Hawai'i Skies

My Favorite Local Saying

Cartoons

Daily Smile

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Adopt a Pet

Daily Features

ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Today's social post from ekahi808 will help you prepare for Hawai‘i's upcoming graduation season.

Firefly graduation cap and Hawaiian lei 73612

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Reading local names at graduation

Ever wonder how Hawaiʻi handles an abundance of traffic cones? Check out this oldie but goodie from @kaitlyn.hoefling reposted by @808viral.

Firefly traffic cones on an island 81689

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: A hot take on how roadwork planning gets done

Today's social media find comes from hawaiisonly, living off the bounty of the ocean.

I Stock 2152765283

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Must be the "seefood" diet

Today's social media find comes from nailsbydanny, and it's all about the links.

I Stock 95634110

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: An amazing chain of events

Today's social media find is from comedian Zak Toscani, looking back on his attempt to pull off tropical goth.

Firefly funny cartoon illustration of a goth kid standing under a small dark cloud in a sunny tropic

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Growing up goth in Hawai‘i

Todayʻs social media find comes from katkamalani, on how to spot the real thing.

I Stock 1463525547

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social: Must be a Mainland Maui

In today's social media find, justsmallkinethings explores the local tradition of respectfully referring to older people you don't know as Aunty or Uncle.

I Stock 1993739687

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: The rules on when to call someone Aunty or Uncle

da_local_haole offers words to keep living by in today's social media find.

I Stock 494559465

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Why you do not wanna get into a fight with a local guy

Alex_farnham has a very particular drive-through order in today's social media find.

I Stock 2196775237

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "Burn dat buggah!"

In today's social media find, timothy.burke riffs on giving directions to a tourist using no street names at all ... as we do.

I Stock 110925568

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Where is the manapua man?

Pashyn gives local style advice in today's social media find.

I Stock 1399611538

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Auntie Therapy

In today's social media find, thepoipoundah demonstrates the proper technique for lawn maintenance with style.

I Stock 481141608

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: You will not guess where this weed-wacking goes

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Crime & Courts

Columnists

A young woman is suing Cornell and seven men. She says they raped her in a fraternity house two years ago, when she was 20. Much about the night is disputed, and every version of the story is grievous.

By her own account, she got drunk on vodka at her sorority house and drank more at a bar though she was underage. Her complaint puts it at about 10 drinks in three hours. She walked to a fraternity house around 11 p.m. She arrived drunk, took ketamine, and had sex with two men she knew. She told police she was willing at first. Her lawsuit says she was too drunk to consent to any of it, and that the men who came in afterward raped her.

She did not call it rape at first. Within three weeks she did, and went to campus police. The district attorney read her sworn statement as describing consensual sex and declined to bring charges. Cornell expelled two of the men and suspended two. Now she is suing the university, the fraternity, her sorority, a bar, and the seven men.

Her story has been conscripted to serve political narratives, leading up to the midterm elections. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told a town hall, as settled fact, that seven men “took turns gang raping her for seven hours.” Pundits have made Jane Doe an avatar of #MeToo.

Others online have tried to unmask her. Her lawyer says she has been threatened with harm unless she drops the suit, and that women mistaken for her have been threatened too.

In the coverage of the story, Jane Doe has been treated more as an object than a person. And the seven accused men have been condemned on social media as guilty without trial.

If her allegations are true, they would not be surprising. Sexual assault is common in American universities. It’s especially common during the first months of each school year, and many assaults are related to the culture of wild partying that’s grown up around fraternities and sororities.

This party culture is nothing new. Fraternities and sororities took Greek names and built themselves on the pattern of Greco-Roman mystery cults. Think: Bacchanalia and the cult of Dionysus. Hence the vows of secrecy, initiation rites, and symbols. “Greek life” is not a misnomer.

It’s not surprising that wild, drunken parties take place in fraternity and sorority houses. That is the highest expression of their culture.

The problem with this culture is that it’s degenerate. And Christians, at least, used to know this.

There was a time when a story like this would have led to the round condemnation of the whole system of “Greek life.” But it is now taken for granted that such a system must exist, that it can be reformed. A few more mandatory trainings about sexual consent, and all will be well.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"This is foolish."}]

Mystery religions will not be reformed. They must be abandoned. And it is a sad commentary on the church today that few Christians are willing to say so.

Such cults start with false worship and end with the ritual abuse of men and women. Solving the problems they cause means getting to the root.

God created man and woman in His image. This is where our dignity comes from. But the woman was deceived by the serpent and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The man, who was with her, sinned with his eyes open, and in him we all fell. This is where our sin comes from.

Woman is the glory of man, and he was made to guard her, as Adam did not. In a godly and loving marriage, their sexual union is a beautiful and often fruitful thing.

But we are fallen, and our desires are sinful. They run quickly toward worship of false gods like Dionysus.

Dionysus promises freedom. He claims to liberate. His followers drink wine and dance to escape from their limits. And while intoxicated, they are indeed freed from inhibition and restraint. But this freedom is license only to sin.

