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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"You can't go wrong with puppies and a baby..."}]

Smile 26 6 14

<title>Daily Smile: Sunday, June 14, 2026</title>

You can't go wrong with puppies and a baby...

Daily Smile: Sunday, June 14, 2026

 You can&#039;t go wrong with puppies and a baby...

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Government & Politics

Columnists

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"On the arrests"}]

The second in command of the 50th state in our nation has been indicted by a grand jury for bribery, fraud, messy campaign spending stuff along with four others of questionable character. 

This headline made national news for one day and now it's gone. But here at home? This is only the beginning. I know that underhanded double dealing takes place throughout our government. Always has, always will. Why? Because humans are fallible. Imperfect. 

There are two elements that either promote or prevent corruption. The first is basic economics — ROI (Return on Investment). If I am going to offer a bribe, I have to ask myself, "What's the return on my investment?" 

In other words, if I bribe this or these officials, what's the multiplier effect back into my pocket? Let's look at what's before us. Covid-19 had so many layers of suspect policies, actions and spending. The spending! There were millions upon millions of federal dollars dropped into the lap of our state and counties. Combine cash windfall with fallible humans and it the perfect recipe for those bereft of any moral fiber to manipulate the situation for their personal gain, and I mean money. Lots and lots of money. Millions. 

But reports indicate that the bribers only gave the bribees collectively thousands of dollars. Now, that's max ROI. 

The other element is Risk and Reward. Is it worth the risk of getting caught when the profits justify the consequence? Corruption is so pervasive that until now there has not been such high-level prosecution nor legal actions, meaning it's sure worth the risk because you're never gonna get caught. Whoops. 

Conversely, the bribees allegedly accepted the bribers' money and did their thing. But their ROI was paltry and the risk was greater because the reward was a joke. You mean you can get bought off for a miniscule amount of cash? We're talking reportedly $5,000 maybe $10,000 in "campaign donations." And you cheapened and sold your political and administrative souls for chump change? More than that. You sold your constituents and citizens of this state down the gutter for nothing. You all knew it was wrong and importantly illegal. But still. Now, I know I did not use the word "allegedly" enough. Yes, there were indictments and that's pretty bad. But each of these five must be presumed innocent until proven so or guilty at trial. 

As my momma would say, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well..."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Flow of Waters stopped"}]

City Council Chair Tommy Waters got dealt with a blow in his pursuit of a third term as a city council member when a state judge ruled that he was ineligible to seek re-election. His political opponent and council candidate Trevor Ozawa filed the lawsuit that led to this ruling. Even lay folk can read the City Charter and glean that the limit for a councilman serving is two terms. There is voter precedent in affirming only two terms and when asked if there should be an extension to three terms, voters decidedly say no. 

Trevor, who is an attorney and represented himself, laid out a case that was focused on the specifics of the charter language. Tommy's team did not make a compelling case and as of this writing have not filed the fully anticipated appeal to this ruling. But there are remaining questions regarding process, procedure, administration, perceived or actual outside influences and more. Soon, my friends, soon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hāna beefs"}]

between locals and tourists. OK, I get it. For those who live Hãna side it's a tough road. Period. We've all hopefully have taken the drive and to do so daily is a grind. And that grind can be exacerbated by those driving who are sightseeing, inattentive to those behind and ignorant to what has become a certain etiquette developed over the years. This last case had some or all of those elements. However, the local boy scared the coconut milk out of the tourists he confronted. See the video from the newscast at the link.

Bruddah jumped out of his ride and was scary monstah charging the tourist's car, yelling profanities and taking out his frustrations on this unsuspecting guy. In any other scenario, this was road rage. 

But wait a second. A spokesperson for the group Hāna Highway Regulation responded, and I'm paraphrasing, the Hāna resident communicated the problem and how the visitor needed to correct himself. Ummm. She then stated that yes, he used strong words and verbal profanity. Really? No kidding! There are calls for traffic management. 

Here's how you manage it. Just like with Hanauma Bay, you put a limit on the number of tourists who can take the Hāna Highway. Oh, but what about businesses? Then allow things to remain the same and just deal with the congestion and the tourists. It's one way or the other but if this kind of action against tourists is condoned and, heaven forbid physical violence is committed then you may not have to worry about overcrowding on the Hāna Highway. Or anywhere in Hawai‘i. Viral video will take care of that.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Sylvia Luke 16x9 Large

<title>Hamada: Hot takes on bribery, Tommy Waters, Hāna Highway confrontation</title>

With so much in the news, ASD opinion columnist weighs in on the state's bribery scandal, Tommy Waters' attempt at a third term and a recent ugly confrontation between locals and tourists in the Hāna Highway.

