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[{"type":"text","text":"The force is strong in this one..."}]

Smile 26 5 14

<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, May 14, 2026</title>

The force is strong in this one...

Daily Smile: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Queen Emma was born on January 2, 1836, to Nā‘ea and Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. As was customary in Hawaiian society, she was raised in the hānai tradition, and much of her childhood was spent in the care of Fanny’s sister, Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young, and her husband, Thomas Charles Byde Rooke.

‘Emalani, as she was then known, grew up at Rooke House, which stood near the Waikīkī/makai corner of what are now Beretania and Nuʻuanu streets, where Mark’s Garage is now. Educated at the Royal School along with other children of ali‘i, and then taught by an English governess, Emma was fluent in both Hawaiian and English, was a skilled equestrian, and was an accomplished vocalist and pianist. 

In 1856, she married Alexander Liholiho, King Kamehameha IV, and two years later, gave birth to a son, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli. By all accounts, the young prince brought a great deal of happiness to the King and Queen, and was beloved by the people of Hawai‘i. But it seems the happiness was not to last.

Succumbing to an unknown illness, Queen Emma’s only child died in 1862, at just four years old. After his death, the Queen was referred to as Kaleleokalani, meaning flight of the heavenly one. King Kamehameha IV, grief-stricken and feeling responsible for his son’s death, withdrew from public life. Suffering from chronic asthma, the young king died a year later at the age of 29. After her husband died, the Queen’s name changed again to the plural form of Kaleleonālani, flight of the heavenly ones.

In the midst of her grief, Emma traveled to England. The journey gave her some distance from the sorrow she had experienced at home, but it also became an important turning point in her life.

She was concerned about the future of the young women of her island nation and recognized the importance of education. Queen Emma was already involved in establishing the Anglican Church in Hawaiʻi. While in London, she raised money toward the construction of an Anglican cathedral in Hawaiʻi. She sought the counsel of the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding her vision for a school for girls.

On Ascension Day, May 30, 1867, Queen Emma founded St. Andrew’s Priory School for Girls, together with Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity of Devonport, England.

The Priory’s primary educational objective was the teaching of English. Instruction was conducted in English, and the girls were not permitted to speak Hawaiian, even during their playtime. Along with their academic studies, they were taught sewing and embroidery, music and drawing. Religious instruction was also an important part of the curriculum.

For Queen Emma, St. Andrew’s Priory was more than simply a school. It was part of a larger vision for the education and future of the young women of Hawaiʻi.

For more than 150 years, generations of young women passed through its halls, sharing lessons, laughter, friendships, and celebrations. It should come as no surprise that a place so closely connected to Queen Emma would eventually become associated with stories of her lingering presence.

Over the years, tales have circulated among the students and staff, revealing strange occurrences at the boarding school. Some of the students claimed to have seen the actual ghost of Queen Emma in the halls, while others are said to have heard the stairs creaking late at night and believed she was making her rounds.

There are also reports of unexplained cold spots, particularly near Queen Emma’s portrait and just outside the main entrance to the girls’ dormitory. On some nights, the grand piano could be heard playing long after midnight. Lights would mysteriously switch on and off, tools would disappear only to turn up elsewhere, and belongings left in handbags would be rearranged or simply dumped on the floor. These unexplainable events led many to believe that ghostly hands were still at work within the walls of St. Andrew’s Priory.

My dear friend recently gifted me with his personal stories and those of his ʻohana, who were boarders at the school.

Reportedly, gardenias were among Queen Emma’s favorite flowers. The smell of fresh gardenia was common around the Queen’s portrait and in Emma Hall.

My friend’s aunt told him, “The smell was so strong, it was like you were standing right next to a big gardenia bush in full bloom, and then it would suddenly be gone, and you wouldnʻt smell it again.”

As girls, his aunts spent many evenings cleaning up Emma Hall before heading to bed, as part of their nightly chores. On one occasion while straightening up the room, one aunt saw a woman in a dark blue, Victorian-style gown with her hair pulled up, walking away from the piano, but the figure vanished just before reaching the door. She only saw the woman from behind, but the image stayed with her.

Another memory went back to when she was about eight or nine years old. One night, during a storm, she left the dormitory to use the bathroom. Frightened by the weather, she ran back toward the dorm when a nun gently stopped her and said, “No running.”

She was about to answer, “Yes, Sister,” when the nun began to fade away. The figure seemed to turn light gray before disappearing completely.

Years later, my friend returned to St. Andrew’s Cathedral for the first time since childhood. He learned that there was a stained-glass window depicting Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV, and he went to search for them.

