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“How my dogs act when my husband gets home after 12 hours vs when I get back from the store after 10 minutes..."

Smile 26 2 13

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, February 13, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Friday, February 13, 2026

 “How my dogs act when my husband gets home after 12 hours vs when I get back from the store after 10 minutes...&quot;

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

You can take advantage of this buy one, get one free ramen deal for a limited time.

, located in Kāhala (next to Sharetea), is celebrating its grand opening from Feb. 14 to 16. Customers who buy one bowl can get the second bowl free during all three days.

The first 50 guests on opening day, Feb. 14, will get free ramen (doors open at 11 a.m.). The first 50 guests on Feb. 15 will get a free exclusive Broth Bar ceramic ramen bowl; the first 50 guests on Feb. 16 will get a free, exclusive Broth Bar limited-edition T-shirt.

The new business — which is opening in the former Domino’s Pizza space — specializes in ramen and appetizers.

Start with appetizers like takoyaki ($8.50), signature gyoza with pork and vegetable filling ($8), spicy cucumber ($6), spicy tuna with crispy wonton ($9) and chicken karaage ($9). The karaage features tender, marinated chicken thighs that are fried to a delectable golden brown, and served with a side of housemade spicy mayo sauce for dipping.

Signature tonkotsu ramen dishes include the original ($18), the spicy ($19) and the original deluxe ($20). All ramen dishes feature broths and noodles that are made in house.

The original deluxe is similar to the original ramen — which comprises a half ajitama egg, one piece char siu, green onions, kikurage and nori — but includes more toppings (three pieces of char siu, three pieces of nori, and a full ajitama egg).

Other entrees include shoyu ($17), miso ($18) and tan tan ($19) ramen; there are also vegan ramen options — original vegan ($18), spicy vegan ($19) and vegan tan tan ($19) — available.

If you’re not in the mood for ramen, there are rice bowls — including spicy ‘ahi ($6.50) and karaage ($6) — and chicken katsu curry ($18).

The eatery is BYOB for the first two months. The Broth Bar Noodle House will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays  

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

The Broth Bar Noodle House dishes

<title>Buy one, get one free ramen deal at this new shop</title>

The Broth Bar Noodle House is opening Feb. 14 in Kāhala. Its grand opening festivities are Feb. 14 to 16, and customers can take advantage of a BOGO ramen deal during all three days.

Buy one, get one free ramen deal at this new shop

[{"type":"text","text":"There’s a new all-you-can-eat sushi option on Oʻahu. "}]

 at Ka Makana Aliʻi is offering a new AYCE sushi menu during lunch and dinner. Lunch costs $28.95 and dinner is $38.95. Children ages 5 to 11 years can enjoy half-price admission; children ages 5 years and under have free admission. 

Lunch is from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner is 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday. There’s a 90-minute time limit for the AYCE experience. 

The menu is extensive, and comprises appetizers, noodles and rice, nigiri, and sushi rolls. 

Appetizers include cold tofu, gyoza, shrimp tempura, crab rangoon, baked mussels, and chicken wings. In addition, appetizers available during the dinner all-you-can-eat experience include salmon poppers, tuna tataki, and yellowtail jalapeno.

Diners can also enjoy hibachi-style dishes — like chicken teriyaki and noodles — along with nabeyaki udon or ramen, hibachi fried rice and a variety of salads.

Nigiri options include tuna, hamachi, salmon, unagi, tako and more. Each order includes two pieces. Sashimi options include tuna, unagi, red snapper, squid, yellowtail and salmon.

Customers can also choose from a variety of six- or eight-piece sushi rolls. Recommended options include the Hawaiʻi roll — spicy crunchy tuna and cucumber topped with cooked shrimp, avocado, unagi sauce and spicy mayo — and Godzilla roll, comprising spicy crunchy salmon and avocado topped with eel, spicy kani (crab), unagi sauce and spicy mayo. 

The dinner AYCE menu also includes options like the sweetheart roll — spicy crunchy tuna and avocado topped with fresh tuna, and served in the shape of a heart — crispy yellowtail roll and crazy Friday roll. The latter features shrimp tempura and lobster salad topped with avocado, wasabi mayo and masago. 

