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Annabelle Le Jeune

HPU School of Nursing Dean Edna Magpantay Monroe

Edna Magpantay-Monroe

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Richard Turbin

Jayden Kepoo Caspino

Jayden Kepoʻo-Caspino

Bill Brennan

Polynesian Voyaging Society

Christian Zuckerman

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Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Ben Sasse is bleeding from the face."}]

He’s seated across from New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, 

, and he pauses to note it. He’s dying of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. One side effect of the treatment is that his body can’t grow skin.

“Yeah, you look terrible,” says Douthat.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Thank you,” says Sasse with a smile."}]

Since his diagnosis, Sasse has appeared on 

 stage, and a parade of podcasts. He uses the time to say what most politicians never dare to.

He talks about faith. He quotes R.C. Sproul. He discusses Tocqueville with the ease of someone who has actually read him.

Sasse is a two-term Republican Senator from Nebraska, a Harvard graduate, a Yale PhD in History. He voted to impeach Donald Trump and took the consequences. Though popular with voters in his home state, he left the Senate to serve as President of the University of Florida.

Now he spends his last days making one argument: American political life has gone badly wrong. Not because the wrong party is winning. Because the whole enterprise has lost its bearings.

Sasse starts with something most politicians would rather ignore: the pace of technological change. Previous economic transformations — industrialization, electrification — unfolded across generations. This one won’t. Robotics and automation will wipe out whole careers within a single working life.

Sasse sees a second shift: disembodied consciousness, the way screens let people leave their world. Families are breaking apart. Communities are dissolving. The local ties — churches, civic groups, the small-scale institutions Edmund Burke called “little platoons” — that help people absorb hard times are being stripped away. The formation of souls and citizens is at risk, and government is mostly ignoring it in favor of clickbait and rage.

He thinks our loves should be ordered, first to God, then to those nearest us, rippling outward from family to neighborhood to state to nation. Caring about a national political party more than your own community isn’t just confused. It’s a disorder of affection.

What’s true of the nation is true in Hawai'i. The legislature introduces three thousand bills a year. How many of those take the large challenges seriously? The demographic shifts, the cost pressures squeezing local families, the slow hemorrhage of young people off the Islands? The floor speeches and press releases gesture toward these problems, but the lawmaking doesn’t match the problem.

Sasse’s example suggests why. He can sit for an hour-long interview on dense political and theological matters because he has a clear philosophy — a disciplined way of working through problems. It also gives him the power to persuade, which is the precondition for coordinated action.

The founders studied rhetoric and philosophy with the same care they gave the law, because republican government runs on argument and clear speech. Most of Hawai‘i’s lawmakers couldn’t sustain an interview like Sasse’s, and the laws show it. There’s no clear direction. No will to rally the public. Few signs that anyone has thought hard about what government is for. What fills the vacuum is performance: press releases, floor speeches written for social media, outrage timed to the news cycle.

Sasse has a simple framework for what a coherent politics looks like. He describes four ways of valuing government, measured in cheers. No-cheer people — hardcore libertarians — don’t understand that government exists to secure liberty. Three-cheer people believe in a state that controls everything. Republicans, he says, are the one-cheer party. Democrats are the two-cheer party. Each has an extreme wing. Hawai‘i’s loudest voices are at the extremes.

What we lack are the one-cheer leaders: those who see government as necessary but flawed, able to secure order but not to deliver salvation.

Government should do a small number of important things well. It should get out of the way of the little platoons. It should never present itself as the path to utopia. Hawai‘i’s government casting itself as humanity’s last best hope has always been faintly comic.

Sasse’s sharpest line comes when he describes what voters already sense about the way their leaders talk.

They know it’s bullshit, he says — and they don’t want to be lied to. Why can’t politics do a small number of important, long-term things?

There is something clarifying about a man making that argument while bleeding from the face. He has no election to win, no caucus to protect, and by his own reckoning, weeks or months to live. What he’s chosen to do with his time is sit down and think hard about what government is and isn’t for, and what we’ve lost by confusing the two.

In watching Ben Sasse die, Hawai‘i might learn something about how to live.

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Ben Sasse Getty Images 1231346544

<title>Ben Sasse is dying in public</title>

The former U.S. senator from Nebraska is talking about big ideas everywhere he can as pancreatic cancer takes his life. Hawai‘i's politicians could learn from what he has to say about government doing fewer things well, says ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa.

