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<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026</title>

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Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026

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Sterling Higa

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

 in Civil Beat this week about the tune of “Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī.” He learned that the melody served the British and the Germans, and perhaps the French, before it reached Honolulu. He felt some angst about it.

I can’t share the angst. A tune is like a coin. It passes through many hands and is no worse for the trip.

Words are different. Anthem lyrics are where a nation says what it means, and the words of "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" pushed out other words. Olin mentions the older anthem twice and moves on. But it’s worth more than a moment. The king’s sister wrote it, and it is the better song.

On Feb. 20, 1875, King Kalākaua stood in Kawaiahaʻo Church, five days home from a trip to America. His 

 was read in Hawaiian and in English. He told his people that idleness had thinned the nation since the days of Kamehameha. The cure, he said, was “material and social progress.” He wanted enough of it that the powerful governments then friendly to Hawaiʻi would think the kingdom worth keeping. The king placed the nation’s safety in its own industry and in the favor of stronger nations.

Then the choir rose and sang the national song, written by Princess Liliʻuokalani nine years before. It places the nation’s safety in the care of God.

Liliʻuokalani wrote the song in 1866 because Kamehameha V wanted a national air of Hawaiʻi’s own in place of “God Save the Queen.” Her 

 is a prayer to the Almighty Father. The most powerful man in the Islands appears in his own anthem as someone who needs looking after.

The English translation sings well, though it hides some of what the Hawaiian chorus says.

We recognize these words from our state motto: 

, commonly translated as “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

That motto was spoken by Kamehameha III in 1843 after the Paulet affair. But Liliʻuokalani turns it from a declaration into a petition.

, in thy enduring righteousness. May the life of the land endure through thy everlasting righteousness. The motto never says whose righteousness it means, but Liliʻuokalani’s chorus does.

Liliʻuokalani’s anthem looks to God for every blessing on the nation. The first constitution, in 1840, said the same in prose: “God must be our aid, for it is His province alone to give perfect protection and prosperity.”

By the time she wrote, that sentence was gone from the law. The constitutions of 1852 and 1864 spoke of a God who gives men their rights and may be freely worshipped. That is good law, but it is not a confession. So for 10 years Liliʻuokalani’s anthem carried the faith that the constitution had dropped. At the opening of a legislature or on the birthday of a king, the kingdom stood and told God that its hope was all in him. It was the last place where the nation still said so with one voice.

Kalākaua wrote his own words in 1874. They were first sung at Kawaiahaʻo on his birthday, the day before he sailed for America. The tune was one the royal bandmaster had arranged two years earlier as a hymn to Kamehameha. For more than a year the kingdom had two songs. In 1876 the king kept 

The reasons for Kalākaua invoking Kamehameha are not hard to find. The legislature had elected him over a beloved queen, and a riot followed. He was not of Kamehameha’s line, and everyone knew it.

A shaky throne wants a song that ties it to something solid, and Kalākaua reached for the great king. But Kamehameha died before the first missionaries landed. He kept the kapu to the end, with Puʻukoholā heiau dedicated with human sacrifice. Kamehameha was a great king, but he is an odd father for a Christian nation to sing to.

Kalākaua’s mele is a different creed from his sister’s. Her song speaks to God about the king. His speaks to the people about the king, and God is not addressed at all. Hers gives the name Father to the Almighty, and his gives it to Kamehameha. She asks for peace from God. The only defense his song names is the spear. The psalmist cautioned against relying on arms for defense: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

With the old song went the last public words that rested the nation on God. They went at the king’s whim, in favor of his own verses. 

But spears could not defend that king. Eleven years later he signed a constitution at the point of other men’s bayonets. Six years after that the throne fell, and no spear was strong enough to defend it. His sister, a prisoner in her own palace, wrote another hymn, the “Queen’s Prayer.” She asked again for peace from God.

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī is still sung at ball games and graduations, and with special feeling at sovereignty rallies. Most of us learned it before we could ask what its lyrics said, or what they replaced.

But “He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi” is the better song, and Liliʻuokalani’s anthem is still worth hearing.

Liliuokalani i Stock 1701031086 16x9

<title>"Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" lyrics and history: The Liliʻuokalani anthem that Kalākaua replaced</title>

For 10 years the Hawaiian Kingdom stood and sang a prayer written by the future queen. Then her brother wrote his own song. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the words “Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī” replaced.

"Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" lyrics and history: The Liliʻuokalani anthem that Kalākaua replaced

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Aloha Spirit

Government & Politics

When fire swept through Lahaina on Aug. 8, 2023, the banyan tree on Front Street remained standing, shielding the buildings behind it from the flames.

Only a small portion of the tree trunk caught fire, and that’s because it was near a post that caught fire, Duane Sparkman, chair of the Maui County Arborist Committee, told Aloha State Daily this summer.

, on Maui in June, ahead of the third anniversary of the fire, which killed more than 100 people and destroyed much of Lahaina town.

And while it survived the fire, the banyan, planted more than 150 years ago, was dried out by the ambient heat from the inferno engulfing neighboring buildings.

All of that heat, says Sparkman, “was basically microwaving the tree; it was cooking the tree.”

According to the arborist, the banyan itself saved the harbor bathrooms behind it, blocking the heat and the brunt force of the fire, and stopping the flames from reaching the building.

[{"type":"text","text":"Today, the banyan is still on the mend, and will be for a while."}]

Sparkman told ASD that following an assessment with arborists in May, it was decided to keep the banyan fenced off for another two years.

“It’s going to be two years of healing still for that tree,” he says. “It really needs it. It does. It’s hard to say how truly damaged the inside of the tree is because the species that it is can literally wrap itself around the branches and start to heal itself. But we’re nervous about the interior heartwood of the tree, so if that heartwood is at all damaged by borer beetles or twig borers, then we have a problem and it becomes fragile, then the public’s at risk, so we have to wait. But that's OK. It needs it.”

These trees can live to be 1,000-plus years old, Sparkman says, so at 153 years old, “it’s still a baby and it just went through a fire, so let’s give it a break.”

Although the tree is fenced off, you can still view it from the street. On a recent walk along Front Street, there were a number of visitors stopping to take a look — from a respectable distance, of course.

Sparkman says that by keeping the tree closed to the public for two more years, "it'll allow that tree to not be climbed on. It'll allow that tree to set aerial roots into the soil and pull more nutrients and heal faster. Those are the No. 1 factors. There's less compaction from human interaction, so the roots can actually heal faster and distributes nutrient throughout the tree faster. So, there's a lot of reasons why we want to keep people out of it."

He said, too the tree had "a lot of scars" from people carving into it, "so we know that's going to come back, and our thing is to reduce that for a while, let that healing go throughout the tree, all the way up into the upper canopy. It is still 56 feet tall. [The fire] didn't burn the tree. The tree is completely alive, so the whole entire canopy is regrowing. It's just this upper canopy is growing much slower than the lower canopy, and since we're seeing that, that's what makes us [say], 'OK, we're going to slow down access to the public.'"

Since the fires, more than a dozen "air layers" have been pulled from the tree, some of which are on display at Maui resorts. While Sparkman says that the original intent was to plant them back into the park, "we don't know what we're going to do with them. They don't belong to me. They don't belong to Treecovery. They belong to all of us in Maui County. We pay our taxes and the taxes maintain the tree, so they're public assets."

When asked if this is where he thought the recovery of the banyan would be three years post-fire, Sparkman says he had "no idea" and has no expectations, having never been through this experience before.

, the banyan was planted on April 24, 1873, by Sheriff William Owen Smith. The sapling was a gift from missionaries in India and was planted to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina, HHF notes.

Lahaina banyan1 070826

<title>Lahaina banyan tree to remain fenced off for two more years</title>

The 153-year-old tree was damaged by the heat produced in the August 2023 wildfires but remained largely unburned.

Lahaina banyan tree to remain fenced off for two more years

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

Javier Barberi, owner of Hana Hou Hospitality Group — which comprises restaurants like 

, Coco Deck, Down the Hatch, Pizza Paradiso and Pineapple Robot — vividly remembers when his team took officially took over 

The restaurant, originally founded by restaurateur Paris Nabavi, opened in 1995 and has been “a staple in the community for a long time,” according to Barberi. The eatery was originally located at Whalers Village in Kaanapali; it’s now located in North Lahaina in Honokowai Marketplace.

