ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, let's all enjoy dog getting his own present..."}]

Smile 26 8 26

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026</title>

Now, let's all enjoy dog getting his own present...

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026

 Now, let&#039;s all enjoy dog getting his own present...

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Banyan trees are a wonder of nature, where myths, legends, and ancient knowledge intertwine like the roots that hang from their branches.

In Buddhism, the banyan tree symbolizes enlightenment. In Hinduism, it is associated with the gods. And Asian folklore connects the banyan to spirits and magic. If the main trunk of a banyan is damaged or destroyed, it can continue to grow through its numerous roots, making it a symbol of eternal life and rebirth.

The Indian banyan (Ficus benghalensis) is the national tree of India, and represents longevity, strength, resilience, and the enduring bonds of community. A 700-year-old tree in Munger, Bihar, India is considered the oldest banyan in the world, with radiocarbon dating of its wood samples confirming it has been standing since the 1300s.

In Chinese culture, banyan trees are notable for their excellent feng shui and symbolize longevity and perseverance. They are also home to earth gods that protect their villages. In Hainan, China’s smallest and southernmost province, the banyan tree is regarded as a spirit tree that can ward off evil spirits and communicate with God. Shrines are often built at the base of these trees, and in many cases, people worship the trees themselves.

Throughout the Philippines, banyan trees are often believed to be home to engkantos, environmental spirits, as well as frightening beings like the Tikbalang and Kapre. Stories of encounters with these spirits have led many people to show respect when passing them and to leave the trees untouched, never cutting them down. Offerings were once made to appease the spirits they thought dwelled within the trees.

Across Asia, many people believe that spirits, ghosts, and deities inhabit banyan trees. The folklore in many of these cultures warns against sleeping or lingering beneath them, especially after dark, for fear of disturbing restless spirits or malicious entities.

While it’s quite common to see massive banyans in Hawai‘i, many don’t realize that these trees are not native to these islands. Archibald Cleghorn, Princess Ka‘iulani’s father, planted the first banyan tree in Hawai‘i around 1870, at ‘Ainahau, their family estate in Waikīkī. In April 1873, missionaries from India gifted a banyan to Maui Sheriff William Owen Smith, who planted it in Lāhainā to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission to Lāhainā.

The original banyan at ‘Ainahau is no longer there, which makes the one in Lāhainā one of the oldest banyans in the U.S. Although it was significantly damaged during the great fire in 2023, the Lāhainā banyan stands today as a cultural and historical landmark and represents the enduring spirit of Lāhainā and the people of Maui.

For more than 150 years, banyans have been planted all across our islands. The giant trees provide comforting shade beneath their sprawling canopies, while aerial prop roots that grow down from their branches offer endless fun for children.  

The two banyan trees adjacent to Ali‘iolani Hale in Downtown Honolulu are estimated to have been planted between 1882 and 1887. There is no record as to who planted them, but they are listed in Honolulu’s Register of Exceptional Trees and are protected under that status.

The trees are home to birds, including the indigenous manu o kū (white tern or fairy tern), the occasional four-legged pest, and perhaps something more. 

Rumors of hauntings and lingering spirits within the confines of the banyans have been around for years. One night, I came across a sheriff rushing past the trees on his way to his car. I offered a greeting, and he stopped to look at me.

[{"type":"text","text":"“You’re that ghost guy, yeah?” He pointed."}]

When I confirmed I was who he thought I was, he decided to share his story.

The sheriff said that the night before, he parked his car under the banyans because he had to visit the Kekuanaoa Building next door to check on some electricians working in the basement. When he was finished, he got back in his car, buckled his seatbelt, and then turned on his a/c. He paused to type a note into his phone and said he felt two hands come up from behind, grab his duty belt, and readjust it as he sat there. Barely a second later, he felt fingertips run through his hair, and he heard a voice call him by his name.

