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Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

This year on July 4, the U.S. will celebrate 250 years of being a nation. Aloha State Daily compiled a list of events celebrating the semiquincentennial on Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island. Items with an asterisk feature fireworks.

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*Concert in the Sky (Līhuʻe, FIREWORKS). 

Enjoy live music from headliner The Green under the stars. There will be live music, ʻono food and craft vendors, a keiki zone and fireworks at the 

Vidinha Stadium Soccer Fields in Līhuʻe.

 Tickets help support Kauaʻi Hospice. If purchased in advance, tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for keiki. 

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Upcountry Maui will celebrate paniolo culture with its July Makawao Stampede and the Oskie Rice Memorial Rodeo at Kanonoulu Ranch, which is home to the Oskie Rice Arena. More than 300 competitors from across the state and country are expected to participate. The event includes three days of experiences and family friendly activities. On Friday, July 3, there will be the Bull Bash, which features professional bull riders as they take on some of the most challenging bulls in the region, as well as food trucks and more than 50 local vendors. On Saturday, July 4, attend 

rodeo events such as bull riding, double mugging, barrel racing, team roping, tie down roping, match barrel racing, and more

. Doors open at 3 p.m. and country music artist Liz West (formerly known as Lissa Dee) will perform at 5 p.m. Finally, on Sunday, June 5, go to the Championship Rodeo. Tickets for each event start at $20 which allows attendees to watch  events on a jumbotron. General admission is $45, with discounts for kūpuna and keiki. VIP experiences are also available. 

Eat barbecue by the pool (Kā’anapali). 

Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows is hosting its summer poolside barbecue series which features chef-inspired specials, cocktails and live entertainment along Kā’anapali Beach. Usually, the summer barbecue series consists of Sunday events, but for the holiday weekend, there will be island inspired barbecue specials available starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5. 

Head to the Chili Cook-Off (Kā’anapali). 

Check out this Chili Cook-Off featuring the original creations of the Hyatt Regency Maui team, judged by Lahaina firefighters, at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa. Enjoy chili tastings, specialty cocktails, live music and lawn games while outside. During the event Proper No. Twelve, which is an Irish Whiskey company, will present a check to the Lahaina Fire Station. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 plus fees for adults and $25 plus fees for keiki. 

Enjoy the Flowerworks Festival(Kā’anapali). 

Outrigger Kā’anapali Beach Resort will host a summer celebration of flowers, food and music with its Flowerworks Festival, an all-day experience featuring family friendly activities, local artisans, live entertainment and island barbecue. There will be lawn games, a strolling magician, face painting and balloons. At 11 a.m. Blue Hawaiian Helicopters will drop a shower of fresh tropical flowers at the ʻUlu Lawn. Afterwards, learn how to weave the blooms into a lei. At 1 p.m. head to the Maui Brewing Co. lanai for a summer kick-off that includes live music, prize giveaways and craft beers, as well as the Maui Lite Release Party. Open to resort guests and kamaʻāina. 

Take the spicy wing challenge, and see the flower drop  (Kā’anapali). 

The Westin Maui Resort & Spa will hold its Annual Spicy Wing Halftime Challenge. There will also be a helicopter flower drop on the pool deck, ocean front barbecue, activities for keiki, a shave ice truck, live music by Adrian Trevino and a patriotic evening drone show, as well as late night karaoke. 

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The 62nd annual July 4th Rodeo and Horse Races returns to Parker Ranch Rodeo Arena in Waimea this year. Paniolo will compete in events that include horse races, team roping, 

 and more. There will be local vendors selling crafts and food, as well as activities for keiki including a petting zoo and pony rides. Gates open at 7:30 a.m. Events start at 9 a.m. New this year is live music in the evening, which starts at 2 p.m. and goes until 6 p.m. and features Lim Ohana, Kalapana Awa Band, and Ekolu. Tickets purchased in advance are $25, with 

presale tickets available to kamaʻāina for $20

 if purchased at the Puuopelu Historic Home, Kamuela Hardwoods, Paniolo Preservation Society, and Waimea Butcher Shop. 

The Kona Marathon will take place on Saturday, July 4. Run 26.2 miles in paradise. There are also half marathon, quarter marathon and 5K races. Register at 

*Watch the parade (Kailua-Kona, FIREWORKS).

