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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Corgi said, important half-time water break..."}]

Smile 26 4 6 2

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, April 6, 2026</title>

Corgi said, important half-time water break...

Daily Smile: Monday, April 6, 2026

 Corgi said, important half-time water break...

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

Two military officers stationed in Hawai‘i have been busted this week for sexually exploiting children.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i Ken Sorenson announced Tuesday that 22-year-old Rumaldo Valdez, former Navy petty officer, was sentenced to 97 months in prison for the possession and promotion of child pornography.

The following day, Sorenson announced a conviction in a separate, unrelated case: 44-year-old Ross Andrew Brown, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps, was convicted on two counts each of attempted sexual enticement of a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and attempted receipt of child pornography.

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

In the Valdez case, the FBI was first alerted to his reported activities in 2021, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children submitted a tip that several people were using a Discord server to produce and share child sexual abuse material.

According to a criminal complaint, a confidential source on that server told the FBI that one user — operating under variations of the username “Duck” — had coerced an underage girl into sending him a sexually explicit video, which “Duck” then used to blackmail the girl.

The source claimed “Duck” had thus manipulated the girl into cutting the word “duck” into her arm, which she filmed. “Duck” then shared the video online — the FBI special agent who wrote the criminal complaint stated that participants in such child exploitation rings often use such media, called “fansigns,” as “trophies.”

“Duck” had also previously been tied to an online group called “Greggy’s Cult,” a ring of people that produced and distributed similar material before seemingly disbanding around 2021.

In any event, the FBI had linked “Duck” to Valdez through his IP address and Discord email by 2024. In May of that year, agents seized his computer and hard drives from the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific in Wahiawā.

On Valdez’s hard drives agents found several encrypted files containing child pornography, including at least one involving the murder of an infant and multiple depicting a toddler being tortured.

Elsewhere on Valdez’s drives, investigators found multiple images and videos of children displaying variations of the “Duck” username.

Valdez pled guilty in October 2025 to possession of child porn. Much of the court documents surrounding his case are sealed to the public; however, a sentencing memorandum by his defense attorney argued that Valdez was a minor when he began his activities — only 15 or 16 when he first became involved in “Greggy’s Cult” — and that he had joined the Navy “to get away from the destructive online extortion that he was involved in and tried to build a productive future for himself.”

Nonetheless, Valdez was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

“Let Valdez’s sentence serve as a warning to any other depraved and sadistic individuals who seek to harm and exploit children – there is nowhere for you to hide, no corner of the internet you will not be found, and no stone we will leave unturned to bring you to justice,” Sorenson said in a statement.

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

Meanwhile, Brown’s arrest came following a sting by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division.

According to a criminal complaint, a CID agent posed as a 14-year-old girl in 2023 using the now-defunct anonymous social media app Whisper. The agent’s posts prompted responses by a user who was eventually identified as Brown.

During their online conversations, Brown repeatedly made sexual comments toward the agent, believing that he was flirting with a 14-year-old.

Eventually, they made plans to meet in person in April 2023 at Schofield Barracks. The agent requested Brown bring a specific type of gum, and Brown dutifully bought the gum en route, without knowing he was being surveilled. CID arrested him promptly at the rendezvous point.

At a trial in February, Sorenson presented 38 other sexually explicit conversations between Brown and people presenting themselves as girls as young as 12 years old, including explicit images purportedly of minors. At least one of those conversations involved Brown unsuccessfully attempting to meet with a 15-year-old girl for sex at an airport hotel in 2021.

While a jury found Brown guilty of six out of the 17 charges against him, he will not be sentenced until June 23. He remains in custody, despite several motions by his attorneys for his release.

“It is a profound breach of trust to both our military community and the public we serve, when a senior military officer commits crimes that exploit the vulnerable,” said CID special agent in charge Ruben Santiago in a statement.

 For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Courtfed

<title>Two military officers busted for child sex exploitation</title>

A Navy petty officer and an Air Force lieutenant colonel have been respectively sentenced and convicted for sexually exploiting minors online.

Two military officers busted for child sex exploitation

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

Within the next six months, Jed Gaines expects to take Read Aloud America’s family literacy program global, after two decades of trialing it across the Islands.

