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[{"type":"text","text":"Dog helps toddler with bath..."}]

Smile 26 1 20

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, January 20, 2026</title>

Dog helps toddler with bath...

Daily Smile: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Members of the public should expect crowds and delays at the opening day of the Hawai‘i State Legislature’s 2026 regular session on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

While initial proceedings for opening day begin at 10 a.m., the State Capitol will open for the public at 9:30 a.m. The House Majority Caucus 

 that seats at the House and Senate galleries will be available only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Public attendees will be subject to updated security measures and must present photo ID and pass a metal detector. Attendees are advised to limit what they bring, as bags will be subject to searches, and to anticipate delays. Screening checkpoints open at 7 a.m.

No public parking will be available at the Capitol and drivers are advised to seek alternative parking elsewhere, such as public lots at ‘Iolani Palace.

People will also be able to watch opening day proceedings online via livestreams on the official YouTube channels of the state 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Hawaii State Capitol 7 29 25

<title>It's opening day tomorrow. How can you attend?</title>

Attendees at the first day of the new legislative session should expect crowds and long delays.

It's opening day tomorrow. How can you attend?

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Aloha Spirit

Columnists

Darren Ho claims if you can color within the lines of a coloring book, you can carve ice. Never mind that it requires working with a chainsaw and a 300-pound block of ice that’s 40 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 10 inches thick.

“No artistic talent or logging experience needed — just care and commitment,” said Ho, who has been creating ice sculptures for some 40 years. “Whether you’re holding a chainsaw or a paring knife, it’s the same basic idea. You draw an outline on ice, wood, bone, soap, stone, whatever — and you cut pieces from it. What’s left is your work of art.”

Born on O‘ahu and raised there and on Maui, Ho began his ice-carving career as a cook at what was then the Intercontinental Maui in Wailea (now the Wailea Beach Resort). The hotel served a lavish Sunday brunch buffet, and a beautiful ice sculpture adorned the table with cold foods: fruit, salads, cheeses, cured meats and the like.

“There was a different carving every week, and I thought they were amazing,” Ho said. “What was interesting was the person who made them was a banquet waiter, not a chef. I thought if he could do them, I could, too. I asked my boss if I could try if I bought the equipment and learned on my own time. He agreed, and, looking back, it was a gutsy thing to suggest because I didn’t know anything.”

As it turned out, one of Ho’s good friends, Sean Kaumeheiwa, was doing ice carvings for another hotel. He was a member of the Japan Ice Carving Association, a Maui-based organization that had been started by Kazuo Yamanoue, then regarded as the premier ice carver on the island.

With Kaumeheiwa’s encouragement, Ho joined the group, which comprised about a dozen cooks from different hotels and restaurants. Their employers would pay for ice blocks, and the men would get together and create sculptures for them to display free of charge.

Ho was excited to learn. “It was all by watching,” he said. “My very first carving was a swordfish. After I cut the outline of it with a chainsaw, I didn’t know what to do next. Kazu saw that I was stuck, and he finished the carving for me. He didn’t say, ‘Darren, these are steps one, two and three.’ He just did it, I watched and the next week I carved a swordfish for the Intercontinental’s brunch by myself.”

The more Ho practiced, the more passionate he became about the work. He became the hotel’s sole ice carver, moving from swordfish to koi, swans, angelfish, eagles, even pagodas and rickshaws — something different every week. “If you do anything enough times, you get better at it, including carving ice,” he said. “You need only a few tools to do it — a handsaw, a Dremel tool with different bits and a chainsaw, which does 80% of the work. You can do a lot of details with the chainsaw, because the tip of it is just like a chisel.”

Eventually, Ho also started doing ice sculptures for wedding receptions at the Intercontinental. He went on to work as a garde manger at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on Hawai‘i island, then the Hyatt Regency Maui and Grand Wailea on Maui, preparing cold dishes and decorative fruit and vegetable garnishes in addition to doing ice carvings for special events. In 1995, during his stint at the Grand Wailea, he started a side business, Ice Sculptures by Darren Ho. Jobs started coming via word of mouth — weddings, graduations, anniversaries, birthday parties and more. He got so busy with the extra work, he left the Grand Wailea in 1999 and has been self-employed ever since.

Today, Ho owns and operates Central Maui Propane and Maui Pure Water and Ice, which is the sole source in Hawai‘i for the huge ice blocks used for carving. It’s also the company under which his ice projects now fall.

