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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Now let's all enjoy a puppy fighting some cauliflower..."}]

Smile 26 4 28

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 28, 2026</title>

Now let's all enjoy a puppy fighting some cauliflower...

Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

 Now let&#039;s all enjoy a puppy fighting some cauliflower...

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Being part of Lei Court is a family tradition for Puamana Garcia, who was named Lei Queen in February. More than a decade earlier, in 2014, her mother, Louise Alina, was also crowned Lei Queen.

Garcia started experimenting with making lei at her grandmother’s house in Kaimukī when she was about 8 years old, she told Aloha State Daily.

“I would just be outside early in the morning playing on her mango tree, and she had growing in her yard pīkake and pakalana,” Garcia said. “I would pick these flowers because I just always loved flowers. And my grandma was the one who taught me how to kui a lei.”

She also remembers being at her tūtū’s house in Kāneʻohe, where there were different varieties of plumerias, and her mother and tūtū would help her transform the flowers into lei.

Now, it is a tradition Garcia continues with her own grandkids. This week, she will be taking the lei-making tradition to an even larger audience as part of celebrations for Lei Day.

The Lei Court represents the City and County of Honolulu during events such as Lei Day, which is this Friday, May 1, at Kapiʻolani Regional Park. There will be free lei-making workshops, a lei contest where community members share their artistry, and live music and hula performances. After the competition, lei from the contest will be placed on the graves of the aliʻi at Mauna ‘Ala and Kawaiāha‘o Church as part of the closing ceremony on Saturday, May 2. 

During the Lei Court selection, which was held Saturday, Feb. 28, at Mission Memorial Auditorium, Garcia surprised her mother in the audience with a hula dedicated to her late father. She chose the song “He Pua Wehiwa,” by Palani Vaughan, which speaks about the ʻōhiʻa tree, which she interpreted as her father, and the lehua blossom, which she interpreted as her mother.

“My father recently passed,” she said. “I knew that I felt my father watching over me.”

During the contest, she also made a lei in front of the judges and spoke in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.

For Garcia, the scent of the plumeria lei represents Lei Day. 

“Our mana that we put into the lei is very meaningful,” she said. “So when we share a lei — and put it on someone — we see their happy face. And that to me is the spirit of aloha. When we make the lei and we share the lei.”

She remembers plumeria lei being especially popular when she was growing up.  

“Nowadays, we have so much flowers that everyone uses, even in a lei — gardenia, ‘a‘aliʻi,” she said. “But the plumeria was from when I was born, which was the main flower back then.”

, hosted by the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation

from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 1, at Kapiʻolani Regional Park

Ready to make more plans for Lei Day on Oʻahu? Check out ASD’s guide for 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Lei Queen Puamana Garcia

<title>Lei Queen celebrates family, aloha spirit</title>

Plumerias are a favorite of this year’s Lei Queen, Puamana Garcia, who reflected on Lei Day, this Friday, May 1, as well as the people who inspired her own journey with flowers.

Lei Queen celebrates family, aloha spirit

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

The Hawai‘i Farmers Union Foundation’s (

 is nearly to goal as of Monday, with about $192,000 raised since its April 7 launch to help Hawai‘i’s farmers and rural communities recover from the recent severe flooding.

Aloha State Daily secured a donor for the fund who will match gifts up to $100,000, doubling impact toward ongoing needs including crop loss, repairs and other needs, per the GoFundMe page.

“I am excited to let everyone know that we are 96% to our goal,” HFUF CFO Christian Zuckerman told ASD by email. “Great work team and we are almost across the finish line!”

In March, communities across the Islands were devastated by Kona Low storms that brought heavy rains and high winds. According to the Hawai‘i Farmers Union (

), more than 380 farmers statewide initially reported a total of $23 million in damage.

On Friday, HFUF posted guidelines on social media about the grant applications, which will open this week. 

Zuckerman, who also serves as HFU vice president, previously told ASD that the fund will support long-term recovery of Hawaiʻi’s local food systems.

For 16 years, the member-driven nonprofit HFU has advocated “for the sovereign rights of family farmers, ranchers and fishers to create regenerative and sustainable agricultural communities that benefit the people of Hawaiʻi through education, cooperation and legislation.” Meanwhile, HFUF, its sister organization, provides charitable and educational outreach.

 Nani and Mike Kahinu, told the nonprofit that during the second Kona Low, the culverts near their home filled with mud and debris, which resulted in flooding and loss of outdoor appliances estimated to cost more than $5,000.  

“[That’s] not even factoring the garage roof damage nor the car deductibles we need to pay to get it cleaned,” the Kahinus stated. “I am hoping there is funding to help replace our lost appliances.”

 on Maui, Kirsten Fischer shared with HFU that the wind on March 13 “knocked down three huge banyan trees at the front of the farm with one landing on my house.”

