“It’s just regular language, ʻthrow it away,’” said Allison Fraley, Solid Waste Division chief, County of Kauaʻi. “There is no ʻaway’ here on the island.”

With a population close to 74,000 and roughly 1.3 million visitors annually, Kauaʻi produces over 90,000 tons of trash every year. For the last 73 years, its landfill has been in Kekaha and is now close to reaching capacity.

“Finding landfills is never easy. We’ve been trying to do it on Kauaʻi for more than 20 years. We’ve been studying it and it’s been difficult,” said Fraley. “We’re at the point where we’re kind of in a crisis. We don’t have any more capacity unless we expand, so we’re pursuing that.”

Similarly, Oʻahu is facing its own landfill capacity crisis and difficulty finding another site. The “Gathering Place” of the state has a population of nearly one million and receives up to six million visitors annually – all of whom collectively generate roughly 1.2 to 1.7 million tons of residential, commercial, and industrial waste per year.

The search for a new landfill was an issue that Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi was told not to deal with. “These are people in elected office who said, ʻYou just leave it alone if you are smart. Let somebody else deal with it,’ which all the more incentivizes me to say, ʻNo. That’s not who we’re going to be.’”

In his first term, Blangiardi created a Landfill Advisory Committee (LAC) to help the city identify and evaluate potential sites for Oʻahu’s next landfill before the current Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill is required to close in March 2028.

In his 2026 State of the City address, Blangiardi underscored the urgent need for a new Oʻahu landfill, describing it as one of the city’s most pressing infrastructure challenges. He reiterated his opposition to placing another landfill on the Waiʻanae Coast, but noted that other sites face significant legal, environmental, and land-use constraints, and called on the state legislature to help address the issue.

In 2020, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature passed Act 73, establishing strict landfill siting restrictions, including buffer requirements from homes, schools, and hospitals, and prohibiting landfills in conservation districts.

This is in addition to the fact that there is limited available land in Hawaiʻi, the cost of land is extremely high, and Hawaiʻi is geographically isolated.

“Like if we were on the mainland, we could just haul it out, you know, just take it somewhere else, drive it out of our community. It would just be the shipping cost,” said Fraley. “But [here] we have to buy land and make sure it complies with all of these criteria.”

The proposed vertical expansion is intended to extend the life of the Kekaha Landfill, which is otherwise expected to reach capacity around 2030.

In response to heightened public concern over aquifer protection following the Red Hill fuel spill, the state legislature enacted additional restrictions in 2025 aimed at preventing new landfills from being sited above sensitive aquifer areas on Oʻahu.

That restriction has made an already difficult situation on Oʻahu even more challenging; in 2022, the LAC rejected all proposed alternative sites due to concerns that included risks to Oʻahu’s aquifers.

“We’re convinced if they were to drill a hole in the ground and spend a million dollars, it’s probably over an aquifer,” said Blangiardi who referred to other development taking place on the island, including high rises.

All counties have implemented programs to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills.

“Each person on Oʻahu generates a little over five pounds of trash every day,” said Josh Nagashima, City & County of Honolulu refuse chief. “It’s kind of wild when you think about it.”

Through incineration, H-POWER produces up to 10% of Oʻahu’s electricity and reduces the volume of waste requiring landfill disposal by 90%, with the remaining 10% in the form of ash. Recycled waste is taken to local recycling facilities.

“Because of H-POWER, we’re already recycling or beneficially using over 70% of our waste,” noted Nagashima. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t do more. There’s a lot of food waste that was identified in what’s going to H-POWER in the waste stream, so we’re trying to remove a lot of that before it gets there.”

In April 2026, Honolulu County launched the G.R.O.W. (Green Recycling Organic Waste) pilot program in select households within Kailua, Hawaiʻi Kai, Mililani, Nānākuli, Waipahu, and Kalihi. G.R.O.W. allows those residents to add food scraps and food waste to their existing green compost carts.

