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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Parrot is telling his dog friend what happened..."}]

Smile 26 5 17

<title>Smile: Sunday, May 17, 2026</title>

Parrot is telling his dog friend what happened...

Smile: Sunday, May 17, 2026

 Parrot is telling his dog friend what happened...

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, known for its loaded, customizable acai bowls, first opened its truck in Kāneʻohe in September 2024. 

last March, but it was only open Fridays to Sundays.

“It [our former location] was a good start for us, but it was temporary,” says Raia Kawaa, 

. “We have a three-year lease, so we hope to stay for a while here.”

The business temporarily closed in February to relocate to its new, permanent space in Windward City Shopping Center. HI Cravings Windward reopened on May 2; the store is located next to Rainbow Crack Seed.

While the business’s menu is the same, its hours are extended, according to Kawaa.

“Customers can order online here, too,” she says. “We had online orders before, but we were only open Fridays to Sundays [at our old location], so it was kind of hard.”

pick a bowl size — snack ($7.80), regular ($14.80) or large ($18.50) — and base. Options include acai, mango sorbet, acai sorbet, coconut sorbet and strawberry guava sorbet. All bowls include granola and raw honey.

Choose from one of the pre-set menu options, like the Bliss Bowl, which includes bananas, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and cookie dough, or you can create your own bowl. Add-on toppings are an additional charge, but options range from peanut butter and cacao nibs to mochi, Cookie Butter, Nutella, and caramel drizzle.

If you want something indulgent, go for the business’s housemade cookie dough (one order includes three scoops). The business also sells strawberries stuffed with cookie dough ($7).

45-480 Kāneʻohe Bay Drive Ste. B03, Kāneʻohe

Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

HI Cravings Windward City Shopping Center owner 051326

<title>This acai bowl shop has a new location in Kāneʻohe</title>

HI Cravings Windward opened a storefront in Kāneʻohe last March. It recently relocated to Windward City Shopping Center earlier this month, and now features extended hours.

This acai bowl shop has a new location in Kāneʻohe

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

LĀ‘IE — For the Le Jardin boys volleyball team, destiny was decided by a vote. 

With O‘ahu battered by heavy rain, flooding and lightning strikes on Friday, the possibility of postponing the HHSAA Division II championship match between Le Jardin and Pearl City at BYU-Hawai‘i's Cannon Activities Center to a later date was floated to both teams. 

Back in Kailua, Le Jardin already loaded its team bus on campus. Head coach Makana Wade told his team they didn't have to play on Friday if they didn't want to, that tournament organizers could move some things around to get the match played later in the weekend. Wade asked his players to raise their hands if they wanted to play on Friday.

"Everybody's hand went straight up," setter Brennan Nakayama said. "We just knew we were ready for this, and we knew what we needed to do."

Following a commute to the North Shore that lasted three hours due to traffic brought on by the weather, the Bulldogs arrived prepared to do something the school had never done before. With a 25-18, 25-9, 25-21 sweep over Pearl City, Le Jardin won its first HHSAA boys volleyball championship in school history. 

"Just a real surreal feeling," Wade told Aloha State Daily following the match. "When I took this job, this is the last thing I could ever dream of, was being here. I'm just so happy for Le Jardin and everybody there for believing in me and giving me this job. And so blessed to be able to coach these amazing players."

When he saw the look of determination in his team, Wade knew they were destined to take the title home. 

"I wish everybody could have seen inside our bus for three hours. You would have thought we were gonna play UH or something," Wade said. "The guys were so locked in, having fun. I kept getting calls from our AD, my dad asking, 'Sure you wanna play tonight, coach?' I'm asking the guys, 'Are you sure?' And they're yelling at me, like, yes, of course. There's no way we weren't going to play this match tonight. I think we really took what was ours tonight."

The notion of playing against UH is something Wade would have deep knowledge of. The son of Hawai‘i head coach 

, Makana Wade was a UH men's volleyball assistant coach for multiple seasons. He departed the program in January in order to take the position of Le Jardin head coach, as NCAA rules prohibit one from coaching high school and collegiate teams of the same gender and sport in the same season.

leading Hawai‘i to a national title on Monday

 since arriving back to Honolulu on Tuesday. After taking care of business on Monday, Charlie Wade made it clear where his priorities were during the program's celebration event on Wednesday. Ahead of a scheduled autograph session, Wade told the thousands of fans gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center that he'd have to leave early in order to watch his son coach. 

