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[{"type":"text","text":"It's worth it to get a cat just to buy these..."}]

Smile 26 7 9

<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, July 9, 2026</title>

It's worth it to get a cat just to buy these...

Daily Smile: Thursday, July 9, 2026

 It&#039;s worth it to get a cat just to buy these...

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Aloha Spirit

 with her husband, John, has always enjoyed baking for others. She remembers that, in high school, one of her favorite ways to celebrate her friends was by baking cupcakes for their birthdays.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, after being laid off from her job as a personal trainer, Yi found herself, like many others, baking again. What started as a creative outlet became something “much more meaningful” after Yi decided to join the Bake a Blessing ministry while attending Inspire Church.

“Serving alongside others and using baking to bless people made me realize that God was calling me in a new direction,” she says. “I felt a strong tug to transition from my career as a personal trainer to building a business with God at the center. Rather than relying solely on my own abilities, I wanted to pursue a career that required me to trust fully in His provision, guidance and faithfulness.”

Together with her husband, John, Yi officially launched His Fellow Baker this past January. She says the business’s mission stems beyond making desserts; rather, it’s to create handcrafted treats that bring people together while sharing God’s love.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Everything we make is baked with His love and aloha,” she says."}]

Yi recalls how coming up with a business name was initially a stressful process, but ‘His Fellow Baker’ came from a Bible verse.

“After exhausting myself trying to come up with a name, I suddenly remembered the passage I had just read — 1 Corinthians 3:9, ‘For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building,’” she says. “From the beginning, I knew I wanted God to be at the center of my business, but I wasn’t sure how to reflect that in the name.

“I had been so overwhelmed and frustrated, yet the answer had been sitting right in front of me,” she adds. “It was one of those moments where I knew God was reminding me that this business wasn’t ultimately mine — it was His.”

His Fellow Baker’s heart-shaped cookies are its signature dessert, according to Yi, who says they are a tangible reminder of the biblical principle that “it is more blessed to give than receive.”

“Our heart-shaped cookies are a reflection of who we are,” Yi says. “Hearts have always been my favorite shape — they’re beautiful, thoughtful and perfect for giving as a gift. Whether someone is celebrating a birthday, thanking a friend or simply brightening someone’s day, I hope our desserts become a small way for people to show love and kindness to one another.”

Each batch of cookie dough is chilled for 48 hours and then frozen for an additional 24 hours before baking, according to Yi, who says the baking process makes her cookies unique.

“This allows the flour to fully hydrate and gives the flavors time to deepen and develop, resulting in a richer flavor, better texture, and a cookie that’s worth the wait,” she explains.

His Fellow Baker offers a monthly cookie menu with rotating flavors, so customers always have something new to look forward to. While the business’s seasonal flavors change, its Oreo milk chocolate ($5) and Biscoff white chocolate ($5) cookies — which have become customer favorites — will always be on the menu, according to Yi. The Oreo milk chocolate features a chocolate cookie baked with Oreo cookies and milk chocolate chips; meanwhile, the Biscoff white chocolate cookie is packed with Lotus Biscoff cookies and white chocolate chips.

This month’s cookie flavors include mocha pretzel — a coffee-infused cookie filled with crunchy pretzels and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and finished with flaky sea salt — choco mochi crunch, which boasts a sweet-and-salty flavor; and birthday bash.

“Our favorite is Funfetti Marshmallow, so we created something similar,” Yi says. “It’s made with Golden Oreos, white chocolate chips and colorful sprinkles, and it’s finished with a white chocolate drizzle for a fun birthday celebration in every bite.”

The business usually offers samples of its featured flavors, according to Yi, who says being a family business is important to her.

“My husband, John, has been my biggest supporter from day one,” she says. “You’ll find him by my side at every farmers market, helping customers, setting up our booth, and enthusiastically handing out samples. I always joke that he’s the best sample giver out there.”

The business’s homemade hopia ($4 each) is another customer favorite, according to Yi. She explains that hopia is a popular Filipino pastry that features a flaky crust and savory or sweet filling.

The business’s ube hopia is its bestseller. Other flavors include guava, monggo (mung bean), mango and green onion.

“The green onion is a traditional sweet-and-savory Filipino favorite that’s especially close to my heart because it’s my mom’s recipe,” Yi says. “I’d love to see this become our number one seller one day because it’s the recipe that started it all. The guava is made with guava jam and guava powder for a bright, tropical flavor.”

Customers can buy cookies a la carte, or get six cookies for $25; they can also mix and match cookies with cupcakes and brownies, if they’re available that day.

Customers can find His Fellow Baker at Ho‘opili Markets throughout the month (first Monday, second Friday night, and third Thursday of the month). The biz also collaborates with The Sweet Stand in Ho‘opili for select pop-ups and events; its products are also available at Keiki2Keiki.

