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Perry Arrasmith

Do cars kill people? Maybe. Or maybe just people driving cars kill people. For today, I’ll leave the philosophy of that dilemma alone.

The invisible scale of deaths caused by vehicular crashes in Hawai‘i since statehood interests me more. Like many columns, this one is inspired by an unanswered question. 

 in a motorcycle collision in Kīhei on Maui. The night before, a 71-year-old 

 is a pedestrian fatality in Hilo. They are two among many dozens killed so far in 2026. 

Such deaths are reported on a routine basis, and every story adds to a tragic tally in the grand scheme of history.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) documents the scope of death on Hawai‘i’s roads, tracking fatalities on an annual basis back to 1994. Within the NHTSA, some data dating back to 1975 is maintained by the 

State data books are another source of perspective. The 1984 Data Book 

 on transportation documents all traffic fatalities from 1973 through 1983, and an earlier 

 from 1975 dates back to 1959. Similar sections from books issued in 

 provide a full picture of the entire period up to 2023.

Traffic fatalities appear to be largely declining in Hawai‘i. In 1975, there were 144 traffic fatalities, while an August 2025 

 found that they had declined to 93 fatalities in 2023. The drop between these two points in time was 35%. 

The improvement is more remarkable when you consider that from 1975 to 2023, the state’s population rose from about 868,400 to 1.44 million residents. Even with more than half a million additional people, traffic deaths on a per capita basis have declined over the decades. In Hawai‘i, the NHTSA 

 that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled between 1975 and 2023 fell 74%. 

Total fatalities on an annual basis may still rise. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation 

 that the tally of fatalities rose to 102 people (marking a 9.7% increase between 2023 and 2024). By the end of 2025, a total of 129 people had been 

From 1973 to 2023, 6,666 people were killed in traffic collisions. Looking at the period from statehood to 2023, the figure rises to 8,275 people.

When data from 2024 and 2025 is factored into the tally, the figure rises to 8,506 deaths. 

And so a columnist added some numbers. What was the point of this mathematical exercise? What emerges from the full picture of a tragedy that unfolds over the course of weeks that turn to months, months that turn to years, and years that turn to decades?

Traffic deaths are so normal that they are to be expected. Our society is car-dependent, but the number still scares me. It should scare anyone. 

We should at least have the courage, as a culture, to know the number. Other numbers are much easier to register. For instance, the state Department of Health 

 that 2,244 fatalities in Hawai‘i were linked to COVID-19 as of June 12, 2025. In that instance, the pace of the loss of life was much more rapid and dramatic. 

Traffic deaths occur on a gradual and independent basis, so their part in a larger story remains invisible. Perhaps that makes the scale of these deaths so much darker. 

I’m scared of driving, but I still drive. That doesn’t mean I should forget that driving is deadly. Desensitization to the manner of such deaths is the product of our habituation to the automobile’s inherent danger. 

We’ll still drive cars. We’ll turn car keys while engines ignite. The tally runs. 

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<title>The scale of Hawai‘i’s traffic deaths</title>

We can, and should, celebrate that Hawai‘i drivers and their cars have become significantly safer over the years. But at the same time, there's a death toll associated with driving, one that still grows with each tragedy. That number may surprise you, writes ASD columnist Perry Arrasmith, and is worth knowing

The scale of Hawai‘i’s traffic deaths

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Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

Will anything change in Hawai‘i after this election?

Few races are competitive. Republicans have no shot at taking the state’s legislature. They may be able to 

 in the State House after the election, but that’s a bargaining chip, not the whole pot. The State Senate may shuffle its leaders, but that does not mean a shift in policy.

At the top of the state, our congressional delegation and governor will stay the same. Derek Kawakami should slide into the lieutenant governor’s office. But he is a moderate. He offers continuity for his party rather than change.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The counties present little drama."}]

Honolulu’s most exciting race ended in court, as a judge barred City Council Chair Tommy Waters from seeking reelection. Trevor Ozawa should fill his seat. The council will select a new chair, but one can be forgiven for yawning.

