ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"A really good idea..."}]

Smile 26 6 1

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, June 1, 2026</title>

A really good idea...

Daily Smile: Monday, June 1, 2026

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

In the late 1970s, the Miano family left their home in Brockton, Mass. without the family patriarch. 

While Richard Miano Sr. was incarcerated, his wife and three children moved to O‘ahu seeking a fresh start. Though he was a loving and involved father, the people he associated himself with eventually caught up to him. 

"We knew that he was involved with a lot of stuff," his son, Richard Jr., better known to the football world as Rich Miano, recently told Aloha State Daily when asked about his father. "I'm not sure we knew that he was gonna end up in jail, but we knew that it was a crazy lifestyle. I've witnessed things that nobody should see with their own eyes growing up. ... People shooting people, beating up people with golf clubs. All kinds of mayhem, based upon what he did for a living, which was own nightclubs and bars and his associations with mafia and everything else was just, yeah. It was problematic."

[{"type":"text","text":"Brockton was all Rich Miano knew during his childhood. "}]

"Born and raised, never moved. Rarely traveled. Had no idea what Polynesia was. Basically, we're in one of the most segregated parts of the country," Miano recalled. "Coming to Hawaii was like, 'whoa.' Being a minority and didn't know the culture, didn't know anything about Hawai‘i, it took two years to adjust."

Miano enrolled at Kaiser High School with just a handful of weeks remaining in his sophomore year. He took the occasional "haole" ribbing from classmates as he adjusted to a new locale. Homesick but realizing the family wasn't going back to Brockton, Miano eventually acclimated to his new environment. It helped that he lived with his best friend, younger brother Robert, and the two navigated their new lives together. 

As a junior at Kaiser, Rich Miano joined the swimming and diving team, and performed well as a diver, competing in the state tournament. But in an effort to make more friends at school, he decided to give football a try for his senior year. 

"I just wanted to be one of the boys," he recalled. 

Though he hadn't played the sport since he was a youth, Miano quickly readjusted back to the sport. Robert saw how much Rich had enjoyed being back on the gridiron and said he'd join him on the team soon. Richard Miano Sr. had also rejoined the family on the Islands after his release from prison. Things were looking up for the Miano family. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Then, tragedy struck. "}]

Robert and Rich Miano rode together to school one day. Robert told Rich he'd skip class to go to Spitting Cave but he'd be back to pick up Rich. He never returned. 

Rich Miano knew something was wrong when he never got picked up from school, but when he returned home to see countless heads slumped and in tears, he was given a piece of news he could've never fathomed prior to that point. Robert Miano passed away following an accident at Spitting Cave. He was 16 years old. 

"I just remember how sad it was for my parents and how tragic it was to realize that my best friend, my roommate, is no longer there," Miano recalled. "I just saw the anguish and just the hurt in my parents and my sister, myself, and realized that nothing worse could ever happen in life for your parents and just your whole family in general."

Before Rich Miano became an all-conference and honorable mention All-American defensive back at the University of Hawai‘i, and before his 11-year NFL career, he was just a kid who wanted to honor his brother. 

"I think that was the motivating factor in part of the success — the fact that you're now playing for your brother as well," Rich Miano said. "You're playing for your family. You're trying to keep focused in terms of what you're doing in life, because otherwise you're just thinking about being sad and not trying to make the most out of your life."

Despite coming from an era where maintaining a tough exterior was paramount, Rich Miano never shied away from the heartbreak. 

I don't care how tough you are, whether you're a football player or you're a member of the mafia or whatever. When a family member dies, I think that crying and all that other stuff, it's just part of life. We cried openly. We weep openly. Even the thought now, when I talk about it, I get choked up talking about my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sister," Miano said between sniffles. 

Miano enjoyed his one season of high school ball at Kaiser. More importantly, he itched to keep playing. He joined the University of Hawai‘i football team as a walk-on, wreaking havoc on the scout team. At the time, walk-ons were forbidden from eating with the rest of the team, per NCAA rules. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"\"We'd eat s***,\" Miano recalled."}]

Miano, who also had to pay his way through school, worked valet at a local restaurant at nights and sometimes saw his teammates on scholarship come by and wave to him. "I'm busting my a** just to have $100 in my pocket," he says. 

