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Stephanie Salmons

Aloha Spirit

Business & Tourism

Recent donations to its Great Minds Capital Campaign are helping Assets School make great strides towards its $10 million goal.

In late August, a $3 million gift from nonprofit 

 was made to the capital campaign; it was the largest donation in the school's history. Days later, former Assets parent Dexter Mar announced another $500,000 donation to the Great Minds campaign to name the Radiant Star Preforming Arts Studio in honor of his late son, Zachary, a 2008 graduate of the school, and late wife, Faye Fujisaki Mar, who was a Broadway and off-Broadway dancer.

Linda Jameson Myers, vice president of institutional advancement at Assets, told Aloha State Daily that the main purpose of the capital campaign, which kicked off about two years ago, is to build permanent structures, classrooms and buildings for students.

"For 34 years, our children have been learning out of trailers, and that's because we didn't own the land," she explained. "We acquired the land in 2013 and now we can actually create permanent buildings. This will be the first time our students will have permanent classrooms for music, drama, art and robotics."

According to an announcement late last month, the $3 million gift from the Ching Foundation will create the Clarence T.C. Ching Neighborhood, a cluster of "permanent, purpose-built spaces for music, art, drama and robotics/engineering centered around a courtyard at Assets' K-8 campus."

The Clarence T.C. Ching Neighborhood will include more than 6,000 square feet of classrooms, as well as a 1,600-square-foot courtyard, teacher spaces and a covered outdoor lāna‘i, the announcement says, noting, too, that the Great Minds Capital Campaign also includes the 3,000-square-foot Donald C. Brace Library, which was named by former Assets parent and Trustee Karen Scheid in honor of her late grandfather.

Nearly three rows of longtime temporary trailers will be removed for the project and Assets will donate the structures for continued educational use, the announcement noted. 

Assets says that construction will begin this fall and is expected to be finish in summer 2027. G70 is the architect and project manager while Allied Builders System is the general contractor.

The Radiant Star Performing Arts Studio will be part of the Clarence T.C. Ching Neighborhood.

"Our students have always deserved spaces that reflect their brilliance, creativity, and potential,” Ryan Masa, head of school at Assets, said in the announcement. “The spaces we provide also tell students how much we value them. We are incredibly grateful to the trustees and executive director of The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation for embracing our mission and making this next chapter possible. The Clarence T.C. Ching Neighborhood will give our students purpose-built spaces to create, perform, collaborate, and discover strengths they may not yet know they have.”

Assets, which serves students in kindergarten through 12th grades, was founded in 1955 and specializes in educating keiki who are gifted, dyslexic or have other language-based learning differences.

"My wife Carolyn and I firmly believe that without the education and experience at Assets, our son would have had a significantly difficult time being 'mainstreamed' into a private high school and college,” Robert Fujioka, vice chair and secretary of The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, whose son attended the school, said in the announcement. “We are eternally grateful to the teachers, administrators, and counselors of Assets for supporting our son’s education. The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation understands the importance of having a school in Hawai‘i that specializes in educating dyslexic and gifted children. We are proud to be the lead donor to the Great Minds Capital Campaign and hope this gift inspires others to support this life-changing school.”

Myers says that so far, the school has raised about $5.3 million toward its $10 million campaign.

"We're very lucky to have the support of so many people in the community," she says.

But there's still a ways to go; Myers says that $4.7 million is still a "significant amount to raise, and it is going to take the community and people passionate about helping children who are dyslexic and gifted or learn differently to really reach out to me."

There are about 250 students across the school's two campuses and Myers says the school offers year-round admissions. The K-8 campus is found at 1 ‘Ohana Nui Way in Honolulu while the high school can be found at 913 Alewa Dr. in Honolulu.

To learn more about the Great Minds Capital Campaign or support the project, 

Photo1 Ching Foundation Check Donation to Assets School

<title>Assets School makes strides in Great Minds Capital Campaign</title>

A total of $3.5 million was donated to the campaign in August, with funds coming from a local nonprofit as well as a former Assets parent.

