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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Just trying to figure things out....."}]

Smile 26 9 16 2

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026</title>

Just trying to figure things out.....

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

If you have ever worked in Māpunapuna, you may have wondered why the area seems to flood so easily.

[{"type":"text","text":"The simple answer is that water has not forgotten where it used to go."}]

Long before warehouses, auto dealerships, and busy streets covered the area, Māpunapuna was a low-lying landscape of wetlands, shallow lagoons, and fishponds. The coastal plain between Moanalua and Keʻehi Lagoon was shaped by both freshwater flowing from the mountains and the movement of the ocean. It was an environment well suited to the Hawaiian system of aquaculture, in which fishponds, wetlands, streams, and agricultural lands worked together to provide food for the people. A bustling landscape where people lived and worked for generations.

In the 1920s, maps of the area showed 13 loko i‘a (fishponds) covering more than 800 acres, along with extensive marshland, shallow lagoons, and other lowlands. That landscape began to change as Honolulu expanded. The Māpunapuna Industrial Subdivision was developed by the Damon Estate during the 1940s and 1950s. Wetlands were drained, fishponds were filled, and the low-lying coastal plain was gradually transformed into land suitable for roads, buildings, warehouses, and industry.

Much of the material used to fill the wetlands was coral dredged from Keʻehi Lagoon along with soil, rock, trash, and organic material. The shallow ponds and marshes that had once absorbed and held water were transformed into solid ground for roads, warehouses, businesses, and eventually the industrial district we know today.

The former wetlands once provided space for water to collect, spread out, and slowly drain toward the ocean. But once those areas were filled and covered with pavement and buildings, much of that natural water storage disappeared. Over the decades, the fill itself has compacted and settled. Some parts of Māpunapuna have sunk several feet, leaving portions of the industrial district at or below sea level during high tides.

There is another problem. During high-tide events, seawater can push back through the drainage system rather than flowing harmlessly out to sea. During heavy rain, enormous quantities of stormwater are moving through the same low-lying system. When high tide and heavy rain arrive together, the drainage system has nowhere to put all that water easily. The result is the familiar flooding of streets and parking lots.

So when Māpunapuna floods, it is not simply a modern drainage problem. It is the consequence of building an industrial neighborhood on a landscape that was designed by nature, and carefully used by generations of Hawaiians, to hold water.

When we say “the water remembers,” we mean that water has a way of returning to the places where it once flowed. We may change the landscape, fill the ponds, and build over the wetlands, but the water has not forgotten.

As the water remembers where it once flowed, perhaps the land remembers who once walked across it. Before Māpunapuna became an industrial district, these lowlands were part of a much older Hawaiian landscape. In that older landscape, we begin to encounter another kind of story. Stories of shadowy figures that would scare workers and customers. Tales of the huakaʻi pō, the night marchers, whose processions are said to continue along ancient paths even after the world around them has been transformed.

People used to talk all the time about the old 99 Ranch Market being haunted. Many have said that the night marchers used to walk right through the massive grocery store and indoor Chinatown, leaving a mess of furniture in their wake. It’s where the Home Depot is now.

My hānai brother Paul worked at the old Gibsons in Māpunapuna. Not in the store as a clerk, because he didn’t have the demeanor for it. He worked in the warehouse, bringing all the needed items out to stock the floor.

Paul said that the floor in the main part of the store would always sink, no matter how many times it was repaired and filled in. Rumors circulated that night marchers entered through an opening in the earth a few blocks away, walked right through the store, and exited where the floor sank in the middle of Gibson’s store. Employees also said they would see shadows and apparitions floating past customers as if they weren’t there. As a kid, I found it funny because I could imagine a customer losing their mind after seeing a ghost float right past them in a random aisle.

“I feel sorry for whoever gotta do inventory at night,” he’d shake his head. “Hopefully, they don’t have to work by themselves.”

He said that sometimes you got the feeling you weren’t alone, and it felt like a lot of people were pressed up against you. The experience made it hard to breathe, even though you could physically see there was nothing there. Paul would rub the crucifix on his necklace and pray the Our Father again and again, asking for protection.

His most traumatic experience came when his shift was over, and the sun had not set. He clocked out, walked to the parking lot, put the key in the ignition, and put his old Pontiac in gear.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Paulito,” the voice whispered in his ear. “Don’t go home yet.”"}]

My brother said he jumped out of the car and backed away, his heart pounding and his mind racing. The car was still running, but it began smoking for no reason, and suddenly, the radiator blew, spewing hot liquid all over the place.