“We’re working with some great people overseas who helped build this Toolkit, which has taken over a year,” 

he told Aloha State Daily. “We’ve actually had the first draft edited and finalized, so it’s just fine-tuning everything and getting it together.”

Gaines said that The Read Aloud Program Toolkit will first be implemented in a local school to run as a pilot program. “And once they test it, then we could determine what needs to be changed, added or deleted,” he noted. “I see schools running it on their own. We’ll be there as a support system.”

The overall goal remains the same: to focus on family, and the communication and bonding that occurs through reading aloud.

He added that the Toolkit will include tips for family connection. “If you can get parents to shut down screens during dinner, so that families can talk, get to know each other and share love together, then we’re going to have a different society,” Gaines said. “Until we change the home, you’re never going to change our schools, communities, our nation or world. You’ve really got to get families to talk story, and the key is the parents.”

The Read Aloud Program offers immersive reading sessions for public school students and their families, as well as opportunities to enjoy entertainment, games and food. The program first launched in 1999 at Barber’s Point Elementary School serving 200 people. Attendance increases and a state grant in 2006 helped boost the program.

“Up until Covid-19, we had reached more than 350,000 adults and children. So why were they coming to these programs at such numbers? It

’s because they were having fun, and if you have fun, you’re going to learn.”

As gatherings ceased during the pandemic, Read Aloud America continued sharing it reading resources and lists, while pivoting to what's next.

For Gaines, the most rewarding part of this work is engaging with the families and seeing the impact. He shared the sentiment of a parent who had attended every session in a series and told him, “Jed, this is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to my family.”

Gaines admits he didn’t learn to read until 7th grade. He says school was difficult for him, being dyslectic, though he we went on to attend college and grew fond of the hobby while in the U.S. Navy.

“The carrier had a library. I became a reader on my own and self-educated myself, basically,” he said. “I’m an avid reader today. That’s my escape.”

In the early ’70s, he moved from New York to Hawai’i and began cleaning apartments professionally, running the business Apartment Appearance for over 25 years. During that time, in 1995, Gaines created nonprofit Read Aloud America, whose mission is: “Through the fun of reading and being read to, parents can promote literacy, bond families, and build communities of lifetime readers and learners.”

He has passed the gift of reading to his children and grandchildren. When asked what he’s currently reading, Gaines said, “Strangers in Time” by 

David Baldacci; “The Widow” by John Grisham; “

 by Clare Leslie Hall; and “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls.

For kids' book authors, he recommends Jerry Spinell

Read Aloud America 003

<title>Read Aloud America readies for next chapter</title>

Founder and president Jed Gaines reflects on the Honolulu-based organization’s past and shares what’s ahead.  

Read Aloud America readies for next chapter

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

for the band Kanaka Fyah, wrote the band’s No. 1 song in about 15 minutes. Today, that song, “Only Jah Jah Knows,” has more than 11 million streams on Spotify.

It is one of the songs Napeahi and the band plan to perform at the 

 showcases island and reggae music and runs Saturday, Oct. 18, through Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. The musical line-up includes The Green, Josh Tatofi, J Boog, Katchafire and more.

Napeahi wrote the hit after a gig while the band's bass player was driving the group across the desolate Saddle Road, which runs from Hilo to the junction with Hawaiʻi State Route 190 near Waimea.

“At the time, I was going through probably one of the lowest points of my life at the moment,” he told Aloha State Daily. “I just remember looking out the window, and my bass player was talking my ear off.”

 asked his bandmate if he could be quiet because he had to write a song.

“And what I was feeling is: ʻI don't know where this road is going to take me, but only God knows,’” he said. 

The first version of “Only Jah Jah Knows” was captured via a voice memo on Napeahi’s phone, while he simultaneously wrote lyrics. 

“I was just freestyling the words,” he said. “Just whatever came to my mind and my heart. Everything was just flowing. To be honest, I probably wrote it in less than 15 minutes. It was fast. I still have the voice memo from the day I wrote it.”