The man jumped out of his car, hand on his sidearm, ready to confront whoever was hiding in his vehicle. But no one was there.

Looking around, heart pounding and completely puzzled, something in the canopy above him caught his attention. The sheriff looked up and saw a thin, black figure walking from branch to branch. It stopped just above him and leaned down, as if to get a better look.

He said that while he knew the banyans near the Supreme Court Building are from India, the feeling he got from them was similar to what he encountered in the Philippines, where deceased relatives were presented to the banyan, or balete, as offerings for the ancestors, the spirits, and the gods. 

“I park in the main lot now,” the sheriff said. “If those guys need something, they can text.”

Banyans at Aliiolani Hale

<title>Haunted Banyans at Ali‘iolani Hale</title>

The two banyan trees next to Ali‘iolani Hale were planted in the 1880s. Such trees carry a wealth of symbolism throughout Asian cultures — enlightenment, divinity, magic, longevity, strength, and more. Legends also surround banyan trees as the abodes of ghosts and mysterious spirit beings. That was the experience of one Hawai‘i sheriff, who shared a frightening encounter with our authors.

Haunted Banyans at Ali‘iolani Hale

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

As soon as the University of Hawai‘i kicks off its 2026 season at Stanford on Saturday at 1 p.m. HST, 

 will have officially broken a generational curse. 

The upcoming season will be Chang's fifth at the helm, marking the first time in almost two decades that a UH football coach has been at the helm in Mānoa that long. 

June Jones, the same man Chang played for, coached UH from 1999 to 2007 before bolting for SMU in 2008. He was followed by Greg McMackin, who was forced to resign after the 2011 season, his fourth as head coach. Norm Chow was fired during the 2015 season, also his fourth, and replaced by Nick Rolovich, who coached the Rainbow Warriors from 2016 to 2019 before departing for Washington State. Chang's predecessor, Todd Graham, lasted from 2020 to 2021 before becoming the subject of a state senate hearing then resigning. 

"I didn't know that," Chang said when told of his upcoming Year 5 milestone. "My mentor (Jones) is special. He's a special coach, and I'm glad I played under him and learned under him and continued to run his offense. I'm very proud to now be back home and leading the program and having assistants that also have played under coach Jones and so really we owe a lot to him and it's an honor."

 that will take his contract through January 2031. Dream job aside, the team's focus for the last week and a half has been on Stanford, a program starting over with new head coach and former Cardinal quarterback Tavita Pritchard. After breaking camp last weekend, the Rainbow Warriors have taken multiple practices to nearby ‘Iolani School in preparation for Stanford's grass surface. 

"I think you prepare for everything, and then you adjust as it goes," Chang said of Saturday's matchup. "But really, football is football. We gotta tackle, we got to throw the ball and catch balls. 

"I just think the guys, they put themselves in position to succeed. They work really hard and I'm proud of how they work, but now it's time to go and execute and go have fun."

In addition to Pritchard, Stanford has new coordinators in offensive coordinator Terry Heffernan and defensive coordinator 

Kris Richard as it revamps its entire program under general manager Andrew Luck. Adding to Saturday's mystique is the fact that neither team has released a depth chart as of Tuesday. 

he most important thing is for us to understand who our opponent is, and I believe by kickoff on the 29th, we'll have a pretty good understanding of them, who they are, and what they're like," Hawai‘i defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said. "They're a new team, a new guy calling plays, but Stanford is going to be Stanford. They're gonna be a well-coached, well-disciplined football team, and they're gonna do what they do. They're not gonna make mistakes, so we can't we can't go in there and make mistakes."

The Rainbow Warriors and Cardinal opened the 2025 season against each other, with 

 despite a disastrous start in which its first offensive play was a sack and fumble for a Stanford touchdown. 

Quarterback Micah Alejado, who suffered a early leg injury and gutted out the second half of the 2025 opener, knows the team can't afford to start slow again. 