“We’ve known Paris for years,” Barberi says. “When it was time for him to retire, he wanted to see if we were interested in taking over. He wanted it to be in good hands. We were really excited about the opportunity; we accepted his proposal.

“The ingredients, method of cooking and staff were all really good; they did a ton of stuff in house,” he adds. “Our focus was how we could better their operation — service, operational efficiencies, marketing, social media, and adding our creativity and design to the restaurant.”

Pizza Paradiso is known for its thin-crust pizzas and Mediterranean comfort food. Pizzas range from pepperoni and margherita to barbecue chicken, Maui Wowie — which is topped with ham and pineapple — and the Greek pizza. The latter features toppings like kalamata olives, red onions, gyro meat, feta cheese, tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and fresh mint.

Customers also have the option of creating their own pizzas by choosing a size and adding sauces, cheese and toppings.

“The pepperoni is one of the most popular pizzas,” Barberi says. “We switched to this cupped pepperoni; it’s very popular in the pizza world. The Paradiso is our supreme pizza with pepperoni, sausage, onions, bell peppers, black olives and mushrooms.”

Since Hana Hou Hospitality took over the business, they added the truffle mushroom pizza — which is similar to a white pizza, according to Barberi, as it includes truffle oil, local mushrooms and candied garlic sauce — and a specialty pizza of the month.

“Last month, we had a kalua pig barbecue pizza,” he says. “Sometimes they will do carnitas-style pizzas, using their favorite taco toppings.

“We have a lot of vegetarian and gluten-free customers,” he adds. “We have a handmade gluten-free curst that we make. The pesto veggie pizza is made with a nut-free pesto. We try to accommodate as many people as we can with our crust, sauces and cheese.”

Besides pizzas, the biz also offers falafel, chicken shawarma, a Big Fat Greek gyro — stuffed with shaved beef and lamb meat in a warm pita — and build-your-own kebab bowls.

Following the Lahaina fires in August 2023, the restaurant was shut down, due to power outages, for about a week, Barberi recalls. Once power was restored, the restaurant re-opened and quickly became a community hub.

“As soon as we got power, we opened up for free slices for the community during certain hours,” Barberi says. “We had discounted slices for a while. We would have our meetings there also, but it became a communication hub — not only for us, but for other people. We opened up Starlink for everyone in the community.

“We would have meetings with all the other restaurant staff, to explain what’s going on and give updates,” he adds. “Community members could also be on their phones or laptops to access the Internet. That’s a way we were able to help the community through the restaurant.”

Barberi was also impacted by the Lahaina fires on a personal level, as his home was one of many that were lost.

“It was two minutes away from Māla (Ocean Tavern); we are halfway done with rebuilding it,” he says, during our interview in late June. “We just put our windows in last week. It’s (the house) on the same lot.”

Barberi’s biggest memory regarding the fire, though, was going to Maui’s War Memorial Complex every day. The Wailuku complex was the primary evacuation shelter for displaced residents from the Lahaina fires.

“My concern was to get them (those living there) out of there; I wanted to get them into some stable housing,” he says. “I would go there every morning and give everyone updates. I received donations from people, so I would disperse whatever I could. It was such a feeling of relief when they (our staff members) were all housed and not living on a floor.”

 — the tiki bar with karaoke within Pizza Paradiso — wasn’t built yet. But with the loss of late-night spots — like Down the Hatch — came the need for more gathering places for the community.

“The karaoke idea came after the fires; there was nowhere on the west side for people to relax and forget about the world for a little bit,” Barberi says. “We expanded Pizza Paradiso; the restaurant is a pizza joint by day, and then it’s a lively karaoke bar with drinks and a fun atmosphere until 2 a.m.

“We felt like the one thing that was missing was Pizza Paradiso didn’t have a good alcohol program, in terms of beers, cocktails and wines,” he adds. “It was a good opportunity for us to expand, put in for permits and build a bar.”

Pineapple Robot officially opened on Oct. 31, 2024. The bar is known for its daily happy hour — which features drink specials and pūpū — along with specialty cocktails like the Pink Power Ranger (Pink Whitney vodka, triple sec, pineapple, orange, lemon and sugar cane syrup); Pixelate My Pony (passion fruit-infused rum, pineapple, Campari and lime); and Tech Mex (tequila, ginger, pineapple, and allspice bitters).

