Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

Public housing agency evicted a woman in 2021 when a guest, her son, attacked a neighbor with a bat. She fought back.

I Stock 178835830 16x9

Pearl City tenant wrongfully evicted after baseball bat attack, state Supreme Court rules

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Poirier, who has defeated Holloway twice, is set to retire following the fight in New Orleans.

UFC general 042525

Waianae's Max Holloway to take on Dustin Poirier at UFC 318

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

The four-time Grammy award winner and five-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner is back to his Hawaiʻi Island roots with this free concert in Hilo during Merrie Monarch Festival.

Kalani Pe’a

Award-winning Kalani Peʻa shares free concert in Hilo

Savaiinaea was selected by the Dolphins in the second round with the 37th overall selection.

Jonah Savaiinaea 042525

Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea selected by Miami Dolphins in NFL Draft

Alternatives for how the new Aloha Stadium will be built are being considered due to the results of House Bill 300.

Stadium Authority Meeting 042425

New Aloha Stadium remains on track despite $49.5 million hurdle

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Located in the Nā Lama Kukui Lifestyle & Design Center in Iwilei, a grand opening is planned for Sunday, May 4.

Kapua aguiar HPM 042425

HPM Building Supply to host grand opening for O‘ahu Design Centers

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Sip ‘N Slide just opened in Lāʻie Village Center.

Sip n Slide sodas 042325

This new soda shop has an indoor playground

Ajitama Hawaiʻi offers ramen egg musubi, matcha and more

Ajitama Hawaii musubi 042425

New ajitama musubi is an “egg-cellent” addition to the Kakaʻako neighborhood

Cheryl Tsutsumi

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

Columnists

Kahuku-born and -raised, Melvin Matsuda decamped to California in the early ’70s with his black belt and ran successful martial arts schools in San Bernadino and Palm Springs for five years. But when his father asked if he would come home to look after the family farm, he signed on, came home, and never looked back.

Mel Matsuda Tractor

Uncles and Aunties: Melvin Matsuda, the karate farmer of Kahuku

Real Estate

Lawsuit against Hawai‘i County could set precedent for other permitting woes, plaintiff says.

Shahzaad Ausman pic 16x9

Hawai‘i Island homeowner wins three-year permit battle

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts previously sponsored the Hawai‘i Bowl from 2003 to 2013.

Hawai‘i Bowl 042425

Sheraton returns as Hawai‘i Bowl sponsor

Hawaiian Airlines has joined Alaska Airlines at terminals in Los Angeles International Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Hawaiian and Alaska SFO

These airlines are now neighbors in terminals at two major Mainland airports

Government & Politics

A bill to outlaw the sale of "assault rifles" is on the verge of passage in the Hawai‘i Legislature, despite wide opposition by gun advocates.

Senate Bill 401 proposes to ban the purchase or sale of “assault rifles” and “assault shotguns” in the state after July 8. While such weapons purchased and registered before July 8 would remain legal, those guns could not be again sold within the state.

The bill has generated substantial opposition from gun owners statewide. Several have argued that the bill’s definition of an “assault rifle” would impact the vast majority of long guns in circulation.

An "assault rifle," as defined in the bill, is a semiautomatic rifle with an overall length of less than 30 inches, with a fixed magazine capable of accepting more than 10 rounds, can accept a detachable magazine and has features such as a pistol grip, flash suppressor, bayonet mount and others.

While some of these features would be prohibited because of their potential to expedite violent crimes — folding stocks, for example, can enhance “the concealability of the weapon,” according to the bill — gun advocates have said that many of them are standard features on most rifles. 

“They’ve said the M1 carbine would be legal under the bill, but it wouldn’t,” said Wayne Asam, president of the Mid Pacific Pistol League, a nonprofit that promotes competitive sport shooting. Asam told Aloha State Daily the bill prohibits rifles with handguards that shroud the barrel and allow the shooter to hold the barrel without being burned, something that is standard to the M1 carbine.

Furthermore, Asam said, flash suppressors, also banned by the bill, are “stock on almost all rifles.” Such suppressors dampen a weapon’s muzzle flash, help limit muzzle rise and improve accuracy over multiple shots.

Gun clubs would largely be limited to pistol shooting under these restrictions, Asam said, while hunters would be seriously impacted. He said lawmakers had clearly taken restrictions drafted in other states and transposed them to Hawai‘i without understanding them.