“I was so lucky to be able to crawl out the side of the wreckage and find all of my animals that were in there with me at a time. Our fields have been devastated by the wind and other fallen trees throughout the farm,” she continued. “We are so grateful for the support of our community, farmers union, market team and loved ones here in Hāna.”

 in Haleʻiwa recently contributed $13,000 — part of a $500,000 total commitment to assist those affected by the storms – to the Hawaiʻi Flood Response Fund, alongside anonymous donors and individuals.

 to donate to HFUF’s Hawaiʻi Flood Response Fund.

Hana Tropicals

<title>Financial aid to be deployed to farmers impacted by floods</title>

The Hawai‘i Farmers Union Foundation took it to social to share that the Hawaiʻi Flood Response Fund — for which Aloha State Daily secured a donor to match dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000 — will open grant applications this week. As of Monday, the GoFundMe was 96% to goal with proceeds going directly to farmers, ranchers and fishers who are recovering from the recent Kona Low storms.

Financial aid to be deployed to farmers impacted by floods

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

[{"type":"text","text":"Who is Hawai‘i's new second-in-command?"}]

Last week, after Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke announced she will take an indefinite, unpaid leave of absence, Gov. Josh Green 

 that state comptroller Keith Regan will serve as acting lieutenant governor in the interim.

Even as acting lieutenant governor, however, Regan will retain his current duties as comptroller and the director of the state Department of Accounting and General Services, DAGS spokeswoman Diane Ako told Aloha State Daily.

, those duties entail broad-level management of state departmental finances, such as by reviewing every transaction of funds involving the state treasury, making audits of all transactions greater than $10,000, and ensuring that the amount of money disbursed to a particular department does not exceed established funding ceilings.

Since beginning his role as state comptroller in 2022, Regan has overseen procurement and development of several significant projects throughout the state, Ako told ASD, including the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District Project, a planned new jail on O‘ahu, the renovation of the state Capitol, DAGS’ Enterprise Financial System project, and more.

Prior to his role as comptroller, Regan served several positions throughout state and county government. His previous job was as business management officer at the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, which he began in mid-2022. However, by the end of that year, the newly elected Green named Regan as state comptroller.

Before his position at DCCA, Regan was chief administrative officer at the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, where he worked from 2018 to 2022. Before that, he was the managing director for the County of Maui.

In 2016, Regan ran for a seat on the Maui County Council, 

 to update the council’s annual budgeting process to allow for the council to make policy decisions more quickly.

However, in the primary election that year, Regan 

 out of five candidates, albeit only narrowly: he trailed the frontrunner Dain Kane by just over 400 votes. To date, this was Regan’s only political campaign.

During his campaign, Regan also touted his involvement in various community groups, such as a past president for the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui, a past president for the California-Nevada-Hawai‘i district of the Kiwanis Club, a past board member of the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation, and more.

Meanwhile, as Regan steps up to the Acting Lieutenant Governor position, Deputy Comptroller Meoh-Leng Silliman has also been named Acting Comptroller, in order to assist Regan with his duties at DAGS as needed.

[{"type":"text","text":"ASD has reached out to the Lieutenant Governor's office for comment."}]

25 8 11 Keith Regan tight Courtesy RT Foto IMG 5067rtfoto X8x10 16x9

<title>Who is Hawai‘i's Acting Lieutenant Governor?</title>

The state comptroller will take over the duties of the lieutenant governor for an indefinite period.

Who is Hawai‘i's Acting Lieutenant Governor?

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Tickets for the NCAA Tournament regional the University of Hawai‘i is hosting went on sale on Monday and are expected to be in high demand. 

USC and Belmont Abbey will meet at the Stan Sheriff Center at 5 p.m. on Friday. The winner will play against the No. 2 University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team on Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner of Saturday's match advancing to the Final Four at UCLA from May 9-11. The Rainbow Warriors are 

hosting an NCAA Tournament match on Hawaiian soil for the first time in program history on Saturday

Ticket packages for both Friday and Saturday's match are on sale at UH-Mānoa's ticket office at the Stan Sheriff Center, as well as online. They can be purchased 

. Meanwhile, individual tickets for Saturday's match featuring the 'Bows will go on sale on Wednesday at 9 a.m. 

Hawai‘i's baseball team returns after a two-week road trip and will host Hawai‘i-Hilo for a midweek game on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. The Rainbow Warriors will then host UC Riverside for a three-game series from Friday to Sunday. Tickets can be found 

. Saturday's game has already been sold out. 

