Opinion
Talking story about values.
The staff reporters at Aloha State Daily have a clear mission on the news side of the house: to tell you what happened, not what to think or how to feel about what happened. Here in the opinion section, we want to talk story about values — what we think Hawai‘i should do, or should not do, and why. This is where we welcome informed debate and where people can argue for their perspective.
Hamada: Fixing what's wrong in America
A lot of people feel like America is running off the rails, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk last Wednesday. The solution could be as simple as getting back to some basic rules we all agree on — don't kill anybody, don't lie about them, don't covet.
Rick HamadaSeptember 16, 2025
Uncles and Aunties: Joanne “Cookie” Fujio's fight against ALS
When Gary “Black” Miyashiro was diagnosed with ALS, he and his wife, Joanne “Cookie” Fujio immediately became champions of the ALS Network. It's work Joanne has continued to do, a decade after his death. The next Hawai‘i Walk & Roll to Cure ALS is coming up on Saturday, October 11, at Kapi‘olani Park
Cheryl Chee TsutsumiSeptember 15, 2025
Community Voices: Charitable giving under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Hawai‘i's nonprofits rely on charitable contributions from generous individuals. Here's what you need to know about the new tax rules for writing off these donations on your taxes.
Tom YamachikaSeptember 14, 2025
Hauntings at Hawai‘i’s Biggest Mall
With a long history of Hawaiians living in the area prior to Ala Mona Center's development, the shopping center has been home to many strange and eerie sightings.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiSeptember 10, 2025
Hamada: Thinking twice before calling 911
Act 259, signed into law this month by Gov. Josh Green, is meant to curb the use of 911 calls to discriminate against people. Not only is there no evidence of this happening in Hawai‘i, there's plenty of reasons to think the law will intimidate people out of using 911 at all, now that doing so risks legal liability.
Rick HamadaSeptember 09, 2025
Whatever happened to the Lei of Parks?
For more than a century, planners have dreamed of tying together the parks of Urban Honolulu into a Lei of Parks, but all the seems to remain of that effort now are street signs.
Perry ArrasmithSeptember 04, 2025
The Haunting of Kinau Hale
Is it ironic, or fitting, that the government office that hands out death certificates may be haunted by multiple spirits? Strange things have been experienced at the corner of Punchbowl and Beretania.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiSeptember 03, 2025
Watchful eyes at Makiki Temple
Only Hawai‘i can claim to have had two monarchs who sat as masters of a Masonic lodge during their reign: King Kamehameha IV and King David Kalākaua. Freemasonry offered brotherhood and a moral code — and a sense of mystery, with a strange tale emerging about the Makiki Temple.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiAugust 27, 2025
Ali‘i are ever-present at Mauna ‘Ala
In October 1865, a solemn procession of ali‘i moved 21 sets of royal remains from the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace to a then-new final resting place in Nu‘uanu Valley, Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiAugust 20, 2025
Pipikaula Corner: Making elections elections again
President Donald Trump is talking about an Executive Order to end mail-in voting nationwide. Hawai‘i's Legislature voted to adopt mail-in voting in 2019, starting with the 2020 election. Arguably, we have not had a real election since then.
A. Kam NapierAugust 19, 2025
Beneath the moon at Alakoko
Historians say that on certain nights, the Kauaʻi fishpond is not so still, and the riverbank not so empty.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiAugust 13, 2025
Heap of Misfortune in Mō‘ili‘ili Cemetery
Nearly a century ago, the Islands were stunned by the case of Myles Fukunaga, who kidnapped and murdered 10-year-old George Gill Jamieson, and was executed for his crimes. Does his guilty spirit haunt his gravesite?
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiAugust 06, 2025
Pipikaula Corner: Government got lucky last week
The tsunami traffic jam can't be a surprise when local government has made driving more and more difficult since the last time a tsunami warning put Honolulu in gridlock.
A. Kam NapierAugust 05, 2025
Hawai‘i’s lurking nuclear dilemma
Hawai‘i pushes to decarbonize, but also pushes away nuclear energy. But maybe that's starting to change as state officials move to open a nuclear energy conversation.
Perry ArrasmithAugust 04, 2025
Echoes of the Past at Poli‘ahu
The remains of this keiau on Kaua‘i carry a heavy burden of the past.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 30, 2025
Vanishing lights in the Tunnel of Trees
This week's ghost tale comes from Kaua‘i, where the Tunnel of Trees near Kōloa, while beautiful by day, is home to eerie experiences by night.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 23, 2025
These gates can’t keep the ghosts out
The gates of ʻIolani Palace, each with its own name and purpose, are decorated with gold painted finials and adorned with the Hawaiian Kingdom Coat of Arms. While accounts of mysterious disturbances related to the gates have been shared, it is evident they still hold mana.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 16, 2025
The most important speech in Hawaiʻi’s history
It was the "subtle inferiority of spirit" speech by then-Gov. John A. Burns that came to define the mission of the Democratic Party — and modern Hawai‘i.
Perry ArrasmithJuly 15, 2025
An East-West Center tailored for Hawaiʻi's needs
How this institution came to be and what it will need to become to survive.
Perry ArrasmithJuly 10, 2025
From haunted hotel to haunted museum
Spooky stories shared by staff at the No. 1 Capitol District Building, which was originally the Hawaiian Hotel that opened in February 1872.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 09, 2025
Uncles and Aunties: Malia Davis, inspired to be an animal caretaker by her grandparents
National Zookeeper Week is July 20-26. We spotlight an aunty who has spent half her life taking care of the elephants at Honolulu Zoo.
Cheryl Chee TsutsumiJuly 05, 2025
The women who march at night in Kaimukī
A little place history, as well as stories of "a female procession of spirits" at Puʻu o Kaimukī.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJuly 02, 2025
Pipikaula Corner: How 13 teenagers and some California lawyers rule Hawai’i
State officials are set to unveil new rules to decarbonize the transportation sector. No one voted for this. It wasn't discussed. They committed us to this plan by settling a lawsuit last year that compels state government to protect us from the entire planet.
A. Kam NapierJune 27, 2025
Pipikaula Corner: Sen. Mazie Hirono teaches us a lesson
Only it's not the lesson she might have had in mind. The senator recently went off on a Republican plan to introduce nationwide vouchers. Here's why she — and Republicans — are wrong about how to fix education.
A. Kam NapierJune 26, 2025