 The Historic Kailua Village Independence Day Parade will start at 6 p.m. and follow a route along Kuakini Highway and Ali‘i Drive. This year, the theme of the parade is “America the Beautiful.” At 8 p.m., there will be a professional fireworks show called “Independence Day Extravaganza” set off from a barge located in Kailua Bay. 

Dance the night away at Jimmy Buffett’s 4th of July (Kailua-Kona). 

This Jimmy Buffett inspired beach party is heading to the Big Island Social Dance Club. The dance studio teaches ballroom, Latin, swing and nightclub dance styles. Put on a tropical costume and participate in a complimentary line dance lesson. Cheeseburgers and chips will be available for purchase. There will be a DJ and Jimmy Buffett sing alongs, as well as contests and prizes. Tickets are $20, if purchased in advance. 

Catch the 4th of July Extravaganza (Waikoloa). 

Enjoy live entertainment, activities for keiki and merchant sidewalk sales, plus shop artisan and food vendors at Queens’ Marketplace in Waikoloa. There will also be live music, as well as face painting. Free. 

 Hilton Waikoloa Village is hosting pool parties on Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5. In partnership with the hard seltzer High Noon, the drinks will be $6. There will be live music from DJ Eric Ching and a poolside menu that includes cheeseburgers, mahi mahi burgers and garden veggie burgers. 

articipate in the “A Salute to Our Veterans” Hilo Bay 5K Run/Walk/Roll 202 at Liliʻuokalani Gardens. The route includes stations that take attendees through 250 years of history, starting with the birth of the United States as a new nation on July 4, 1776. The event is being hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and Auxiliary 3830, Pāhoa, in partnership with Hawai'i County Parks & Recreation. Registration is $45. 

Vintage, classic and futuristic vehicles will be on display at the Hilo Bayfront Soccer Fields from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be 

live music by Rhythm X, Just Us Band, Girls Nite Out, and the Abbie Willow Band, as well as food trucks and activities for keiki, including water slides and bounce houses. Free. 

Catch a professional fireworks exhibition from a barge in Hilo Bay. The Hawaiʻi County Band will perform at 7 p.m. at the Mo‘oheau Park bandstand, concluding with music to accompany the fireworks show, which starts at 8 p.m. For those not near the bandstand, the fireworks display will be synchronized to patriotic music aired on KWXX. Free. 

 Local makers and food vendors will gather at this indoor venue to sell crafts, apparel, food, desserts and more. The event will be held at Bay Bridge in Downtown Hilo. Free. 

Do you know of a July 4 event not on this list? Email 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

The Westin Maui Resort & Spa

<title>How to celebrate July 4 on Kauaʻi, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island</title>

Looking for ways to celebrate the semiquincentennial of the U.S. becoming a nation this long week weekend? Aloha State Daily has you covered. From poolside barbecues to a chili cook-off, which will be judged by Lahaina firefighters, to a helicopter flower drop at the Flowerworks Festival, there are lots of events happening across the Neighbor Islands.

How to celebrate July 4 on Kauaʻi, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

doing away with its main cabin complimentary meals

 and moving to a pre-order, pre-paid program for in-flight meals on domestic flights between Hawaiʻi and the Mainland (except for those to JFK International Airport in New York City, which will continue to receive a complimentary meal

Guests can pre-order their in-flight meals through the Alaska Hawaiian mobile app or website two weeks in advance and up to 20 hours prior to departure.

The new main cabin menu was developed by Maui-based Sheldon Simeon, the chef/owner behind Tiffany’s Restaurant & Bar and Tin Roof Maui.

One of the most important decisions we made during this process was picking the right partner,” says 

Alisa Onishi, managing director of Hawai‘i marketing for Hawaiian Airlines

. “We were looking for a few things: a local chef that has represented Hawaiʻi well around the world in their career; someone who really aligned with our principles of featuring local products and supporting local businesses; and someone who would something warm, inviting and comforting on the aircraft. Chef Sheldon knows what it takes to make an amazing recipe and amazing dishes, and to bring those to life on an airplane.”

At Monday’s media event at Tiffany’s Restaurant & Bar on Maui, Aloha State Daily got a preview of the new Hawaiʻi-inspired menu. The menu features elevated takes on local favorites and comfort foods.