On Friday, Charlie Wade sat courtside across from the Le Jardin bench, locked in on the match. When the Bulldogs secured the victory, father and son shared multiple long embraces following the match, the look of pride in Charlie Wade's eyes undeniable. 

"Very cool," he told ASD. "He's been coaching with me at the club level, and obviously the last couple years at the collegiate level. He's always kind of had that analytical brain that it takes to be a good coach, and he and I have spent uncountable hours out walking the dogs at night and talking about coaching. He's asked me about a lot of different stuff over the years, and it's great to see him take on that role as a head coach and have to deal with playing time and all that other stuff that is not coaching that's a part of it, but not the X's and O's part. He's doing a great job and has a lot of passion for it, so fun to see him have some success."

"I don't think we have enough time to talk about what I've learned, but I think the basic is just be a guy that people can lean on and trust," Makana Wade said when asked what he learned from his father. "My dad has taught me countless things, and I'm just so happy to be able to learn from him every day, really. I wouldn't be here without him."

For the 2026 season in particular, Makana Wade worked closely with UH associate head coach Kupono Fey on analytics and strategy. He suddenly received the opportunity to run his own program at just 21 years old. 

"It was really hard to leave," Makana Wade said. "I love those guys to death. It was only gonna be a special job like this, a place like this, where there's amazing people, amazing kids. ... It was pretty crazy. I got hired, couple weeks later, we had tryouts, and then next week we're playing our tournament, then we're playing ILH. It's been a pretty hectic couple months, but it's all worth it in the end."

Makana Wade, a UH-Mānoa junior, also had a French final exam he had to take on Friday morning. "It's been a crazy day, but it's been awesome," he said. 

On Friday night, the Bulldogs were in control for the entirety of the match. Nakayama paced the offense with 39 assists, while La‘akea Kamahale had 20 kills on 31 swings. Following a commanding win in Set 2, Le Jardin took a comfortable 24-19 lead in Set 3. After consecutive Pearl City points to cut the lead to 24-21, a calm Makana Wade called timeout to make sure his team was composed. The Bulldogs finished their 2026 campaign 16-1 and state champions for the first time in school history.

"Our whole team can't thank him enough for how lucky we are to have him," Nakayama said of Makana Wade. "The knowledge and experience is super cool. The scouting reports, and how tight he keeps the team and everything, all the way to the bus rides, everything you want. I think we started a legacy."

For the Wade family, the week started with Charlie and Kainoa Wade winning an NCAA championship. On Friday, Makana Wade coached his own team to a championship, capping an unforgettable week for a family that has no plans to stop chasing greatness in the sport for the foreseeable future. 

"Monday seems like a long time ago," Charlie Wade said. "It doesn't seem like it's the same week, but obviously very cool, a lot of positive stuff."

Added Makana Wade: "I'm just so happy for my dad, and they worked really hard this season. To be able to do this too is just a surreal feeling."

Makana Wade 051626

<title>Makana Wade coaches Le Jardin to first state title in boys volleyball</title>

Makana Wade, the son of UH men's volleyball head coach Charlie Wade, led the Bulldogs to the HHSAA title in his first season at the helm.

Makana Wade coaches Le Jardin to first state title in boys volleyball

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

[{"type":"text","text":"Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 2471 into law Thursday."}]

The bill was touted by supporters throughout the legislative session as a measure to stymie Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that found that attempting to prohibit political spending by corporations is unconstitutional.

SB 2471 — now signed into law as Act 11 — supposedly would prevent corporate spending in Hawai‘i elections by limiting the privileges granted to corporations by the state. 

Corporations and other artificial entities exist because the state grants them legal privileges, including limited liability and lucrative tax benefits that individuals cannot claim," said Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole in a statement Thursday. "Act 11 clarifies that those privileges do not include the power to spend corporate money to influence our elections.”

In theory, political action committees will continue to operate under current campaign finance laws, but will not be able to spend any money received by corporations, according to a statement by the State Senate Majority.

We want our elections to reflect the voices and values of the people of Hawaiʻi," Green said in a statement. "This measure is intended to strengthen transparency and accountability in our campaign system and support fair elections. I thank the Hawai‘i State Legislature for its partnership and continued commitment to maintaining public trust in our democratic process.”