Hamada: Hot takes on bribery, Tommy Waters, Hāna Highway confrontation

[{"type":"text","text":"Dogs break into the pool....."}]

Smile 26 7 29

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 29, 2026</title>

Dogs break into the pool.....

Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a branch of Freemasonry that expands upon the moral and philosophical lessons of one’s first three basic degrees, which are achieved in a blue lodge after one’s initiation. Most commonly referred to as the Scottish Rite, the branch continues the 4th through the 32nd degrees, and also awards an honorary 33rd degree for exceptional service.

In Hawai‘i, the Scottish Rite was established in 1874 by King David Kalākaua and John Owen Dominis, husband of Queen Lili‘uokalani. Its membership once included Hawaiian royalty, politicians, and cultural icons like William Pitt Leleiohoku II (younger brother of Kalākaua), Samuel Parker of Parker Ranch, Duke Kahanamoku, and many more notable men of Hawai‘i.

By the early 1900s, the Masonic orders had grown rapidly in Honolulu. With all the work required of the various bodies, it was clear that the Masonic Temple located at Hotel and Alakea Streets was too small to house everyone. The lodges began to look for larger accommodations.

In 1917, a building permit was issued for the First Church of Christ, Scientist for a structure on the corner of Wilder Avenue and Kewalo Street. The community watched as walls of cream-colored brick went up, the tile roof installed, and cement walks around the church were built. But after three years, it seemed the church began to lose its steam.

Towards the end of 1920, the Christian Science Church decided to sell the partially completed building, citing a desire to secure a location on a quieter street and to erect a building that would be more in harmony with the Hawaiian climate. The church had already spent nearly $70,000, and the interior and windows weren’t even finished.

Their break came in 1921, when the Scottish Rite bodies in Honolulu voted to buy the Christian Science Church for the asking price of $60,000. The building’s incomplete state allowed the Scottish Rite to remodel the interior, adding a stage and auditorium equipped for Scottish Rite services.

Finally, on November 4, 1922, grand ceremonies opened in Makiki with the formation of a procession in front of the fire station, two blocks away from the newly completed building. More than a thousand people attended the event. The crowd included Masons and their families, city officials, curious onlookers from the neighborhood, and members of the general public.

The Royal Hawaiian Band led the procession, followed by the Honolulu Commandery York Rite, and then Masons in full regalia. The parade stopped in front of the new building and the Masons assembled in two lines. Hawai‘i Governor and Grand Master Wallace Rider Farrington, Deputy Grand Master Lester Petrie, and other officials walked between the rows and took their places on a specially constructed platform.

The trowel, square, level, and plumb, the solid silver Masonic tools last used by King Kalākaua, were then brought forward on a purple plush tray and presented to the Grand Master. In compliance with the ritual provided for the occasion, the cornerstone was laid in place. Governor Farrington used the silver trowel to cement around the edges, and then other officials used the level, square, and plumb to test the stone, ensuring its position was correct.

After the stately pageantry, the solemn and splendid affair was complete, and the Cathedral of the Scottish Rite Bodies was founded. Within its walls, ceremonies and rituals have taken place for generations, cloaked in secrecy and speculation.

But the building’s mystique isn’t limited to its history. People whisper about odd happenings that often defy explanation. In the temple room, where men once performed solemn rituals, the heavy stage curtain has been seen moving on its own and muffled voices murmur in the dark, although no one is there.

In 2021, we hosted a virtual event at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. My wife and I, some close friends, and our online community via Facebook gathered in the hallowed halls of this most sacred location to hear the stories of its ghosts and investigate its hauntings.

From the beginning, things were strange. As we moved from the front lounge to the dining room, I felt someone hug me from behind. When I stopped to see who it was, no one was near enough to have done so. I shrugged off the chicken skin, walked a few more steps, and then looked back to take account of everyone.

Making sure we were all together, I began to turn around to lead the group when movement in the lobby caught my eye. I looked up and saw a person sitting on one of the cushioned chairs. I glanced at my wife to tell her I’d be right back as I moved forward toward the doorway, but when I looked again at the lounge, no one was there. While our group was all accounted for, I did a quick sweep of the room and found no one.