Big Island Rep. David Tarnas, architect of the bill, acknowledged as much, telling Aloha State Daily that he specifically adapted language used in a 2023 Illinois weapons ban.

Tarnas said he sees the bill as simply finishing the work of a 1992 Hawai‘i measure that banned the sale of “assault pistols,” which were defined in similar terms as this year’s assault rifle bill.

“In my opinion, the legislature should have addressed the issue of semiautomatic rifles at the same time,” Tarnas said. “But over 33 years, people have become accustomed to these rifles with military characteristics.”

Tarnas said he wants to protect citizens’ Second Amendment rights, and emphasized that SB 401 does not criminalize current legal and registered owners of assault rifles. 

However, Tarnas added that those guns currently in the state will eventually be decommissioned: they cannot be legally transferred between owners, nor can they be bequeathed to heirs. Anyone who inherits such a gun has 90 days to render the weapon permanently inoperable, sell or transfer it to a licensed dealer or a police chief of any of the state’s counties, or otherwise remove the weapon from the state.

At the same time, Tarnas said, there are “a vast amount” of Hawai‘i residents in support of assault weapon restrictions. The public submitted more than 420 pages of testimony — see that and the drafts of the bill 

 — including dozens of form letters emphasizing that such weapons “are military-grade weapons that have no place in civilian life,” alongside continued opposition.

But Asam questioned Tarnas' assessment. For example, he said, the bill also bans .50-caliber firearms, which laypeople may only associate with military sniper rifles, but also includes high-powered pistols like the Desert Eagle that most commonly only see use as sport guns.

Ultimately, Asam said that the process of getting a firearm in Hawai‘i is already restrictive and onerous, and so the only people impacted by the ban would be law-abiding gun owners.

Beyond the content of the bill, opponents have also questioned its context. SB 401 began life as a much shorter proposal to simply prohibit .50 caliber firearms, which passed through the Senate despite substantial public opposition.

But in March, the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs — of which Tarnas is a member — recommended the sweeping amendments that gave the bill its current form. Those amendments transferred to SB 401 the text of another Tarnas bill, House Bill 893, which passed through the House without incident but was not scheduled for any Senate committee hearings.

Tarnas said the language of the SB 401 has thereby already passed muster in the House. He added that, because the original form of the bill was related to firearms, the changes are still germane to the measure’s original subject matter and therefore do not constitute a “gut-and-replace.”

The State Supreme Court found gut-and-replace actions — the controversial practice of stripping the entire text of an existing bill after it has already been discussed in legislative readings and replacing it with unrelated text without allowing for adequate discussion — unconstitutional in 2021.

[{"text":"Nonetheless, Asam said he finds the bill shady.","type":"text"}]

“We fight off assault weapon bans every year,” Asam said. “And since we keep being successful, it seems they’re trying some new tricks.”

The bill now goes into conference committees over the coming weeks, following disagreements between the House and Senate over the amendments.

Tarnas David A 359 16x9

<title>State Legislature poised to pass sweeping weapons ban</title>

Senate Bill 401 proposes a ban on the sale of "assault rifles" beginning July 8.

State Legislature poised to pass sweeping weapons ban

High stakes, emotions, and one of the sport's great rivalries. The No. 4 University of Hawai‘i's men's volleyball team's upcoming home series against No. 1 Long Beach State checks just about every box. 

Over the course of two nights at the Stan Sheriff Center, the two teams atop both the NCAA RPI and Big West standings will battle for positioning two weeks prior to the conference tournament. Friday night's match is trending towards a sellout, while tickets are no longer available for Saturday's contest, which will also serve as the regular season home finale and senior night for the Rainbow Warriors. 

Although the 'Bows (22-3, 5-1 Big West Conference) will host the Big West Tournament from April 24-26, members of the team are eager to test themselves against The Beach (23-1, 5-1). Any senior night held in Hawai‘i brings a bevy of emotions, but the fact that the 'Bows will hold it against their rivals in 2025 only multiples those sentiments. 

The Rainbow Warriors, particularly their seniors, wouldn't want any other team coming to town this weekend. 

"I think it's a perfect situation," senior libero ‘Elu Choy said. "It'll be senior night, but this is an opportunity for us to prove as a team that we can beat any team. I think we proved multiple times this season that we can. We also proved times where when we're not decent, any team could beat us.

