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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Conductor falls asleep on the job..."}]

Smile 26 5 28

<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, May 28, 2026</title>

Conductor falls asleep on the job...

Daily Smile: Thursday, May 28, 2026

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

The 32nd annual Made in Hawai‘i Festival drew thousands to the Hawai‘i Convention Center last week. 

"While final numbers are still being tallied, we estimate that approximately 70,000 guests attended this year's festival, matching last year's impressive turnout," festival spokesperson Olena Heu told Aloha State Daily in an email this week. "Revenue totals will take a few more weeks to determine as vendors complete their post-event reporting."

The largest-ever MIHF — which took place Aug. 20 to 23 — spanned more than 300,000 square feet across two floors and showcased more than 800 local artisans, makers and entrepreneurs.

The days and times of the festival changed from past years due to construction at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. The expanded days included 

a VIP Access Night presented by Huaka‘i by Hawaiian on Thursday

"Given the addition of two nighttime events, we did not know exactly what to expect," Heu says. "To help create balance throughout the weekend, we extended hours on the other festival days, as well. We are thrilled by the incredible support from our community and grateful to everyone who participated. Attendance remained steady all weekend, making this year's festival a success."

While each day of the festival was unique, Lauren Zirbel, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Food Industry Association, which produces the annual event, said in a statement provided to ASD by Heu that guests on Thursday were the first to shop all of the MIHF vendors and had first access to festival exclusives and limited-edition products —  many of which sold out — along with a limited-edition complimentary Hawaiian Airlines cooler bag and other vendor giveaways.

"With more than 800 local vendor booths participating, strong attendance is also important to making the festival successful for the vendors who invest so much in being there," she says. "We sold 7,000 tickets for Thursday and reserved another 750 for qualified and vetted retail and wholesale buyers.

"We’re listening to all the feedback from all our Made in Hawai'i Festival attendees and vendors and taking it seriously. We’ll continue to use what we learn from this year to work to make the Festival the best it can be.”

Heu says that organizers are "extremely pleased" with the event overall.

"It was inspiring to see so many people travel from around the world to support the festival," she told ASD. "I had the opportunity to meet visitors from Italy, Tahiti, and many other places who made the journey specifically to attend, and many of them were returning guests. Of course, our island 'ohana truly showed up and we are incredibly grateful for their support. It was also wonderful to see so many guests from the Neighbor Islands come out to support local businesses and vendors. We are deeply honored by the support shown to our vendor community."

Although there were a few challenges with the entry process on Thursday, Heu says that the festival team adapted and implemented a plan by Friday, and as a result, entry operations improved and the entry process ran "smoothly and successfully" throughout the weekend.

"All four days seemed to pass by quickly, despite the long hours and late nights," she told ASD. "As we begin planning for next year, we will work closely with our vendors to review this year's experience and identify opportunities to further enhance the vendor management process and overall festival operations."

Heu says, too, that this year, the festival tried to provide more transparency about where businesses and their products come from by introducing specific vendor designations and corresponding badges noting the island they came from and were Wahine-owned, Native Hawaiian-owned, designed in Hawai‘i and manufactured in Hawai‘i businesses.

According to Heu, vendors self-selected the applicable designations during the application process, which were reflected online and through physical badges — stickers that vendors could place on their booth signage, at their register or on their tables — provided to participating vendors onsite. However, Heu says that while the system provided "an additional way for guests to understand and distinguish participating businesses, adoption of the physical badges was limited. Only a small fraction of vendors displayed the badges prominently at their booths, which meant the initiative was not as visible to guests as we had hoped."

"For future festivals, we should consider ways to make these designations more prominent and consistent across the event, rather than relying primarily on individual vendors to display the badges themselves."

, an installation founded by Zak Noyle and Kuha‘o Zane that brought together a curated collection of local artists, designers, musicians, brands and storytellers.

