Letters to the Editor

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Michael Brestovansky

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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

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

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A. Kam Napier

Columnists

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.

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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.

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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

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

The old Restaurant Row was built in 1988, and popular eateries like Studebaker’s and Black Orchid brought crowds to the plaza. As soon as you parked your car and got out, the mouth-watering smell of burgers and steaks overwhelmed your senses. Many of us remember shooting toothpicks through straws into the ceiling at Rose City Diner. We appreciated the assortment of restaurants open late after a night out. If you worked nearby, dinner at the Row was an easy choice.

But the success of Restaurant Row was short-lived as those restaurants, once popular, began closing their doors due to decreased traffic. Some attribute the slowdown to Aloha Tower Marketplace and Chinatown’s First Fridays. But no matter what the reason, we still have our memories.

[{"type":"text","text":"And our ghost stories."}]

Stories of Waterfront Plaza, as it’s now known, begin with the history of the land and what was there long ago. Before the highrises of modern Kaka‘ako were built, this area was part of a coastal landscape of wetlands, fishponds, and salt pans. As Honolulu grew and changed, the place names remind us of what was once there.

Ka‘ākaukukui is an ‘ili, or traditional land division, that was located makai (inland) of Kewalo and west of Kukuluāe‘o. Trails that crossed the region connected Kou (now Honolulu) and Waikīkī. By the time the 20th century rolled about, that landscape had virtually disappeared.

In 1900, the Honolulu Iron Works moved to a block of land at Ka‘ākaukukui. The company had become an important part of Hawaiʻi's sugar industry, manufacturing machinery for sugar mills in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere. At its height, the Iron Works employed approximately 1,500 workers, many of whom lived in Kakaʻako.

As the sugar industry eventually declined, so did the need for the mill parts that the Honolulu Iron Works manufactured. After closing its doors in 1973, its buildings were gradually converted to other uses before being demolished. The final warehouse was torn down in 1982.

In 1985, construction at the former Honolulu Iron Works site uncovered human skeletal remains. The burial pits were found less than three feet below the existing ground surface, within an older sand deposit. Archaeologists associated the burials with Kaʻākaukukui Cemetery, which was said to have been used from the 1700s into the early 1800s.

Today, after more than a century of urban development, there is no visible cemetery marking the site, but that doesn’t mean there are no lingering remnants. Iwi kūpuna, ancestral Native Hawaiian remains, associated with Kaʻākaukukui continue to be found during modern construction and utility work in Kakaʻako.

Perhaps it is no surprise that places with such histories can also become the setting for stories of the unexplained. Over the years, people who have worked in and around this area have reported encounters they could not easily explain.

, in 2005. Soon after, I did book signings where I also shared ghost stories. At one such occasion, a very tall Hawaiian woman in a business suit approached me and said she was a manager at Restaurant Row. She went on to say she was having trouble keeping security guards employed because they would quit after seeing ghosts and spirits in and around Restaurant Row, which happened at all hours, even in broad daylight.

“These are big, tough Sāmoan and Hawaiian security guards,” she emphasized.

According to this woman, the guards said they saw half-torso apparitions floating through the parking lot, or heard voices calling their names. Worse, they would see spirits of children, covered in bleeding sores.

I was shocked to hear this, as I remembered that my late boss, Glen Grant, talked about the same thing on his ghost tours and in his books.

The manager said there was also a woman they would find crying in the theater bathroom. She went on to say that customers and employees would hear the woman crying miserably in the stall. Security comes and knocks on the door, the door swings open, and a woman is squatting on the floor, covering her face with her two hands, just sobbing. The security guard asks what’s wrong, and the woman removes her hands, and she has no face.

“If this is happening during the day,” I asked. “Then what’s going on at night?”

“If a guard isn’t getting physically assaulted, then something follows them in their car,” she said.

The woman seemed more frustrated than scared because she needed guards day and night to patrol and protect the row. She left before I could get her contact information to follow up. The restaurants all changed, closed, or made way for other businesses, but I often wondered how they finally dealt with the hauntings.

A few years ago, I was doing a personal ghost tour for some staff and students from Hawaii Pacific University. They had just recently moved to their new location at the Waterfront Plaza. I met them near The Row bar, and when I heard about their move, I asked how they liked it so far.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We need it blessed,” they said. “It’s haunted.”"}]

Apparently, chairs move, computers turn on and off by themselves. The security company calls late at night because they can hear people in the offices talking, but no one is ever found. Someone even said that no one would be sitting at a computer station, but you can see the keys on the keyboard typing away.

I think they were surprised that I wasn’t phased at all by their descriptions. I just nodded and said that the place has been haunted since the beginning.

Waterfront Plaza

<title>What Haunts Waterfront Plaza</title>

Back in the day, when this complex was known as Restaurant Row, many of us enjoyed being pleasantly haunted by ’50s tunes at Rose City Diner or catching sight of celebrities at Black Orchid. But even then, some people were haunted by far more disturbing sights, perhaps owing to a cemetery that had been at the same location long ago.

What Haunts Waterfront Plaza

Aloha Spirit

Business & Tourism

Plans are underway for the development of five new cabins at Scouting America, Aloha Council’s Camp Pupukea, designed pro bono by Honolulu-based architecture firm 

The local scouting chapter has used the 70-acre hillside property overlooking Oahu’s North Shore for overnight camping and recreation since the early 1960s. Prior to that, the site was a military training camp, according to Blake Parsons, an Eagle Scout who has served as Scout Executive and CEO of Scouting America, Aloha Council

The camp improvements aim to serve scouts, business and nonprofit organizations and community groups, as well as those seeking refuge during natural disasters.