Normally, it takes Ho an hour or two to complete a carving, which lasts about four hours. The exceptions were the elaborate sculptures he produced as a contestant in the Sapporo Snow Festival’s ice-carving competition from 2015 through 2019.

He won fourth place in 2015, third place in 2017 and second place in 2019 for designs that featured Hawaiian icons such as 

pineapple, dolphins, sea turtles and humpback whales. 

Because of the freezing temperatures, which dipped into the 20s Fahrenheit, the sculptures remained in pristine condition for the duration of the weeklong festival, which draws more than 2 million visitors each year.

Ho attributes his success to faith and perseverance. “When you dedicate your efforts to God,” he said, “He paves the way for you to achieve your dreams." 

How to chill with Darren Ho

 Darren Ho offers private ice-carving instruction via his Maui School of Ice. The initial consultation is complimentary. Ask about scheduling, supplies, equipment and the cost of subsequent lessons, which can be conducted via video conferencing platforms such as Zoom or Teams.

Ho can create custom ice carvings with 30 days’ notice. Finished carvings can be shipped from Maui to other islands; he provides detailed instructions on where and how to pick them up from the dock. Prices start at $1,000 plus shipping costs, if applicable. For more information about ordering an ice carving and/or taking classes, call Ho at (808) 357-7875 or email icesculpturesbydarrenho808@gmail.com.

1000015521

<title>Uncles and Aunties: What Darren Ho can do with a chainsaw and a block of ice</title>

An internationally acclaimed ice sculptor, Darren Ho began his ice-carving career as a cook at what was then the Intercontinental Maui in Wailea, inspired by the work of a colleague. Still a Valley Isle resident, he now also owns the state's only business that makes the giant blocks of ice.

Uncles and Aunties: What Darren Ho can do with a chainsaw and a block of ice

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to send millions of dollars to Hawai‘i for environmental conservation and other projects.

Last week, the Senate took up discussion on 

The Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act

Senators voted 82-15 to pass the measure Thursday after making over a dozen amendments to the bill throughout the week. Hawai‘i Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz both voted in favor of the bill.

The amended bill includes millions for protection of Hawaiian ecosystems and endangered species. For example, Schatz touted $6.7 million to fund mosquito research to help mitigate the continued decline of native bird species, $9.9 million to acquire forest lands on Maui for rainforest management and $12.2 million for various projects to conserve marine species such as monk seals and sea turtles.

The bill also includes $4 million nationwide for a tsunami hazard mitigation grant program, $67 million to maintain marine sanctuaries nationwide, $1.5 million for harbor maintenance throughout Hawai‘i and more.

The bill next goes to the Oval Office to await the President’s signature.

[{"type":"text","text":"Other bills passed recently include:"}]

Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act

, another budget bill which passed the House Wednesday 341-79, with Hawai‘i Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda voting in support.

The enormous bill — this one nearly 500 pages — has fewer Hawai‘i-specific allocations, but does include $1.8 billion to support the nation’s military interests in the Indo-Pacific, although this is primarily targeted at programs to counter the influence of the Chinese government.

Other provisions include $150 million to control and reduce the influx of fentanyl into the country, a prohibition on any foreign assistance funds being used to carry out abortions, cutting funds to the United Nations and more.

Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act

 amends U.S. laws prohibiting the non-consensual release of sexually explicit images of a person to include deepfakes or synthesized images.

Under the measure, a person non-consensually depicted in deepfake porn can sue for damages of up to $250,000. The law would also allow the victim to use a pseudonym during their lawsuit.

The Senate voted unanimously to pass the bill, which now goes before the House.

Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing Act

, a minuscule bill that creates an official legal definition of “showerhead” for the purpose of federal water efficiency regulations.

While seemingly trivial, the bill is a follow-up to an April 2025 

 by President Donald Trump that repealed previous Department of Energy regulations surrounding showerheads which, Trump wrote, took thousands of words to define what a showerhead is.

The bill replaces the previous definition to match with those used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

During the House discussion of the measure, Democrats ridiculed the measure for its seeming insignificance amid the nation’s cost-of-living crisis, but it nonetheless passed the House 226-197, with Case and Tokuda in opposition.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Lawmakers 16x9

<title>CONGRESS WATCH: Senate votes to send millions to Hawai‘i environmental programs</title>

Congress voted on vast budget bills and also the legal definition of a showerhead.