Noyle previously told ASD that a big piece of the experience was a locally created app that unlocked when you were on the convention center property. It allowed shoppers to buy items from Kilo Summit collaborators online and pick up later. It also proved to be popular.

Heu says the Kilo Summit organizers "did not anticipate the tremendous turnout and overwhelming demand for their offerings."

"The experience was immersive, energetic and thoughtfully executed, representing countless hours of planning and hard work," she says. "Following the first evening, the team quickly adapted to accommodate the unexpectedly high demand. The response was remarkable, with more than 500 orders placed within the first 10 minutes. The volume of activity created challenges, but the team responded swiftly by evaluating operations and implementing improvements to support both front-of-house and back-of-house efficiencies."

"We reorganized the next day, and thanks to Keola Kelia and Kuhaʻo's teams coming in and helping, it became a well-oiled machine," Noyle said in a statement provided to ASD.

On the last day of the festival, $40,000 was donated to the Hawai‘i Foodbank and The Food Basket on Hawai‘i Island, thanks in part to donations from attendees and support from the Hawai‘i Food Industry Association and Servco.

 drew approximately 70,000 attendees and generated approximately $10 million in sales in 2024. The festival saw about 70,000 visitors over three days 

 and vendors reported sales just under $10 million, Heu previously told ASD.

Made in hawaii 082126

<title>32nd Made in Hawai‘i Festival draws nearly 70,000 people over four days</title>

Revenue totals from the four-day event are still being tallied, organizers say.

32nd Made in Hawai‘i Festival draws nearly 70,000 people over four days

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Is Honolulu Councilman Tommy Waters eligible for re-election? We'll know by the end of the week.

Waters and competing candidate Trevor Ozawa appeared before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court Tuesday to argue whether Waters is eligible to be elected for another term this year.

Waters and Ozawa both ran to represent Council District 4, including Hawai‘i Kai, Kaimukī and Waikīkī, for a term extending from 2027 to 2031.

But Waters has already served on the council for nearly eight consecutive years — he joined the council in 2019, and was elected again in 2022 — and the Honolulu City Charter limits council members to serve for only two consecutive four-year terms. Ozawa filed a lawsuit against Waters in June, requesting that the First Circuit Court declare the incumbent Waters ineligible to run.

That case, after appeals, reached the state’s highest court Tuesday, where attorneys for Waters and Ozawa attempted to answer: what actually is a council term?

Waters: It’s only a full council term if you serve all four years

As the City Charter requires that “no person shall be elected to the office of councilmember for more than two consecutive four-year terms,” the arguments of Waters’ legal team revolved around the special circumstances of Waters’ first election in 2019.

Waters ran for the District 4 seat in 2018, against then-incumbent Ozawa. But that election was extremely close: Ozawa seemed to defeat Waters by only 22 votes and, because of confusion involving late-counted absentee ballots, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court invalidated the results of that election, leading to a special remedial election in 2019, which Waters won.

But because Waters was not sworn in on Jan. 2, 2019 — the start of the term — his attorneys contended that he did not serve a “four-year term” as defined by the charter. Therefore, he has only served a single full term, and can run for another consecutive one.

“The basic point to make is that a four-year term means just that: it’s four years. You can’t start midway into a term of four years,” said Joseph Stewart, one of Waters’ attorneys. “In this case, the election issue occurred in April of 2019, when the four-year term was supposed to start on Jan. 2 of 2019. That’s not a four-year term. That’s something less than a four-year term.”

Associate Justice Lisa Ginoza countered that the charter does not determine eligibility by the length of a council member’s service, but simply by whether they were elected to a four-year term.

Nonetheless, Stewart said, the 2018 election was invalidated by the Supreme Court, which technically created a vacancy on the council — which was temporarily filled by former county Managing Director Mike Formby — and triggered a new, separate election.

“The fact that there’s a regular term that starts on Jan. 2 … contemplates that there is also an 

 term, something that doesn’t start on Jan. 2,” Stewart said.