Despite his Catholic upbringing, Paul attributed the warning to whatever presence was trying to make itself known in the warehouse and store.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I knew they weren’t trying to harm us,” Paul said."}]

But the spiritual activity was still too much to bear, so he planned to quit and work with our father at Easy Appliance. But that’s another story.

Mapunapuna

<title>The Forgotten Landscape of Mapunapuna</title>

Tides and rain, time and spirits converge in this now-industrial area mauka of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Here is the true history of a region shaped first by nature and then by two different cultures in two different eras, where traces remain of days and people long past.

The Forgotten Landscape of Mapunapuna

WEB square crop Hayley Lehman Headshot RGZ1636

Haley Lehman

Government & Politics

Aloha Spirit

Carmen Guzman-Simpliciano and her husband, Joseph Simplicano Jr., have seen it all at 

Kūʻīlioloa Heiau in Waiʻanae from a lack of educational signs to 

people taking inappropriate photos, riding dirt bikes around it, littering, feeding a cat colony, starting fires, climbing and 

“To other people, they’re going to think, ‘Oh it’s just stones.’ No,” Guzman-Simpliciano said. “It’s a cultural site.”

Guzman-Simpliciano and Simpliciano are co-founders of the nonprofit 

 and have been stewarding Kūʻīlioloa Heiau located in the Pōkaʻī Bay Beach Park since the nonprofit was created in 2021.

Kūʻīlioloa Heiau is a navigational heiau named after a demigod dog, Ku, that protected travelers. The Royal Order of Kamehameha I, 

, and the Aila ʻohana also steward the site.

Kingdom Pathways aims to demonstrate mauka to makai stewardship through water testing, improving the jetty wall, advocating for amended Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules at Pōkaʻī Bay, supporting community health, among other initiatives. At Pōkaʻī Bay, Kingdom Pathways teach keiki and community members about native plants, protecting the ʻāina and proper protocols for when one enters a heiau. The nonprofit has replanted native species when shrubbery was destroyed and rebuilt a section of the heiau when an individual removed stones. The Waiʻanae community uses the Pōkaʻī Bay Beach Park for community and cultural events like Lā Kūʻokoʻa and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea.

For Simpliciano, stewarding cultural sites like the Kūʻīlioloa Heiau is crime prevention.

“Having these events and having these places around to be protected for future generations help to keep our community grounded,” he said. “Things like this give the kids and the community purpose." 

Guzman-Simpliciano and Simpliciano noticed what they called a “huge gap in caring for sensitive cultural sites” between cultural sites on state land versus in City and County of Honolulu public parks.

Guzman-Simpliciano said that Kingdom Pathways has been working with the city and state since they got started in 2021. She said it was hard work to get all the necessary city and state departments at a table to discuss cultural stewardship at Pōkaʻī Bay.

“We need like a blueprint,” she said. “There’s other spaces that need protection as well, not just Pōkaʻī Bay.”

She wrote a proposal to Councilmember Andria Tupola to streamline partnerships between groups stewarding cultural sites and the city. Tupola sponsored Bill 31, which passed on Sept. 9 and is headed to the mayor’s desk.

Tupola said at the City Council meeting in July that she introduced the bill in response to I continued vandalism at the site.

“The bill itself is for us to strengthen how we treat these sites in our city and county parks,” Tupola said.

HPD Regional Patrol Bureau Acting Assistant Chief Gail Beckley

 stated in an email Tuesday that HPD has not documented damage-type reports to the heiau at Pōkaʻī Bay between January 2025 to the present, but has responded to damage reports in the bathroom area and to the playground equipment.

Guzman-Simpliciano said she hopes that it saves other organizations the work and time that she put into coordinating with the city and state and makes the process easier.

 adds “stewardship” of cultural sites to the Department of Parks and Recreation public parks program. DPR can approve or deny applications by individuals or groups to help steward a cultural site. People apply with their qualifications and a draft stewardship plan, which can include the boundaries of the cultural site, the identification of allowed and prohibited activities, cultural access protocols, and identification of signage or educational programs to implement. The department and cultural stewards will work with the Oʻahu historic preservation commission, the state historic preservation division, cultural practitioners and appropriate state or city agencies to develop the stewardship plan for the cultural site.

For Guzman-Simpliciano, this was her way to huli, or change, the system.

“My vision was to get in the system and work within that system,” she said. “That’s why we’re called Kingdom Pathways, we’re in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, and we as Native Hawaiians to find pathways within the state and find a better way for our people so they don’t have to keep protesting, and finding solutions.”

Simpliciano said that they work with aloha and hope to set an example for the next generation.

