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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Let the dog in!"}]

Smile 26 1 30

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, January 30, 2026</title>

Let the dog in!

Daily Smile: Friday, January 30, 2026

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"Kam Bowl is now open in Pearl City."}]

The restaurant opened in Times Square Shopping Center, in the former space of IHOP. The eatery 

 and re-opened in July under new ownership and under a new name, Aliʻi Diner.

At the new Pearl City restaurant, customers can expect the same signature dishes Kam Bowl was known for according to co-owner Ryder Yoshida, who says the menu is currently limited to the most popular dishes.

“It’s smaller and more simple,” Yoshida says. “We’re concentrating on getting the stuff people like before adding more things.”

Kam Bowl Pearl City did some renovations to the restaurant’s interior, such as adding new booths for seating.

“The kitchen was pretty much empty; we had to re-do the whole kitchen,” he says. “The hard part about it is the restaurant is big and the kitchen area to prepare food is small, compared to the Kalihi location.”

The menu features dishes like the eatery’s famous oxtail soup ($24.95), hamburger steak ($18.95), loco moco ($18.95) and Japanese breakfast ($18.95). The latter includes miso soup, toss salad, two eggs and a choice of mahi or salmon.

The restaurant now uses wagyu beef to make its hamburger patties, according to Yoshida.

“This is the first time we’re using wagyu beef,” he says. “We’re trying to keep prices reasonable.”

Dishes like hotcakes and sweet bread French toast are available from 7 to 11 a.m. Many plate lunch-style entrees come with white rice and a choice of toss or mac salad.

On the eatery’s opening day — Aug. 1 — regular customers from Kam Bowl’s Kalihi location were eagerly eating breakfast. Yoshida encourages diners to check out the new space.

“I was sitting in here before we opened, and people would ask, ‘Are you guys open yet?’” he says. “I kept on saying, ‘Pretty soon, pretty soon.’ Just come and try our food.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kam Bowl Pearl City is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m."}]

98-1264 Kaahumanu St. Ste. B03, Pearl City

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Kam Bowl Pearl City owner 080126

<title>Kam Bowl is open in Pearl City</title>

The eatery is now open in Times Square Shopping Center, in the former space of IHOP. Customers can look forward to signature dishes like oxtail soup, loco moco, hamburger steak and more.

Kam Bowl is open in Pearl City

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a branch of Freemasonry that expands upon the moral and philosophical lessons of one’s first three basic degrees, which are achieved in a blue lodge after one’s initiation. Most commonly referred to as the Scottish Rite, the branch continues the 4th through the 32nd degrees, and also awards an honorary 33rd degree for exceptional service.

In Hawai‘i, the Scottish Rite was established in 1874 by King David Kalākaua and John Owen Dominis, husband of Queen Lili‘uokalani. Its membership once included Hawaiian royalty, politicians, and cultural icons like William Pitt Leleiohoku II (younger brother of Kalākaua), Samuel Parker of Parker Ranch, Duke Kahanamoku, and many more notable men of Hawai‘i.

By the early 1900s, the Masonic orders had grown rapidly in Honolulu. With all the work required of the various bodies, it was clear that the Masonic Temple located at Hotel and Alakea Streets was too small to house everyone. The lodges began to look for larger accommodations.

In 1917, a building permit was issued for the First Church of Christ, Scientist for a structure on the corner of Wilder Avenue and Kewalo Street. The community watched as walls of cream-colored brick went up, the tile roof installed, and cement walks around the church were built. But after three years, it seemed the church began to lose its steam.

Towards the end of 1920, the Christian Science Church decided to sell the partially completed building, citing a desire to secure a location on a quieter street and to erect a building that would be more in harmony with the Hawaiian climate. The church had already spent nearly $70,000, and the interior and windows weren’t even finished.

Their break came in 1921, when the Scottish Rite bodies in Honolulu voted to buy the Christian Science Church for the asking price of $60,000. The building’s incomplete state allowed the Scottish Rite to remodel the interior, adding a stage and auditorium equipped for Scottish Rite services.

Finally, on November 4, 1922, grand ceremonies opened in Makiki with the formation of a procession in front of the fire station, two blocks away from the newly completed building. More than a thousand people attended the event. The crowd included Masons and their families, city officials, curious onlookers from the neighborhood, and members of the general public.

