ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Plot twist: He thinks he’s the lead dancer in the music video..."}]

Smile 26 7 31

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, July 31, 2026</title>

Plot twist: He thinks he’s the lead dancer in the music video...

Daily Smile: Friday, July 31, 2026

 Plot twist: He thinks he’s the lead dancer in the music video...

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Business & Tourism

Aloha Spirit

Spectrum News Hawaiʻi, a regional digital and streaming news platform managed by Charter Communications, has laid off “a few” positions, Spectrum Networks told Aloha State Daily Thursday by email.

The Hawaiʻi news division launched in fall of 2021 with six local journalists, among other nationwide staff, to cover “hyper-local” community news, politics, sports, weather, and more, 

. A quick glance at its site today shows 

ASD also confirmed Thursday that Spectrum/Charter Communications was not required to file any WARN notices in Hawaiʻi for recent layoffs at its local newsroom and corporate offices. In total, the company employs approximately 1,000 staff members in Hawai‘i.

On Wednesday, Spectrum News Hawaiʻi Digital Journalist Brian McInnis took to X to share a post reflecting on a near 20-year career reporting on sports and other happenings in the Islands.

“My 5-year team at Spectrum News was sadly recently eliminated,” McInnis wrote in the X post. Heartfelt aloha and mahalo for reading. ... Here’s to what’s next.”

Prior to Spectrum News, McInnis worked at Pacific Business News and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He was recognized Wednesday night by the the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for his coverage 

on the second anniversary of the August 2023 Lahaina wildfires

, which garnered Spectrum News Hawaiʻi first place in Online News Reporting in the Internet division for 2025.

Over the years, the Spectrum News Hawaiʻi team — which locally includes McInnis along with executive producer Nuy Cho; digital producer Lianne Bidal Thompson; and digital reporters Michael Tsai, Sarah Yamanaka and Michelle Broder Van Dyke — has won multiple awards for their work. 

A Spectrum spokesperson added that there are more updates coming on the news side. The company operates more than 30 physical and digital newsrooms across the country.

As for the Spectrum store near Mililani Tech Park and corporate offices in Mililani Town, less than 10 people were recently impacted, per the company. 

“We’ve made some structural changes that streamlines our organization to be more effective and efficient. No customer facing roles have been impacted,” a Spectrum spokesperson said.

Charter Communications manages all operations and financial revenue for Spectrum News as “a single consolidated business segment under Spectrum Networks,” 

Yahoo finance article from earlier this month

, Spectrum is currently battling “mounting customer losses in its cable TV and internet business” across the country following increased monthly prices for such services. In a 

, Charter said that Spectrum Internet customers declined by 120,000 and it lost 60,000 video customers in Q1. 

“As Charter works to reverse Spectrum's customer losses, it continues to cut jobs, with its latest round affecting hundreds of employees,” Yahoo finance reported at the time.

Charter Communications has recently issued WARN notices in 

, resulting in the layoff of hundreds of Spectrum employees, according to other media outlets.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Spectrum News App 1 0

<title>Spectrum, Charter Communications lay off several local employees</title>

Spectrum’s local news division has recently laid off a few journalists, in addition to fewer than 10 employees at the Spectrum Store near Mililani Tech Park and neighboring corporate call center facility, officials with the company told Aloha State Daily on Thursday.

Spectrum, Charter Communications lay off several local employees

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 is bringing back a wagyu discount starting next month.

The Kalihi-based restaurant, which is known for its 

all-you-can-eat Hawaiian fusion yakiniku experience

, featured wagyu as a discounted price earlier this year, according to chef/owner Kale Afong. It was so popular that he’s encouraging customers to make reservations this time around.

Customers who purchase an AYCE meal — which starts at $34.99 — can take advantage of a wagyu add-on for $5 per ounce. The discount is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for all of August. 

“We’re going to drop the price of wagyu; it’s normally between $20 and $40 per ounce, but we’re dropping it to $5 per ounce,” Afong says. “Customers can order as much or as little — 1 ounce, 100 ounces — as they want.

“When we did this special last time, we were at 100% capacity,” he adds. “We had to turn tables away; make reservations if you can, but walk-ins will still be accepted.”

The eatery prides itself on serving A5 Kagoshima wagyu with a beef marbling score of 12.

“There’s five grades of wagyu; A1 is the lowest, and A5 is the highest,” Afong explains. 