Ben Sasse is dying in public

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

MILILANI — The state's most dominant girls flag football program now has an HHSAA championship to show for it. 

Since the inception of girls flag football as an 

 in the Islands in 2025, Moanalua has been the 

. Na Menehune breezed through a perfect regular season in 2025 before getting shocked in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to 

In 2026, Monalaua had another perfect regular season before losing to 

Waiʻanae in the OIA championship game. Na Menehune entered the 12-team bracket needing to win four games. Using lessons from their recent setbacks, Na Menehune triumphed with a 13-6 win at Mililani on Saturday.

"Coming out of OIA was kind of like a disappointment," Moanalua head coach Ladd Mokiao said. "We had the lead and we didn't take care of business. ... Coaching is always meant for something, right? That means the team wasn't strong at certain things, so we went back in the lab, regrouped and did the things that we was weak at, so we could come out in states and have this."

Trailing host Mililani 6-0 entering the fourth quarter of Saturday's championship game, it appeared Na Menehune were headed for another disappointing loss. A 3-yard touchdown reception from Quigstinn Rose Yoshihara tied the game with 8:37 left. Then with 38 seconds left, star receiver Jodie Keo broke the tie with a sensational 25-yard catch. 

"I saw sit in the air, I was like, 'OK, I gotta lock in, and then boom,'" Keo recalled of her catch. 

Added Mokiao: "When we called the play, I told (quarterback) Breidi (Higa), I said, 'You know your reads off of this.' Now, let's get that 'wow' play. If that ball got thrown to Jodie in any area, she's gonna pull it down 99.9% of the time."

Keo, a sophomore selected to compete with the United States under-17 team this summer, remembers the feeling of not winning the state title in 2025. Keo and her teammates turned that disappointment into fuel. 

"We kept the drive that we had last year, and we just kept the losses with us too, because we won't let it define us, but we'll learn from it, and that's how we are here now," she said. 

In the Division II championship game, Kapolei made it a mission to score as many points as possible, routing Maryknoll 77-19. 

Moanalua girls flag football 051726

<title>Moanalua wins 2026 HHSAA Division I girls flag football championship</title>

Na Menehune staged a late, dramatic comeback to win its first state title in girls flag football.

Moanalua wins 2026 HHSAA Division I girls flag football championship

LĀ‘IE — For the Le Jardin boys volleyball team, destiny was decided by a vote. 

With O‘ahu battered by heavy rain, flooding and lightning strikes on Friday, the possibility of postponing the HHSAA Division II championship match between Le Jardin and Pearl City at BYU-Hawai‘i's Cannon Activities Center to a later date was floated to both teams. 

Back in Kailua, Le Jardin already loaded its team bus on campus. Head coach Makana Wade told his team they didn't have to play on Friday if they didn't want to, that tournament organizers could move some things around to get the match played later in the weekend. Wade asked his players to raise their hands if they wanted to play on Friday.

"Everybody's hand went straight up," setter Brennan Nakayama said. "We just knew we were ready for this, and we knew what we needed to do."

Following a commute to the North Shore that lasted three hours due to traffic brought on by the weather, the Bulldogs arrived prepared to do something the school had never done before. With a 25-18, 25-9, 25-21 sweep over Pearl City, Le Jardin won its first HHSAA boys volleyball championship in school history. 

"Just a real surreal feeling," Wade told Aloha State Daily following the match. "When I took this job, this is the last thing I could ever dream of, was being here. I'm just so happy for Le Jardin and everybody there for believing in me and giving me this job. And so blessed to be able to coach these amazing players."

When he saw the look of determination in his team, Wade knew they were destined to take the title home. 

"I wish everybody could have seen inside our bus for three hours. You would have thought we were gonna play UH or something," Wade said. "The guys were so locked in, having fun. I kept getting calls from our AD, my dad asking, 'Sure you wanna play tonight, coach?' I'm asking the guys, 'Are you sure?' And they're yelling at me, like, yes, of course. There's no way we weren't going to play this match tonight. I think we really took what was ours tonight."

