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Daily Smile

"You know the rules, Pablo. You stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine..."

Smile 26 5 18

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, May 18, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Monday, May 18, 2026

 &quot;You know the rules, Pablo. You stay in your lane and I&#039;ll stay in mine...&quot;

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."

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

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

The championship tour continues for the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team. 

After defeating UC Irvine in Monday's national championship match in Los Angeles, the Rainbow Warriors 

returned to the UH-Mānoa campus less than 24 hours later

On Wednesday evening, the Rainbow Warriors had a national championship celebration at the Stan Sheriff Center, where about 2,000 loyal fans showed up to cheer on the Rainbow Warriors. An autograph session was held afterwards. 

In addition to members of the team, Gov. Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, UH president Wendy Hensel and UH athletics director Matt Elliott all spoke at the celebration.

Over in Washington, D.C., Hawai‘i Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono brought a resolution to congratulate the UH men's volleyball team on its national title, which was passed. Schatz and Hirono also briefly gave speeches about the team on the senate floor. A companion resolution was also introduced by U.S. representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda. 

Also on Thursday, the UH men's volleyball team was honored at the UH baseball team's home game against CSUN, with setter Tread Rosenthal throwing an unconventional first pitch. 

Charlie Wade 051426

<title>Hawai‘i men's volleyball makes the rounds following national championship</title>

The Rainbow Warriors and their coaches have made a bevy of public appearances since winning the 2026 national championship match on Monday.

Hawai‘i men's volleyball makes the rounds following national championship

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

Columnists

Last week, State Sen. Brenton Awa rose on the Senate floor. He clarified that the Senate doesn’t “condone violence.” Then he held up a letter of recognition for “Mister Ambassador of Aloha.” The commendation was intended for a shirtless man recorded beating a tourist on Maui. The tourist had been filmed earlier throwing a rock at a monk seal.

The clip of Awa’s remarks has been viewed 29.3 million times on his 

. In the chamber where laws are made, a sitting senator stood to commend a man for a beating.

The tourist was wrong. That part isn’t in dispute. Throwing a rock at a protected animal earns charges, and ought to. The question is why a senator commended the man who beat him.

Awa represents State Senate District 23, which includes Kāneʻohe and the rural areas of the North Shore, including Kahaluʻu through Lāʻie, Kahuku to Mokulēʻia. It is one of the most conservative and religious districts in the state, with a significant presence of Christians and Mormons. Though they differ on major theological issues, they share most moral commitments. Many of them read Scripture and try to live by it.

Paul tells the Roman church plainly: never avenge yourselves, for vengeance belongs to the Lord, and He will repay. He says this in Romans chapter 12. In the next chapter he describes the magistrate as the servant of God who carries the sword on God’s behalf. The magistrate is the appointed avenger of wrath against the wrongdoer. Awa sits in the office Paul describes. To commend a man for taking justice into his own hands is to undercut the office God established to do that work.

A reader may reply that the justice system fails locals, that private justice is what’s left when the courts won’t act. There are two answers. The first is that the system was working. The whole state was outraged. The tourist was being identified and pursued. The vigilante did not help. He committed a crime of his own, and gave the tourist a grievance to point to.

The second answer is older. Vigilante justice doesn’t end disorder. It feeds it. Shakespeare worked this out in Verona, and the Capulets and Montagues are not a model anyone wants for Hawaiʻi. Due process is the rope that pulls communities out of that pit.

The seal speech was not a stray moment. Awa brought a polygraph to the floor during the $35,000 paper bag scandal. He has made props a feature of his floor speeches. He posted a video walking viewers to Rep. Linda Ichiyama’s office after she killed his bill prohibiting foreign ownership of land, and she received death threats. His congressional campaign website celebrates his record of voting no more than any other legislator. The posture is consistent: media first, lawmaking second.

A rock thrown at a seal and the beating of a tourist got Awa to stand and speak. The everyday violence in Hawaiʻi — robberies, killings, home invasions — has not moved him the same way. Neither has abortion, though his Christian and Mormon constituents care about it as deeply as any voters in the state. Awa casts his no votes and counts them on his campaign website. But a ceremonial no vote does not save a life.

He has a platform few legislators command. He could use it to speak about the issues his district cares about. He has chosen to use it to glorify lawless violence.

Moral leadership in a minority caucus is possible. It starts with respect for the office, since God has established it. The slow work of building coalitions and passing bills must follow, since social media clips don’t affect statutes. Underneath all of this lies the harder discipline of applying Christian conviction even-handedly. It must name the sins of allies as readily as opponents, the populist right as readily as the progressive left. A lawmaker who held those things together would be doing something that all of Hawaiʻi has been waiting for.

On opening day this session, Awa quoted James: “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” He should have taken his own advice. Later in that 

, he told his colleagues, “We can accomplish impossible feats just by showing aloha. In other words, the next time you’re feeling like throwing blows, throw aloha.”

Awa upscaled

<title>'Mister ambassador of aloha'</title>

It's a bad look for the word "aloha" when it's used to commend a vigilante beat down, as state Sen. Brenton Awa did last week, says ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa.

'Mister ambassador of aloha'

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

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.

Strange Events at the Ke‘elikōlani Building

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

A measure intended to prevent corporations from influencing elections is still going strong in the state legislature.

 sets limits on what it calls “artificial-person powers,” political powers afforded to corporations or similar entities.

Under current state laws, corporations have “the same powers as an individual to do all things necessary or convenient to carry out [their] affairs,” such as the power to file lawsuits, to own property, to make contracts and the like.