"Just staying sound and just playing our game," Alejado said when asked what the key to victory is. "Last year, we come out really bad. I gave up a sack for a touchdown. We gave them 10 points. Our biggest point of emphasis is starting fast, not waiting for the first half to come on."

Timmy Chang 082526

<title>Hawai‘i head football coach Timmy Chang set to hit longevity milestone during season…</title>

UH athletics director Matt Elliott recently confirmed Chang's contract is set to run through January 2031.

Hawai‘i head football coach Timmy Chang set to hit longevity milestone during season opener

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Is Honolulu Councilman Tommy Waters eligible for re-election? We'll know by the end of the week.

Waters and competing candidate Trevor Ozawa appeared before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court Tuesday to argue whether Waters is eligible to be elected for another term this year.

Waters and Ozawa both ran to represent Council District 4, including Hawai‘i Kai, Kaimukī and Waikīkī, for a term extending from 2027 to 2031.

But Waters has already served on the council for nearly eight consecutive years — he joined the council in 2019, and was elected again in 2022 — and the Honolulu City Charter limits council members to serve for only two consecutive four-year terms. Ozawa filed a lawsuit against Waters in June, requesting that the First Circuit Court declare the incumbent Waters ineligible to run.

That case, after appeals, reached the state’s highest court Tuesday, where attorneys for Waters and Ozawa attempted to answer: what actually is a council term?

Waters: It’s only a full council term if you serve all four years

As the City Charter requires that “no person shall be elected to the office of councilmember for more than two consecutive four-year terms,” the arguments of Waters’ legal team revolved around the special circumstances of Waters’ first election in 2019.

Waters ran for the District 4 seat in 2018, against then-incumbent Ozawa. But that election was extremely close: Ozawa seemed to defeat Waters by only 22 votes and, because of confusion involving late-counted absentee ballots, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court invalidated the results of that election, leading to a special remedial election in 2019, which Waters won.

But because Waters was not sworn in on Jan. 2, 2019 — the start of the term — his attorneys contended that he did not serve a “four-year term” as defined by the charter. Therefore, he has only served a single full term, and can run for another consecutive one.

“The basic point to make is that a four-year term means just that: it’s four years. You can’t start midway into a term of four years,” said Joseph Stewart, one of Waters’ attorneys. “In this case, the election issue occurred in April of 2019, when the four-year term was supposed to start on Jan. 2 of 2019. That’s not a four-year term. That’s something less than a four-year term.”

Associate Justice Lisa Ginoza countered that the charter does not determine eligibility by the length of a council member’s service, but simply by whether they were elected to a four-year term.

Nonetheless, Stewart said, the 2018 election was invalidated by the Supreme Court, which technically created a vacancy on the council — which was temporarily filled by former county Managing Director Mike Formby — and triggered a new, separate election.

“The fact that there’s a regular term that starts on Jan. 2 … contemplates that there is also an 

 term, something that doesn’t start on Jan. 2,” Stewart said.

Ozawa: A term is a term, regardless of whether you're in the seat

On the other side of the argument, Ozawa’s attorney Deirdre Marie-Iha argued that the charter establishes a “bright line rule,” which she said is unambiguous.

“If you are elected to a four-year term, then the whole term counts against you,” Marie-Iha said. “A term is a set period of time. And standing here today, I can tell you the exact start dates of every city council election for the next 100 years. If they don’t change the law, those terms do not move.”

Marie-Iha opined that it would be “unsound” to allow the results of an election — in this case, the 2019 special election — to determine the term that the election was called to fulfill. She added that the 2019 election existed to “finish the job” that the 2018 election failed to do; had the votes been tallied properly in 2018, there would be no question that the winner would serve from 2019 to 2023.

“The term doesn’t move, and the term started without him,” Marie-Iha said.

Associate Justice Lisa Ginoza challenged Marie-Iha, noting that other state supreme courts have ruled that, in cases where a candidate’s eligibility is ambiguous, then it is better to allow the candidate to run in order to preserve the rights of voters and candidates alike.

