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Smile 26 7 8

Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Cutting the cheese with a dog on my head...

Smile no play 6 28 26

Daily Smile: Tuesday, July 7, 2026

The Miami Marlins are searching for the dog that went viral after watching another pup enjoy a hot dog during Monday’s game. The team has posted a "wanted" flyer and is promising the overlooked pooch a dream day at the ballpark.

Smile 26 7 6

Daily Smile: Monday, July 6, 2026

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Columnists

Government & Politics

If you’re a street junkie, shooting up heroin in Chinatown, the State of Hawai‘i has your back. It’ll take our tax dollars and turn them into clean needles, so you can keep on shooting safely.

Fentanyl addict? Go for it! Chances are you’ll never get busted for public intoxication (though it’s a crime), or possession (a crime), and if you overdose, the state will once again turn tax dollars into Narcan to save your life. All your emergency rooms visits? Not to worry! “The people” have you covered with their tax dollars and inflated insurance premiums.

If you’re an alcoholic, the State of Hawai‘i just doesn’t care. Legislators drink, after all, they’re not going to go after their own Heineken and Merlot. Just don’t drink and drive, that’s the only area where we see public policy put any time and money. Everyone seems perfectly confident that ID checks at the liquor store are keeping booze out of the hands of children.

Love pot? Lucky you live Hawai‘i! Hawai‘i loves pot and Hawai‘i loves you! It’s de facto legal, based on how often you can smell pot in the open. And it’s trivially easy to go the law-abiding medical marijuana route. Tell a doctor you’re anxious, get a prescription and it’s off the pot pharmacy you go. Enjoy! After all, we’ve hashed this issue out for years now and all sensible people agree that drug prohibitions never work. You have to respect people’s choices and just legalize and tax their habit.

But if you’re a smoker who’d like to quit smoking cigarettes by going to a safer but similar alternative, this same State of Hawai‘i has just two words.

, Gov. Josh Green just signed a law that as of January 1, 2027, will ban “99.9% of disposable vapes” in Hawai‘i. Flanked by public health officials and the obligatory Child For Whom We Do This, he positively beamed with pride.

Over what, exactly? Doctor Governor Green should be aware that if harm reduction works for hard drugs, it certainly does with nicotine. The UK’s NHS (formerly known as the National Health Service), which is beloved by American Democrats as an ideal model of universal health care, has 

“In recent years, e-cigarettes have become a very popular stop smoking aid in the UK. Also known as vapes or e-cigs, they're far less harmful than cigarettes, and can help you quit smoking for good. … Many thousands of people in the UK have already stopped smoking with the help of an e-cigarette. There's evidence that they can be effective. A 2021 review found people who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking, as well as having expert face-to-face support, can be up to twice as likely to succeed as people who used other nicotine replacement products, such as patches or gum.”

Our reporter asked Green about that. He replied with skepticism, saying, “The biggest problem has been getting an entire generation … innumerable middle schoolers and high schoolers hooked,” Green said. “Society has found ways to quit traditional cigarettes through medical means, through behavioral techniques; we should lean on those.”

Does he even hear himself? He said this while signing an e-cig prohibition law. Not medical means, not behavioral techniques, no, just the ban hammer. Meanwhile, actual tobacco cigarettes, the really dangerous ones we didn’t ban, remain perfectly available.

Then Green put Lola Irvin on the spot for further comment on our question. Irvin is administrator of the state Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division. As we reported, she said adults who have concurrently used traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes are less likely to successfully quit smoking, while young people who begin using e-cigarettes are more likely to transition to smoking traditional cigarettes.

[{"type":"text","text":"So much for harm reduction!"}]

Irvin seems unaware of the NHS findings I shared above about people successfully using e-cigs to quit tobacco cigarettes or reduce their intake. There are other studies.

Efficacy and Safety of E-Cigarette Use for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

,” for example, published in 2023 at The American Journal of Medicine. Conclusion: “Nicotine e-cigarettes were associated with increased smoking abstinence in comparison with non-nicotine e-cigarettes. Furthermore, nicotine and non-nicotine e-cigarettes increased abstinence compared with conventional smoking cessation therapies, and the absolute risk of [Serious Adverse Events] was low across all trials. Overall, these data suggest e-cigarettes appear to be more efficacious than conventional nicotine replacement or behavioral smoking cessation therapies.”

