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This is Diego. He has discovered a suspicious cactus wearing a sombrero that dances, glows, and mocks his brave alarm barks. Refuses to back down despite clear sorcery. Absolute unit of a watchdog. would hire for home security...

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Daily Smile: Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Of course dogs should get presents on Christmas. They're part of the family.....

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Daily Smile: Monday, January 5, 2026

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Daily Smile: Sunday, January 4, 2026

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Daily Smile: Saturday, January 3, 2026

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Daily Smile: Friday, January 2, 2026

More play-by-play with Olive and Mabel. Note: Announcer usually broadcasts Olympics, Wimbledon, The Masters, etc. But when Covid shut everything down, he started doing play-by-play of his dogs.....

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Daily Smile: Thursday, January 1, 2026

He was teaching them how to play fetch with the dog and...

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Daily Smile: Wednesday, December 31, 2025

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Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

The votes have been cast and counted, and the best hotels and resorts across the Islands have been ranked in 

Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikīkī Beach

General Manager Mike Kass said in an announcement Tuesday that the recognition is a reflection of the "passion, dedication and genuine care demonstrated every day by our ladies and gentlemen."

 that is set to bring the Parisian pâtisserie, known for its macarons, to Hawai‘i for the first time; a collection of guest experiences will culminate with the debut of a pop-up Ladurée cafe on Dec. 4. 

Rounding out the top 10 hotels in Hawai‘i are 

The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikīkī

Kōloa Landing Resort at Po'ipū, Autograph Collection

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Autograph Collection

Top 25 Destination Spa Resorts in the United States

Best Spa Resorts in the U.S. and Around the World

Hawai‘i's four major islands were all ranked on the list of 

, with Maui at No. 3, O‘ahu at No. 4, Lāna‘i at No. 6, Hawai‘i Island at No. 10, Kaua‘i at No. 11 in the U.S.

Hundreds of thousands of people submitted their ratings between April 1 and June 30, and the results were tabulated by Condé Nast. Read more about the methodology 

A number of Hawai‘i hotels and resorts were recently ranked among the best in the U.S. in the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Read more about those 

HNLRR Exterior HERO 2022

<title>These Hawai‘i hotels, resorts recognized by Condé Nast Traveler</title>

Hundreds of thousands of people voted between April 1 and June 30 to find the best hotels, resorts, cruise lines, spas, cities and more around the world, including the top hotels and resorts in Hawai‘i, which were ranked in the magazine's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards.

These Hawai‘i hotels, resorts recognized by Condé Nast Traveler

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Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AG Anne Lopez scaled 16x9

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

A second lawsuit challenging Act 11 has struck the state.

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

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Perry Arrasmith

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Probably not, at least not in the way it is remembered. 

The question entered my mind a few weeks ago. I found myself walking along the waterfront, and there the abandoned building’s faded signs reminded me of the past.

The Hawai‘i Maritime Center, now closed for nearly two decades, looks like an ideal setting for a Scooby-Doo-style mystery. My imagination wandered for a few minutes. 

The museum, like the now-scuttled Falls of Clyde, started out with a great deal of promise. In the 1980s, the Maritime Museum and the Falls of Clyde looked like newfound attractions fit to complement a broader push to revitalize the area under the direction of the Aloha Tower Development Corporation (ATDC), a state agency that exists to this day. 

In a vein akin to the State’s establishment of the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority (HCDA) for the purpose of redeveloping Kaka‘ako, the ATDC’s purpose was to “strengthen the international economic base of the community in trade activities, to enhance the beautification of the waterfront, and, in conjunction with the department of transportation, to better serve modern maritime uses, and to provide for public access and use of the waterfront property.” 

As part of those efforts, the Maritime Museum took shape. Bishop Museum began operating the museum in 1988 but ultimately 

 it in May 2009 amid the economic impacts of the 2008 recession. Since then, the State of Hawai‘i’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has struggled to articulate proper plans for the site. 

 that the DOT was seeking bids for the potential redevelopment of the site. The story arrived on the heels of the Honolulu Harbor 2050 Master Plan 

 by the DOT. The site’s outlook was not ideal.  

“The former Maritime Museum structure at Pier 7 has extensive termite damage and is recommended to be examined for any reuse potential via a structural condition assessment,” the plan found. “Should the structure be deemed unsalvageable, a new structure with a potential redevelopment footprint of 18,000 SF could be built on the pier. Future uses may include office or retail space, exhibit area, or [a] cultural education center.” 

It is sobering, at this point, to know that no amount of nostalgia will guarantee the return of the old Maritime Center, as far as it existed as a museum until 2009. The building is not what it used to be. In October 2025, the Falls of Clyde was 

No amount of effort will bring the Falls of Clyde

back. It now rests in the ocean off the coast of O‘ahu, at peace with the pace of decay. Its delisting from both the state and national registers of historic places shows that time does move along, even when we’re afraid of time’s passage. 