Upstairs in the temple room, we heard a piano playing. It wasn’t a full song, just someone tapping on some keys, the notes echoing through the large room. But we’d just walked in as a group. The piano was stationed in the far left corner of the large room, and no one could have made it across the way without the rest of us seeing them.

As we sat in the middle of the room talking about other people’s past experiences, all ten of us saw a heavy table move across the stage of its own accord. Although the camera wasn’t focused on the stage, our online followers heard the commotion. Then the heavy stage curtain moved as if someone were behind it, pushing it forward, but we could see no feet in the two-inch gap between the curtain and the stage.

Whether we can ever explain the experiences of that evening is impossible to say. The Scottish Rite Cathedral has stood for more than a century, its walls bearing witness to ceremonies, celebrations, and the passion, camaraderie, and conviction of countless men who passed through its doors.

Unlike the cornerstone that holds tangible evidence like photographs and written records of the past, the impressions left behind cannot be measured or explained. Perhaps places like this simply hold on to something we don’t yet understand. Whatever the case, those of us who were there that night left with more questions than answers.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Scottish Rite Cathedral Honolulu

<title>Secrets of the Scottish Rite Cathedral</title>

ASD's ghost and history columnists themselves had a very strange experience giving a tour of Makiki's Scottish Rite Cathedral. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry was welcomed into the Islands in 1874 by King David Kalākaua and John Owen Dominis, husband of Queen Lili‘uokalani. Its members have a long history of service to community, with an air of Masonic mystery.

Secrets of the Scottish Rite Cathedral

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

You wouldn’t know it from local media, or even from much of the mainstream Mainland news, but Dr. Anthony Fauci is back in the spotlight, six years after his Icarus flight into the sun of international media attention during Covid-19.

 at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about Anthony Fauci is from April 3, 2020. It’s an Associated Press wire story, “

Dr. Fauci’s face will soon be on a bobblehead

How appropriate. It would hilariously ironic, if it weren’t for the needless panic and suffering that man caused as he reveled in his Covid-era fame.

In April, Hawaiʻi News Now did carry an AP story earlier this year, “

Former Fauci adviser indicted for allegedly concealing communications related to COVID-19 research

.” It was a small glimpse into an overdue reckoning.

The last article on Fauci at Hawai‘i Public Radio was from Jan. 23, 2021, “

The gist of that piece is that Fauci was thrilled to be working for former President Joe Biden — as well he should be, since Biden, or his autopen, would go on to 

The text of the pardon itself reads: “For any offenses against the United States which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon arising from or in any manner related to his service as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House Covid-19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Why would he need such a thing?"}]

We might soon find out. On Wednesday, July 29, Sen. Rand Paul will be grilling Fauci in front of Congress. In advance of that hearing, Paul has been publishing online thousands of pages of Fauci’s own diaries and notes, all kept in his government files. Read them all 

This is what local and national media, once so eager to lionize Fauci, now seem to be working so hard to ignore.

I looked at the Star-Advertiser, as well as Honolulu Civil Beat, and 

, to see if anyone locally was covering, or even picking up from Mainland sources, the news coming out about Fauci’s diaries.

[{"type":"text","text":"Nothing, at least as of Tuesday."}]

Maybe you loved the man. Maybe you bought the Fauci candle and hung on his every word. Prepare to be disappointed.

Maybe you loathed the man on sight, with his suspicious eagerness to be the ringleader of a calamity circus.

[{"type":"text","text":"You were right. Fauci’s own words prove it."}]

For a summation of the diary, it’s hard top the highlights published this week at 

, which doubted the Covid lockdown madness from the get-go — and was demonetized and censored for not going along with the groupthink.

In March 2020, went on TV, gave the day’s death toll of 9,800. Then he wrote in his diary, “It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable persons in the world.”

I could go on and on with examples from the diary of Fauci loving his fame, because Fauci himself sure did. But I’ll just let that one ghoulish example stand for them all.

Publicly, Fauci claimed he never advised lockdowns. His diaries tell us he bragged to himself about convincing New York and California leaders to close schools and businesses. In the climate of fear of the time, policymakers marched like lemmings off the lockdown cliff to do likewise.

[{"type":"text","text":"As for that fear, it was needlessly stoke by Fauci himself."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And he was lying."}]

He told us, via the media, the Covid fatality rate was 2 to 2.5% — that’s 10 times higher than the typical death rate of the average flu season. One might panic over such a thing. Except, the real rate, as he noted privately, was “

.” That’s double the fatality rate of the flu, but it isn’t 10 times the rate, and we might have asked better questions about a more targeted approach to Covid if he had been honest.

