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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Gia Fredo in Makiki. "The clouds were so vibrant that I stopped in my tracks and snapped a ridiculous amount of photos of them. I also loved the silhouetted palm trees. I felt grateful to live in a place where you get to experience lovely views like that on a regular basis."

To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us 

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<title>Hawaiʻi Skies: "Stopped in my tracks"</title>

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Gia Fredo in Makiki.

Hawaiʻi Skies: "Stopped in my tracks"

Today&#039;s Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Gia Fredo in Makiki. &quot;The clouds were so vibrant that I stopped in my tracks and snapped a ridiculous amount of photos of them. I also loved the silhouetted palm trees. I felt grateful to live in a place where you get to experience lovely views like that on a regular basis.&quot; To submit your Hawai&#039;i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.

Daily Smile

Now, let's all enjoy watching Bowser the Bulldog play with the door-stopper thing...

Smile 26 6 30

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, June 30, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Tuesday, June 30, 2026

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Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

A challenge against excessive vehicle towing at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor was overturned Friday.

 before the Board of Land and Natural Resources to renew a contract with Secure Parking LLC — the company that has managed paid parking at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor since 2023 — received substantial backlash from residents concerned about Secure Parking’s management.

In particular, people complained about a "towing first" policy, whereby recreational users who exceeded their allotted six hours of free parking would have their vehicles towed immediately, without any citations or warnings beforehand.

The proposal in September claimed that towing policy exists because the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ ability to issue parking citations is limited — the Division of Boating and Ocean Resources isn’t authorized to do so, while the Division of Conservation of Resource Enforcement is authorized, but has insufficient staff to conduct full-time parking enforcement. Therefore, towing offending vehicles has been the primary solution for cars overstaying their free parking period.

The proposal to renew Secure's contract included a License Plate Recognition system that would, ostensibly, help reduce the amount of vehicles towed from the lot.

Secure’s LPR system would use cameras to scan license plates automatically and track repeat violators, while also connecting with existing equipment such as pay stations. Violators would receive printed warnings on-site, and would be subject to towing upon subsequent offenses.

But residents argued last year that this system does not end the “towing first” policy. One resident, Kate Thompson, requested a contested case hearing against the proposal in September.

Thompson argued that the proposal will “lock in” the towing first policy, and noted that other public facilities such as the Honolulu Zoo are able to manage parking with citations just fine. At the same time, she argued, Secure’s contract costs the state $15,316 per month, funds that could be allocated toward harbor improvements.

On Friday, the Board voted to deny Thompson’s request, despite requests from dozens of residents urging the case to go forward.

Honolulu resident Douglas Meller argued that issuing warnings before towing a car is not preferable to issuing parking citations.

“A warning carries no financial consequence,” Meller wrote. “The first financial penalty a vehicle owner will ever face at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor remains a $165 tow … The community has not been asking to be warned before being towed. It has been asking for the tow to be replaced, as the first financial penalty, by a proportional citation.”

Thompson and Meller both suggested that the only party that particularly benefits from the towing-first policy is the towing company itself. According to Honolulu Police records obtained by Thompson, there were 2586 vehicles towed from the harbor in 2025, and 2512 in 2024; DOCARE, meanwhile, issued 25 parking citations at the harbor in 2025 and four in 2024.

Nonetheless, the BLNR ruled unanimously — albeit with member Wesley Yoon abstaining — that Thompson does not have standing to request a contested case, as things like “statutory post-tow procedures” or “fair proportionate penalties” are not constitutionally protected interests that a person can challenge via the contested case process.

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<title>No contested case for tow woes at Ala Wai</title>

Despite complaints over tow-happy parking enforcement at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, a contested case hearing will not be going forward.

No contested case for tow woes at Ala Wai

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Aloha Spirit

Real Estate

Three Maui grads are getting help with college costs thanks to the Construction Industry of Maui.

The CIM Bob Poulson Scholarship encourages local students to pursue a degree in the construction and design industry — away from Maui — then bring their knowledge and skills back to the Valley Isle.

This year, CIM has awarded each student — Leah Burns, a Maui Preparatory Academy grad; Brennan Tanaka, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Maui; and Dominick Guiwa, a graduate of Maui High School — a $20,000 scholarship. They received their scholarships at a banquet last month.