UH's softball team will close out regular season play at UC Riverside with a three-game series from Friday to Saturday. If the Rainbow Wahine win all three games, they would clinch the 2 seed in next week's Big West Conference tournament in Fullerton, Calif. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"PacWest sports"}]

The Hawai‘i Pacific baseball team (25-19, 23-15 PacWest) is currently third in the PacWest Conference standings and looks to solidify its positioning for a spot in next week's conference tournament this weekend. The Sharks will play four games at Hawai‘i-Hilo (16-26, 15-23) with doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. HPU and Hawai‘i-Hilo's softball teams will also play doubleheaders against each other in Hilo on Friday and Saturday.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"HHSAA surfing"}]

The inaugural HHSAA surfing championships will take place on Maui's 

Ho‘okipa Beach Park on Friday and Saturday. 

Kahuku's boys team and Waialua's girls team won the OIA championships

 on April 20, while the Punahou boys and Kamehameha girls took home the ILH team titles the weekend before. Surfers from the OIA, ILH, KIF, BIIF and MIL will compete in a total of 82 events at the state championships this weekend. 

Tread Rosenthal 042726

<title>The week ahead in Hawai‘i sports: NCAA Tournament tickets in high demand</title>

Tickets for the regional UH is hosting on the weekend began to go on sale on Monday morning.

The week ahead in Hawai‘i sports: NCAA Tournament tickets in high demand

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Michelin-recognized Japanese ramen spot is opening its first Hawaiʻi location. 

 near Hampton Inn and Gen Korean BBQ, will hold 

its grand opening on Saturday, May 2, with a Hawaiian blessing at 5 p.m.

On grand opening day, the first 100 customers ages 18 years and older will receive a free MENSHO tote bag with ramen purchase.

The business was founded in 2005 by Tomoharu Shono; MENSHO now has locations in Japan, California, China, Australia, Singapore and more. The brand has also been recognized by the Michelin Guide and received numerous awards, including first place in the Shinjuku Ramen Grand Prix.

MENSHO is known for its farm-to-bowl philosophy of bringing farmers and customers together. In Hawaiʻi, the business is partnering with farms like Mari’s Gardens.

The eatery features housemade noodles and broths. Some of the broths take more than 72 hours to make, according to chef Tomoharu Shono. 

In addition to MENSHO’s grand menu, the Hawaiʻi location will feature several exclusive dishes that highlight locally sourced ingredients, including Kauaʻi shrimp.

The signature ramen is one of the eatery’s best-selling dishes. It features creamy chicken broth, A5 wagyu chashu, braised pork belly chashu, duck chashu, ajitama egg, roasted nori, blanched baby spinach, crispy burdock root, pea tendrils and fresh mochi noodles.

According to Shono, the noodles are made with a blend of local wheat and Japanese mochi flour, resulting in a distinctive chewy texture.

“We are making noodles every morning,” he says.

At the time of our preview, menu prices were not available. The eatery will open with its most popular dishes, and the full menu will be available in the upcoming months.

The wagyu truffle shoyu ramen is another dish that MENSHO is known for. It features bonito dashi broth with chicken, shellfish, shaved black truffles, A5 wagyu chashu, pea tendrils and fresh mochi noodles.

The eatery features wagyu from Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture. The shaved black truffles enhance the dish’s umami flavor.

Every MENSHO location features an exclusive dish, according to Shono. Hawaiʻi-exclusive ramens include the shrimp G.K.O. (garlic knockout) and clam butter shio ramen.

The shrimp G.K.O. consists of creamy chicken broth, garlic shrimp, baby spinach, red onions, garlic flakes, garlic chips, grilled garlic, chili powder, black garlic oil, chili oil and fresh mochi noodles. Garlic lovers will appreciate the robust garlic flavor, succulent shrimp and spice from the chili oil.

Meanwhile, the clam butter shio ramen features a bonito dashi broth, chicken, shellfish, Manila clams, braised pork belly chashu, red onions, whipped butter, black pepper, pea tendrils and fresh mochi noodles.

Other ramen options include duck matcha — creamy chicken broth, duck chashu, Tokyo negi, green onions, micro edible flowers, pea tendrils and fresh mochi noodles — and vegan-friendly dishes like yuzu garlic tomato and the V.G.K.O. (vegan garlic knockout). The latter includes porcini broth, shiitake, baby spinach, spicy burdock chips, red onions, garlic flakes, garlic chips, fresh and grilled garlic, black garlic oil, chili powder and fresh mochi noodles.

The eatery also offers sushi and appetizers. The A5 wagyu sushi with uni and ikura is a crowd favorite. The sushi rice is topped with A5 wagyu and Hokkaido uni and ikura; it’s served with pickled ginger and wasabi. The wagyu boasts a melt-in-your-mouth texture and is complemented nicely by the creamy uni and refreshing ikura.  