, published last November. “Nicotine e-cigarettes can help people to stop smoking for at least six months,” it concludes. “Evidence shows they work better than nicotine replacement therapy, and probably better than e-cigarettes without nicotine. They may work better than no support, or behavioral support alone, and may not be associated with serious unwanted effects.”

As for her arguments that e-cigs and vaping makes teenagers more likely to take up smoking real tobacco cigarettes, there are indeed studies that find teens given to try vices will try both vaping and smoking, sometimes in that order, sometimes the other way around. These studies find they’ll often also try pot and booze.

When you measure what youths actually do, however, the astonishing and wonderful fact is that 

peaked in 1997 at 36.4%, considerably higher than the adult rate that year of 24.7%. By 2021, the youth smoking rate dropped to just 3.8%, well below the adult rate of 11.5%.

That’s an 86% decline in just 24 years, across all ethnicities, sexes and grade levels.

And it has dropped even more since then, despite the arrival of e-cigs and vaping. As of 2024, according to the 

, just 1.4% of high school students reported any use of tobacco cigarettes.

, found that from 2022 to 2025, e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use among youth further declined while nicotine pouch use remained low and stable.

In other words, we won the war on youth smoking, without any prohibitions at all. When our governor says that "an entire generation … innumerable middle schoolers and high schoolers" have just been "hooked" on nicotine, he is flat out lying. The exact opposite is true. 

Rather than declare victory and keep on with existing, obviously effective policies, Hawai‘i snatched a crisis from the jaws of success and enacted this ban.

Because they did so in part to “protect our keiki,” they had a student speak at yesterday's press conference, Maya Butts. The bathrooms at her school, Kalaheo High School, she said have become just “places to vape.”

That’s surely against school rules and is certainly already illegal, so this sounds like an enforcement problem to me. Except the enforcers failed to uphold existing law. Then she said:

“I’ve watched my smart, athletic friends completely lose their motivation. They got hooked on these devices that taste like candy, move on to other substances, then lose their spark altogether.”

I hate to break it to Butts, but if vaping makes her schoolmates lethargic and lazy, they aren’t vaping nicotine. They’re vaping pot.

But the ban is about more than health and protecting kids, Green said, and the text of the legislation argues. It’s about protecting the environment. In each disposable vape is a battery and these batteries are getting into the environment, they asserted, without data.

Setting aside the fact that I’ve never seen the gutters lined with thrown-away vapes the way one used to see cigarette butts, I’ll just note that this is the same state government that is forcing us to import batteries by the tons for our carbon-free solar future. A half-ton battery in every EV. Batteries the size of a Matson cargo container for the solar farms. All with no plan for their disposal or recycling.

OK, so if you dig into facts and find that there is no youth smoking crisis, and the stated rationalizations for the ban range from transparently bogus to logically inconsistent, what’s really going on here?

[{"type":"text","text":"Class warfare, that’s what."}]

Vaping nicotine is, by and large, a lower-middle class and working-class vice. Construction laborers, single moms working two or three jobs, people who ride the bus. People who rent. They have ambitions and aspirations constantly thwarted by Hawai‘i high cost of living and ridiculously unnecessary housing shortage.

They’re tired, they’re stressed. They turned, at some point in their lives, to Kool Milds and Marlboro Lights to deal with it all. They know smoking is bad, though, but quitting is hard. Smoking is a pleasure, it’s a consolation. It both calms anxiety and sharpens concentration.

Then, miracle of miracles, technology gave them a better choice. Tobacco-free nicotine they can inhale for the same soothing, sensual pleasures they got from smoking, with none of the known carcinogens, none of the pilau smell.

On the other hand, we have the upper-middle class and those who aspire to that status. Your governors, legislators, health department careerists and high school faculty. People with social capital and clout, if not vast wealth beyond the equity in their home that they own. Few to none of these white-collar, college-educated professionals ever smoked, or quit years ago. They know better.

[{"type":"text","text":"They took one look at vaping and thought, in unison:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“That looks stupid. That looks tacky. That looks low-class.”"}]

That’s it. That’s the whole mindset. All the people who pushed this ban won’t say it, because they know how it sounds. No one wants to be seen as a snob and a Karen, they want to hide that. So they prop up children as human shields, gin up a non-existent crisis and use health and the environment as fig leaves.

All those smiling faces at that press conference? That’s the look of people gloating in triumph.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We took something stupid away from the stupid people! Yay, us!”"}]

That’s all that happened yesterday, and Hawai‘i is a better place as a result. For them.