The notion of playing against UH is something Wade would have deep knowledge of. The son of Hawai‘i head coach 

, Makana Wade was a UH men's volleyball assistant coach for multiple seasons. He departed the program in January in order to take the position of Le Jardin head coach, as NCAA rules prohibit one from coaching high school and collegiate teams of the same gender and sport in the same season.

leading Hawai‘i to a national title on Monday

 since arriving back to Honolulu on Tuesday. After taking care of business on Monday, Charlie Wade made it clear where his priorities were during the program's celebration event on Wednesday. Ahead of a scheduled autograph session, Wade told the thousands of fans gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center that he'd have to leave early in order to watch his son coach. 

On Friday, Charlie Wade sat courtside across from the Le Jardin bench, locked in on the match. When the Bulldogs secured the victory, father and son shared multiple long embraces following the match, the look of pride in Charlie Wade's eyes undeniable. 

"Very cool," he told ASD. "He's been coaching with me at the club level, and obviously the last couple years at the collegiate level. He's always kind of had that analytical brain that it takes to be a good coach, and he and I have spent uncountable hours out walking the dogs at night and talking about coaching. He's asked me about a lot of different stuff over the years, and it's great to see him take on that role as a head coach and have to deal with playing time and all that other stuff that is not coaching that's a part of it, but not the X's and O's part. He's doing a great job and has a lot of passion for it, so fun to see him have some success."

"I don't think we have enough time to talk about what I've learned, but I think the basic is just be a guy that people can lean on and trust," Makana Wade said when asked what he learned from his father. "My dad has taught me countless things, and I'm just so happy to be able to learn from him every day, really. I wouldn't be here without him."

For the 2026 season in particular, Makana Wade worked closely with UH associate head coach Kupono Fey on analytics and strategy. He suddenly received the opportunity to run his own program at just 21 years old. 

"It was really hard to leave," Makana Wade said. "I love those guys to death. It was only gonna be a special job like this, a place like this, where there's amazing people, amazing kids. ... It was pretty crazy. I got hired, couple weeks later, we had tryouts, and then next week we're playing our tournament, then we're playing ILH. It's been a pretty hectic couple months, but it's all worth it in the end."

Makana Wade, a UH-Mānoa junior, also had a French final exam he had to take on Friday morning. "It's been a crazy day, but it's been awesome," he said. 

On Friday night, the Bulldogs were in control for the entirety of the match. Nakayama paced the offense with 39 assists, while La‘akea Kamahale had 20 kills on 31 swings. Following a commanding win in Set 2, Le Jardin took a comfortable 24-19 lead in Set 3. After consecutive Pearl City points to cut the lead to 24-21, a calm Makana Wade called timeout to make sure his team was composed. The Bulldogs finished their 2026 campaign 16-1 and state champions for the first time in school history.

"Our whole team can't thank him enough for how lucky we are to have him," Nakayama said of Makana Wade. "The knowledge and experience is super cool. The scouting reports, and how tight he keeps the team and everything, all the way to the bus rides, everything you want. I think we started a legacy."

For the Wade family, the week started with Charlie and Kainoa Wade winning an NCAA championship. On Friday, Makana Wade coached his own team to a championship, capping an unforgettable week for a family that has no plans to stop chasing greatness in the sport for the foreseeable future. 

"Monday seems like a long time ago," Charlie Wade said. "It doesn't seem like it's the same week, but obviously very cool, a lot of positive stuff."

Added Makana Wade: "I'm just so happy for my dad, and they worked really hard this season. To be able to do this too is just a surreal feeling."

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<title>Makana Wade coaches Le Jardin to first state title in boys volleyball</title>

Makana Wade, the son of UH men's volleyball head coach Charlie Wade, led the Bulldogs to the HHSAA title in his first season at the helm.

Makana Wade coaches Le Jardin to first state title in boys volleyball

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

A home high above Honolulu on the Tantalus ridgeline —  designed by and built for a local architect — has hit the market with a $3.9 million asking price.

The 2,798-square-foot house, located on a 1-acre rim lot at 228 Forest Ridge Way, was designed by and built as the personal home of architect Darrell "Buck" Welch Jr., co-founder of 

The home, which was finished in 2023, is listed by Hawai‘i Life's Noel Pietsch Shaw.

"Every once in a while in our careers, we get these dream projects that you get to work on, and I'm so honored to represent the family on this special home, especially because new construction ... is so rare," Shaw told Aloha State Daily.