Prices for each meal range from about $11 to $17. For breakfast (flights departing between 6 and 9:59 a.m.), guests can choose from corned beef hash and eggs ($15.99), Island-style French toast breakfast ($15.99), banana pancake breakfast ($15.99), and coconut overnight oats ($10.99).

The corned beef hash and eggs entree features crisped corned beef hash served over roasted breakfast potatoes, topped with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

“We’ve done a ton of tests, and we actually got the perfect poached egg in there,” Simeon says. “The Hollandaise sauce is right over the top, and we got some peppers and some onions in there.”

The banana pancake breakfast comprises three pancakes filled with mashed bananas, served with Portuguese sausage and scrambled eggs. Guests will also get Simeon’s specialty banana bread syrup.

“We took home-baked banana bread and we turned it into a syrup, so you get that fresh-baked flavor when you drizzle it over the top,” Simeon explains. “I think that banana bread is one of the best-smelling things in the world.”

He adds that the French toast and banana pancakes are reminiscent of Sunday morning breakfasts.

“I use the line that ‘Somebody is already thinking of you before you wake up,’” Simeon says. “When you get to have breakfast, I wanted something that’s going to feel like that.”  

For lunch and dinner (flights departing between 10 a.m. and 8:29 p.m.), choose from crispy mochiko chicken and garlic noodles, teriyaki cheeseburger, barbecue teriyaki chicken bento, grilled chicken banh mi sandwich, cheeseburger mac and cheese, sweet and tangy tender greens, and an Italian sub.

“Kamaʻāina that are flying are going to see familiar choices,” Onishi says. “Now, more than ever throughout our cabin, we have more local ingredients sourced in Hawaiʻi — not just in our Island airports, but also in kitchens across the continent. We’re excited to feature as many local flavors from local vendors as much as possible.”

The crispy mochiko chicken with garlic noodles features a crispy, rice flour-coated chicken thigh served with garlicky noodles. It’s accompanied by Simeon’s mac salad, signature spicy-K mayo, sweet teriyaki sauce and his crispy toppings bag.

“‘Fried chicken in the plane — do you have fryers in the back of the plane?’” Simeon jokes. “No, we don’t, but we wanted to mimic that flavor and texture. When people think of mochiko chicken — and fried chicken, in general — they want it crunchy. To mimic that, we have this ‘magic in a bag.’ Dip your chicken in the sauce — the sweet soy or K-mayo — and sprinkle over that kakimochi and furikake to get that crispy, crunchy flavor.”  

The grilled chicken banh mi sandwich features French bread with lemongrass-grilled chicken, fresh cilantro, jalapenos and pickled vegetables. Most entrees come with Simeon’s mac salad.

“This is a legit banh mi sandwich,” Simeon says. “It’s a hearty sandwich; it’s going to be served warm. For the mac salad, we do it local-style, full-flavored with potatoes and extra mayonnaise.”

He says the cheeseburger mac deluxe — a twist on mac and cheese — is one of his favorite dishes on the menu.

“I grew up eating Hamburger Helper,” Simeon says. “There’s just something homey about that; it feels like a hug in a bowl.”

The teriyaki cheeseburger ($15.99) features a teriyaki-marinated beef patty topped with American cheese and housemade pickles in a toasted teriyaki-glazed bun.

“When I think of Hawaiʻi, I think of teri cheeseburgers,” Simeon says. “We make our own patties.”

Guests who want something lighter — but still filling — can opt for the sweet and tender greens ($14.49). The tangy salad is a blend of baby kale, toasted almonds, edamame, grape tomato, quinoa, li hing mango, and a salty-sweet li hing balsamic vinaigrette.

“Our sweet-and-sour salad is another fun one; it’s got a little bit of crunch and a little bit of that burst of flavor from the li hing mui with balsamic vinaigrette,” Simeon says.

He emphasizes that this is the first iteration of the menu, and guests can look forward to more exciting developments to come.

“As you can see by the menu items, it’s not the most avant garde, I’m not trying to make the most fancy (dishes),” Simeon says. “I wanted to connect the stories of what makes us ‘live Hawaiʻi.’ These stories are engrained in these recipes that might look, on the surface, very simple, but it’s deeply rooted. Hopefully, we get to tell those stories to thousands of people in the air. Mahalo to Hawaiian Airlines for letting us have that opportunity."

