Letters to the Editor

ASD reporting on the new Hawaiʻi law requiring mediation

 between renters and landlords before an eviction. 

I worked on the City and County of Honolulu's Covid-19 rent help program, and mediation played a major role in preventing hundreds, maybe thousands, of local families who were struggling because of the pandemic from losing their homes.

[{"type":"text","text":"Patrick Williams, Honolulu"}]

Kaahumanu Hale 16x9

<title>Letter to the Editor: Mediation plays a major role</title>

A reader shares a past example when mediation worked for evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, renters unable to pay rent will have more resources to avoid eviction through the state's Pre-Eviction Mediation Filing Program.

Letter to the Editor: Mediation plays a major role

I was glad to see ASD reporting on the new Hawaiʻi law requiring mediation between renters and landlords before an eviction.  I worked on the City and County of Honolulu&#039;s Covid-19 rent help program, and mediation played a major role in preventing hundreds, maybe thousands, of local families who were struggling because of the pandemic from losing their homes. Patrick Williams, Honolulu

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue continues to serve up the plate lunch at more places across the U.S., opening 14 new franchise locations in eight states last year.

In addition to a new Makiki location, in 2025 new restaurants opened in East Harlem and 

, New York; Smyrna and Mulberry, Georgia; Escondido, Benicia, Clairemont Mesa and Davis, California; Fort Hood, Texas; Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Tacoma, Washington; and Nampa, Idaho, the state’s first, a Feb. 10 announcement from L&L noted.

“L&L’s growth continues to be fueled by a franchise model shaped around accessibility and long-term partnership,” the announcement says. “Franchisees receive hands-on training in Hawai‘i, operational guidance and marketing support designed to set them up for success. This systemwide approach ensures consistent hearty portions, comforting flavors and welcoming aloha spirit across all locations.”

In the new year, the Hawai‘i-based L&L says it has a “strong development pipeline spanning the West Coast, Mountain West, Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.”

"The brand is on pace for its strongest Q1 opening period to date, positioning 2026 to begin as the strongest quarter in L&L’s history and reflecting sustained franchise interest and confidence in the system," the announcement states.

A new franchise, found in the Bonney Lake Retail Market Center at 20621 Highway 410 E. in Bonney Lake, Washington, officially opened on Jan. 20, bringing the total number of locations in the Evergreen State to 11. The new restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The new franchise is owned and operated by cousins Robert Ramos and Ephraim 

. While this is their first L&L, a Feb. 11 announcement notes that the duo operated a mobile food business for several years.

 and Johnson Kam acquired L&L Drive-Inn in 1976. The restaurant founded as L&L Dairy back in 1952.

"I look at a financial statement and it shows that it's making money," Flores told Aloha State Daily last summer. "You never see that in any small business. I decided to make an offer and I purchased the restaurant and I gave it to my mom as a gift." 

His mother had been working as a dishwasher and counter girl at Lynn's Deli in Ala Moana Center, he said in June, but knowing that she didn’t know much about running a restaurant, he called on Kam for help.

Flores said his mother ran the restaurant for two years, after which everything was sold to Kam.

The pair later decided to later franchise and expand the operations, and 

today, there are more than 230 locations across the globe.

, it was announced earlier this month. Now in its 47th year, the ranking evaluates factors like costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

“L&L Hawaiian Barbecue has always been rooted in relationships,” CEO Elisia Flores said in a Feb. 2 announcement. “As we continue to grow beyond 230 locations, that commitment remains central to how our franchisees operate and this recognition reflects their dedicated efforts.”

. According to a list of frequently asked questions on the site, the estimated initial investment for a turnkey L&L ranges from nearly $254,000 to a little more than $838,460, depending on location, size and existing facility.

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CREDIT Matt Armendariz Shooter Stylist LLC LL Hawaiian Barbecue 2

<title>L&L Hawaiian Barbecue continues nationwide growth</title>

The chain opened 14 new locations 2025 and was recently ranked on Entrepreneur’s 2026 Franchise 500.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue continues nationwide growth

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

A proposed law requiring AI developers to impose controls on their AI services is advancing through the state Legislature.