“There’s lots of opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle. But once that’s done, we still have this massive amount of material that needs to be landfilled,” said Fraley, whose department recently held a community informational meeting on the proposed vertical expansion of the Kekaha Landfill, which would increase the landfill’s height to 85 feet. While there has been discussion over a potential new landfill site, there has been environmental and community opposition.

Meanwhile in Honolulu, Blangiardi continues to fight an uphill battle of opposition in the fruitless search for a new landfill site outside of West Oʻahu.

All counties have investigated new technologies, which is an argument often raised by community voices at meetings. However, investments into those technologies are in the billions of dollars. “Everybody forgets about that,” said Blangiardi, who has sat through meetings to learn about waste solutions from gasification to plasma vitrification.

However, as with most major development projects in Hawaiʻi, delays in identifying a landfill site result in rising costs.

“I am really concerned we’re gonna run out of time because this is not one of those things that you can say, ʻWell, let’s just squeeze another couple more years in here,’” said Blangiardi. “We’re pushing it as it is.”

On May 13, the Honolulu City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution introduced by Councilwoman Andria Tupola that would establish an “End Landfills Task Force” to develop alternatives to landfill disposal. The task force will have until November 2027 to evaluate strategies for ending landfill dependency and develop a plan to enact them. The task force will include county and state representatives plus subject matter experts from the recycling, waste management and energy sectors.

The post There is No “Away” in Hawaiʻi: Counties face growing landfill challenges appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

The drive on Kūhiō Highway between Līhuʻe and Kapaʻa often slows to a crawl through Wailua, especially in the afternoon when pau hana hits. Congestion peaks between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m., with traffic backing up near the Wailua River Bridge as it moves through the Wailua-Kapaʻa corridor.

In those moments, sitting in pau hana traffic offers a pause to reflect on the magnitude of that place.

“What I think is important is Wailuanuiahoʻāno in its entirety,” said Mason Chock, who is from Wailua and serves on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit I Ola Wailuanui. “It’s been my own experience growing up here in terms of how disconnected we are from how important Wailua is.”

One of Kauaʻi’s most sacred and historically significant landscapes, Wailua is home to a complex of seven heiau and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The area is historically known as Wailuanuiahoʻāno and served as the principal residence of the island’s aliʻi. The Wailua River, a rare 20-mile navigable waterway, further shapes its cultural and physical landscape.

“I mean, Wailua is a place where if you throw a rock, get major, major kinds of things right there,” added Chock. “What I think is most prominent are the 34 iwi found there.”

Wailua is also famously known for what was built on the Mahunapuʻuone burial grounds.

Many are familiar with the Wailua Kai area, where the iconic Coco Palms Resort opened in 1953 and became a popular and iconic tourism destination, particularly for its featured role in the 1961 Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii. By the 1970s the 24-room resort had expanded to over 400 rooms.

In 1973, during construction of the resort’s north wing, 34 sets of iwi were unearthed. The remains were later reinterred and marked on the property.

Additional accounts, including a 2004 interview cited in an environmental impact statement, suggest that as many as 81 iwi kūpuna were exhumed during earlier phases of the resort’s original construction, underscoring the site’s location within the extensive Mahunapuʻuone burial grounds.

After being severely damaged from the force of Hurricane ʻIniki in 1992, Coco Palms shut down and has sat in disarray for three decades.

“That property was so important to who we were back in the day,” said Sue Kanoho, the recently retired longtime Kauaʻi Visitors Bureau Executive Director. “To this day, we still have people ask about Coco Palms. That’s how much of an impact it’s had on people.”

That kind of legacy is one that developers continue to pursue. Despite several attempts to restore it to its former glory, none have succeeded. Still, visions of its Hollywood heyday continue.

Utah-based Reef Capital Partners took ownership of Coco Palms in 2022. It partnered with IHG Hotels & Resorts which, in June 2024, stated in a news release: “Following a historically sensitive restoration of the iconic property, Coco Palms, A Kimpton Resort, will once again become an inspiring tropical retreat for travelers and the Kauaʻi community to explore the expansive experiences the destination has to offer. The transformed resort is anticipated to open in 2026.”