Throughout the legislative session, the Office of the Attorney General warned that the bill will be seen as an attempt to undermine the Citizens United verdict and will likely be susceptible to potentially costly legal challenges. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The law takes effect July 1 of next year."},{"type":"hardBreak","text":""}]

Hawaiʻi State Capitol

<title>Green signs anti-corporate spending bill</title>

Senate Bill 2471, now Act 11, aims to limit corporate influence on Hawai‘i's elections

Green signs anti-corporate spending bill

Crime & Courts

The only local candidate for Honolulu Police Chief wants to invest in the department’s officers.

Mike Lambert, director of the state Department of Law Enforcement, is one of three candidates for Honolulu Police Chief under consideration by the Honolulu Police Commission. If selected, he told Aloha State Daily, his first priority will be to make officers at the police department feel more valued.

“We have to create an environment where people don’t leave early,” Lambert said. “The department has seen people leave before hitting retirement age, either for other agencies or to outright change careers, and I believe that has to do with the work environment.”

Lambert, who was with HPD for 21 years and reached the rank of major before joining the DLE, said small problems like a broken water fountain not being fixed efficiently lead officers to feel like their work isn’t valued or respected. And that feeling, he said, reflects in officers’ police work.

“When I was an officer, when I got a beat-up car, I would get really upset because I had a 3-12 schedule, three days a week, 12-hour shifts, and for 12 hours [I was stuck with] this beat-up car that has a funny smell, and I know for a fact that I was grouchy,” Lambert said. “Versus when I get lucky and the vehicle dispatcher gave me a newer car, I felt great … I felt proud about the car I was driving and I believe that I probably gave better service that day.”

Moreover, poor conditions in the department contribute to poor officer retention rates. Lambert said the department has lost more officers than it has recruited for the last four years, but not for a fault in recruitment — in fact, Lambert said recruitment lately has been high.

“They’ve turned the corner on getting people in,” Lambert said. “It’s just a matter of making people want to stick.”

Lambert said he believes quality of life improvements to the department will help begin to fix other problems facing the department: “I think we need to focus internally first, cleaning up shop internally, and then I think that the other things will kind of naturally fix themselves in time.”

By improving HPD’s working conditions and thereby improving retention rates, officers will be able to perform better in the field. By performing better in the field, public trust in the department as an institution will improve, something Lambert said is sorely needed following the public disgrace and arrest of former chief Louis Kealoha.

Lambert said he knows his own image as chief must remain spotless: “if the chief is dirty, then the whole department is dirty.”

Lambert’s lifetime on the island will help bolster his trustworthiness among the public, he said. Compared to his competitors for the chief position — San Franciscan David Lazar and Georgia resident Scott Ebner — Lambert said only he understands the department and the community enough to hit the ground running.

“I have at least a two-year head start if I were chosen,” Lambert said.

At the same time, his ties to the community means Lambert has nowhere to run if he fails.

“When you come from here, you have a sense of shame if you fail, right? It’s a legacy thing,” Lambert said. “I don’t want that for my kids, where I fell short or embarrassed them and now for the next 10 years, 15 years, it’s like ‘wasn’t your dad that failed police chief?’ I don’t get to just pick up stakes and go somewhere no one knows me.”

That said, Lambert’s retirement became a matter of public discussion last month, when he announced his intention to leave the DLE and return to HPD when it became clear that remaining with the DLE would jeopardize a sizable chunk of his retirement benefits.

Because of a quirk with the state’s retirement system, the benefits he had accrued while working as an HPD officer would be lost to him if he remained in the state. While a bill in the state legislature this year could have allowed him to retain those benefits, it failed to pass.

Lambert said he would have stayed on with the DLE if he could keep those benefits — about 11% of his pension, or some $20,000 per year — “but I have a family and that penalty was just too much to ask.”

“That’s what they offered when I took the job,” Lambert added. “It’s like, ‘hey man, you come in, you get a good retirement,’ and that was one of the things that attracted me to the job. So to be kind of shamed for it is a little disappointing.”

Beyond improvements to the department’s operations, Lambert said he wants to pursue greater technological solutions in order to improve the department’s effectiveness at actually solving crimes. He pointed to a pilot program in Waikīkī that coordinates public-facing video cameras, license plate readers and drones to more efficiently track a crime once it is reported.

“Whenever a person delays their reporting, the likelihood of identification [of a suspect] is low without any other witnesses or technology opportunities,” Lambert said.