Ozawa: A term is a term, regardless of whether you're in the seat

On the other side of the argument, Ozawa’s attorney Deirdre Marie-Iha argued that the charter establishes a “bright line rule,” which she said is unambiguous.

“If you are elected to a four-year term, then the whole term counts against you,” Marie-Iha said. “A term is a set period of time. And standing here today, I can tell you the exact start dates of every city council election for the next 100 years. If they don’t change the law, those terms do not move.”

Marie-Iha opined that it would be “unsound” to allow the results of an election — in this case, the 2019 special election — to determine the term that the election was called to fulfill. She added that the 2019 election existed to “finish the job” that the 2018 election failed to do; had the votes been tallied properly in 2018, there would be no question that the winner would serve from 2019 to 2023.

“The term doesn’t move, and the term started without him,” Marie-Iha said.

Associate Justice Lisa Ginoza challenged Marie-Iha, noting that other state supreme courts have ruled that, in cases where a candidate’s eligibility is ambiguous, then it is better to allow the candidate to run in order to preserve the rights of voters and candidates alike.

In particular, Waters’ attorney Thomas Otake noted that some 8,600 voters who cast ballots for Waters would have their votes invalidated if the court ruled Waters ineligible.

But Marie-Iha said the matter is not ambiguous, and that one way or another, the court can definitively state who is eligible to run, and can do so very soon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What’s next"}]

The Supreme Court’s verdict will ultimately determine which two candidates will appear on the ballot in the general election; as none of the four candidates in the primary election received more than 50% of the votes, those with the two highest vote counts will duel in the general.

If the court rules in Waters’ favor, the general election will be between Ozawa — who received 12,279 votes in the primary, according to the state’s final voter numbers — and Waters, who received 8,678 votes.

If the court rules in Ozawa’s favor, the election will be between Ozawa and the third-place candidate Tara Malia Gregory, who received 4,225 votes.

Ginoza said the court will deliver a verdict in the case by Friday, before general election ballots are mailed.

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<title>Waters, Ozawa duel over definition of 'four-year term'</title>

State Supreme Court hears arguments to determine Councilman Tommy Waters' eligibility for reelection

Waters, Ozawa duel over definition of 'four-year term'

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Columnists

At this point, the Office of the Legislative Analyst has existed for over one-quarter of a century.

However, we’re not celebrating any anniversaries. That’s because it’s never been established.

“The law is older than many of the legislative aides at the Legislature (as well as a few legislators),” 

 Tom Yamachika in August 2024. “That is a long time for a law that does nothing to be taking up space in our statute books!”

His comments were inspired by another piece 

 by a joint article authored by Jonathan Helton of the Grassroots Institute of Hawai‘i and Nicole Woo of the Hawaii Children’s Action Network. 

Calls for the Office’s establishment emerge like a politically consistent hum of white noise every few years. 

It starts in 1989, when the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) conducts a thorough 

 of Hawai‘i’s budgetary capacity and finds that the legislative tools available for objective fiscal analysis are sorely lacking. 

In the following year, the Legislature advances a bill to the Governor’s office. Governor John Waihe‘e signs Senate Bill 2338 into law on July 9, 1990. It creates the Office of the Legislative Analyst to be administered by a joint committee of House and Senate leadership.

“Modern legislatures have become sophisticated data gatherers and analysts, on par with the executive and judiciary branches,” 

 finds. “Over the last five years, this shift has been accelerated through the development of professional, highly specialized legislative staff.”

It looks like everything is set, except it seemingly stalls. The law is there. The mandate is clear. But the physical office never takes shape. 

It exists on paper in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, although no money is thereafter ever appropriated to fund it. At least one serious effort (House Bill 3715) in the 1996 Legislative Session was made to fund the office with $350,000. It stalls.

As Hawai‘i’s economy contracts and the size of government shrinks in the late nineties, Governor Benjamin Cayetano’s Role of Government Working Group once again calls for the office’s establishment. Despite this recommendation, no actions result. 

 by the State Auditor calls for the Legislature to “expand its own technical capabilities to review and assess state fiscal data, as was intended by the creation of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Office of the Legislative Analyst.”

