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Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 14, 2026

This is Nessie and Millie. Neither of them ever really learned how to dig, but Millie is pretty sure it's like giving CPR...

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Daily Smile: Monday, April 13, 2026

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Daily Smile: Sunday, April 12, 2026

Yes, you need to see a highland cow with a Bob Ross cut today...

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Daily Smile: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Now let's all enjoy a dog showing a cat how to take a bath...

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Daily Smile: Friday, April 10, 2026

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Daily Smile: Thursday, April 9, 2026

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Daily Smile: Wednesday, April 8, 2026

When you lied on your resume about having previous sheepdog experience...

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Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Corgi said, important half-time water break...

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Daily Smile: Monday, April 6, 2026

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Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

The Washington man charged with throwing a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal earlier this year can travel somewhat more freely now.

 in May with violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act by allegedly hurling a rock at an endangered monk seal on a Maui beach, narrowly missing the animal’s head.

Lytvynchuk was released on a $25,000 bond with several conditions in May. Those conditions restricted his travel to only the Western District of Washington — which covers Washington west of the Cascade Mountains — and O‘ahu, although he was only permitted to travel to the island for court purposes, and was prohibited from accessing any beaches while in the state.

However, at a status conference last week — at which Lytvynchuk was not physically present — Lytvynchuk’s travel restrictions were loosened to allow for work-related travel within Washington.

An agreement signed by Magistrate Judge Rom Trader now allows Lytvynchuk to travel within the full state of Washington. While he is only allowed to travel to O‘ahu for court purposes, with any travel to the island to be approved in advance by the court’s probation office, the restrictions do not mention any requirement to avoid beaches or marine animals.

While the status conference also established a trial date of Nov. 16, Lytvynchuk’s attorneys filed a motion Monday requesting that date be postponed to an unspecified date in 2027 for multiple reasons.

In particular, Lytvynchuk’s attorney’s are seeking to subpoena evidence from Delta Airlines — the airline he used to travel from Seattle to Maui — about whether the airline made any announcements or advisories regarding Hawaiian monk seals, endangered species or any prohibited actions on Lytvynchuk’s flight.

In addition, Lytvynchuk’s attorneys have outstanding requests with the state Attorney General, Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding records of previous Hawaiian monk seal-related investigations.

Those records are intended to investigate “whether similarly situated persons accused of comparable conduct involving Hawaiian monk seals were treated differently from [Lytvynchuk]” and whether any differences in treatment indicate that Lytvynchuk’s right to equal protection is begin impeded, according to the motion filed Monday.

In any case, the subpoena and outstanding records requests are unlikely to be resolved in time for a November trial date, hence the request for a postponement.

Whether that request is granted will be determined at a hearing on Oct. 13. Lytvynchuk will also not appear in person at that hearing.

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<title>Travel restrictions eased for man accused of throwing rock at monk seal</title>

Igor Lytvynchuk can travel throughout Washington state again, although is still barred from Hawai‘i save for court business.

Travel restrictions eased for man accused of throwing rock at monk seal

Kam Napier Headshot

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

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

Chuck Malefyt is a product of the Pacific Islands having grown up in Saipan, Micronesia, Guam and eventually Hawaiʻi, where he went to college and returned for retirement after 20 years of service in the U.S. Army and a 10-year commercial pilot career.   

In addition to helping raise grandchildren, he said that after he retired, he dove back into his old hobbies, including photography and ham radio. 

“My dad was an amateur radio operator in Guam and when I came to UH in the late ‘60s (to study anthropology and general education), we would communicate by ham radio twice a week – that was the way to go versus cell phone back then,” Malefyt told Aloha State Daily.

Today, he blends his life experience in the military and passions for radio with community service, having volunteered for the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor National Memorial for more than a decade.   

“It’s been quite fun and rewarding, I thank my lucky stars every time I go down there, at least a couple times a month,” he said.   

As a docent, Malefyt enjoys educating about radio. “Radio Central was one of the more important areas of this ship, where you’d get information about targets and battle plans, and exchange signal reports, stories and locations. Now, people still want to talk to us using the world-famous call sign KH6BB.”

“If you are touring the USS Missouri, the best way to visit Radio Central, where KH6BB is located, is to sign up for the Captains Tour.”   

His role also includes training new operators and organizing events each year.   

On June 7-8, the Mighty Mo will participate in Museum Ship Radio Days, which will connect more than 85 ships from across the globe. The event is not open to the public, he said, but more information can be found 

On August 22-24, he will also help host the Hawai‘i QSO Party, an event promoting the use of high-frequency radio waves.

This year, Malefyt aims to get more people interested, involved and licensed in radio, he said. “I enjoy talking about the radio, what we do and how we do it." Interested? Click 

Over the years, some of his favorite memories have included welcoming special visitors, including a Pearl Harbor survivor and fellow radio operators. He added, “I also love when the kids come on board and spend the night or get enthused about the radio world.”   

Malefyt was recently awarded the Truman Centennial Award Outstanding Senior Volunteer 2024, among other Battleship Missouri Memorial Volunteer Award Winners. The full list of recipient is 

Last year, the Mighty Mo “was supported by an extraordinary 1,400 volunteers, who generously gave their time across 2,879 individual visits,” the nonprofit association said. “Collectively, these volunteers contributed 9,129 hours of service, a remarkable contribution of time, energy and service. According to Independent Sector’s 2023 estimate of $33.49 per volunteer hours, this equates to more than $305,500 in contributed labor, a powerful testament to the dedication and passion of our volunteer community.”   

“Our volunteers are the backbone of the Battleship Missouri Memorial — not only supporting us as a nonprofit organization but also playing a vital role in preserving her place in history,” said Michael Carr, president and CEO of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, in a statement. “Their thousands of hours of dedicated, hard work have been essential to the upkeep of the Mighty Mo, ensuring that visitors from around the world can continue to learn her remarkable story.”

The USS Missouri launched in 1944, with a career spanning five decades and three wars – World War II, the Korean War, and Desert Storm – and was decommissioned in 1992, mooring in 1998 near the USS Arizona, Malefyt said.

The Battleship Missouri Memorial is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Military, kama‘āina and school group pricing is available. 

For additional information, call 808-455-1600 or visit 

Pearl Harbor Mighty Mo Chuck Malefyt

<title>Meet Mighty Mo volunteer Chuck Malefyt</title>

Malefyt, a licensed amateur radio operator, has volunteered for the Battleship Missouri Memorial for more than a decade – and recently, he was awarded for his efforts to keep its rich history alive.