What remains is a possibly better future. In February 2024, the Star-Advertiser 

 that the DOT had selected a bidder to redevelop the site. Two years later, we can only hope that such a plan is still in the works. 

Some people want to hold onto the past until it is nothing more than a sad and hollow shell of the promise it once seemed to offer. The tragedy of that lost promise is the source of much nostalgia, and such nostalgia can arrest long-overdue development. 

The old Hawai‘i Maritime Museum is left to sit. The termites eat the wood. One day, the building will either be rehabilitated at great expense, collapse into the ocean, or face demolition at the expense of a yet-to-be-determined entity. 

Perhaps a developer will come and reinvent the site. Pier 7, with enough time, will find a new purpose. In the meantime, we’ll see if Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine manifest along Honolulu’s waterfront.

Hawaii Maritime Center 2

<title>Will the Maritime Museum ever return?</title>

The Hawai‘i Maritime Center has been closed for 20 years, standing termite-eaten and faded next to Aloha Tower. Its signature exhibit, the historic ship Falls of Clyde, was towed out sea and sunk last year as unsalvageable. ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explains where the center came from in the first place and what might happen with it next.

Will the Maritime Museum ever return?

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Haley Lehman

Aloha Spirit

 knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Hawaiʻi residents, food banks and hunger-relief partners across Hawaiʻi stepped in to provide food. 

doubled its monthly average of food distributions in the wake of hurricanes Lala, Lowell, and Nolo over the past couple of months, the nonprofit's CEO and president Amy Miller told Aloha State Daily last week. Headquartered in Honolulu, the organization normally distributes between 200,000 to 225,000 pounds of food per month on Kauaʻi — and in September alone, distribution jumped to 619,578 pounds of food. On Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Foodbank distributed 4.4 million pounds of food in August and September.

Ahead of the storms, Hawaiʻi Foodbank sent seven shipping containers of Survivor Daily Rations, 24-hour emergency meal kits that do not require refrigeration, to Hawaiʻi Island, two to Maui and one to Molokai, according to Miller.

On Oʻahu, power outages hit residents the hardest, Miller said, noting that the City and County of Honolulu provided $200,000 to Hawaiʻi Foodbank in August to help source and transport food for distribution on Oʻahu after Hurricane Lala.

“So many of our households are already food insecure or just on the brink," she said. "Losing a full fridge of food is not something many families can weather."

Miller said that the food bank worked to distribute nonperishable food in the immediate aftermath of the storm and later dispersed items like bread, milk, eggs and produce to restock fridges.

For Hurricane Lowell, which struck Kauaʻi on Sept. 7-8, she added that it was “really scary” because it knocked out electricity to approximately 91% of the island, leaving residents unable to purchase food and gasoline.

“We had no power at our warehouse, and if we hadn’t got it back on the day that we did, we risked not being able to power our pallet jacks or forklift,” Miller said.

Hawaiʻi Foodbank works with more than 250 hunger-relief partners and serves more than 160,000 people each month on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, according to its website.

Leelen Park, communications and public relations director for

on Hawaiʻi Island, told ASD that the food bank distributed nearly 1 million pounds of food in August. The food bank regularly serves about 60,000 people per month, and the emergency response to Hurricane Lala reached more than 30,000 people.

“With this storm, the majority of our island lost power and it really highlighted how fragile our infrastructure can be in the wake of a storm,” Park said.

For Park, Hurricane Lala showcased the devastation that a storm could cause, and gave people a better understanding of the need to prepare for future storms, like Hurricane Nolo at the time.

When Park directed traffic in front of their warehouse prior to Hurricane Nolo, he saw families who were scared and needed to prepare.

“Us being out there really gave them hope,” he said.

while the food bank typically distributes about 550,000 pounds of food per month, the organization distributed more than 600,000 pounds of food per month 

to residents on Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi

n July, August and September of this year.

Saragosa said that there is a stigma against receiving help, but that help is for everyone.

“One of the contributing factors to the need following disasters as opposed to blue skies is there’s incredible food loss," she noted.

and helicopters flew in water and supplies, she recalled, 

 volunteered to deliver food. After Hāna Highway was cleared, additional teams from the food bank worked collaboratively to deliver fresh food and disaster supplies.

“It was a kākoʻo effort,” she said. “The need grows but so does our response, not just from us but the community.”

Maui Food Bank relies on local farmers, or the 

 for produce, Saragosa described. If farmers have a surplus, such as when restaurants or hotels close during and after storms, the organization will purchases the surplus.

“Maui Food Bank has stepped in multiple times during those situations to make sure they can still sell their produce, and [so] they don’t have to lose out financially,” she said.

Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center

 Waiʻanae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board Inc. 

partners with Hawaiʻi Foodbank and local farms. The organization hosts five weekly kūpuna pantries and distributes emergency food after power outages and storms.

Cassidy Keola, director of community impact and engagement at ʻElepaio Social Services, told ASD that ʻElepaio distributed about 337,000 pounds of food to more than 2,900 households over seven emergency food distributions following Hurricanes Lala and Lowell.