The Royal Hawaiian Band led the procession, followed by the Honolulu Commandery York Rite, and then Masons in full regalia. The parade stopped in front of the new building and the Masons assembled in two lines. Hawai‘i Governor and Grand Master Wallace Rider Farrington, Deputy Grand Master Lester Petrie, and other officials walked between the rows and took their places on a specially constructed platform.

The trowel, square, level, and plumb, the solid silver Masonic tools last used by King Kalākaua, were then brought forward on a purple plush tray and presented to the Grand Master. In compliance with the ritual provided for the occasion, the cornerstone was laid in place. Governor Farrington used the silver trowel to cement around the edges, and then other officials used the level, square, and plumb to test the stone, ensuring its position was correct.

After the stately pageantry, the solemn and splendid affair was complete, and the Cathedral of the Scottish Rite Bodies was founded. Within its walls, ceremonies and rituals have taken place for generations, cloaked in secrecy and speculation.

But the building’s mystique isn’t limited to its history. People whisper about odd happenings that often defy explanation. In the temple room, where men once performed solemn rituals, the heavy stage curtain has been seen moving on its own and muffled voices murmur in the dark, although no one is there.

In 2021, we hosted a virtual event at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. My wife and I, some close friends, and our online community via Facebook gathered in the hallowed halls of this most sacred location to hear the stories of its ghosts and investigate its hauntings.

From the beginning, things were strange. As we moved from the front lounge to the dining room, I felt someone hug me from behind. When I stopped to see who it was, no one was near enough to have done so. I shrugged off the chicken skin, walked a few more steps, and then looked back to take account of everyone.

Making sure we were all together, I began to turn around to lead the group when movement in the lobby caught my eye. I looked up and saw a person sitting on one of the cushioned chairs. I glanced at my wife to tell her I’d be right back as I moved forward toward the doorway, but when I looked again at the lounge, no one was there. While our group was all accounted for, I did a quick sweep of the room and found no one.

Upstairs in the temple room, we heard a piano playing. It wasn’t a full song, just someone tapping on some keys, the notes echoing through the large room. But we’d just walked in as a group. The piano was stationed in the far left corner of the large room, and no one could have made it across the way without the rest of us seeing them.

As we sat in the middle of the room talking about other people’s past experiences, all ten of us saw a heavy table move across the stage of its own accord. Although the camera wasn’t focused on the stage, our online followers heard the commotion. Then the heavy stage curtain moved as if someone were behind it, pushing it forward, but we could see no feet in the two-inch gap between the curtain and the stage.

Whether we can ever explain the experiences of that evening is impossible to say. The Scottish Rite Cathedral has stood for more than a century, its walls bearing witness to ceremonies, celebrations, and the passion, camaraderie, and conviction of countless men who passed through its doors.

Unlike the cornerstone that holds tangible evidence like photographs and written records of the past, the impressions left behind cannot be measured or explained. Perhaps places like this simply hold on to something we don’t yet understand. Whatever the case, those of us who were there that night left with more questions than answers.

Scottish Rite Cathedral Honolulu

<title>Secrets of the Scottish Rite Cathedral</title>

ASD's ghost and history columnists themselves had a very strange experience giving a tour of Makiki's Scottish Rite Cathedral. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry was welcomed into the Islands in 1874 by King David Kalākaua and John Owen Dominis, husband of Queen Lili‘uokalani. Its members have a long history of service to community, with an air of Masonic mystery.

Secrets of the Scottish Rite Cathedral

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Government & Politics

I have to tell you a short story about Minnesota before I can tell you something about Hawai‘i. Sit tight for some unpleasant details.

It starts with Tou Lue Vang, from Laos, who was at one point legally living in the United States, in Minnesota. Vang went on to behave terribly while here. He was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual assault for repeatedly molesting a 10-year-old girl over two years, from 2002 to 2004, 

 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“He once offered his victim $10 to keep quiet about the sexual assaults,” DHS said. “When interviewed by police, he tried to justify his actions as ‘a cultural thing

’ and even said that his victim was just as guilty as him and should also be arrested.”

These actions cost Vang his right to be in the United States. On Oct. 31, 2006, a Department of Justice Immigration Judge ordered that he be removed.

 the Center for Immigration Studies, Laos refused to take back its deported citizens until 2025, until it finally relented under pressure from the United States.

According to DHS, ICE arrested and detained Vang in December but by then, Minnesota was in full meltdown over immigration enforcement and in February, a District of Minnesota judge ordered him released from custody.