CONGRESS WATCH: Senate votes to send millions to Hawai‘i environmental programs

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

State lawmakers are seeking more insight about a proposed partnership between two of Hawai‘i’s health care leaders.

Hawai‘i Medical Service Association, or HMSA, and Hawai‘i Pacific Health recently 

 for a new partnership the leaders of these organizations say will improve access to care and address health care affordability in Hawai‘i.

As part of the partnership, HPH and HMSA would create a new nonprofit parent organization called One Health Hawai‘i “to align strategy, strengthen collaboration and improve coordination statewide across Hawai‘i’s health care system,” a recent announcement noted. Find 

The state House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Tuesday held a joint informational briefing to discuss the matter. Government officials, regulatory agencies and health care industry leaders joined the briefing, which ran more than two hours.

“It is certainly of concern for this committee and the Senate committee as well, if I can speak for them, that this may have profound consequences on the health care landscape for Hawai‘i, especially given the prominence of HMSA and HPH in our medical community,” state Rep. Scot Matayoshi, chair of the House committee, said at the start of the briefing. “Whether those effects are good for the consumer or bad for the consumer are kind of yet to be seen. We are still waiting for more details to come out on the proposed partnership, and I think that will impact how the community and these committees view such a partnership.”

Both Hawai‘i Pacific Health and HMSA would continue to operate independently under the newly formed parent company, One Health Hawai‘i, he explained. Each would have their own boards that would report to a newly formed parent board. Vara says HPH would continue to work with each payer in the community while HMSA would continue to work with all the respective providers in the community.

Other health care systems and insurers aren’t on board, though, and voiced concerns about the proposed partnership. The Queen’s Health Systems is among those opposed to the plan.

Established by social workers in 1938, HMSA is the largest health insurer in the Islands. HPH is a not-for-profit health care system with four medical centers — Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children and Straub Benioff Medical Center in Honolulu, Pali Momi Medical Center in ‘Aiea and Wilcox Health in Līhu‘e — and other clinics around the state.

, HPH’s revenues for the year ending June 30, 2024, totaled about $247.34 million while expenses totaled $229.54 million.

HMSA had a membership of 760,000 as of Dec. 31, 2024. According to its 

, HMSA’s member premiums totaled about $4.35 billion in 2024 while expenses totaled $4.47 billion, for a net operating loss of about $117.4 million.

HPH HMSA 010726

<title>Lawmakers learn more about proposed HMSA, Hawai‘i Pacific Health partnership</title>

The state House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Tuesday held a joint informational briefing to discuss the proposal.

Lawmakers learn more about proposed HMSA, Hawai‘i Pacific Health partnership

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 is celebrating its 10-year anniversary on Jan. 18. In honor of the milestone birthday, the Kalihi brunch spot is featuring $10 menu specials on café favorites.

[{"type":"text","text":"The café’s $10 plates will be available from Jan. 18 to 31."}]

The porky bao ($10 for two) features slow-braised pork belly with pickled veggies, sweetened crushed peanuts, cilantro and sesame seeds. The café’s pork belly bowl (regular price $16) is another featured special. It consists of slow-braised pork belly served over a bed of white rice with pickled veggies, a fried egg, fried shallots and green onions.

The Boom Boom chicken (regular price $14) is the eatery’s version of fried chicken. The crispy, juicy, bite-sized pieces are topped with basil and fried shallots, and come with sweet chili aioli or garlic jalapeno aioli for dipping. The chicken is crunchy and flavorful in and of itself; the dipping sauces just take them to the next level.

The peanut butter French toast (regular price $16) features a golden fried toast with a creamy peanut butter filling and is drizzled with condensed milk. It’s sure to satisfy if you prefer sweeter entrees for breakfast.

Other $10 specials include cheesy eggs (three soft scrambled eggs with country bread), green onion pancake with cheese (crepe-like savory pancake with basil, egg, sweet chili and garlic with shoyu and green onions), cinnamon French toast and avo-corn toast (avocado corn spread with basil aioli, feta and paprika).

Egghead’s Café signature dishes includes its eggs Benedicts — like the Cali Cali ($21) with avocado, bacon and salsa; and smoky salmon ($22) — sweet french toasts ($16-$20) and its fluffy pancakes ($12-$20).