Once again, the office is neither established nor funded. The years compound into decades and the hum is persistent, although its force rises and falls. 

That’s where the hum has grown a little louder in the last two years. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Settling on a Future"}]

Several efforts have been made in the last two years to reform the office.

One approach has involved members of the small Republican Caucus in the House, combined with smatterings of Democratic support from good government advocates, have largely led these charges.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"So far, they haven’t gone very far. "}]

 proposed an overhaul of the office’s functions.  introduced by Rep. Julie Reyes Oda, a Republican from ‘Ewa Beach.

, which would have required the Office of the Legislative Analyst to produce fiscal notes (short descriptions of the fiscal cost of every measure). As was the case with its Senate companion, 

, it failed to even get a hearing. A similar measure in the House, 

The second approach is more systemic and has often involved more seasoned Democrats. 

In the 2025 legislative session, Senator Lorraine Inouye introduced 

, which proposed scrapping the Office of the Legislative Analyst in favor of a Legislative Budget Office. The measure only received one hearing in the Senate before failing to get a joint hearing before the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Ways and Means.

Two other efforts were launched by then-Finance Chair Kyle Yamshita, who harbors long-term, if not visionary, 

 authored by Then-House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita (would have re-organized the Office of the Legislative Analyst to make it more difficult to remove the Chief Legislative Analyst from office.

, which called on the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to assess how the Legislature could issue fiscal notes. 

In January 2026, the LRB published an exhaustive 

 that lays out the best traits of fiscal notes, which largely appear to be utilized in every other Legislature except Hawai‘i’s. 

The LRB report has tossed the ball back in the Legislature’s court. “Because there are so many variables in how fiscal notes may be administered, the Bureau recommends forming a legislative task force, working group, or joint legislative committee to weigh the considerations and costs discussed in this report.”

Wranglings over the state budget only serve as a reminder that an impartial office charged with providing cold, hard data is critical and justified. 

“Estimates generally focus on the direct costs to the state, but there is a growing interest to incorporate the potential impacts a bill may have on the broader economy,” one March 2026 

 from the National Council of State Legislatures explains. “Though often complicated and controversial, fiscal notes are a tool that helps the legislature make intelligent, informed decisions based on the best information available.”

Lawmakers were not inclined, at least seriously, to engage with the LRB’s study. That’s unfortunate, as it provides a serious blueprint for the Legislature to chart the future of fiscal notes, along with the Office of the Legislative Analyst. 

If the office is redundant, and the Legislature never plans to establish the Office of the Legislative Analyst, then it should be repealed. No bill, at least recent, has taken so forceful an action. Nothing is set in stone. 

For now, the Office of the Legislative Analyst sits in law without any force.

Hawaii State Capitol 7 29 25

<title>Where's our Legislative Analyst? </title>

An Office of the Legislative Analyst was created by law during Gov. Waihe‘e's administration, and was meant to be a non-partisan, data-driven office that could inform legislators about the potential benefits and harms of the laws they pass. And yet, the office has never actually been staffed — it's a phantom, existing only on paper. Yet as lawmaking gets more complex, we need someone to do this work and some lawmakers having been trying to make the office finally happen.

Where's our Legislative Analyst? 

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Arts & Entertainment

For the past three years, in addition to hula, the students of 

 have learned art; engineering; construction; and the value of commitment, collaboration and hard work. In 2023, the first time the Kailua-based hālau entered a float in the Aloha Festivals Floral Parade, they placed second in that division. Last year, they won the top award, and they’re looking forward to doing it again next month, which marks 

Kumu Hula Pattye Wright is the inspiring founder of 

Puakea o Koʻolaupoko. At 91, she keeps a busy schedule that includes teaching seven weekly classes, one via Zoom for students around the world, including France, Germany, Japan, Australia and across the U.S. Mainland.