That wasn't only the ally Vang found. At some point he applied for a pardon, in hopes that wiping his record clean would eliminate the reason ICE was coming after him for deportation, as reported by 

That pardon was granted, in a unanimous decision. In Minnesota, such pardons are granted by a three-person panel: 

 (D), and nominally non-partisan Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice 

This was widely seen as an extension of Minnesota’s sanctuary state policies, done out of spite to frustrate Trump and ICE.

On July 14, media asked Walz about the deportation and he had the audacity to question the 

 motive for removing a convicted child molester.

. “Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?”

On question 1: Yeah, it did. Vang's conviction disqualified him from staying here, that’s the law. He only evaded it because Laos didn’t want him back.

Question 2: Walz is possibly, obliquely referring to Vang’s own children. What is the logic here? Our prisons are full of natural born American citizens who are separated from their children by incarceration and no one sane goes around saying, “Wait, we can’t put people in prison for molesting children! Doing so destabilizes their children!” If it's a tragedy for Vang and his family, it's one he wrote himself.

Question 3: It’s possible the syntax of this one is so garbled and awkward because some tiny voice in Walz’s head is second-guessing what’s he’s saying. No one likes to be judged by their worst day. OK. Fair enough. For most people, their worst days do not include serially molesting a 10-year old over two years. But Walz’s inner sociopath smacked down his last sensible neuron and he said this ludicrous thing anyway.

[{"type":"text","text":"What does any of this have to do with Hawai‘i?"}]

You might not know this, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was the guest of honor as keynote speaker at the Hawai‘i Democratic Party’s state convention in Waikīkī at the end of May. 

“Walz … brought the nearly 400 party delegates and guests to their feet several times at the Hilton Hawaiian Village ballroom,” 

 Civil Beat, covering the convention on May 31. “He got a lot of whoops and shout-outs, too, by calling Trump a ‘corrupt, petty, cruel wannabe dictator’ and ‘a pile of crap.’”

[{"type":"text","text":"Tim Walz, greeted in Hawai‘i with applause and aloha."}]

Surely, the local invitation predated Walz’s bizarre defense of an illegal immigrant child molester. But local Dems had plenty of facts before them at the time that Walz had stepped forward to defend, categorically, every convicted criminal in Minnesota that ICE had gone in to arrest. Surely, they were aware that they were inviting, with honors, a man who presided over a state government that 

 for as much a billion dollars’ worth of fraud across multiple social programs. Surely, they could’ve known that in January, Minnesota lawmakers accused Walz and his administration of retaliating against whistleblowers about this fraud, thereby enabling it.

Surely, they remembered that Walz himself withdrew his re-election attempt in light of these many scandals.

[{"type":"text","text":"They overlooked it all and gave this guy a hero’s welcome."}]

I've been meaning to write this ever since the convention happened, but news about Walz just kept evolving and I wanted to see where his latest escapades would go. Now that this Vang chapter is over, I have same question I had in May: If he’s the role model for the party going forward, what does that mean for the future of Hawai‘i?

What does that tell us about who they serve? Local interests and concerns? Or, as we saw with 

 just fully colonized by Mainland politics and priorities?

The party is running on fumes of nostalgia for when it was sensible and stood for the betterment of people right here in the Islands. But the party of serious people like Burns, Ariyoshi, Inouye and countless others — sober, responsible — seems intent on following the pied pipers of Act Blue, Indivisible, and the Democratic Socialists of America, straight into insanity.

Based on historic voting patterns, there’s a good chance if you’re reading this that this your party. You’ve voted for it all your life. You likely always will. Anything but cast a vote for those icky Republicans! If so, please do everyone in the Islands a favor: Get involved, and knock some sense into your people. If Walz is their idea of an accomplished statesman, an example to cheer on and follow behind, they need an intervention.

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.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Tim Walz Getty Images 2264762248 16x9 Large

<title>Pipikaula Corner: The company they keep</title>

Hawai‘i Democrats invited a special Mainland guest to their annual convention in late May, as keynote speaker. If this is their role model, ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier opines, Hawai‘i is in trouble.

Pipikaula Corner: The company they keep

The state Legislature’s attempt to overturn Citizens United, as it applies to Hawai‘i, keeps advancing. The latest step will be a hearing Wednesday, April 29, at 2:40 p.m., deferred from Monday and again from Tuesday as lawmakers tweak the wording of 

, “Relating to the powers of artificial persons.”