For more information, visit Hawaiian Airlines’ 

Hawaiian Airlines chef Sheldon Simeon 063026

<title>Hawaiian Airlines’ new main cabin menu launches July 1</title>

For in-flight meals on domestic flights between Hawaiʻi and the Mainland, guests can pre-order from a menu curated by Maui-based chef Sheldon Simeon. The menu features elevated takes on local favorites and comfort foods, and features dishes like corned beef hash and eggs, banana pancakes, teriyaki cheeseburgers, crispy mochiko chicken and garlic noodles, and more.

Hawaiian Airlines’ new main cabin menu launches July 1

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

The most powerful man in the world got his start firing people on reality television.

For years Donald Trump leaned across a boardroom table and told contestants they were fired, and millions watched. When he ran for President, the bluntness that had been a television gimmick became a qualification for office. He spoke without a script and often without a filter. A great many Americans discovered they preferred a man who acted badly to men who performed well.

Politics runs downstream of culture, the saying goes, and culture runs downstream of whatever screen we happen to be staring at. The television screen that made Trump plausible has been retired. Now the glowing screens that replaced television are in the hands of the children who will pick his successor.

Each generation is raised by a medium, and they seldom notice. The grandparents had radio and the evening news. Their children had cable and a remote in hand. The next generation had broadband by high school. The youngest among us have clutched a glowing rectangle since before they could read.

David Foster Wallace once told a room of college graduates about two young fish. An older fish asks them how the water is. The two swim on for a while before one turns to the other and asks, “what’s water?” The hardest thing to see is the thing you are swimming in. And the water now is streaming.

A stream is a strange thing to describe to anyone who has never sat through one. A young woman plays a video game. A column of text races up the side of the screen, faster than a person can read, full of strangers shouting for her attention. The game is built to dole out small rewards on no fixed schedule, which is the same feature that keeps a gambler seated at a slot machine. Most of the time nothing happens. The viewer stays anyway. He’s probably playing his own game on another screen, and he is waiting, half there, for the day something interesting happens.

Children grow attached to these streamers. Many spend more hours each week with their favorite streamer than they do with their parents.

The streamer does not pose and does not edit. They sit for hours on end, and the rawness is part of the product. The generation before this one built careful profiles and took flattering photos, forever arranging the self for the selfie. This one lets the camera roll.

The printed word once demanded forethought. Ink is permanent, and a man preferred not to look a fool in something that would outlive him. A stream asks for nothing of the kind, only a camera, a connection, and a willingness to be watched doing very little.

If you do not recognize the names Ninja, Kai Cenat, iShowSpeed, or Pokimane, you are not swimming in the stream. But your 16-year-old nephew knows them well. His heart is being trained to speak as they speak and act as they act.

Someone will object that this is the worry of every graying generation. Plato fretted over the written word, our grandmothers over MTV, and the children always turn out fine. Perhaps, but a child reading a book after bedtime is one thing. That same child sitting beside a stranger late into the night, while their parents sleep, is another.

Who pays for all of this? As the saying goes, “whose bread I eat, his song I sing.” For most of history the bread came from a single hand: a patron, a publisher, a network. The streamer’s bread arrives from 10,000 hands, a few dollars at a time.

The man on camera learns, the way Pavlov’s dog learned, which tricks ring the bell. He drifts toward whatever is loud and lurid, because that is what loosens the audience’s pursestrings. And the streamer’s purse, more often than anyone cares to admit, is filled by the small donations of the lonely and unwell. The performer fancies that he is leading his audience. In reality, the audience is training the performer.

None of this stays in the world of entertainment. It is now, almost precisely, how a person raises money and wins office.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised more than $20 million last year. Most of that came in small sums from ordinary people. It’s the same $5 gesture that lands in a streamer’s account, pointed at a political campaign.

Television made Trump famous, and only later made him a candidate. With AOC it went the other way around. She was on camera before she was anyone, and the politics grew out of that.

 her journey to attend the Standing Rock protests. Then she got a call to run for office. Ten years later, she is an early front-runner for her party’s 2028 nomination.

