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[{"type":"text","text":"Nobody knows the plan, but everybody is committed....."}]

Smile 26 9 14

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, Sept. 14, 2026</title>

Nobody knows the plan, but everybody is committed.....

Daily Smile: Monday, Sept. 14, 2026

 Nobody knows the plan, but everybody is committed.....

Tamara McKay

Ralph S. Cushnie

Government & Politics

Viewpoints

Hawai‘i just came through the most extraordinary election in memory.

A state House race decided by one vote, then tied, then settled by drawing an egg from a lauhala basket at the State Capitol. A second tie in a Senate district the same day. A council chairman whose eligibility was not resolved until the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled — after voters had already marked ballots bearing his name. Honolulu has since acknowledged that two voters were handed the wrong district's ballot and voted in a race whose margin was zero.

Under oath last week, Hawai‘i's chief election officer testified there is no administrative rule, no written manual, and no standard procedure governing how a tied election here is decided. He chose the method himself, days before using it, and it was never tested for fairness. A justice asked whether he had consulted the Elections Commission first.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He said no."}]

He could not have. The Commission has not been able to meet since June 30.

On Sept. 4, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the tiebreaker was invalid because the Office of Elections never adopted a rule for it, and that the two misissued ballots were enough to determine the race. District 43 voters will vote again on Nov. 3.

The Elections Commission is the body the Legislature created in 2004 to oversee the Office of Elections. It appoints the chief election officer. It evaluates him. State law charges it with advising him on election matters and receiving complaints about how elections are run. It is the public's check on the office that administers Hawai‘i's elections.

It has no chair. The previous chair's term ended June 30. On June 10 Michael Curtis announced the Commission would meet June 24 to choose his successor. On June 15 he cancelled that meeting.

There is a straightforward remedy, and it is not our invention. On Feb. 4, all nine commissioners voted to adopt Robert's Rules of Order as the Commission's parliamentary authority. Robert's Rules addresses exactly this: when a body has no presiding officer, any member may call the meeting to order, and the members elect a chair pro tempore by majority vote.

At the Commission's June 10 meeting, the deputy attorney general assigned to advise us said on the record that electing a chair pro tempore was an available option, that it should come from a sitting member, and that it would take a simple majority. Twelve days later he issued a written opinion concluding the Chief Justice would select the chair if the Commission did not act within 15 days.

Since July, we have asked the Office of Elections repeatedly to do what it has always done for Commission meetings: post the public notice, provide the video conference link, and email the notice to people who signed up on the state's own website to receive it.

The answer has been refusal, then silence. No explanation. No legal basis. In August, multiple requests received no reply at all.

We are told a single commissioner cannot call a meeting. But the Sunshine Law bars three or more of us from coordinating outside a noticed meeting. If calling a meeting required a vote of the Commission, that vote could never happen. The law written to keep government open is being used to keep this body closed — and the Office of Elections is actively preventing anyone from stepping into the gap.

Follow that logic to its end: a commission with no chair may not convene, because it has no chair. That is not a rule. It is a trap, and it renders a body created by statute permanently inoperable.

Error is what oversight exists to catch. A commission that meets asks how two voters got the wrong ballot and whether the procedure has been fixed. It asks why the method for deciding a tied election was chosen in three days by one person with no rule behind it. It receives the complaints citizens have filed all summer — complaints that now reach no one, because no body is assembled to receive them.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"None of that happened. None of it could."}]

Article I, Section 1 of Hawai‘i's Constitution provides that all political power is inherent in the people. The Elections Commission is how the people exercise that power over their own elections.

Every request and every non-answer is documented in the public record of Cushnie and McKay v. Nago, filed in July and still pending before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. An entire election cycle has passed. The primary was held, contested, and litigated before that same court — while the body created to oversee how it was administered has been unable to hold a single meeting.

We are asking for one meeting, with one item on the agenda: elect a chair, so the Commission can function again.

