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ASD Staff

Adopt a Pet

If dogs could talk: "Aloha Kakou! My name is Loki, and I’m 

"I’m a people-loving, tail-wagging, cuddle machine who just wants to be by your side. My favorite thing in the whole world is giving kisses and snuggling up close! I’m happiest when I’m making my human's happy. I’m super obedient and already know my name, plus all the basic commands! 

"I’m potty trained and I love my crate. I also have a playful side — I really enjoy toys and would love to share playtime with you. While I’m doing my best here at the shelter, it’s really hard for me to be away from the love and comfort of a home. I know I belong with a family who will give me the affection I crave. Could that be you? I’d be the perfect addition to your ʻohana!"

Learn more about Loki and how to adopt him from the Maui Humane Society 

Loki

<title>🚧 Adopt-a-Pet Aug. 28, 2025: Loki is looking for his future bestie</title>

This 3-year-old pup from the Maui Humane Society is on the search for his furever home. Could that be you?

Adopt-a-Pet Aug. 28, 2025: Loki is looking for his future bestie

If dogs could talk: "Aloha Kakou! My name is Loki, and I’m Maui Humane Society’s Pet of the Week!  "I’m a people-loving, tail-wagging, cuddle machine who just wants to be by your side. My favorite thing in the whole world is giving kisses and snuggling up close! I’m happiest when I’m making my human's happy. I’m super obedient and already know my name, plus all the basic commands!  "I’m potty trained and I love my crate. I also have a playful side — I really enjoy toys and would love to share playtime with you. While I’m doing my best here at the shelter, it’s really hard for me to be away from the love and comfort of a home. I know I belong with a family who will give me the affection I crave. Could that be you? I’d be the perfect addition to your ʻohana!" Learn more about Loki and how to adopt him from the Maui Humane Society here. 

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawaii History

Columnists

Some people call it Snake Road, others refer to it as the windy road, but its actual state designation is Kaukonahua Road. This narrow ribbon of asphalt connects Wahiawā and the North Shore. There have been many car crashes and pedestrian accidents along this twisting thoroughfare. Long straightaways tempt drivers to push the speed, but they end in sudden curves, blind rises, and tight lanes with little shoulder to forgive a mistake. Minimal lighting and slick pavement after a rain add to the hazards, giving the road a spooky reputation that only deepens after dusk.

Although the road is well-traveled, those who have to drive it often do so with trepidation, like this Hale‘iwa resident who shared her story with us.

She was held up at work and left Mililani just at nightfall. If she’s able to make it before the sun goes down, she’ll travel the windy road, Kaukonahua. However, on this particular evening, the sun had already set, so she contemplated staying on Kamehameha Highway. Because it takes longer to get home that way, she laughed at her own nervousness and decided to travel her usual route along the twists and turns.

About a mile in, she realized there were no cars in front or behind her. Usually, at this time, the road is bustling, but for some reason, she was the only driver. For a second, she thought it was unusual, and then let it go. As she drove further, she saw a white owl flying in front of her. It had been years since she’d seen an owl, she said, and thought it was neat to see one so early in the evening. As she continued to drive the speed limit, she assumed a vehicle would soon catch up to her, but none did. Shortly after passing a small memorial on the side of the road, she finally saw the red taillights of a car up ahead in the distance. She sped up a bit, trying to get closer to the car in hopes of easing her discomfort at being the only one on the road. All of a sudden, the music cut off, and the instrument panel on her new truck turned red with an “imminent crash” alert flashing and a loud beeping alarm echoing in the cab.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Crash into what?” she thought, “There’s nothing around me!”"}]

It happened so quickly and stopped so suddenly, she didn’t know what to think. She made it home safe, brought the truck in for service, but found nothing wrong. She said that all she could think of was the legend of the Lady in White.

[{"type":"text","text":"“What if I ran into a spirit?” she asked."}]

There’s an urban legend about a bride who was late to her wedding at the old St. Michael’s Church. The priest was driving her in his car and was speeding to get to the church on time. The vehicle hugged each treacherous turn on the winding Kaukonahua Road until it took one turn too wide. The priest lost control of the car and hit a tree head-on. Both the priest and the bride were killed instantly. People say that on certain nights, you can see the bride and the priest walking along Kaukonahua Road, trying to hitch a ride to the wedding. You pull to the side of the road and wait for them to walk up to your vehicle, but they never do. However, as you continue along the road, you see them again, trying to hitch a ride, but this time, their bodies are bloody and mangled.

There is a story similar to this one in nearly every state in the union. Sometimes it’s just the bride. Sometimes it’s the bride and the groom. The details differ depending on the location, but they’re all very much the same story.