Most of those powers would not be impeded by SB 2471. However, the ability of a corporation to be involved in elections or any “ballot-issue activity” would be terminated by the bill. Specifically, this would include the ability for a corporation to pay, donate or otherwise spend money to support or oppose a political campaign, political party, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or any other issue on a ballot.

These limitations would apply to corporations, associations, limited-equity housing cooperatives, limited-liability partnerships and nonprofits. It also applies to “foreign corporations,” which in this case means any corporation formed in other states as well as other countries.

Should any such organization take any action considered to be an election activity, that organization will forfeit all of powers and privileges afforded by the state.

The bill is a response to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court verdict in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The upshot of that verdict was that laws prohibiting political spending by corporations were determined to be a violation of the First Amendment’s protections toward free speech.

 on the measure by the Senate Judiciary Committee stated that, since the Citizens United verdict, “corporations and other entities have spent large sums of money to influence political campaigns and elections, undermining public trust in the democratic process.” That report added that the Hawai‘i State Constitution allows for the Legislature to “withdraw any corporate or entity powers that the State has conferred.”

The Center for American Progress, a self-described nonpartisan public policy think tank, has testified extensively in favor of the measure, testimony which multiple committees have specifically responded to. In 

, CAP senior fellow Tom Moore wrote that corporations only exist because states allow them to by conferring privileges and powers, something that states can change without violating the Citizens United ruling.

Moore wrote that there is a distinction between “powers” and “rights,” whereby SB 2471 limits a corporation’s “powers” but not its “rights”. Instead, he wrote, it simply “defines the powers that Hawai‘i chooses to grant to the artificial entities it creates and authorizes to do business within the state.”

Whether this will actually hold any legal water is unclear. The state Department of the Attorney General has 

, warning that it will likely be challenged under the Citizens United verdict — something which, the attorney general noted, will likely incur 

“While many Americans strongly disagree with … Citizens United, under our federal system of government, it is our duty to state that this opinion remains the law of the land, irrespective of its merits (or lack thereof),” read the Attorney General’s letter (parenthetical theirs).

During the bill’s most recent committee hearing, on Tuesday, Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D-Kāne‘ohe) said he hopes “we don’t get too smoked in court” should the bill pass.

Matayoshi moved during Tuesday’s meeting of the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce to remove language in the bill differentiating charitable donations and political donations. The current draft of the measure defines “artificial-person powers” as those powers necessary for a corporation to carry out its “lawful, charitable or public-benefit purposes.”

This language, Matayoshi said, would effectively force many nonprofits, unions and veterans associations to lose their nonprofit status if they engaged in any ballot-related donations. If passed, the bill would effectively prohibit political donations by for-profit corporations while allowing it for non-profits and unions.

“It is this committee’s belief that a natural person’s free speech is not impeded by the restriction of corporate speech,” Matayoshi concluded.

The bill passed Tuesday’s committee with no opposition: all committee members present, including Republican Rep. Elijah Pierick (Royal Kunia), voted to recommend the bill’s passage with Matayoshi’s amendments. No legislator has voted against it in committees since its introduction.

The bill must still pass review by the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, but that committee has not scheduled any hearing for the bill yet.

 For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Matayoshi 16x9

<title>Bill prohibiting corporate political donations nearing the finish line</title>

A bill limiting a corporation's ability to make political donations has passed all but one committee in the state Legislature.

Bill prohibiting corporate political donations nearing the finish line

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Located at Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawā, 

 previously offered breakfast buffets for holidays and special occasions. Due to the buffet’s popularity, the restaurant decided to offer it every Saturday starting this past January.

604 Clubhouse’s breakfast buffet is now weekly from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last seating is at 2 p.m.). It costs $60 per adult and $25 for children ages 12 years and under.

There’s a 90-minute time limit and automatic 20% gratuity. While reservations are recommended, walk-ins are also accepted.

Highlights from the all-you-can-eat experience include a prime rib carving station, snow crab legs, and an omelet station. Omelets are made to order; you can choose from ingredients like ham, Spam, mushrooms, red onions, bell peppers and more.

Hot buffet selections include coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce, steamed catch (served with ginger puree, lup cheong and Chinese parsley), swirl French toast, Portuguese sausage and teriyaki chicken.

Some of the seafood options, like the steamed catch and shellfish delight — a combo of clams, mussels, shrimp, green curry, coconut milk, gremolata and cilantro — may change weekly. Seafood cioppino — a flavorful seafood stew with a rich, savory broth — and kakimochi-crusted bass were previously featured.

Cold options include fresh fruit, spicy ‘ahi poke, imitation crab mac salad and Caesar salad.

Guests can conclude their meal with desserts like macadamia nut bread pudding, assorted danishes and chocolate chip cookies.

While the breakfast buffet is promoted on Saturdays, the eatery’s a la carte menu is available, so customers can still order popular beverages like Hawaiʻi’s Best Bloody Mary ($18) — garnished with celery, cheese, smoked meat, a jumbo prawn, pineapple, lime, cherry tomato, pickled onion, pepperoncini and an olive — and mahalo margarita ($13). The latter features Jose Cuervo, lime sour, lemonade, strawberries and a li hing mui rim.

Saturday breakfast buffet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

604 Clubhouse buffet spread 020226

<title>604 Clubhouse has a new breakfast buffet</title>

The eatery, located at Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawā, recently started a new Saturday breakfast buffet. The all-you-can-eat experience costs $60 per adult and includes a prime rib carving station, snow crab legs, an omelet station and more.

Daily Smile: Monday, May 18, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Monday, May 18, 2026

Authors

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