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

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Daily Smile: Friday, March 13, 2026

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Daily Smile: Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Former Kahuku head football coach Sterling Carvalho and his attorney, Eric Seitz, took to O‘ahu Circuit Court on Monday for his lawsuit against the state. 

Monday was the date set by O‘ahu Circuit Court Judge Jordon Kimura during a 

 as Kahuku's head football coach on March 31. A letter was sent to Kahuku parents shortly thereafter, though no reason was provided at the time. He served as the head coach for the Red Raiders from 2018 to 2024, going 59-18 with three straight state titles from 2021 to 2023. 

As was stated in both Carvalho's lawsuit and discussed during Monday's hearing, Carvalho's removal stemmed from an incident in the 2023 season involving a player, Tavian "Manoa" Hallums, and his father, Kalani Hallums. Carvalho sued the DOE, superintendent Keith Hayashi, area superintendent Samuel Izumi and both Hallums. 

A social media post from Kalani Hallums criticizing Carvalho in the middle of the 2023 season made the rounds in the Kahuku community and was soon brought to the attention of Carvalho. 

Carvalho's removal and ensuing lawsuit traces back to a one-on-one meeting between him and Manoa Hallums during a practice following Kalani Hallums' posts. Carvalho says he called Manoa Hallums into a private office at Kahuku's weight room and told him other adults saw his father's posts and wanted to "lick" him. Despite that, Carvalho said he wanted to look out for the "social, emotional and mental health" of Manoa Hallums, a phrase also repeated by the defense. 

After Manoa Hallums voluntarily addressed the team during a practice, Carvalho says he and other coaches also addressed the team, telling players not to take any anger directed toward Kalani Hallums out on Manoa Hallums. 

As many as 21 people were present in support of Carvalho during Monday's hearing, which lasted seven hours, albeit with breaks between multiple sessions. Carvalho's wife sat directly behind him the entire day, appearing to tear up on multiple occasions. 

One of Seitz's first appeals for Carvalho was a personal one, praising his character and honesty. Seitz noted that Carvalho's motivation for leading the Red Raiders was purely intrinsic since he made a mere $3,000 annually as Kahuku's head football coach. During the day, Carvalho teaches math at Hawai‘i Technology Academy, a public charter school under the DOE umbrella on O‘ahu's west side. 

The basis behind the Department of Education's defense, led by attorney Bradford Chun, was that Carvalho did not sign a contract to remain Kahuku's head football coach for the 2024 season. 

The first witness called to the stand was former Kahuku High and Intermediate principal Donna Lindsey, who recently retired after 14 years as principal and 35 years in education. She submitted her retirement on March 28, effective July 1, without the knowledge that Carvalho was going to be removed as the school's head football coach three days later. 

Both Lindsey and Kahuku athletic director Gillian Yamagata, when called to the witness stand, acknowledged they were aware of the incident that occurred between Carvalho and the Hallums that was being investigated by the DOE. 

Area superintendent Samuel Izumi, who oversaw Carvalho's firing, was also called to the stand on Monday, where he stated he wanted to meet with Carvalho in person at his office in Kāneʻohe. Izumi said attempts to meet with Carvalho in person in January were unsuccessful, and the two ended up speaking on a Zoom call on Feb. 14. 

Prosecution and defense both mentioned that when Carvalho was asked if he would handle the situation any differently, Carvalho said he wouldn't, other than having another witness present during his one-on-one meeting with Manoa Hallums. 

While Izumi said he did not have knowledge of Carvalho threatening Kalani Hallums, he believed he had "sufficient evidence" that the "social, emotional and mental health" of Manoa Hallums was compromised. 

Izumi also said he felt a lack of "reflection, remorse or consideration" in Carvalho's demeanor throughout the investigation, noting he didn't read the entire investigation report, also noting Carvalho's lack of desire to meet in person immediately in January. 

Dozens of letters in support Carvalho have poured in since April, but Izumi noted they were all "after the fact."

Another witness on Monday was Stewart Carvalho, Sterling's twin brother. Stewart Carvalho was an assistant coach on Sterling's staff, serving as the special teams coordinator and receivers coach. 

Honolulu Fire Department veteran Kalu Wolfe, whose son, Terahiti, played for Sterling Carvalho in 2022, also took the witness stand to vouch for him. 

Stewart Carvalho, a Lāʻie resident, noted that Manoa Hallums, who transferred in from Mililani in 2022, was a frequent visitor to his home. "He would always come over, sleepovers or food, dinner," Stewart Carvalho said. 

Manoa Hallums would continue to visit Stewart Carvalho's home following a brief break Manoa Hallums took from the team in 2023 after his one-on-one meeting with Sterling Carvalho. Stewart Carvalho said during those visits, Manoa Hallums did not indicate there were any problems or that trauma was being caused. 

The witness who spent the longest time on the stand was Sterling Carvalho, who was asked a bevy of questions about his contractual status with Kahuku by the defense. Sterling Carvalho's contract for the 2024-2025 season was set to expire on June 30 before his March 31 removal. 

Because he was a casual hire, he was never given a contract beyond one year. 

Sterling Carvalho noted that the Red Raiders had a captain for each position, and that Manoa Hallums was voted the receivers captain for 2023. Each captain came together to form the captain council. Carvalho says he didn't know until after the fact that the council voted to remove Manoa Hallums as a captain after a road trip to California in 2023 in which he allegedly had an altercation with a teammate in a hotel room. 