Lambert acknowledged that HPD’s clearance rate — the rate at which cases are resolved — is low compared to the national average. 

According to the Hawai‘i Office of the Attorney General

, HPD’s clearance rate in 2024, the most recent year with available data, was about 22%.  

However, Lambert also said Hawai‘i has some of the most stringent protections against self-incrimination or search and seizure in the nation, which makes comparisons to Mainland agencies difficult.

And while several Mainland agencies have established policies recently fully separating local law enforcement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Lambert said he can’t commit to such a hard stance.

“The chief of police can’t be trendy,” Lambert said, adding that he does believe HPD has no business assisting ICE in administrative-only situations, such as if somebody has an expired visa. However, he said, “to say ‘never’ is not wise in the law enforcement community.”

Lambert said that, when he was an HPD officer, he arrested a man who was running several illegal gambling operations, who had attempted to bribe him. The man was sentenced to only seven years in prison, Lambert said, but what destroyed the man’s criminal enterprise was the fact that he was deported after leaving prison.

“If the individual has a nexus to sex trafficking, drug trafficking or organized crime, on a case-by-case basis, we may assist in that person’s recovery,” Lambert said.

Whether Lambert will become HPD chief will be revealed next week. The Honolulu Police Commission will conduct final interviews with the three candidates on May 19, and will make its final selection on May 20.

Mike Lambert 16x9

<title>Top cops: HPD chief candidate Mike Lambert wants to improve officer morale</title>

Department of Law Enforcement director Mike Lambert believes fixing officer retention is the key to improving Honolulu's police

Top cops: HPD chief candidate Mike Lambert wants to improve officer morale

MĀNOA — Facing a short week of rest and needing a win to clinch a spot in the upcoming Big West Conference tournament, the University of Hawai‘i baseball team's coaches decided to give the ball to ace pitcher Isaiah Magdaleno on Wednesday night. 

Magdaleno did the rest, turning in another magnificent start. The junior tossed another shutout, striking out 14 while allowing just one single and two hit batters in 101 pitches in a 4-0 victory over CSUN.

The performance was just the latest gem for Magdaleno in a month full of them. On May 1, he struck out 16 in a one-hit shutout over UC Riverside, entering the seventh inning with a perfect game and ninth with a no-hitter, earning him a bevy of 

In a May 8 win at UC Davis, Magdaleno struck out nine while allowing just one run in eight innings, taking home Big West Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week. In order to accommodate UH-Mānoa's commencement ceremony on Saturday, its home series against CSUN was moved to begin on Wednesday and end on Friday. 

As soon as his start at UC Davis ended, Magdaleno was determined to deliver for his team on short rest and got an early start on his recovery work. That Magdaleno's latest masterpiece was not hindered by a lack of rest came as no surprise to his coaches, who know full well there's something special in store every time their star steps on the mound. 

've never seen a consistent three-week performance like Mags. Adjectives, really, there are none to describe what he's done," Hawai‘i head coach Rich Hill said on Wednesday night. 

Added associate head coach/pitching coach Keith Zuniga: 

"[CSUN] is one of the best offenses in the country. So, again, it just speaks volumes to what Isaiah is capable of doing out here, and what he's been doing week in and week out for us. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it right now: if he's not pitcher of the week in the entire country again, I'm gonna be extremely shocked. So, let's pencil him in for that. He's earned it. He deserves it. He went out there and did it. Just great to see."

Any notion of a perfect game on Wednesday was thwarted when Magdaleno hit CSUN's 2 hitter, Kyle Panganiban, in the top of the first. But as he continued to cruise through the Matador lineup while maintaining an efficient pitch count, there he was again, singled out in another postgame curtain call similar to the ovation he received after his start against UC Riverside less than two weeks prior. 

"Honestly, it's my goal all the time to just go for [a complete game]," Magdaleno told Aloha State Daily after the game. "I mean, I'm gonna go 100% and whenever they take me out is when they take me out. I wasn't expecting to go a complete game, but it just it worked out. Just trying to stay in the groove and just getting back to work."

The victory punched the team's ticket to next week's Big West tournament in Fullerton, Calif. The Rainbow Warriors could take the field as early as Wednesday. 