Such homes are typically built for people's personal use, "and we don't get to see them on the open market," she continued.

"When you get new construction, everything's new," Shaw says. "It's all new, it's very in-style. It's working great and it's designed for modern times."

The top of Tantalus was a sought-after location for homes in the 1950s, "which is why the 

 is there, the Pauling House is there and [noted architect Vladimir] Ossipoff sought it for many of his sites," she told ASD.

[{"type":"text","text":"Shaw says the home is both modern and timeless."}]

The three-level house has three bedrooms, three full- and one half-baths, and offers panoramic views of Diamond Head, the Ko‘olau Mountains, Honolulu and the Wai‘anae Range, according to information provided by a representative of Hawai‘i Life.

According to the provided information, the home is designed to follow the "natural slope of the land, prioritizing connection to the landscape, passive cooling through trade winds, and natural light via clerestory glazing."

Additionally, dining and living areas of the main living level are connected by polished concrete floors, vaulted wood-paneled ceilings, a volcanic basalt fire place and access to covered outdoor areas, the information notes. Meanwhile, a sculptural staircase "integrates gallery niches, a window seat, and a reading nook;" the home operates with photovoltaic power and battery storage, water catchment, and septic; and the property borders conservation land.

Shaw says the home has two bedrooms on the first floor, which can allow single-level living for those aging in place, while the third bedroom is large and "almost serves as a second living room." An office on the third floor is tree level.

Shaw says, too, that there are koa trees and ginger in the yard, as well as "lots of room for planting, if someone wanted to have a garden or expand the flowers." The property also has a "flat, very usable yard."

When asked about the ideal buyer, Shaw said the top buyers for a neighborhood like this are those "whose heart has memories or nostalgia for being up on the ridge. That could be someone that's currently in the Islands or that could be someone that has been off the Islands with a yearning to come back home."

228 Forest Ridge Way 30

<title>For sale: Tantalus home made for an architect</title>

The 2,798-square-foot house is located on a 1-acre rim lot at 228 Forest Ridge Way.

For sale: Tantalus home made for an architect

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 is returning in June. The festival features a selection of authentic Italian and Italian-American restaurants and chefs from both Italy and Hawaiʻi.

The festival spans two days. The Passaporto Italiano VIP food and wine experience is 

on Friday, June 5, at Velocity Honolulu. Meanwhile, the 2026 street festival will be 

 Saturday, June 6, at Mother Waldron Park in Kakaʻako.

The Passaporto Italiano VIP experience is a ticketed event for individuals ages 21 years and older. It includes food and dessert dishes from Hawaiʻi’s top-tier Italian chefs and restaurants; attendees can also enjoy unlimited Italian wines, beers and craft Italian cocktails. VIP guests can sip on the curated selection of beverages while enjoying the beauty of Italian exotic vehicles from Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini.  

Featured restaurants — and dishes — at the Passaporto Italiano VIP experience include:

: Seared ‘ahi with Mediterranean essence

: Panna cotta with berry gelato and Amalfi lemon sorbetto

: Mountain View Farms pork stew; affogato

: Handmade potato gnocchi ai quattro formaggi with honey and Hawaiian macadamia nuts 

Tickets for the Passaporto Italiano VIP experience are available in tiers:

The street festival on June 6 is free to the public. Attendees will be able to walk around the Kakaʻako district and enjoy a variety of food vendors and live entertainment. Individuals can look forward to a wine and beer garden, offering a selection of Italian beers, wines and traditional spirits for purchase; street performers of European and Italian variety; an Italian-inspired film showcase hosted by the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, and a special Galileo-themed stargazing experience with Stargazers of Hawaiʻi. Two large telescopes will be available for safe solar viewing during daylight and night-sky viewing once it’s dark.

 is a brand-new experience this year. Street festival VIP tickets cost $40 each, and include an aperol spritz, slice of specialty Festa Italiana pizza by Mad Pie, one cannoli from Mad Pie, access to ample seating in an exclusive area, and special bar offerings. 

Street festival attendees can also enjoy performances by Ballet Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre, Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony, The Royal Hawaiian Band and more. The performances will celebrate both, Italian and local culture.