Hawai‘i was Miano's only choice at the time as far as school and football were concerned. He didn't want to leave his parents so quickly after Robert's death. 

"The trajectory of my life changed because of that. I loved football, but I couldn't leave. I couldn't leave my mom and dad. I couldn't leave the state of Hawai‘i," Miano said.

Miano's first opportunity to earn meaningful playing time was during the 1983 season, a chance he did not squander. After leading the team in tackles and interceptions in 1983, he appeared on the radar of NFL scouts. He replicated his success in 1984, racking up a team-leading 110 tackles earning All-WAC and All-Coast selections for the second year in a row. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. His $30,000 signing bonus was a far cry from his valet days, and by the end of his rookie year, he purchased the first of his handful of O‘ahu homes. 

After stints with the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, the final stop in Miano's 11-year NFL career was with the Atlanta Falcons, where he played for another former University of Hawai‘i player in head coach June Jones. Following his retirement, he returned to the Islands, where one of his jobs was as a radio broadcast analyst for UH football games. He watched from up top at 

 as the 1998 team suffered through an 0-12 season. 

When Jones got the UH job in 1999, he plucked Miano to coach the team's defensive secondary despite having no prior coaching experience at the collegiate level. In less than 10 years, the Warriors went from 0-12 to 1998 to a 12-0 regular season in 2007, led by one of Miano's all-time favorite recruits in quarterback Colt Brennan. 

"Colt was the best quarterback in the country. Colt could do everything, and if you looked at the film, every arm angle, every throw, there's no way that guy doesn't get $8 or $10 million in today's (NIL) market," Miano says. 

Jones departed for SMU following the 2008 Sugar Bowl and asked Miano to come with him to Dallas, but Miano's roots were already entrenched in Hawai‘i. Miano was elevated to associate head coach and stuck around in Mānoa through the 2011 season, departing when the school went in a different direction and hired Norm Chow ahead of the 2012 season. 

Miano returned to his high school alma mater, leading Kaiser to an HHSAA Division II title in 2013 before departing to pursue other ventures. 

Ever since he moved back to the Islands, Miano has been one of the go-to voices for anything and everything relating to Hawai‘i football. He's the color analyst during local broadcasts of UH football games. He's a regular on KHON2's Cover2, the state's only weekly show dedicated to high school football. In the same way Brennan was known to never turned down a picture or autograph from a fan, Miano has never turned down an interview request to discuss his passion for football in the Islands. 

Through his organization Hawai‘i Speed and Quickness, local athletes have earned thousands of dollars in scholarship money and other college opportunities. 

 in the KHON2 studio with the distinction of being named to the UH Circle of Honor for the Class of 2026. On Friday evening, he'll be one of five members officially inducted. 

"People ask me, 'Are you getting in as a player? You getting in as a coach? Are you getting in as a broadcaster?' I'll be honest. I don't know what I'm getting in as, but I'm proud of all three of those things. I'm proud of my affiliation with the University of Hawai‘i for the last 40-something years."

In recent years, Miano has lost both parents, as well as his sister, Karen. But his wife, Lori, and children Kupa‘a (born Richard III) and Siena will be there to celebrate his lasting impact on Hawai‘i football. 

Brockton and Honolulu are separated by over 5,000 miles, and there's no way teenage Rich Miano would have envisioned the life he built for himself in the Islands. Now 64, he's fully ingratiated himself to countless amounts of football players, coaches and fans across the state. 

Though his parents, sister and brother won't be there physically on Friday, Miano likes to think they'd be proud of the way he turned tragedy into triumph. 

"They would have never expected when we moved to Hawai‘i to be part of this community in such a big way," Miano said. "I do think they're still watching down from above, and they're proud. I think that I've I've reached my genetic potential in football. I don't know if I've reached my giving potential, but we certainly try, and we'll continue to try. So the more that comes our way, the more we can help other people. I always pray to them each and every day, and I hope that they are watching and they're proud."