Assets School makes strides in Great Minds Capital Campaign

Real Estate

 on property stewardship, I received emails about the family conflicts that happen after parents pass away. This column is a direct response to your stories.

On a recent Sunday I strolled along the water at Magic Island, Ala Moana Beach Park. I smiled at splashing toddlers, did the shaka to sweating fathers with tongs over the hibachi, and waved at mothers carrying macaroni salad containers. Memories of my parents flood my mind. I thought my parents would live forever — but that, as we know, is not life.

Watching the happy families at the beach, I felt fortunate: After my parents' passing, my sister and I have remained close, and as I have grown older, that closeness has become one of the real joys of my life — not something I take for granted. Whatever spared my sister and me the fate of the families in this column was not luck alone. It was trust, built slowly, over years, long before there was ever anything at stake to divide.

Then came readers' emails, and unexpectedly, almost all shared one theme: my writing on capital stewardship (in Hawaiʻi: land and properties) triggered emotional responses of family dysfunction — in short, they ended up not speaking to each other.

Trust is not something a family can suddenly create after a parent's passing, when grief is raw and old roles — the one who stayed, the one who left, the one who managed everything — resurface all at once. It has to be practiced earlier, long before a house is on the table. A family that talks with each other about hard things finds a way to talk about a house, too. A family that has not will find that the house becomes the place where every unspoken grievance finally has somewhere to land.

If there is a lesson in my own life, the trust that makes an inheritance survivable is not built during probate. It is built at a Liliha dinner table or Sundays at Magic Island, before anyone imagines it will ever be tested.

But trust like that is rare — my inbox tells me so.

From one Neighbor Island reader, she said that she had an agreement with her brother regarding their parents' house after their passing – but the brother went his own way. She ended up with what she had planned for — but spent months agonizing over it, while grieving her parents at the same time.

There is a brother from Nu‘uanu who returned from Las Vegas upon his mother's passing and found he had been cut out of the parents' house sale by his two sisters. When he pointed out that he shared family DNA, the sisters pulled out an Excel spreadsheet of all their visits and expenses when their mother was cared for by the two sisters — in rotation. They are fighting in court now.

Finally, one reader from California who "married into a big Hawaiian Kailua family” witnessed the disintegration of the siblings' relationships from his wife's point of view — all about the parents' properties.

Why does it always seem to come back to the 

In Hawaiʻi real estate becomes the battlefield not because families here love each other less than families elsewhere, but because of a few structural realities almost unique to our islands.

First, for many local families, the house 

 the estate. There is no diversified portfolio, no second property on the Mainland, no stock account — just one appreciated, illiquid asset that cannot simply be cut into thirds.

Second, decades of land scarcity and appreciation mean that a home purchased for tens of thousands of dollars in the 1960s or ’70s can now be worth millions — turning a modest family house into the single largest financial event of an adult child's life.

Third, there is the caregiving imbalance that so often goes unspoken. One sibling stays — cares for aging parents, drives them to doctors' appointments, pays the HECO bill — while others build careers and families elsewhere, on the Mainland. That caregiving is real and it is costly, in both time and money. But it is rarely discussed as its own form of compensation while parents are alive. Instead, it resurfaces later, sometimes literally as a spreadsheet, as evidence in a courtroom about what is "fair."

Fourth, we have a cultural reluctance to raise estate questions with living parents. It can feel disrespectful to ask a parent what they want done with the house after they are gone. One friend's mother responded 

 So, the conversation gets deferred, year after year, until it can no longer be deferred at all.

Put together, these forces mean that in Hawaiʻi, the house does not just hold financial value. It holds every unresolved conversation a family did not have time, or the will, to finish.

When I walk on Sundays at Magic Island, watching those young families, I know they are not thinking about wills or houses. They should not have to, not yet. But someday, quietly and without warning, they will.

