Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Food & Dining

, is now open to the public. The Pinehopple Room is located on the second floor, directly above the Kaka

The space was previously home to the HI Brau Room, Aloha Beer Co.’s speakeasy that the biz operated primarily as a private event space.

“We always loved the room and felt like it had so much character,” says Candice Ishikawa, Aloha Beer Co.’s head of marketing and brand. “People who discovered it seemed to immediately fall in love with it, and we saw an opportunity to reimagine the space as something more distinctly connected to Aloha Beer and to Hawaiʻi, while opening it back up for more people to enjoy.”

Ishikawa explains that The Pinehopple Room concept came from the idea of taking the creativity and craft that goes into brewing beer and applying that same spirit to cocktails and hospitality.

“We wanted to create an intimate, upscale lounge that still felt unmistakably part of Aloha Beer, while offering a different side of Aloha Beer from the casual beer garden downstairs,” she says. “The name ‘Pinehopple’ comes from our logo icon and is a play on pineapple and hops, bringing together something immediately evocative of Hawaiʻi, with our roots as a brewery.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The venue’s name impacted its décor and ultimate vibe."}]

“We didn’t want to lose the darker, intimate character that made the original space special, so we built it with a vintage Hawaiʻi-inspired aesthetic, adding tropical botanicals, greenery, warm lighting and other details that make the room feel lush and inviting,” Ishikawa says.

She says The Pinehopple Room’s beverage program is where “the concept comes to life.” The drinks were inspired by the golden age of Hawaii cocktail culture, but the team wanted to bring its own unique twist to the beverages.

“We kept coming back to the idea that classic Hawaiʻi cocktails deserve to be remembered, not simply replicated,” Ishikawa says. “We’re taking those flavors and traditions, and reinterpreting them through fresh ingredients, thoughtful technique and our perspective as a craft brewery.”

So far, popular cocktails include the tropical itch ($18), Molokai fogcutter ($16) and paradise of the Pacific ($21). The tropical itch is made with 

bourbon, rum, orange curaçao, lilikoʻi, pineapple and a dark rum float; the Molokai fogcutter features aged and white rums, pineapple, lilikoʻi, lemon and orgeat; and paradise of the Pacific includes aged rum, tamarind, pineapple and hibiscus grenadine, according to Ishikawa.

Customers can also enjoy a scorpion bowl for two ($38), which is served in a vintage-inspired fish bowl. The drink is designed to be shared and also doubles as a fun centerpiece for the table, according to Ishikawa.

She also explains that The Pinehopple Room team is excited to offer a series of guided spirit flights.

“Guests can explore bourbon, Scotch, international whiskies, agave spirits, and Caribbean rum or Hawaiʻi-made rum, with a guided tasting sheet that provides some background and context for each pour without making the experience feel overly formal,” she says.

Customers can also enjoy light bites that pair naturally with the cocktails. Highlights include Pinehopple sashimi trio (market price) — served with a lilikoʻi-wasabi glaze — Pinehopple shrimp cocktail ($12), spinach dip salmon belly bites ($18), Cuban sliders ($13), paprika chicken pops ($18) and a salami caprese flatbread ($15).

“On the food side, we wanted dishes that were easy to share and felt at home alongside the cocktail program,” Ishikawa says.

The Cuban sliders feature brioche buns stuffed with mayo-mustard, ham, kalua pork, Swiss cheese, pickled cucumbers and cilantro-orange sauce. The paprika chicken pops comprises chicken drummettes in paprika batter, served with blue cheese honey-Red Zeppelin buffalo sauce and celery curls. So far, the chicken pops, spinach dip salmon belly bites and sliders have been customer favorites.

Ishikawa explains that The Pinehopple Room team has been excited to welcome guests and have them experience “the way different kinds of craft come together in one space.”

“Pinehopple is also about the experience around what’s in the glass,” she says. “There’s a sense of nostalgia and vintage Hawaiʻi hospitality without trying to recreate a specific era. We want it to feel special, but never overly formal — a place where people can slow down, connect and stay awhile.”

The Pinehopple Room is currently open from 5 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The lounge does not have a formal reservation system set up and is primarily open for walk-ins, but if a customer calls ahead, the venue can hold a table for them, according to Ishikawa.

“Aloha Beer has always been about creating places for people to gather, and Pinehopple gives us a new way to do that,” Ishikawa says. “Someone can have a beer in the beer garden downstairs, then head upstairs for a cocktail or whiskey flight and feel like they’ve stepped into an entirely different experience without ever leaving Aloha Beer. We’ve loved this room for a long time, and we’re excited to finally open the doors and share it with more people.”