, the bill is an attempt to create a backdoor to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which held that it is unconstitutional to prohibit political spending by corporations. Doing so violates their First Amendment right to free speech.

That backdoor is being built on the fact that the states grant corporations the powers they have under law, so Hawai‘i, and about a dozen other states this year introduced nearly identical legislation — total coincidence, I’m sure! — to change those laws. Hawai‘i law, for example currently 

“[E]very corporation has … the same powers as an individual to do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its business and affairs…”

It then goes on to specify such powers as “to sue and be sued,” to own land, make contracts, lend money, “make donations for the public welfare or for charitable, scientific, or educational purposes,” and more.

SB 2471 would add language stating that corporations can keep on acting in every way like an individual with one new exception — no spending on political speech. From the bill’s latest version:

“[A]rtificial persons created under state law possess only those powers that are necessary or convenient to carry out lawful business and organizational purposes, and that those powers do not include the power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Why? Why is this even necessary?"}]

Well, for all the furor over this bill, the bill itself doesn’t really say.

Its defenders do say why they think it’s necessary in testimony and editorials, but their arguments are heavy on vague threats, light on evidence.

“Dark money is poisoning our democracy,” wrote state Rep. Della Au Belatti (D), District 26, and state Rep. Kanani Souza (R), District 43, 

The two make much of the fact that one of them is a Democrat, the other a Republican. They go on about the genius of this “genuinely historic” approach to “stop giving the corporations that operate on our Islands the power to spend in our politics.”

Please do read the whole thing and look not only at what they say, but what they don’t say.

They don’t name a single example of a specific corporation whose spending affected any election or ballot measure in Hawai‘i. Not one.

Perhaps in the House? Belatti spoke about the bill in an April 14 floor session (

, at 4:41:00). We’ve always had this power to redefine corporations, she said, and we must do so to “rein in undue influence of monies flowing from unlimited corporate treasuries that undermine our political process and has fueled voters’ distrust and disenchantment with government.”

She says that in Hawai‘i’s 2024 election, three PACs spent $13 million, whereas the candidates themselves spent only $10 million they raised directly from donors.

That $13 million, she said, “is the dark money that SB 2417 is striking at.”

But which PACs spent the money? On which candidates or issues? What did their spending achieve and how was Hawai‘i harmed? 

She didn't say. She won’t name the threat but does emphasize the “we’ve always had this power” argument, urging, “We need to be brave and take up this mantle and let this legislation move forward.”

OK. Citizens United was decided in 2010. Did Hawai‘i lawmakers have amnesia about their powers for the past 16 years? Or is it more accurate to say they’ve spent 16 years with their lawyers digging through the lawbooks looking for some way to try to outsmart the Supreme Court? Something tells me, if this was the obvious slam-dunk they’re making it out to be, state legislatures would’ve done this long ago, and Hawai‘i's current legislators wouldn't still be fussing with the draft. 

Since lawmakers won’t identify a single clear instance of “dark money” yielding a specific bad result for Hawai‘i, we have to guess at their target. Who is this bill trying to silence that the U.S. Supreme Court otherwise gave a voice to?

A little history lesson, because you might not remember who Citizens United was or what it wanted to do.

, a conservative 501(C)4 public policy nonprofit, founded in 1988. In 2007, the group wanted to take out advertisements telling people to watch a documentary it made, “

,” critical of Clinton as a presidential candidate. It challenged Federal Election Commission rules that would’ve prevented it from doing so.

The U.S. Supreme Court said it could go forward and Democrats, in particular, have hated this decision ever since.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision led to the creation of political action committees, PACs and Super PACs, which can spend money they raise on candidates and issues. These entities are not bound by the campaign donation limits set when one gives directly to a specific candidate. If you want to read a better criticism of “dark money” then than the one being made locally, check out 

this piece on Citizens United from the Brennan Center for Justice

There’s a lot going on here, a lot of complicated motivations and I don’t trust the people who won’t tell us who took the $35,000, and who won’t let us have real elections, when they say we need to take on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect democracy.

Maybe they don’t like seeing all that money spent independently, rather than getting donated to them.

[{"type":"text","text":"Maybe they don’t like that conservatives had a win."}]

Maybe they’re sacrificing the “dark money” they’ve benefitted from — there are plenty of progressive Super PACs that support Democrats, after all — because they are certain they have other kinds of corporations on their side.