If I could sit down at one of those picnic tables — a kupuna intruding on a young family's Sunday beach picnic, I would not talk to them about real estate. I would tell them this: Talk to each other 

, while it costs nothing and means everything. Talk to your parents while they can still answer. Talk to your siblings while there is nothing yet to divide, and the conversation is just conversation, not negotiation. Because by the time the house is what is left to talk about, the thing that actually needed saying has usually already gone unsaid for years.

That, more than any property, is the inheritance worth passing down — and it is the one so many Hawaiʻi families do not realize we are either building or losing, one Magic Island Sunday at a time.

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ay Tsuchiyama’s series explores one central question: How does Hawai‘i use the wealth and land it already has to create its next economic future? He can be reached at 

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<title>Why Hawaiʻi families stop speaking over a house</title>

The wealth that most people in Hawai‘i stand to inherit is typically real estate — quite often the very homes we grew up in, which are now million-dollar assets. ASD columnist Ray Tsuchiyama has advice for how kama‘āina can avoid the pain of fighting over the house when their parents are gone.

Why Hawaiʻi families stop speaking over a house

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 just opened in Sam Sung Plaza. The new tonkatsu restaurant is located in the former space of Sushi ii, which closed in July.

The eatery features a variety of tonkatsu sets; sets include rice, shredded cabbage, and miso soup. Customers can enjoy free refills of miso soup and cabbage.

The pork loin tonkatsu ($21 for 130 grams, $25 for 180 grams) and pork tenderloin tonkatsu ($25 for four pieces) come highly recommended.

The eatery also offers a miso pork loin tonkatsu set, which is topped with the restaurant’s special miso sauce. Other options include chicken katsu sets ($21), fried shrimp set (five pieces for $25), chicken katsu-don ($23), pork katsu sandwich ($13) and fried oysters ($15). The fried oysters are one of Tonkatsu Sakazaki’s featured appetizers.

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The eatery’s opening special is a $9.99 pork loin cutlet rice bowl (regular price $19). The bowl comes with rice topped with pork cutlet simmered in a savory, dashi-based sauce with onions. This discounted price will be available for about three weeks.

Tonkatsu Sakazaki is also the sister restaurant of Ramen Nakamura, located in Waikīkī. Tonkatsu Sakazaki is offering a special Nakamura oxtail curry ($14) — which features a soup-style broth instead of a thicker texture — that features Ramen Nakamura’s oxtail soup. Customers can enjoy the oxtail curry on its own, dip their katsu in it, or pour the curry over rice.

The eatery will be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m.

Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner

Tonkatsu Sakazaki plates 090426

<title>Tonkatsu Sakazaki is now open in Honolulu</title>

The tonkatsu eatery just opened in Sam Sung Plaza. Customers can take advantage of a grand opening special — discounted $9.99 pork loin cutlet rice bowls (regular price $19) — for about three weeks. The restaurant specializes in tonkatsu, ranging from pork tenderloin to chicken katsu.

Tonkatsu Sakazaki is now open in Honolulu

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ASD Staff

Daily Smile

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<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026</title>

We're simple. We'll watch this every time....

Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

In our oral tradition, Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, came from a far-off place called Kahiki. Her beauty and mana were unrivaled, but her carelessness and her short temper often brought conflict and destruction in their wake.

As stories of antiquity were passed down from mouth to ear, details sometimes changed depending on who told them and how they interpreted them, including the tales of our akua. Some details of Pele’s story differ, but the overall arc of her tale remains the same.

In one version, Pele’s uncle Lonomakua gave her an ʻōʻō, a digging stick imbued with mana. The ʻōʻō was called Pāoa, and her uncle taught Pele how to use it to control her own mana. One day, when Lonomakua was gone, Pele accidentally caused a raging fire that burned down the family home. Pele’s sister was angry and exiled Pele, then pursued her across the ocean, never letting her rest.

Another telling of the tale says that Pele’s older sister, Nāmakaokahaʻi, the goddess of the sea, was married to the powerful demigod ʻAukelenuiaʻīkū. On his way to the shore to go fishing, ʻAukele came upon the beautiful Pele and immediately desired her. Thus began an affair that would bring about a conflict between fire and sea that would eventually shape the Hawaiian Islands.