Rich Miano Robert Miano 101526

<title>Rich Miano overcomes personal tragedy en route to becoming Hawai‘i football staple</title>

Miano lost his only brother, Robert, before his senior season of high school football at Kaiser. It set him on a path to an 11-year NFL career and a reputation as an Island football legend that will be cemented with an induction into the UH Circle of Honor on Friday.

Rich Miano overcomes personal tragedy en route to becoming Hawai‘i football staple

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Real Estate

Doug Johnstone has led Ward Village's continued growth as president of developer Howard Hughes' Hawai‘i region, but a new promotion has him taking the national development stage.

While Johnstone will remain rooted in the Islands, continuing in the president role he's held since 2020, he also was recently named head of national development for Howard Hughes Communities.

"I've got the exciting position of taking a lot of what we've learned here, and ability to blend together team members and stakeholders in the different disciplines, and try to move forward projects and business plans that can be successful and complementary to the surrounding community," he told Aloha State Daily during an interview at his Ward Village office. "What I do here, and also in these other markets now, is try to assemble good, collaborative team members that can have the discipline that goes into underwriting, due diligence, creating the investment opportunity; working with leasing, sales, marketing, construction; and really trying to choreograph how to move these efforts forward and provide the financial analysis, the corporate reporting, the coordination that needs to happen to attract investment and ultimately move things forward and execute."

There's still a "tremendous amount of activity" happening in Honolulu with Ward Village, he says: four active projects under construction, a park underway, infrastructure work progressing, "so in Honolulu, a lot of emphasis on the execution of what we've been teeing up in recent years."

"In the post-Covid time period, a lot of what you're seeing underway now is from that continued planning and discipline and moving forward in the wake of volatility," he says. "In the last year or so, we've started to put some building blocks in place of how to move some higher-density for-sale residential projects forward in some of our other markets."

Howard Hughes Communities is the real estate platform of Howard Hughes Holdings Inc.; in addition to Ward Village, Summerlin and The Woodlands, its other assets include Bridgeland and The Woodlands Hills in the Houston area, Teravalis in greater Phoenix, and Merriweather District in Columbia, Maryland.

Johnstone isn't joking; there's plenty happening in Ward Village, which 

sold out its first eight mixed-use residential towers: Waiea, Anaha, Ae‘o, Ke Kilohana, ‘A‘ali‘i, Kō‘ula, Victoria Place and Ulana Ward Village.

New residential buildings in development or under construction include Kalae, The Launiu Ward Village, Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Also in the past 18 months or so:"}]

Meanwhile, Ward Centre, which opened in 1982 and served the community for more than four decades, officially 

The ongoing demolition of the retail center will clear the way for 

Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village, 

[{"type":"text","text":"The developer broke ground on Melia and ‘Ilima late last month."}]

Ward Village marked a record year in 2025, with momentum driven by the launch of Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village earlier in the year.

In Hawai‘i last year, Howard Hughes contracted to sell 287 condos, which accounted for roughly $1.6 billion in future revenue, according to 

 from Howard Hughes Holdings published earlier this year. Of those pre-sales, 220 units were contracted at Melia and ‘Ilima.

What lessons will Johnstone take with him from Ward Village into his new role?

"What we've learned over time is the need to be both pioneering and practical in balancing those two things when it comes to dynamic design, but also having fundamentals that are needed to ultimately have something that is viable and can move forward," he told ASD. "Then also, a lot of what development entails is making thoughtful investments that ultimately have an incredible amount of operational intensity to them. A lot of it is establishing a game plan or a business plan on paper, but then you might spend the next six or seven years bringing that to fruition, and you can encounter both micro and macro volatility in the process, or events that you could never predict in the years prior."

But, Johnstone says, a lot of what really dictates the outcomes is how well you can navigate that as a team.

"One of the benefits of what we do at Howard Hughes is being able to take a bit more of a longer-term approach and be able to weather through some of those ups and downs, but also take the multi-year or multi-decade perspective of how what we're doing today is going to fit into a broader initiative for that overall market or masterplan."

Johnstone says the new role "complements and expands a bit of what my team here has been doing over the last 14 years."

