ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"This baby frenchie is loving the pumpkin season!"}]

Smile 26 10 08

<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026</title>

This baby frenchie is loving the pumpkin season!

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026

 This baby frenchie is loving the pumpkin season!

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Guieb Cafe’s new downtown Honolulu location in Davies Pacific Center isn’t open to the public yet. However, there’s another downtown Honolulu space where customers can find the cafe’s popular ube mascarpone pancakes and pork adobo omelets.

 — operated by the Guieb Cafe team — opened this month in the cafeteria space of the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building in downtown Honolulu.

“We were presented with an opportunity to take over a federal building cafeteria — which was not something we are used to or even knew anything about,” general manager Precious Guieb remembers. “We checked it out and we were stunned by how big the space is.”

The cafeteria space — which is open to the public — had been vacant for a while, according to Guieb. She says she had returned from visiting the cafe’s Las Vegas location during the summer, and checked out the current Pīkake Cafe space in August.

“We got this up and running the whole month of September with inspections and such; our first day open was Oct. 1," Guieb says.

“Since we already do catering already, we thought, ‘Maybe it’ll work out,’ so we gave it a shot,” she adds. “We serve similar items to Guieb Cafe and similar dishes from our catering (menu), so it’s kind of a blend of both, while catering to the whole cafeteria vibe.”

Guieb says her dad is the chef and owner, and the cafe’s name was inspired by his favorite scent.

“My dad really likes the pīkake flower,” she says. “He felt like this was a good name for it; he was mentioning how he wanted to bring life here (in this space).”

Even though Pīkake Cafe is in a federal building, the cafeteria is open to the public, according to Guieb. Individuals need to pass through a security checkpoint, then catch the elevator to the fifth floor, where the cafeteria is located.

The cafe serves breakfast from 6 to 10 a.m.; options range from breakfast burritos ($12.48) and croissantwiches ($12.48) to ube mascarpone pancakes ($14.56) and ube waffles ($10.40).

“Everything is made to order,” Guieb says. “We brought our ube mascarpone pancakes (from Guieb Cafe) here; it’s a smaller portion. That, the ube waffles and pork adobo omelet have been a hit in the mornings.”

Breakfast burritos feature spinach wraps stuffed with sausage, eggs, cheese and potatoes, and they’re served with a potato medley. The cafe’s croissantwiches (croissant sandwiches) include sausage, eggs and cheese.

During lunch — served from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. — customers can opt for an all-you-can-load salad bar ($14.56) or go for one- or two-choice plate lunch-style entrees. The salad bar includes Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, artichokes, boiled eggs, bacon bits, fresh-cut seasonal fruits, creamy basil pesto rigatoni and more, according to Guieb.

“You can fill up (your plate) as much or as little as you want,” she says. “We’re getting great feedback on that.”

Entrees change daily for the plate lunches. For instance, Mondays feature shoyu chicken and chicken long rice, with roast pork and mushroom gravy ($15.60) as a special; on Fridays, customers can choose from Korean short ribs kalbi, hamburger steak, chicken adobo and kalua pig and cabbage. Plates usually come with potato mac salad or steamed veggies and rice.

Many specials feature popular options from Guieb Cafe or the business’s catering menu, according to Guieb.

“Our Korean short ribs is very popular on our catering menu,” she says. “We have hamburger steak and garlic shrimp (as entrees), which are popular from the Guieb Cafe menu.

“Yesterday, we had oxtail soup on special; next week, we’ll have chicken papaya soup and clam pasta,” she adds. “Things that we don’t normally get to do at Guieb Cafe, we’ll try to incorporate here.”

Guieb notes that, while parking can be limited at the federal building, it’s a short walk from Waterfront Plaza, where there’s ample parking.

“We get a lot of HPU students coming here for breakfast and lunch,” she says. “People are always like, ‘I’ve been wanting to visit (Guieb Cafe),’ so in a way, they get to try our flavors. We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re excited. We’re trying to give them (the state and federal workers) something to look forward to.”

300 Ala Moana Blvd. fifth floor, Honolulu

Open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, closed all federal holidays

Pikake Cafe Precious Guieb 100526

<title>Pīkake Cafe offers local-style comfort food in downtown Honolulu</title>

The sister business of Guieb Cafe is located in the cafeteria space of the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building in downtown Honolulu. The cafeteria is open to the public — customers have to go through a security checkpoint — from Mondays to Fridays. Diners can expect some of the most popular dishes from Guieb Café, including ube mascarpone pancakes, pork adobo omelets and hamburger steak.