When I was still in the early stages of my ghost tour career, I developed a tour to a few haunted locations in the Waialua area. The tour would take us by bus down Kaukonahua Road, and I had an idea to add to the experience. I asked two friends of mine if they would dress up as the bride and priest as part of the ghost tour. We chose a safe spot on the side of the road where they could stand so they would be under a streetlight, and I would time the story just right so when the bus made that turn, there they were in full bloody costume and makeup. They were enthusiastic about doing it, and we drove the route and practiced a few times so we would all be prepared by the weekend.

And so the tour began, and I was in full storytelling mode. As we turned onto Kaukonahua Road, the bus driver turned off the interior lights to add to the ambiance. The bus came around the bend with perfect timing.

“And there they wait, on the side of the road, hitching a ride to a wedding they will never attend.” I said, then I pointed, “Look! There they are!”

When the people on the bus looked out the window and saw the bloody images of a priest and the bride, everyone screamed. Everyone. Our plan went off without a hitch. After the tour was over, everyone went home scared, happy, and worn out.

The plan was to meet at Denny’s in Kunia afterward to decompress and discuss the tour. My friend and I waited for the couple, but they never showed and didn’t answer their phones. Finally, as we were walking back to our cars, my phone rang.

As I was congratulating them on a job well done, the young man interrupted me and asked if I’d gotten their messages. My friend and I both checked our phones, but there weren’t any missed texts or calls.

“We both got called into work last minute,” the young man explained, “I texted you. We both did. I’m so sorry we let you down.”

I stopped in the middle of the parking lot, confused. As far as I and twenty-five other people saw, they were standing on the side of the road, fully dressed in a priest’s suit and a wedding dress, and covered in blood. We rushed back to town and met the couple at their job forty-five minutes later. Their boss, who was standing nearby, confirmed that he called both of them into work for the evening shift, and they’d been there all night. That was the first and the last time we ever tried anything like that.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Kaukonahua Road evening

<title>🚧 Kaukonahua’s Haunted Drive</title>

The tree-lined two-lane connecting Wahiawā to the North Shore just might be home to the ghostly presence of a doomed bride.

Kaukonahua’s Haunted Drive

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Everyone’s looking to save money and get the most bang for their buck. This series will show you where you can save while still savoring a good meal.

The secret’s out — Tsurutontan Udon Noodle Brasserie, located in Royal Hawaiian Center, has an early and late-night secret menu. This secret menu gives diners 50% off on more than 35 dishes from 2 to 5:30 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to last call (often 9 p.m.) every day.

The catch — you must ask for the secret menu (from the outside, it will look identical to the eatery’s regular menu).

When you get the secret menu, look for the dishes with an “SP” price — those are the ones that are 50% off. All the regular-priced menu items will still be available.

The blue crab California roll ($7, regular $18) is one of my favorite dishes to get since it includes real (not imitation) crab. It seems to taste even better at the discounted price.

The specialty sushi rolls are an especially good deal. The lava roll ($8.50, regular $17) is a customer favorite that includes shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado and imitation crab on top. Or, go for the sunfire roll ($9, regular $18), which is the same roll but with spicy tuna as the topping.

Discounted appetizers range from bacon Caesar salad ($6.50, regular $13) and shishito peppers ($4.50, regular $9) to chicken karaage ($6.50, regular $13), garlic shrimp ($7, regular $14) and tonkatsu pork cutlet ($5.50, regular $11). We’re told that the chicken karaage features a revised recipe, resulting in a juicier, more tender chicken.

When it comes to select udon and donburi, the discount is a game changer. Popular udon options include the tan tan ($12, regular $24), cream mentaiko ($12, regular $24) and Mentai kamatama ($12, regular $24). The latter is a cold udon that’s especially refreshing on a humid summer day.

While it’s not included in the selection of discounted dishes, we recommend trying the sizzling wagyu rice ($24) if you’re dining with a group, as it’s easy to share. This new dish features a hot stone bowl of American wagyu over rice that’s mixed tableside. We couldn’t get enough of its umami flavor.

Be sure to check out featured monthly specials during your visit. During June, enjoy discounted Sapporo draft beers ($3 instead of $8) and discounted glasses of red or white wines ($4 instead of $9).

The eatery’s monthly specials also includes specialty dishes like tori nanban ($14) and creamy Hiyashi tantan ($24).

Customers can also take advantage of a kama

āina/military discount when it comes to parking — you can get three hours of free parking with the purchase of $25 or more. Bring your receipt (and valid ID) to the guest services desk on the first floor of the shopping center to get parking validation. If it’s after 8 p.m., however, you can get parking validation directly from the restaurant.