For two months, that has been too much to ask.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "}]

Ralph S. Cushnie and Tamara McKay are members of the Hawai‘i Elections Commission, representing Kaua‘i County and Maui County. They are petitioners, appearing pro se, in SCPW-26-0000498.

Tie breaker election drawing 16x9

<title>Community Voices: Hawai‘i's elections watchdog has been locked out of its own room</title>

Two members of the Hawai‘i Elections Commission want readers to know that their office has been prevented from meeting, even as voters have endured an election marred by irregularities.

Community Voices: Hawai‘i's elections watchdog has been locked out of its own room

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Columnists

[{"type":"text","text":"There was an early morning phone call which was quite unusual."}]

Both Bernadette and I were in the news and information business but rarely did the phone ring at such an hour.

Berna's sister, Angie, was serving her term as Miss America 2001 and was, literally, traveling the world.

[{"type":"text","text":"It was Angie on the line."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Turn the TV on. We're at war\""}]

She was calling Hawai‘i family and friends from LAX, told us, prayed with us and called others.

[{"type":"text","text":"The images broadcast was startling, even on the brink of surreal."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The World Trade Center in New York City was in flames enveloped in smoke."}]

Bernadette bolted to our son, Zachary's room, took him from his crib and held him while we watched quietly, sadly as the pictures and the narration told the story of what was believed to be a terrorist attack on our country.

There are times when the conversation about September 11, 2001, among friends or others when the inevitable question is asked, "Where were you on 9/11?"

I was in a high-rise condominium in the developing Kaka‘ako neighborhood with my family.

[{"type":"text","text":"How about you?"}]

Occupational necessity took me to the studios on KHVH Radio where my team and I were on the air for over 30 hours of broadcast. News updates, announcements, authority directives, but primarily the taking of telephone calls from listeners around the state. It was an accurate reflection of the national sentiment ranging from shock to incredulity to grieving to anger and even fear. As the day turned night and night turned into another day, the prominent expressions were, "Are we next?" to "We need to find and bomb those bastards!" with a few things in between.

But the prevailing question filled with so much emotion was, "How could this happen?"

[{"type":"text","text":"This is what we know that happened."}]

The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by the militant group al-Qaeda in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"underline"}],"text":"The Attacks"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"underline"}],"text":"Casualties and Impact"}]

The United States and the entire world changed on that day. The War on Iraq, the global war on terrorism, the authorization of unilateral military action, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, The Patriot Act and so much more changed the tone, tenor, and activities of the federal government and the U.S. military, at home and abroad.

There are debates and discussions, legal actions and court decisions and other contributions to the divisiveness in America today when polar opposites have strident yet non-negotiable positions. There are those who firmly and absolutely believe at 9/11 was an inside job. That our own government orchestrated the entire 9/11 attacks using patsies from the Middle East to conflate fear amongst Americans for their own agenda. Even the release of the 9/11 Commission investigative findings generated more questions than answers further cementing the divide among citizens.

[{"type":"text","text":"Again, that is not for contemplation nor consideration today."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"America was attacked."}]

Thousands of innocents lost their lives leaving behind grieving families whose own lives came to an abrupt and tragic end. The children of victims who lost their loved one, never experiencing them in their lives as they grew into adults.

The hundreds of first responders who lived their oaths to protect lives even if it meant losing their own. And they did.

The thousands who dedicated themselves to the clean-up and restoration of New York City to their own detriment, contracting lifelong debilitating health issues, even leading some to their own deaths.

Finally, my focus on this 25th Anniversary of 9/11 includes the remembrances of those from and connected to Hawai‘i and their respective loved ones who are poised to relive those tragic moments and renew the inevitable grieving connected to such profound loss. As Hawai‘i News Now 

 filled his office on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center with pictures of his son, Zachary. 

, a manager at the brokerage firm, Cantor Fitzgerald. Collins was married to Leilehua High School graduate, Lissa Collins.

Four floors above them, at the "Windows on the World" restaurant, Punahou alum and rising culinary star, 

 was busy baking her special desserts. She'd always dreamed of working at the acclaimed eatery.