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<title>The Pinehopple Room is a new upstairs lounge in Kakaʻako</title>

Located upstairs from Aloha Beer Co. on Queen Street, The Pinehopple Room — previously home to the HI Brau Room speakeasy — recently opened to the public. The upscale lounge features a vintage Hawaiʻi-inspired aesthetic, along with classic Hawaiʻi cocktails with a modern twist.

The Pinehopple Room is a new upstairs lounge in Kakaʻako

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Do you remember Ward Warehouse? It was something of a landmark in Kaka‘ako once, but after being demolished nearly 10 years ago it’s now on its way to being forgotten.

The Ward family is foundational to the history of Kaka‘ako. Back in the 19th century, the clan came to own a large tract of land stretching from their private home that was just across King Street from Thomas Square, all the way down to what is now Kewalo Basin. This ownership, of course, is the origin of the name Ward Avenue for the street that formed most of the boundary of the property on its ‘Ewa side.

By the middle of the 20th century, the Ward land contained a mix of private homes and a variety of business tenants. The family-owned corporation that managed the property, Victoria Ward Ltd., started taking small steps towards more lucrative tenants in the 1950s but ramped up its redevelopment goals in the early 1960s by constructing a series of modern, low-rise structures.

A major new commitment came in early 1974 with the start of construction of Ward Warehouse on a 4.1 acre site between Ala Moana Boulevard, Ward Avenue and Auahi Street. The location had some special considerations in that it was covered by two very different types of zoning: one was for retail while the other was strictly for wholesale and industrial uses. The latter category was slightly problematic for what was intended as, essentially, a shopping center open to the public, and initially required a careful selection of tenants.

Designed by architect Steve Au, Ward Warehouse had a notably 1970s appearance. The hippie movement in the USA by this time had popularized more earthy, natural materials, so the complex’s exteriors were dark-stained wood, inspired in particular by a trend-setting development called Sea Ranch in California from the late 1960s. The only outside decorations were sections of bold painted “supergraphics” in geometric patterns. Industrial elements were not covered up but were openly displayed; on the outside, pipes and fittings were painted in bright colors to show them off, along with some oversized machine parts that were installed purely as decor. Inside the rental spaces, high ceilings showed undisguised conduits, light fixtures and air-conditioning ducts. Floors were concrete and walls were mostly unpainted wood. The effect was “honesty” in materials vs shiny synthetic surfaces.

Ward Warehouse opened with 87 tenant spaces; some interiors had the potential for the construction of mezzanines. Parking on the ground level accommodated 250 vehicles while the four-level concrete garage had 400 more spots. A soft opening for some businesses took place in time for Christmas 1974. By April 1975 the complex was placing large display ads in the Honolulu newspapers.

Those who are old enough to have patronized Ward Warehouse will undoubtedly remember particular stores or restaurants they regularly visited. For many people, the Old Spaghetti Factory at the far ‘Ewa end, with its two-story interior spaces, was surely a favorite (it has since moved to Aloha Tower). Embellished by numerous antique light fixtures and other old-time props which the company had been able to accumulate when such items were mostly inexpensive salvage goods from the demolition of 80- or 90-year-old structures in the USA, the low-cost restaurant had a unique feeling in its diverse seating areas.

Of course many other businesses came and went through Ward Warehouse over the years. There was the Liquor Collection which was filled with limited-edition figural ceramic specialty bottles, stores just for outdoor furniture, kitchenware, and flags, and the Nohea Gallery for local artwork of all kinds.

Ward Warehouse was never intended to last throughout the ages. A 1969 newspaper article quoted a statement from Victoria Ward Ltd that said offices and high-rise structures were eventually planned along Ala Moana Boulevard. Closure of the shopping center came on July 31, 2017 followed by demolition that began in November.

Howard Hughes Corporation, by then the owner of the site, first announced that two “ultraluxury” towers would soon rise here, the Ward Village Gateway. One of these was to be the 

 with units offered for prices ranging from $1.3 million to $23 million; these were first put on sale in 2015. But in 2018 the entire project was dropped, even after Howard Hughes had spent $29 million on it, and 28 of the 125 apartments in the Cylinder had been sold. In 2019 Victoria Place was approved for construction on the Waikīkī end of the property. Next to it was the start of the new Victoria Ward Park which would eventually occupy what had been the center part of Ward Warehouse.