"We've got some great colleagues that have matured over time and are taking on more and more responsibility, and a number of them are working together on some of the efforts in Summerlin and The Woodlands and Bridgeland, as an example," he explains. "It's trying to deploy some of these best practices of how we've been able to put forth a huge amount of progress in Ward Village. It's an exciting place to be to touch different markets and product types, but ultimately it's a lot of the same process and you're trying to scale it and empower team members and provide a level of consistency."

In the near-term, Johnstone says his goal is to get "everybody aligned to have that common north star of where you're going."

Johnstone, who born and raised in Honolulu, attended Punahou School and Stanford University. He joined the Ward Village team in 2012 and was named president of the Hawai‘i Region in 

As for the new position, he says it's inspiring for himself, the team and "hopefully a lot of folks progressing their careers here in Hawai‘i."

"We're really proud of the team and platform we've built here over the last 14, 15 years, both internally and externally, the careers that have grown up along with what we've been doing in Ward Village — from our own colleagues, but also on the contractor side, engineers, architects, attorneys. A lot of us have matured with this overall master plan and to be able to take some of that and try to have an impact with more people, more properties and communities, it's a great case study of what we could do here in Hawai‘i. Even though you're in the middle of the Pacific, a lot of new flexibility and opportunities are created by the world getting flatter, technology improving, a little bit more time on airplanes, but it's hopefully an inspiring thing for a lot of people that are working in the industry."

Being able to build and grow a career in Hawai‘i is "really fulfilling," Johnstone says.

While there are challenges to accomplish that, "I think that's something for a lot of early-stage career folks and a lot of accomplished students that come out of here to see it as a path that is possible with a huge amount of hard work, probably some luck in the process, but I think there's a level of optimism that hopefully we can express to folks that are trying to make it."

Doug Johnstone 2026

<title>Doug Johnstone promoted to national role with Howard Hughes Communities</title>

He'll continue in his role as president of the developer's Hawai‘i region where he's overseen the development of Ward Village since 2020.

Doug Johnstone promoted to national role with Howard Hughes Communities

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

Columnists

Maui County has been airing its laundry in public for a week now. Mayor Richard Bissen faces a close race for reelection. He is in open conflict with his police chief, John Pelletier, whom the Maui Police Commission placed on leave last Wednesday.

Pelletier answered with a press conference. He said the mayor is under criminal investigation, and the suspension was payback.

The latest entry in the saga is a press release on County of Maui letterhead, with Mayor Richard Bissen’s name at the top of the masthead. It comes from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, led by Andrew Martin. It is meant to settle the matter. Instead, it raises more questions than it answers about a county where all the rules seem to have been thrown out.

For those catching up: on Oct. 7, the Maui Police Commission voted 6-0 to place Pelletier on paid administrative leave.

Two days later, Pelletier sat down with his lawyer, Eric Seitz, for a 

. They maintain there was no factual or legal basis for the suspension. They say a lawsuit is coming. And they say they have proof that Bissen lobbied commissioners to remove the chief on two occasions: first last year, during the 

, which the commission declined to act on, and again now.

Pelletier and Seitz then named two criminal investigations of the mayor. These, they say, help explain the mayor’s effort to remove Pelletier.

The first concerns the allegations behind Leo Caires’s civil suit, filed in April. Pelletier called it a case of corruption, fraud and retaliation. Those claims were sent to the state attorney general.

The second is a new investigation by the Maui Police Department into a felony with the mayor as suspect. Pelletier would say little more. It began in August, he said. He had recused himself. Deputy Chief Wade Maeda was in charge. Seitz said they raised it because it bears on the mayor’s actions against the chief.

“People have been quiet about [Bissen] because they’re scared of retaliation,” Pelletier said. “If you’re going to do this to the police chief? No wonder they’re scared.”

Bissen says no one has told him he is under investigation for anything. He says he learned of the commission’s vote only after it was made. Commission Chair Frank Tam calls the claim that the mayor influenced the decision “

Enter Andrew Martin. The title of his press release is “Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin Refutes Claim that Mayor is Target of Criminal Investigation.”

The release walks through a timeline. Martin’s office opened a probe into county grant funds in January 2025. It worked the case jointly with the state attorney general. In March 2026 it handed the state sole say over any charges.