Sitting at a table not far away, 26-year-old 

had a morning meeting at the restaurant. A kukui nut tree grows in her memory at the valedictorian's alma mater, Kaiser high.

 was also at a meeting at the twin towers. The senior vice-president of "Marsh incorporated" had a sister, Charlotte, who used to work at Kuakini Medical Center. She's since moved away.

Also at the World Trade Center, 1979 "Our Redeemer Lutheran" graduate, 

 an executive secretary on the 96th floor of the north tower. She moved from Hawaii to New York soon after graduation.

 was a civilian budget analyst. Laychak's wife, Laurie a graduate of Hawaii Baptist Academy was teaching when a note about the attack was delivered to her classroom.

On United Airlines Flight 53, which plunged into a field in Shanksville, PA, 56-year-old grandmother and antiques dealer, 

, of Kailua, who was then the programs manager for The Outdoor Circle and who was returning home from National Urban Forestry Conference. According to a remembrance posted by that organization, "

Many of the beautiful trees you enjoy today are a result of Christine’s work. In the year before her passing, Christine and some dedicated volunteers planted 50 coconut, palm, claw-blossomed wiliwili, and beach heliotrope trees on Magic Island. Her work extended far beyond as her love of trees was an integral part of her life."

[{"type":"text","text":"Peace to all who have suffered such tremendous loss."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A full generation of Americans and more were not yet born on 9\/11\/2001."}]

We are responsible to educate and inform our children, and they are responsible to educate and inform their children about 9/11. It is the very least we can do because the adage, "If you don't know history, you're doomed to repeat it", certainly applies here.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Never forget.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":" "}]

WTC ruin 9 11

<title>Hamada: Remembering 9/11</title>

It was about a quarter to 3 in the morning in Honolulu when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. For many of us in the Islands, the first we heard of the attack was a strangely early morning phone call from a loved one who had seen the news. "Turn on the TV. We're at war." ASD columnist Rick Hamada describes getting such a call, then spending 30 hours on the air at KHVH as kama‘āina called in with their fears, tears and rage.

Hamada: Remembering 9/11

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

[{"type":"text","text":"Caizel Jesus-Kapesi's parents knew it the day he was born. "}]

The son of Clisha Jesus and TeeJay Kapesi, Caizel was the second of four children and weighed 10 pounds at birth. 

"Literally as soon as he was born, we took him home, and that's how it started — Fatboy. He was a chunky kid," Clisha Jesus-Kapesi recalled to Aloha State Daily. 

And thus, Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi, the one the world has grown to love in recent days, was born. Clisha and TeeJay can't remember which parent coined the nickname, but it certainly stuck. 

In a 14-13 locally televised win at Leilehua on Aug. 21, Jesus-Kapesi completed 13 of his 20 passes for 193 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown. The gritty victory included a key first down in the closing minutes in which ‘Aiea went for it on fourth down deep in its own territory and converted to seal the game. For his efforts, Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi was named the Spectrum OC16 Impact Player of the Game. 

While interviewed by Spectrum's Jimmy Bender upon receiving his award, a TV super displaying Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi's name, weight, position and class was on display. The 6-foot-1, 268-pound sophomore quarterback quickly became an internet darling overnight, fans from around the world smitten with his name and social media posts of him reaching hundreds of thousands in reshares. Google Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi, and it would be hard to find a national sports content website that hasn't recycled the same set of pictures of him. 

"You must be here for Fatboy," multiple members of the ‘Aiea football program tell a visitor at a recent Na Ali‘i practice. 

Perhaps the first thing to know about Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi is that he's fully embraced his lifelong nickname. He politely introduces himself as Fatboy, and in the days since his viral introduction to the world, people who have never met him will approach him and say, 'Hey, you're Fatboy!'"

Due to the viral nature of his name, Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi was asked if local brands, such as local restaurant chain Fatboy's, have reached out. 

"I don't know about the restaurant yet. Hopefully soon," 

. "I was thinking about the FatBoy ice cream. That too, hopefully."