The Senate Joint Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Labor and Technology 

, which would require AI operators to adopts certain disclaimers and protocols in order to mitigate AI’s potential to impact users’ mental health.

The bill requires that any “conversational artificial intelligence service” — e.g., an AI chat service such as ChatGPT — to include clear notifications informing users that they are not communicating with a human, particularly if the user is a minor. Those notifications would be issued at the beginning of each session and subsequently at least every hour, and would remind the user to take a break from the service.

Furthermore, operators would have to develop protocols for how an AI service could respond to user prompts indicating an intention to self-harm or commit suicide. Those protocols would include responses referring the user to crisis service providers and preventing the AI from explicitly claiming that the service is intended to provide professional mental health care.

Also, in cases where a user is reasonably believed to be a minor, AI operators would be required to impose controls preventing the AI from generating pornography, making sexually explicit statements, making statements simulating emotional or romantic connections with the user, or claiming itself to be sentient.

The bill follows growing reports of “AI psychosis,” a trend wherein habitual users of AI chatbots developing delusional beliefs exacerbated by the AI’s responses.

Last April, California teen Adam Raine committed suicide after confiding his suicidal ideation to ChatGPT; according to a 

 filed by Raine’s parents against ChatGPT developer OpenAI, the chatbot had advised Raine about the viability of specific suicide methods and repeatedly validated his suicidal thoughts.

And in 2024, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III committed suicide after extensive use of Character AI, a chatbot emulating the personalities of fictional characters. Following months of sexually charged conversations with the chatbot — during which Setzer confided his suicidal thoughts, which were encouraged and validated by the chatbot — Setzer killed himself after the chatbot told him to “come home to me as soon as possible.”

 Character Technologies, Character AI’s developer.

Hawai‘i isn’t the only state considering such a measure. Lawmakers in Washington state 

 their own bills that would require similar protocols from AI operators. Meanwhile, Illinois, Utah and Nevada have all 

 prohibiting the use of AI chatbots in mental health therapy.

The bill was broadly popular at Tuesday’s committee hearing. Nahelani Parsons, a representative of Google’s government affairs and public policy team, submitted testimony in support of the bill, although she added that Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, has content safeguards and suicide protocols already in place.

On the other hand, one AI company — Aidgentic LLC, which describes itself as an “AI-focused automation agency” — testified against SB 3001, arguing that most major AI chatbots already include safeguards to reduce harm, but those can still be circumvented by users despite the billions of dollars invested in those safeguards.

“If passed, this bill would effectively mandate that small Hawai‘i businesses solve technical safety challenges that even the world’s largest tech companies have not yet fully resolved,” Aidgentic wrote.

Meanwhile, the state Department of the Attorney General raised concerns that the bill technically could be considered a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“A statute preventing a conversational artificial intelligence service from making the statements described … may be viewed as a content-based law and subject to challenge under the First Amendment,” read testimony by the Attorney General’s Office.

Whether AI-generated statements are protected by the First Amendment remains an open question. Last year, during the Character AI lawsuit, a Florida judge 

 the developer’s argument that the First Amendment shields the company from lawsuits based on the chatbot’s statements.

 issued by President Donald Trump last December. That order claimed that “excessive state regulation” has hamstrung AI companies from innovation by creating “a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes that makes compliance more challenging” and called for a “minimally burdensome national standard” governing AI models.

In any case, the Joint Committee voted to recommend the bill’s passage with amendments as requested by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Those amendments include a provision requiring AI companies to only collect data from users necessary to run the service and a provision to make any violation of the bill’s terms an unfair or deceptive practice.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bill is still awaiting a hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee."}]

Meanwhile, a corresponding House measure, 

, is in similar straits, having passed the House Committee on Economic Development and Technology last week.

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Hawaii State Capitol 7 29 25

<title>'AI psychosis' bills pass Senate, House committees</title>

Proposed laws would require AI developers to enact protocols to reduce self-harm among users.

'AI psychosis' bills pass Senate, House committees

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

Real Estate

, has made its largest investment in technology set to be deployed across its properties nationwide. In Hawaiʻi, that touches more than 200 employees and over 7,000 homes operated of by 

CEO and president of Hunt Military Communities

“We are in an operationally intensive business. We

’re delivering 400,000-plus work orders a year. We are going to have 70% of our residents move out of our units on an annual basis,” he told Aloha State Daily. “So, you need great technology to help you manage those processes in a way that promotes quality assurance and quality control.”