In particular, Waters’ attorney Thomas Otake noted that some 8,600 voters who cast ballots for Waters would have their votes invalidated if the court ruled Waters ineligible.

But Marie-Iha said the matter is not ambiguous, and that one way or another, the court can definitively state who is eligible to run, and can do so very soon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What’s next"}]

The Supreme Court’s verdict will ultimately determine which two candidates will appear on the ballot in the general election; as none of the four candidates in the primary election received more than 50% of the votes, those with the two highest vote counts will duel in the general.

If the court rules in Waters’ favor, the general election will be between Ozawa — who received 12,279 votes in the primary, according to the state’s final voter numbers — and Waters, who received 8,678 votes.

If the court rules in Ozawa’s favor, the election will be between Ozawa and the third-place candidate Tara Malia Gregory, who received 4,225 votes.

Ginoza said the court will deliver a verdict in the case by Friday, before general election ballots are mailed.

PXL 20260826 013513300 16x9

<title>Waters, Ozawa duel over definition of 'four-year term'</title>

State Supreme Court hears arguments to determine Councilman Tommy Waters' eligibility for reelection

Waters, Ozawa duel over definition of 'four-year term'

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

At this point, the Office of the Legislative Analyst has existed for over one-quarter of a century.

However, we’re not celebrating any anniversaries. That’s because it’s never been established.

“The law is older than many of the legislative aides at the Legislature (as well as a few legislators),” 

 Tom Yamachika in August 2024. “That is a long time for a law that does nothing to be taking up space in our statute books!”

His comments were inspired by another piece 

 by a joint article authored by Jonathan Helton of the Grassroots Institute of Hawai‘i and Nicole Woo of the Hawaii Children’s Action Network. 

Calls for the Office’s establishment emerge like a politically consistent hum of white noise every few years. 

It starts in 1989, when the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) conducts a thorough 

 of Hawai‘i’s budgetary capacity and finds that the legislative tools available for objective fiscal analysis are sorely lacking. 

In the following year, the Legislature advances a bill to the Governor’s office. Governor John Waihe‘e signs Senate Bill 2338 into law on July 9, 1990. It creates the Office of the Legislative Analyst to be administered by a joint committee of House and Senate leadership.

“Modern legislatures have become sophisticated data gatherers and analysts, on par with the executive and judiciary branches,” 

 finds. “Over the last five years, this shift has been accelerated through the development of professional, highly specialized legislative staff.”

It looks like everything is set, except it seemingly stalls. The law is there. The mandate is clear. But the physical office never takes shape. 

It exists on paper in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, although no money is thereafter ever appropriated to fund it. At least one serious effort (House Bill 3715) in the 1996 Legislative Session was made to fund the office with $350,000. It stalls.

As Hawai‘i’s economy contracts and the size of government shrinks in the late nineties, Governor Benjamin Cayetano’s Role of Government Working Group once again calls for the office’s establishment. Despite this recommendation, no actions result. 

 by the State Auditor calls for the Legislature to “expand its own technical capabilities to review and assess state fiscal data, as was intended by the creation of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Office of the Legislative Analyst.”

Once again, the office is neither established nor funded. The years compound into decades and the hum is persistent, although its force rises and falls. 

That’s where the hum has grown a little louder in the last two years. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Settling on a Future"}]

Several efforts have been made in the last two years to reform the office.

One approach has involved members of the small Republican Caucus in the House, combined with smatterings of Democratic support from good government advocates, have largely led these charges.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"So far, they haven’t gone very far. "}]

 proposed an overhaul of the office’s functions.  introduced by Rep. Julie Reyes Oda, a Republican from ‘Ewa Beach.

, which would have required the Office of the Legislative Analyst to produce fiscal notes (short descriptions of the fiscal cost of every measure). As was the case with its Senate companion, 

, it failed to even get a hearing. A similar measure in the House, 

The second approach is more systemic and has often involved more seasoned Democrats. 