Pīkake Cafe offers local-style comfort food in downtown Honolulu

[{"type":"text","text":"Some costume ideas..."}]

Smile 26 10 7

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026</title>

Some costume ideas...

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Waimea means “reddish water,” an appropriate name for the colorful canyon on the west side of Kauaʻi. After heavy rains, the streams that run through Waimea can turn reddish-brown as water washes iron-rich red dirt into the river. But the red cliffs of Waimea Canyon tell a much older story.

Waimea Canyon is often called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” but it is not simply a Hawaiian version of a famous Mainland landmark. It is evidence of the violent creation, collapse, and slow transformation of Kauaʻi itself.

Kauaʻi began as a massive shield volcano, built by layer after layer of volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. Around four million years ago, a huge section of the volcano’s summit collapsed, creating a vast depression in its center. Later eruptions filled portions of that depression with new lava. Then the rain began to shape the island.

As one of the wettest places on Earth, rain falls in the high mountains around Waiʻaleʻale. Water flowed down the ancient volcano, collecting in streams and rivers and steadily wearing away the rock. Over millions of years, the Waimea River and its tributaries cut deeper into the landscape, exposing layer after layer of the island’s volcanic history.

The result is a canyon that is roughly 10 miles long and more than 3,600 feet deep. Viewers can see the many red, brown, and gray layers of basalt lava flows and volcanic deposits in its walls, with bright green trees, shrubs, and grasses clinging to its shelves and crevices. Long before visitors arrived to look into its depths, Hawaiians knew these valleys, streams, and uplands as part of a living landscape, with their own histories and moʻolelo, and of course, ghost stories.

Among the legends associated with Waimea Canyon is a story said to date back hundreds of years about an old Hawaiian man who was killed while traveling home from Kalalau. People claimed that his spirit returned each year to the place where he was murdered, sitting beside the road with a pack of dried fish on his back, and killing the first man who encountered him on those nights.

Another haunting tale associated with the area is the Woman in White, sometimes called “the White Lady.” In one account, a man driving to Waimea Canyon one night saw a woman wearing a white dress walking alongside the winding road. He stopped to ask if she needed a ride, and she politely declined. He continued driving when, just a short distance up the road, he saw the woman again ahead of him. This time, he refused to stop, believing it must be a spirit, because how could an actual person travel faster than his car?

These stories have become part of the folklore surrounding this remarkable landscape, but many more tales remain.

Two years ago, a visitor shared her experience while hiking with friends in Waimea Canyon. They were following the Kukui Trail, headed for Wiliwili Camp at the bottom of the canyon next to the Waimea River. The hike down the 2,000-foot cliff was strenuous but not too challenging for the four experienced hikers.

About halfway down, the group took a short water break. But just when they were about to continue, she thought she heard someone coming down the trail behind them. She told her group to wait, to see who was coming. No reason, she said, just curious to see who else was hiking. But no one arrived. While she thought it was strange, the rest of her group thought she was hearing things because they didn’t notice anything.

The rest of the way down, the woman said she began to feel nervous, like someone was following and watching them. She said she’d been visiting Kaua‘i for nearly a decade and had never felt the eeriness she experienced while hiking in Waimea Canyon. The rest of the hike was uneventful, and the group made it to the campsite and began setting up for the night.

The river was much drier than she expected, just a trickle of water through the rocky bed that barely flowed over their feet. They sat at the river’s edge, soaking their feet for a while and taking in the beautiful scenery. But then the eerie feeling returned. While her three friends were talking, she thought she heard someone approaching. She stood up and looked around, but saw no one. She assumed it was animals nearby.

The only man in the group decided it was time to set up a campfire, but for some reason it was impossible. The other two women teased him at first, but quieted down when they saw their friend’s frustration growing. She said it’s not that hard for an experienced camper to build a fire, and her friend must have done it a hundred times before. But this time was different. As they looked on, they’d see the kindling light up, they’d witness a couple of sticks start burning, and then watch as the flames died for no reason. It wasn’t a very windy day. It wasn’t raining, and the wood was as dry as it could be.

After more than an hour, they gave up on a campfire and just used their lightsticks and flashlights as needed. After a filling meal of protein bars and beef jerky, they settled in their tents to sleep. But it was a restless night for her.

The entire night, she kept hearing footsteps outside her tent and mumbling sounds like people talking in low voices far away. Yet every time she looked outside her tent, no one was there. None of her friends heard anything. Unable to sleep and worried someone was hanging around their campsite, she sat outside their tents and waited to see if anyone approached.