However, it wouldn’t be until 2025 that one of the familiar construction cranes would finally be erected on the rest of the former Ward Warehouse, signaling yet another of the Kaka‘ako condominiums to come: Kalae.

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<title>Changing Kaka‘ako: Remembering Ward Warehouse</title>

Ward Warehouse was never meant to last — even the previous owners who built it, Victoria Ward Ltd, always intended for offices and high-rises to take its place. But it had a four-decade run from its 1975 opening to its 2017 demolition, featuring such businesses as Old Spaghetti Factory, Orson's, The Liquor Collection, Nohea Gallery and more. Here's a look back at the shopping center, including a glimpse of the neighborhood before Ward Warehouse came along and fishing, rather than shopping, was the area's industry.

Changing Kaka‘ako: Remembering Ward Warehouse

Ray Tsuchiyama

Every weekday afternoon at 4:30, I pick up my granddaughter.

Sometimes while waiting in the parking lot, I answer an email from a Tokyo client. My work doesn't stop just because the school day is ending; it simply gets folded into whatever gap exists before 4:30.

Then it is time to pick up my granddaughter.

The contrast is almost comical. One minute I am updating escrow about a multimillion-dollar transaction; the next, I am fastening a child into her car seat, listening to who was “mean” to her and asking whether I have been a good “Jiji” today.

Yet there is a fundamental connection between the two, and it is not a small one. My being there at 4:30 makes it possible for her parents to stay at work.

I am part of Hawaiʻi's childcare system. I just don't show up in the childcare statistics.

That is not to say grandparents can replace preschool. Quite the opposite. I have never been more convinced of the difference between the two than I am now, watching early childhood education happen five days a week.

I see daily what preschool provides my granddaughter that I cannot. She talks about learning "A" for alligator. She says, “Good morning, how are you today?” respectfully to her teacher. She has learned to share toys and navigate relationships with her classmates.

These may sound like small things. They aren't. They are the essential building blocks of early social development and preparation for elementary school. Jiji is not going to lead a structured lesson on phonics or spelling. That is not a criticism of grandparents; it is an accurate description of what a classroom is actually for.

We must be careful not to confuse childcare with early education. They are distinct entities doing different work. Hawaiʻi's policy conversations should be honest about that distinction, rather than treating "somebody is watching the kids" as interchangeable with "somebody is teaching them."

At the same time, the two are inextricably linked. A family that cannot solve the first problem — supervision — never gets to benefit from the second — education. A child who needs supervision at 4:30 p.m. and cannot get it from a licensed, affordable after-school program does not simply do without. A grandparent, an aunt, or a neighbor absorbs the gap instead. And whatever early-learning or structured enrichment value a formal setting would have provided goes missing along with it.

This is where Hawaiʻi needs to start asking a different, broader set of questions about childcare.

When we talk about Hawaiʻi's childcare crisis, policy makers tend to count only what is easily visible: licensed centers, available slots, registered childcare workers, preschool enrollment, subsidies, and out-of-pocket costs. The state's Ready Keiki initiative, for instance, tracks its progress toward universal access for three- and four-year-olds largely through formal metrics — seats built, classrooms opened, and shrinking waitlists.

All of those metrics matter. None of it is wrong to count.

But what about the grandmother who watches a grandchild until a parent gets off a late shift? The aunt who takes care of two nieces every Wednesday? The hānai cousin who steps in when a parent's work schedule changes with two days' notice because the alternative is losing the job? 

What about the parents themselves — the ones who adjust their working hours, decline a promotion, or leave the workforce altogether because they cannot find care they can afford or 

These individuals are essential components of Hawaiʻi's childcare system. Yet much of this labor remains invisible. A family absorbing the gap through a grandparent or a neighbor never shows up on an official state waitlist. Statistically, that family looks like a household with no need at all.

Before we can solve this problem, we should determine the true scope of the system we already have. Imagine a comprehensive map of Hawaiʻi's entire early-childhood ecosystem — not just licensed facilities.

 How many are there? How old are they? Where do they live?

 Who takes care of them during the day, before and after school, on weekends, and during school holidays? Some will be in childcare centers or preschools. Many will be with grandparents, extended family, friends, or neighbors (“FFN”). Some parents will be attempting to do the work themselves, juggling split shifts or working from home with a toddler running around the living room.