The trio love ($20) — comprising three mini pancakes in three flavors of your choice — comes highly recommended if you can’t decide on a single flavor. Options include s’mores, strawberry shortcake, tiramisu and more.

Speaking of tiramisu — the café’s tiramisu latte ($6.50) is its most popular coffee. It’s ideal for those who prefer sweeter beverages, since it’s made with mascarpone cream and cocoa powder.

Keep an eye out for specialty drinks like the café’s iced taro milk tea ($6.50) and taro macapuno ($8), which is a blend of taro, oolong tea and ice cream.

Open 7 a.m-1 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, closed Mondays

Egghead Cafe breakfast spread 011226

<title>Egghead Café is featuring $10 plates for a limited time</title>

The popular brunch spot is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with $10 plates from Jan. 18 to 31. The discount features customer favorites like peanut butter French toast, Boom Boom chicken and porky bao.

Egghead Café is featuring $10 plates for a limited time

[{"type":"text","text":"A new dim sum eatery recently opened in Kapolei."}]

Gyu-Masu Steak & Seafood — located within Embassy Suites Kapolei — recently changed its concept and re-branded its restaurant. The former steak and seafood eatery was centered on serving wagyu sourced from Toriyama Farm in Japan at affordable prices.

The restaurant served a la carte dishes and also featured an all-you-can-eat concept, but business owner Victor Jian took some time to re-evaluate how things were going.

“Nowadays, there’s so many all-you-can-eat places; it’s a little saturated,” he says. “Back in the day, you had places like Todai; a few years later, they all disappeared. I don’t want to be one of them, so I was like, ‘Maybe I should switch.’”

A few months ago, Jian ran into his longtime friend, who used to own Chinatown eatery Legend Seafood Restaurant. That conversation was further confirmation to Jian to change things up at his restaurant.

“He said he sold it, but still has his central kitchen,” Jian says. “He works in a central kitchen in town, so he produces everything and I purchase from him. We have a good partnership, in terms of doing this. His stuff is really good.

“I used to work in a Chinese restaurant before, but it’s very hard to open a dim sum restaurant,” Jian adds. “It’s a lot of work.”

The restaurant officially opened as re-branded 

 on Dec. 12. The current menu features many dim sum staples, including steamed har gow ($7.50), pork hash with shrimp ($6.25), soup dumplings with pork ($6.25), Hong Kong-style pork bao ($7.65), chicken feet ($7.75) and sticky rice in lotus leaf ($8.50).

So far, Jian says the egg custard tarts, Hong Kong-style pork bao and sticky rice in lotus leaf have been popular.

“At a lot of dim sum restaurants, they pre-bake it (the egg tarts), but we don’t bake it until people order them,” he says.

Jian still incorporates wagyu on the menu. Customers can enjoy dishes like steamed wagyu in black bean sauce ($19.50), wagyu fried rice ($23.50), wagyu chow funn ($24.75), wagyu chow mein ($24.75) and wagyu meatballs ($19.50).

“I look forward to getting people to try something different,” Jian says. “I want people to try the wagyu chow funn, chow mein and wagyu fried rice. The flavor is very different because we’re using wagyu tallow and A5 wagyu to cook with; it makes a huge difference."

Customers can take advantage of four-hour validated parking at Embassy Suites Kapolei when dining at the restaurant. The eatery will be open during limited hours on the upcoming holidays; Jian encourages customers to make reservations and stay updated by following the business’s social media account.

Even though his dim sum restaurant just opened, Jian is full of plans for 2026.

“I want to do a variety of stuff incorporating wagyu,” he says. “Right now, my friend and I are working on making a wagyu-filled manapua. I’m working with him in terms of using farm-to-table wagyu — ‘How do we introduce this to the Chinese cuisine? How do we do that, elevate it, and make it even better?’ I want to do something new, something that no one has ever done before.”

Jian says a dim sum express grab-and-go concept is in the works, so customers can anticipate that in the coming months.

Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; closed Mondays

Free parking at Embassy Suites Kapolei with restaurant validation

West Emperor Dim Sum lunch spread 121925

<title>West Oʻahu has a new dim sum spot</title>

West Emperor Dim Sum Restaurant just opened in Embassy Suites Kapolei. It’s a re-branding of former wagyu eatery Gyu-Masu Steak & Seafood. Restaurant owner Victor Jian has teamed up with the former chef from Legend Seafood Restaurant to bring dim sum to the West side.

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Daily Smile: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

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