Secret 50% off menu available daily, 2-5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. to last call

Tsurutontan late night happy hour spread 062325

<title>🚧 Budget Bites: Tsurutontan’s secret 50% off menu</title>

The specialty sushi rolls are an especially good deal. The lava roll ($8.50, regular $17) is a customer favorite that includes shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado and imitation crab on top. We'll tell you how to get access to this secret menu!

Budget Bites: Tsurutontan’s secret 50% off menu

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Government & Politics

Amanda Ybanez, chair of the Kalihi-Pālama Neighborhood Board No. 15, says there's a lot happening in her community. 

“It’s a working-class community and it’s actually very vibrant, but it’s full of challenges and needs, especially with the rail coming through,” she told Aloha State Daily Saturday, following a tour of the neighborhood she serves.

Ybanez took ASD all around the community — through Iwilei, the ongoing roadwork along Dillingham Boulevard and to a nearby kauhale; past 

; to Sand Island, around Kalihi and more.

The district — the full boundaries of which can be 

 — covers a swath of Honolulu’s urban core.

Ybanez says the neighborhood has the largest urban core population, as well as high densities of houseless individuals, people who need social services and residents who live in public housing.

The district also encompasses the state’s largest jail facility, OCCC, as well as Iwilei, the urban neighborhood poised for redevelopment in the coming years as work on the Skyline rail continues.

Aloha State Daily spoke with Ybanez about the neighborhood, its challenges and what lies ahead.

What are some of the biggest challenges the community is facing today?

Right now, I feel we are all facing problems with game rooms and the crimes that stem from that. Such systemic issues from those — which seems to be plaguing not only my community, but every single community — includes drug dealing, crime, violence, rape, sex trafficking and guns. Illegal game rooms feature a lot of bad aspects that happen in and around our own communities and in neighborhoods that shouldn't be happening. A lot of that is going on. It seems to be affecting a whole lot more people across the island.

Another problem we're facing is the homeless and [unaffordability]. Things are becoming out of reach of people having housing, being able to support themselves for just the basic needs, such as food, water [and] shelter, that's becoming a problem. In fact, it is overwhelming already at this moment, and I think everybody's trying to deal with it in the best way that they can. And fortunately, [it is] very good that we have city and state officials who are on the same page with each other to help to tackle this issue — some of which is the formation of the kauhales [communal villages of tiny homes for the homeless] ... at the same time, not just chasing people from one side of the sidewalk to the next, but being able to have ongoing conversations and outreach with services to provide [to] these people.

Iwilei in particular is poised for a lot of growth and redevelopment in the coming years. Can you talk about what's in store for the future for that community and the entire neighborhood?

There is much change to be occurring and whatever's going to be happening in my area will set the precedence for the rest of urban core as the rail gets built through ... inclusive of affordable housing and the building infrastructure and the understandings that come from that. It is now more crucial than ever before that the community gets involved in these ongoing conversations of what gets developed, who is developing it and what is the price point and what qualifies our residents to get into these kind of condos or high rises or whatever they want to call it. Have those ongoing conversations and engagement with the developers and our state officials.

[{"text":"What is the best part about the community?","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]

The best part of my community is the resilience of the people. This is a hard-working community. It's built from immigrants. It's built from Native Hawaiians. It's a mixture of so many people and they are resilient and they're hopeful. My only hope for them is for them to come to the table, to be part of that conversation. That is what I really hope and that is my dream, for Honolulu, for Kalihi to be the starting point of that.

More information about Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board No. 15, which meets at 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month, can be 

Dillingham blvd2 42425

<title>🚧 Kalihi-Pālama: a 'working-class community' facing challenges and changes</title>

Aloha State Daily recently spoke with Kalihi-Pālama Neighborhood Board No. 15 Chair Amanda Ybanez about the community, its challenges and what lies ahead.

Kalihi-Pālama: a 'working-class community' facing challenges and changes

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

His brother, Dillon, will officially become one during next week's NFL Draft. 

But when it comes to carving his own path, Roman Gabriel is on his way to doing so on the basketball court. The Mililani High School senior recently signed with Bushnell University, an NAIA school in Eugene, Ore. 

Following a standout senior season with the Trojans, Gabriel was named ScoringLive's OIA West Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points per game. The 6-foot-3 guard took a visit to Bushnell in March, earning an offer from the Beacons. He signed on Tuesday at Mililani with his family in attendance, joining rare company among Hawai‘i prep basketball players that latch on with a college team straight out of high school.