Applications to participate in the program should include community stakeholders and the department will review the applicant’s experience with community engagement, according to the bill.

Guzman-Simpliciano said that cultural stewardship includes a whole community, and cultural stewardship plans should be inclusive of that.

“We encourage the council to ensure that stewardship plans reflect a shared community vision, not solely the perspective of one adopter or organization,” she said. “It shouldn’t be one person’s opinion about what that place should look like.”

When there was controversy over the name of the heiau, Kingdom Pathways went to the local neighborhood board parks committee for community input. They landed on Kūʻīlioloa Heiau rather than Kaneʻīlioloa Heiau to reflect the name documented in the Bishop Museum and told in stories by their kūpuna.

Adam Wayson, one of the directors of Malama Rising, got involved at the Mauna Lahilahi Cultural Garden in Waiʻanae in 2020.

He said that the nonprofit’s involvement “came out of the city’s neglect to properly manage its spaces.” There was an encampment of about 100 homeless people, and the community has come together to clean up the area, restore native plants and advocate to improve stewardship of the park alongside the city.

The Mauna Lahilahi Cultural Garden is home to a heiau, petroglyphs, archeological findings and iwi kūpuna, according to Wayson.

Wayson told ASD that the bill aligns with Malama Rising’s mission and he appreciates the effort to include cultural preservation by the city, but he has his reservations. 

“We got into this because the city and county and state neglected to do their jobs,” he said. “As nice as the bill looks on paper, talk is cheap because from my experience, it isn’t until the house is on fire that they aren’t willing to step in and do something.”

He said that the bill’s mandate that groups apply to be cultural stewards when they are already putting the hard work in may come off as insulting to some groups and gives the Department of Parks and Recreation too much power to approve or deny stewardship applications.

, sponsored by Tupola in March, states, “community-led stewardship, while commendable, should not be a substitute for the City’s responsibility to manage, invest in, and activate its public park lands in accordance with adopted plans, environmental approvals, cultural obligations, and established City practices for botanical and cultural gardens under the DPR.”

Kingdom Pathways

<title>Cultural nonprofit spearheads bill to 'huli the system'</title>

Stewards of the Kūʻīlioloa Heiau in Waiʻanae successfully advocated for Bill 31 to establish a framework for stewarding cultural sites around the island.

Cultural nonprofit spearheads bill to 'huli the system'

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

How much of the $4 billion Lahaina fire settlement should go to attorneys?

That question went before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court Tuesday, as some attorneys who were involved in the years-long Maui fires settlement took issue with how the settlement funds were disbursed.

In June, Maui Judge Peter Cahill declared that the attorneys who worked on the case could only claim up to 8% of the settlement funds, despite state law allowing for attorneys to receive up to 25%.

Cahill’s ruling also established a $222 million fund from the $4 billion award to create a common benefit fund, which Hawai‘i-based lawyers could apply for a share of, commensurate with the amount of work they did on the case. Out-of-state attorneys do not qualify for that fund.

Attorneys from the Hawai‘i law firms Ranken & Shnider, the PACLAW Group and the San Diego-based Montegna & Thickstun appealed Cahill’s ruling, arguing that the judge didn’t have the authority to make that decision, and that disbursing the funds in such a way will be detrimental to the state.

Samuel Shnider told the Supreme Court Tuesday that Cahill’s fee order “jeopardizes access to justice for the people of Hawai‘i in the next disaster,” as he believes attorney’s will be less likely to accept similar cases if a judge can change their fees despite the terms of a settlement agreement.

Shnider argued that even if a judge had the authority to create a common benefit fund — they don’t, he claimed — nobody in the case requested that the funds be disbursed in this way. He added that Cahill’s order “takes away [victims’] right to have that conversation first of all with their attorneys.”

However, as Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna noted, Cahill’s order also would reduce Shnider’s attorney’s fees below what he initially believed he would receive under the contract.

“Are your clients complaining about the fact that they cannot pay any more in attorney’s fees?” McKenna asked.

But Shnider said invalidating Cahill’s order would require attorneys to “follow the principles of reasonableness” and negotiate reasonable fees with their clients. He added that he believes that “market forces and the existing Hawai‘i law” are sufficient to ensure victims are not overburdened by attorney’s fees.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the state argued otherwise. Attorney Cynthia Wong claimed Cahill’s attorney fee order is no different than any other legal exercise of power he made during the case.

Wong added that there are 21,750 victims in the case, who have made claims totaling $12 billion to $15 billion. When the case began, she said, Mainland attorneys “descended upon Maui,” leading to the creation of a case management policy that appointed some attorneys as Liaison Counsel, attorneys who spoke for the whole during the case.

