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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by G. Mitchell in Hilo. "This looks remarkably like a little cloud spirit looking back at you! It's peeking out behind the Lychee's tree in my backyard, here in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island."

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<title>Hawaiʻi Skies: Peek-a-boo!</title>

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by G. Mitchell in Hilo.

Hawaiʻi Skies: Peek-a-boo!

Today&#039;s Hawai‘i Skies was captured by G. Mitchell in Hilo. &quot;This looks remarkably like a little cloud spirit looking back at you! It&#039;s peeking out behind the Lychee&#039;s tree in my backyard, here in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island.&quot; To submit your Hawai&#039;i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.

AKINA portrait 2

Keliʻi Akina

Government & Politics

Viewpoints

The state’s behemoth budget bill is making its way through the Legislature, and I can’t help but notice that taxpayers seem to be the only ones expected to make a sacrifice for the sake of government spending.

Gov. Josh Green kicked off this year’s session claiming the state’s budget crunch is so bad that it justifies “pausing” the phase-in of the historic income tax cuts he signed into law in 2024. 

If that’s true, why has the Legislature put forth a budget that blows past his suggested spending by more than $195 million?

At first glance, the Legislature’s latest draft of the budget appears to appropriate only $43 million more than the governor’s most recent fiscal 2027 budget request. But that’s because lawmakers have suggested reducing the state’s debt service and health benefits payments by about $150 million. 

If it’s possible to simply grab $150 million out of those payments, why hasn’t that been offered up as part of a plan to save our promised tax relief? 

My colleagues at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii have analyzed the latest draft of the 

 and identified numerous increases in spending compared to the governor’s proposed budget. These include:

>> $30 million more in “general support for healthcare payments” than the governor’s request of $16 million.

>> $27 million more in spending on “natural and physical environment” than the governor’s request of $7 million.

>> $13.7 million more in funding for “ecosystem protection, restoration and fisheries management” than the governor’s request of $5.5 million.

On and on it goes, line item by line item, adding up to more than $195 million than the governor proposed. 

If lawmakers simply went back to the governor’s original budget and combined that $150 million cut in debt service and health benefits payments with some other reductions — such as eliminating vacant positions and returning to the general fund $58 million in special funds that are budgeted for the new Aloha Stadium — it seems to me they could easily save our income tax cuts and avoid passing any new tax hikes.

 to help preserve our tax cuts that I have previously shared with you include returning the budget to 2019 levels, adjusted for inflation, and freeing up long-unused or unlawful special funds. 

The bottom line is that state lawmakers were supposed to approach this year’s budget with restraint. Instead, they are poised to go on another spending spree. That’s the kind of budgeting that leads to tax hikes, a higher cost of living and a stagnant economy.

But it’s not too late for them to change their minds, or for Gov. Green to line-item veto spending increases as he has wisely done in the past.

Reprinted with permission from the March 28, 2026, "President's Corner" of 

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<title>Community Voices: The Legislature found $150 million. So where’s our tax relief?</title>

Gov. Josh Green kicked off this year’s session claiming the state’s budget crunch is so bad that it justifies “pausing” the phase-in of the historic income tax cuts he signed into law in 2024. If that’s true, why has the Legislature put forth a budget that blows past his suggested spending by more than $195 million?

Community Voices: The Legislature found $150 million. So where’s our tax relief?

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Michael Brestovansky

While the state Board of Land and Natural Resources agreed Friday to acquire lands surrounding the Wahiawā Reservoir, it wasn’t without some trepidation.

In the first stage of a multi-agency acquisition of most of the Wahiawā Irrigation System, the BLNR agreed on Friday that the DLNR will take over several parcels of land surrounding Wahiawā Reservoir, also called Lake Wilson, which are currently owned by Dole Food Company.

The acquisition was initially set to take place two weeks prior, but was postponed due to the first of the two Kona low storms that nearly drove the Wahiawā Dam to its limits.

The dam itself is not included in those parcels; the Agribusiness Development Corporation will decide on March 31 whether it will acquire the parcels containing the dam and its spillway. However, the dam and spillway still dominated much of the BLNR’s discussion on Friday.