When other experts criticized the lockdown strategy as doing more than harm good, Fauci worked with the government and social media companies to silence them. In crisis, we need more communication and more questions, not fewer. Fauci would not be questioned at all.

Publicly, Fauci touted mask-wearing as the key to safety and a “return to normalcy.” Privately he knew there was no evidence to support that.

While we were being told we couldn’t so much as take a walk alone in a park, Fauci was having dinner with CNN’s Jake Tapper, at Tapper's house.

Remember when it was forbidden, even considered racist, to suggest that Covid-19 was the result of Chinese lab leak? The only acceptable belief was accidental transmission from animals to humans in a Wuhan wet market.

Well, the overwhelming consensus of a team of international experts was that there was no way this virus was entirely natural, parts of had to be inserted. Fauci knew this because he assembled the experts and summarized their consensus in his diary — in January, 2020. Yes, that early.

What Sen. Paul has been chasing, and will likely grill Fauci about in these hearings, is what role Fauci himself and the U.S. government played in funding gain-of-function research on viruses overseas after such work had been banned at home. As the Senator notes, no pardon from Biden protects Fauci from the consequences of lying now.

We’ll see what he has to say for himself, but I expect a lot of memory lapses. “During a seven-hour deposition in December 2022, Fauci failed to recall pertinent information about his role in the federal government’s Covid weaponization 

And it also notes: “While regular Americans struggled to make ends meet and keep their small businesses afloat amid lockdowns, the bureaucrat made 

I think the man ought to be in prison. I fear the worst he’ll experience is a few more hours of pretending he can’t recall how he earned so many of our tax dollars.

In his monstrous and ego-driven campaign to milk Covid for all it was worth, Fauci had plenty of accomplices. Mini-Faucis ruled from coast to coast, basking in the glow of the local TV studio lights, not least of all here in the Islands, pushing maximum panic and maximum lockdowns. Gov. Josh Green likely owes his current job to being Hawai‘i’s Mini-Fauci.

My own industry played a huge role in amplifying both fear and the overreaction, so I’m not surprised they aren’t rushing to confront the ugly truth behind the St. Fauci narrative.

It was ugly, and we’ll be dealing with the fallout for years to come. Maybe you had a loved one die pathetically alone in a hospital as a result of insane visitation policies. Maybe your kid still struggles from lost schooling. Maybe your business never quite recovered, or you’re running a new one now because lockdowns killed your old one. 

We’re all certainly paying for the billions in fraudulent Covid-relief payments made as the Feds shoveled money at Americans to buy their patience with the lockdowns. We’re certainly all paying the price in inflation as the Biden administration borrowed trillions for that relief, inflation that peaked at 19% during his term, permanently resetting prices.

I’m stumped at how to quantify the psychic pain that came from learning just how many of our friends, family members, neighbors and colleagues turned out to be East German at heart — eager secret policemen, dropping a dime on curfew violators, wishing death upon the unmasked or the unvaccinated. There’s a thing you can’t unsee once you’ve seen it, and one can't help but wonder, did that part of them ever really go away or are they just waiting for the next excuse to go after people they don't like?

No one, anywhere, who brought all this about has ever been held to account.

[{"type":"text","text":"Fauci would be a good start. "}]

 Wow, that was fast. The hearing has already ended — with 

 repeatedly and refusing to answer questions, despite his presidential pardon. Paul has stated that this is illegal and there will be repercussions. We'll see.

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team.

Getty Images 2155919948

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Fauci revealed as fear-mongering, fame-loving fraud</title>

It's not getting much media attention, but the private diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci have been published online by Sen. Rand Paul in advance of his hearings this week into Fauci and Covid-19. What they reveal across thousands of pages is man in love with the adulation he received, who privately knew that many of things he said publicly about the pandemic were wild exaggerations.

Pipikaula Corner: Fauci revealed as fear-mongering, fame-loving fraud

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

The state Department of Transportation’s Airports Administrator is on paid leave after being named in a bribery indictment last week.

Ford Fuchigami was one of five people to be 

 by an O‘ahu grand jury on bribery charges, alongside Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, former Rep. Ryan Yamane, former Public Utilities Commission chair Leo Asuncion Jr., and lobbyist Tobi Solidum.

Fuchigami’s charges — use of false statements, conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruction of justice — stem from a $7,000 check he reportedly received from Solidum in Jan. 2022, when Fuchigami was an employee of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That payment was allegedly connected to Solidum’s efforts to get the Legislature to pass a Covid funding bill; the Senate Ways and Means Committee did so unanimously two months later.