The biz also accepts pre-orders via hotplate.com; follow the biz on 

While they’re grateful for the opportunities they’ve had so far to serve their local community, Yi says they’re just getting started. She hopes to expand the business to participate in more farmers markets, community events and partnerships across Oʻahu.

“His Fellow Baker has always been about more than desserts; our greatest hope is to point people to Christ,” she says. “Every farmers market has become more than a place to sell cookies and hopia — it’s become an opportunity to meet incredible people, hear their stories, pray with them and encourage one another.

“Whether someone visits our booth for a cookie, hopia or conversation, we hope they leave feeling loved, encouraged and reminded that God cares deeply for them,” she adds. “If our business can brighten someone’s day while reflecting Christ’s love, then we’re fulfilling the purpose God placed on our hearts.”

As she reflects on her business’s journey thus far, Yi says that starting His Fellow Baker has been “one of the biggest steps of faith” she has ever taken.

“There have been moments of uncertainty, but I’ve seen God provide in ways I never expected,” she says. “If someone reading this has a dream that God has placed on their heart, my encouragement is to trust Him enough to take the first step. You don’t have to have everything figured out — just be faithful with what He’s given you, and let Him take care of the growth.”

His Fellow Baker owners 081726

<title>His Fellow Baker strives to be a blessing through baked goods</title>

The faith-based business, which launched in January, was designed to “create handcrafted treats that bring people together while sharing God’s love,” according to founder Anna Marie Yi. The business features a rotating monthly cookie menu, along with housemade hopia, a popular Filipino pastry with a flaky crust and sweet or savory filling.

His Fellow Baker strives to be a blessing through baked goods

 just opened today in Waimalu Shopping Center. This is the business’s third and newest location. It features a full-service, sit-down dine-in experience, along with a takeout window. 

The biz is celebrating its grand opening tomorrow, Aug. 15, with a lion dance at 11:30 a.m.

Customers can expect a variety of manapua, along with dim sum, peking duck and plate lunches; this location features an expanded menu.

The business’s Hong Kong-style dim sum selection was crafted in partnership with its sister restaurant, Mei Sum Dim Sum. The dim sum menu comprises spring rolls ($4.95), potstickers ($6.35), shrimp pork hash ($6.35), half moon dumplings ($6.35), shrimp dumplings ($6.35) and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"The business’s classic char siu manapua is a bestseller."}]

Besides manapua and dim sum, customers can choose from a variety of local-style plate lunches. Entrees include ginger fried chicken, kalbi ribs, garlic butter shrimp, hamburger steak and more. Seafood and steak combo plates are also available. 

Island Manapua is re-branding its other two locations in Mānoa and Waipahu as Aloha Manapua.

“Over the years, we’ve grown from being a neighborhood manapua counter into a gathering place for families, friends and our community,” states Christy Tong, owner of Aloha Manapua. “Rebranding as Aloha Manapua celebrates our local roots, our commitment to serving our community, and the relationships we’ve built with our customers. While our name is changing, our dedication to the food and service our customers know and love remains the same.”

The ‘Aiea store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. For the rest of August, customers can take advantage of a 10% discount.

Aloha Manapua shrimp dim sum 081426

<title>Aloha Manapua is open in Waimalu Shopping Center</title>

This is the business’s third and newest location; it’s celebrating its grand opening Aug. 15. Customers can enjoy its signature manapua, along with dim sum and plate lunches. The business is featuring a 10% discount for the rest of the month.

Aloha Manapua is open in Waimalu Shopping Center

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Government & Politics

Maui County’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will be asking for input from residents about plans for a new fieldhouse and community center in West Maui.

“The Department of Parks and Recreation is continuing recovery efforts in the Lahaina community, which includes rebuilding and enhancing public spaces,” officials told Aloha State Daily by email. “Developing a site plan now allows the County to thoughtfully incorporate community needs, including features like improved shade structures that extend usability and comfort.”

DPR added: “West Maui residents have been asking for more meeting space for community and individual ʻohana gatherings. Residents will have opportunities to offer feedback on the project.”

A timeline for completion will be determined as planning and design move forward, per the County.

To collect community input on the proposed site’s layout and function, along with facility programs, DPR and consulting partner G70 will host an in-person interactive design workshop from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at the Lahaina Civic Center social hall.

“Community members can expect to engage with visual models and share input on how the space should be designed and used,” DPR told ASD. “Community feedback will play an important role in shaping the project, including considerations around site layout and features.”

Additional opportunities to submit comments via an online open house (website coming soon) will take place from May 20 to June 14.

“The Department of Parks and Recreation looks forward to collaborating with the community and stakeholders to create a meaningful, welcoming space that serves West Maui residents for years to come,” DPR said.