Featured street festival vendors include Allegrini Mozzarella, Aloha Pizzeria, 

, Arancino Ristorante Italiano, Aroma Italia, Bambino’s, Cialoha Italian Sodas, Diamond Head Drip, Fig & Ginger Honolulu, Forno Romano, Il Gelato Hawaiʻi,

 Roti-si, Sage Creamery, Zucchi Pizza and more.

There will be a dedicated keiki area within Mother Waldron Park, offering a welcoming space for families to gather and enjoy the festival together. The zone will feature kid-friendly activities and games. The festival will provide a free keiki food dish from The Old Spaghetti Factory for the first 200 children (ages 10 years and under). Hawaiʻi Literacy Bookmobile will also be at this year’s street festival; families are encouraged to enjoy literacy-related activities and explore books.

Parking with validation ($6) will be available at Waterfront Plaza; attendees must stop by the Festa Italiana info booth for a validation sticker.  

Festa Italiana Arancino VIP 051426

<title>Festa Italiana 2026 is coming this June</title>

The ticketed Passaporto Italiano VIP experience is June 5, while the street festival — which is free to attend — is June 6. The festival highlights a selection of authentic Italian and Italian-American restaurants and chefs from both Italy and Hawaiʻi.

Festa Italiana 2026 is coming this June

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

A Washington man seen in a viral video throwing a rock at a monk seal on Maui has been charged in U.S. District Court.

Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Wash., was charged Wednesday with violating the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

 by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into an incident on May 5, in which a man was recorded on video hurling a large rock at a Hawaiian monk seal — identified in a U.S. Department of Justice news release as “Lani” — which was swimming off the Lahaina shore.

In the video, the rock appears to only narrowly miss Lani’s head, causing the seal to rear out of the water and swim away. Witnesses reportedly told NOAA the seal remained still for a long time, leading them to worry if it was even alive.

According to a criminal complaint, the man — identified as Lytvynchuk, who was visiting Maui on vacation — told witnesses he was “rich enough to pay the fines” when they told him law enforcement was on the way. A Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officer apprehended Lytvynchuk later that day, but made no arrest.

Another viral video appeared to depict Lytvynchuk being beaten up by an unknown man while attempting to return to his hotel. Neither the Department of Justice nor the NOAA made any mention of this incident.

According to the Department of Justice, Lytvynchuk was arrested Wednesday near Seattle by NOAA special agents. He has an initial court appearance in Seattle Thursday morning.

Lytvynchuk’s actions constitute harassment of an endangered marine animal and of a marine mammal, which are respectively violations of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Both charges carry a possible prison sentence of up to one year, and fines of up to $50,000 (under the Endangered Species Act) and $20,000 (under the Marine Mammal Protection Act).

“The unique and precious wildlife of the Hawaiian Islands are renowned symbols of Hawaii’s special place in the world and its incredible biodiversity,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson in a statement. “We are committed to protecting our vulnerable wild species, in particular endangered Hawaiian monk seals, like Lani. We pledge that those who harass and attempt to harm our protected wildlife will face rapid accountability in federal court.”

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Screenshot 2026 05 13 at 3 19 31 PM 16x9

<title>Man arrested for attack on monk seal</title>

Igor Lytvynchuk, who reportedly said he is "rich enough to pay the fines" from allegedly attacking an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, faces up to $70,000 in fines and potential prison time.

Man arrested for attack on monk seal

Kalani Akana Cultural D opt

Kalani Akana, Ph.D., is a kumu of hula, oli and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. 

<title>Kalani Akana</title>

Kalani Akana

Hawai‘i History

Famous to this day are the Menehune's wondrous works: Kīkī-a-Ola irrigation canal of Waimea; the koa forest and home of Hālau-a-Ola; the walkway through Alakaʻi, Kīpapa-a-Ola; and, this wondrous work, ʻAlekoko Fishpond, also called the “Menehune Fishpond.”

Alakoko Fishpond 16x9

Community Voices: More on the Menehune

Aloha Spirit

In the mid-19th century, Hawaiian Catholics were frequently persecuted for their faith. One story recalls how Hawaiians in Kahikinui were rounded up by sheriffs, bound to one another in ropes, and marched along the Hāna coastline 90 miles to Wailuku.

Kalani Akana

Latest from Kalani Akana

Community Voices: More on the Menehune

Community Voices: Bound by ropes

Community Voices: The Menehune: A true race of people

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