Coming up with a memorable name for the space was essential, according to Barberi.

“We wanted a word that had some significance to Hawai

i, but something easy to understand,” he says. “We also wanted something kind of quirky and weird so it was easy to remember.”

The restaurant’s name is a nod to both, Hawai

i and the AI movement, according to Barberi, who remembers being at a restaurant convention in Chicago.

“The robots had gotten to a good point; we felt comfortable purchasing one,” he says. “We have a robot named Perry (at Pizza Paradiso); he goes around and delivers food and drinks.

“Perry works every day; he doesn’t show up late, he doesn’t have any drama,” he jokes.

Three years since the Lahaina fires, Barberi says that both brands — Pizza Paradiso and Pineapple Robot — are “doing great” and have recovered.

“That was a really difficult time period, especially for the restaurants in Lahaina on Front Street,” Barberi says. “We are just so grateful for the community support and tourist industry support; that’s what’s enabling us to reopen Down the Hatch now.”

Bringing back Pizza Paradiso’s sister restaurant, Down the Hatch, to West Maui is something Barberi is looking forward to. Down the Hatch, which opened in 2015, was one of the Front Street restaurants that was lost to the Lahaina fires. The eatery is expected to open in a new location in Ka

“It was right in the heart of Lahaina town; it was a really important part of the community,” he says. “I know it’s just a bar, but bars are important to have. It’s a place for people to meet one another, a place to relax after work.”

He says Down the Hatch hosted many community events, including surf contests and cleanups. Customers can anticipate the “same energy” in Down the Hatch’s new home.

“We’re going to incorporate as many elements from the old business into the new space,” Barberi says. “The County has been doing a good job of helping us out and getting back to us. We’re hopeful that the local and tourist community come and support us when we open next year.”

Pizza Paradiso staff 073026

<title>A staple in the Lahaina community: Pizza Paradiso and Pineapple Robot</title>

Pizza Paradiso, which has been open since 1995, was taken over by Hana Hou Hospitality Group three years ago. The restaurant became a community hub following the Lahaina fires. In October 2024, as a way to revitalize Lahaina's nightlife, Hana Hou Hospitality Group expanded the restaurant to include a karaoke bar called Pineapple Robot.

A staple in the Lahaina community: Pizza Paradiso and Pineapple Robot

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

When Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks kicks off on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. HST at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., former University of Hawai‘i linebacker Jahlani Tavai will join an exclusive club. 

Tavai, a linebacker for the Patriots, will become just the 14th former University of Hawai‘i football player to play in a Super Bowl. Tavai will also be the first Rainbow Warrior to play in a Super Bowl since former UH receiver Marcus Kemp, a special teamer for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023. 

A lightly recruited player out of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Tavai joined the Rainbow Warriors in the fall of 2014 under former head coach Norm Chow and redshirted his true freshman season. He blossomed into a four-year starter, earning All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2016 and 2017. 

After injuries limited to eight games as a senior in 2018, he was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft with the 43rd overall selection. Tavai was released by the Lions prior to the 2021 season and was promptly picked up by the Patriots, where he has been a staple ever since. From 2022 to 2024, Tavai played in all 51 regular season games for New England in that span. He racked up 110 tackles in 2023, then had 115 in 2024.

In the 2025 regular season, Tavai played in 12 games with seven starts. He missed time after his partner, Kalei, was hospitalized with a blood infection while pregnant with the couple's second child, a girl named Ka ua. Unfortunately, Ka ua passed away in the womb during Kalei's hospitalization. 

Under NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel, the Patriots have enjoyed quite the turnaround, going from 4-13 in 2024 to 14-3 in 2025. Tavai has played in all three games for the Patriots during their playoff run thus far, logging three tackles each against the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans while registering one tackle against the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game. 

"So excited for him," current Hawai‘i football coach 

 said following a recent spring practice. "In the four years that I've been here, every offseason, I see him here training on the field and spending time here. Extremely proud and excited for him, and I will be rooting him on."

Jahlani Tavai 020625

<title>Hawai‘i alum Jahlani Tavai joins exclusive club ahead of Super Bowl debut</title>

Tavai is the first player with direct ties to the Aloha State to compete in the Super Bowl since 2023.