The Christian account is otherwise. We are born in bondage to sin. True freedom comes when God breaks that bondage and grants a sinner repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. By His blood, we are spared the punishment we deserve for our sin. And His Spirit enables us to live in freedom.

This freedom is no license. Sinful desires remain in us after we are saved. Christ frees us 

 something: to love God and neighbor and to keep His commands.

If it sounds strange to speak of Christ in response to an alleged gang rape, it is only because the church has retreated from its prophetic task.

A silent and hypocritical church cannot witness to the world. The church must first root out its own tolerance of sexual sin.

But then it must call a spade a spade. Greek life is a good place to start. It’s a knockoff mystery religion. It celebrates drunkenness, riotous living, and freedom from restraint. It is not Christian.

But Greek life appeals in part because Christians offer nothing better on most college campuses.

Many churches live next door to universities. They send missionaries abroad while ignoring the opportunity to evangelize next door.

Mystery cults are a pale substitute for true religion. They offer brotherhood for four years and a drunken feast on Friday night. Christ gives His people a family that does not end and table fellowship every Sunday.

, “If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans.”

And if we send them to the Greeks for their brotherhood, they’ll come home as Greeks.

Cornell i Stock 157198854 16x9

<title>Cornell fraternity rape lawsuit: What Greek life worships</title>

A 20-year-old walks from a bar to a fraternity house at 11 p.m. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why Greek life can’t be reformed and what the church owes the campus next door.

Cornell fraternity rape lawsuit: What Greek life worships

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

’s “Dead Letter Office” Halloween pop-up will run from Oct. 8 to 31. The cocktail bar at the 

 is featuring specialty Halloween cocktails and themed dishes for the first time in its speakeasy space.

To enter the speakeasy — which can fit 16 to 20 individuals — look for the mailboxes within Yours Truly.

The themed drinks include phantom ink ($18), moonlit martini ($18) — which features a shimmering presentation — autumn after dark ($20), and blood transfusion ($18). Individuals can get the cocktails “delivered” using the speakeasy’s signature mailbox system (with the exception of the blood transfusion drink, which is too tall to fit in the mailbox).

Customers can also get “shots” ($16) like specimen B-6006 and specimen B-1111; the shots feature bourbon and gin, respectively.

Specialty Halloween dishes feature sweet and savory options, according to executive chef Chris Murakami.

“We’re still doing what we’re doing, but just trying to have fun and make it very festive,” he says.

Halloween-themed dishes include hurricane fries, which are presented in a coffin ($16); charcoal-infused deviled eggs with truffle oil and salmon roe ($14); smoked ‘ahi dip served in a cauldron ($16); and desserts like pumpkin basque cheesecake ($14) and chocolate skulls ($14), which are chocolate truffles, according to Murakami.

While these dishes are popular options at AC Hotel’s The Dotted Line, the Halloween versions are only available at Yours Truly. Hurricane fries are topped with spicy mayo, unagi sauce, green onions and furikake, while the smoked ‘ahi dip is served with housemade sweet potato chips.

The Halloween speakeasy will be open Wednesdays to Sundays; reservations are now accepted via 

1111 Bishop St., Honolulu (AC Hotel by Marriott Honolulu in the cocktail bar)

Opens Oct. 8 from 5 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 5 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays

Yours Truly Halloween cocktail 093026

<title>Yours Truly to launch a limited-time Halloween speakeasy</title>

The downtown Honolulu’s “Dead Letter Office” Halloween speakeasy will run starting this week from Oct. 8 to 31. The speakeasy features specialty Halloween cocktails and themed dishes for the first time.

Yours Truly to launch a limited-time Halloween speakeasy

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Less than 24 hours after the Lotte Championship 

wrapped up its 2026 tournament at Hoakalei Golf Course

, the LPGA announced the event is leaving O‘ahu on Monday morning. 

As part of its 2027 schedule, the Lotte Championship will take place at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui from March 18-21. It will follow the debut of a brand new tournament, the 

, which will run from March 11-14 on the Big Island. 

The Plantation Course was home to the PGA Tour's Sentry Tournament of Champions, which most recently took place in January 2025. The 2026 tournament was canceled due to 

drought conditions that deemed the course unplayable

"We are thrilled to welcome the LPGA back to Kapalua and professional golf back to Maui," Kapalua golf general manager Alex Nakajima said in a press release. "The Plantation Course offers a unique challenge that will showcase the talents of the world's best female golfers. Fans can look forward to four days of high-level competition set against the stunning backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.”

The shaky conditions at Kapalua was the catalyst for the 

, with the Sony Open at Waialae being converted into a PGA Tour Champions event reserved for golfers 50 and over. 

The Lotte championship debuted in 2012, with each edition taking place on an O‘ahu golf course. The LPGA Tour's announcement came after the completion of the 2026 tournament at Hoakalei Country Club and not during. 

Lotte 100526

<title>Lotte Championship relocates to Maui</title>

The Plantation Course at Kapalua, which hasn't hosted a professional tournament since January 2025 due to water issues, will be the new host of the Lotte when it comes to Maui in March 2027.