For those curious to learn more about him, what else should we know about Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi?

"I love cheeseburgers. I love burgers. That's one thing about me. I love burgers, especially McDonald's burgers," he said while flashing a grin. "You know, that's the one right there."

Life for the Jesus-Kapesi family has not been the same since last weekend. Their phones are still constantly buzzing with memes and comments. Through it all, Fatboy has stayed the same humble kid. During his viral interview, before he conceived it was possible he'd become as famous as he has, Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi gave the credit to God and his offensive line.  

"Being (seemingly everywhere) on social media, I take a lot of pride in it," he said. "I

t means a lot not just to me, but to my family. I'm putting my family's name out there, too."

Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi has been the starting quarterback on the varsity team at ‘Aiea High School since the beginning of his freshman year. He has a 3.7 grade point average and aspires to play college football. As ‘Aiea awaits improvements to its on-campus stadium, all of its games are on the road in 2026. Na Ali‘i improved to 2-0 after the Leilehua victory and will next take the field at Nānākuli on Saturday.

"I really, really want to play college football one day," he says. "My recruiting process so far, I'm working on it, but I'm ready."

A conversation with Clisha and TeeJay about Fatboy's ‘Aiea upbringing reveals why their son has been able to remain grounded despite his newfound fame. Young Caizel had his "knucklehead" moments, Mom says, but through strong parenting, he eventually learned and began to appreciate the process of earning everything he has, both good and bad. 

"'You can't do this, don't go do that. You have to do this to get that.' Having him work for his rewards. You want that? Then you work for it," Clisha says. "If you think we're hard, we're teaching you. He'll always be a kid at heart, and that's what I love about him."

Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi wouldn't gave gone viral last weekend if he weren't the Impact Player of the Game, and those go to winners. 

"I'm really proud of where he's at and where his potential could take him. We always tell him that what's done in the dark comes to light," TeeJay said. "The work he puts in on and off the field, the drilling he gets, letting him know that football's an avenue, and you can have all the talent, but you have to do everything right on and off the field. The talent can't outshine everything, and the classroom and the football field, one can't overcome the other, and he handles his business on that."

TeeJay is also an assistant linebackers coach for ‘Aiea, and he doesn't take it easy on Fatboy in practice. 

"Every day, we try to get this defense to bring the best out of not just him, but our offense as well," TeeJay said. 

The ‘Aiea community has supported Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi long before his viral moment. The rest of the world is now catching up. As nice as the attention is, nobody involved is pretending it's all been positive. 

"Seeing not only the positive comments, but the negative was really harsh," Clisha says. "I just had to remind him to just keep with the positive. (The attention) is something that we're not used to."

Mika Li‘ili‘i, ‘Aiea's head coach: 

"We always talk to the kids about social media. It can be evil and stuff like that. But in this situation, it's also a blessing for our school, for Fatboy to represent and bring some attention to our school and what we're doing. I know he feels it and he understands he's getting all the notoriety because his teammates are catching his balls and blocking for him and stuff like that."

Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi has played football for as long as he can remember, but he didn't get an opportunity to play quarterback until he was 12. 

He also dabbled in soccer and competitive hula, his 

 taking home a runner-up trophy during his only competition in 2019. 

Always on the bigger side, TeeJay remembers how he was placed as a lineman by default. "When he finally got his shot to be a quarterback, we hit the ground running, and that's who we have here today," Dad says. 

When one watches Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi throw a football, it's clear that doing so is easy to him. Using his upper body to gain torque, Fatboy spins it effortlessly in practice while his receivers practice multiple routes with him. 

Another thing that appears seamless to Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi: blending in with his teammates. In pre-practice stretching and jogging, he truly is one of the boys. His demeanor remains mellow and approachable.

Following a set of reps, his teammates, perhaps in acknowledgement of media around, break the huddle with "1, 2, 3, Fatboy!" 