Hawai‘i alum Jahlani Tavai joins exclusive club ahead of Super Bowl debut

Business owner Cairene Pinpin’s reason behind starting 

 was simple — she started making matcha last November, and realized it was something “more sustainable” to get her through the day. With four kids — one of whom is an infant — and a full-time job, the days can be long.

“I only started making matcha last year; I was a diehard coffee person, but it gives me a lot of anxiety,” Pinpin says. “One day, I was like, ‘I want to share the love I have for matcha with other people, and I want to create a unique flavor profile for people. I did some research and this (my business) is basically what happened.”

Cai’s Café officially launched one month ago, and is based out of Pinpin’s home. She’s been a certified food handler for almost a year.

“I was a baker before,” she shares. “I was pregnant when I came up with the idea to try and do food markets, but it didn’t take off. I just held onto the certificate and thought, ‘Maybe I’ll pick up the business again later.’” 

Pinpin says she used to be a coffee drinker, but learned how to make matcha on TikTok.

“TikTok kind of blew up matcha, and there’s a lot of content out there regarding it,” she says. “I follow some creators that are very honed to the culture of matcha and where it’s originated from.

“I did a lot of research on what quality grade matcha is — the ceremonial grade,” she adds. We have about 4 to 4 and a half grams of matcha per drink; we try to have 500 grams of matcha on hand every week. It’s a lot; there’s a demand for it.”

Speaking of demand, Pinpin acknowledges the matcha shortage — and how expensive matcha has become.

“We did a lot of research on syrups, supplies, the logistics of how much it would cost and how to price things,” she says. “A small tin of matcha is about 30 grams; it’s like $10 in Japan, but I pay $30 for it. We’ve sold close to 300 drinks already.”

Pinpin uses matcha sourced from Kyoto — Samidori and Shikibu no Mukashi — and uses a 30-10-10 method for whisking — vigorously whisk for 30 seconds, lift for 10 seconds, break up the bubbles and lift it completely after another 10 seconds.

“The temperature of the water is 175 degrees Fahrenheit, so not boiling hot — that brings out the notes and flavor of the matcha,” she explains. “(When you’re done whisking) you’re going to have this really nice microfoam.

“Some people like more vegetal (flavor); some people like more nutty, sweet or floral,” she adds. “These (the matcha I source) have a more nutty taste to them versus floral and sweet.”

Cai’s Café menu features drinks like strawberry matcha latte ($8), banana praline matcha latte ($8), coconut cloud matcha latte ($8) and crème brulee matcha latte ($9). Sweetener options include agave, maple syrup and homemade simple syrup. Pinpin makes all of her syrups in house, and customers can choose from oat or whole milk for the lattes.

“The strawberry matcha latte is a staple that everyone loves,” she says. “The number one seller is the vanilla bean black sesame matcha latte; it’s kind of that Asian fusion. I love crème brulee, so I thought to try and torch it on a drink, and it actually turned out really well.

“I recently came up with the banana praline,” she adds. “There is a popular drink that other cafés are doing — a banana matcha — so we went through a series of testing. We came up with banana praline; it’s a cinnamon banana bread in a matcha form.”  

Pinpin explains that she uses a cold whisking method to make most of her drinks, including the crème brulee matcha, which is complete with a sweet cream and torched sugar topping.

“This is not the traditional way; this is a popular, modernized way,” she says. “Instead of using 100% hot water, we’re going to use the cold milk (to whisk) and it gives it more of a creamy taste. Most of the drinks are made by cold whisking; the only time I use the traditional way is for the strawberry matcha latte because it’s layered.”

Drinks are 16 ounces and range from $7 to $9, depending on what you order, and each cup features the business’s logo, which is inspired by Niko, Pinpin’s two-year-old corgi.

To order from Cai’s Café, visit the business Instagram page and message your order, date and pickup time. Customers can make their payments through Venmo or cash when they pick up their drinks.

“I have my availability pinned on my Instagram page, and I update it every Saturday,” Pinpin says. "We wanted to make it affordable, but we need to make a profit somehow. We’re still in the early stages, so it’s a good price point for what you’re getting.”

Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026

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Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026

Authors

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