Napeahi made music his full-time gig this year. Prior to that, Napeahi remembers a time when he had no job, a small truck and was “kind of couch surfing,” he said. The band’s drummer was living in the bushes and played the drums using chopsticks from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, he said. And Kanaka Fyah's bass player had a tent and generator.

“That's where we started off,” he said.

They would gather in the tent, which had a small couch. When the generator ran out of gas, “practice is over,” he said. 

The band transitioned to the name Kanaka Fyah a few years ago. Napeahi got the idea for the name after surfing. He was sitting in his truck looking out at the waves, his friends and the beach, he said.

“And it just came to me: Boom! Kanaka Fyah came to my mind,” 

He texted the band group chat. Bandmates responded with the fire emoji, and that was it.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, the band had its debut at the 

. Kolohe Kai’s final performances of the 

 tour, including one at Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell and another at the 

, included guest performances by Kanaka Fyah and Protoje. 

In November, Kanaka Fyah will play on the final day of Holo Holo Tacoma which features entertainers such as Common Kings, Katchafire and Stan Walker.

, co-owner of the Holo Holo Music Festival’s production company Good Vibez Presents, is featuring in efforts to give younger acts a platform to grow, Sheehan told Aloha State Daily earlier this month. 

For Kanaka Fyah, it all started with a hit song.

“At the moment, I was in a low place,” Napeahi said. “We were just getting small concerts, playing at bars. We were at the start of our career. Now I look back and ʻWow.ʻ We’re playing at some of the biggest stages in Hawaiʻi and soon to be on the Mainland.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"What does Napeahi want people to know?"}]

“No matter what happens in life just keep pursuing what you love,” he said. “It's a crazy world we live in nowadays. It can be a nasty and cruel world. But don't stop being the light. And even if you mess up, still keep doing good in your life. You can always do good for people. There's a lot of hurting people. You never know — just being kind and forgiving somebody or having love — you never know how powerful that is and whose life you can change. So just keep being good in life. That's all I got to say. And all glory to God.”

Kanaka Fyah

<title>How Kanaka Fyah’s Randin Napeahi wrote “Only Jah Jah Knows”</title>

Randin Napeahi, a singer and songwriter for the Hawaiʻi Island-based band Kanaka Fyah, wrote the group’s No. 1 hit on the way home from a gig while the band was on Saddle Road. The Hawaiʻi Island-based band is headed to Oʻahu this week to perform at the Holo Holo Music Festival.

How Kanaka Fyah’s Randin Napeahi wrote “Only Jah Jah Knows”

Hawaii History

 since June, signs off on all his emails, “Glad to be here.”

“That's the way we finished speaking to each other on the 

. It's a way to remind yourself how fortunate we are, despite the rigors and the demands of a job, to be able to live, work and contribute to our community in a place like this,” Hiltz told Aloha State Daily. “So, a culture of both gratitude and growth will be important for us as we chart the next course.”

With a passion for aviation and its history, Hiltz has held several leadership roles throughout is near 23-year U.S. Navy career, including as an instructor pilot, officer-in-charge of multinational exercises, the commanding officer for Navy recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, and most recently, as the executive officer and director of strategy for hypersonic and cruise missile systems within the Indo-Pacific region.

Prior to retiring from the military in March, he was also a Blue Angels pilot from 2012 to 2014, having flown the museum’s Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet, 

which was added to its collection in 2021

Hiltz said he aims to bring passion and a “service-based mindset” to the role, formerly held by Executive Director Elissa Lines, who retired in June 2024.

“I feel very grateful to stand on the shoulders of the men and women that founded this museum, and many of them are still working in various capacities,” he said.

“The good news is that I’ve got a passion for this based on my upbringing. I’m a product of museums like this; my dad took me to aviation museums, and I was able to sit in the cockpit of an airplane and go to airshows. And so, I definitely developed a love for aviation at a young age. I learned a lot of lessons in the military, one of which was in flight school, I got sick on my first nine flights. You quickly realize you can’t always control that, but you can control your preparation, attitude and energy you bring to it. Those things I try to bring to this role … and do a good job to steward this aviation battlefield into its next decade.”

As CEO, Hiltz will lead the strategic vision, planning and operations of the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum to advance its mission of preserving America’s World War II aviation battlefield. He is responsible for overseeing the museum’s budget and workforce, exhibit development and educational programming, among other areas, that strengthen its nationwide presence and partnerships.

