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Amanda Pump and Michael Young, Child & Family Service

Will Caron

WBC's David Waxer Tipton

David "Waxer" Tipton

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Jerry Clay Clay Partnering IQ5 A1553 1 CP

Gerald “Jerry” Clay

Nonprofit Keone Kealoha Kanu Hawaii

Keone Kealoha

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Eric Kingma

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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Entertainment

If you’re intrigued by eating contests, save the date for Saturday, May 31. Competitive eater 

 on Instagram — is participating in an eating challenge at Oh My Grill’s McCully location (1960 Kapiʻolani Blvd). 

ahu locations — in McCully, Kailua, Pearl City and Pearl Kai — and is known for its hefty plate lunches at reasonable prices.

The contest will take place at McCully Shopping Center’s parking lot at 2 p.m. A total of 10 contestants — including local social media personalities — will compete for the $1,500 cash prize. The prize will be given to the contestant who eats the most burgers in five minutes. Each contestant will also receive a $20 Oh My Grill gift card for every burger they eat.

Also joining Raina is social media celebrity Lovely Mimi (

), who will be a guest emcee for the contest.

The event space will open at 1:30 p.m. and the audience can look forward to a meet and greet at 2:15 p.m. During the meet and greet, the first 75 individuals in line will receive a complimentary Raina and Mimi Oh My Grill tote bag with the option to get it signed.

Huang will also be competing in a skewer eating challenge on Friday, May 30 at 5 p.m. at Khan Skewer (925 Isenberg St.).

Oh My Grill eating challenge Raina Huang 052925

<title>Celebrity competitive eater comes to Hawaiʻi this weekend</title>

Social media celebrity Raina Huang will be participating in an eating contest at Oh My Grill McCully. The prize? $1,500 in cash.

Celebrity competitive eater comes to Hawaiʻi this weekend

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Culture

Screenwriter Chris Kekaeniokalani Bright’s first experience with “Lilo & Stitch” was when he was nine years old. His mother, Lynell Bright, led the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus in singing 

“I was too young to be in the choir, which I was really bummed about,” Bright told Aloha State Daily. “But I did get to go watch them do the recording, which was amazing because I was sitting in the recording studio watching through the glass. And then cut to 23 years later, and I was doing the same thing, watching my mom with the choir now — from a different role.”

Bright was one of the screenwriters for Disney’s live action version of “Lilo & Stitch,” which premieres May 23. He is also a graduate of Kamehameha Schools.

“It just feels like it's Christmas morning, and you've wrapped the present, and you know it's going to be really good, and you can't wait for everybody to see it,” Bright told Aloha State Daily. “I feel like we made something special, and I can’t wait for the world to see it.”

Compared to the original animated movie, the story is “similar in the sense that the heart of it, we've kept the same,” Bright said.

The live action story explores more of the relationship between Nani, who is 18 years old, and Lilo, her little sister, who falls under her care after their parents unexpectedly die in an accident. There are some new characters and different relationships, he added.

“We really had to dissect the original movie to figure out what is at the heart of this, what makes it work so well? Why is it so emotional?” he said. “And of course, it's about ‘ohana, and it's also about being broken but still good. There's so many wonderful themes in there.”

 previously wrote “Conviction,” which made the 2018 Black List, an annual survey of Hollywoodʻs top unproduced screenplays. It was sold to Warner Brothers. Although he now has multiple screenplays to his name, he never intended to be a writer. 

He wanted to be a drummer for Broadway musicals. He planned to major in music at Chapman University until a serious hand injury derailed his plans. Bright took six months off and when he returned to classes, he “just couldn’t play in the same way,” he said.

“I just so happened that semester to be taking a screenwriting class — screenwriting 101 — and I loved it,” he said. “The teacher knew of my situation, and she was really sweet, and she was like: Have you ever thought about making this a career?”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He switched his major to film studies."}]

“It was a blessing in disguise — one of the hardest things I went through in my life, but ultimately ended up getting me where I am now,” Bright said. “But it was never the plan.”

Currently, he is working on a television show. He also wrote a script centered around family which takes place in Hawaiʻi. He will be directing that next year.

Being able to work on the live action “Lilo & Stitch” at the same time as his mother was “pretty cool and pretty full circle,” Bright said.

What was the hardest part of writing this screenplay?

“Knowing that so many people love this — including myself — feeling the pressure of that and wanting to just do it right, was the biggest challenge,” he said. “It was really wanting to honor the movie before it, honor the heart of it, honor how much it means to so many people all around the world, especially people from Hawaiʻi.”

Chris Kekaniokalani Bright

<title>“Lilo & Stitch” is a family affair for screenwriter Chris Kekaniokalani Bright</title>

For this writer, the reveal of Disney’s live action version of “Lilo & Stitch” on Friday, May 23, feels a bit like handing off a present on Christmas morning where “you can’t wait for everybody to see it, and you’re just waiting for them to open it.”

“Lilo & Stitch” is a family affair for screenwriter Chris Kekaniokalani Bright

 — known for its authentic Nepali and Indian cuisine, along with multiple vegan-friendly options — opened its Kailua location about two weeks ago. The eatery was temporarily closed due to a building fire. Himalayan Kitchen has other locations in Ala Moana Center, Kaimukī and in Chinatown.

While indoor and outdoor seating is available at this location, it’s more designed for takeout, as seating is limited.