The process improvement technology, he says, helps with leasing, maintenance and more, which brings “much better service to our residents.”

“The biggest improvement has been our maintenance service delivery or work order delivery, and that’s been evidenced by the improvements to operating KPIs [key performance indicators] that our military partners track,” Stann said.

According to the company, “From AI-enabled work order intake to centralized resident portals and automated business processes, the approach is improving accuracy, speed, visibility and consistency across installations while reducing administrative burden on onsite teams.”

Stann adds that the tech also benefits Hunt’s bottom line.

“These housing projects are their own financial entity; they are meant to be self-sustained, meaning that that don’t require further investment from the military. ... They need to produce enough cashflow to reinvest back into the homes, communities."

In Hawaiʻi, the number of financial deposits from the housing projects increased by 73% in 3 years, totaling $42 million in 2022 and $73 million in 2025, he explained, adding, “This is money that gets deposited in accounts that are controlled by our military partners, and [Hunt] maintains the asset management and sustainment plans, and then we recommend what projects need to be done to continue maintaining these home. They release the funds and we use those funds to do the work.”

Stann said for the tech design, Hunt initially worked with a third-party IBM company and leveraged firms to help with the coding but has since taken ownership of it. It was built in Salesforce and then integrated into Hunt’s property management software system, he noted.

Though this type of customer relationship management tool was launched in 2023, ʻOhana Military Communities is continuing to beta test the software.

When asked about implementation challenges, he said, “Change management is hard. Getting them (staff) to buy into a new tool is hard. But you overcome that with leadership and being a team. ... Their feedback has been essential.”

Stann said more tech is coming down the pipeline.

The former U.S. Marine sees his work now as a continuation of his service to support military family members.

“Housing is a very emotional subject. I think it’s really important to be well-trained in communication and solving problems … they (staff) need to be ready to de-escalate situations, solve problems same-day and take real pride in that,” he said. “We exist to take that stress off their plate ... there’s a lot of sacrifice that comes with being in the military.”

The most rewarding part of the job, he said, is working with people and partners.

“I love being able to solve these complex problems so that they can focus mostly on what they do best – and that’s training for the defense of this nation.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Integration in the Islands"}]

Jeff Choi, vice president of operations for ʻOhana Military Communities, recently gave ASD a tour of homes at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Fast Facts about the portfolio:

• All available housing is rentals.

•Occupancy is currently at 97%.

• Waitlist is “pretty healthy.”

•There are over 100 playgrounds.

•Other amenities include access to community center, pool, gym and more. 

• Pets are allowed.

Source: Jeff Choi, vice president of operations for ʻOhana Military Communities

He shared how it’s been adopting the new technology and other local updates.

“One of the really exciting things — and I've been doing this for just over 20 years, in military housing for five — is that Brian [Stann] decided he was going to build the technology and not wait for somebody else to catch up ... itʻs built for what we do,” Choi said.

According to Choi, some of the tech initiatives, including custom mobile apps, have been rolled out in Hawai’i, with more planned.

Out of its nearly 200 employees in the Islands, there are about 90 technicians, he said, adding, “We aim for best in class service 24/7.”

Under military contracts, there are strict rules and regulations ‘

Ohana Military Communities must abide by, he said. One, for example, is that in an emergency situation, their response time must be 60 minutes or less. He explained that typically includes plumbing leaks, electrical issues and more.

“Our new app, I’m calling it a ‘shot clock’, is designed with these very specific requirements for military housing,” Choi said with a smile. “So, I think it’s going to make our technicians lives easier.”

The quick response time, he added, is also “a great benefit of living here.”

Currently, technicians are still beta testing the work order app, Choi told ASD. Once out of the testing phase, residents will be able to download the app to view status of work orders.

Other tech initiatives on the leasing side helps community managers, who have been using tools that aid with move-outs since last a year. In the works is another for incoming residents.