Lauren Yasaka, the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ director of land management, told the board acquiring the land is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation,” as refusing the land transfer would lead Dole to decommission the dam, crippling agricultural production across thousands of acres.

Jared Gale, chief legal officer for Dole, told the Board that the dam and spillway still function as intended and that Dole has not been negligent in maintaining the structure. Nonetheless, he said Dole had not gone forward with a project to widen the spillway — required under revised safety standards — because such an investment would be moot before an imminent transfer of the land.

Dole’s failure to address the spillway came under scrutiny last week when the Kona low storm brought water levels at the reservoir mere feet from the top of the dam.

But with Dole unwilling to make those improvements, Gale confirmed that if the land transfer failed, the company’s next logical move would be the decommissioning of the dam.

Wendy Gady, executive director of the Agribusiness Development Corporation, exhorted the board to approve the transaction, describing what would happen were the dam to be decommissioned.

“9,000 acres, they are not going to farm,” Gady said. “They cannot farm. You are lucky if, six months out of the year, you have rain … You have just put 50 of our farmers out of business.”

But board member Wesley “Kaiwi” Yoon disagreed with Gady’s rhetoric, telling her it was “unfair” to lay the impacts of potential decommissioning on the board’s shoulders, and that it would instead be the result of years of management decisions by Dole.

 would appropriate $14 million for irrigation maintenance statewide, Yoon said he believes the cost to the state to remediate soil contamination in several of the parcels could exceed that allocation.

Yoon also criticized Dole’s decision to suspend work on the dam, suggesting that the company should have instead “continued the projects in good faith as the board recommended back in 2021.”

In any event, Yoon was the only board member to vote against the acquisition, with the other six voting in favor. While Dole, the BLNR, the ADC and the state of Hawai‘i must still sign a transfer agreement for the lands, all properties, including the dam, must be transferred to the state by the end of June to meet 

 For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

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<title>DLNR to take over Wahiawā Reservoir lands</title>

Board of Land and Natural Resources approves takeover of Wahiawā irrigation parcels, despite debate.

DLNR to take over Wahiawā Reservoir lands

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Aloha Spirit

Sports

In an ongoing effort to help those affected by flooding by the Kona Low storm, particularly Waialua residents, a variety of relief drives have been scheduled throughout O‘ahu. Here are fundraisers involving the University of Hawai‘i and the state Department of Education schools. For more fundraising, 

On Sunday, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is holding a supply drive at the athletics complex on campus from 8 to 11 a.m., where those generous enough to donate supplies are asked to bring materials such as cleaning supplies, non-perishable food and safety gear, among other items. 

On Thursday, April 3, Aloha Stadium is hosting a classroom supply drive that aims to replenish Hawai‘i DOE schools. The drive-through drop-off will be open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. at Gate 3 of the stadium's parking lot in Hālawa. Among the supplies requested: 

Other DOE schools across O‘ahu are holding additional donation drives. Mililani High School's gym is hosting a drop-off from 9 a.m to noon on Friday, April 3. Among the items requested are personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies and water. Monetary donations are discouraged. 

Kaiser High School's student body began a donation drive on Thursday, which runs through 

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<title>Multiple venues on O‘ahu to host flood relief drives</title>

In an ongoing effort to help those affected by flooding by the Kona Low storm, a variety of relief drives have been scheduled throughout the Islands.

Multiple venues on O‘ahu to host flood relief drives

After sustaining major damage during the storms earlier this month, the future of Kula Hospital is unclear.

The historic hospital — which celebrated its 115

 anniversary last year — was evacuated after the first Kona low storm brought major wind and water damage. But nearly two weeks later, there still hasn’t been a full accounting of the damage.

“We’re still very early into our response to the storm,” said Lynn Fulton, CEO of Maui Health, which operates Kula Hospital.

Fulton told Aloha State Daily that the first Kona low storm dumped about 48 inches of rain on Kula. Water inundated Kula Hospital’s fifth-floor balcony, where it pooled and flowed down the side of the building, trickling in through window frames on lower floors.