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.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Vapes i Stock 2232713126 16x9

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's fraudulent vape ban</title>

On Tuesday, Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green signed into law a ban on "99.9% of disposable vapes." It's a move totally at odds with the harm reduction strategies the state uses for all other vices, argues ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier. And it's in response to a non-existent crisis, in that teen smoking and vaping is the lowest it's ever been in a quarter century.

Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's fraudulent vape ban

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

From live music to movies, there are lots of events happening on Oʻahu this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here are more than a dozen things Oʻahu residents can plan for.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Friday, July 10"}]

Disney’s live action adaptation of the animated film “Moana” will be in theaters on Friday, July 10. It stars Catherine Laga'aia as Moana and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui. Auliʻi Cravalho, who was the voice of Moana in the original animated movie, which was released in 2016, is one of the executive producers. The production includes some filming in Hawaiʻi. Aloha State Daily will be giving away tickets this month! Subscribe to our daily edition for more. 

Go to the Kamaka 110th Anniversary Concert. 

The International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi Gala Party will hold the Kamaka 110th Anniversary Concert at the Royal Hawaiian Theater, which recognizes 110 years of Kamaka ʻUkulele. There will be live performances from Raiatea Helm, 

, Kris Fuchigami, and Jeff Peterson, as well as Makena, which brings together Ho‘okena and former Makaha Sons members Moon Kauakahi and Eric Lee. The event includes a lū‘au buffet dinner before the gala concert and occurs ahead of the third annual International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi. Tickets are $170, with discounts for kamaʻāina. 

The well-known Irish pub is now under the management of singer and songwriter Tavana, who is known for his Island-inspired rock and blues. The upstairs space, now known as Tavana’s at Anna’s, will include a new stage, while the downstairs will remain Anna O’Brien’s with pool tables and darts. The space will have its soft opening under new management on Friday, July 10. The 

 for July is now listed on social media. 

The Honolulu Surf Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, July 9, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 2. This month, catch the world premiere of “Increments of Fear: The Buzzy Trent Story,” as well as the 

Jack Johnson documentary “Surfilmusic.”

 a short film that explores Indigenous knowledge of surfing and the ocean. 

Catch to the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival. 

The Hawaiʻi LGBT Legacy Foundation’s Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival will celebrate its 37th anniversary with films, live performances, filmmaker conversations and showcases of LGBTQIA+ stories from Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, Asia and more. The festival opens on Friday, July 10, with a red carpet event at Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park, adjacent to Hawaiʻi Theatre Center, which will be followed by screenings at Hawaiʻi Theatre Center. The three-day festival includes screenings at Hawaiʻi Theatre Center, so check the 

 and times. There will be a Drag Brunch at Pewa on Sunday, July 12. Individual tickets to screenings are $18. VIP passes are $75, or $55 for kūpuna and students. 

Trainers across the globe can participate in the Pokémon Go Fest. The two-day event runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12. The event is open to longtime fans and new players. On Oʻahu, there is a meet-up at 

Head to Waimea Bay to join in this jumping competition. There are three weight classes and prizes for the top contestants in each division. The competition starts at 10 a.m. The entry fee is $5. 

Hoʻonani the Harvest at Hawaiʻi Farm Fair. 

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience will host an Oʻahu County Showcase at the Hawaiʻi State Farm Fair at Whitmore Village. Awards will be given to top entries. Entries are now closed, but catch homegrown vegetables, bouquets and more on display this Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12. 

Learn the winners of the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. 

The winners of this yearʻs Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards will be announced at the Sheraton Waikīkī Beach Resort on Saturday, July 11. These are the 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sunday, July 12"}]

Catch the International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi. 

The third annual International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi will take place at Kapiʻolani Park, where Roy Sakuma hosted his iconic ʻukulele festival for more than 50 years. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. and includes performances from musicians around the world, as well as an ʻUkulele Hall of Fame presentation. Free. 

The second Sunday of each month is Kamaʻāina Sunday. Self-led audio tours are available for the first 500 attendees. There will be ʻono food, local vendors, live entertainment and more. Admission to ʻIolani Palace is free. There will also be entertainment and workshops sponsored by Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority through the Kūkula Ola Program. Free. 

Get a 12-ounce prime rib for $30 when dining at 8 p.m. or later at 

 is back. This year, readers can participate by reading 800 minutes or eight books. 