In the 2025 legislative session, Senator Lorraine Inouye introduced 

, which proposed scrapping the Office of the Legislative Analyst in favor of a Legislative Budget Office. The measure only received one hearing in the Senate before failing to get a joint hearing before the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Ways and Means.

Two other efforts were launched by then-Finance Chair Kyle Yamshita, who harbors long-term, if not visionary, 

 authored by Then-House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita (would have re-organized the Office of the Legislative Analyst to make it more difficult to remove the Chief Legislative Analyst from office.

, which called on the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to assess how the Legislature could issue fiscal notes. 

In January 2026, the LRB published an exhaustive 

 that lays out the best traits of fiscal notes, which largely appear to be utilized in every other Legislature except Hawai‘i’s. 

The LRB report has tossed the ball back in the Legislature’s court. “Because there are so many variables in how fiscal notes may be administered, the Bureau recommends forming a legislative task force, working group, or joint legislative committee to weigh the considerations and costs discussed in this report.”

Wranglings over the state budget only serve as a reminder that an impartial office charged with providing cold, hard data is critical and justified. 

“Estimates generally focus on the direct costs to the state, but there is a growing interest to incorporate the potential impacts a bill may have on the broader economy,” one March 2026 

 from the National Council of State Legislatures explains. “Though often complicated and controversial, fiscal notes are a tool that helps the legislature make intelligent, informed decisions based on the best information available.”

Lawmakers were not inclined, at least seriously, to engage with the LRB’s study. That’s unfortunate, as it provides a serious blueprint for the Legislature to chart the future of fiscal notes, along with the Office of the Legislative Analyst. 

If the office is redundant, and the Legislature never plans to establish the Office of the Legislative Analyst, then it should be repealed. No bill, at least recent, has taken so forceful an action. Nothing is set in stone. 

For now, the Office of the Legislative Analyst sits in law without any force.

Hawaii State Capitol 7 29 25

<title>Where's our Legislative Analyst? </title>

An Office of the Legislative Analyst was created by law during Gov. Waihe‘e's administration, and was meant to be a non-partisan, data-driven office that could inform legislators about the potential benefits and harms of the laws they pass. And yet, the office has never actually been staffed — it's a phantom, existing only on paper. Yet as lawmaking gets more complex, we need someone to do this work and some lawmakers having been trying to make the office finally happen.

Where's our Legislative Analyst? 

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Arts & Entertainment

For the past three years, in addition to hula, the students of 

 have learned art; engineering; construction; and the value of commitment, collaboration and hard work. In 2023, the first time the Kailua-based hālau entered a float in the Aloha Festivals Floral Parade, they placed second in that division. Last year, they won the top award, and they’re looking forward to doing it again next month, which marks 

Kumu Hula Pattye Wright is the inspiring founder of 

Puakea o Koʻolaupoko. At 91, she keeps a busy schedule that includes teaching seven weekly classes, one via Zoom for students around the world, including France, Germany, Japan, Australia and across the U.S. Mainland.

To keep fit, she attends a chair weight-lifting class at the Windward YMCA twice a week. As Kawaiaha‘o Church’s Sunday service, she’s responsible for projecting announcements, Bible verses and hymn lyrics on a large screen. And she “drives everywhere” for meetings and outings, often with friends who are decades younger as passengers.

In October, Wright will be in Japan for two-plus weeks, conducting hula workshops from the northernmost island of Hokkaido all the way south to Okinawa. “I’m proof that you can enjoy a full life in your 90s,” she said. “One reason that has been possible for me is that I live in gratitude. Negativity and gratitude cannot survive in the same space.”

Wright was born in rural Fleming, Missouri, and raised all over the country as the daughter of an Air Force chaplain. She bought her first ukulele when her family was living in Pittsburg, Kansas, in the 1940s.