To keep fit, she attends a chair weight-lifting class at the Windward YMCA twice a week. As Kawaiaha‘o Church’s Sunday service, she’s responsible for projecting announcements, Bible verses and hymn lyrics on a large screen. And she “drives everywhere” for meetings and outings, often with friends who are decades younger as passengers.

In October, Wright will be in Japan for two-plus weeks, conducting hula workshops from the northernmost island of Hokkaido all the way south to Okinawa. “I’m proof that you can enjoy a full life in your 90s,” she said. “One reason that has been possible for me is that I live in gratitude. Negativity and gratitude cannot survive in the same space.”

Wright was born in rural Fleming, Missouri, and raised all over the country as the daughter of an Air Force chaplain. She bought her first ukulele when her family was living in Pittsburg, Kansas, in the 1940s.

“My friend Rita lived down the street from me, and she had an ukulele,” Wright said. “I wanted one, too, so I started saving my allowance, which I think was 25 cents a week. My grandmother gave me $5 for my 12th birthday, which was enough for me to get the ukulele I liked at a store in Pittsburg.”

She and Rita caught the bus into town, where she bought the ukulele and a little Hawaiian songbook. On the way home, the girls sat in the back of the bus and sang their hearts out.

“I cringe to think how we probably mangled the words to ‘My Little Grass Shack,’” Wright said. “That ukulele went with me everywhere; I still have it. I also play the piano and organ, and I’ve always sung in church choirs. Every place I’ve lived, I’ve immersed myself in the local culture, beginning with music.”

It was no different in 1968, when Wright’s then-husband, an electrical engineer, accepted a job on O‘ahu. She initially thought it was going to be a three-year stint, but she wound up never leaving Hawai‘i.

“We arrived in November, and I was in my first hula class by January,” Wright said. “We hadn’t even fully unpacked, but I couldn’t wait to start. History, storytelling, poetry, music, dance — hula has it all, and I loved it!”

Wright learned how to craft her own implements; took Hawaiian language classes at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; and studied with renowned Kumu Hula Bella Richards and Lani Kalama. When she started 

Puakea o Koʻolaupoko in 1973, she realized hula could play an important role in educating people about the Hawaiian culture.

In August 2023, Toni Lee, then-chair of the Aloha Festivals parade, approached Shiori Kaʻimilani Koehler, another kumu for the hālau, with an invitation: Would 

be interested in entering a float? Intrigued, Koehler presented the idea to Wright, who gave it the green light.

A glass artist and glass art instructor at UH-Mānoa, Koehler oversees the project and is hands-on with every aspect of it, including conceiving the design, building the float and, in consultation with Wright, selecting the numbers the hālau performs during the parade.

Wright helps however she can — making lei to decorate the float with students, teaching them the songs and dances, and creating the beautiful floral adornments she wears on parade day.

“Participating in the parade is an opportunity for our hālau to share hula, aloha and our culture with spectators,” Koehler said. “It’s also educational for our students; for example, they have learned how to make lei and weave coconut frond hats together. The parade has become a meaningful tradition, allowing us to honor our heritage while strengthening our bonds.”

Aloha Festivals’ theme this year is “80 Years of Aloha: Our Culture, Our Stories, Celebrating Our Island Home.” 

Koehler wants to keep this year’s float design a surprise, but she confirmed preparations 

“We’re starting to build the framework,” she said. “One of the parade requirements is that all decorations must be made from natural vegetation. Our hālau and our friends, relatives and neighbors will gather ti leaves, palm leaves and more from their yards. We’ll purchase fresh flowers, floral foam, lumber, hardware and other supplies.”

Murakami Landscaping donates greenery, and South Shore Equipment provides use of a flatbed truck. Other than that, expenses are paid out of pocket. Each student contributes $30 to the float fund. Fundraisers supplement that, including lauhala weaving classes and sales of baked goods and hālau T-shirts worn by students and supporters, around 70 strong, who follow the float.