Physical books, audiobooks, eBooks, graphic novels and more

 count toward the contest. The challenge runs through July 31. The theme of the reading challenge is “E Heluhelu Kākou: ‘Umeke Kā‘eo” and celebrates a calabash overflowing with knowledge and wisdom. Readers who log reading get a chance to unlock rewards and possibly win the grand prize of roundtrip tickets from Alaska Airlines / Hawaiian Airlines. 

 Send us your pictures of sunrises, sunsets and more. Submitted photos may be featured in our reader submission series called Hawaiʻi Skies. Tell what you saw and why it was special. 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

"Moana"

<title>Disney’s live action 'Moana' sails into theaters and more: Oʻahu weekend guide</title>

Ready to make weekend plans? Catch Disney’s live action version of “Moana,” which opens in theaters on Friday, July 10. The Honolulu Surf Film Festival, the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, and the International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi will also be happening this weekend on Oʻahu.

Disney’s live action 'Moana' sails into theaters and more: Oʻahu weekend guide

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

Zippy's Kāhala location is set to reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday, July 7, after nearly four months of renovations.

"This renovation was part of a broader effort to ensure our Kāhala location continues to provide a great experience for both our guests and team members," Jessica Yamamoto, communications and social media manager for Zippy's, told Aloha State Daily in an email. "Majority of the updates were focused on enhancing our operations and supporting our long-term commitment to the community.

"Most of the renovations won’t be super noticeable to our customers, as the majority were done back of house (i.e. upgrades to equipment). What we do think our customers will notice is the refreshed look of Kāhala’s interior, along with the installation of our 

You'll find Zippy's Kāhala at 4134 Wai‘alae Ave. The restaurant will resume regular hours of operation, open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily for dine-in and take-out.

opened the first Zippy's Restaurant in Honolulu's McCully neighborhood in 1966. 

 on O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i Island and in Las Vegas. The chain celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

ICYMI: Jason Higa, CEO of Zippy's parent company, FCH Enterprises, and Francis' son, spoke with Aloha State Daily about the restaurant's origins, legacy and more earlier this year. You can 

Zippy's, which will honor the milestone throughout the year, kicked off its anniversary celebration earlier this year with the launch of a new line of 

As part of the ongoing anniversary celebration, the restaurant has so far unveiled an exclusive 

 to create a limited release, specially marked box of Original Hawaiian Soda Crackers; and launched a 

Kahala zippys 070126

<title>Zippy's Kāhala location to reopen</title>

The restaurant will reopen next week, following four months of renovations.

Zippy's Kāhala location to reopen

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Known for its Italian fare in a relaxed setting, 

 is launching a new happy hour on July 1.

The happy hour menu will be exclusive to this location; it’s served daily from 4 to 5 p.m. We’re told the eatery will extend the happy hour menu past July if it’s well received by customers.

The happy hour menu features some of the eatery’s bestselling dishes, along with exclusive options.

Start with appetizers like lobster bisque with sherry ($8) and Caesar salad ($8). The latter features romaine lettuce topped with marinated white anchovy, parmigiana reggiano, croutons and a Caesar dressing.

The Caesar salad is on the eatery’s regular menu; a smaller portion is featured during happy hour.

The eatery’s bruschetta rustica ($9), mozzarella fritta ($12), Arancino Siciliani ($12), pizza marinara ($13) and pizza al formaggio ($14) are all exclusive to the happy hour menu.

The bruschetta features garlic focaccia crostini topped with local cherry tomatoes, parmigiano Reggiano and basil. The mozzalla fritta ($12) is expected to be a customer favorite. It features panko-crusted mozzarella with prosciutto in the middle. Each order comes with four bite-sized pieces, served with arrabbiata sauce on the side.

The Arancino Siciliani ($12) — which includes two pieces per order — features Pomodoro risotto croquettes filled with bolognese and mozzarella. They come with spicy housemade garlic tomato sauce for dipping.

The eatery’s penne all’ arrabbiata ($12), gnocchi al gorgonzola ($14) and mortadella panini ($15) are featured on Arancino on Beachwalk’s lunch menu (they’re not available during dinner).

The pastas feature a half-sized portion during happy hour, since customers can still order off the eatery’s dinner menu.

The penne all’ arrabbiata is one of the most popular orders. The classic dish is served in a spicy housemade garlic tomato sauce; we’re told it’s been on the eatery’s menu for more than 15 years.