“The museum is only 18 years old at this point,” he said. “The founding phase took a lot of hands-on effort from the board and staff to get it to where it is. Then, you have a transition phase where you continue to build on that, flesh out policies and procedures, that allow us to appropriately care for this place, and I think the board used this phase three as sort of an institutional phase. … They reimagined this CEO role to be the primary steward of management. The board is entrusting me and the staff to lead us into the next phase of this great institution.”

Hiltz currently manages 73 staff members, not including about 24 contracted support staff and more than 200 volunteers, he noted.

“We’re always looking to hire for passion, train for skill. It's a really unique organization and is very vibrant and fun,” he said. “I can tell you that each person is motivated by a patriotic sense of service to their community, to their country and to the men and women that were serving here on Dec. 7, 1941 – and we take great care to steward that appropriately.” 

His current priorities include expanding the campus, improving the visitor experience and education, and providing workforce development opportunities for future pilots.

“One thing that drew me to the role was the growth vector of this museum,” Hiltz said. “We just recently finished a renovation of our operations building of the control tower here, and you can take it right up. We recently added an aviation learning center where we can bring keiki students and educators in to help give them an experience about the science and physics behind aviation. We are about to undergo reimagination of America's aviation battlefield to make sure that our campus is displayed in a way that's befitting of its historical significance.”

He noted that the museum recently acquired a PBY-5A Catalina seaplane on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum. “It was here on Dec. 7, 1941; they were the long-range eyes and ears of the American Navy fleet the Japanese wanted taken out; therefore, the first target of the first wave of the attack.” The Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will complete the restoration over the next couple of years before bringing it to Hawai’i, he said.

Other acquisitions are underway that are not yet ready to be announced, he added.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum also supports two aviation pathways, one on-site pilot training program for ages 16-21 and an A&P program for high school juniors to become certified airplane techs. “Those two efforts we’re really proud of because it's a way to give back to the place where we live and work. I think many people connote Pearl Harbor as just a tourist destination, and we want to be clear that we are more than that."

"Aviation is an expensive business: the equipment, fuel and training is a real cost barrier to people,” Hiltz said. “It's one reason that I never did any flight training, despite my love of aviation as a kid. My family couldn't afford it, so I was lucky to be able to go and get that training through the Navy. But we went to provide kamaʻāina with that opportunity to get that first taste of aviation without the barriers to entry of it."

For more information about the programs and its sponsors, 

His advice to those interested in getting their wings? “

There are a lot of different avenues can lead to a cockpit. … I was fortunate to learn about the Navy ROTC scholarships, so the Navy paid for my University of Notre Dame degree, and then I returned that in-kind by serving in naval aviation. … Excellence opens doors. If you do a great job with whatever endeavor you’re pursuing, people are going to notice that and want to help you achieve your goals. I think excellence is a great way to open doors for yourself and others."

Within the first few months on the job, Hiltz introduced a daily open cockpit. “I got the spark to fly because I was able to visit museums and put my hands on the controls, flip switches and look at the gauges. So, I wanted to make sure that we offered that same experience to every single guest to maybe launch them to pursue their dreams, as well.

Hiltz added that the museum hosted the Blue Angels before 

. “It was fun to bring a lot of my new teammates to come see my old team fly the same place where I was flying when I met my wife 13 years ago. It was very poignant for me.”

Many people have helped him get to where he is today, Hiltz said, including his parents, wife, brothers and those he has served with.

Specific to landing this role, he credits his 

first Air Wing Commander Capt. Sterling Gilliam, who is currently executive director of the National Naval Aviation Museum. “He was very helpful in helping me understand the things that would make a successful career here. I owe him a lot in my previous and current professional life.”

“Additionally, the other person who alerted me to the position opening was my dad’s college roommate, Capt. Eddie Fishburne, executive director of the Navy Supply Corps Officer Foundation. … He’s also the same person that told me about that Navy ROTC scholarship, so twice in my lifetime, this one person really changed the trajectory of my life."