Sterling Carvalho also mentioned how Manoa Hallums' access to the team's Hudl (a film sharing platform) was revoked after he publicly shared plays from team practices, breaking a team rule. 

The defense pointed out Carvalho signed contracts to coach the team for the 2022 and 2023 seasons but not 2024.  

In hopes of getting Hayashi on the witness stand, Seitz said his team subpoenaed Hayashi during the lunch break, which lasted about one hour through 12:45 p.m. However, Seitz said Hayashi was not present at his office, noting he's "never subpoenaed a party" in his life. 

Kahuku athletics director Gillian Yamagata was called to the stand by the defense and acknowledged Sterling Carvalho did not complete his paperwork for the 2024 season. Seitz responded by saying even though Sterling Carvalho did not sign the contract, he still performed it and was paid for it. 

After both sides gave their closing arguments, Kimura requested both parties turn in any additional evidence by 4 p.m. on Wednesday. 

"I'd like to thank my lawyer, Eric Seitz, in doing a phenomenal job today, and at this point in time, we just have to trust the process and let the court decide," Sterling Carvalho briefly told the media afterwards. 

Carvalho is still hoping to be reinstated by the start of Kahuku's 2025 season, which begins on Aug. 9 against defending state champion Saint Louis. 

"I do not," Sterling Carvalho said when asked if he knows when he'll get an answer. "I have never been in this situation."

[{"type":"text","text":"Seitz said afterwards that the timeline for a resolution varies widely. "}]

"(After additional materials are submitted) by the close of business Wednesday, then the judge will decide whether he's going to issue an injunction. Irrespective of that, the case will then be formed by trial track, but they're now setting trials for 2027.

"My hope is that somebody in the DOE will come to their senses. I don't have a lot of hope for that, because I don't understand how they took this action in the first place. How can you possibly fire such a highly respected coach based upon the statements of a kid and his father who wrote the kind of atrocious things he did? I mean, I don't understand. 

"The DOE in Hawai‘i is not very well respected, and the leadership is because that's why it is. I have a son who's a teacher and a daughter in law who's a teacher, and we've been involved with public education all our lives. But my God, these people who run public education, they do outrageous things. And I think that the public needs to be aware of what these people are doing in their names, and decent people like Sterling are being victimized as a consequence on all of the kids that such decent people serve. And that's just too bad."

Although Manoa and Kalani Hallums did not come to the status hearing on July 18 or Monday's hearing, Manoa Hallums made his side of the story public on his personal Instagram account in April. 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Eric Seitz Sterling Carvalho 072825

<title>Former Kahuku football coach Sterling Carvalho makes court appearance following removal</title>

Carvalho sued the Department of Education after getting removed from his position as Kahuku's football coach on March 31.

Former Kahuku football coach Sterling Carvalho makes court appearance following removal

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Dhevhan Keith, a founder of the fire dancing group Trial by Fire, started as a musician before finding a new artistic outlet after someone handed him a fire staff.

That was back in 2017, he said. Today, Trial by Fire, which was founded by Keith, Cory Rothwell and Sebastian Muneno, meets twice a week so artists can practice their craft. The group’s members have expanded to include not just fire dancers but DJs, poets and live musicians. On a given day, anywhere from 15 to 25 fire dancers might show up to practice. But, counting the auxiliary members, including slam poets, dancers and live musicians, the group is sometimes as large as 120 people, he said.

Trial by Fire meets from sunset until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays in front of the 

 and the same hours on Sundays near the banyan tree by 

Some of the group’s fire dancers have performed at luxury hotels, such as Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa or The Ritz-Carlton Oahu, Turtle Bay. Artists also perform at camping events and private parties for New Year’s Eve or 

. Keith shared how the group has expanded, along with details about its retreat this month.

Can you tell us a little bit about Trial by Fire? 

Trial by Fire is a fire arts focus group, but it is [also] an art community. Over the years, it's expanded to different kinds of arts that the community practices, whether that be … slam poetry, dance, live music, DJing, paint, pretty much anything that the community wants to do. The fire arts does bring us together and keep us meeting together every Wednesday and Sunday. It was created to be a place for community to connect through flow and [as] an alternative to most of the more popular events that have alcohol. One of the things that distinguishes our group is I strictly do not allow alcohol consumption or inebriation at any official Trial by Fire events. The group wasn’t created to combat alcohol. It was created to be an alternative to places that have alcohol. 

Definitely, Lunar Vibes. It is an audio-visual, movement, meditation retreat, and there are two versions of it: There's the camp-out version, and there’s the retreat version. The retreat will be on Jan. 17. The nature of Lunar Vibes is invite-only because there are children and single moms. We want it to be safe. However, if you go to slam poetry or yoga or dance [events], most likely these people know of Lunar Vibes, and you can get an invitation from them, or you can come to the fire circle and get an invitation.

Residents of Honolulu sometimes stop to watch Trial by Fire artists practice on Wednesdays and Sundays. What does that time mean for Trial by Fire? 

The fire circle is basically a place that we practice. It's not a performance. Wednesdays and Sundays were never meant to be a performance. It's supposed to be practice for the community. …

And it also allows us to showcase our skills, just in case somebody in the audience wants to hire any of the artists.

What else do you want readers to know about Trial by Fire?

 Trial by Fire is about gathering community through the arts. I believe that one of the missions that Trial by Fire has been pursuing is bringing the arts to the forefront. It's a way for people to connect, regardless of their ideology, their politics, their cultural background. It's a place to share. 

Daily Smile: Friday, March 13, 2026

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Daily Smile: Friday, March 13, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

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