciplined as Honolulu, with almost no press. Alameda governs quietly, and Hawai‘i County draws less notice than Maui or Honolulu.

Blangiardi didn’t cut services. He cut the budget lines for vacant jobs. With roughly one in five city jobs vacant, that pay was already sitting idle. The mayor pulled about $50 million in vacancy funding back across departments. The police chief called it tight but workable. AI tools are rolling out across city offices — not to cut jobs, but to get more done.

Blangiardi is not always easy. Councilmembers, reporters, and slow-moving department heads have all felt the friction. But for five years, he’s been the strongest check on government growth in Hawai‘i. And in his 2026 State of the City address, he 

 not to raise property taxes while in office.

Government that lives within its means doesn’t produce ribbon cuttings. It fills the potholes, keeps the lights on. In the oldest sense, it’s a good neighbor. It doesn’t always make the news.

0000 0000 Mayor Blagiardi Square Wide 16x9

<title>The budget that doesn't grow</title>

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi did something remarkable early this month in releasing a city budget that came in $133 million under the previous year's budget. ASD columnist Sterling Higa looks at all four county budgets to see which counties are living within the means of their citizens.

The budget that doesn't grow

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Kumu Hula Michael Lanakila Casupang leads Mid-Pacific Institute's hula program Pūpūkahi I Ke Alo O Nā Pua, as well as Halau I Ka Wekiu and KUmz, both with Kumu Hula Karl Veto Baker. The pair are graduates of Hālau Nā Kamalei O Līlīlehua, co-founded by Kumu Hula Robert Cazimero in 1975.

This year at Merrie Monarch, Halau I Ka Wekiu will honor Cazimero for his 50 years of teaching hula, through mele and dance, Casupang said in an interview with Aloha State Daily. 

We recently spoke with him about Mid-Pac's hula program

, which received a $250,000 donation, that will go toward supporting hula students for years to come through its endowment. The private school has sold-out of tickets for its annual spring concert, which will be on May 11.

Casupang shares more about his upbringing and introduction to hula, not to mention highlights from his busy schedule over the next two weeks. 

Purchase tickets for the May Day Lei Day celebration on Thursday, May 1, at the Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell in Honolulu, 

Lanakila Casupang 16x9

<title>Video: Kumu Hula Michael Lanakila Casupang on Merrie Monarch, May Day celebrations</title>

Spanning the next two weeks Casupang has three major showings. In this recorded conversation, he shares more about his upbringing and introduction to hula, as well as what audiences can expect to see at the 2025 Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo and May Day Lei Day celebration in Honolulu.

Daily Smiles: Tuesday, January 13, 2026

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Daily Smiles: Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Authors

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