As a leader, Hiltz said he’s been learning to “trust the excellent staff” and “do what I can to empower them to be their best selves."

Having lived off and on the island over the past several years, he along with his wife – whom met in Honolulu in 2012 – and two daughters are settled in Kailua.

When asked what he enjoys most about living and working in Hawai

spirit of the Islands, the mana – the ability to blend all that together. My drive into takes me up the H3, which feels like you

’re stepping back in time with the beautiful vistas, then across the

 bridge to Ford Island, a reminder of the work we

’re called to do here. We’re really fortunate to call this our home, and just remind ourselves every day how lucky we are.”

This weekend, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum will be hosting several free events in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II. More information about the festivities can be found 

Interested in sponsoring or attending the museumʻs annual "For Love of Country Gala," 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum CEO John Hiltz 16x9

<title>Former Blue Angels pilot John Hiltz leads local nonprofit museum</title>

Get to know the new CEO of Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, who was appointed by the board of directors in June to take the organization into its next phase.

Former Blue Angels pilot John Hiltz leads local nonprofit museum

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Columnists

 while checking out the online offerings of historic Hawai‘i photos at the 

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Library Digital Image Collections

. The date jumped out at me — April 1925, a hundred years ago, to the month.

The image is described as "Business section of Honolulu," dated April 8, 1925, donated by the Seiju and Ayako Ifuku family. Itʻs called a "lantern slide," a forerunner to technology like the Kodak 35mm film slide, meaning the image was used to throw a projection onto a screen. 

[{"text":"Does anything here look familiar to you?","type":"text"}]

Letʻs toss some numbers into this for a quick tour of the city as it was:

1 — One of the few survivors to the present day is The Cathedral of St. Andrew. This would've been a familiar old landmark even in 1925. "The design of the magnificent structure was inspired by the Gothic Cathedrals in Europe visited by Queen Emma during a trip in 1865," writes the cathedral. The cornerstone was laid in 1867. For a deeper dive into the cathedral's history, visit 

2 — Long gone. This is the Alexander Young Hotel, which opened in 1903, served as a hotel until a conversion to offices in 1964 and was torn down in 1981 to make way for what you see now on the corner of King and Bishop streets, Bishop Square.

Not without controversy at the time. Hawai‘i News Now has a collection of KGMB news stories about efforts to save the hotel archived on YouTube, 

. Check that out for plenty of live action shots of the hotel as it was, for interior shots of the hotel as its parts were sold, and clips of protests in the streets as the wrecking ball swung. 

[{"text":"It was a big deal.","type":"text"}]

You see a man and a woman in the first segment arguing in favor of preserving the hotel who are unnamed in the video. They are the late 

, architect, and the late Spencer Leineweber, architect, preservationist and UH Professor at the School of Architecture. The duo were founding members of the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation in 1974. Learn more about Spencer's preservation work in 

3 — This is not the famous Alexander & Baldwin Building, though it's in the same location. The A&B Building would be built four years later, in 1929.

4 — The Damon Bank Building, of the Honolulu Bank of Bishop & Co., forerunner to First Hawaiian Bank. Torn down in 1993 to make way for the present First Hawaiian Tower. Again, not without controversy. Here's 

 to the Damon Bank Building by, naturally, Spencer Leineweber, archived on Reddit. 

This is one of the few long-lost buildings I actually remember, back when I worked at Mission Houses Museum in 1992 and would walk into downtown for lunch.

, designed by Louis Christian Mullgardt and constructed between 1917 and 1921, making it perhaps the youngest building at the time this photo was taken. Follow that link for more details on the unique concrete construction of that building and a close-up photo of it. The block included warehouse space, as Honolulu in 1925 had more of a light industrial nature at the time. 

It was replaced in 1972 with the current 

. No warehouse space in that, but if you walk around the building you'll see cast-in-concrete murals depicting the various industries the Theo H. Davies company had engaged in, including whaling. Developer Christine Camp's Avalon Group acquired the building in 2023 with plans — now on hold due to shifting market conditions — to convert much of the office space into apartments.