Martin says Pelletier broke a “fundamental tenet of criminal investigations” by naming a target in public before any arrest or charge. He says the chief “told the public something that is simply not true.”

The problem — which any first-year law student would spot — is that the headline and the body don’t add up. The headline refutes that the mayor 

 the target of criminal investigation. The body shows only that Bissen 

 the target of one investigation, back when Martin still ran it.

Plenty of agencies can run an investigation: county, state, and federal. Pelletier named two investigations. One is run by the attorney general’s office. The other is a felony case he says his own department opened in August.

Martin’s release addresses the first. It does not mention the second. And on the first, Martin says the mayor “was not” a target of an investigation whose charging decisions he gave up six months ago. What the state has done with it since is not his to say.

It is somewhat unusual for a chief prosecutor to display such a loose grip on the basics of how law enforcement works. But nothing about the Maui situation is usual.

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” So says Proverbs. The cases have been stated, but the examining has barely begun.

This much is on the record. Three weeks before the election, a police chief has been sidelined without a reason the public can judge. That chief says the sitting mayor is under two criminal investigations, one of them by his own department. And the prosecuting attorney, appointed by the mayor, has put out a release on county letterhead saying the mayor is not a target of one of them.

Though dated Oct. 13, as of this writing the press release still does not appear on the county’s 

The commission that removed the chief owes the public a plain statement of why. The prosecutor who wrote this press release owes the public precision. Say what your office knows, and stop there.

Officials who want to be trusted with power have to speak as if their words will be examined. They will be.

A government that cannot manage that much has already told voters something, whatever the letterhead says.

[{"type":"text","text":"Maui voters are left to sort out the mess. It gets messier every day."}]

Andrew Martin upscaled

<title>Maui’s Prosecutor Defends Mayor Bissen: What his press release leaves out</title>

Three weeks before the election, Maui’s prosecutor put out a statement defending the mayor. But read the body, not the headline. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on what Andrew Martin’s release says once you look past its title.

Maui’s Prosecutor Defends Mayor Bissen: What his press release leaves out

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Husband and wife Randy and Rachael Raquino, owners of 

, were both born and raised in Wahiawā. When the opportunity came up to open their own business, the Raquinos wanted to create something with their hometown in mind.

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial heart,” Rachael Raquino says. “I always wanted to own my own business. When the opportunity came up and this location ended up being available, we thought it would be such a great idea to have something to serve the Wahiawā community.”

Wahiawā Brewed, located on Kamehameha Highway, is in the former space of a barber shop, according to Raquino.

“We thought it would be great to have a grab-and-go service, so you don’t even have to get out of your car in the morning,” she says. “You can swing by, get your coffee, and you’re on your way to work.

“My family and my husband’s family are all born and raised here in Wahiawā,” she adds. “We wanted to bring something important to the community; we wanted to support local vendors. We also wanted to build a legacy for our family and for our children.”

When it came to choosing a business name, Raquino says “Wahiawā Brewed” was a family decision.

“We had two or three family dinners, and all the family came around,” she says. “They all had (potential) names they wanted to present. We ended up with two final names and had a final vote. We wanted our name to represent coffee and Wahiawā, and our whole support around the Wahiawā community.”

Wahiawā Brewed’s grand opening is this Saturday, Oct. 17, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees can look forward to giveaways and more festivities, according to Raquino, who says the store did a soft opening last weekend.

“A lot of people from the community came to visit us, and it (the soft opening) ended up being excellent,” she says. “Thank you for everyone’s support so far; it’s been great. We’re so excited to bring this to the community — we have a lot of new state offices here in Wahiawā, a lot of different facilities popping up, and a lot of people going (through Wahiawā) to the North Shore.”

The store will be open for both, walk-in orders and pre-orders. Customers who pre-order — using the link on the business’s Instagram page — can pick up their beverages at the drive-thru window.

“Once you pre-pay, you can drive to the window and grab your order,” Raquino confirms.

Wahiawā Brewed’s menu features classic drinks — including hot drip coffee ($3.50) and iced lattes ($4.80) — along with specialty beverages ($8.50 each). The specialty drink names are inspired by landmarks or “things that signify Wahiawā,” according to Raquino.

