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Daily Smile

Dog reunited with its owner after being lost in the wilderness for five months...

Smile 26 2 22

<title>Daily Smile: Sunday, February 22, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Sunday, February 22, 2026

 Dog reunited with its owner after being lost in the wilderness for five months...

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

MĀNOA — On a night where the University of Hawai‘i men's basketball program honored one of its greatest past figures, the current team proved it could also be a group of players worth honoring one day. 

In front of a Stan Sherif Center season-high turnstile crowd of 8,103, the Rainbow Warriors prevailed 78-75 over UC Santa Barbara in overtime. The 'Bows improved to 19-7 overall and 11-5 in Big West play, moving into a three-way tie with UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge for first place in the conference standings. 

On Saturday night, Hawai‘i was down 32-30 to the Gauchos (17-11, 10-7) at halftime. During the 15-minute intermission, the program honored 

, retiring his No. 23 jersey. At the end of the ceremony, his 23 jersey was officially in the rafters with Bob Nash's No. 32. 

"I just want to say mahalo to everybody, and thank y'all for all the memories that y'all gave me," Carter said during his speech. 

The biggest lead in Saturday night's game belonged to UC Santa Barbara, which held a 48-40 advantage with 11:46 remaining. The 'Bows continued to chip away, sending the game to overtime on a Harry Rouhliadeff tip-in with 2.4 seconds remaining. Aidan Mahaney's desperation heave from halfcourt barely missed, sending the Gauchos and 'Bows to overtime tied at 68. 

An Isaac Johnson free throw with 1:02 remaining proved to be the final score of the game for either team. UC Santa Barbara had consecutive empty possessions to end the game, including a CJ Shaw desperation 3-point attempt that was short at the buzzer, giving the Rainbow Warriors a hard-fought win over the perennial Big West contenders in the final regular season matchup as members of the conference. Hawai‘i is leaving for the Mountain West in July. 

Adding to the grand nature of the night was the game itself, which was televised nationally on ESPNU. With all the aligned circumstances culminating in a Hawai‘i victory, 11th-year head coach Eran Ganot will keep Saturday night's contest stashed away in a special place in the memory banks. 

"This is one I'll never forget," Ganot said. "All things considered, I will never forget that. I heard fans say it, I heard players say it, coaches. I cannot thank the power of the Hawai‘i fan base (enough) for the love and passion and emotion they showed in there."

Under Ganot, the Rainbow Warriors have not made an NCAA Tournament since 2016. In 2025, they missed the conference altogether. This year, the 'Bows aren't satisfied with merely making the conference tournament. Saturday's victory put the 'Bows right back in contention for the top seed with just four regular season games remaining. 

Carter's return to Mānoa prompted dozens of other former UH men's players and coaches to come on Saturday and engage in the festivities, some who had suited up for the 'Bows over 50 years ago. 

Ganot, a New Jersey native, got his first full-time gig in college basketball as UH's director of basketball operations as a 24-year-old in 2006. Twenty years later, he still prides himself on being a Hawai‘i basketball historian. After seeing so many of the program's greats in one night witness a crucial victory, he found himself overcome with emotion at times. 

"I was getting a little emotional," Ganot said. "How do you not get emotional? There's some places you have bitter alums, like they're not rooting for you or something, or everybody. Our legacies are about making it better than you found it. And when your time is done, support the next group like all hell. You want them to be better than you."

Part of Carter's week on O‘ahu was to speak to the team during practice. The Rainbow Warriors took his words to heart. 

"It meant a lot. He's a legend here. Always pay respect to our former players," said Dre Bullock, who scored a game-high 21 points. "He talked to us for about a good 20, 30 minutes just about life and basketball, just playing for each other. ... Don't worry about points, other stuff going on, distractions, just play hard. Give the fans a show, because they pay to see us play. The best thing we can do is just give them a show, play hard, whatever it takes to win."

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

AC Carter 4 022126

<title>Hawai‘i men's basketball triumphs over UC Santa Barbara on AC Carter night</title>

The Rainbow Warriors prevailed over the Gauchos in overtime in front of a season-high crowd.

Hawai‘i men's basketball triumphs over UC Santa Barbara on AC Carter night

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

Shidler College of Business Alumni Association

, is coming up March 5 at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort. The event is from 6 to 9 p.m.; tickets ($200 each) are still available.