“That has really upgraded the quality of the turn process for us, just the overall inspection of the houses; We want everything checked. We want the appliances checked. We want the flooring and the paint checked – it’s been a big piece of what we do,” he noted. “This way inspection lists are just kind of uniform and standard across the company. We take pictures and document it, and its been exciting to have a custom app for that, too.”

Hunt’s leadership has assisted the local team through training and support, Choi added.

For Brent Arakaki, Hunt Military Communities’ director of development, the backend of the home turning software will help long-term.

Choi said, for example, if they were to replace HVAC systems in a neighborhood, developers would be guessing at its age, make and model with minimal information.

“That data is piecemeal right now, but these apps should complete that picture.”

Arakaki added: It takes time. Understanding how that would help from an asset management and strategic standpoint to fine-tune the investments, that would help tremendously. And it might not cause us to do a project every 15 years based on the volume of assets, maybe we do two or three. But we extend the life cycle of certain units because we have more data. We might approach projects differently, and we can identify which models are not working. That type of feedback will be helpful in our procurement, selection and conservation of resources.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Development updates"}]

Arakaki says there is $57 million in construction volume carrying over to 2026 in multiyear projects. With $42 million in additional funds this year, a total of $99 million in backlog construction volume remains. “We just can’t finish that level of work in year.”

Funds go toward exterior painting, roofing, air conditioning replacements, landscaping and irrigation, and more. Local companies are contracted for the work, Choi said.

In terms of developing new housing in Hawaiʻi, Arakaki told ASD they are waiting.

“Congress decides if they want to build out the forces in Hawaiʻi to add on phases, so this would be Phase 7, warranting more 

 housing. Then we compete on that for the contract. They did have an exercise two years ago to look for vacant land … but until that gets approved, then it’s not a real project."

The previous Phase 6 development cost $144 million, Hunt confirmed, adding, “Phase 6 was Hunt Military Communities' last development phase in Hawai'i, delivering 260 new homes between 2017 and 2018. The project was located on Marine Corps Base Hawai'i to demolish, rebuild and privatize the last remaining government-operated family housing units.”

Hunt housing 2026

Brent Arakaki, director of development for Hunt Military Communities, which manages ‘Ohana Military Communitiesʻ more than 7,000 residential units on Oʻahu, says it reinvests “tens of millions" of dollars back into local communities on average per year. Hereʻs what the company is spending on this year.

Radford Terrace

‘Ohana Military Communities invests millions in military housing improvements in 2025

Gaston, a longtime Mililani resident and engineer, enjoys giving back to local public schools, as well the University of Hawai’i College of Engineering. For Hunt Companies Hawai‘i, he has also attended numerous Neighborhood Board meetings to help inform community members about ongoing road improvements at Kalaeloa.

Hunt's Tony Gaston

Hunt’s Tony Gaston shares how his work and community service go hand in hand

<title>Hunt invests millions in new tech</title>

ʻOhana Military Communities has begun to roll out new platforms that aim to improve operations, benefiting both staff and service members and their families that reside at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Marine Corps Base Kāneʻohe, among various communities on O‘ahu and Kauaʻi. We spoke with Hunt’s leadership at the corporate and local levels to learn about its overall impact.

Hunt invests millions in new tech

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Columnists

The voting power of the average O‘ahu resident has declined in the past century. 

When elected government first took shape in 1905, the Islands were less populated than they are today. In June 1900, a census count estimated that 154,001 resided in the entire Territory of Hawai‘i, of which 58,504 people lived on O‘ahu. The island experienced a great deal of population growth over the next decade, reaching 81,993 persons by the next count on April 15, 1910. 

O‘ahu’s legislative body is always changing, if not to the detriment of the average resident’s voting power. At least one 

 of the Honolulu City Council outlines the history of the Council’s evolution, dating back to its early formation just a few years less than a decade after Hawai‘i’s annexation into the U.S.

As of 2020, approximately 1,016,508 people reside on O‘ahu. Each member of the Honolulu City Council represents more than 112,000. 

Given the island’s population expansion, it’s only natural. However, that shouldn’t have to mean that the voting power of an individual will shrink in perpetuity, subject only to the growth (or decline) of O‘ahu’s population. 