It is those Liaison Counsel attorneys who stand to gain the most from Cahill’s fee order, Shnider argued, reducing other victims’ shares in the process.

On the other hand, state’s attorney Lance Collins said the idea that the attorneys who did the most of the work for the common benefit would not be entitled to request compensation for that work is “an absurd conclusion”.

[{"type":"text","text":"A decision by the Supreme Court in the case remains pending."}]

Aliiōlani Hale

<title>Maui fire settlement back in court over lawyers' fees</title>

Attorneys challenge $4 billion settlement to victims of the 2023 wildfires

Maui fire settlement back in court over lawyers' fees

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

The 450-acre private club and residential community, on Hawai‘i Island's Kona Coast, has seen more than $100 million in sales so far this year as its newest 

newest residential offering, Hale Ka Hala, nears completion.

Carrie Nicholson, principal broker and vice president of sales and marketing at Kohanaiki, told Aloha State Daily that as of Friday, there had been approximately 15 closed transactions from Jan. 1 through Sept. 11.

According to a recent announcement, the highest sale so far this year is 

, which closed for $21 million in May; it was Kohanaiki's second-highest sale of all time.

 late last year, marking the largest sale for the community at that time).

But Nicholson says there also have been "multiple transactions in that $5 million to $9 million range" across the Kohanaiki community.

"We've had some great interest," she says. "What's particularly encouraging with this activity is we're seeing demand across different types of real estate throughout Kohanaiki, different price points rather than the year's volume being driven by just one or two transactions; it's kind of spread out with a variety. I think that speaks to a lot of depth of interest in Kohanaiki and the strength of the community as a whole."

, Kohanaiki features an 18-hole, Rees Jones-designed golf course; access to a white sand beach and the ocean; an adventure club; spa; fitness center; multiple dining options; and an on-property biodynamic farm, as well as a variety of real estate offerings and a 67,000-square-foot clubhouse. The community is being developed by 

Nicholson says most buyers are more focused on the overall experience and the usability of the property.

"We're seeing a strong preference for homes that are turnkey, beautifully designed, easy to enjoy immediately, move-in ready," she says. "They're also looking closely to that indoor-outdoor living with views and privacy and proximity to our clubhouse and amenities, how the home actually functions for their particular family and guests. We're also seeing buyers think beyond just their home itself. They want access to exceptional golf — we have our ... Rees Jones championship golf course. We have our dining, wellness, ocean activities, and the whole community where their families can spend meaningful time together."

[{"type":"text","text":"According to Nicholson, they're also seeing repeat Hawai‘i buyers."}]

"These aren't just people discovering Hawai‘i for the first time," she told ASD. "They're buyers who understand the coast, they understand the Islands and they're very intentional about making their decisions of where they want to spend their time, and they understand the privacy and the exclusivity that comes with living within a private golf and ocean club community."

Nicholson says that the $21 million sale of Hale Kai Apo, also known as 

, is a "great example" of what they're seeing at the very top end of the market.

"Buyers at that price point are looking for something truly exceptional and irreplaceable, and they're looking at the quality of the residence, the setting, location, the privacy, views, and I think, importantly, the overall Kohanaiki lifestyle," she told ASD. "So when you have a property that checks all of those boxes, there's still buyers willing to move very quickly, and that's what that sale represented; it really checked a lot of boxes for that particular buyer."

[{"type":"text","text":"More residential options are coming soon."}]

Its newest residential offering, Hale Ka Hala, includes 24 townhomes in its first phase and followed by 12 more in phase two, the announcement noted. The homes will have five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, and buyers will have the choice of four curated furniture packages, including collections from 

"It's one of the most exciting neighborhoods to Kohanaiki's residential offering," Nicholson says. "It represents another kind of Kohanaiki lifestyle, with residences designed around indoor-outdoor living and the way members actually use their homes. What I think is particularly compelling about the Ka Halas is the ability to enjoy the comfort of being in the home but being right off the golf course. These are five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath homes, so it's very multigenerational, where you can have a lot of family in the residence. There's a lot of indoor-outdoor spaces, and again, they have a sense of privacy. We're seeing a lot of interest from buyers who are looking for that type of combination."

Nicholson noted, too, that these properties, prices for which start at $5.25 million, have four bedrooms in the main portion of the home, with the fifth bedroom part of detached guest quarters. 

Kohanaiki

<title>Kohanaiki has closed more than $100M in sales this year</title>

The 450-acre private club and residential community is located on Hawai‘i Island's Kona Coast.