This is the association’s largest event of the year; most than 600 alumni are expected to attend. The event has been held annually for 26 years, according to Toby Tamaye, 

board member for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business

Attendees can look forward to hundreds of wines and spirits provided by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Beverage Marketing & More. 

“We are excited to again bring one of the most desired restaurant line ups to the Executive Vineyards”, says Tamaye. “This year, we added the award-winning Korean restaurant ONKEE to our offerings, creating more ideal pairings with our large wine selection.”

: Roasted mushrooms, herbed cream cheese, pickled shimejis and yuzu kosho honey

: KCC bisque with kalo, coconut, crab, lemongrass essence and lomi tomato

: Indonesian-inspired black pepper steak poke. We're told this is the poke version of Basalt Waikīkī chef Lance Kosaka's signature black pepper pork chop entree. 

: Paniolo Molokai venison, coconut lūʻau leaf, Maui Onion confit and pickled beets

: “Quesadilla” with housemade carnitas, pico de gallo and Kupu Place micro cilantro

: Beef black curry with caramelized onions and rice

: Kona kampachi poisson cru, featuring smoked kampachi, nasturtium, sea asparagus and coconut yuzu foam

: Cookie buffet, featuring assorted cookies that attendees can choose from (limit two or three per person) 

: Flank steak bao bun “bruschetta” with local tomato confit. According to chef Jason Ichiki, this dish was part of the featured prix fixe menu for New Year's. He says it's not on the restaurant's regular menu, but highlights locally grown produce from Hawaiian Earth Farms, which is a partnership between chef Roy Yamaguchi and Hawaiian Earth Recycling. 

Last year’s Executive Vineyards event raised more than $68,000 in support of Shidler College and its programs. To learn more, visit 

shidler.hawaii.edu/events/2026/03/05/executive-vineyards

Executive Vineyards Royal Hawaiian 021926

<title>Executive Vineyards 2026 is coming this March</title>

The annual fundraising event for the Shidler College of Business Alumni Association will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort. Here’s a sneak peek of the restaurant line-up.

Executive Vineyards 2026 is coming this March

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Government & Politics

Columnists

On Opening Day, the Legislature gave a lot of fine speeches about how lawmakers were really going to knuckle down and tackle the “affordability crisis” and Hawai‘i’s high cost of living the session.

[{"type":"text","text":"So far, they’ve done the opposite."}]

For example, yesterday Rep. David Tarnas killed House Bill 1611, which, as we 

, “would have reduced Hawai‘i's general excise tax on groceries and nonprescription drugs each year until removing it entirely in 2034.”

Hawai‘i residents have been crying out for this regressive tax on daily life to be removed for years. So why did Tarnas, chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, kill it?

“[I] can’t in good conscience move forward with a bill that might have a quarter-billion dollars in fiscal impact,” he said.

Fiscal impact on state government, he means. The fact that these taxes have a quarter-billion dollars in fiscal impact on all of us matters not one bit to him and his likeminded legislators.

[{"type":"text","text":"These people are thinking about themselves, not you."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Oh, it gets worse."}]

Yesterday, Gov. Josh Green asked lawmakers for another $100 million for Covid-era hazard pay for public workers, as Civil Beat 

. This is in addition to past hazard pay bonuses. “The Legislature already appropriated 

 for hazard pay,” CB notes, “which was required during the pandemic under the state contracts with the Hawai

i Government Employees Association and the United Public Workers union."

And now the teachers also want hazard pay, the article says. “The Hawai

i State Teachers Association is also lobbying lawmakers for pandemic hazard pay for about 13,000 teachers,” CB notes.

HSTA wants the pay mainly because, while they did not have a hazard pay clause in their contract, members of HGEA did, including HGEA members who work in the schools, explains that article. “Those people got $20,000 and our members got zero,” HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said. “Our teachers put their lives on the line during this time. It just rubs the wrong way that we then get sidelined on this issue.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Put. Their lives. On the line."}]

They did no such thing. In case our Legislators have forgotten, the schools closed.

They closed. They shut their doors in March 2020 and would not resume in-person education until 

And while they were shut, they had highly risk-averse criteria for reopening.

“Hawai‘i’s public schools are expected to stay shut until Covid-19 is no longer spreading in the community, defined as four weeks with no new cases, according to the Department of Education,” 

 Star-Advertiser reporter Susan Essoyan, April 9, 2020.