He was looking up, trying to find their images when a woman’s voice behind him said, “Look down for what you are looking for.”

He looked down and found himself standing directly in front of the panel showing the King and Queen. When he turned to thank the woman, no one was there. In fact, he was all alone in the cathedral.

On a more recent visit, my friend was showing his partner the sights around St. Andrew’s. He said he always wanted to see the inside of St. Paul’s Chapel, but like each time he tried to visit, the door was locked. It was raining that day, and while they were standing beneath the arched portico talking about where to go next, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind them.

[{"type":"text","text":"“The door is open.”"}]

My friend turned, already explaining that they had tried the door, but his words choked off mid-sentence. No one was there.

They turned back to the chapel and tried the door again. This time, it opened.

The two quickly peeked inside for a brief look before leaving the chapel. Neither could explain who had spoken to them. There had been no one else around, and yet someone, or something, had apparently known exactly what they wanted to see.

There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that has happened at St. Andrew’s. Then again, perhaps there isn’t. The stories have survived because people experienced things they could not explain, and in a place so closely connected to Queen Emma, it is easy to understand why some believe her presence can still be felt. Perhaps, after all these years, the Queen and other spirits are still making their rounds.

Cathedral of St Andrews

<title>The Ghost of a Queen</title>

Queen Emma was instrumental in establishing the Anglican Church in Hawaii and in 1867, she founded St. Andrew’s Priory School for Girls, to uplift the young women of Hawai‘i. The school meant the world to her, so is it any wonder that people claim to still see her presence there? Ghostly nuns and mysterious voices have also been encountered, spirits that seem more nurturing than frightening.

The Ghost of a Queen

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

, a Hawaiian scholar who developed and taught cultural curriculum at Punahou School from 1936 to 1941, the school’s 

 are rooted in being “children of Ka Punahou, the new spring.”

Pukui recognized then the school’s future as a “spring of wisdom. As the hala tree stands firm through wind or storm, so shall the children of this school stand strong and brave through joy and sorrow. And just as the hala tree has many uses, so shall these children be useful to Hawai‘i.”

Fluent in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, she went on to grow Punahou’s Hawaiian Studies program alongside Jane Lathrop Winne and later worked at Kamehameha Schools and Bishop Museum, in addition to publishing more than 50 works, including the “

ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings

.” Pukui devoted her life to preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian language, oral hisory, mele, hula, cultural traditions and practices, and more.

Fittingly, the first day of the 2026-27 school year at Punahou on Tuesday marked the official opening of the 

, which is named in her honor and breathes new life into the school’s former Cooke Library, which was originally built in 1908 and last reconstructed in 1964. According to the school, the historic library’s terrazzo wall, among other architectural features, “have been restored or incorporated into the new design.”

The structure itself has multiple entryways, with one entrance facing Ka Punahou, its namesake natural spring.

“When I was a student, I studied in this building and spent time learning here,” Punahou President Mike Latham, a 1986 graduate of the school, told Aloha State Daily. “As you can imagine, the purpose and function of libraries have changed quite a bit in the past 60 years — the way we store information and knowledge, the way that we teach, the way that we help students learn how to do research.

“We wanted to develop a facility, which would allow us to engage in a lot more collaborative and project based learning, where students are able to draw knowledge from different fields, and they can apply it to authentic real-world challenges and problems. That was really at the heart of the work that we're doing.”

The new, two-level center spans more than 53,000 square feet, and was designed by Honolulu-based 

, which was founded by Punahou alum, Pip White, and is currently led by 

 was the general contractor for the project, which began construction permitting in 2023.

Latham said the Mary Kawena Pukui Learning Commons is intended for students to engage with each other, teachers and staff, as well as community partners on research and innovation.

“In our professional lives, we are constantly doing collaborative work. Very rarely do we work entirely alone. And we wanted a building that really supported that kind of collaborative engagement by students and that created problem solving,” Latham told ASD. “It's really fundamental to the kind of education that we want to deliver. It's fundamental to the kind of work that Mary Kawena Pukui herself did, especially at Bishop Museum. I mean, she was constantly in collaboration with historians, anthropologists, linguists, archaeologists. ... She's a hallmark for what we're seeking to accomplish.

“This is a building that both looks into the past and draws inspiration from that past. But it's very much about preparing students for a world that's rapidly changing. And the forces of technology, AI, global interconnection, they really require that we think carefully about what students need to be able to do and learn to get ready for higher education, but also for this future workplace.”