Enraged after discovering the affair between her husband and her sister, Nāmakaokahaʻi attacked Pele. Pele cried to their parents, who told her she must leave to find a safe place for their family. Entrusted with her youngest, most beloved sister, Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, Pele set off to find a new home with Nāmakaokahaʻi in furious pursuit.

The story comes together again as Kamohoaliʻi helped Pele by guiding her travel on his waʻa kaulua, his voyaging canoe. As they made their way across the Pacific, they could hear the waves of Namakaokahaʻi right behind them. They reached the northwest Hawaiian Islands, but every time they came across land, Namaka drove them away. Finally, the small group of siblings reached the island of Kauaʻi. Pele dug her ʻōʻō into the earth and created Puʻukapele, the hill of Pele, where they were able to rest. But their respite was cut short as the glow of Pele’s fire was reflected on the clouds above, alerting Namaka to their whereabouts. Huge waves from the sea forced Pele to flee once more.

Pele built a new home on Oʻahu, digging her ʻōʻō into the ground once, bringing forth a great quantity of fiery rock. It is said that Hiʻiaka called their new home Laeʻahi because, to her, the view of the craterʻs profile from the east looked like the lae (brow) of the ʻahi (tuna). Again, the rage of Nāmakaokahaʻi would not let them be, and waves of salt water drowned Pele’s flames. Pele and Hiʻiaka were driven away once more. In modern times, the name was shortened to Lēʻahi. Today, the crater is widely known as Diamond Head.

Some Hawaiian scholars note that another translation of Lēʻahi could mean “wreath of fire.” At its summit, fires were kept burning to guide voyaging canoes that were traveling along the coastline. It is said that there was a heiau at the top of the crater dedicated to Laʻamaomao, goddess of the wind, to redirect the winds that might extinguish the flames.

Pele’s journey continued southeast through the Hawaiian islands, eventually ending up at Kīlauea, where she resides today. However, there are numerous modern-day reports of Pele sightings across the islands, even on the slopes of Lēʻahi.

One man shared that he was riding his bike up the hill on Diamond Head Road one evening. As he reached the lookout, he passed an older woman wearing a long brownish colored dress or wrap over one shoulder, standing in the middle of the empty parking lot. The man said he nodded to the woman as he rode by, and she nodded back. Then he stopped for a bit to take in the view, and when he glanced behind him, the woman was gone. Any other day, he would have assumed the person just got into a nearby car, but there weren’t any cars around them.

As he’d only been living on Oʻahu for nearly a decade, he didn’t immediately make any assumptions. He said he was just puzzled. That is, until he shared the story with some friends at work. His coworkers were convinced he came across Pele.

Another story was shared with me about an encounter in roughly the same area. This time, a young man and his girlfriend were driving up Diamond Head Road and noticed a woman sitting on a rock wall. The sight of her caught their eye, particularly because the wall was at least four feet high. It wasnʻt easy to climb a wall that high without getting scratched up. The woman had dark brown skin and long white hair, and was wearing a long, plain white muʻumuʻu. As the woman was sitting on the wall, she was leaning forward against a long wooden walking stick.

The couple drove past the woman, but the young man was suddenly overcome with a strong urge to stop. He hit the brakes right in the middle of the road and turned his head back to look at the old woman. She seemed to be looking past him, or through him. He asked his girlfriend if she saw the woman. She had, but urged him to get them out of there.

He put the car in gear, and as he slowly drove away, he looked in his mirror only to see that the woman had disappeared. There was no one sitting on the wall, no one on the sidewalk. She was just gone.

A second later, a car came speeding around the bend ahead of them. The driver swerved to miss a mailbox and spun out, coming to a stop facing the wrong direction barely 20 feet in front of them.

“I’m Japanese, but I was born and raised here,” he said. “We all know the stories from small kid time, but I never really believed things like this happened anymore.”