"I think this is kind of like a good test for the big stage, like Big West or NCAA if we make it, but, yeah, I wouldn't want to have any other way. I definitely want Long Beach to be here for our senior night so we can prove that we can beat any team."

Last weekend, the 'Bows were swept by No. 9 Cal State Northridge on Friday to begin their road trip. The Rainbow Warriors returned the favor on Saturday in sweeping the Matadors, who are at the bottom of the conference 

 went down with an ankle injury at the end of Saturday's match, marking his status this weekend as questionable. UH head coach 

 says he's currently evaluating the injury on a day-to-day basis. If Titriyski is not able to play, freshman Kainoa Wade and Finn Kearney appear poised to receive extended playing time. 

Regardless of who UH trots out there on Friday and Saturday, both teams will posses a burning desire to defeat each other in another chapter of a storied rivalry. On multiple occasions, The Beach and the 'Bows have obstructed the other from winning conference and national titles. In 2019, UH defeated Long Beach State in the Big West championship game but fell to LBSU in the national title match. Hawai‘i went 28-3, with all three of its losses coming to The Beach. In 2022, Hawai‘i and LBSU split its regular season series, though UH swept The Beach in both the Big West championship and national title matches.

"It'll be emotional, but in a good way," Hawai‘i head coach Charlie Wade said. "I think everybody knows they're important matches. ... It seems like whenever we play, there's something at stake. So it just kind of goes with the territory. And I think everybody's been looking forward to it for a long time and excited to get out and compete."

Friday and Saturday's matches could serve as an appetizer for future matches in the coming weeks. As was the case in 2019 and 2022, the Rainbow Warriors and The Beach met twice in the regular season for their standard Big West series before meeting an additional time in both the conference and NCAA Tournament.

Regardless of how Saturday night's match ends, five seniors on the UH roster will be honored afterwards: Choy, Clay Wieter, Zachary Thompson, Kawai Hong and Kurt Nusterer. 

Nusterer, the team's starting middle blocker for two years straight, was a late addition to the senior night festivities. Although he would be eligible in 2026, he is leaving that year on the table in order to take a position as a wealth management professional analyst with Goldman Sachs in Los Angeles. 

"I've just been looking for some career opportunities, both out here and on the Mainland. I got a call last week that I got just a really, really great opportunity that doesn't come around a lot," Nusterer said. "I'm grateful I got an opportunity that came up. Looking forward to moving forward with that. It was a very hard decision.

"I can really leave everything out there for volleyball these last couple of weeks, this last month. It's actually really ideal timing in that regard. ... I can really lock in and give everything I've got these last couple of weeks."

News

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Sports

Business & Tourism

Real Estate

Food & Dining

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

Aloha Spirit

Hawaii History

Opinion

Daily Features

News

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Sports

Business & Tourism

Real Estate

Food & Dining

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

Aloha Spirit

Hawaii History

Opinion

Daily Features

Pearl City tenant wrongfully evicted after baseball bat attack, state Supreme Court rules

Waianae's Max Holloway to take on Dustin Poirier at UFC 318

Award-winning Kalani Peʻa shares free concert in Hilo

Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea selected by Miami Dolphins in NFL Draft

New Aloha Stadium remains on track despite $49.5 million hurdle

HPM Building Supply to host grand opening for O‘ahu Design Centers

This new soda shop has an indoor playground

New ajitama musubi is an “egg-cellent” addition to the Kakaʻako neighborhood

Uncles and Aunties: Melvin Matsuda, the karate farmer of Kahuku

Hawai‘i Island homeowner wins three-year permit battle

Sheraton returns as Hawai‘i Bowl sponsor

These airlines are now neighbors in terminals at two major Mainland airports

Latest News

News

Pearl City tenant wrongfully evicted after baseball bat attack, state Supreme Court rules

Waianae's Max Holloway to take on Dustin Poirier at UFC 318

Award-winning Kalani Peʻa shares free concert in Hilo

Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea selected by Miami Dolphins in NFL Draft

New Aloha Stadium remains on track despite $49.5 million hurdle

HPM Building Supply to host grand opening for O‘ahu Design Centers

This new soda shop has an indoor playground

New ajitama musubi is an “egg-cellent” addition to the Kakaʻako neighborhood

Uncles and Aunties: Melvin Matsuda, the karate farmer of Kahuku

Hawai‘i Island homeowner wins three-year permit battle

Sheraton returns as Hawai‘i Bowl sponsor

These airlines are now neighbors in terminals at two major Mainland airports