The facility features a nearly 27,000 library book collection and expanded archives with a climate-controlled vault; a “History Wall,” or photo timeline connecting past and present; an extended reality design lab with technological capabilities for artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality; a teaching kitchen headed by local chef Mark Noguchi and outdoor garden space growing ʻulu, kalo, ʻuala (sweet potato) and hōʻiʻo (fern); an art gallery; and indoor and outdoor learning spaces.

Latham mentioned the significance of the two-story “History Wall” that “goes back to [Punahou’s] earlier days,” as a tool to "reflect on almost 200 years of history.”

“This building is the home of our archival collections ... and this intersection of two gifts; a Hawaiian commitment to knowledge, to reciprocity, to cultural exchange; and a missionary commitment to education,” he said, “Out of that shared heritage of [blending] Hawaiian and Christian heritage together, what complements that is the fact that Punahou becomes a home for people from all over the world, who come here, find a home, and ultimately, become part of the shared work that they do together.”

Latham added: “Every kid at Punahou, kindergarten through sixth grade, now studies Hawaiian language, which we're really proud of. Every student at Punahou takes a Hawaiian history course as a graduation requirement. Hawaiian is one of the major languages that we offer to all of our high school-level students. And I think we have in a far more intentional way come to recognize and embrace that part of our history, which also goes hand in hand with naming this signature academic building after such a prominent native Hawaiian scholar 

 it's a recognition of who she was and what she did for Punahou, but what she did more broadly for the entire state.”

He said last week that a number of Pukui's descendants, including her grandson, Laʻakea Suganuma, attended the building’s blessing ceremony and groundbreaking and was expected to be present at its opening celebration on Friday, Aug. 7.

The Mary Kawena Pukui Learning Commons also meets 

 (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification standard, with a rooftop photovoltaic system, rain gardens, water-efficient landscaping that uses native plants, and more.

Looking ahead, Latham said that he hopes that the new building will be used for not only student and teacher development, but also the broader community to continue to build relationships with donors and the state Department of Education, for example, among other partners.

“It's a project that further integrates the scope of our campus itself,” he said. “We're fortunate to have this very beautiful 76-acre campus here in Mānoa, and this building brings the campus together in a way that's really, really exciting.”

Fundraising for the project is still ongoing. Learn more 

Punahou School is the largest private K-12 school on a single campus in the country, with more than 3,755 students currently enrolled. The school’s tuition for the 2026-27 school year is $34,230, though, it has a $11.1 million budget annually for financial aid, which is dispersed to about a quarter of the student population, 

. Latham confirmed that the average award per student is around $12,000.

When asked what he’s been learning lately as a leader, Latham told ASD that having a clear sense of mission and purpose is “essential.”

That’s what first got his attention when conducting more research about Mary Kawena Pukui for the naming of this building.

“[Pukui said] that ‘Knowledge to me is life.’ ... If we can't do everything possible to preserve Hawaiian culture, what will happen to Hawaiʻi? What would Hawaiʻi be like without Hawaiian culture? What then? And so, I think her her sense of commitment and dedication, you know, we often talk about this idea of kuleana, or responsibility or duty. For her, there was a clear North Star. She knew what she was trying to accomplish. And it became her life's work,” he said. “Your mission should matter. And having a clear and compelling mission, which you're proud of, which is resonant, comes back to that idea of a North Star.”

Punahou Learning Commons student on lanai

<title>Mary Kawena Pukui Learning Commons unveiled at Punahou School</title>

The new center, named after the Hawaiian historian and scholar who taught at Punahou in the 1930s, replaces the school’s former Cooke Library. Aloha State Daily sat down with President Mike Latham to learn more about Pukui’s history at Punahou and in the broader community, as well as how her legacy continues to shape the next generation of students.

Mary Kawena Pukui Learning Commons unveiled at Punahou School

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

A Canadian man pled guilty last week to posing as a commercial pilot to get “hundreds” of free flights.

Dallas Pokornik was charged in the District of Hawai‘i last October with two counts of wire fraud after he allegedly used a false ID badge to present himself as a pilot for an unspecified Toronto airline.

According to a criminal indictment, Pokornik was employed by that Toronto airline as a flight attendant between 2017 and 2019, but was never a pilot. Nonetheless, Pokornik used his fake badge to deceive three airlines into giving him free tickets for years

Pokornik’s indictment does not include a list of all the free flights he received, although the U.S. Department of Justice reported that he received hundreds of free flights between at least January 2020 and October 2024.