"Just feeling super blessed," Gabriel told Aloha State Daily after signing with Bushnell. "Not a lot of high school hoopers from Hawai‘i get an opportunity and chance to play at the next level. Just super grateful, proud of the work I put in, but also excited for the new chapter, and now it's time to work and get after it. So, super excited and relieved."

Roman Gabriel is the son of Garrett Gabriel, who was an All-State football and basketball player in high school, suiting up for Pac-Five on the gridiron and Maryknoll on the hardwood. He went on to play 

quarterback for the University of Hawai‘i

 football team from 1987 to 1990. If there's anyone who understands and envies Roman Gabriel's basketball journey, it's his father. 

"Everybody knows that basketball is my first love," Garrett Gabriel said, "but I ended up playing football."

Garrett and Dori named their three sons after NFL players: Garrison (named after Garrison Hearst), Dillon (named after Corey Dillon) and Roman. Each son excelled in a different sport: Garrison Gabriel was an All-OIA libero for the Moanalua volleyball team, while Dillon set the state's passing yardage record for Mililani before playing collegiately for UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon. He is a projected Day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, which begins on April 24. 

"It's pretty special, all the different sports each of them got to experience, winning a OIA championship. The sports aspect of our lives has been fun," Garrett Gabriel said. "We were raised that way, me and my wife, always at ballparks and gymnasiums and so it's just a continuous thing that's going to be there for us because, again, we love it, and that's been part of our lives."

Bushnell University, formerly known as Northwest Christian University, is located just a mile away from the University of Oregon, where Dillon Gabriel became a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2024. During the college football season, Roman Gabriel was in attendance for three Oregon home games. He initially didn't know how close Bushnell was to UO, but he says by the time he gets to Eugene, he'll already have a barber and church in place. 

Garrison Gabriel is currently Dillon's business manager. Last May, Dillon donated thousands of dollars worth of new equipment and Nike uniforms to various Mililani High School teams through an NIL deal.  

At Mililani, Roman Gabriel played under his father, who has coached at a bevy of schools on O‘ahu, with stints at Maryknoll, Saint Louis and Radford. Garrett Gabriel previously coached Roman Gabriel at the YMCA level, but not in high school. Roman was still in middle school when Garrett got the Mililani coaching job. He knew that by the time he got to high school, he wasn't going to receive any sort of preferential treatment. 

"I got pushed really hard not just on the court, but off the court too," Roman Gabriel recalled. "I was held to really high expectations. I think that's going to carry over for me pretty nicely in college. Being coached super hard, that's going to be nothing new to me. And as far as pushing myself and holding myself to a high standard, I think that's super important, and being a great teammate to others whether or not I see the court."

Added Garrett Gabriel: "It definitely wasn't easy for him, because my expectations for him were different than the other kids on the team. The expectations of doing things the right way, not getting anything handed to you. And nothing was ever handed to him. He started off as a JV player, so I think that made him even more hungry, having him just fight through the process and then understanding some adversities.

"But because he's such a mild-mannered kid, you can't ask for a better person in terms of character and just personality, loving, caring, so that part, I'm proud of how he handled himself. ... More credit to him, because he put in the work."

Roman Gabriel's love for basketball began as an elementary schooler at Holy Family Academy, the same school UH women's basketball standout 

 and her sister, Jovi attended. It became evident to him that he had the potential to play college basketball as a freshman in high school, which is when he started to spend more time in the weight room and contact potential schools.

Garrett Gabriel believes his son made the made the biggest jump in his game between his junior and senior year. For his part, he made sure not to typecast Roman as a post player, which at times can be the default position for a player taller than 6 feet at the high school level in Hawai‘i. At Bushnell, Gabriel is projected to be a shooting guard. 

Happy times are ahead for the Gabriel family, as Roman's signing in Tuesday will be followed by the reveal of Dillon's NFL destination next week. 

"It's going to be a big year for the Gabriels, so we're super excited," Roman Gabriel said. "It's going to be a huge year of change. Change can be nerve-racking, but it's also going to be very exciting. My mom and dad, they love us and we're a super supportive family. I'm going to be there for Dillon and he's going to be there for me."

Adopt-a-Pet Aug. 28, 2025: Loki is looking for his future bestie

ASD Staff

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Adopt-a-Pet Aug. 28, 2025: Loki is looking for his future bestie

Authors

ASD Staff

More in Adopt a Pet

Meet this Maui Humane Society volunteer and the pets she cares for

Adopt-a-Pet Maui: Curious cat named 'Broccoli Cheddar' needs a safe home

Adopt-a-Pet Sept. 11, 2025: Kinako, renamed Bingo, has found a furever family

Adopt-a-Pet Aug. 28, 2025: Build a lasting bond with Booboo

Most read