“People are super grateful and appreciative [of] these food distributions,” Keola said. “It’s definitely a community-led effort. A lot of the people that are coming through these lines; they’re our families, they’re our neighbors, they’re our aunties and uncles.”

Alicia Higa serves as executive director of the nonprofit, whose mission is "to 

strengthen West Oʻahu ʻohana through Indigenous food sovereignty and access to origin-story foods — restoring people's relationship with ʻāina and food, nourishing families and cultivating community resilience for generations to come." 

Food-relief organizations prepare for the future

Hawaiʻi Foodbank is already bolstering its supplies and coordinating with local farmers to prepare for future storms. 

Miller told ASD that it can take food one to three weeks to reach Hawaiʻi from the Mainland depending on where it’s coming from, highlighting “how vulnerable we are in the middle of the ocean.”

One concern for the food bank now is for the economic aftermath of the storms. 

published in September from the Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, found that total spending by visitors declined by 9.7% in August compared to August 2025, and the number of visitors dropped by 5.6%. 

With tourism down, people may lose their jobs which could impact the nonprofit's housing and power, per Miller.

Park noted that as the cost of living increases in the state, Hawaiʻi Food Basket more frequently hears of families choosing between paying for gas, food or medical expenses.

“This storm exacerbates all of that,” he said. “Almost half our island is food insecure, so having storms hit us makes matters a lot worse.”

Saragosa sees hope existing alongside anxiety when natural disasters reach the Islands.

For instance, Maui Food Bank set up a direct service market where Lahaina residents could choose what food they needed following the 2023 Maui wildfires. Saragosa said she saw families come together, talk story and heal. The market is still running today, and she calls it a “beacon of hope” for the Lahaina community.

“There’s a lot of fear about what’s coming next, what’s the next disaster, can I afford food, but there’s also a lot of hope,” she said, noting the food bank's role as the lead for food relief in partnership with local government, including Maui County Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).

“We’re going to bring this disaster hui together before the disaster happens,” she said.

Maui Food Bank is also visiting rural communities on Molokai and Hāna to examine their infrastructure and logistics, and prepare for future storms.

“We have to prepare now before it happens,” Saragosa said. “Because disaster doesn’t discriminate, neither should help."

Elepaio Social Services

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

The nonprofit's president and CEO shares more about the operations and ongoing partnerships at the food bank with warehouses, staff and support on both Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Her top priority is to expand the organization’s mission of nourishing ʻohana and ending hunger.

Amy Miller 01

Amy Miller reflects on five years at Hawaiʻi Foodbank

The nonprofit's new "grocery-style food pantry on wheels" will bring food to rural and underserved communities across the Garden Island.

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Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i goes mobile

<title>ʻDisaster doesn't discriminate': Emergency food distributions increase due to storms</title>

Food banks across the Islands significantly grew distributions in the wake of Hurricane Lala, Hurricane Lowell, Tropical Storm Moke and Hurricane Nolo over past months. Aloha State Daily talks with local food banks and community-led organizations seeking solutions for food insecurity in the future with the help of statewide government agencies, local farmers and producers, and volunteers.

ʻDisaster doesn't discriminate': Emergency food distributions increase due to storms

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

’s newest location near the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa opened today. This store marks the 

; it’s on the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street.

The University store — which is about 2,300 square feet — is CU Hawai

i’s second-largest location (behind its 

). The University store will be open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Similar to the Downtown Honolulu store, the University store will feature CU Hawai

i’s ramyun library wall with in-store cookers, exclusive Korean and local snacks, customizable drinks, popular onigiri, and more.

i’s signature DIY smoothie machine and slushy machine. Smoothies come in flavors like strawberry banana, mixed berry, acai and mango banana kale. 

The University store will also feature new, exclusive products that aren’t offered in other CU Hawaiʻi stores, including CU Hawai

i socks and other merch, BTS figurines and Kendama.

To celebrate the University store’s opening, customers can enjoy free onigiri, sandwiches and product giveaways from Oct. 1 to 7. Prizes include CU goodie bags with treats, limited-edition collectible CU characters and more. For examples, customers with student ID can get free onigiri tomorrow, Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until sold out). On Saturday, Oct. 3, customers will receive a free CU goody bag with any purchase. From Oct. 1 to 7, customers can take advantage of a BOGO musubi offer (buy one, get one free).

[{"type":"text","text":"All giveaways are while supplies last (limit one free item per purchase)."}]

Customers can also take advantage of month-long specials at this location, including $1.99 triangle gimbap and $4.99 katsu sando with fountain drink (or ice cup) combo.

[{"type":"text","text":"Limited customer parking is available at this location."}]

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<title>CU Hawaiʻi opens new store by UH Mānoa</title>

The new store — on the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street — is the brand’s fifth location in Hawaiʻi. The University store is CU Hawaiʻi’s second-largest location; to celebrate its opening, customers can look forward to free onigiri, sandwiches and product giveaways from Oct. 1 to 7.

CU Hawaiʻi opens new store by UH Mānoa

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

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 

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?