The gnocchi is ideal for cheese lovers, as it features a creamy gorgonzola sauce, parmigiano Reggiano and walnuts.

Two pizzas are available during happy hour — pizza marinara ($13), which features garlic and tomato sauce, and pizza al formaggio ($14), which includes mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano and tomato sauce.

The panino con mortadella is a hand-held sandwich features housemade bread with mortadella, stracciatella, arugula, pistachio and mayo. It’s served with fries on the side.

Customers can also take advantage of discounted drinks. The following drinks are always available at Arancino on Beachwalk, but are discounted during happy hour.

Specials include Prosecco, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Nero and peroni for $8 each, aperol spritz ($10) and Negroni ($10).

Validated customer parking is available at the Bank of Hawaiʻi parking lot on Beach Walk.

Arancino Beachwalk happy hour spread 062726

<title>Arancino on Beachwalk has a new happy hour</title>

The popular Italian restaurant’s new happy hour menu is exclusive to this location. It launches July 1 and will be available daily from 4 to 5 p.m. Customers can enjoy dishes like gnocchi with gorgonzola, lobster bisque, mortadella paninis and more.

Arancino on Beachwalk has a new happy hour

Real Estate

There's often talk about the affordability and availability of housing in Hawai‘i. 

While affordability challenges are real, local real estate experts say homeownership is possible.

 and Aloha State Daily recently caught up with Aaron Tangonan, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, to see what prospective homebuyers should know about the process. Here's what he had to say.

We hear a lot about housing affordability and availability. Realistically, how feasible is it to become a homeowner in Hawai‘i in 2026?

Affordability challenges are real, and we never want to minimize them. At the same time, one of the biggest challenges we see is that many local residents no longer believe homeownership is possible. Our concern is that many people become discouraged before they even begin exploring their options.

The reality is that local residents continue to buy homes every day. Nationally, first-time buyers made up 32% of all home buyers last year, up from 26% the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.

While Hawaiʻi faces unique affordability challenges, we continue to see local residents finding pathways to homeownership.

For most, that journey begins with getting on the housing ladder by purchasing a starter home and building equity. Over time, the equity gained from that home can be used to help purchase your dream or forever home.

The keys to homeownership are education, financial preparedness, patience and working with professionals. For buyers today, affordability is about more than just the purchase price. Interest rates play an important role in determining monthly payments and purchasing power, which is why it's important to focus on personal needs, budget and long-term goals rather than any single market factor.

We’ve seen this firsthand through local families who recently became homeowners through [Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corp.]’s Hale Kamaʻāina Mortgage Program. One buyer, a teacher, purchased a one-bedroom condominium in Makiki and shared that access to a lower interest rate helped make her monthly payment more manageable. Another local family purchased a three-bedroom townhome in Mililani Mauka and said the program helped make homeownership feel attainable. Their stories are reminders that while the path may look different for everyone, opportunities still exist for those who take the time to prepare and explore their options.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of working with a real estate agent and trying to go through the process without one?

As trusted advisers, Realtors leverage their industry knowledge and stay current on market conditions to help guide buyers through what is often one of the largest financial decisions of their lives. They can help buyers better understand the market, identify opportunities, connect with resources, navigate contracts and develop a strategy that aligns with their goals. 

 are also held to a strict Code of Ethics and have a duty to protect and promote their clients’ interests. 

According to the National Association of Realtors

, 88% of buyers purchased their homes through an agent, and 91% said they would use their agent again or recommend them to others.

While it is possible to purchase a home without representation, buyers who choose to do so may be responsible for navigating contracts, negotiations, deadlines and other aspects of the transaction on their own, including roadblocks along the way which are inevitable. Every buyer’s situation is different, but many first-time homebuyers find value in having an experienced professional by their side. We have also seen 

 go above and beyond to help clients achieve homeownership, whether that’s helping them navigate challenges, connecting them with resources or finding creative solutions to help them reach the finish line.

What are three things first-time homebuyers should know about the home-buying process?

What resources are available for first-time homebuyers, specifically? Are there programs that make the process easier or the goal more attainable?

There are a variety of resources available to help first-time homebuyers better understand the process and prepare for homeownership. Through the Honolulu Board of Realtors’ partnership with the Hawaiʻi HomeOwnership Center, the HOPE (Housing Opportunities are Possible for Everyone) 

 helps prospective buyers better understand budgeting, financing, mortgage terms and what it takes to prepare for homeownership. Since 2021, more than 850 individuals have participated in the program, and 70% have gone on to purchase a home or enter escrow within 6 to 18 months.