However, that’s the way the current system is evolving. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"THE TERRITORIAL ERA"}]

Population growth is not the only natural reason for the shrinking power of an O‘ahu voter. The composition of the island’s Legislature, known initially as the Board of Supervisors and now as the City Council, has shifted since that point, too. 

The size of O‘ahu has also expanded since 1905, the year counties were formally established across the U.S. Territory of Hawai‘i through Act 39 of the 1905 Territorial Legislature. 

Elections for the first Board of Supervisors were made in late 1906. Three of the supervisors would hail from the City of Honolulu, one from the district of ‘Ewa, one from the districts of Wai‘anae and Waialua, and one more from the districts of Ko‘olauloa and Ko‘olaupoko, and an at-large member. Other county officers to be elected would be a Sheriff, a County clerk, an Auditor, a County Attorney, a Treasurer, and a Deputy Sheriff for each district of O‘ahu.

Even with O‘ahu’s 1910 population, each member of the Honolulu City Council represented less than 14,000 constituents each. 

This framework, in the grand scheme of history, was nothing more than a brief aberration. More reform was on the horizon. 

In 1907, the Territorial Legislature once again modified the fabric of O‘ahu’s organization through Act 118. The measure, among other gambits, formally chartered the entire island as the City and County of Honolulu. Members of the Board would serve two-year terms, 

Before the end of the Territorial era, O‘ahu was already evolving from employing a Board of Supervisors to a formal City Council.

O‘ahu was also rapidly growing. Between April 1950 and April 1960, the island’s population grew from 353,020 to 500,409 people. While the populations of every other county were in sharp decline, the island was becoming the gathering place of an emerging U.S. State. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"AN ISLAND IN A NEW STATE"}]

The Board preceded the Honolulu City Council, which was not established until statehood in 1959. Honolulu, with statehood, was set to get a City Council. 

In 1955, the Territorial Legislature once again initiated reform through Act 225. A new Charter Commission was authorized, resulting in the expansion of the Council to nine members. Under this new scheme, the composition of the Council would be divided between three rural members and six members selected from the entire county. The influence of rural voters was weighed more heavily than the votes of urban residents. 

Each at-large councilmember now represented an average of approximately 83,400 residents. At this point, each councilmember now represented a constituency larger than the total size of the island at the time of the first council elections in 1906.  

The inequities of the new system inspired controversy in the 1966 county elections. Resolution 173 provided two options for the future composition of the Honolulu City Council to the resident’s voters. 

The first option proposed a new council of nine members elected at-large. The second option proposed an expanded council of 11 members. Six would be elected from at-large seats, while five would be selected from council districts. 

The gambit confused voters. Nearly two-thirds of the voters favored both the first and second propositions. However, an electorate divided in three roughly even ways both meant that neither vote received a majority of the electorate’s support. The Council’s traditional structure remained in place.

The 1972 Charter Commission marked a turning point in the history of the county. Reform approved by the voters established nine district-based councils. Honolulu no longer had at-large seats. 

By April 1970, O‘ahu’s population grew to 630,528 residents. As a result of the transition to geographically based districts aligned to the principle of “one-person one-vote,” each district now had approximately 70,000 constituents. 

Compared to the system established before statehood, this arguably widened the relative voting power of individual voters. Since 1970, O‘ahu’s population has increased by more than 350,000 residents. The number of councilmembers, in the meantime, has stayed the same. 

Since that point, Honolulu has enjoyed nine members, each representing a specific geographic district of the county. While O‘ahu’s population has exploded in the last 50 years, the composition and method of our Council’s shape has stayed static, while the voting power of the individual has declined. 

As of this writing, varied efforts are underway to re-imagine the ideal size and scope of the county’s councilmembers. Each proposal is geared towards increasing the voting power of the individual.

Many arguments for lowering the size of an individual council seat are inspired by the overwhelming size of a council seat relative to the size of a district in the State Legislature. In 2026, a member of the Hawai‘i State Senate – the upper chamber of our State Legislature, represents an average of fewer than 60,000 residents. 

, for example, entertains increasing the size of the Council, albeit without a clear eye towards an ideal number of members. 