Namely, the media. Search SB 2471 for “news” and it shows up 20 times. Example: “‘Election activity’ does not include any bona fide news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of a broadcasting station or of any print, online, or digital newspaper, magazine, blog, or other periodical publication, unless the broadcasting, print, online, or digital facility is owned or controlled by a candidate, political committee, or political party.”

No one has said so, to my knowledge, but this may be the biggest vulnerability of SB 2471.

[{"type":"text","text":"Here’s the First Amendment:"}]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

States, in turn, are bound by this as well. They also shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.

Remember, Citizens United made a documentary. From its preview, it’s a mix of clips from Clinton’s own speeches (reporting), close-ups of news headlines critical of Clinton (second-hand reporting) and commentary from political observers, including one Barack Obama.

In other words, it’s a “60 Minutes” segment, only one “60 Minutes” would never do.

If SB 2471 becomes law, I’d expect a PAC to take Hawai‘i to court demanding a clear explanation of why its reporting and editorializing in a documentary, an advertisement or a direct mail piece is any different than what I do here at Aloha State Daily in my column, or what Civil Beat does when it hosts an essay from the defenders of SB 2471, or what the Star-Advertiser does when it endorses candidates.

, for example, endorsed Kamala Harris for president, among other candidates in other races, and told voters how they ought to vote on State Constitution and City Charter amendments.

In the latest version of the bill, our lawmakers are arguing that this is OK, but identical speech from other groups structured as corporations is not.

Then there’s the convoluted language of “artificial persons,” and, again, I think our lawmakers are being too cute for their own good. They are arguing in the bill and in their testimony that they are not silencing the natural rights of individuals to speak, only that of “artificial persons.”

But they know perfectly well that corporate structures don’t just spring from the ground of their own accord, staffed by no one. They’re made of people, who have rights. Do those rights vanish because those people found it beneficial to incorporate? If so, then, again, one would have to wonder why a newspaper that makes endorsements, or a cable news network that blasts President Donald Trump all day, can benefit from being a corporation, but other people with a political message can’t.

Hawai‘i might expensively push this all the way back to the U.S. Supreme Court only to find that the definition of “the press” gets put on trial, in which case, I’d say, journalism as we know it has no special privilege. Freedom of the press is the freedom to publish, no more, no less. 

Well, look, I’m not an attorney. On SB 2471, all I know is, my alarm bells are going off.

When lawmakers tell me we need to act now in the face of a dire threat, but the threat is unnamed, the harm ill-defined, I get suspicious.

When lawmakers say somebody needs to shut up, but they won't say who or why, I wonder what sneaky stuff they're up to.

And when lawmakers tell us we need to be brave and charge ahead, regardless of obvious risks, I have to point out: It’s easy to be brave with other people’s money, isn’t it?

Remember, this is a Legislature insisting that Hawai‘i is so broke, it can’t afford to let taxpayers keep the tax cuts we were promised. 

But to get cute with the U.S. Supreme Court? Suddenly, money is no object!

[{"type":"text","text":"I hope SB 2471’s supporters plan to chip in for the defense."}]

 again rolled a vote over to Thursday, video at the link, go to 2:40 p.m. to see the brief exchange. Both chambers still have legal review underway and it was noted that the House Finance Committee needs to sign off as well.

Pay particular attention to Rep. Scot Matayoshi's passing reference. "Our biggest fear is we don't want to make this situation worse," he said. "We don't want to pas a bill that puts us in a and especially Hawaii companies in a potentially worse position, uh, not companies but non-profits and [garbled] committees in a worse position than when we started."

Matayoshi has mentioned this before in hearings on the bill, his desire to carve out exceptions of some kind for nonprofit organizations and unions. We'll see what, if anything, gets added to the bill as a result. But every exception they add is another opportunity for someone to say, in a court, "Why does that group get to speak, but ours can't?"

The Senate and House Conference deferred again, to Friday. Skip to 1:26:00

 of the discussion between conference committee chairs Matayoshi, on behalf of the House, and State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, to hear them both boast and hedge on what they're doing behind the scenes. 

Hedge No. 1 is to get rid of reset language in the bill. As written, it strips all Hawai‘i corporations of their charters entirely, then reinstitutes them, minus the freedom to spend on political speech. Instead, says Keohokalole, they want to give the state Attorney General and/or the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs authority to dissolve a corporation that engages in electioneering.