AOC never stopped streaming. In 2020, she sat down to play a video game with Pokimane, then the most popular female streamer on Twitch. They drew a live audience of 400,000 people. This was two weeks before the election, and AOC was stumping to register voters.

 with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was then running for Vice President as a Democrat. A few days earlier, Republican candidate Donald Trump sat for a 

 Joe Rogan interview. This was a week before the election.

The Psalmist said that men who trust in idols become like them. Our streaming idols never stop talking but rarely say anything. They speak through the night, whispering into our children’s ears. They perform for a few dollars at a time, taken from 10,000 hands. And soon, they may choose our President.

Kai Cenat livestream

<title>The politics downstream</title>

Presidents used to emerge out of whistlestop tours, radio address, television and cable. Now, for the youngest voters and voters-to-be, political power gathers in the frenetic world of livestreams. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa talks about what this means.

The politics downstream

 — located in the former space of The Lei Stand in Chinatown — looks like an antique shop, filled with vintage Hawaiian décor. But, as soon as you go the “portal” of aloha shirts, you’ll be transported to a modern lounge space.

“We did want to keep an element of a speakeasy feel for the space,” says business owner Peter Hessler, of PEWA by Pono Potions’ location. “It does look like a very small space from the street, and then it opens up to a big, expansive bar and this awesome courtyard.

“We wanted it to be a bit of a surprise,” he adds. “My partner Michael (Cabagbag) is a big collector of vintage Hawaiian antiques and is passionate about vintage clothes and art. That’s (the entrance) really his space — we’re calling it his antique shop — and it’s going to get more stuffed with antiques as we go. It’s going to feel like a really unique, hole-in-the-wall, Chinatown antique shop.”

This cocktail lounge concept has been in the works for some time for Hessler and Cabagbag, owners of artisan syrup company Pono Potions.

“Michael and I had always talked about wanting to open a cocktail lounge, just because our syrups really lend themselves to making cocktails,” Hessler says. “We always tell people they can make cocktails with them; we haven’t really had a home base for that.

“We’re really excited,” he adds. “This is a really big endeavor for us, from growing the syrup business and the café (

), which is still fairly small and only open during the day. This is twice as big as the café, twice as many hours and multiple food menus, cocktails plus coffee and matcha in the morning. It is a lot for us, and we’re so excited to share everything with the people around us.”

He explains the business’s name stems from a traditional Hawaiian word portrayed in the lounge’s logo.

“It’s the traditional Hawaiian word for this shape — this fishtail-kind of shape — in the ‘P’ (of PEWA),” Hessler says. “It was traditionally used for woodworking and mending two pieces of wood together. We were inspired by that because we wanted to bring our community together. With this being our first night and cocktail concept, we have much more space to invite the community into events and host workshops.

“It’s everything we have been doing for 

(by Pono Potions) for years, just in a different setting,” he adds.

PEWA by Pono Potions features an espresso bar in the morning from 9 to 11 a.m., then offers different menus for lunch (served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and pau hana (4 to 9 p.m.). The espresso bar is different from the specialty beverages customers can get at sister business 

by Pono Potions, which is also located in Chinatown.

is still our flagship store for our Pono Potions syrups for our coffee and matcha drinks,” Hessler explains. “There are about 30-plus specialty drink options and combinations and cold foams at Pō'ai. For this space, we wanted to keep it very simple. It’s more of a purist European-style espresso bar — there are classic drinks, cortados, lattes, flat whites, things like that.”

Customers who visit PEWA by Pono Potions in the morning can enjoy a rotating selection of baked goods from Ulu and Kalo Bakery and Aloha German Bakery, according to Hessler.

“Ulu and Kalo Bakery — which we use at Pō'ai

by Pono Potions — has all vegan and gluten-free baked goods that are amazing,” he says. “We also started working with Aloha German Bakery; they are more classic European-style baked goods.”

PEWA’s lunch and pau hana menus have given Hessler the chance to get back into the kitchen and exercise his culinary creativity.

“I grew up in Portland in the back of the house as a cook and banquet chef in hotels and restaurants,” he says. “I haven’t really gotten into much (of that) here in Hawai‘i; I haven’t worked in a kitchen in more than 13 years. It was really daunting, having this much space with a full kitchen and just thinking about how I was going to manage that.”