Fulton said she was only able to reach the hospital a few days after the storm subsided. By then, bubbling was evident throughout the walls of the hospital, and engineers from Kaiser Permanente confirmed that water had thoroughly intruded throughout the building’s walls.

The same was true for the neighboring Hale Makamae facility, an intermediate care ward for developmentally disabled patients.

Maui Health was able to relocate 112 patients, Fulton said. Some were moved to a new care site quickly set up in Kīhei, in a building leased from ‘Ohana Pacific Health, while others were sent to Maui Memorial Medical Center, which Fulton said was largely undamaged by the storms.

Most Kula Hospital staff “followed the patients” to those same sites, Fulton said.

But the storm has left Kula without the hospital’s 114 patient beds, and Fulton said it’s too early to say whether the hospital can be repaired, let alone when it will reopen.

Fulton said the loss of a convenient emergency care center is of most pressing concern. With the next closest emergency room located at Maui Memorial Medical Center, some 22 miles away, Fulton said Maui Health is considering deploying mobile clinics or other solutions to prevent a serious loss of services for the area.

However, she said, any such mobile clinic will require a certain amount of setup, including licensing from the state.

The state Department of Health told ASD via email that Maui Health has sent DOH a formal request for a waiver to allow for the relocation of long-term care services to alternative sites. Meanwhile, the DOH has also begun a request for the Hawai‘i National Guard to remain on standby for potential patient evacuation and to ensure the future availability of EMS transport.

In the meantime, Kula Hospital’s primary care clinic somehow avoided any significant storm damage despite its location near the main building. While Fulton said she isn’t sure if that clinic will be able to continue operating if major construction is required at the hospital itself, for the time being it will remain in service.

Kula hospital

<title>Kula Hospital closed indefinitely following storm damage</title>

Maui Health investigating alternate care services for Kula after more than 100 patients had to be relocated.

Kula Hospital closed indefinitely following storm damage

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

Francis and Charles Higa, the founders of Zippy's Restaurants, were really more than brothers.

"They were best friends growing up," says Francis' son Jason Higa. "It wasn't surprising, I think, to those that knew the two brothers that they would start a business together."

Zippy's, a popular and iconic institution in the Islands, was founded by the Higa brothers in 1966 and will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. Aloha State Daily recently caught up with Jason Higa, CEO of Zippy's parent company, FCH Enterprises, to learn about the restaurant's origins, its legacy and more.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"In the beginning"}]

Higa says his dad and uncle were two of six siblings working at a family-owned meat market, which is still operated today by cousins.

"But at that time, Francis and Charlie knew that Higa Meat Market was not going to be big enough to sustain ... six siblings, so they decided to leave [and] start their own business," he told Aloha State Daily earlier this month.

It was the 1960s, and Higa says the pair began to look at different business options. Eventually, they started to talk to restaurant operators — more so drive-in operators, he says. Those operators, though, were quick to discourage the brothers because of their lack of experience — but the pair continued on anyway.

The Higa brothers opened the first Zippy's Restaurant in Honolulu's McCully neighborhood on Oct. 17, 1966.

They had no culinary background, Jason Higa says, so the duo hired Shiro Matsuo, a chef for then-Gov. John Burns. Matsuo, who went on to open his own restaurant called Shiro's Saimin Haven, helped Higa's father and uncle create the first menu for Zippy's.

"He was an excellent cook, came up with all the recipes for our original menu and that's how Zippy's got started."

The restaurant was open 24 hours at the start. Higa says that was unusual for the time and a lot of business in the early years came between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. "because there were no other options."

Zippy's, he says, became a destination for late night movie-goers, customers from the bars that were open until 2 a.m. and hotel workers coming from or headed to late night shifts in Waikīkī.

"We had a very robust customer base because of the 24 hours of operation, of course seven days a week."

In the early days, Higa says his uncle would work 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. or later, and his father would would 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

"They always felt that one of them should be active at the restaurant to make sure they can support the team members and make sure the customer service was where they wanted it to be," he told ASD. "Growing up, my recollection was my father was always sleeping because he was sleeping during the daytime, preparing to go to work at 6 p.m."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family traditions"}]

Not surprisingly, Higa — who was around 3 when the first Zippy's opened — says his first job was at Zippy's in Makiki when he was 14.