The $34.99 AYCE menu includes spicy beef, spicy pork, teriyaki chicken, honey-yaki beef, honey-yaki pork, beef belly, brisket, tri-tip steak, pork belly and more. Customers also get the featured banchan of the day, along with rotating specials like wagyu lau lau.

Kale’s Hale now offers sushi on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as part of the AYCE experience. Choose from spicy ‘ahi rolls, shrimp tempura roll, spicy ‘ahi and spicy beef roll, surf and turf and more. The surf and turf roll — which has steak and lobster salad — and gout roll, with crispy pork belly and crab salad, are customer favorites.

Sushi used to be offered only on Wednesdays, up until about two months ago, according to Afong.

“It got so popular that we extended it (sushi),” he says. “Tuesdays and Wednesdays used to be slow; now, Wednesdays are our busiest day. On Thursdays, we’re going to offer hand rolls made tableside as well.” 

Kales Hale cutting wagyu 072926

<title>Kale’s Hale is launching a limited-time wagyu special</title>

The Kalihi-based eatery is known for its all-you-can-eat Hawaiian fusion yakiniku experience. For all of August, Kale’s Hale will offer a wagyu add-on for $5 per ounce. Customers who purchase an AYCE meal can take advantage of this discount from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

Kale’s Hale is launching a limited-time wagyu special

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

The heavily-trafficked intersection of Kapi‘olani Boulevard and Kalākaua Avenue has hosted a parade of high-profile restaurants since the 1930s, each one representing a particular genre that was popular in the USA at the time.

To begin with, there was no intersection at all here until April 1931, when Kapi‘olani Boulevard — under construction since 1929 — reached Kalākaua Avenue, already a major, established Honolulu street for many years. To save City & County funds, Kapi‘olani initially wasn’t even paved in this stretch until November of the same year, when asphalt was laid atop the crushed coral then in place. Drivers appreciated this new route across town, which was less congested than Beretania or King Streets, and within a few years the triangular lot on the Waikīkī side of the intersection caught attention as the potential site for a “Gateway to Waikīkī” public park. That proposal went nowhere, but soon the property would see its first business.

In 1935, entrepreneur Hanley P. Sundstrom (better known as “Sunny”) opened his Kau Kau Korner Drive In with just two employees. The small open building accommodated some diners seated around its periphery, under a striped canvas awning, but carhops also serviced customers in parked cars.

Business in this highly visible location grew enough for an entirely new $45,000 structure, occupying more leased land, to open in August 1941. Modeled after the well-known drive in restaurants of Los Angeles, this new Kau Kau Korner featured a curved glass-brick façade with a map of the Hawaiian Islands executed in sheet metal and neon lettering. On the second floor, behind the glass bricks, was Sunny’s executive office — and, for a select invited group, illegal slot machines used for gambling! There were now 40 employees, including 11 carhops dressed in snappy red & white uniforms to serve the 100-vehicle parking lot.

Immediately famous on the property was a freestanding neon sign emphasizing that Hawai‘i was the “Crossroads Of The Pacific”, the slogan lettered on the top. On the sign’s pole were wooden arrows pointing to various other locations, both domestic and international, showing how many miles away each one was. This landmark sign was a favorite subject of amateur snapshots for years.

Continuing through the 1950s, the high point of the popularity of drive in restaurants in the United States, Kau Kau Korner’s run came to an end when it lost its lease and closed in February 1960. The new occupant of this location was the successful locally owned Spencecliff Corporation, which already operated a number of very popular establishments on O‘ahu. A crash remodel and enlargement of the existing building disguised it completely and enabled its very quick reopening in September 1960 as Coco’s Coffee Shop, an example of the next big trend for inexpensive dining in America. Open 24 hours a day for a capacity of 190 diners, Coco’s served everyone from families during the daytime to weary nightlife patrons seeking predawn breakfasts. Local celebrities were among its regular patrons, especially those with late-night entertainment jobs or conversely, the ones who started their work days very early.

In turn, Coco’s reached its end on the last day of August in 1986. It was demolished the following month to be replaced by the new Hard Rock Café, which opened in July 1987 with much fanfare. This new business turned its back on the busy intersection that the previous restaurants had openly faced, and disguised this view with trees and foliage. Inside, musical artifacts from its already-famous collection of guitars and other rock memorabilia were prominently displayed along with Hawai‘i-specific historic graphics.