Good luck with that. The AG's office has already opposed this bill as a reckless challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, so I'd be shocked if it wants the job of corporation executioner. 

Then this bombshell from him, "We are trying to provide clarity for labor organizations because there are a number of structures that labor organizations take in Hawai‘i, and there's some ambiguity around that that we want to make clear for everyone." He's also looking at language about how Mainland-based outfits operate in Hawai‘i.

It might interest you to know that according to Federal Elections Commission data, some 

include the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Political Action Fund, Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and Mainland-based leftwing PAC ActBlue.

I guess there's some "dark money" Keohokalole likes after all. More and more this is looking like a bill to silence any political spending in Hawai‘i that isn't the faithful pillars of Democratic Party monopoly power.

Matayoshi, for his part, continues to express concern that this bill will get Hawai‘i into trouble, despite, in his view, the obvious need for its good intentions. He brings up an approach the House has been looking at, based on Mainland legislation, to simply cap the size of donations to Political Action Committees.

If the two Chambers can't agree on Friday to a version they can put forward for a final reading, it dies for this session.

passed the conference committee and goes before the Legislature for a vote on Wednesday. At a glance, it still makes an exception for corporate political speech in the form of news and commentary, applies penalties to foreign — meaning based outside of Hawai‘i — corporations conducting electioneering in Hawai‘i as if they were Hawai‘i-based, and does not seem to contain the labor union clarifications Keohokalole was looking for. 

The room greeted the passage with applause, including from the folks in 

 T-shirts seated near me when I attended the final vote. By the way, did you know that if you want to 

, the funds go to Mainland-based ActBlue Civics, 

 as a leftwing fundraising 501(c)(4) nonprofit?

One suspects they are confident their electioneering will remain unencumbered if this bill makes into law, despite all the rhetoric about keeping Mainland money from contaminating our local politics.

In any case, despite the bill's passage, Matayoshi and Keohokalole appeared glum as a result of whatever wrangling passed between them over the bill between its 3:30 p.m. hearing and its final vote. Judge for yourself 

 of the conference meeting, starting at 4:36:13.

I Stock 1149364911 16x9

<title>Pipikaula Corner: The bill that won't name its target</title>

UPDATED 5/2: The joint conference committee has passed a revised SB 2471 on to the full Legislature, seeking to nullify for the Islands the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. As ASD Editor A. Kam Napier observes, lawmakers are offering more argument than evidence for the bill while being vague about whose speech they really mean to curtail — or protect.

Pipikaula Corner: The bill that won't name its target

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Welcome the new year with savings — and a lucky bag or two.

Meaning “lucky bag,” Fukubukuro is Japanese New Year custom where shops and merchants offer mystery bags at discounted prices.

Here are a few malls and retailers participating in 

AMC Fukubukuro2026 Lifestyle Images 8

<title>Where to go for Fukubukuro this year</title>

Meaning “lucky bag,” Fukubukuro is Japanese New Year custom where shops and merchants offer mystery bags at discounted prices. Here are a few places to check out.

Where to go for Fukubukuro this year

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

A Waimānalo volleyball coach and firefighter arrested last year producing child pornography of a student has been charged in federal court.

Ken Sorenson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i, announced Friday afternoon that Elias David, a Waimānalo 37-year-old reportedly arrested in July 2024 for second-degree sexual assault, has been charged in U.S. District Court with producing child pornography.

According to a criminal complaint, the Honolulu Police Department was informed in July 2024 that the family of a then-17-year-old girl had discovered a sexual relationship between the girl and David, her volleyball coach.

The victim told an FBI special agent that David had been her coach since she was 13, and he had begun a sexual relationship with her when she was 16. She said the two would meet at the fire station where David worked and a warehouse next to the fire station.

HPD later found pictures in David’s work locker that appeared to be screenshots of a video of him and the victim having sex. That video, and about 30 others, were taken at David’s encouragement on her cell phone, the victim said — although she added that David had recorded some videos on his phone, but David’s wife had discovered them in 2023.

David told the special agent following his 2024 arrest that he and the victim had “fallen in love” while he had coached her, and that he had not made sexual advances on other minor students.

While state law places the age of consent at 16, federal law states that any sexually explicit photo or video of a person under the age of 18 is considered child pornography.

The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

Daily Smile: Friday, January 30, 2026

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Daily Smile: Friday, January 30, 2026

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