"My dad wanted me to experience working at an early age and so I worked as a utility dishwasher that first summer, and subsequently would work on the weekends during high school and summers between high school," he says. "I pretty much worked in almost every position in the company over that period before leaving to the Mainland for college."

Higa, though, says he had no desire to lead the company. In fact, after college he went to law school and subsequently spent five years working at a Hawai‘i law firm before returning to Zippy's in 1995. He went through the management training program and worked at various stores and Zippy's central kitchen before taking the leadership position in 2003.

"I had no desire to come back to the family business, but after five years working as an attorney, I realized that there was a special opportunity that I had in terms of coming back to the family business," he says. "The truth is that I think I was motivated from the standpoint of when I grew up, my father was always working, so I really didn't get a chance to get to know him as well as I wanted to. Coming back to the family business in '95 was probably, for me, an opportunity to get to know him better.

"I never worked directly under him at any point before his passing, but I definitely began to understand him as a person, pretty much through the company culture."

[{"type":"text","text":"When his father died, Higa says he didn't feel ready to take the reins."}]

"It eventually took me four years before I realized that, hey, I just got to do my best, and learned over the years how to navigate, how to build our leadership team, how to make decisions. [I] always led by the core values, which gives you a sense of direction in terms of decision-making and that has always helped us to make good decisions along the way."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Legacy"}]

Zippy's has long been popular with kama‘āina. Actor 

 has called it his first stop in the Islands when he visits Hawai‘i. His newest movie, '

' features select scenes filmed at Zippy's ‘Ewa Beach location, and as a tie-in with the movie, Zippy's even offered a limited-time menu item called 

. Former President Barack Obama is said to have frequented the 

 across on O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i Island and in Las Vegas. And if you're wondering, it sells more than 

When asked about Zippy's legacy, Higa says it's a byproduct of the last 60 years.

"As I was in the stores, what was clear is that there was a strong connection between our team members and customers," he says. "We still today have many customers, some of them would come in every day. We had customers that would come in for breakfast and lunch and sometimes even dinner, which is just amazing. And so they, of course, got to know the team members. The team members got to know the customers."

[{"type":"text","text":"The connections are multi-generational, too."}]

Higa says there are team members who have children whose first jobs were at Zippy's, "and then you see the multi-generational evolution of our early customers now bringing in their children and then now grandchildren coming into our locations."

"I think that's just a special part of our relationship with our community," he continued. "Francis and Charlie always understood that they were only successful because of our customers and because of the community, so we have a long history of giving back to the community."

And when he's asked about things that have contributed to the chain's 60-year success, Higa cites the core values that go back to Zippy's founders. 

The company uses the acronym CHIPS: commitment, humility, integrity, passion and supportiveness.

"It's really reflective, I think, of why we have been able to stay in business," he says. "So definitely the level of commitment, but also humility, and humility translates into being willing to learn, to evolve. We certainly have done that over our history, a lot of changes that we have to do in order to adapt."

As an example, Higa cites the Covid-19 pandemic, which he says allowed Zippy's to "make a lot of changes, which are benefiting us today."

[{"type":"text","text":"Meanwhile, integrity is \"essential\" in Hawai‘i."}]

"For Francis and Charlie, the reputation of the business was so important, and there's many examples where they didn't care about profit," Higa says. "They were looking at the long-term and making sure they always did the right thing throughout their history and that, I think, created the trust with our customer base and even internally with our team members."

Supportiveness is reflected in Zippy's growth, he told ASD, "especially in the early years, they were very encouraging of team members to advance into management or other positions of greater responsibility."

"I think what they learned early on [is that] expansion created opportunities for team members to continue to progress and grow within the company. We have many team members that have been with us for decades, and started out as a utility, a counter person ... and today they're in executive leadership or management or they're a key part of our administrative positions."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"60th anniversary"}]

How does it feel to hit this milestone and lead the company across that threshold?