Evidently by 2024, Pokornik’s plan fell through when one airline employee sent a picture of his fake badge to his former employer, which confirmed it to be false; among other things, the fake badge had an expiration date of 2027.

Following his indictment in 2025, Pokornik was arrested by the Panamanian government, and spent about one month in custody in Panama as he awaited extradition.

In the course of his scheme, Pokornik caused fraudulent transmissions to be sent across national borders — in this case, from Hawai‘i to Europe — which constitutes wire fraud, carrying a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

“Travel security protocols help keep our citizens and visitors safe, and anyone who breaches those protocols should expect to be brought to justice,” U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said in a statement.

As part of his plea deal, Pokornik pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, with the other count to be dismissed. He agreed to pay back all losses he caused to the three airlines. However, the plea does not specify the exact sum of money to be repaid, although Pokornik did agree to pay one airline — described in court documents only as an airline based in Honolulu — $1,161 in restitution.

Pokornik was released in January on a $50,000 bond, but was ordered to be confined to a transitional housing facility in Honolulu, and surrendered his passport to the court. He will be formally sentenced on Dec. 8.

Courtfed

<title>Canada man pleads guilty to airline fraud</title>

Dallas Pokornik posed as a pilot to receive "hundreds" of free flights for years.

Canada man pleads guilty to airline fraud

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Government & Politics

From the First Congressional District to the House and the Senate to the lieutenant governor's race, many of the most pivotal elections of this year will be decided within Democratic Party’s primaries. 

We’re a heavily Democratic state. I know that. You know that. We know that.

I’ve often wondered how that came to be the case. To answer that question, my default setting is history. History gets you answers if you know where to look. It’s not for nostalgia’s sake alone that history is useful. More often than not, history reveals the true location of present-day problems. 

In a local history class, you’ll be taught (maybe) that there was a Democratic ‘Revolution’ in November 1954. It was like the local version of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Rural Democrats organized by the ILWU from across the Neighbor Islands combined with urbanite Democrats in Honolulu to successfully seize control of both houses of the Territorial Legislature. 

The Democrats established a beachhead in the Legislature, one that they steadily reinforced until they effectively consolidated control over all branches of state government in the ’60s. Such consolidated power is where we are likely to remain in 2026.

So 1954 is the beginning of that history, but what made the Democratic Party so appealing in 1954?

To answer that question, I started to search for a document that’s not easily findable online. In fact, finding the document required me to scan newspaper archives in the hopes of finding a stray copy printed in an edition. 

Even seasoned politicos have never read the document. However, I’d argue it remains one of the most political documents in the last century of Hawai‘i’s history.

It’s a statement that rationalizes the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i’s right to power and their vision for the future, at least in 1954. The future, in 1954, was full of so much promise. There was so much to build in Hawai‘i. 

It is the 1954 Platform of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i. I found a copy, which I’ve transcribed and left 

It’s a bombastic document that hails the Democratic Party as “the greatest political party in the world today.” I don’t know if I’d agree with such a statement, or whether even Democrats would agree with such a statement today. 

Beyond that one bombastic statement, however, I was surprised by the document’s tone. It is not about a person’s rights alone, but what a person is expected to be able to do with the rights they attain. People should be able to get an education, work a decent job, have a home, and start a business. In 1954, the Democratic Party wanted to make it easier for residents to do those things. The Democratic Party wanted to build a Hawai‘i where people would be able to live the lives they deserved to live. 

The platform of 1954 makes commitments on statehood, taxation, small business and home ownership, land ownership and economic development, education, labor, home rule, the rights and obligations of individuals, and health and welfare. Some of the commitments feel especially relevant to a young person concerned with the viability of Hawai‘i as a place with a future.

Many sections feel foreign, if only because their ideas seem to run contrary to the general state of affairs in our time. On small business and home ownership, for instance, it pledges to “provide financial assistance from the Territory to encourage” small business, independent, farming, ranching and home construction. It also pledges to “repeal existing laws which discriminate against” small-scale enterprises. 

Government needed to let small business boom. People deserved to be able to build homes. Fallow agricultural land needed to be brought into production by local people.

It’s a document built on a person’s access to opportunity – and their ability to build out a better place. Such sentiments are not partisan, and perhaps that’s where the Democratic Party Platform of 1954 is not a very partisan document.

1954 remains important, if not for any particularly romantic reason. The 1954 Democratic Party Platform is therefore refreshing because it is not a romantic document. It is idealistic, but as a political proclamation, it is also measured. 