Kohanaiki has closed more than $100M in sales this year

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, remember meeting each other at a pop-up.

“We both happened to move into the same building,” Sean Miguel says. “We didn’t even know each other (at first) and met at a pop-up in our lobby. Around the same time, we started sharing our baked goods with our neighbors.

“I reached out to Mehana about teaming up, and what started as two neighbors simply sharing their love of baking naturally grew into something much bigger,” she adds.

Miguel says she always loved cooking and baking, but it wasn’t until she started sharing her cookies with friends and family that she “discovered she had a talent for creating something special.”

“Mehana had a similar experience with her cinnamon rolls, which quickly became a favorite among the people around her,” Miguel says.

From there, the two began developing their bakeshop concept and Neighbors officially started in July.

“It was exciting to see something that started so organically between two neighbors turn into a business we’re both genuinely passionate about,” Miguel says.

“We’re neighbors who started baking for our neighbors and now, we collab with our neighbors around Kaka

When it comes to flavors for their cookies and cinnamon rolls, Miguel says they started with the classics. So far, she has made brown butter chocolate chip, Biscoff and s’mores cookies, while Coen has made cinnamon rolls in sweet and savory flavors.

“We leave it to our customers to tell us which they love the best,” Miguel says. “So far, s’mores cookies and the classic cinnamon rolls have been fan favorites.”

Coen has made cinnamon rolls in flavors like birthday cake and ham and cheese. Cinnamon rolls usually cost $5 to $6, depending on the flavor, while cookies cost $5 each.

As the business has expanded, Miguel says they still see some of the same customers at every pop-up.

“We’re really passionate about our community,” she says. “We want to stay as local as we can because our people love our products. We love our community and the amazing support they’ve shown us since day one.”

Neighbors Bakeshop is currently at fishcake in Kaka

ako on every other Wednesday. For updates, follow the business on 

“We take pre-orders and we’re open to collabs,” Miguel says. “We have more pop-ups in the works.

“Mehana and I are both mothers to little ones,” she adds. “Baking and growing a business has really given us the opportunity to do something we have so much fun doing, while still allowing us time to spend with our kids. We’ve developed a genuine friendship, and we’re both excited to see where this all takes us.”

Neighbors owners 091126

<title>Neighbors is a new bakeshop pop-up in Honolulu</title>

Owned by Sean Miguel and Mehana Coen, Neighbors Bakeshop opened in July and pops up at events across Oʻahu. The biz specializes in cookies and cinnamon rolls; you can catch Neighbors at fishcake in Kakaʻako every other Wednesday.

Neighbors is a new bakeshop pop-up in Honolulu

[{"type":"text","text":"There’s a new Japanese sake pub in Honolulu."}]

 is tucked away within Up Roll Café Kaka

ako. The pub opened at the end of July and is currently open from Thursdays to Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m. (happy hour is from 4 to 6 p.m.).

The pub is inspired by traditional drinking culture called Kakuuchi, where people can casually enjoy sake and small bites in a neighborhood liquor store. Maniwa strives to bring this concept to Hawaiʻi in the form of a Japanese sake pub.

While the pub’s sake selection is extensive, the eatery strives to make sake approachable to diners. Its sake discovery set ($15, $10 during soft opening) has quickly become a customer favorite, as it includes three sake tastings and a small bite (choose from the “umami bites” section of the menu).

The food menu features a variety of raw and cooked dishes, presented in small plates (izakaya-style) designed for sharing. The pressed ‘ahi carpaccio ($15) — drizzled with lemon and olive oil — chef’s sashimi selection (market price) and truffle dashi omelet come highly recommended.

The featured sashimi selection during our visit included maguro, ika and sweet shrimp.

The fluffy, Japanese rolled omelet is topped with a generous amount of truffle sauce.

Other popular dishes include oyster confit with toasted baguette ($15), creamy shrimp gratin ($13) and Kauaʻi shrimp bake with snow crab ($17).

The shrimp gratin features a creamy rice-and-cheese mixture with chunks of baked shrimp throughout.

The pub is still in its soft opening phase and will celebrate its grand opening in December. Direct message the business on Instagram for inquiries/reservations.

Open from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays (happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m.)

Maniwa sake flight 090126

<title>New Japanese sake pub opens in Honolulu</title>

Pub Maniwa Kakuuchi opened within Up Roll Café Kakaʻako at the end of July. The eatery is featuring a discounted sake discovery set until its grand opening, with the goal of making sake tasting approachable and enjoyable to diners. The food menu features izakaya-style small plates, ranging from sashimi and creamy shrimp gratin to truffle dashi omelet.

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026

Authors

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