“Some of our signature drinks are the Leilehua, which is our banana bread latte, and Exit 8, which is chocolate haupia,” Raquino says. “Da Raq special is a Chantilly latte; Chantilly is my absolute favorite. We wanted to have something different and try to create signature flavors that you can’t get anywhere else.”

 Coffee Roasters, according to Raquino. The Leilehua is an iced banana latte with banana bread cold foam, and it’s expected to be a customer favorite. Meanwhile, the Keno is an iced caramel cookie butter latte with caramel cold foam.

“The Keno is a name that was signified by our nephew, who has a clothing brand around the last name ‘Raquino,’” Raquino explains. “Most of our syrups are homemade, and all of our cold foams are homemade as well.”

Following its grand opening, Wahiawā Brewed will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (closed Mondays and Wednesdays).

“(Through this business), we also wanted to build a legacy for our family and for our children,” Raquino says. “We wanted to show them the importance of hard work and dedication, and to build something as a family unit to pass down from generation to generation. Family value is very important to us.”

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; closed Mondays and Wednesdays

Wahiawa Brewed owners 101326

<title>Wahiawā Brewed is a new coffee shop with a drive-thru</title>

The business is celebrating its grand opening this Saturday, Oct. 17. Husband-and-wife owners Randy and Rachael Raquino, who grew up in Wahiawā, wanted to open something with their community in mind and support local vendors. The coffee shop is open for walk-in orders; customers can also pre-order online and pick up their beverages at the drive-thru.

Wahiawā Brewed is a new coffee shop with a drive-thru

A new affordable housing development in ‘Ewa Beach will soon welcome its first families.

, "has gone well and we are currently ahead of schedule," project manager Stanford Carr, Jr. told Aloha State Daily in an email. "We expect the first families to move in at the end of October or the start of November. The remaining three buildings are expected to be complete and in service by the start of December."

Kaleimaʻo Village is being developed by Komohale West Loch Venture LP, a joint venture between Stanford Carr Development and Standard Communities.

The approximately $60 million rental development — located at 91-1400 Renton Road, on a 3.7-acre lot owned by the City and County of Honolulu — will have 27 one-bedroom, 87 two-bedroom, 12 three-bedroom units, along with a resident manager unit; community center with a meeting space, office, laundry facilities and mailboxes; 128 vehicle and 64 bicycle stalls; and access to the Kualaka‘i and Keone‘ae Skyline rail stations.

 on the project a little more than a year ago.

Carr says that all 126 income-restricted units are available to households earning up to 60% of the area median income, while seven units are set aside for households earning up to 30% AMI. The homes will remain affordable for 61 years.

Income limits vary by household size. For example, for a household of four, 60% AMI is $92,400 while 30% AMI is $46,200. You can find the city's current income limits 

Monthly rents will run from $698 to $1,564 for a one-bedroom unit; $803 to $1,843 for a two-bedroom unit; and $897 to $2,099 for a three-bedroom unit, Carr noted.

[{"type":"text","text":"Applications recently opened but the window to apply closed on Sept. 30."}]

"The response has been strong," Carr says. "We received more than 600 applications within the first two weeks."

Hawai‘i Affordable Properties at 808-589-1845 ext. 14 or 

Partnering with the development community to build housing on city-owned lands is one of the components of a 

has sought partners for the redevelopment of a number of properties across O‘ahu.

Most recently, the city is currently finalizing demolition work at the former 

 site in Kalihi ahead of future transit-oriented redevelopment and preparing for demolition at another city-owned site at 

 in Waikīkī, which also is planned to be redeveloped for affordable housing. You can read 

Kaleimao village aerial 1026

<title>Construction 'ahead of schedule' on West O‘ahu affordable housing development</title>

Kaleima‘o Village, an affordable rental project located on a 3.7-acre lot in ‘Ewa Beach owned by the City and County of Honolulu, has 28 one-bedroom, 87 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units. The first families are expected to move in soon.

Construction 'ahead of schedule' on West O‘ahu affordable housing development

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Ready to get in a Halloween mood? Aloha State Daily compiled a list of 31 things to do this month, in honor of the 31 days of October. 