You may not be a Democrat. However, any resident of Hawai‘i is the figurative (and even literal, for a few) descendant of the Hawai‘i imagined in the words of the 1954 Democratic Party Platform. Our politics, culture, economics, and society is framed by a party which came to power in 1954 on the principles of that platform.

The 1954 Platform is concise. Perhaps it also remains a vision for Hawai‘i’s future. The current 

 of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, in contrast, is nearly three times as long as the 1954 platform. 

The 1954 Platform was a sober and responsible document. Hawai‘i would benefit from such sober and responsible concision in 2026. 

Spark Matsunaga Patsy Mink Lyndon B Johnson John Burns Daniel Inouye 1966 A1901 36 A

<title>What Hawai‘i’s 1954 Democratic Party platform says about today</title>

Hawai‘i has been a virtual one-party state since statehood, but how did that happen? ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explores how, with a look at the local Democratic Party's 1954 platform and a comparison with the party's current priorities.

What Hawai‘i’s 1954 Democratic Party platform says about today

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

 — which has locations in Japan and California — is bringing is signature Japanese kissaten-style café experience to Honolulu for a limited time.

The pop-up will be open to the public starting at 10 a.m. Aug. 13, according to Takuma Lathrop, president of Dining Innovation West. It’s located in an enclosed section of TsuruTonTan, which is located in Royal Hawaiian Center.

“We’re friends with the owners of the brand in Japan,” says Lathrop. “They opened in California and we went to check it out; we started talking about the possibility of partnering up.”

Right now, there is no set end date for the pop-up, but Lathrop says it should be open for at least one month. To start, the pop-up will be open to the first 60 customers — no reservations accepted; first-come, first-served — but Lathrop says its hours will eventually be extended.

“As soon as we feel more comfortable to handle more people, we’ll get to a point where there won’t be a limit,” he says. “We just want to make sure we are making the best possible dishes correctly so everyone can enjoy the taste.”

Takagi Coffee is known for its handcrafted, made-to-order souffle pancakes and freshly roasted coffee. The Honolulu pop-up’s menu is more limited, compared to the brand’s California and Japan locations, but will still feature signature dishes, according to Lathrop.

The coffee menu features a house blend ($5), cold brew ($6) and lattes ($7). Customers can also choose from several hot or iced matcha lattes ($7-$9). The matcha cream ($2 add-on) comes highly recommended for the iced matcha lattes.

Souffle pancakes come with toppings like strawberry, mango and matcha (two pieces for $17, four pieces for $22). In addition to your fruit of choice, pancakes are topped with whipped cream, cookie crumbles and vanilla ice cream.

A savory option (two pieces for $18, three pieces for $23) — topped with thick-cut bacon, sunny side-up eggs and hollandaise — is also available. 

“Personally, I like savory things; the savory pancake is really good,” Lathrop says. “It’s surprisingly very hearty and good for people who aren’t super into sweets.”

The pop-up also features Yoshoku (Japanese-style Western dishes) plates, which are served with miso soup.

Choose from omurice ($19), tonkatsu with rice ($20) and wagyu hamburger steak ($22).

The omurice features a more traditional version, according to Lathrop. The Japanese tomato-flavored rice comprises bacon, onions and mushrooms, and is enrobed with a fluffy egg and topped with demi-glace sauce.

The hamburger steak features American wagyu beef and is served with rice and miso soup. The demi-glace is served on the side, so customers can add as much or as little as they want.

Customers can opt for the tonkatsu plate or the katsu sando ($16), which features pork cutlet, veggies, mustard mayonnaise and katsu sauce between pieces of Japanese bread. It’s served with wedge fries on the side.

Customers can also look forward to Japanese-style parfaits ($13), which are layered with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, cornflakes and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"Choose from matcha, fresh strawberries and coffee jelly."}]

The pop-up might add dishes to the menu as time goes on, according to Lathrop, who encourages customers to follow the business on Instagram for updates.

“It’s simple dishes, but executed with very high-quality ingredients,” he says. “Because we’re slowly rolling out, we want to make sure that we can give everybody a good experience.”

Open from 10 a.m. Aug. 13; limited to 60 customers per day (to start)

Takagi Coffee Takuma Lathrop 081026

<title>Takagi Coffee is a new Japanese-style cafe pop-up in Honolulu</title>

The pop-up is opening to the public on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 10 a.m. It’s within Royal Hawaiian Center’s TsuruTonTan, and for the first few days, the pop-up will be limited to the first 60 customers. Takagi Coffee is serving up sweet and savory Japanese souffle pancakes, omurice, wagyu hamburger steak and layered parfaits.