For an hour or so, she saw and heard nothing and thought that her presence might have scared away whoever was hanging around. Then, just as she was about to nod off, a light caught her attention. In the middle of where the water should have been flowing, a man stood on the dry riverbed. But the man wasn’t bathed in shadows, he was glowing.

Terrified, the woman woke up her friends so they could see what was happening, but the man had already disappeared. In the morning, despite plans to stay the weekend and hike to Lonomea Camp, they decided to leave. While her friends were disappointed, they believed she saw something out of the ordinary, and it felt like a bad omen.

“The very next day, there was a huge fire nearby,” she said. “It ended up burning over 1,600 acres. I still think about what would have happened if we were still camping.”

The woman believes the eerie feeling that someone was following them, the way the fire wouldn’t start, and the glowing man were warnings. She was especially glad her friends believed her and that they agreed to leave.

Waimea canyon

<title>The Hauntings of Waimea Canyon</title>

Carved by rainwater over ages, Kauai's Waimea Canyon holds mysteries both ancient and modern. Have you ever felt watched while hiking the canyon's trails?

The Hauntings of Waimea Canyon

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Another organization has sued Hawai‘i over Act 11, the law passed this year that limits corporate spending in political campaigns.

Act 11, which Gov. Josh Green signed into law in 

, limits “artificial-person powers” granted by the state to corporations; in particular, the law rescinded the power of corporations to spend money on political campaigns.

The law challenges the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court verdict in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, wherein the court found laws prohibiting corporate political spending violates corporations’ First Amendment. Proponents of Act 11 have argued that the law does not impede corporations’ 

The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America disagrees. Last month, the national chamber 

 state Attorney General Anne Lopez and Nadine Ando, Director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, over Act 11 in U.S. District Court.

In its complaint, the Chamber argues that the law “extinguishes the power to speak on certain topics and viewpoints, enforces that … prohibition with significant corporate penalties up to involuntary dissolution … in direct defiance of binding Supreme Court precedent.”

The Chamber claims that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the fundamental premise of Act 11 — that a corporation’s “powers” conferred by the state are distinct from their “rights” — in Citizens United. It adds that Act 11 applies to foreign entities that Hawai‘i has no authority over.

Furthermore, Act 11 is discriminatory, the Chamber argues, because it permits media corporations to publish content concerning political campaigns while simultaneously prohibiting other corporations from doing the same.

Because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regularly participates in political speech — including repeated endorsements of Rep. Ed Case and a planned voter-education tour this year about “the virtues and benefits of free enterprise and the dangers of socialism” — the Chamber argues that it has been directly harmed by Act 11.

The Chamber’s complaint notes that its arguments are not original. In fact, it points out that Lopez 

 testified against the bill as it passed through the state Legislature, calling it “likely impossible to defend” and warning that passing the law would all but guarantee costly legal challenges.

, filed in June by Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i, followed much the same arguments. Progress in that case has been slow; a hearing for a proposed preliminary injunction that would suspend Act 11 until the case is resolved, which was proposed in June, is scheduled for Oct. 13.

The Chamber has also moved for a similar preliminary injunction in its case, but no hearing has yet been scheduled on the matter.

AG Anne Lopez scaled 16x9

<title>National Chamber of Commerce sues Hawai‘i over corporate spending law</title>

A second lawsuit challenging Act 11 has struck the state.

National Chamber of Commerce sues Hawai‘i over corporate spending law

Black pearl with calamari and prawns. Seafood with shrimp, calamari, mussels and clams. Chicken and chorizo.

These are just a few of the flavors you’ll find at 

“The inspiration came from my Spanish roots and my passion for sharing authentic paella with people,” explains chef and business owner Santiago Garamendy. “We wanted to bring the experience of live paella cooking to Hawaiʻi, while incorporating the Aloha spirit and creating something that people could enjoy at farmers markets, festivals, private events and weddings.”

When coming up with a business name, Garamendy wanted something simple yet personal.

“We wanted a name that felt approachable, authentic and easy to remember,” he says.

The biz currently pops up at farmers markets and events across O

ahu. Regardless of the event, the business is known for cooking its paella in real-time.

“We cook everything fresh on-site, allowing guests to experience the entire process from start to finish,” Garamendy says. “Whether it’s an intimate gathering or a corporate event, our team is fully equipped to prepare and serve paella for up to 1,200 guests at the same time.”