From haunted houses to themed drinks, there are lots of opportunities to celebrate spooky season. Check the list for where to take keiki to trick-or-treat and participate in costume contests. There are also opportunities to surf and dance.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Now until Oct. 31:"}]

This scary experience is back. Brutex Laboratories quarantine facility has an outbreak. See what happens when containment fails. There are live actors and immersive sets, plus hands-on challenges. General admission is $38. Express pass is $46. Get a 10% discount through Oct. 11 with the code EARLY10. 

Dead Letter Office (Downtown Honolulu). 

’s “Dead Letter Office” Halloween pop-up will run from Oct. 8 to 31. The speakeasy is part of AC Hotel by Marriott Honolulu. To enter, look for a wall of mailboxes. The themed drinks include the phantom ink ($18), moonlit martini ($18), autumn after dark ($20), and blood transfusion ($18). Individuals can get those cocktails “delivered” using the speakeasy’s signature mailbox system. The speakeasy is open Wednesdays through Sundays. 

. Doors open at 6 p.m. and close at 10:30 p.m. Late arrivals cannot be admitted. Not recommended for youth who are under 13 years of age. Tickets start at $20. 

Something Spooky for Everyone! (Kapolei). 

Catch three scary movies each Saturday of October at the Consolidated Theatres at Ka Makana Aliʻi. From “Corpse Bride,” “ParaNorman” and “Beetlejuice” on Saturday, Oct. 10, to “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” “E.T. The Extra- Terrestrial,” and “The Ring” on Saturday, Oct. 31, there are lots of movies coming to the big screen soon. 

Hitchcock Tober and Horror Fest (Oʻahu). 

 at Consolidated Theatres. The Master of Suspense is famous for films such as “Psycho,” “Rear Window,” “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “The Birds.” October also marks 

, and Consolidated Theatres will be featuring scary movies on Wednesdays at its Kapolei, Mililani, Pearlridge and Ward locations. Featured films include “Hereditary,” “The Exorcist,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Thing,” and “Psycho.” 

Go to Church, with a Spooky Twist! (Oʻahu). 

 to paniolo-themed festivals, check out some of the events being offered by local churches. Senior Editor Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros shares some of the events coming up across Oʻahu from Waikīkī to Lāʻie. 

Visit Wet ʻnʻ Wild and participate in a 

 at noon as part of daily admission on Saturday, Oct. 10. Also included in the lineup of Wet ʻnʻ Wild events is a 

 on Saturday, Oct. 31. Events are included with daily admission or season pass. 

Check out this pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkin, attend a farmers market, shop local vendors and visit sunflower fields. Head to Aloun Country Market on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Waipahu to participate in the holiday activities. Tickets are $5. 

The Great Pumpkin Festival (ʻĀina Haina). 

Holy Nativity School will host The Great Pumpkin Festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 17. There will be pumpkins, games, live entertainment and ʻono food. Admission is $10 and includes access to the pumpkin patch and one free mini pumpkin. Attendees can also enjoy a petting zoo, silent disco, live entertainment and meet-and-greets with characters from “Toy Story.” 

 which explores twilight, mirages and ghost stories, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Hawaiʻi Theatre Center. The performance  features aerial performance from Samadhi Hawaiʻi, spoken word from Kealoha, the first poet laureate of Hawaiʻi, and contemporary and Polynesian dance. Tickets start at $30, plus fees. 

Chicken Skin Ghost Stories (Near Downtown). 

Ready for chilling legends and ghost stories? Catch

 “The Ghost Guy” who writes a column for Aloha State Daily, as he shares stories of the Islands’ folklore on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art. He and his wife, Tanya, run the ghost tour company Mysteries of Hawaiʻi and co-authored the books: “Hawaiʻi’s Night Marchers: A History of the Huakaʻi Pō” and “Kahuna.” Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for youth. 

Howl-o-Ween Dog Costume Contest & Parade (ʻEwa). 

Daily Smile: Monday, June 1, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, Oct. 12, 2026

Most read

Daily Smile: Monday, June 1, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, Oct. 12, 2026

Most read