“My friend Rita lived down the street from me, and she had an ukulele,” Wright said. “I wanted one, too, so I started saving my allowance, which I think was 25 cents a week. My grandmother gave me $5 for my 12th birthday, which was enough for me to get the ukulele I liked at a store in Pittsburg.”

She and Rita caught the bus into town, where she bought the ukulele and a little Hawaiian songbook. On the way home, the girls sat in the back of the bus and sang their hearts out.

“I cringe to think how we probably mangled the words to ‘My Little Grass Shack,’” Wright said. “That ukulele went with me everywhere; I still have it. I also play the piano and organ, and I’ve always sung in church choirs. Every place I’ve lived, I’ve immersed myself in the local culture, beginning with music.”

It was no different in 1968, when Wright’s then-husband, an electrical engineer, accepted a job on O‘ahu. She initially thought it was going to be a three-year stint, but she wound up never leaving Hawai‘i.

“We arrived in November, and I was in my first hula class by January,” Wright said. “We hadn’t even fully unpacked, but I couldn’t wait to start. History, storytelling, poetry, music, dance — hula has it all, and I loved it!”

Wright learned how to craft her own implements; took Hawaiian language classes at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; and studied with renowned Kumu Hula Bella Richards and Lani Kalama. When she started 

Puakea o Koʻolaupoko in 1973, she realized hula could play an important role in educating people about the Hawaiian culture.

In August 2023, Toni Lee, then-chair of the Aloha Festivals parade, approached Shiori Kaʻimilani Koehler, another kumu for the hālau, with an invitation: Would 

be interested in entering a float? Intrigued, Koehler presented the idea to Wright, who gave it the green light.

A glass artist and glass art instructor at UH-Mānoa, Koehler oversees the project and is hands-on with every aspect of it, including conceiving the design, building the float and, in consultation with Wright, selecting the numbers the hālau performs during the parade.

Wright helps however she can — making lei to decorate the float with students, teaching them the songs and dances, and creating the beautiful floral adornments she wears on parade day.

“Participating in the parade is an opportunity for our hālau to share hula, aloha and our culture with spectators,” Koehler said. “It’s also educational for our students; for example, they have learned how to make lei and weave coconut frond hats together. The parade has become a meaningful tradition, allowing us to honor our heritage while strengthening our bonds.”

Aloha Festivals’ theme this year is “80 Years of Aloha: Our Culture, Our Stories, Celebrating Our Island Home.” 

Koehler wants to keep this year’s float design a surprise, but she confirmed preparations 

“We’re starting to build the framework,” she said. “One of the parade requirements is that all decorations must be made from natural vegetation. Our hālau and our friends, relatives and neighbors will gather ti leaves, palm leaves and more from their yards. We’ll purchase fresh flowers, floral foam, lumber, hardware and other supplies.”

Murakami Landscaping donates greenery, and South Shore Equipment provides use of a flatbed truck. Other than that, expenses are paid out of pocket. Each student contributes $30 to the float fund. Fundraisers supplement that, including lauhala weaving classes and sales of baked goods and hālau T-shirts worn by students and supporters, around 70 strong, who follow the float.

Construction (place to be determined) will begin on the Tuesday prior to the parade and go on through late Friday evening when everything must be done. It adds up to months of planning and labor for just three hours in the spotlight. Still, Koehler believes, it is worth it.

“Hula teaches us the importance of humility, respect, integrity, discipline and aloha,” she said. “Building the float requires those same values. It’s a collaborative effort that depends on laulima, many hands working together. The parade is more than a performance; it is a celebration of our hālau, our culture and the relationships that unite us as one ʻohana.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Expressions of Aloha"}]

The Aloha Festivals Floral Parade is set for Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to noon. Thousands of spectators will line the route from Ala Moana Park to Kapi‘olani Park to see close to 100 participating units, including floats, marching bands, pāʻū riders and more.