[{"type":"text","text":"Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi can't help but laugh coyly."}]

"More people seeing that I'm on social media, I mean, it would be great for them to come to our games so we could show love to our community, show them what ‘Aiea High School football is about," he says. "For me, ‘Aiea is more than just a football program. It's home to me, so it means a lot."

Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi 082726

<title>‘Aiea quarterback Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi takes his newfound name fame in stride</title>

Jesus-Kapesi, the overnight viral sensation, confirms it's fine to call him by his nickname. He says he even prefers it.

‘Aiea quarterback Fatboy Jesus-Kapesi takes his newfound name fame in stride

Andrea Cavaliere

Hawai‘i History

The first time I went to Teshima’s, it was for their Japanese breakfast. I’d heard from a friend, a coworker, even the cashier at Foodland, that I had to try it. It was early on a Sunday morning, and we were headed to the Kona Green Farmers Market in Kealakekua. I already knew the building. It’s a landmark in South Kona, sitting beside the historic Daifukuji Soto Mission in the small town of Honalo. With its bright red roof, neon strip lighting, and glowing sign, Teshima’s looks like it belongs to another era. That makes sense: it’s been in continuous operation since 1929.

Inside the restaurant, paper lanterns cast a soft, red glow and shoji-style partitions divided the space into warm dining rooms. Even though it was my first time here, the waitress greeted me like an old friend and slipped a plumeria behind my ear. I was struck by the warmth that radiated from every corner, comfortable booths lined the walls, which were filled with old black-and-white photos from the Teshima family’s past.

The story of Teshimas Restaurant began across the street. In 1899, Goichi Hanato immigrated from Japan and opened the Hanato Store, one of the first shops in South Kona. It quickly became a gathering place, and even hosted church services before the neighboring Mission was built. Nearly three decades later, in 1929, his daughter Mary married Fumio Teshima and struck out on her own. Mary was the owner and the heart of the business. At a time when women were often shut out of entrepreneurial life, her love for cooking and her community helped shape Teshima’s into what it is today.

Noelani Greene, Mary Teshima’s great-granddaughter, showed me a black-and-white picture of a round wooden counter. 

[{"type":"text","text":"“That’s her bar,” she said. “That was the beginning of it all.”"}]

We sat in the main dining room as she explained the history captured in the photos around us. “At that time it was during prohibition, so there wasn’t alcohol. They started with saimin and shave ice.”

It’s worth seeing Teshima’s as more than just a restaurant. It’s the story of a family moving through global currents. Its beginnings unfolded during a moment of upheaval: prohibition, the Great Depression, and a Hawai‘i that was not yet a state. War was stirring in Europe, Japan was under imperial rule, and through it all Mary and Fumio ground ice in the heavy Kona heat. Their original ice house can still be seen in the parking lot, now used for general storage.

By the 1940s, World War II had reached South Kona. American GIs came for ice cream but also asked for hamburgers, which Mary quickly learned to make. Those new flavors joined the old ones, turning the menu into a microcosm of Hawai‘i’s food story: Japanese, American, and local traditions all sitting on at one table. “They did saimin, they did shave ice, they did hamburgers… it just kept expanding in stages until it became what it is now,” Noelani explained. By the 1950s, Teshima’s had grown from bar, to saimin shop, to a full sit-down restaurant.

With these changes came new additions. In 1957, Teshima’s reached its present form. Today, its low red roof stretches like a wide-brimmed hat against sun and rain, while a stone wall anchors its whitewashed exterior. Red trim frames the lanai, a design that reflects both the plantation-era sensibility of Hawai‘i at the time and its Japanese influence. For decades it has lived comfortably along the Māmalahoa Highway, not just as a restaurant but as a record of South Kona’s history — told in its food, its walls, and the way customers are still welcomed like friends. Mary lived to the age of 106, passing in 2013. Even in her final years she remained a presence at Teshima’s, serving tea to guests and spending time with the large family that gathered around her.

Daily Smile: Monday, Sept. 14, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

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Daily Smile: Monday, Sept. 14, 2026

Authors

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