"He'll get two days of rest back now to get ready to go for the tournament," Zuniga said of Magdaleno. "But the month he's having, I mean, it's no secret to anybody here in the clubhouse, right? He's worked for that, and even when it felt like he was having a tough time in the middle course of the year, that's resiliency right there. That's toughness, that's a competitor. That's exactly what we're looking for here at the University of Hawai‘i." 

When Anthony and Mirna Magdaleno sent their son from 

Crespi Carmelite High School in Los Angeles to the Islands for college, they understood they wouldn't be able to catch every single one of Isaiah's games. Complicating matters was the fact that Isaiah Magdaleno was used out of the bullpen as a freshman and sophomore, emerging as one of the country's top closers in 2025. That meant he'd pitch multiple games a week.

We were having major FOMO [fear of missing out], wishing we were here," Mirna Magdaleno told ASD. 

Of Isaiah Magdaleno's eight home starts in 2026, only four were televised on Spectrum Sports and streamed on the Mainland via ESPN+. Fortunately for the Magdaleno family, Isaiah's historic start against UC Riverside was one of the televised games. 

"We were by ourselves, just freaking out, super excited and watching everything that was happening, and we were screaming and jumping for joy, giving each other high fives, just amazed by the performance," Mirna Magdaleno said. "We had no idea what the night was gonna look like. We never know."

With Isaiah viewed as a serious prospect in this summer's MLB Draft, there was no chance Mirna and Anthony would miss their son's potential last home start at Les Murakami Stadium. A contingent of Magdelano supporters were seated a couple rows above the UH dugout on Wednesday night to cheer him on and witness another superb start. 

"It means everything," Isaiah Magdaleno said. "They know that I love doing this, and they're always going to support me. I'm very grateful for them to come out, all the support, all the love that they send me from California whenever I'm out here. It means a lot."

"It's like a dream. It's a dream come true," Anthony Magdaleno said. "You don't know how good he's going to do on a night like this after having two good weeks. I honestly didn't know how he would be able to do this good. It amazes me that he's able to do it three weeks [in a row]. It's amazing."

Anthony and Mirna Magdaleno noticed Isaiah's athletic talents from a young age, in skills ranging from hitting a baseball to playing basketball. They've savored the experience in watching their son blossom into a pro prospect as a pitcher, but what makes them most proud as parents is seeing the person he's become. 

"Not surprised, but I guess amazed every time I see how much he's changed each year. He's improved a lot in his performance and just the way he carries himself with a lot more pride and more security," Mirna Magdaleno said as her eyes watered. "We didn't know how it was gonna go for him, but the fans have been great. They've just hugged him and loved him."

Added Anthony Magdaleno: "There's no other place that I could think of that embraces him like this. That's why I love I love this place. I love coming here. We don't get back as much as I wish we could, but coming back and seeing the support he gets is amazing.

"When we sent him here, we're like, 'Oh, we hope he does great in baseball.' When you come here and we talk to the other parents and they're saying how great of a person is and he carries himself well, that's what really makes us feel great."

With each appearance Isaiah Magdaleno has made on the mound, fans at Les Murakami Stadium have continued to show their love and support for him through thick and thin. 

If Wednesday's start for Magdaleno turns out to be his last home start in a UH uniform, another gem in front of the thousands of fans that have his back, it will have served as a fitting end. 

"All the fans showing out today... it's everything I could ever ask for," he said.

Isaiah Magdaleno 10 051426

<title>Magdaleno magnificent again as Hawai‘i clinches Big West tournament berth</title>

Working on short rest, UH's ace tossed his second one-hit shutout of the month, striking out 14 CSUN batters in a 4-0 win on Wednesday night with his family in attendance.

Magdaleno magnificent again as Hawai‘i clinches Big West tournament berth

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

In the early 1800s, King Kamehameha I moved his Royal Court to Honolulu, where the waters of Māmala Bay reached the shorelines of what are now Halekauwila and Queen Streets. Kamehameha’s kauhale was built near Pākākā Heiau, mainly where Walker Park is now, and his kāhuna made their home about a half mile away in Kakaʻako.

In the time of Kamehameha I, kāhuna were the keepers of knowledge that governed everything from building to planting to placing curses on people to communicating with the gods. The highest-ranking kahuna at the time was Hewahewa. As kahuna nui, he was required to master all forms of traditional knowledge, including kahuna ʻānaʻāna (sorcery by means of prayer). Hewahewa interpreted the will of the akua and advised Kamehameha on matters of war and kapu. Through sacred rituals, he sanctified heiau, conducted offerings, and demanded sacrifice, all in the name of the gods.