6 — Speaking of Honolulu's maritime and light industrial past, here is a collection of sheds and warehouses in what would be their last days. Four years after this photo was taken, the 

 would be built on the ‘Ewa side of the block. The Diamond Head side of the block would eventually become the home of 

, with the makai tower completed in 1979, the mauka tower in 1981. That complex is now known as Pacific Guardian Center.

A couple notes on Pacific Guardian Center: It was designed by AHL, then known as Architects Hawai‘i, Ltd., by architect Joe Farrell. In an interview so long ago that I can't find it on the internet, Farrell described to me the pains he took to clad those towers in glass so blue that they would match the sky and essentially disappear. He was also proud of the parking garage, which is completely integrated into the glass towers. AHL is still ensconced in the makai tower.

7 — This obviously industrial building was new at the time, built in 1920 as the Hawaiian Electric Co.'s downtown power plant. Physically, the property is still that, though the plant itself was deactivated in 2014, according the 

. "The plant’s history dates back to 1920 when the site at Halekauwila and Alakea Streets was first constructed, the company said," wrote the paper. "Its location was particularly meaningful, as it sits at the harbor where whaling vessels once off-loaded the oil that was used to power the city’s lamps."

8 — At last, a business district survivor! According to 

, this two-story commercial building at Queen and Alakea Street is now owned by The Hawai‘i Buddhist Cultural Society. It is occupied entirely by Fo Guang Shan Hawai‘i, with its Buddhist temple upstairs and its restaurant, Water Drop Vegetarian House, Inc., on the ground floor. 

Those records describe a building improvement titled "Queen's Plaza" as built in 1950, with an "effective year built" of 1965, to do offices upstairs and retail downstairs. The exterior is identified as "default walls." If you look at the building today, every exterior detail matches what's visible in the 1925 photo, so it looks like the records describe a midcentury gut job on the structure.

If you've been downtown for a long time, you probably remember the downstairs food court. The only upstairs tenant I can recall is Marie Reiko Public Relations, a boutique PR firm with an office there sometime in the late ’80s or early ’90s.

Many of the older buildings downtown have a name and date cast right into their facades. This one does not, and it hasn't made it onto any official 

. I'm reaching out to experts to see if anyone knows more.

, the Honolulu architecture firm specializing in historic preservation projects, got back to me to say, "We think it may be the Catton, Neill & Co. Building, constructed in about 1914. They manufactured sugar machinery."

9 — Another survivor, though not technically in the downtown business district. Richards Street is the boundary between downtown and the Capitol District, where you find all the government buildings and that's what this one is: the 

U.S. Post Office, Customhouse, and Courthouse

, then brand new. Complete in 1922, the building still stands, now known as the King David Kalakaua Building. 

The post office remains a post office, the other functions moved out to other buildings over time.

. "Built in 1882 by King Kalākaua, ʻIolani Palace was the home of Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarchs and served as the official royal residence and the residence of the Kingdom’s political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893," says the Palace's online history. 

If this was your Honolulu, it would've been a dynamic time in the capitol of the Territory of Hawai‘i. Just out of view, Aloha Tower was probably under construction (it opened in 1926) as the waterfront modernized. Light industry was giving way to offices. The mayor was 

,  and yes, the Wilson Tunnels are named after him. Buildings we now protect as historic landmarks didn't even exist yet.

The present day downtown, in contrast, is pretty static. I've been working downtown since 1994 and the skyline hasn't changed a bit since the First Hawaiian Tower and Harbor Court went up 30 years ago. In recent years, the biggest changes have taken place indoors as office towers have converted to condos, and, in one case, a midcentury office building converted into the 

 by Marriott. Christine Camp converted the former Walmart into a pickleball palace this year which seems to be uplifting that corner of the block, but from the outside, it's the same architecture 

[{"text":"Is this stability, or stagnation?","type":"text"}]

I've left some treasure hunting for you, readers. What, for example, was that building where the Alexander & Baldwin Building now stands? What was that hulking structure behind ‘Iolani Palace? And was that horizontal white building in the upper right The Queen's Hospital, unrecognizably isolated? 

[{"text":"Email me, kam@alohastatedaily.com, if you know!","type":"text"}]

Daily Smile: Monday, April 6, 2026

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Daily Smile: Monday, April 6, 2026

Authors

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