Burns, who was born and raised in Lahaina, says she plans to venture to the Mainland, where she'll study landscape architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

"My interest in architecture stems from the loss of my home and town in the 2023 Lahaina wildfires," she told Aloha State Daily earlier this month in an emailed response to questions. "I knew I wanted a career that allowed me to care for others and give back to my community. Architecture combines my creativity and artistic skills with my empathy and desire to give back to my community."

On Aug. 8, 2023, fires flamed by winds from a passing storm ravaged parts of the Valley Isle. More than 100 people were killed in the blaze that destroyed much of Lahaina town.

Burns says that after five years at Cal Poly, she'll have her architecture license and plans to return to Maui — and Lahaina specifically — to be a part of the town's rebuild, "and help restore not just houses, but homes."

She was "completely shocked" when she received the phone call about the scholarship award.

"After I got off the phone, I literally ran to my mom to tell her the news!" Burns says. "It was such a relief. I knew the award was at least $10,000, and I was shook at that alone. At the actual ceremony when I and the other winners were awarded our checks, I saw the official amount, $20,000, and I started tearing up! It was unbelievable!"

Burns told ASD that Cal Poly has been her dream college with her dream program and this award helps her dreams become reality.

"My parents not only have to pay for my college, they also pay for my older brother's college, on top of trying to figure out whether or not we can rebuild our Lahaina home," she says. "This award takes off some pressure and financial burden. This award has also connected me with so many different people in the industry, and these connections may help me find internships and possibly jobs in the future. This award has helped me in so many different ways and I am forever grateful!"

For his part, Tanaka, of Wailuku, plans to study mechanical engineering at Northeastern University in Boston.

He told ASD in June that he became interested in engineering because of the erosion around his family's church, Pā‘ia Mantokuji.

"That made me want to pursue engineering to help solve problems like those," Tanaka says.

He was thankful to receive the scholarship and was "just celebrating when I heard the news." The scholarship will help relieve some financial burdens and allow Tanaka to "be able to focus more on college and doing the best I can."

After college, Tanaka says he'll maybe spend some time on the Mainland, but plans to one day come back home to Hawai‘i, specifically Maui, to give back to the community. He plans to do something related to the environment, like sustainability.

"I think that's because of Kamehameha Schools, too, because learning about the culture and the history, and getting more connected to the people of Hawai‘i, and wanting to give back and make sure that the future's in good hands."

Guiwa, a first-generation Filipino-American student born and raised on Maui, also hopes to pursue mechanical engineering at Santa Monica College before transferring to a university or a top mechanical engineering program. 

He says he'll be the first to go to college in America, "and that is a big achievement, especially to me and my family, since I'm helping to break barriers in leading and guiding my siblings into higher education as well, especially in America."

Guiwa, of Kahului, said since he's going to Santa Monica, he'll likely pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on construction engineering and mechatronics in the future, "meaning that right now, as I begin college, I know that I'll either be going one of two routes, which is a speciality in the construction industry or the mechanics industry, meaning planes, military contractors, things like that."

A career in engineering was inspired in part by his father, who Guiwa says taught him mathematic and arithmetic principles when he was younger, "so that was where my strength was."

"Eventually, as I grew older, I found a lot of creativity and I developed a lot of critical thinking skills from math, and I found that I enjoyed using my hands a lot, so that's where the idea of engineering came to me, by my dad, because he knew that it was something that I was strong in."

When he learned of receiving the scholarship, Guiwa said he was ecstatic and speechless.

"This is something that's going to be incredible for my family, especially in lessening the financial burden for college, especially in California, where housing is extremely expensive."

The scholarship honors the legacy of Bob Poulson, a founding member of CIM who co-established Arita Poulson General Contracting in 1986. To date, $390,000 in scholarships have been awarded to 21 Maui County high school students.

According to CIM, to be eligible, students must graduate from a Maui County high school and enter a two- or four-year degree program in construction, engineering, landscaping or other design fields.

CIM Scholarship Banquet 2026 15

<title>Construction Industry of Maui awards scholarships to three isle students</title>

The CIM Bob Poulson Scholarship encourages local students to pursue a degree in the construction and design industry — away from Maui — then bring their knowledge and skills back to the Valley Isle. Three students each received a $20,000 scholarship this year and shared with Aloha State Daily their plans after college.