Results from this period of public outreach will be shared by the County at a monthly Lahaina Community Meeting this summer, officials stated.

“The Lahaina community has asked for more recreational facilities and community gathering spaces,” DPR Director Patrick McCall said in a statement. “This represents far more than a field house or community center — it is an investment in connection, healing and resilience. These facilities will support not only recreation, but also the long-term recovery and overall well-being of our West Maui neighbors, family and friends.”

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“The fieldhouse will include two regulation-sized basketball courts that can also be used for other court sports, including volleyball and pickleball,” it stated. “The community center will include a certified commercial kitchen, meeting space for community and individual ‘ohana gatherings, serve as an emergency shelter and provide office space for County staff."

When asked how the project will be funded, DPR said, “Cost estimates will be refined as the design progresses. Funding is typically identified through the County’s annual budget process.”

At Tuesday’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee Meeting by Maui County Council, McCall shared DPR’s proposed Capital Improvement Plan budget for fiscal year 2027, which is $75.75 million in total. He noted that $5 million will go toward West Maui builds, $1.2 million of which is allocated for 

“Our budget represents our attempt to preserve our aging facilities, protect our environment and also equip our staff to deliver large scale recreational programs across the board,” he said during the meeting's opening remarks.

 DPR’s mission is to "provide safe, satisfying and cost-effective recreational opportunities for the residents of and visitors to Maui County".

For more information about this project, email 

Editor's note: This article was updated April 14, 2026, with known project costs at the time and Maui County's Department of Parks and Recreation's 

Capital Improvement Plan budget for fiscal year 2027

West Maui 2024

<title>Public input sought for proposed community center in West Maui</title>

G70 and Maui County Department of Parks and Recreation have partnered to bring community spaces and facility programs back to West Maui. Residents can submit feedback in-person and online starting May 19 to June 14.

Public input sought for proposed community center in West Maui

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Forecasters from the National Weather Service in Honolulu are predicting more rain across the Islands this week.

Although "mostly dry and pleasant" trade wind weather will continue Monday — albeit with brief passing showers favoring windward and mauka areas — the 

 a "significant pattern change is then expected by Tuesday as an upper disturbance and surface low pressure evolve northwest of the Islands."

"This system is expected to draw deep tropical moisture northward over the state, leading to an extended period of southerly winds, increased chances for widespread rainfall and renewed flooding concerns from from the middle of the week through the weekend."

Some possible "enhanced" showers could reach Kaua‘i by late Monday and there's a slight chance of thunder for Hawai‘i Island Tuesday afternoon, the NWS notes.

Find seven-day forecasts for areas across the state 

 published Monday morning, the NWS said now is a good time to prepare for possible flooding impacts:

"Residents living near stream, rivers, gulches, valleys, ravines and flood-prone areas should remain especially alert and prepared to move to higher ground if flash flooding develops," the outlook notes.

The possibility of more rain and flooding comes just weeks after back-to-back Kona Low storm systems brought heavy rains to the Islands that triggered flooding and power outages, prompted evacuations and caused damage.

 that the two storm systems, which brought 30 to 60 inches of rainfall to some areas and led to the worst flooding in Hawai‘i in more than two decades, caused around $2 billion in damages and economic loss. The preliminary estimate accounts for damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure, as well as tourism losses, agricultural impacts, and emergency response and recovery operation costs across O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island, AccuWeather notes.

Recent data from the University of Hawai‘i's Hawai‘i at Mānoa shows that more than 

 of water, enough to fill 3 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, inundated the Islands last month.

The March storms caused the indefinite closure of 

Downtown honolulu 040626

<title>More rain expected this week</title>

The possibility of more rainfall comes weeks after back-to-back Kona Low storm systems brought significant rains in March that triggered flooding and power outages, prompted evacuations and caused damage across the Islands.

More rain expected this week

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Columnists

Joanne “Cookie” Fujio can’t recall exactly when she and her husband, Gary “Black” Miyashiro, had the conversation that upended their happy life on Kaua‘i — only that it was late fall 2011.

“Black mentioned one day that he was having trouble speaking,” said Fujio, who had retired from the Department of Education the year before. “He said the words were clear in his mind, but he just couldn’t get them out of his mouth.”

After reviewing Black’s MRI in January 2012, his primary care physician referred him to a neurologist at The Queen’s Medical Center. It took four months to get an appointment, and even after additional imaging and a follow-up consultation, the couple received no answers. The neurologist referred Black, a retired supervisor at Verizon (now Hawaiian Telcom), to the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF’s) Memory and Aging Center.