Construction (place to be determined) will begin on the Tuesday prior to the parade and go on through late Friday evening when everything must be done. It adds up to months of planning and labor for just three hours in the spotlight. Still, Koehler believes, it is worth it.

“Hula teaches us the importance of humility, respect, integrity, discipline and aloha,” she said. “Building the float requires those same values. It’s a collaborative effort that depends on laulima, many hands working together. The parade is more than a performance; it is a celebration of our hālau, our culture and the relationships that unite us as one ʻohana.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Expressions of Aloha"}]

The Aloha Festivals Floral Parade is set for Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to noon. Thousands of spectators will line the route from Ala Moana Park to Kapi‘olani Park to see close to 100 participating units, including floats, marching bands, pāʻū riders and more.

Pattye Wright is co-chairing the dedication ceremony for “I Ka Malu o Ka Ulu Hala” (In the Shade of the Hala Grove), the mural that adorns the wall of Tokyo Central facing Kailua District Park. Featuring music, hula, oli and brief talks, the event is set for Sept. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Emily States, a Kailua resident and Kamehameha Schools Kapālama alumna, completed the striking artwork last August. It honors Lani Kalama, Bella Richards and Pilahi P

kī, three women beloved for their cultural contributions to Kailua (Kalama and Richards were Wright’s mentors). Also depicted is Hauwahine, the shape-shifting deity who protects Kawainui Marsh and Ka‘elepulu (Enchanted Lake), which were once large, productive fishponds.

Wright

<title>Uncles and Aunties: Kumu Hula Pattye Wright to participate in Aloha Festivals Floral…</title>

Wright, 91, founder of Nā Puakea o Koʻolaupoko in Kailua, is keeping busy teaching seven weekly classes across the globe, while volunteering at church.  Come September, this will be the hālau's fourth year entering a float in the parade, which allows them to share their culture with spectators and grow closer with one another, says Shiori Kaʻimilani Koehler, another kumu for the hālau.

Uncles and Aunties: Kumu Hula Pattye Wright to participate in Aloha Festivals Floral Parade

The Honolulu Police Department is continuing to investigate the death of a 50-year-old flight attendant whose body was found in a Waikīkī dumpster last week.

On Thursday, Aug. 20, HPD responded to reports of a dead body in a dumpster at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikīkī. At the time, HPD told Aloha State Daily that the case was being handled as an unattended death investigation and that foul play did not appear to be involved.

 the deceased as Moore, Oklahoma resident Jenny Lupton, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, who was in Hawai‘i on a layover.

[{"type":"text","text":"On Monday, HPD reiterated that the case is still under investigation."}]

“At this time, no conclusions have been made regarding the manner of death,” read the HPD statement.

Detectives of HPD’s homicide detail are reportedly working with Lupton’s family, reviewing surveillance video and more, in “a thorough investigation that will take time.”

Further information or details about the investigation will be withheld as it remains ongoing. However, HPD will notify the community “if investigators identify an immediate threat to public safety.”

On behalf of Jenny Lupton’s family, we ask for patience as detectives conduct this investigation and respectfully request that the family’s privacy be honored during this difficult time,” read HPD’s statement. “We encourage the public to rely on verified information from official sources and to avoid sharing unconfirmed information that may cause unnecessary concern or confusion.”

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<title>HPD investigating body found in Waikīkī dumpster</title>

Jenny Lupton, 50, was found dead in Waikīkī last week.

HPD investigating body found in Waikīkī dumpster

Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Jim Gurganious in Honolulu. "

This photo was taken from the ocean side of the Ala Wai Canal on Oct. 19, 2025, at 4:45 p.m. I found it striking because the rainbow's perfect emergence from the cloud line beautifully illustrates atmospheric moisture in action."

To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us 

Daily Smile: Thursday, May 28, 2026

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Daily Smile: Thursday, May 28, 2026

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