The business’s seafood paella ($19) and black pearl paella ($19) are its bestsellers, according to Garamendy.

“The black pearl paella is our signature dish,” he says. “It’s black squid ink rice with calamari and prawns, served with housemade aioli.”

The business’s Hawaiian paella ($19) is a local-inspired version with pork, bacon and pineapple. Meanwhile, the veggie paella ($15) is a colorful option with asparagus, carrots, green beans, mushrooms and peas.

The biz also offers fried seafood cones, which all come with fries, according to Garamendy. Customers can choose from Santi’s cone ($17) — a mix of calamari, prawns and smelt — calamari cone ($14), prawns cone ($13) and more.

Santi’s Paella currently pops up from 8 a.m. to noon at the FarmLovers Kaka

ako farmers market on Saturdays and the Kailua farmers markets on Sundays. The biz is also a vendor at the Waikīkī Makers Market from 4 to 8 p.m. on Mondays at Waikīkī Beach Walk.

Santi’s Paella also offers catering for private events and celebrations, according to Garamendy. 

“We are incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from the Hawaiʻi community,” Garamendy says. “Our goal is not only to serve great food, but also to create an experience that brings people together. Whether it’s a farmers market, festival, wedding or private event, we want every guest to leave with a smile and memorable experience.”

Santis Paella owner

<title>This biz showcases authentic paella</title>

Santi's Paella, which officially opened last year, is known for its paella, which is always cooked fresh on-site. Customers can find Santi’s Paella at farmers markets and events across Oʻahu.

This biz showcases authentic paella

Aloha Spirit

A 24-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with last weekend’s fatal shooting in Kailua.

The Honolulu Police Department announced on Sept. 28 that homicide detectives identified a suspect who was arrested for second-degree murder and firearm offenses just before 11 p.m. Monday night. HPD arrest logs 

 Hilinaikailimakualopali Keeno as the suspect.

Keeno’s arrest was possible through the assistance of the HPD’s Criminal Investigation Division’s Forensic Video Unit. HPD had previously requested that members of the public submit photos or videos of the Kailua Fall Festival, which was ongoing at the time of the shooting, that could help identify the suspect, who at the time was described as “a local male in his late 20s.”

HPD’s announcement also identified the victim: 30-year-old Thomas Malone, the son of Michael Buntenbah, who owns the 

Friends and family of Malone gathered at the Kailua Target parking lot Tuesday to commemorate him with flowers, candles and memorabilia. Also in attendance were Malone’s old soccer coach and former teammates.

Malone had a decorated athletic career during high school, having played football, soccer and track and field at Kaiser High School. Hawai‘i sports website ScoringLive 

 Malone their Offensive Player of the Year for the 2013 football season, saying that Malone — then a senior going by the name Buntenbah-Leong — accumulated 149 points over 12 games.

Aloha State Daily's Christian Shimabuku and Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros contributed to this article.

 The Honolulu Police Department is seeking photos and videos of the Kailua Fall Festival that can shed light on the shooting death of a 30-year-old man.

On Sept. 26, shortly after 8:30 p.m., a gunshot was reported in the parking lot of the Target in Kailua, where a 30-year-old man was found with a fatal gunshot wound and was declared dead at the scene.

Initial investigations by HPD determined that two groups of people got into an argument at the Kailua Fall Festival, which was adjacent to the parking lot. That argument spilled into the lot, where somebody pulled out a gun and shot the victim.

The shooter, however, was unidentified beyond the description: “a local male in his late 20s, wearing a black sweater and his hair in two braids.”

HPD has initiated a murder investigation and has received surveillance footage and other pictures from the festival. However, detectives are requesting additional photos from the event that could help identify the shooter. Even photos that don’t explicitly show the shooting can still contain relevant information, HPD has stated.

People with information or recordings regarding the incident are asked to call 911 or CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300.

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation remains ongoing."}]

Kailua shooting victim memorial

<title>UPDATED: Woman arrested for weekend Kailua shooting</title>

On Sept. 28, HPD identified the alleged shooter from the Kailua Fall Festival this past weekend and also named the victim: Thomas Malone, 30, who had a decorated athletic career at Kaiser High School, where he played football, soccer and track and field. Friends and family of Malone gathered at the Kailua Target parking lot Tuesday to commemorate him with flowers, candles and memorabilia.

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026

Daily Smile: Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026

Most read

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026

Daily Smile: Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

Daily Smile: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026

Most read