 How many parents are working? How many could work more hours or take a higher-paying job if reliable childcare were accessible? How many have already reduced their hours or left employment altogether — a trend that appears consistently in statewide surveys and ripples outward to every local employer struggling to fill shifts or retain trained staff?

 Are the shortages identical in Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului, and Līhuʻe? A Neighbor Island shortage looks vastly different from an urban Oʻahu shortage — fewer providers competing for thinner margins, paired with longer travel distances between existing care and family homes.

 Even for a dual-income family, a median $1,000 to $1,300 monthly fee for licensed preschool represents a substantial hit to the household budget. What does formal care actually cost families? What does the state spend?

What is the economic value of all the unpaid care that families currently provide on their own?

That last figure is astronomical. Suppose Jiji provides two hours of childcare a day, five days a week, for 50 weeks a year. That is 500 hours a year. At $20 an hour, that equates to $10,000 worth of care. At $25 an hour, it reaches $12,500. Multiply that across tens of thousands of families statewide — grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors all stepping up at 4:30 p.m. — and the value of Hawaiʻi's invisible childcare workforce runs into hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an economy quietly sustained by free kūpuna labor.

Beyond the direct hours, there is an additional layer of economic value: the parent who can hold down a job because Auntie Leilani is available. That is a paycheck earned, taxes paid, and a local business that does not lose a valued employee to a coverage gap.

Our informal care network is currently subsidizing Hawaiʻi's entire labor market — for free, indefinitely, and with no guarantee that it will still be there for the next generation.

Childcare is not simply a social service or a favor rendered by loving relatives. 

Before We Subsidize: Mapping Hawaiʻi’s Childcare Care Economy

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

ay Tsuchiyama’s series explores one central question: How does Hawai‘i use the wealth and land it already has to create its next economic future? He can be reached at 

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<title>Hawaiʻi’s Invisible Childcare Subsidy: Free Kūpuna Labor</title>

In the first of a two-part series, ASD columnist Ray Tsuchiyama explores the economics of the childcare crisis in Hawai‘i, including the dimensions we're not talking about, but should.

Hawaiʻi’s Invisible Childcare Subsidy: Free Kūpuna Labor

Crime & Courts

The woman charged with murder after allegedly fatally shooting a man in Kailua last weekend was turned in by her father the day of the event, according to a Honolulu police report.

Hilinaikailimakualopali Keeno, 24, was charged on Sept. 30 with second-degree murder, carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony and improperly keeping a pistol or revolver. She is being held pending a $1 million bail.

An HPD document — which was submitted on Tuesday, Sept. 29, to the Honolulu Circuit Court to establish probable cause to detain Keeno without a warrant — states that Keeno’s father brought her to the Kailua Police Station less than an hour after 

was declared dead of a gunshot wound to the neck in the Kailua Target parking lot.

The report states that HPD special duty officers, who were working security at the Kailua Fall Festival that day, were called to assist with a group of festivalgoers involved in an argument at about 8:26 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Officers escorted the group out of the festival and watched them head toward the Target parking lot, only to hear another altercation begin among the group minutes later.

During this new altercation, a pop resembling a gunshot was heard, and officers saw two men — one of whom was Keeno’s brother — assaulting a third. Both assailants were placed under arrest for disorderly conduct, while officers discovered Malone on the ground, covered in blood.

[{"type":"text","text":"Malone was declared dead at the scene by 8:43 p.m."}]

At 9:39 p.m., Keeno was brought to the Kailua Police Station by her father, who told police she was involved in the incident and wanted to provide a statement in the presence of her attorney.

According to the HPD report, no interview was conducted with Keeno that night. Subsequently, HPD sought photographs and videos from the public to help piece together the event and identify the shooter.

On Sept. 28, another witness identified Keeno as the shooter, and HPD confirmed that Keeno has one firearm registered in her name, a Sig Sauer P365 handgun.

[{"type":"text","text":"Following this, Keeno was placed under arrest."}]

Keeno’s preliminary hearing, when she will plead guilty or not guilty to the charges, will take place Monday, Oct. 5. She remains in custody.

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<title>Woman charged in Kailua shooting turned in by father</title>

Hilinakailimakualopali Keeno faces a $1 million bail for a second-degree murder charge.

Woman charged in Kailua shooting turned in by father

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Government & Politics

Aloha State Daily received a press release today from a Mainland-based national interest group, U.S. Term Limits (USTL), letting us know that “2026 Hawai‘i state senate candidate, Wallyn Christian (District 13) has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the term limits convention pledge.”