Lotte Championship relocates to Maui

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 Ward ad 1 16x9

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

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

Changing Kaka‘ako: Remembering Ward Warehouse

 in Civil Beat this week about the tune of “Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī.” He learned that the melody served the British and the Germans, and perhaps the French, before it reached Honolulu. He felt some angst about it.

I can’t share the angst. A tune is like a coin. It passes through many hands and is no worse for the trip.

Words are different. Anthem lyrics are where a nation says what it means, and the words of "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" pushed out other words. Olin mentions the older anthem twice and moves on. But it’s worth more than a moment. The king’s sister wrote it, and it is the better song.

On Feb. 20, 1875, King Kalākaua stood in Kawaiahaʻo Church, five days home from a trip to America. His 

 was read in Hawaiian and in English. He told his people that idleness had thinned the nation since the days of Kamehameha. The cure, he said, was “material and social progress.” He wanted enough of it that the powerful governments then friendly to Hawaiʻi would think the kingdom worth keeping. The king placed the nation’s safety in its own industry and in the favor of stronger nations.

Then the choir rose and sang the national song, written by Princess Liliʻuokalani nine years before. It places the nation’s safety in the care of God.

Liliʻuokalani wrote the song in 1866 because Kamehameha V wanted a national air of Hawaiʻi’s own in place of “God Save the Queen.” Her 

 is a prayer to the Almighty Father. The most powerful man in the Islands appears in his own anthem as someone who needs looking after.

The English translation sings well, though it hides some of what the Hawaiian chorus says.

We recognize these words from our state motto: 

, commonly translated as “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

That motto was spoken by Kamehameha III in 1843 after the Paulet affair. But Liliʻuokalani turns it from a declaration into a petition.

, in thy enduring righteousness. May the life of the land endure through thy everlasting righteousness. The motto never says whose righteousness it means, but Liliʻuokalani’s chorus does.

Liliʻuokalani’s anthem looks to God for every blessing on the nation. The first constitution, in 1840, said the same in prose: “God must be our aid, for it is His province alone to give perfect protection and prosperity.”

By the time she wrote, that sentence was gone from the law. The constitutions of 1852 and 1864 spoke of a God who gives men their rights and may be freely worshipped. That is good law, but it is not a confession. So for 10 years Liliʻuokalani’s anthem carried the faith that the constitution had dropped. At the opening of a legislature or on the birthday of a king, the kingdom stood and told God that its hope was all in him. It was the last place where the nation still said so with one voice.

Kalākaua wrote his own words in 1874. They were first sung at Kawaiahaʻo on his birthday, the day before he sailed for America. The tune was one the royal bandmaster had arranged two years earlier as a hymn to Kamehameha. For more than a year the kingdom had two songs. In 1876 the king kept 

The reasons for Kalākaua invoking Kamehameha are not hard to find. The legislature had elected him over a beloved queen, and a riot followed. He was not of Kamehameha’s line, and everyone knew it.

A shaky throne wants a song that ties it to something solid, and Kalākaua reached for the great king. But Kamehameha died before the first missionaries landed. He kept the kapu to the end, with Puʻukoholā heiau dedicated with human sacrifice. Kamehameha was a great king, but he is an odd father for a Christian nation to sing to.

Kalākaua’s mele is a different creed from his sister’s. Her song speaks to God about the king. His speaks to the people about the king, and God is not addressed at all. Hers gives the name Father to the Almighty, and his gives it to Kamehameha. She asks for peace from God. The only defense his song names is the spear. The psalmist cautioned against relying on arms for defense: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

With the old song went the last public words that rested the nation on God. They went at the king’s whim, in favor of his own verses. 

But spears could not defend that king. Eleven years later he signed a constitution at the point of other men’s bayonets. Six years after that the throne fell, and no spear was strong enough to defend it. His sister, a prisoner in her own palace, wrote another hymn, the “Queen’s Prayer.” She asked again for peace from God.

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī is still sung at ball games and graduations, and with special feeling at sovereignty rallies. Most of us learned it before we could ask what its lyrics said, or what they replaced.

But “He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi” is the better song, and Liliʻuokalani’s anthem is still worth hearing.

Liliuokalani i Stock 1701031086 16x9

<title>"Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" lyrics and history: The Liliʻuokalani anthem that Kalākaua replaced</title>

For 10 years the Hawaiian Kingdom stood and sang a prayer written by the future queen. Then her brother wrote his own song. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the words “Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī” replaced.

"Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" lyrics and history: The Liliʻuokalani anthem that Kalākaua replaced

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

The best of Hawai‘i — the best family attraction, cruise, lū‘au, resort, restaurant and tour company — has been decided by voters in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

Nominees in each category were chosen with the help of a panel of experts but the winners were determined by votes and announced July 22.

[{"type":"text","text":"Here's who made the cut in 2026:"}]

Oahu aerial unsplash 051525

<title>Here's the best of Hawai‘i, according to the people</title>

The best family attraction, cruise, lū‘au, resort, restaurant and tour company in Hawai‘i have been decided by voters in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Read on to see who made the lists.