Hessler says he created all the recipes for the dishes on the lunch and pau hana menus, with some help from his cousin, Arden Waikīkī chef Jasmyne Wood.

“It’s been a really fun process to meld all of those things together,” he says.

PEWA’s lunch menu includes pūpū like yuzu citrus glaze chicken wings ($18) and fritto misto ($18); salads like Caesar ($15) and burrata Caprese ($18); and entrees like grilled chicken club ($18) and a rib-eye sando ($24).

“Working in Chinatown for so long, I’m always in search for a filling, healthy, good sandwich,” Hessler says. “I really like our chicken club with avocado and bacon — it’s super simple, but really good.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Meanwhile, the pau hana menu includes more shareable dishes."}]

“We didn’t want it to be a place where you felt you were going out for a three-course meal; it’s not a sit-down dinner service sort of place,” he says. “It’s a space to enjoy a cocktail and share different things with your friends.

Customers can opt for dishes like grilled boneless rib-eye ($48), herb-grilled prawns ($32), hot sausage vodka rigatoni ($24) and spaghetti aglio e olio ($20).

“The grilled prawns are served with a housemade grilled baba ganoush; that’s a really fun thing to share,” Hessler says. “We have a pūpū rib-eye steak with a chimichurri sauce and it’s lightly marinated with red wine and some balsamic vinegar; it’s really, really good. The chicken wings are a crowd favorite already; they’re super crispy with a yuzu citrus glaze.”

The pau hana menu also offers a variety of shareable boards that are designed to split among three to four people, according to Hessler. Choose from smoked salmon with whipped herb goat cheese and house pickles ($23); Mediterranean with grilled baba ganoush, hummus and crudite ($20); and charcuterie and cheese ($25).

“We have a lot of boards; I’ve been pretty infamous for charcuterie boards," he says. "We would host so many events at 

, and I would make huge, elaborate boards all the time. I wanted to bring that here as well.”

PEWA boasts an extensive drink menu; customers can choose from handcrafted cocktails ($18), espresso martinis ($14-$18), beers ($8-$10) and classic Pono spritzes ($14), along with wines by the glass and bottle.

So far, customer favorites include the Crown Flower ($18) — milk-washed gin, pikake and lychee-accented cocktail — and Red Palaka ($18). The latter pays homage to the Year of the Fire Horse, and features a tequila and mezcal sour paired with olena pineapple and pink lucky candy.

“The Red Palaka is one of my favorites,” Hessler says. “I (also) really like the Mana Mai’a ($16), which uses our new banana bread Pono Potions syrup, fresh lemon juice, vodka, and freshly grated cinnamon on top.”

Any of the classic Pono spritzes ($14 each) can be made into non-alcoholic versions, according to Hessler. These drinks usually feature a base spirit, house soda, and Pono Potions syrups. If you want something refreshing, go for the non-alcoholic version of the hibiscus mojito, which is a blend of hibiscus syrup, lime and soda. 

On Sundays, the space is open for brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (last call for the kitchen is at 2 p.m.). Dishes range from shakshuka and avocado toast to rib-eye steak and eggs and a sweetbread French toast skillet.

“We want this space to be like the destination for a fun Sunday boozy brunch with good food and good drinks on the patio,” Hessler says.

He says that, since opening, the space has already been busy on Friday and Saturday nights.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of life we bring into this space,” Hessler says. “We want to make this space accessible to everyone — we want to make it a destination for people to come to have one drink or one coffee, or just to relax all night and eat some good food as well. The most important thing is the camaraderie with the community.”

Open 9 to 11 a.m. (espresso bar), 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (lunch), and 4 to 9 p.m. (pau hana) Wednesdays to Saturdays; open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays

PEWA owner 031926

<title>PEWA by Pono Potions is Chinatown’s newest cocktail lounge</title>

Pono Potions’ new cocktail lounge features creative libations, along with lunch, pau hana and brunch menus.

PEWA by Pono Potions is Chinatown’s newest cocktail lounge

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Students from across the state were joined by Gov. Josh Green to urge lawmakers to pass bills outlawing disposable vapes in Hawai‘i.