Maui has the state’s most exciting race. Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura is challenging incumbent Mayor Richard Bissen. A Sugimura win would be a real change. She has signaled more support for housing and short-term rentals than Bissen has shown in his first term. The Maui council might also swing back from moderate to radical.

So what will change in Hawai‘i after the election?

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Outside of Maui, not much."}]

All the intrigue is in Washington, where control of Congress may change hands. If Democrats flip the House and the Senate, President Donald Trump becomes a lame duck for his last two years.

That would matter here. Budget decisions in DC affect funding for the states. Trade policy affects prices at the grocery store. Foreign wars affect the prices of gas at the pump. Our state’s defense economy is subject to decisions made 5,000 miles away. And tourism rises and falls with the Mmainland economy.

A certain type of person gets dramatic about elections. This is the most important election ever, he says. Democracy itself is at stake.

That person takes a fair point too far. Elections matter, but the American empire lurches on from one to the next. Our national debt balloons while our roads and bridges crumble. Yet our military is still the world’s most powerful, and the dollar is still accepted around the world. Our country is deeply divided, but it is not at war with itself. Our decline is more like erosion than shattering.

The hopeful take on elections is also misguided. Righting the ship of state is like turning an aircraft carrier. It takes a long time. We won’t save the republic with our ballots today. One election can bend history only so far.

We may sigh as we vote. But we should give thanks for a country where, despite occasional irregularities, elections are free and fair.

After we vote, we can rest. The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it wherever He will.

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<title>Hawaiʻi 2026 election: What will change after Election Day?</title>

Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation will stay the same, the governor will stay the same, and Honolulu’s hottest council race was settled by a judge. ASD columnist Sterling Higa on why the only vote that might change anything is on Maui.

Hawaiʻi 2026 election: What will change after Election Day?

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Christian Shimabuku

Sports

During one of the first official practices for the University of Hawai‘i men's basketball team ahead of the upcoming 2026-2027 season, a staffer was seen lobbing a silky, perfectly placed alley-oop to a Rainbow Warrior forward. Who was this mystery man with the assist, and what's his hoops background? 

Upon further inspection, it turned out the pass came from Brett Sheward, the team's new graduate manager. Sheward certainly knows a thing or two about dishing assists to high-flyers, though most of his expertise in that regard came from the volleyball court. 

Sheward, a Southern California native, was a member of the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team from 2019 to 2023. In the team's COVID-shortened 2020 season, he started eight of the team's 16 matches at setter. After backing up eventual AVCA Player of the Year Jakob Thelle in 2021, Sheward was the team's primary libero in 2022 and 2023, a crucial cog for a program that won national titles in 2021 and 2022 before losing in the 2023 NCAA championship match. 

Ahead of his final collegiate season in 2024, Sheward transferred to UC Irvine, where he went back to being a setter and helped the Anteaters reach the NCAA semifinals. 

With his playing career behind him, Sheward is back at UH-Mānoa pursuing a graduate degree in finance with eyes on a potential career in basketball. 

"I was always trying to get into basketball eventually," Sheward told Aloha State Daily. "I've always loved it and thought about it for the past four or five years, just trying to think about what's available in the basketball space, sort of the behind-the-scenes work, not the coaching side. Studying finance, trying to mix sports and the finance world, and just thought of ways I can get experience in that space. 

"That was the feedback I got from people I talked to in the industry: get a graduate degree, then move on to jobs further than that. It's a good experience to start as a GA, and honestly, it's been great because it's all new to me, right? I get to do a little bit of everything and be visible and learn everything about how a basketball team is run and operates."

Sheward grew up loving basketball and playing on various teams but chose to focus on volleyball midway through high school when it became clear the latter would be his sport at the college level. The new gig has allowed him to reconnect with basketball and as he's already shown, he doesn't mind getting in on the action from time to time. 

"I absolutely love [basketball]. I think it's an awesome game. It's another true team sport where everyone has to be connected. That part of it is awesome," Sheward says. "But I'm by no means a good basketball player. I just love it. ... I still love playing. We get to play usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the staff, so that part has been fun, and hopping in every once in a while in practice."

How would Sheward describe his game during pickup runs? 