“This is unlike any other project that we’ve done before,” Parsons told Aloha State Daily. “Most of the types of buildings and projects that we've done have been more utilitarian, and I think this project is meant to appeal to a greater audience than just scouts. And [G70 helped] envision the ability to bring more people to our property and generate revenue to support our mission, which is really commendable.”

He continued, “Our properties are being opened to greater community use year-round. We have all kinds of groups go up there that really want to get out in the great outdoors from scouts to homeschool groups to church and yoga groups.”

, which was approved by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources in 2014. Still in the planning and design phase, the Aloha Council has secured a permit and completed an Environmental Assessment for improvements to the site, with plans to complete construction by 2028, Parsons said.

On-site amenities, such as the camp’s dining hall, commercial kitchen, swimming pool, chapel, amphitheater and hiking trails, will remain open once construction begins, he noted.

“When the architect met [with us], our parameters were that we wanted something that was going to fit into the conservation use of our property,” Parsons said. “We're trying to disturb the ground as little as possible, using natural woods, yet hardy material. 

We wanted people to be able to walk into these [cabins] with their boots on, so it’s durable, but still looks and feels nice.

“Maybe shabby chic would be a good description for it,” he said with a laugh.

The new cabins, designed to “maximize airflow and connect the interior directly to the natural surroundings,” will sleep a total of 125 overnight guests, the Aloha Council noted.

The cabin design was selected from an internal competition by G70, which sought to “protect tree roots and avoid ground disturbance through an elevated design,” while also featuring deep overhangs, sliding doors and screened openings for natural airflow and “a strong connection to place,” according to the Aloha Council.

Charles Kaneshiro, G70 chairman, told ASD in emailed responses to questions, “I am most proud that Scouting America wanted to push the envelope on what these cabins could be and embraced the idea a design competition to explore potential solutions. In the past, we had built very functional, low-cost cabins that served its purpose, but this new direction represents our aspirations to create a cabin design that is deeply rooted in place.”  

, Aloha Council board member and member the Aloha Council’s Properties Committee.

“My top priority as a board member is to promote scouting, support fundraising and lend my experience and knowledge to capital projects on our properties,” he said. “The Properties Committee is made up of volunteers from the construction industry including developers, architects, engineers and contractors. We regularly discuss, coordinate and implement projects at all Scouting America properties throughout the state.

When asked what skills as a scout he still uses today, Kaneshiro said, “Many!”

“The Scout law is ingrained in how I try to [be] …Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. As for practical skills, I often use fire starting talents when grilling and knowing how to tie a taut-line hitch comes in very handy.”

Parsons added that funding for construction will come through a capital campaign launching later this year. “We expect this project to be in excess of $5 million, including all the infrastructure work.”

He noted that “there is still some [funds] coming” coming from previous capital campaigns across Aloha Council’s properties statewide, though monies are going toward “mainly finishing up existing projects.”

“We’ve already started discussions with some of our key donors over the years,” Parsons said. “Moving forward, it’ll be filling them in on a solid schedule and budget and showing the value for the scouts, their businesses, local communities, and how this can be something for generations to come. There will likely be naming rights provided for these buildings, as well.”

The Aloha Council has diversified its funding overall through registration fees, scout shop sales, fundraising, property rentals and more, to generate revenue, he said.

“We stretch every dollar and donation that comes to us,” Parsons said. “It means the world to us when someone does donate and we make sure we use it wisely.”

To learn more about or to support the Camp Pupukea project, 

[{"type":"text","text":"Ongoing construction at other camp sites and membership updates"}]

Parsons oversees a team of 20 staff members and thousands of volunteers, managing a multimillion-dollar operating budget and 500 acres of camp properties statewide.

“Weʻre building about a $2.5 million dining hall at 

 [on Maui] and replacing five bunkhouse cabins there, and an office and medical lodge,” Parsons said.

Trading Post pavilion is being built, thanks to a state grant-in-aid received in 2022, he said, adding that on Hawaiʻi Island, the Aloha Council is currently working on a conservation district use permit and the master plan for Camp Honoka'ia.

When asked how membership is trending, Parsons said, "We

’re staying stable at about 4,000 scouts. There’s a lot of activities out there for youth to be apart of, so making sure we’re providing a great experience is what we’re focused on ... ensuring that our camps and properties are high-quality, high-adventure places people want to go see."

"One of the biggest spikes we’ve seen is girls participating in the program," he continued. "This started in 2019 and now 20% of our membership is female. Seeing that type of enthusiasm for the program is amazing. I think it has really opened up a lot of opportunities for us, and down the road, it’ll create even more opportunity for family camping.

Scouting America, Aloha Council will host its annual 

 on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Sheraton Waikīkī. This year’s fundraiser with honor Hawai‘i Community Foundation. Individual tickets are available for purchase, with proceeds directly supporting the Aloha Council’s programs serving more than 3,500 youth across Hawaiʻi, Guam and American Samoa. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Aloha Council’s Camp Pupukea rendering

<title>North Shore Scout camp reenvisioned for community use</title>

The planned improvements to Camp Pupukea aim to serve scouts, business and nonprofit organizations and community groups, as well as those seeking refuge during natural disasters, per Scouting America, Aloha Council.

North Shore Scout camp reenvisioned for community use

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ASD Staff

Daily Smile

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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Michelle in Mililani.

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Hawaiʻi Skies: Another one

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Daily Smile: Monday, July 27, 2026

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Rich on Hawaiʻi Island.

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Hawaiʻi Skies: On top of the world

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Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by John Pritchett on Oʻahu.