At a rally at the State Capitol Wednesday, scores of keiki — members of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council, a program of the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute — waved signs in support of several bills in the state Legislature that would mitigate an epidemic of young people becoming addicted to vapes and e-cigarettes.

, would outright prohibit the sale of disposable vapes in the state, while another, 

, would require vape manufacturers to certify every year that their products are in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.

As written, HB2121 and SB2175 are functionally identical. Beginning in 2027, both measures would make the sale of “disposable electronic smoking devices” illegal within the state. Both bills specify that the ban only apply to devices that cannot be refilled or have a non-rechargeable battery.

Nate Hix, policy director at the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, told Aloha State Daily that, if the bills were to pass, Hawai‘i would be the first state to implement a ban on disposable vapes. However, other nations have enacted similar bans, including the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, HB1573 sets a series of requirements for vape manufacturers, which would have to prove every year that the FDA had issued their product a “marketing granted order,” without which it would be illegal to market their product in the U.S.

Furthermore, manufacturers would need to prove each year that each of their product lines sold in Hawai‘i are in compliance with state and federal laws, and pay $1,000 for each product line sold in Hawai‘i each year. The state Department of the Attorney General would then maintain a list of products approved to be sold in the state; any manufacturer who fails to prove a product complies with the state’s requirements would have that product de-listed.

Hawai‘i Attorney General Anne Lopez said the bill consequently allows the state to remove unlisted products from store shelves. Distributors selling unlisted products would be fined between $500 and $2,000 for each product in violation, while the manufacturer would be fined $10,000 per violation.

Students and politicians spoke Wednesday about the continued prevalence of vapes in schools, with Kohala Sen. Tim Richards — co-introducer of SB2175 — saying that more than one-third of Hawai‘i high schoolers have tried vapes, and that users are four times more likely to take up smoking.

Jeremiah Jacinto, senior at H.P. Baldwin High School, told ASD that vaping is out of control at schools, with school restrooms constantly crowded with illicit vapers.

“It’s gotten to the point where it’s a gamble whether the bathroom is closed because of all the kids vaping,” Jacinto said. “Sometimes the teachers don’t even bother trying to confiscate the vapes anymore.”

Jacinto said he could name “like 50 kids” addicted to vaping, adding that many keiki seem unable to function without a vape.

“It’s like a brain vacuum,” Jacinto said. “It’s like a phone, they can’t leave the house without one in their pocket. They’re always trying to sneak a hit in.”

Kea‘au Rep. Jeanne Kapela — co-introducer of HB2121 — called vape manufacturers “companies selling addiction disguised as candy,” adding that disposable vapes generate needless plastic waste that tends to litter Hawai‘i's beaches and shorelines.

While the lawmakers were optimistic about the bills passing — the House bills are scheduled for a Senate committee hearing on Friday, while the Senate bill passed its first of two committee hearings in the House on Tuesday — they haven’t been uniformly popular. HB2121 and SB2175 have received some opposition by a group called the Hawai‘i Smokers Alliance, which advocates against smoking bans in Hawai‘i.

Michael Zehner, co-chair of the Hawai‘i Smokers Alliance testified on HB2121, calling it a “mean spirited, anti-business mess of a bill” that will destroy local vape retailers.

Meanwhile, a handful of other vape-related bills are still alive in the Legislature, even though they were not discussed at Wednesday’s rally, including HB 1563 and SB 3076.

 would relinquish to the counties the authority to regulate the sale of tobacco products and vapes. This would allow the counties to enact local restrictions on the sale of flavored vape juice — which Jacinto said helps manufacturers target keiki — which the counties of Hawai‘i, Honolulu and Maui have already introduced but cannot actually implement.

 would allow the Attorney General and Department of Taxation to inspect and seize tobacco products including vapes, and that untaxed vapes can be seized as contraband in the same way as untaxed cigarettes.

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<title>Governor and attorney general endorse disposable vape ban</title>

Keiki and lawmakers rallied Wednesday in support of bills cracking down on vape sales.

Governor and attorney general endorse disposable vape ban

Lee Wang 3 Large

As Executive Director of Housing Hawai‘i’s Future, Lee Wang leads youth-driven advocacy and education efforts to ensure Hawai‘i’s next generation can afford to live and thrive at home.

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