In terms of the current housing market, what kind of opportunities are available for first-time homebuyers in Hawai’i today?

Over the past year, nearly 2,200 properties sold for $500,000 or less, showing that buyers are still finding opportunities at more attainable price points. There are also nearly 1,200 active listings in this price range, particularly in the Metro region, Pearl City, and Central and Leeward O‘ahu.

The condominium market continues to serve as an important entry point into homeownership for many local buyers. According to our Local Market Update for May, year-to-date median sales prices remained below $500,000 in Downtown-Nuʻuanu, Kalihi-Palama, Makaha-Nānākuli, Makiki-Mōʻiliʻili, Moanalua-Salt Lake, Pearl City-ʻAiea, Wahiawā, Waikīkī, Waipahu and the Windward Coast.

Ultimately, the opportunities available will depend on a buyer’s goals, budget and flexibility. The important thing for buyers to know is that opportunities do exist, and taking the time to understand their options, explore different neighborhoods and work with trusted professionals can help them identify a path that aligns with their needs and financial circumstances. The key is getting on the housing ladder and building equity in that first home.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Is there anything else readers should know?"}]

I’d encourage anyone interested in homeownership to start the conversation now, even if they aren’t ready to buy tomorrow. The earlier you begin learning about the process, understanding your options and preparing financially, the more opportunities you’ll be able to pursue when the time is right.

Too often, people assume homeownership is out of reach without fully exploring what’s available to them. Every situation is different, but with the right preparation, guidance and patience, homeownership remains an achievable goal for many local residents.

For those who are working toward homeownership, it is important to understand the long-term value it can provide. Renting may make sense depending on a person’s goals and circumstances, whether that means living closer to work, remaining in a desired school district or renting a larger home than they may be able to purchase right away. However, paying rent is paying someone else’s mortgage, and building wealth for someone else. 

Historically, real estate has experienced stable long-term growth in value and served as a hedge against inflation. Homeownership can also help owners build savings and equity, creating value that may be realized later if the home is sold. It can also provide more predictability in monthly housing costs through a fixed-rate mortgage, give owners more freedom to make decisions about their living space and, depending on a household’s circumstances, may also come with certain tax advantages. For many local families, it can also create greater stability by allowing them to remain in one neighborhood over time, build lasting relationships within their community and create greater continuity for their children.

Oahu neighborhoods homes i Stock

<title>Looking to buy a home in Hawai‘i? Here's what you should know.</title>

Aloha State Daily talks with Aaron Tangonan, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, to learn more about the home-buying process, how feasible it is to become a homeowner, what opportunities are available and more.

Looking to buy a home in Hawai‘i? Here's what you should know.

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

More than 200 candidates are running for elected offices in Hawai‘i and will appear on ballots this year. See the candidates for city and county races, 

Tuesday marked the filing deadline for prospective political candidates to submit their nomination papers to run for office in the upcoming 2026 elections. The 2026 primary election will be held Saturday, Aug. 8, with the general election set for Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Here are the candidates for statewide races. 

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

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Lieutenant Governor"}]

U.S. Representative candidates, District II

State Senator District 5 (Wailuku, Kahului)

State Senator District 8 (Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau)

State Senator District 9 (Hawai‘i Kai, Diamond Head)

State Senator District 10 (Kaimukī, Kapahulu, Mō‘ili‘ili)

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"• Incumbent Les Ihara Jr., Democrat "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"• Jackson Sayama, Democrat  "}]

State Senator District 11 (Mānoa, Makiki, Punchbowl)

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"• Incumbent Carol Fukunaga, Democrat "}]

State Senator District 13 (Liliha, Iwilei, Nu‘uanu)

State Senator District 14 (Moanalua, ‘Aiea, Fort Shafter)

State Senator District 15 (Kalihi, Māpunapuna)

Daily Features - Thursday, 9 July

Hawaiʻi Skies: Jellyfish clouds

Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Daily Smile: Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Daily Smile: Monday, July 6, 2026

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Neighborhood weather updates

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Island vibes

Adopt a Pet

Adopt-a-Pet Oʻahu: Santa Paws event returns

Adopt-a-Pet: Let Sunshine light up your life

Adopt-a-Pet Maui: Aspen ʻenjoys life at a calmer paceʻ