Following that indictment, DOT “will follow its internal administrative policies” regarding Fuchigami, DOT public information officer Russell Pang told Aloha State Daily. While that means DOT will cooperate with any requests from various authorities, it also means the Airports Administrator was been placed on paid department-directed leave for 30 days as of Monday.

“Administrator Fuchigami will be afforded due process before any disciplinary action is taken, if warranted,” Pang told ASD via email.

Fuchigami and his fellow indictees are set to appear in court for an arraignment Thursday. Four of the five — Fuchigami, Luke, Yamane and Asuncion — have posted their respective bails, while Solidum has reportedly fled to the Philippines.

A bench warrant for Solidum is pending, and he is to be held without bail should he be apprehended.

Ford Fuchigami 16x9

<title>State airports administrator on paid leave following bribery indictment</title>

Ford Fuchigami will appear in court Thursday along with Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke.

State airports administrator on paid leave following bribery indictment

Real Estate

Two Kaua‘i renters are suing the chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission over a rule they claim will evict them based on their ancestry.

 the Courtyards at Waipouli apartment complex in Kapa‘a for $44 million in 2024 with the intent to offer the building’s 82 units of housing to Hawaiians on DHHL’s notoriously long waitlist.

However, to do this, the existing tenants of the complex would need to leave. And, in March and in May respectively, residents Linda Twitchell and David Kalahiki were served notices to evict within 90 days.

“They had leases signed, they wanted to stay,” attorney Caleb Trotter, who represents Kalahiki and Twitchell, told Aloha State Daily. “They certainly didn’t know that this was in the works when they moved in … Linda has been there for roughly seven or eight years. David’s been there a little bit shorter, but for some time before DHHL bought the property.”

DHHL announced in November 2025 that the Courtyards would become the department’s “first apartment acquisition aimed at beneficiaries interested in a rent-with-option-to-purchase program.” But, like DHHL’s other housing initiatives, eligibility for the program is contingent on a person’s ancestry: people must possess at least a 50% Native Hawaiian blood quantum to qualify.

Trotter, an attorney with the public interest law firm Pacific Legal Foundation, told ASD that Kalahiki and Twitchell are not the only tenants at Courtyards who have been served eviction notices. He said those notices have been delivered in batches, to prevent a flood of evictees from overwhelming the Kaua‘i rental market.

But, Trotter added, the housing market is sparse for Kalahiki and Twitchell, with most alternative housing options drastically more expensive. Kalahiki and his wife are both in their 80s, Trotter said, while Twitchell is in her 70s.

The suit, filed against HHC Chair Kali Watson last week, argues that DHHL’s choice to evict Kalahiki and Twitchell for lacking a sufficient blood quantum is an ancestry-based requirement that causes the state to engage in race-based discrimination, and consequently violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Trotter suggested that DHHL’s actions overstep the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which set aside land in Hawai‘i as a land trust for Native Hawaiians in 1921. DHHL purchasing a formerly private property and evicting tenants who don’t meet the eligibility requirement, Trotter said, is “totally beyond the original purpose” of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

However, this isn’t the Pacific Legal Foundation’s first entanglement with the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act this year. The foundation in June filed a 

 against Watson on behalf of an O‘ahu man who was found ineligible for the DHHL’s waitlist because of an insufficient blood quantum; the suit challenges whether the Homes Commission Act is constitutional.

That lawsuit prompted a response by Gov. Josh Green and Attorney General Anne Lopez, who both vowed to “vigorously defend” the Hawaiian Homes program.

Unlike that lawsuit, the Kalahiki case does not seek to have the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act declared unconstitutional. Rather, it seeks a declaration that evicting Kalahiki and Twitchell from their homes “due to their lacking a 50% native Hawaiian blood quantum” is unconstitutional, and an injunction against the state from doing so.

But Trotter said he hopes the DHHL will hold off on the eviction process while the case is pending. Twitchell’s eviction notice ordered her to be out of the building by the end of this week, something Trotter said “she has no plans” to do.  

DJI 0557 scaled 16x9

<title>Kaua‘i renters facing eviction sue Hawaiian Homes Commission</title>

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands purchased a Kapa‘a apartment complex to help DHHL beneficiaries in 2024, but tenants who don't meet the department's blood quantum requirement have been served eviction notices, suit alleges.

Daily Smile: Sunday, June 14, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Sunday, June 14, 2026

Authors

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