For an additional $20 per person, customers can have access to premium dishes in addition to the regular AYCE menu. All individuals in each dining party will be charged accordingly with this selection.

Premium nigiri include ama ebi, ikura and scallop. Premium rolls include salmon belly Osaka roll, lobster delight roll, angry dragon roll and more.

The premium AYCE experience also includes sashimi like sweet shrimp, scallop and ikura.

AYCE sushi lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays

Sakura Kapolei assorted nigiri 021126

<title>Sakura Sushi & Hibachi has a new all-you-can-eat sushi menu</title>

The eatery, located in Ka Makana Aliʻi, now offers AYCE sushi during lunch and dinner on Mondays to Thursdays. The AYCE experience costs $28.95 per adult during lunch and $38.95 per adult during dinner.

Sakura Sushi & Hibachi has a new all-you-can-eat sushi menu

Government & Politics

 on the number of sharks attacks in the United States by state in 2025. Using data compiled by the media outlet as well as by 

, there were at least 28 reported shark attacks nationwide last year.

In the top spot was Florida, with 15 attacks by such species as bull sharks and lemon sharks, in incidents where the shark was  identified.

Next came California with 4 attacks, all attributed to great white sharks.

Hawai‘i had the third largest number of attacks with three, no fatalities. The attacks were attributed to a blacktop reef shark, a tiger shark and one unknown species.

There followed South Carolina with two, Texas with two, North Carolina with two, then Massachusetts and New York with one attack each.

The 28 reported attacks marked a decline from 36 in 2024.

"The odds of being killed by a shark in the United States are more than 4 million to 1, according to 

" reported USA Today. "Researchers say people are more likely to die by lighting strike (1 in nearly 80,000), accidental poisoning (1 in 193), or a hospital infection (1 in 38)."

[{"type":"text","text":"Globally, there were 11 fatalities among 68 reported attacks."}]

Know your shark! Hawai‘i's Department of Land and Natural Resources has an online identification guide for the roughly 40 species of shark seen in Hawai‘i's waters, click 

Shark warning i Stock 1161806839 16x9

<title>Where Hawai‘i ranked for shark attacks in 2025</title>

Shark attacks were recorded in eight states last year.

Where Hawai‘i ranked for shark attacks in 2025

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawaii History

Columnists

Not far beneath the paved roads, apartment buildings, and high-rises, a hidden system of underground caverns and spring-fed ponds once nourished wetlands, lo

i kalo, and freshwater ponds across the M

ili district. This karst, the underground cave system, was formed by eons of erosion of the coral limestone base that consists of beach sediments, marine organisms, and fragments of shells and water-worn coral. The M

ili Karst is thought to be part of the original channel of Mānoa Stream, and contained fish that lived so long in the darkness that they were blind.

It is said that when someone asked an old fisherman in the area where he was going, he

m going holoholo,” out for a walk. For if he announced he was going fishing, the fish that lived underground would hear his plans and spread the word, and the fisherman would have no luck that day.

The water in the underground streams rose to the surface in sacred ponds. Among these, one of the most important was Kapa

akea, also remembered as Kumulae and then later called Hausten Pond. Like nearby Kānewai, Kapa

akea was believed to possess healing qualities and was associated with restoration.

The pond was a favored retreat of Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, who inherited the land from her mother, Kina

ahumanu. Kamāmalu died in 1866 with no heirs, and Kapa

akea eventually came under the ownership of Princess Pauahi and the Bishop Trust. In the 1920s, it was purchased by John McGuire, whose wife, Emma Kaleimoku Ai, established a sanctuary for her family. The property overflowed with a wide variety of tropical flowers, plumeria, ulu, and kukui trees, as well as Hawaiian medicinal plants and herbs, and, of course, Emma

s graceful willow trees that would eventually give the place a new name. The family even had a diving board over the freshwater pond to entertain the children and visitors. The pond was stocked with koi that were said to have interbred with the fish inhabiting the underground streams.

s passing, Emma remarried Henry T. Hausten. The family began hosting political dinners and occasional lu

au for important guests. With the help of Emma

s daughters, her sister, and her brother, things quickly evolved into a full-time business and eventually into The Willows.