Like its other locations, Himalayan Kitchen’s Kailua store offers a variety of house curries, tandoori breads, kabob specialties, appetizers and vegetarian- and vegan-friendly dishes.

All dishes are cooked to order, so keep that in mind if you’re dining in. You can also choose your desired spice level — ranging from 0 to 10 — for any entrée.

House curries are served with your meat preference and basmati rice. Chicken tikka masala — tandoori-grilled chicken cubes simmered in a house special tomato cream base curry sauce — is the most popular order, but butter chicken curry ($17.95) and lamb vindaloo ($19.95) are other customer favorites.

While curries come with basmati rice, I recommend getting a naan bread for dipping. The garlic naan ($4) is the most popular order, but the paneer kulcha ($8.95) — naan stuffed with homemade cheese — is my go-to.

If you’re looking for vegetarian-friendly options, choose from dishes like mix vegetable korma ($16.95) — fresh veggies cooked in a coconut-onion-tomato base curry sauce with a blend of mild spices, chana masala ($15.95), or garbanzo beans and potatoes simmered in mild herbal spices, and saag paneer ($16.95). The latter is one of my favorite curries, as it features ground spinach sauteed with ginger, garlic and cream, complete with chunks of paneer (Indian cottage cheese).

Dairy can substituted for coconut milk for any dish under the “veggie delights” section of the menu to make it a vegan-friendly option.

If you’re dining during lunch, be sure to check out the eatery’s lunch specials, available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Options range from chicken tikka plates ($15.95) and spicy wings plates ($15.95) to veg curry bowls ($12.95).

While Himalayan Kitchen’s Kailua location is usually closed on Mondays, we’re told that the eatery will be open daily starting from this week.

Open daily, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Himalayan Kitchen Kailua saag paneer 052025

<title>This popular Indian eatery recently reopened its Kailua location</title>

Starting this week, Himalayan Kitchen is open daily.

This popular Indian eatery recently reopened its Kailua location

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

Government & Politics

An ‘Ewa Beach couple is pursuing legal action against the city after one of them was allegedly beaten by police officers.

Kelei and Joseph Akana appeared at Wednesday’s meeting of the Honolulu City Council to demand answers following an incident that they claimed left Kelei unable to walk.

Joseph Akana told Aloha State Daily that, early on May 5, Kelei was in a parked car at the Pu‘uloa Beach Park in ‘Ewa Beach, when police officers approached and questioned her.

Although Kelei Akana subsequently moved the car elsewhere, the police approached her again, and cited her for having an expired vehicle registration tag.

Following this, Joseph said, officers told Kelei to leave her vehicle, which she refused. After an escalation, he said, several officers tased her four times and repeatedly punched her and struck her with batons.

“I was on the phone with her the whole time,” Joseph said. “What if that was your wife? What if you had to hear that?”

Joseph acknowledged that his car did have expired tags, and that Kelei had refused to leave the vehicle — she said she had identified herself to police as a “repatriated Hawaiian national” — but he said the officers’ alleged actions were wildly disproportionate to the situation and left Kelei in a wheelchair and with concussion-like symptoms.

Joseph called the incident “attempted murder” and said he has filed a complaint with the Honolulu Police Commission and is consulting with attorneys for further legal action.

For its part, HPD charged Kelei Akana with first-degree assault of a police officer, a Class C felony bearing a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Charging documents did not go into detail about the event; HPD did not respond to a request for comment by ASD.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Akanas declined to provide photographs."}]

Some of the councilmembers seemed perturbed by the Akanas’ report, with ‘Ewa Beach council woman Andria Tupola apologizing profusely to the couple about the incident.

Council Chair Tommy Waters called the Akanas’ testimony “disturbing,” but advised them that, if the Police Commission finds evidence of police wrongdoing, HPD will still be the agency meting out punishment rather than the Commission – “which is something that perhaps the [Honolulu] Charter Commission should look at,” he mused.

Elsewhere on Wednesday’s Council agenda, the Council approved at first reading a resolution authorizing HPD to use “overt video monitoring” in City parks for a one-year pilot program. This program will place security cameras within as-yet undetermined parks — one park per district — in an effort to deter crime.

Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam — representing portions of Kaka‘ako, Downtown Honolulu, Punchbowl, Kalihi and elsewhere — said the resolution stems from several incidents including break-ins at Salt Lake District Park.

“So we want to focus the cameras directly at the city facilities and at the district parks,” Santos-Tam said. “[And] I wanted to not be selfish and put it just in my district.”

The Committee on Public Safety and Customer Services will next discuss the resolution at a future meeting.

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<title>‘Ewa Beach couple allege police beating</title>

Kelei Akana claims to have been left unable to walk after being repeatedly tasered, beaten by HPD officers

‘Ewa Beach couple allege police beating

Jack Danilewicz square

Sports reporter Jack Danilewicz has written for such publications as Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu Magazine, San Diego Union-Tribune, among others. He is author of "The Greatest Upset Never Seen," 2019, University of Nebraska Press, about the historic 1982 Chaminade-Virginia game.

<title>Jack Danilewicz</title>

Jack Danilewicz

Sports

Hawaii History

Merv Lopes was already well-known in the local community from his time at Kailua and Kalāheo High Schools when he burst onto the college basketball scene like a meteor on December 23, 1982. That night, with much of the nation asleep, Lopes coached tiny Chaminade to a win over three-time Player of the Year Ralph Sampson and No. 1-ranked Virginia in what is considered the Greatest Upset in the History of College Basketball.

Jack Danilewicz

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