"At times, it feels overwhelming, but I realize that is a privilege, for not just for me, but I know for the executive team or any of our longtime team members," Higa says. "They understand the legacy of our founders and how hard the founders worked and we continue to carry on that legacy by remaining successful, figuring out what we need to figure out, and ensure that we can continue to operate because we also realize that we are providing a living for all of our team members."

Zippy's, which will celebrate the milestone throughout the year, kicked off its anniversary celebration earlier this month with the launch of a new line of 60th anniversary merch.

, includes apparel and accessories inspired by the brand's evolving logos and design history.

Zippy's also will introduce limited-time menu offerings and a series of collaborations with Hawai‘i-based businesses throughout the year, including collabs with Kahala, Hawaiian Island Creations, FITTED Hawai‘i, Keiki Kaukau and others, a recent announcement noted. More will be announced through the year.

Higa, who spoke to ASD between back-to-back Kona Low storm systems that battered the Islands this month, shared his gratitude for Zippy's team members, its customers and the community.

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<title>Zippy's Restaurants celebrates 60th anniversary in 2026</title>

Brothers Francis and Charles Higa opened the first Zippy's Restaurant in Honolulu's McCully neighborhood on Oct. 17, 1966. Aloha State Daily recently caught up with Jason Higa, CEO of Zippy's parent company, FCH Enterprises, to learn about the restaurant's origins, its legacy and more.

Zippy's Restaurants celebrates 60th anniversary in 2026

A new statewide storm relief fund by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation has already awarded more than a dozen grants to nonprofits statewide.

,” a disaster fund intended to deploy resources to groups on all islands in the state to aid in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts. As of Wednesday, that fund has already awarded grants to 13 nonprofits statewide, with more to come.

 said the foundation used $500,000 of seed funding to launch the fund, and have received commitments from donors for an additional $1 million. He said he hopes the fund will collect and distribute more than $10 million to storm recovery projects across the state.

During a news conference Wednesday, HCF CEO Terry George announced seven grants awarded via the Stronger Hawai‘i Fund, although HCF senior program officer Kehau Meyer later said HCF had awarded another six grants mere hours before the conference.

Grants include a total of $150,000 to Vibrant Hawai‘i for water catchment support and emergency response needs on Hawai‘i Island and another $10,000 to the same group for work on the North Shore. HCF also awarded $10,000 each to nonprofits KEY Project on O‘ahu, HOPE Services Hawai‘i on Hawai‘i Island, and to the Living Pono Project, Lahaina Strong, the Maui Grassroots Collective and Sust‘āinable Moloka‘ī in Maui County.

George said HCF had previously launched island-specific funds in response to the Lahaina fire or the 2018 Lower Puna eruption, but added that the nature of the Kona Low storm emphasized the need for a statewide fund.

“The clear reality is that disasters like this are becoming more frequent and more complex,” George said.

Michelle Ka‘uhane, HCF’s senior vice president, said the Stronger Hawai‘i Fund doesn’t disburse funds to storm victims directly, but serves as a central hub connecting donations to the groups carrying out relief projects where they are needed most.

, HCF’s vice president of community resilience, said the foundation is “still trying to understand the scale and scope” of the storm’s impact throughout the state and that assessments of where funds should best be allocated are ongoing.

Meanwhile, the City and County of Honolulu will open a Community Assistance Center at Waialua District Park on Thursday, connecting residents to in-person assistance and resources from several county and state agencies, nonprofits and utility providers.

Farmers and ranchers are also encouraged to apply for the state’s 

, which will provide eligible businesses with a one-time $1,500 grant.

Those impacted by the storm are still advised to 

 to the City and County of Honolulu by Thursday, March 26.

Additionally, the Hawai‘i Chamber of Commerce is 

 for a relief fund to help feed storm-displaced residents.

 also has activated its Storm Recovery Fund to deliver urgent assistance to those most impacted by the recent storms. Donations can be 

. Funds will support emergency financial assistance and housing stabilization, case management and recovery support, and mental health and counseling services.

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