Takagi Coffee is a new Japanese-style cafe pop-up in Honolulu

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

The criminal complaint says the lieutenant was careful. When money changed hands, he allegedly insisted on Instagram messages and FaceTime calls on burner phones, apps he believed the police could not easily reach.

Michael Vaituʻulala served nearly 18 years with the Maui Police Department. According to the complaint 

, he took cash to keep officers away from illegal cockfights. One organizer paid him a cut of the proceeds, and the low end was about $3,000 an event. On one trip to Las Vegas with an organizer, he allegedly gambled more than $30,000 at blackjack. Vaituʻulala is also accused of tipping off drug dealers about pending investigations, alerting them to wiretaps and warrants.

He is charged, not convicted, and the courts will sort out the truth. But one detail deserves a long look. Vaituʻulala led the Maui Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit. The man assigned to watch organized crime on Maui is accused of working for it.

If the watchers are bought off, who watches them? If the allegations hold, this went on for years under the department’s own roof. The case that finally landed is federal — the FBI and federal prosecutors are bringing it, not the Maui Prosecutor, and not the state Attorney General.

There is a reason, and it is not an insult to Maui. Wire fraud is a federal crime, and electronic messages cross state borders. Drug trafficking is a federal crime, and the cooperating witnesses in this case were likely bargaining down their own federal sentences. But this is not the full story.

Corruption is rarely rooted out at its own level. The local police live next door to the people they would have to investigate. They are related to them, or they owe them, or they are afraid of them. So counties answer to the state, and the state answers to the federal government. Each rung of the ladder is watched by the rung above. When the feds bring a case, they bring wiretap recordings, witnesses who flipped, and private messages the defendant believed were beyond reach. They tend to win.

Paul wrote that the ruler “does not bear the sword in vain.” The sword in this case looks like subpoenas and postal inspectors, which is less dramatic than it sounds and more effective than it looks.

A man who can be paid to sell his badge is not restrained by conscience. He is restrained by the knowledge that somewhere above him sits an authority he cannot buy, with resources he cannot match. Criminals should feel fear.

We have been reminded before what happens when criminals are fearless. In 1970, state Senator Larry Kuriyama was 

 in his ʻAiea carport after coming home from an event.

Ronnie Ching, the mob hitman who admitted being a lookout for the killing, later claimed involvement in some 20 killings. One of these was the son of Charles Marsland — the man Honolulu then elected prosecutor in 1980. Marsland went to war against the syndicates.

Which brings me to Hawaiian sovereignty. The activists hold a premise I take seriously: Distant power is dangerous, and sometimes abused. History gives them plenty of material. But I have never heard one of them answer a simple question. In an independent Hawaiʻi, who stands on the rung above?

When local law enforcement is in bed with organized crime, who will investigate and prosecute? When state judges are taking bribes, who will take them to court?

Hawaiʻi is host not only to tourists, but also to human traffickers, drug traffickers, and extortion rings. Syndicates run game rooms and hold cockfights. Criminals in these organizations will bribe or murder the ones who stand in their way.

A nation of 1.4 million people would face foreign syndicates with more money and more manpower than the government itself. Our prosecutors are a thin bench. County law enforcement is already stretched. Small island nations across the Caribbean and the Pacific have run this experiment. The syndicates usually win.

Federal agencies harbor corruption of their own. The same logic that sends the FBI to Maui demands that Congress, the courts, and the inspectors general watch those watchers too. No agency is above the law.

Human justice will never be perfect. It must be pursued anyway.

The state cannot save a soul, and it has not been asked to. Its assignment is narrower: to be a terror to bad conduct. 

In Hawaiʻi, the feds have lately been doing that work. They 

 of trafficking three adults and one minor. They 

 who bought over 100 pounds of methamphetamine. They 

 who looted a Hawaiʻi County affordable housing program through bribery. Now they are taking on alleged corruption in local law enforcement.

The criminal complaint describes a man who believed some conversations were beyond reach. Many criminals make the same mistake, thinking that they will never be caught. On Earth, this may be so. But there is a judge who sees all, and His verdicts are perfect.

Vaituulala2

<title>Maui Police corruption case shows why Hawaiʻi needs federal law enforcement</title>

A Maui police lieutenant allegedly arranged his bribes over burner phones and Instagram, certain no one could read them. The FBI read every word. ASD columnist Sterling Higa on why corruption is only ever answered from the rung above.

Daily Smile: Thursday, May 14, 2026

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