Opinion
Honolulu's restaurant corner
With its high traffic and visibility, the corner of Kapi‘olani Boulevard and Kalākaua Avenue has attracted a series of legendary eateries over the decades. ASD history columnist DeSoto Brown revisits them all — Kau Kau Korner, Coco's, Hard Rock Café (much of the latter's building now serving as the home of Chick-fil-A's only sit-down restaurant).
DeSoto BrownJuly 30, 2026
Letter to the Editor: Reader thanks ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa for ʻike
A reader from Lāʻie writes in to Aloha State Daily to thank Higa, who has opined on the stateʻs "increasingly steep slide into societal suicide."
Letters to the EditorJuly 30, 2026
Hamada: Hot takes on bribery, Tommy Waters, Hāna Highway confrontation
With so much in the news, ASD opinion columnist weighs in on the state's bribery scandal, Tommy Waters' attempt at a third term and a recent ugly confrontation between locals and tourists in the Hāna Highway.
Rick HamadaJuly 29, 2026
Secrets of the Scottish Rite Cathedral
ASD's ghost and history columnists themselves had a very strange experience giving a tour of Makiki's Scottish Rite Cathedral. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry was welcomed into the Islands in 1874 by King David Kalākaua and John Owen Dominis, husband of Queen Lili‘uokalani. Its members have a long history of service to community, with an air of Masonic mystery.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 29, 2026
Pipikaula Corner: Fauci revealed as fear-mongering, fame-loving fraud
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.
A. Kam NapierJuly 29, 2026
Tommy Waters term limits ruling: Why the Council Chair should step aside
A judge ruled Monday that Tommy Waters has already served his two terms — while voters were filling out ballots bearing his name. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the difference between fighting for the people within the law and fighting the people with it.
Sterling HigaJuly 29, 2026
Community Voices: The one-dollar solution
Under the state constitution, surpluses are supposed to be returned to Hawai‘i's taxpayers. Here are some of the games lawmakers and governors play so that the amount returned is always, somehow, just a dollar.
Tom YamachikaJuly 28, 2026
Community Voices: Empty homes tax just empty promises
Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i helped persuade the Honolulu Charter Commission to not advance a poorly conceived empty homes tax to the ballot. Instead, as GIH proposes, improvements to zoning and permitting could speed the supply of housing.
Keliʻi AkinaJuly 26, 2026
Hawaiʻi population decline: How George Ariyoshi’s managed growth policies shaped today’s crisis
George Ariyoshi dressed for the office he held and trusted the most respected experts of his age — and the experts were wrong. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the population prophecy that failed twice.
Sterling HigaJuly 25, 2026
Changing Kaka‘ako: The first high-rise
Perhaps no urban Honolulu neighborhood has changed more over the past 50 years than Kaka‘ako. ASD history columnist DeSoto Brown looks back on the changes, starting with the skyline, which used to boast but a single high-rise building. That has certainly changed! The condo 1350 Ala Moana once stood as a landmark and now is lost in the crowd.
DeSoto BrownJuly 23, 2026
Hawaiʻi millionaire tax: Why the new 13% bracket won’t be the last
The millionaire tax passed with barely a murmur. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why the measures nobody argues about deserve the second look.
Sterling HigaJuly 23, 2026
Hamada: Thirty years of infamy for our business climate — when does that change?
Hawai‘i was just ranked worst in the nation for business. Again. Mainland and local observers have been pointing this out consistently since the 1990s, even, at times, as far back as the 1970s. Well, asks ASD opinion columnist Rick Hamada, who has been in charge all this time?
Rick HamadaJuly 23, 2026
Uncles and Aunties: Vicky Holt Takamine, legendary kumu hula
“My mother was my inspiration,” Takamine told ASD. “I used to watch her dance on the ‘Lucky Luck’ TV show in the 1950s. I begged her to let me go to hula classes, but she said I was too young and that I would quit after a year. I proved her wrong!” In 2025, she was recognized as a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i for her accomplishments — one of several accolades, both local and national, she has received over the years for her contributions to hula and Native Hawaiian arts and culture.
Cheryl Chee TsutsumiJuly 22, 2026
Night Marchers at the Naniloa
Babe Ruth and President Franklin D. Roosevelt are among the Mainland luminaries who planted banyan trees along Banyan Drive. The history of the Hilo area surrounding the Naniloa Hotel goes back to ancient times, and as hotel staff tell it, on some nights the old days come marching through in a mist.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 22, 2026
Pipikaula Corner: The company they keep
Hawai‘i Democrats invited a special Mainland guest to their annual convention in late May, as keynote speaker. If this is their role model, ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier opines, Hawai‘i is in trouble.
A. Kam NapierJuly 22, 2026
Community Voices: Why care about the Dam Special Fund
Special funds have proliferated in Hawai‘i state government, to now more than 1,800. It's to the point that the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i says it's impossible to know how much money state government actually has. The foundation sued over one of these funds for failing to follow state constitutional limits. Here's what happened to that case.
Tom YamachikaJuly 22, 2026
The return of Hawai‘i’s Marine Affairs Coordinator
ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith noticed that the state of Hawai‘i has just created a Marine Affairs Coordinator — and it's not the first time. What will the person who gets this position do, and how is different from the last time that Hawai‘i state government created, and eventually abandoned, the same role?
Perry ArrasmithJuly 22, 2026
NBC, ABC and the Trump speech: The century-old idea behind the networks’ decision
The anchors couldn’t wait for the speech to end. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why the press acts like a priesthood — and why no reform will fix it.
Sterling HigaJuly 21, 2026
Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's election amnesia
A Civil Beat op-ed this weekend freaked out over Pres. Trump's election security speech and the SAVE Act. Memories have gotten pretty short in the Islands; however, because voting in person and showing ID to vote were uncontroversial good-government reforms that Hawai‘i Democrats themselves put in place in 1970. These reforms governed our elections reliably until Democrats changed the laws again in 2019.
A. Kam NapierJuly 21, 2026
Hawaiʻi Act 11: Why the corporate campaign spending ban can’t fix our politics
Hawaiʻi’s new ban on corporate election money assumes the voters are ready to govern themselves. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why self-government can’t be legislated.
Sterling HigaJuly 15, 2026
Hamada: Airport carjacker skating on kidnapping charge
Lawrence and Rose Ching are stunned that the man who carjacked them at Honolulu International Airport — driving off with their teen daughter in the back seat — isn't getting charged with kidnapping. ASD opinion columnist Rick Hamada agrees and takes a close look at the definition of the crime.
Rick HamadaJuly 15, 2026
Silent Spirits at the Hilo Hawaiian
Life thrived along Hilo Bay and Waiākea Peninsula, with abundant taro lo‘i, fish ponds, for centuries before Western contact. Spiritual life was ever-present and the landscape was dominated by the towering Kūakaʻananuʻu heiau, where men were sacrificed in elaborate ceremonies. Now the site is home to Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, and guests share stories of spectral visitors from long ago.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 15, 2026
Kooky Rental Cars!
ASD history columnist DeSoto Brown takes us on a spin behind the wheels of the wacky, colorful rental cars that tourists loved in 1960s Hawai‘i. Open-air jeeps and dune buggies, these vehicles came from such exotic places as England, Italy, France and Toledo, Ohio. They all promised a fun time in the Islands.
DeSoto BrownJuly 14, 2026
Community Voices: Planting the seeds for progress
Two laws supported by Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i have passed, allowing farmers to run home kitchen operations on their properties and build on-site housing for much-needed workers.
Keliʻi AkinaJuly 14, 2026