"Definitely a pass-first, effort, defense guy," he says. "I'll hit an open 3 if it's a slow set shot, but definitely more of a defensive guy. I think defensive in every sport, honestly, if I really think about it, like trying to anticipate what the offensive guy is trying to do, and then just the effort part. So defense first for sure, and let the other guys on the team score."

Sheward describes the opportunity with the men's basketball team as "killing two birds with one stone." On top of the experience he's set to accumulate, he'll graduate with his master's in finance in the spring. Between now and then, he's ready to pay his dues on the hardwood. 

"You're starting at the bottom. You got to work your way up, and you have to be ready for anything. You're on call, and your goal is to try and make everyone's lives easier. Coaches, players, and trying to make it run smoothly. If there's something that you're asked to do, no matter how small the task, you got to be willing to do it, and you got to come at it with a lot of humility and no ego. It's been great," Sheward said. "The coaches have been awesome in terms of the relationship piece and just building trust with each other."

Though Sheward is still new to the gig and vice versa, count UH men's head coach Eran Ganot as one of those impressed by his presence in the early going. 

"His love for Hawai‘i, his love for UH, his love for the athletic department, his work ethic, his character, and he wanted to get into this side," Ganot said when asked how the Sheward hire came about from his perspective. "He's already made a big impact for us. Obviously, everybody knows about his leadership values, his understanding of winning, but he's just been a breath of fresh air. 

"He's a hard worker and has a bright future. He has a basketball background, and now he's getting thrown in the fire. But just such a great attitude every day, and it's really been helpful for us."

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<title>Former Hawai‘i men's volleyball standout Brett Sheward joins men's basketball program as…</title>

With his sights set on a potential career in basketball, Sheward is ready to pay his dues on Eran Ganot's staff.

Former Hawai‘i men's volleyball standout Brett Sheward joins men's basketball program as graduate manager

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

You can barely see it today, but once Kaka‘ako was largely composed of numerous individual homes. Constructed of wood starting around 1910-1915, and surrounded by yards with abundant trees, these houses were the signature of the district. Nobody was rich in Kakaako and this low-income population was, not surprisingly, prone to unsupervised children and a problem with crime. But this would start to change after the end of World War II in 1945 when the varied businesses already present would begin to gradually take over from residents as their property leases ended. Land owners sought the higher rents they could receive from commercial tenants, and Kakaako shifted mostly to this use.

Back when Kaka‘ako was home to thousands of people, necessary services and amenities were provided for them. Two examples of these were the Pohukaina Elementary School and its one-time playground /park, and the Kewalo Theater. The school is gone, the park remains, and the theater still exists although no films have been shown there for very close to 70 years.

By 1912, enough children resided in Kaka‘ako to justify the construction of a school there, leading to the completion of a two-story concrete building for the new Pohukaina School in January 1913. Over decades, other structures also came to occupy the grounds, but as the number of students in the area dropped the Department of Education pivoted to accommodating handicapped children at the school by 1967. Eventually, these were shifted to Waialae Elementary and Kaimukī Intermediate and Pohukaina at this location closed in 1980. By January 1987 only 14 school-aged kids were determined to currently be living in Kaka‘ako.

Debates about the Pohukaina site took place after its closure. As plans for the massive redevelopment of Kakaako were projected in the 1980s and ‘90s, some argued that a new school would be needed for new residents, but not surprisingly, a highrise condo today occupies part of the property.

An important historic figure in Kaka‘ako’s history was Mrs. Margaret Waldron, an Irish-Hawaiian woman who labored tirelessly for decades as a social worker in what was then a notoriously tough district.

Known to all by the affectionate nickname of “Mother Waldron” she began her time in Kaka‘ako as a teacher at Pohukaina School for 18 years before becoming the Director of Recreation at a neighborhood park. Her devotion to combating gangs and crime, particularly when it touched children, and serving as a positive and helpful influence was honored in June 1930 with the naming of the Pohukaina School’s playground as Mother Waldron Park. There she continued her instructional work, speaking of how she would be teaching girls the skills of sewing and cooking in a small structure in this new park. 