Since their official opening in 1944, The Willows welcomed everyone with beautiful settings, warm hospitality, and delicious food. On almost any given day, one would see average working families having a quiet meal alongside the rich and famous. The Willows catered to everybody, perhaps even the otherworldly.

One afternoon, while I was still teaching at a Hawaiian immersion school, a parent asked if she could share her story with me.

She said she used to work as a cashier at The Willows restaurant. At night, she counted the money from the day

the cage,” while a security guard kept watch. One night, out of the blue, they heard Hawaiian music coming from the main part of the restaurant. They could hear lively conversations and the sound of cutlery on plates. But the restaurant had been closed for hours.

After locking the cage door, she and the guard went to check, but the place was empty and completely quiet. The silence was unnerving, but the two were not going to wait for the proverbial shoe to drop. They decided she would quickly finish counting the cash, and then they would leave as soon as she was done. But as she neared the end of her count, they heard splashing in the pond and the sounds of laughter and fun.

Once she finished her work, she and the security guard braced themselves to leave, trying to ignore anything else they might see or hear.

The laughter and splashing kept going until we left the restaurant,” she said, 

When we got to the parking lot, we heard the Hawaiian music again. The security guard quit the next day, and later that week, I started working at the airlines.”

I shared a bit of the pond's sacred history, and she looked as if she had just remembered something important.

She added that sometimes, while counting money in the cage, they would finish and look up to see tiny footprints all over the ceiling and walls, as if children had been stomping around, though they never heard any footsteps. A staff member once told them there was supposed to be a menehune path through The Willows, but no one knew exactly where it was.

Of course, not everyone who worked at the Willows had a supernatural experience, but based on her stories, there was enough happening that it was hard to keep security guards on staff.

Sadly, The Willows closed in 2018 after serving the public for nearly 70 years. I wonder if the neighbors still hear the music, laughter, and celebrations.

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

The old Willows Restaurant Large

<title>Echoes of The Willows</title>

Generations of kama‘āina have warm memories of The Willows restaurant in Mō‘ili‘ili. Here's the real history of the location, and the reasons why people who worked there heard singing when no one was present and saw the footprints of ghostly children.

Echoes of The Willows

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Construction of the third section of Honolulu's Skyline rail system has taken another step forward as transit officials ready for the second segment to open this fall.

A blessing and groundbreaking ceremony was held earlier this week at the future site of the 

Ka‘ākaukukui, or Civic Center, station in Kaka‘ako for the next phase of the project, the city center guideway and stations.

The CCGS project includes the construction of nearly three miles of elevated guideway and six rail stations, starting near the 

Kahauiki, or Middle Street Transit Center, station and ending at the the Civic Center station, just east of the intersection of Halekauwila and South streets, an announcement from HART, or 

the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, noted. Construction is expected to be finished by 2030.

The first part of the work will begin in the Iwilei area and includes drilling shafts for the columns that will support the guideway, the announcement noted, adding that working hours will span from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays as needed. HART officials say the hours, though, depend on where they're working.

HART — the public transit authority responsible for planning and building the rail system for the City and County of Honolulu —  

 for the design and construction of the CCGS project to Tutor Perini Corp. in August 2024.

CEO and Executive Director Lori Kahikina told Aloha State Daily Monday afternoon that reaching this point is "very meaningful for this team."

It's the second or third time that HART has tried to procure the last segment, she said, "and to finally actually do it, what a milestone it was for all of us."

Utility work for this segment of the rail has been underway for the last two years, but Kahikina said the hope is that the utilities will be finished in the Downtown Honolulu area by the end of the year and the Dillingham corridor by next summer.

"But soon you'll start to see the shafts being drilled and the columns coming up also before the end of the year," she says. 

"Then, once you start seeing the columns come up, of course then the guideway goes on top of that, but simultaneously, they'll start the stations," Kahikina continued. "So maybe in about two years, you'll see stations start to come up."