Also, while closed, Hawai‘i schools received some 

 in federal funding under three different batches of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, in part to fund their own closure to in-person education.

 digital devices and MiFi hotspots specifically to work from home and avoid any hazard.

And what was the result? After a $639-million windfall, what did the DOE deliver?

. The DOE has been talking about a recovery in those scores in the years since, but its a recovery from abysmal to merely alarming. As of the most recent 2025 Strive HI report, just 41% of students are proficient in math, 43% in science, and 53% in language arts.

 (page 519 at the link), from 18% of students chronically absent in the 2020-2021 school year to 37% in 2021-2022, 30% in 2022-2023.  Chronic absenteeism is 

(Distinct possibility: The gain in test scores could be an illusion — how many chronically absent students skipped the test? If they’re missing that much school, chances are, they weren’t going to be measured as among the proficient.)

[{"type":"text","text":"Hazard pay for teachers? The taxpayers should get a refund from the DOE."}]

All of this government worker hazard pay lands squarely on the backs on people who got no such accommodation in the private sector while facing the same risks. Whose businesses were shut down, by government order. Whose jobs disappeared. Who now face the permanently high prices caused the massive inflation spike during the Biden administration — 

 year over year, as high as nearly 18% monthly, annualized — as the feds confronted borrowing more than $4 trillion for Covid relief.

What a great deal for Hawai‘i state government this has been: Help inflate the cost of goods with the Covid lockdowns, then reap higher GET revenues off the inflated prices. No wonder legislators want to keep their hands in our grocery bills.

[{"type":"text","text":"Every time you eat, the state eats you."}]

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.

Tarnas David A 359 16x9

<title>Pipikaula Corner: State government is the hazard</title>

The Legislature said it was going to tackle Hawai‘i's affordability crisis. In killing tax relief on our grocery purchases, it's doing the opposite. Meanwhile, it's commandeering hundreds of millions to pay its own workers hazard pay for the Covid years.

Pipikaula Corner: State government is the hazard

[{"type":"text","text":"A new Korean grocery store just opened in Honolulu."}]

 just opened in the former Ross space on 

. The grocery store offers a variety of produce, noodles, seasonings, snacks, drinks and more.

The store is open this week from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., but starting next week, it will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Customers can get 10% off side dishes — including kimchi, cucumber kimchi and seaweed — during soft opening.

[{"type":"text","text":"Validated customer parking (one hour) is available with purchase."}]

You Me Mart sign 022026

<title>New Korean grocery store open in Honolulu</title>

You Me Mart just soft opened on Ke‘eaumoku Street. The business is located in the same space as French-Korean bakery TOUS les JOURS, in the former Ross space.

New Korean grocery store open in Honolulu

 is popular for its seafood and prime buffet, which is offered from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays.

The eatery recently launched a new chef selection dinner buffet option, available from 5 to 9 p.m. every Monday to Wednesday. This buffet experience costs $62 per adult and $42 for children 6 to 10 years old.

Instead of featuring action stations like prime rib, hand rolls and steamed crab legs, this buffet focuses on specialty items and elevated offerings. The new buffet menu comes from Prince Waikīkī’s new executive chef, Brooke Tadena.

Born in Honolulu and raised in Wahiawā, Tadena brings more than a decade of culinary expertise to his new role at Prince Waikīkī. He attended McKinley High School and Kapiʻolani Community College, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.

His previous experiences included serving as chef de cuisine for Hoku’s; executive sous chef and banquet chef at Hilton Hawaiian Village; executive sous chef at the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa; and restaurant chef for the iconic House Without A Key at Halekulani. 

Highlights from the new buffet include specialty options presented in sample-sized portions, like skirt steak with cilantro garlic chimichurri, fried beef ravioli with marinara sauce, seared fresh catch, and braised beef with creamy potato puree.

Other options from the hot station include angry mac n cheese, mushroom risotto, Spanish-style potatoes, guava barbecue pork ribs, jalapeno corn bread, and lamb ragu campanelli. We’re told the buffet offerings will change occasionally.

Meanwhile, the cold bar features maki rolls, shrimp cocktail, marinated seafood ceviche and nairagi crudo with citrus and pickles.

The salad bar offers mixed greens, Greek salad, assorted breads, assorted imported and domestic cheeses, and charcuterie.