Why does this matter to that organization? “(USTL, the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation,” the statement says. “Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress.”

Term-limiting Congress is a popular idea, and USTL cites a 

 that, “An overwhelming majority of adults (87%) favor limiting the number of terms that members of Congress are allowed to serve. This includes a majority 56% who strongly favor this proposal, just 12% are opposed.”

The idea emerges often for local politicians, as well. Civil Beat has found public support for term limits to be as high as 70% in a 2018 poll of likely voters, a stat Honolulu Civil Beat resurfaced 

 of the lawmakers themselves to see where they stand on the idea of limiting their own time in office. “Nearly half of House members and more than a third of senators say they support term limits. There are enough undecideds in both chambers to give it a good shot if they held their position for two years,” CB found.

Respectfully, all of these people are wrong. Well intentioned, but they're aiming term limits at the wrong people.

I mean, I totally understand where the frustration is coming from. We elect people, nationally and locally, then are disappointed in their results. We could end their terms ourselves by simply not reelecting these people and yet obviously a lot of the people who say they want term limits do something very odd: They seem to reelect the lousy politicians they say they want to term limit.

You want to limit someone’s term? You’re just a month away from your next opportunity to vote for someone else!

So we’ve always had the power to fire politicians with every election, but don’t, then remain convinced that what we need is more turnover in government to make it more efficient, effective and responsive. Somebodies’ terms need limiting, but who?

Easy: The workforce. The bureaucrats. See, I want term limits, too, but I want them on the people staffing all the departments and agencies that we’re perpetually frustrated with. 

Consider, to cite just one example, how many different mayors you’ve seen over the past 20 or 30 years promise to reform the departments of planning and permitting in each county. The mayors have term limits. They come and go. Have any of them succeeded at this reform?

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has done more than any predecessor but there’s a long way still to go.

How many Hawai‘i governors — term-limited governors — have promised Hawai‘i a public education second to none? Which of them succeeded? Who is still in place, immune to reform?

What happens in real life is, candidates make bold promises of reform, we elect them, then they announce bold plans for reform and those plans run headfirst into a culture of unfirable civil servants shielded by union protections. These folks don’t even have to noisily and aggressively oppose the reform, all they have to do is … not do it. And wait. Four years later, or eight years later, their antagonist is gone, the staff remains, with its culture of job security over excellence safely intact.

[{"type":"text","text":"We, the taxpayers and voters, then sit around wondering what happened."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Hawai‘i’s"}]

What’s happened is simple: Since statehood, Hawai‘i’s people have steadily split into two camps, those who work for government and everybody else. The appeal of Government Hawai‘i is the security and benefits — lifelong employment, if you want it, totally protected from market forces and competition, with solid benefits like healthcare and retirement, paid for by the rest of us in Real Hawai‘i.

If you think the security and the bennies of government jobs are a trade-off to compensate for low pay, guess again. Government Hawai‘i earns more than Real Hawai‘i.

The annual average wage of a non-government job in Hawai‘i is 

 from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The average annual wage in state government? 

What does Real Hawai‘i get in return? One of the highest tax burdens in America for one thing, and then very little to brag about in high-quality government service. (

I would say that that two Hawai‘i’s have hardened into opposing camps, except that’s not exactly true. Government Hawai‘i drives an Us vs Them dynamic, that was never clearer to me than it was during Covid, when Government Hawai‘i showed us that it will shut the rest of down for years at a time given the slightest opportunity. It will also protect itself first, at the expense of the public is supposedly serves, as we see in the lingering effects of the schools closing for so long. That policy made no one safer, but it did mess up the kids. (And have you noticed ever since then, Government Hawai‘i takes the day off for even bad weather like it never did before, while the rest of us soldier on with our work?)

Out here in Real Hawai‘i, we grumble but otherwise settle for apathy (i.e., low voter turnout) or outright flight to states where it feels like a good life is more possible. I don’t know who Government Hawai‘i is going to tax when the last of us moves to Vegas.

With all that in mind, term limits on government service seem like the one revolution we haven’t tried, haven’t even discussed, but should. Say 10, 15 years max, total lifetime employment in government at any level. We want people to stay long enough to learn the ropes and finish things they’ve started, not so long that they just settle in and kill time until retirement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The upsides:"}]

Breaks up all the pockets of resistance to change. Turnover would occur systemwide, one person at a time, as they age out. Reformers at the top have a chance building support in the workforce among newer staff.