Construction Industry of Maui awards scholarships to three isle students

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

 blowing bubble gum is just one of the whimsical items on display as part of a new exhibit: “Divine Disruption: The Art of Tsherin Sherpa,” at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Sherpa’s work frequently puts displaced

 deities in unconventional poses or places

. In one statue, the deity is in golden underwear giving a peace sign. In the same exhibit, a painting features a 

“Divine Disruption: The Art of Tsherin Sherpa” opened Saturday, May 30. It runs through Jan. 31, 2027. While the topics of the exhibit — which include displacement and immigration — can be intense, the way in which the contemporary artist delivers them is not.

Aloha State Daily met with Lesa Griffith, the senior public relations and communications manager at HoMA, to learn more about the artist and exhibit.

“These are heavy duty issues that he's dealing with, but when you meet him, he's very quick to laugh,” Griffith told ASD. “He jokes a lot. He's delivering these heavy issues with a lighter tone: playful, drawing you into familiar images to make ideas of migration, immigration and political turmoil easier to digest.”

The solo exhibition includes more than 20 works, including colorful paintings, as well as irreverent sculptures. Videos also explain how specific pieces — such as “An Illusory Appearance of Loss and Gain” (2023), a cast bronze statue — were fabricated.

In the middle of the exhibit, a deity in polkadot underwear is surrounded by a circle. The halo of gold is filled with tiny images, including cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse, and fast food brands, like Taco Bell and McDonald’s.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Griffith pauses in front of the painting."}]

“In this one, you'll recognize all these different brands and personalities — everybody from the Dalai Lama to Banksy to McDonald's, to the evolution of Homer Simpson, and even aloha shirt style hibiscus up there at the top,” she said. “What he was trying to show here is the universality of all this commercial chatter.”

Finally, at the end of the exhibit, visitors can take cards and illustrate their reflections on the art or share themes explored in the work. Those cards are then hung like Himalayan prayer flags that float above attendees as they exit.

Sherpa grew up in Kathmandu, the capital and largest city of Nepal. As a kid, he 

studied traditional Tibetian thangka painting under his father

, the renowned Urgen Dorje. Now, he works and resides in the U.S. and Nepal.

The idea for this exhibit came about when Shawn Eichman, who is the HoMA curator of Asian art, was looking for a contemporary exhibit, Griffith said. When he saw 

Sherpa’s work on display at the Virgina Museum of Fine Arts

, he knew that was the artwork he wanted to bring to Hawaiʻi.

Eichman will join John Henry Rice, a curator for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, to discuss the exhibit on Friday, Aug. 21, at the Doris Duke Theatre at HoMA. The event is free. 

Admission to “Divine Disruption The Art of Tsherin Sherpa” is included with the purchase of a ticket to HoMA, which is 

for SNAP beneficiaries, college students at any Hawaiʻi state university or college, and youth up to 18 years old. 

Through a special partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Department of Defense, HoMA is also currently offering 

 of all ranks and services, including guard and reserve,

Founded in 1927, HoMA has more than 55,000 works of art from across the globe that span 5,000 years in age. 

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. On Fridays, HoMA has extended hours until 9 p.m. 

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<title>ʻDivine disruption’ at heart of HoMA exhibit</title>

This new exhibit by Tsherin Sherpa at the Honolulu Museum of Art features deities in unconventional poses and places. It tackles tough issues, such as displacement and immigration, and will be on display through January 2027.

ʻDivine disruption’ at heart of HoMA exhibit

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 launched its pau hana menu in 2024. It recently updated it to include more dishes for $6 each.

The pau hana deal is available daily from 2 to 6 p.m. The featured dishes are full-sized portions for about half the price.

Deals include the hot honey chicken sando (regular price $15), fish katsu sando (regular price $15), kalbi burger (regular price $17) and bao buns (regular price $13). The bao include two per order.

So far, the hot honey chicken sando has been one of the most popular orders. It features chicken katsu, herb cabbage slaw, chili crunch hot honey and Japanese cucumber pickles.

The fish katsu sando looks similar, but features herb cabbage slaw, a caper tartare sauce and Japanese cucumber pickles.