Most notable was the customized 1959 Cadillac suspended from the ceiling above the bar. Owner Peter Morton claimed in an interview that this vehicle had belonged to an “eccentric rancher” on Hawai‘i Island who had used it to carry his surfboards, when in fact it was a stock Cadillac ambulance that had had wooden paneling added to its exterior to serve as a prop specifically for this restaurant. The Hard Rock Café chain was the most prominent of an abundance of theme restaurants that proliferated in the 1980s and ‘90s, and it was notably popular in Honolulu, particularly for tourists seeking merchandise like its T-shirts. For years there was a line at the door waiting for entry.

The Hard Rock Café gradually lost its novelty and chose to move to a Waikīkī site on Beachwalk in November 2010, closer to the tourists who constituted its main clientele. After this, its former building hosted various short-lived tenants until the Honolulu Coffee Company opened there in September 2015, yet again an example of a current trend in American eating and drinking establishments. Their “Aloha” painted mural from 2018, facing Kalākaua Avenue, remains in place although they have moved to King Street in Mō‘ili‘ili.

And this then brings us to 2026 and this location’s newest tenant: Chick-fil-A’s sitdown-only restaurant. There’s a precedent here, which no one today will know about, in that Kau Kau Korner was Hawai‘i’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise location, starting in March 1958 before KFC had opened any of its own stand-alone buildings locally. But any chain fast-food restaurant, a type invented in the USA but now international in scope, is historically in keeping with the succession of what’s gone before at Honolulu’s Restaurant Corner.

1 Kau Kau 48 16x9

<title>Honolulu's restaurant corner</title>

With its high traffic and visibility, the corner of Kapi‘olani Boulevard and Kalākaua Avenue has attracted a series of legendary eateries over the decades. ASD history columnist DeSoto Brown revisits them all — Kau Kau Korner, Coco's, Hard Rock Café (much of the latter's building now serving as the home of Chick-fil-A's only sit-down restaurant).

Honolulu's restaurant corner

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

It’s the end of an era in Ward Village, Howard Hughes’ 60-acre master-planned community located between Downtown and Waikīkī, as developers move forward with plans to bring more residences to the community.

Ward Centre, which opened in 1982 and served the community for more than four decades, officially closed its doors to the public on June 30. Although a timeline has not yet been finalized, sources say that demolition and redevelopment work at the site is expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.

The demolition will clear the way for two luxury towers planned at the site: 

“We have a fond aloha for Ward Centre and its important role in the history of our neighborhood,” Doug Johnstone, president of Hawai‘i Region and national condominium development at Howard Hughes Communities, said in a statement provided to Aloha State Daily. “As plans move forward for redevelopment on the site, we look forward to announcing details about the next phase, which will deliver additional retail, open space and a new public park, as well as hundreds of new homes, further enhancing the connected, walkable neighborhood experience at Ward Village while reflecting its long-term vision as a master-planned community.”

Three of the center’s tenants are relocating within Ward Village: Johnny’s Island Dog Spa and Sweat + Soul are moving to 320 Ward Ave., while Kamitoku Ramen is moving to the former Scratch Kitchen space in South Shore Market. You can read more about Kamitoku Ramen 

which closed its Ward Centre and downtown Honolulu locations — 

As previously reported, Ward Village 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.

In addition to ‘Ilima and Melia, new residential buildings in development or under construction include Kalae and The Launiu Ward Village.

, bringing another another 546 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes and more than 30,000 square feet of retail and dining space to Kaka‘ako. It was 97% pre-sold when it was completed, the developer said at that time. 

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 

Of those, 220 units at Melia and ‘Ilima, and 63 units at The Launiu were contracted, the report, published earlier this year, noted. At year-end, the predevelopment condos of Melia and ‘Ilima were 60% pre-sold and The Launiu was 71% pre-sold. Meanwhile, Kalae was 93% sold.

By the end of 2025, Melia and ‘Ilima were about 60% pre-sold.

The 33-story ‘Ilima will have 148 homes while Melia, its 35-story companion, will offer 221 residences. Together, the projects will add about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial and retail space, along with a public park.

Ward Village also hit a number of other milestones in 2025.

 of last year and the makai phase of Victoria Ward Park 

The Launiu, Ward Village’s 11th residential tower, broke ground 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Daily Smile: Friday, July 31, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, July 30, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, July 27, 2026

Most read

Daily Smile: Friday, July 31, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, July 30, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, July 27, 2026

Most read