"Everything's going to be foundation work, then you'll just slowly start to see structure come up out of the ground," Deputy Project Director Matt Scanlon told ASD.

Kahikina says it's premature to talk about possible detours and general road closures, but she noted that the state Department of Transportation director had some "questions and concerns, so we want to see how can we change some of the maintenance and traffic to make sure we minimize the impact."

"We're not going to be able to eliminate it — it is a reality of construction — but hopefully it's not going to be as intrusive as Dillingham  ... . But [it's] a little bit premature to share how many lanes we're going to be closing and in what direction."

Anyone who's driven Dillingham Boulevard in recent years has witnessed the ongoing work that has shifted traffic patterns and caused delays.

Scanlon says that once contractors begin building the guideway, "they'll put down more of a permanent barrier."

On Dillingham, they'll largely be "building in the middle, so you'll see more of a fixed maintenance of traffic setup and then they'll just have an assembly line," he explained. "They'll start with the foundations and then the columns and they'll build the guideway, so it'll start to look like an assembly line going down the road and a little less haphazard than the utilities were, with cones moving around a lot."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Segment Two"}]

 and spans just under 11 miles from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium. This section includes the rail's first nine stations: K

aualakaʻi (East Kapolei), Keoneʻae (University of Hawai‘i-West Oʻahu), Honouliuli (Hoʻopili), Hōʻaeʻae (West Loch), Pouhala (Waipahu Transit Center), Hālaulani (Leeward Community College), Waiawa (Pearl Highlands), Kalauao (Pearlridge), and Hālawa (Aloha Stadium).

The second section, running 5.2 miles from Aloha Stadium to the Middle Street Transit Center, is on track to open in October.

This portion will add four more stations to the route: Pearl Harbor, the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Lagoon Drive and Middle Street.

Trial operations just began late last month and the safety certification is being done in coordination with city state and federal agencies, 

(Eastbound passengers take note: you have to exit the train at the Aloha Stadium station before it enters segment two. Once the train returns westbound to the station, you can board the train to continue your trip).

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced during his State of the City address in March this segment of Skyline would 

According to Kahikina, segment two is in "system demonstrations," which measures the train's service availability and evaluates its performance and reliability.

Tsuda said they need to reach a 30-day rolling average of 98.5% availability.

"Once we finish that, then we have met all the requirements and we can turn it over to DTS for revenue service," he says. "Right now, based on where we are, we are still on track for the Oct. 15 grand opening and then the 16th ... for passengers to ride."

HART also has to "safety certify the system," which will run concurrently with this demonstration, he noted.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Lessons learned"}]

What lessons have HART learned from earlier segments of the rail that they can use during the construction of the third?

[{"type":"text","text":"There's a whole list, Kahikina says."}]

"We've gone through a number of items as we finished off segment one and turned over to [Honolulu's Department of Transportation Services], and as DTS has been operating segment one, they've provided some lessons learned that we're implementing," Project Director Vance Tsuda told ASD.

Among the changes you might see include the canopies on the station platforms, he noted. For example, segment one and two have a tensile fabric canopy but segment three will have a more traditional metal roofing material.

Scanlon said, too, that the way the guideway is being built is also changing.

The first two segments have been constructed with "precast segmental construction," where individual segments, "almost like Lego pieces," were built off-site in West O‘ahu and trucked in, he explained. The segments were then assembled with an overhead gantry, or overhead suspended crane, and tensioned together.

"We're going to be building the city center with a more traditional pre-cast girder system," Scanlon continued.

Before, the stations were tired more to when the guideway came through, he says.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We're building for the first time six stations at once.\""}]

Scanlon says that building the guideway and stations independently will allow the contractor to start the stations much sooner than in the first two segments, and will save both time and money.

More information about the rail project can be found at 

25 0227 CCGS Blessing Site 33

<title>HART breaks ground on next phase of Honolulu rail project</title>

A blessing and groundbreaking ceremony was held Aug. 11 at the future site of the Ka‘ākaukukui, or Civic Center, station in Kaka‘ako for the next phase of the project, the city center guideway and stations.

Daily Smile: Friday, February 13, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Friday, February 13, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

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