The eatery’s bao buns — stuffed with braised applewood smoked slab bacon, hoisin, keiki cukes and micro cilantro — and kalbi burger were previously included on the pau hana menu. The latter features a brisket blend beef patty with kimchi slaw, West Side sauce, American cheddar and Japanese cucumber pickles.

[{"type":"text","text":"Customers can also take advantage of $5 fries."}]

Drink discounts include $6 beers — which include local draft brews — $9 wines by the glass and $12 tropical cocktails. Options range from frozen liliko

i margaritas and pina coladas to mango mules. Cocktails usually cost $16 to $18.

Customer parking is available in the Lilia Waikīkī parking garage (entrance on Walina Street); two-hour parking with $4 validation.

Piko happy hour spread 061126

<title>This eatery launched a $6 happy hour</title>

Piko Kitchen + Bar in Waikīkī updated its pau hana menu to include more dishes for $6 each. Its pau hana deal is available daily from 2 to 6 p.m. Customers can enjoy options like hot honey chicken sandos and fish katsu sandos, along with $6 beers and discounted cocktails.

This eatery launched a $6 happy hour

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

A child in a Hawaiʻi classroom learned this spring that the Founding Fathers wanted church and state kept apart. She wrote it on her worksheet, earned a gold star, and carried home a version of the founding that is tidy, confident, and backwards. By the Fourth of July most of us will repeat some form of it without thinking twice.

The men who wrote the Constitution were not trying to push religion out of public life. Most of the 13 states still had an established church or a religious test for office, and the convention that drafted the document was Protestant almost to a man. What they barred was a national church — one denomination, set above the rest and backed by federal power. They had reason to fear it.

Most of the colonies had been founded by people running away from state churches. The Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth had fled England, then the Netherlands, rather than worship as the king ordered. Rhode Island filled up with men and women banished from Massachusetts for their “wrong” beliefs about God. The dissenters, it turns out, had dissenters of their own. A government that crowned one church would only be choosing which refugees to disappoint.

So the names matter — Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Quaker. Many history classes skim them as clutter, hurrying along to the “real” story. But the arguments over how to worship God were not the background to colonial politics. They 

The fair point is that several founders were plainly not orthodox. Jefferson kept a Bible he had gone through with a razor and glue. Franklin called himself a Deist and meant it. But a man can only reject what he first understands.

Jefferson attacked the deity of Christ and cut the miracles out of his Gospels — but he knew what he was removing. He wanted the ethics of Jesus without the divinity. The modern man cannot be bothered with either.

Franklin knew the creed well yet never bowed the knee. He printed George Whitefield’s sermons and counted the great evangelist a friend for 30 years, but was not moved an inch toward Christ.

The wall kept the federal government off the church. It was never meant to keep the faith out of the country. The men who built the wall were sheltering a fire, not smothering one.

And there had been a fire. A generation before the Revolution, a great revival swept the colonies. Crowds gathered in open fields to hear Whitefield’s voice carrying over thousands, while Jonathan Edwards preached to farmers who wept where they sat. The children raised in the warmth of that awakening grew up to found a country. The awakening came first, and the reform came after.

The Hawaiian islands would follow the same path. The awakening of the 1830s ripened into a kingdom Christian in its laws and life. But that is a story for another week.

The order is worth getting right, because an anniversary tempts us toward the wrong kind of nostalgia. The secularist wants the founding with the religion trimmed away — the same razor Jefferson took to his Gospels, turned now on the country’s own story. There is a Christian version of the same error, more seductive because it flatters us. It is the urge to wave the heritage like a banner while setting down the obedience that came with it. No country is made Christian by fireworks, or by Scripture chiseled over a courthouse door. Revival built this nation, and a plaque cannot stand in its place.

The child with the gold star will grow up. What she keeps of her country depends on what we hand her — a living faith, or a relic under glass.

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<title>America’s religious founding: Revival came before the Republic</title>

A child earns a gold star this spring for writing that the founders wanted church and state kept apart. ASD columnist Sterling Higa on the founding we no longer teach — and the revival that built it.

Hawaiʻi Skies: "Stopped in my tracks"

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Hawaiʻi Skies: "Stopped in my tracks"

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

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