, Trevor Nagamine wants to increase the size of the City Council to 81 members. “The large size of Council districts in both population and physical area limits the ability of Councilmembers to be responsive to community issues, especially since City matters tend to be highly local in nature,” Trevor explains. Tom Heinrich is a little more measured through 

, arguing that the Council would be better served with 13 councilmembers. 

, want to make each member of the Council a county-wide representative. 

Many of these proposals are contradictory. However, they are a clear and present reminder that the size and shape of the City Council has never been fixed. It is a fluid construction, one that we could easily change. 

Reform may come. The voting power of the individual may increase, if present reforms move against the trajectory of history. 

Oahu Districts 16x9

<title>The Incredible Shrinking Voter of Honolulu</title>

The voting power of the average O‘ahu resident has declined over the past century, to where each of the nine city council members now represent more than 112,000 people across multiple neighborhoods. That's twice as many people as a Hawai‘i state senator represents. There are some efforts underway to change that.

The Incredible Shrinking Voter of Honolulu

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

“Bakudan” means “bomb” in Japanese, and its explosive connotation was perfect in the culinary aspect, according to business owner Rheindell Alupay.

“It’s an explosion in your mouth,” Alupay explains, when referring to his poke.

 used to be located in Mapunapuna and regularly popped up at events across O

ahu. The business recently relocated and now operates out of La

akea Fish Company; it made so much sense because they’re one of the leading guys that provide fresh fish,” Alupay says. “La

akea has been here for almost two years; they provide me with the good fish.”

The menu at this new location is different because there’s a “different variety of poke,” according to Alupay. Customers can choose from one- ($16), two- ($18), or three-choice ($20) poke bowls. All bowls feature a base of your choice — sushi rice, nacho chips or garden salad — crab salad and toppings like tobiko, furikake and green onions.

Poke flavors range from spicy lomi ‘ahi and spicy ‘ahi avocado to crunchy garlic taegu ‘ahi, cold ginger scallion ‘ahi and wasabi masago ‘ahi.

“We use sashimi-grade cubes for our poke, which helps the quality,” says Alupay, who notes that popular flavors include crunchy garlic taegu poke, wasabi masago ‘ahi, lomi ‘ahi and cold ginger scallion.

Poke nachos feature your choice of poke topped with spicy mayo, unagi sauce and house crab salad. The biz also offers house chirashi ($25) — ‘ahi sashimi, your choice of rice or salad, and choice of poke — and torched ‘ahi donburi bowls ($18-$22).

Of course, the business’s signature Bakubombs are still available. Each pack contains four pieces of cone sushi stuffed with a torched crab filling ($14) or poke flavor of your choice (two-choice poke $16, poke sampler for $20).

“For the four Bakubombs with your choice poke, you can mix and match whatever (flavor) you want,” Alupay says.

akea Fish Company from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays. The business is still open for catering, though, Alupay notes.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We do sushi tables, sushi cakes and sashimi platters,” he confirms."}]

Limited customer parking is available in front of La

Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays

Bakudan Poke business owner 020926

<title>Bakudan Poke is now open in Kalihi</title>

The business, which used to be in Mapunapua, is known for its poke flavors and Bakubombs, which are cone sushi stuffed with a torched crab filling or poke. Bakudan Poke has teamed up with Laʻakea Fish Company and operates out of the business’s store in Kalihi.

Bakudan Poke is now open in Kalihi

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

The top four teams in collegiate men's volleyball were supposed to converge in Southern California from Feb. 19-20 as part of an NIL tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim. No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Long Beach State, No. 3 Hawai‘i and No. 4 USC were set to compete against each other in what would have served as a first in the sport. 

As the start date for the landmark event crept up, no tournament sponsor was announced. Then on Jan. 27, teams were notified that the event was being scrapped in 2026. That meant all four teams suddenly had gaps in their schedule. 

The University of Hawai‘i pivoted quickly, securing a home series against No. 7 BYU. Matches are set to be played on Feb. 25 and 27 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors, who originally 

did not have any home matches scheduled in February

Letter to the Editor: Mediation plays a major role

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Letter to the Editor: Mediation plays a major role

Authors

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Representative Only

More in Letters to the Editor

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