Diamond Head Full Moon

<title>Sightings of Pele at Lē‘ahi</title>

You might associated Pele most with the active volcanoes of Hawai‘i Island but ancient myths — and contemporary encounters — tell of her presence on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu as well.

Sightings of Pele at Lē‘ahi

 — located on the ground level of The Twin Fin Hotel Waikīkī — recently celebrated its grand opening. It’s currently open from 5 p.m. to midnight from Wednesdays to Saturdays.

Individuals need to direct message the business on 

 to get the entrance password, which will change periodically. Right now, access to the speakeasy is on a first-come, first-served basis; no reservations are accepted.

“We want to keep the mystery of it, but we’re not keeping anyone out,” says Michael Miller, director of operations/partner of Tiki’s Grill & Bar.

“SinIceStir has been a passion project two years in the making, so this moment is a dream come true,” states managing partner Bill Tobin. “We created SinIceStir as an escape for adults looking for crafted cocktails in a more intimate setting, while still enjoying Waikīkī Beach views — and The Twin Fin Hotel Waikīkī had the perfect space for that.”

Both counter seating and booths are available in the speakeasy, which features a one-way glass, so guests can enjoy the views of Waikīkī Beach without passersby looking inside.

SinIceStir Speakeasy features handcrafted cocktails and Island flavors, coupled with the mystery and charm reminiscent of a hidden space. Its signature drinks and boozy shave ice were created by mixologist Jen Ackrill.

“I think the speakeasy connotation is dark and heavy; we came up with the concept of a beach-easy, since we’re right across from the beach,” Ackrill says. “We just wanted all of the drinks to be light and fun, but still delicious. We don’t want it to be too serious.

“I think people think a speakeasy is quiet and there’s all these rules, but if you think about the time where speakeasies were actually happening, it was rowdy,” she adds.

The most popular drink right now is the shave ice cocktail, called Hella Wanted ($32). It’s made with Blanco tequila, Aperol, lime, guava, mango, and li hing mui. It’s a tropical tequila sour, served over shave ice, which adds a refreshing element.

“The shave ice cocktail was the hardest one to make because you’re fighting science on that,” says Ackrill. “Shave ice is really fine, and alcohol loves to melt ice. We started trying to figure out what we could do to keep everything as cold as possible. The little bowls stay in the freezer; the cocktail itself stays in the freezer. It’s more of an interaction — you have a little shave ice, then you pour a little bit of the cocktail on it.

“The drink itself is called the Wanted, and I lived in California for a long time, so I thought ‘Hella Wanted’ was really fun,” she adds.

The Black Sands — which features an impressive smoking presentation — is a combination of whiskies and Giffard banana liqueur black lemon bitters with oak smoke

Other popular drinks so far include the Melona ($19) — Midori, Divino guava mezcal, yuzu, lemon, agave, saline black lemon and Ango orange bitters — and Kunia Quick Fix ($20). The latter includes Ketel One, Kō Hona Kokoleka, cold brew, ancho chili barrel-aged bitters and cinnamon dust.

The speakeasy also offers a variety of beers, wines by the glass, whiskey and more.

If you’re planning to visit the speakeasy, it’s recommended to park at Honolulu Zoo. Metered street parking is also available.

“We are very excited to finally be open and hope locals and visitors will seek us out for this new nighttime experience,” Tobin states.

Open 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesdays to Saturdays

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<title>SinIceStir Speakeasy opens in Honolulu</title>

The hidden lounge — tucked away behind SinIceStir Shave Ice — features handcrafted cocktails and boozy shave ice in a cozy setting, complete with views of Waikīkī Beach. Customers must message the business on Instagram for the speakeasy password, which changes periodically.

SinIceStir Speakeasy opens in Honolulu

Tamara McKay

Government & Politics

Two members of the Hawai‘i Elections Commission want readers to know that their office has been prevented from meeting, even as voters have endured an election marred by irregularities.

Tamara McKay

Latest from Tamara McKay

Community Voices: Hawai‘i's elections watchdog has been locked out of its own room

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