Other sushi options include hotate (scallop) ikura, hotate caviar, unagi (eel) negi, A5 wagyu kani (crab) ikura and more. MENSHO also features a variety of donburi (rice bowls).

Appetizers range from corn wings and karaage fried chicken with garlic chili sauce to enoki chips and teppan grilled garlic shrimps. The enoki chips are ultra-crispy and served with green onions and lemon. The teppan grilled garlic shrimps feature Kauaʻi shrimp coated in garlic and butter, and served on a sizzling skillet with Japanese white rice, green onions and toasted sesame.

The eatery’s matcha pudding is a light option after a refreshing meal. It’s topped with strawberry slices, red bean and fresh cream. The matcha flavor is subtle and the pudding features a jiggly, custard-like texture.

MENSHO’s Kapolei store can seat around 66 people. After its grand opening, it will be open daily from 5 to 9 p.m. No reservations are currently accepted; the eatery will be open for walk-ins only.  

Mensho Hawaii chef and owner 042726

<title>Michelin-recognized ramen spot is opening first Hawaiʻi location</title>

MENSHO, founded in 2005 in Japan, is opening in Kapolei’s Ka Makana Aliʻi on May 2 at 5 p.m. The business is famous for its farm-to-bowl philosophy, and will feature Hawaiʻi-exclusive bowls like butter clam and garlic shrimp ramen.

Michelin-recognized ramen spot is opening first Hawaiʻi location

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Ho‘okele Home Care is among Hawai‘i home care agencies recently recognized in Activated Insights' Best of Home Care Awards.

The annual awards "shine a spotlight on home care agencies that go above and beyond for both their caregivers and their clients," the independent home care industry association's 

Ho‘okele, a Honolulu-based in-home care provider founded in 2006, received three honors: Provider of Choice, Employer of Choice and Leader in Training. Its Maui office also received the Provider of Choice and Leader in Training recognition.

Tanya Fernandes, CEO of Ho‘okele Home Care, told Aloha State Daily earlier this month that the national award is based on independent surveys of clients and caregivers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Other Hawai‘i agencies were also recognized."}]

Griswold Home Care for O‘ahu, BrightStar Care and Right at Home were named 

Ho‘okele sends caregivers into individuals' homes to provide non-medical, caregiving services that could include tasks light housekeeping, meal preparation, showers and assistance with other daily activities, Fernandes says.

According to Fernandes, Ho‘okele started with a traditional model of care, which provides care for clients who need help from 4 to 24 hours, and also developed a task- and outcomes-based home care model, Vivia, which offers services in shorter shifts.

When asked what the recognition means, Fernandes spoke about the Vivia model, which she says was started to address the caregiver shortage.

"We changed the way that we deliver the care and for us, this award represents that this new way of trying to deliver care, of trying to better support and do better jobs for our caregivers is something that is working and at least tells us, we're never going to be done, but we're at least on the right track."

The need for caregivers continues as Hawai‘i's population continues to age.

 on "Aging and Hawai‘i's Generational Economy" from the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization, or UHERO, one in four people in Hawai‘i will be 65 or older by 2035.

"That's a significant portion of our population," Fernandes says. "Then you put that together with ... a workforce shortage of caregivers, that's kind of the perfect storm for what's going on right now. We ourselves, we're facing that."

That's how Ho‘okele began offering a different care model, she says, "because we were literally, every single day, turning away clients."

Fernandes says that a little more than 20% of Hawai‘i adults are family caregivers as well, and many of those adult family caregivers also hold jobs.

"They are taking care of their parents or grandparents. They are holding jobs and in some situations, they're also taking care of kids — their own families," she says. "There's a lot that they have to manage.

"Caregiving is important. Sometimes the care that we can do or other agencies can do can be, again, these long hours, but a lot of times, what we're finding, is a lot of the adult children that we talk to, they want to help. They want to take care of Mom and Dad, and not only that, Mom and Dad want their kids to be the ones that are helping take care of them. We're finding that in our Vivia model, which is the short visits that we're doing, we're able to help that population."

When asked about the economics of caregiving, Fernandes says on the business side for caregivers, the company has found that this model of care has been "attractive to caregivers."

"One of the biggest issues and one of the biggest reasons why we developed this model is because of the caregiver shortage and just the enormous demand for caregivers," she says. "We needed to basically figure out ... how to attract more people to become caregivers and then how to retain them as well, because they're so important. The job that they do is so important."

With the Vivia model, caregivers are given a full-time schedule and provided a company car.

In early April, Fernandes said the agency had about 100 caregivers on O‘ahu and Maui, with about 40 caregivers in the Vivia model. With the traditional model, where caregivers cover longer shifts, they're typically assigned to two clients, but the short shifts under the Vivia model, where caregivers are assigned to neighborhoods, means caregivers can see 15 to 20 clients.

Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Authors

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