On the shores of Māmala Bay, the kāhuna studied their crafts and practiced their arts daily. Communicating with akua and warding off curses from rival ali‘i was a full-time job, and the spiritual and emotional weight of the dozens of practicing kāhuna would have left quite a mark upon the land in which they lived. This place became known as Mililani, and Hewahewa and his kāhuna lived there until Kamehameha moved his court to Kailua-Kona in 1813.

Years later, an aliʻi couple, Manuia and Kaupena, came to Honolulu to serve as retainers for King Kamehameha II and settled upon this lot. In 1829, they sailed with Governor Boki on his sandalwood expedition. The trip was met with disaster, and Kaupena returned to Honolulu with the body of her husband and buried him at their home. After Kaupena’s death, the property was passed on to her brother, Namauu, who lived there from the time of the expedition until his own death in 1848. 

The beachfront Mililani parcel then came into the possession of Mataio Kekuanaoʻa, and eventually Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, half-sister of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.

As Honolulu Harbor was dredged to accommodate larger ships, the sand and coral from the bay were added along the shore and reef. By the 1880s, this “reclaimed land” extended the shoreline several hundred feet, and by the 1890s, Halekauwila Street had been born, and Mililani was now landlocked.

Over the decades, the land along Halekauwila held various hale pili, then small businesses, and, in the 1940s, a garage and warehouse for auto parts. In 1949, the land bounded by Queen, Punchbowl, Halekauwila, and Mililani Streets was acquired by the government for a new Territorial office building. In the spring of 1951, the building was dedicated as the Princess Ruth Keʻelikolani Building and housed the Territorial Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Civil Service Commission, the Hawaiʻi Employees Retirement System, and the Council of Veterans Affairs.

A lot of the stories about strange events in the building seem almost dismissive. The weird things that happen are often small and easy to explain away. Someone’s missing keys or supplies that suddenly reappear could be attributed to a forgetful memory, and knocking sounds could be the building settling.

While we were unable to confirm the rumor that an orphanage once stood in this spot, the sounds of children laughing and running through the halls are common, even though there are no children present.

The issues with the lights are more frequent and more odd. In the 1980s, at least one office had lights that would flicker only when someone passed through the doorway. Sharing the information and testing it out with new coworkers almost became a form of entertainment. But most people in the building would say this could have been caused by an electrical anomaly or crossed wires. Most commonly, people passing through the halls have sworn they could see lights glowing beneath office doors, but when they open those same doors, the rooms are dark and empty.

One of the oddest places in the building was the supply room. It was a small, windowless space slightly larger than a closet that no one paid much attention to until they needed something. For years, the door had no lock. People came and went freely, grabbing paper, white-out, typewriter ribbon, and anything else needed to get their work done.

One afternoon, a clerk from the third floor stepped inside with a short list of needs from her coworkers. She gathered the items quickly and tried to leave, but when she turned the handle, the door wouldn’t open. She tried pushing the door and turning the handle harder. She tried lifting the handle and pulling at the door, but nothing happened. No matter how hard the woman tried, the door just would not open.

With no other way out, panic began to set in, and the woman started pounding on the door. She yelled for help, believing someone would hear her, but no one came to her rescue. She pressed her ear against the door, but couldn’t hear anything beyond her own breathing. Several minutes passed, and she began pounding harder and yelling louder.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then, suddenly, the door opened."}]

A person from another office stood there, confused. They said they hadn’t heard anything, no pounding, no shouting, until the exact moment they walked in front of the door. And when they reached for the handle, it turned easily, and the door swung open with no issue. There was no explanation. The door worked fine, just as it always had.

After that, a lock was installed. Access was restricted, and the key was controlled by a single department. Most employees thought it was to control the supplies, which makes perfect sense, but one woman is certain that someone else, a department head, got locked in, too.

Keelikolani building

<title>Strange Events at the Ke‘elikōlani Building</title>

It's hard to imagine now, but this area of the Capitol District of Honolulu was once waterfront property, where King Kamehameha I and his Royal Court made their home. Now, state government department heads, rather than powerful kahuna, hold sway, but it's possible the old energies linger, causing eerie experiences.

Smile: Sunday, May 17, 2026

ASD Staff

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Smile: Sunday, May 17, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

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