Three months passed without any word, and days for Black and Fujio were filled with concern, frustration, anxiety and uncertainty. “By then, it was September, so I called the memory center,” Fujio said. “They said Black was still on their waiting list, and the earliest he could be seen would be spring 2013. Then, in early October, they said a spot had opened the following week. We took it and packed our bags.”

Black’s speech had continued to decline along with his ability to chew and swallow. They stayed in San Francisco for a week — two full days of which were testing — then flew home after agreeing to participate in a research project during a future visit.

Just two weeks later, however, they were asked to return to San Francisco for that study. Black completed another series of tests and was told none of the results indicated he had memory problems. He was referred to UCFS’s ALS & Neurodegenerative Disease Center whose director, Dr. Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, examined him right away.

She shared Black’s devastating diagnosis on Halloween 2012: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the New York Yankees’ star first baseman in the 1920s and 1930s. Diagnosed in 1939, Gehrig was the first celebrity to put ALS in the public eye. Other luminaries afflicted with the disease also helped raise awareness about it, including Oscar winner David Niven; Roberta Flack, who received four Grammys; Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Eddie Adams; and physicist Stephen Hawking, famed for his groundbreaking theories on black holes and the origin of the universe.

Fujio immersed herself in research about ALS and discovered that it is notoriously difficult to diagnose. No single test can confirm the disease; instead, doctors must first carefully rule out other conditions with similar symptoms such as multiple sclerosis. These symptoms include muscle weakness, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing and trouble walking. A diagnosis of ALS can take from 10 to 16 months — or even longer — depending on patients’ access to medical care.

Eventually, they can’t talk, eat, move or breathe. Although symptoms can be managed and progression can be slowed with drugs, physical therapy and breathing exercises, there is no cure. ALS strikes people of all races and ethnicities, usually between ages 40 and 70. Life expectancy is two to five years after diagnosis.

“About 75 percent of ALS patients start losing mobility first, but that wasn’t the case with Black, so the doctors initially didn’t think he had ALS,” Fujio said. “In fact, he moved pretty well until the last 10 months of his life. Then his health declined rapidly.”

Black passed away peacefully at home on August 7, 2015. He was 68 years old.

This year, a decade later, Fujio spent part of that day listening to some of the hundreds of CDs and songs Black had downloaded on the iPad he used to communicate when he could no longer speak. He enjoyed all types of music, from oldies to jazz, Hawaiian to reggae. They remind her of who he was: kind, dependable, fun-loving, always willing to help others.

“He was happiest when he was in the sun—surfing, golfing, fishing, doing yardwork,” Fujio said. “His friends called him Black because his skin had darkened from the countless hours he spent outside. That may not be a politically correct nickname today, but it fit him. He was rarely indoors.”

It still saddens her to think that Black died before their son and daughter got married and their two grandchildren were born.

“But our family’s ALS story isn’t unique,” Fujio said. “Many others have gone through the same, often even more difficult, challenges. Supporting Hawai‘i’s ALS community has allowed me to honor Black in a meaningful way and find strength in helping others.”

Fujio has served as an advisory trustee for the ALS

Network—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Woodland Hills, California—since 2013. In that unpaid role, she views herself as a relationship builder, connecting the organization with people in Hawai‘i who can further its mission to “drive the discovery of prevention strategies, treatments and cures for ALS; provide access to quality care and connection; and promote initiatives to improve health outcomes.”

Among other things, she fundraises, seeks grant opportunities, finds resources for support services, and meets with government officials and community leaders.

“There was very little help for local ALS families when our first benefit walk was held in 2013,” Fujio said. “We had to figure things out on our own. ALS doesn’t just affect patients; it also takes a toll on their caregivers and loved ones. It can leave families emotionally drained and financially burdened. I want to ensure that everyone in Hawai‘i who’s facing ALS receives the care and compassion that they need. It’s a hard, heartbreaking journey, and no one should have to walk it alone.”

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Now in its 12th year, this fundraiser is set for Saturday, October 11, at Kapi‘olani Park. Check-in is at 8 a.m.; the walk will begin at 9 a.m.

There will be routes to accommodate all levels of ability, including those in wheelchairs. Participants should register by October 4. There is no fee, and attendees can look forward to live hula and music, food booths, an ALS resource fair, keiki activities, prizes and giveaways.

For more information, to join the walk and/or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit 

Fujio and husband Gary

<title>Uncles and Aunties: Joanne “Cookie” Fujio's fight against ALS</title>

When Gary “Black” Miyashiro was diagnosed with ALS, he and his wife, Joanne “Cookie” Fujio immediately became champions of the ALS Network. It's work Joanne has continued to do, a decade after his death. The next Hawai‘i Walk & Roll to Cure ALS is coming up on Saturday, October 11, at Kapi‘olani Park

Daily Smile: Thursday, July 9, 2026

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Daily Smile: Thursday, July 9, 2026

Authors

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