Customers can also enjoy featured desserts like panna cotta, espresso tiramisu, creme brulee, cheesecake and the signature Prince bread pudding.

Tadena has also updated the eatery’s a la carte menu. The majority of dishes featured on it — ranging from margherita pinsa flatbread ($24) and taro burgers ($24) to pappardelle burrata pasta ($32) and lobster rolls ($36) — are brand new.

So far, the ‘ahi poke nachos ($23) have been the most popular appetizer. They feature a medley of chips — won ton, sweet potato, shrimp and taro — topped with shoyu ‘ahi, avocado, spicy mayo, yuzu crema, green onions, pickled red onions, pea tendrils, kizami nori and edamame.

The eatery’s lobster roll ($36) has also been a crowd favorite. It features a New England-style hoagie roll stuffed with lobster mixed with yuzu mayo and fresh dill; it’s served with  fries or salad.

The lobster rolls are on the eatery’s a la carte menu for both lunch and dinner, so customers can enjoy it all day long.

Other popular entrees include the coffee-rubbed rib-eye ($38) — a 12-ounce beef rib-eye served with potatoes, arugula salad with tarragon dressing and coffee demi glace — and Kona kanpachi ($35). The latter features a skin-on filet with hijiki edamame Japanese rice and dashi ponzu.

Conclude your meal with new desserts ($15 each) like mango cheesecake with calamansi sable; creme brulee; and Maui Ku’ia Estate chocolate crunch cake. The latter has been a bestseller so far, and features dark chocolate mousse, sea salted caramel, and Kula Maui strawberry compote.

Chef’s selection dinner buffet is from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays

100 Sails buffet cheese 021026

<title>New weekday dinner buffet at Prince Waikīkī</title>

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar just launched a new chef selection dinner buffet, available from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays. This buffet costs $62 per adult; instead of action stations like prime rib or sushi handrolls, it features specialty items like roasted beef tri tip, guava barbecue pork ribs, mushroom risotto and more.

New weekday dinner buffet at Prince Waikīkī

AKINA portrait 2

Keliʻi Akina, Ph.D.

Viewpoints

When it comes to supporting agricultural production in Hawaiʻi, there seems to be a big difference between rhetoric and reality.

State and county officials frequently identify farming as the key to diversifying our economy and making our Islands self-sufficient in food production. But what policies have they implemented that would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to thrive?

The reality is that many Hawaiʻi farmers and ranchers struggle to operate without running into a frustrating, time-consuming and costly web of regulations and permit requirements.

For instance, state and county rules make it extremely difficult for farmers and ranchers to provide housing for the workers they need to plant, grow and harvest their crops or tend to their livestock. 

And without places for potential agricultural workers to live near where they work, it is nearly impossible to achieve the vaunted goal of increased agricultural production in Hawaiʻi.

So how can we claim to support farmers when we haven’t dealt with the many regulations that make it difficult for them to prosper?

Well, several measures have been introduced during this year’s state legislative session that could actually make a difference. 

, which would allow farmers and ranchers to build accessory dwelling units to use for worker housing. 

, which lawmakers have not yet scheduled for a hearing. This bill would allow farmers to build multiple homes for employees in small areas on their land, known as cluster housing.

More farmworker housing would not only boost employment and agricultural production — it would help alleviate the state’s housing crisis in general, since agricultural workers would no longer be competing for homes closer to the urban core.

But it’s not enough to simply allow farmers and ranchers to build worker housing. The many barriers that complicate building on its own need to be reformed, as well.

, which also has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. This bill would expand state permitting exemptions for agricultural structures such as barns, sheds and greenhouses. And doing so would help reduce Hawaiʻi’s notorious permitting backlogs for other projects too.

Taken together, these proposals could make a real difference for Hawaiʻi’s farmers and ranchers, and for Hawaiʻi residents and consumers as a whole. So I hope our lawmakers will take a close look at them.

Reprinted with permission from the Feb. 17, 2026, "Presidentʻs Corner" of 

Shutterstock 1649321554 scaled

<title>Community Voices: More local food starts with housing</title>

A look at several measures that have been introduced during this year’s state legislative session that could actually make a difference for Hawaiʻi’s farmers and ranchers, and for Hawaiʻi residents and consumers as a whole.

Daily Smile: Sunday, February 22, 2026

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