Pattye Wright is co-chairing the dedication ceremony for “I Ka Malu o Ka Ulu Hala” (In the Shade of the Hala Grove), the mural that adorns the wall of Tokyo Central facing Kailua District Park. Featuring music, hula, oli and brief talks, the event is set for Sept. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Emily States, a Kailua resident and Kamehameha Schools Kapālama alumna, completed the striking artwork last August. It honors Lani Kalama, Bella Richards and Pilahi P

kī, three women beloved for their cultural contributions to Kailua (Kalama and Richards were Wright’s mentors). Also depicted is Hauwahine, the shape-shifting deity who protects Kawainui Marsh and Ka‘elepulu (Enchanted Lake), which were once large, productive fishponds.

Wright

<title>Uncles and Aunties: Kumu Hula Pattye Wright to participate in Aloha Festivals Floral…</title>

Wright, 91, founder of Nā Puakea o Koʻolaupoko in Kailua, is keeping busy teaching seven weekly classes across the globe, while volunteering at church.  Come September, this will be the hālau's fourth year entering a float in the parade, which allows them to share their culture with spectators and grow closer with one another, says Shiori Kaʻimilani Koehler, another kumu for the hālau.

Uncles and Aunties: Kumu Hula Pattye Wright to participate in Aloha Festivals Floral Parade

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Opening a coffee shop has always been a dream for Kawai Mielke. She and Mia Cordes recently opened 

, a coffee trailer located along Kamehameha Highway in ‘Aiea.

“With several years of experience as a barista and my background in business — and growing up in the food and beverage industry — we decided to bring our experiences and passions together to open Pū Kena,” Mielke says.

She explains that pū means “together” and kena means “quenched” or “satisfied" in Hawaiian. Choosing a spot along Kamehameha Highway was also intentional.

“We named and created this place with the idea of it being a gathering place — a space where we can come together to share stories, nourish connections and build a lasting community, all while enjoying a cup of coffee,” she says. “We felt our location was perfect because it is both, the entrance and exit of ‘Aiea; we felt the community needed a coffee spot where people could gather, connect and enjoy a quality cup of coffee.”

Pū Kena offers coffees, matchas, teas and acai bowls. The business sources its coffee beans from White Nene in Kona; meanwhile, its matcha is sourced directly from Uji, Japan, according to Mielke.

“We created our menu with the hope of becoming everyone’s go-to coffee spot — whether it’s in the morning before work, during a lunch break, or whenever you’re craving a nice boost of caffeine,” she says. “We take pride in sourcing quality ingredients. All of our syrups are homemade, and we strive to make our drinks well-balanced — sweet enough to be delicious, while still allowing you to taste the quality of our coffee and matcha.”

Popular drinks include the Waimomi latte ($8) — made with homemade vanilla syrup and topped with kūlolo cold foam — the chocolate haupia latte ($8.45), which features a rich chocolate syrup finished with coconut coal foam and chocolate nibs; and the Hawaiian honey ($8), which is made with H

ōla honey, matcha and kūlolo cold foam.

The business’s strawberry fresa ($7.50) — comprising matcha, strawberry puree, vanilla cold foam and toasted cinnamon — is another customer favorite.

currently open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“One of our main goals with this business is to support as many local businesses as possible,” 

Mielke says. “When you visit our shop, please make sure to take a look at our local list; we hope that if you discover or enjoy a product or business, you’ll consider showing them some love and supporting them, too. At Pū Kena, we believe in supporting one another and growing together as a community.”

Pu Kena Coffee owners 082026

<title>Pū Kena is a new coffee trailer in ‘Aiea</title>

The business — which opened earlier this month — is located along Kamehameha in ʻAiea. According to business owner Kawai Mielke, the biz was created to be a gathering place, and one of its goals is to support as many local businesses as possible.

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, Aug. 17, 2026

Most read

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, Aug. 17, 2026

Most read