[{"type":"text","text":"Brings in new people and new ideas in government at every level."}]

Opens up more opportunities for Government Hawai‘i and Real Hawai‘i to trade places and live in each other’s worlds. This may be the biggest upside — more of us would get a chance to feel like we had a chance to change the system from the inside and deliver the service we’ve always wanted, while more of them would be forced to realize that Real Hawai‘i is something more than subjects to be ruled and tax cows to be milked.

Forces a revolution in how government hires. Using Mayor Blangiardi again as an example, he’s talked about how it took people six months on average to get hired by the City & County of Honolulu when he assumed office. 

, he had cut that down to three months. Compared to the speed at which the private sector can hire, that’s still an eternity, and that would have to change immediately to deal with the kind of turnover we need.

(To be fair, government is not alone on this front. In my decade at Pacific Business News, I heard executives at Hawai‘i’s larger companies talk endlessly about a labor shortage. At the same time, I knew plenty of talented people who could not land great jobs. Something is seriously broken in the hiring process, and I suspect HR, especially using automated keyword-based filters on resumes, is to blame. Make Direct Hiring by Managers Great Again!)

Loss of expertise, I suppose, but we’ve seen what the accumulated expertise gets us: A chief elections officer who thought a lauhala basket suited the dignity of a Hawai‘i electoral tie-breaker and ended getting his office sued — successfully — and 

. Scott Nago has worked at the Office of Election for nearly 26 years, almost 17 of those years as its chief election officer. As Civil Beat 

, it’s just about the only place he has ever worked in his life. Well, in the private sector, you can lose your job for bungling things so badly you get sued. Under my plan, the private sector is where he would’ve been sent years ago. Had someone else, perhaps with a wider range of life experience, been at the helm, maybe that person would've made better decisions.

[{"type":"text","text":"So, OK, there are no downsides."}]

Term limits on government service. If you like this idea, spread the word. We’d be moving a mountain to make it happen. But that’s got to be better than carrying the mountain of Government Hawai‘i on our shoulders forever.

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team.

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People take time out of their lives to participate in the democratic process by testifying before committee hearings. Too often, the committee isn't there.

I Stock 1169235347

Pipikaula Corner: Invisible Legislators

It's not getting much media attention, but the private diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci have been published online by Sen. Rand Paul in advance of his hearings this week into Fauci and Covid-19. What they reveal across thousands of pages is man in love with the adulation he received, who privately knew that many of things he said publicly about the pandemic were wild exaggerations.

Getty Images 2155919948

Pipikaula Corner: Fauci revealed as fear-mongering, fame-loving fraud

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Limiting the wrong terms</title>

It's an election year, and some people are running on the popular idea that legislators and Congress should have term limits to prevent lifers from working the system. ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier argues this is a great idea, with the wrong target. What if it's actually the government workforce itself that needs a term limit?

Pipikaula Corner: Limiting the wrong terms

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

[{"type":"text","text":"Looking for the best jolt of java?"}]

Drip Studio HNL in Honolulu and HiCO Hawaiian Coffee in Kailua-Kona are two of just 20 in the U.S. nominated for the list of 

 in the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

The awards aim to rank the 10 best in several areas of travel and lifestyle, and the 20 nominees were chosen with the help of a panel of experts. The final 10 will be determined by voters.

Drip Studio owner-operators Vince Pohaku and Kelsie Mercado Uehara founded the specialty coffee house, located at 1114 Fort Street Mall, in 2023 with no cafe experience and the argument that "

Hawai'i grows world-class coffee, so we should drink like it

," an announcement from the shop notes. The coffee shop founders add that it works directly with farms and roasters to showcase Hawaiʻi as a world-class coffee destination.

Meanwhile HiCO, which has three Big Isle locations, serves 100% Hawai‘i-grown coffee, supporting local farmers and honoring the Islands' agricultural heritage, its 

 once a day until 6 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19. Winners will be announced Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Several other Hawai‘i businesses are up for spots on various other 10Best lists, voting for which is underway:

Drip Coffee sign 092526

<title>These Hawai‘i coffee shops, distilleries are nominated for 10Best lists</title>

The USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards aim to rank the 10 best in several areas of travel and lifestyle. Nominees are chosen with the help of a panel of experts but the final 10 will be determined by voters.

These Hawai‘i coffee shops, distilleries are nominated for 10Best lists

ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

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