Her life came to an end in May 1936 but the following year, improvements and new structures in Mother Waldron Playground would be dedicated in September 1937. These cost $50,000 (or $1,162,417 in 2026 dollars) in government funding and the labor was provided through the federal government’s Works Progress Agency (WPA), an anti-Depression body that constructed innumerable public improvements all over the USA. These are still in place today; most immediately recognizable is the low zig-zag cement block wall on the ‘ewa side of the site.

In 1976 the Hawai‘i Community Redevelopment Agency was created to make over Kaka‘ako, and in 1981 its first plans for this project were presented. A foundational part of this government body’s goal was to improve the district’s infrastructure and in 1988 this led to the widening of both Pohukaina and Cooke Streets by 10 feet along with a major realignment of the latter. Along with condemnations and the clearing of former structures on its Waikīkī side, Mother Waldron Park approximately doubled in size.

The removal of Coral Street along the park’s other boundary added even more land to it in 1992. This was a wise move for the recreational needs of the increasing number of condo residents around it who would come in the future.

Kaka‘ako’s population in 1937 was significant enough to warrant the construction of the Kewalo Theater at the corner of Cooke and Queen Streets. Newspaper publicity for this event stated that the neighborhood was then “one of the largest and most densely populated sections in Honolulu.”

Consolidated Amusement, the biggest cinema chain in the Hawaiian Islands at that time, spent $75,000 ($1,743,626 in today's dollars) to open the latest of what it called “Neighborhood Playhouses” which served residential areas. Programs changed every day, which was true of all of Consolidated’s small theaters then, and admission was 25c for adults and only 10c for children ten years old and under.

Less than 20 years later, the Kewalo Theater was closed due to dwindling audiences as Kaka‘ako lost residents displaced by commercial tenants. Consolidated retained ownership of the empty structure for years and used it for storage, and surprisingly it still exists today. Currently occupying what had been the theater’s auditorium is the Lonohana Chocolate Company, and visitors who take a tour to see the variety of machinery which processes raw cocoa beans into tasty treats can also see remnants of the Kewalo’s 1930s interior decor still present on the walls and ceiling.

Kaka‘ako’s future growth will continue to displace the small industrial businesses that the area has been known for over the past decades, just as these displaced residents and private homes starting after World War II. As this process continues, we’ll see the diversity of Kaka‘ako today — as messy as it sometimes is — disappear as increasingly sterile new towers continue their takeover.

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<title>Changing Kakaako: Once a residential neighborhood</title>

More than a century ago, the modern development of Kaka‘ako started as modest, wooden single-family homes. Over time, these were displaced businesses. ASD historian DeSoto Brown takes down these streets of Kaka‘ako as they looked then, and now.

Changing Kakaako: Once a residential neighborhood

Bill Brennan

Learn more about "the history of U.S. military use of Hawaiʻi’s public trust lands and the consequential decisions approaching as longstanding military leases begin to expire," from The Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The premiere of the organization's documentary "Held in Trust: The Future of Hawaiʻi’s Public Lands Beyond Military Leases," will air at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 across television stations statewide, as well as via live stream on its site.

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Community Voices: OHA documentary examines history, asks about future of military-leased lands

Aloha Spirit

Farmers impacted by the recent Kona Low storms may be eligible for awards of up to $5,000, while other eligible farmers may receive awards of up to $3,000 to support ongoing operational costs. The deadline to apply is Friday, May 15.

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Community Voices: Last week to apply for OHA’s Mahiʻai Micro Fund Program

Bill Brennan is director of communications at Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Prior to joining OHA, he was the news director at KITV. He has also worked as communications director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, as press secretary to the mayor, as a public information officer for the State of Hawaiʻi, and as an executive producer, reporter, and anchor for KHON FOX2. A resident of Honolulu, he has lived in Hawaiʻi for more than 30 years. He has a BA in journalism from Ohio State University.

Bill Brennan

Latest from Bill Brennan

Community Voices: OHA documentary examines history, asks about future of military-leased lands

Community Voices: Last week to apply for OHA’s Mahiʻai Micro Fund Program

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