The next month, the state Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled a 2020 foreclosure deal involving a previous developer was invalid because it was filed by the loan servicer, not the lender.

Since the late 1990s, a growing community effort led by lineal descendants and long-time residents has focused on restoring the cultural significance of the Wailuanuiahoʻāna district and reshaping the future of the Coco Palms property, including efforts to acquire and steward the area. About three years ago those efforts were formalized into the nonprofit I Ola Wailuanui.

“It’s a multiple organization kind of approach, but more importantly, a vision that’s led by the community. And I am talking about the community that has ties to that particular place,” said Chock. “Part of it is how we manage our tourist experience to learn about these important places.”

The Kauaʻi Destination Management Action Plan, which aims to guide tourism in a way that prioritizes community values and resource protection, also reflects community sentiment against hotel development in that area.

“From the community’s standpoint, we’re hearing that there is strong support for a community cultural facility rather than a hotel,” said Kanoho, who added that many are also concerned about traffic congestion.

“That particular area has become an important access point for the North Shore to the airport and the hospital. Any development in that area needs very close scrutiny so as not to become a bottleneck for our residents and visitors.”

Reef Capital Partners Chief Financial Officer Jon Day, who could not be reached for this story, addressed those concerns last year telling KHON2, “We expect very few guests to bring cars, we are going to charge a pretty high rate for any guest who wants to park a car on sight … The real traffic problem is at rush hour. Our hotel shifts will not coincide with rush hour; our guests don’t come and go at rush hour.”

Reef Capital Partners plans to invest $400 million for the Coco Palms Resort redevelopment which includes rebuilding a 350-room hotel, three swimming pools, a spa, and a cultural center.

County permitting records indicate that the project is not moving forward in any visible or active construction phase, but it has not been terminated. The project remains in a holding pattern, with past approvals in place but no clear recent momentum.

Late last month, I Ola Wailuanui sent a letter to the county requesting revocation of the construction permits, based on the premise of ongoing lawsuits tied to the project.

“My connection to this is to make sure that this waihona (depository) of information, knowledge and cultural presence is honored,” Chock said.

The post Stopping Resort Development at Historic Wailuanui appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

He would watch teens drop into the ramp again and again. After about eight months of observation, the young DeSoto committed.

“He went up there to the top of the vert ramp, probably a dozen times before he dropped in,” said his mom Mālia Kaʻaihue. “He watched it and looked at it and walked back down, and then finally, one day he just did it.”

He was the youngest to ever do it.

That willingness to study, wait, and then commit carried over the years from dropping into vert ramps at skate parks to riding mountain-high waves at some of the world’s most challenging surf breaks.

Now at 18, DeSoto is the youngest invitational surfer ever to win the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout and the only competitor in event history to win titles in two disciplines at Pipeline: the longboard and shortboard.

At the 2026 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout in January, 40 of the world’s top shortboard surfers gathered at the iconic Banzai Pipeline on Oʻahu’s North Shore for the invitational competition. DeSoto delivered a standout performance, earning Best Overall Performer and Shootout Champion honors, along with Best Barrel Ride.

“The Backdoor Shootout has always been about honoring surfers who truly understand Pipeline, not just how to ride it, but how to carry themselves in the lineup,” said Kūʻiʻoʻokalani Young, who coaches DeSoto.

Hosted by Da Hui, in collaboration with Hui o Heʻe Nalu, the annual invitational is held in memory of Duke Kahanamoku.

“It’s such an important contest that it just meant so much to me to win that,” said DeSoto. “It was a big goal of mine for a really long time. Just to even be in a contest at Pipe was a big goal, and winning one was just crazy.”

It’s an achievement that DeSoto has been working towards since being inspired by his older sister, Puamakamae, a nine-time National Scholastic Surfing Association National Champion.

“At first it was for fun and everything, and then I started taking it seriously maybe when I was like 13,” DeSoto said. “I still love it and have so much fun doing it.” Just being in the ocean, you really can do anything you want. It’s freedom. You can be so creative, you can do so many different things.”

His parents say that the ocean has been a part of their eight children’s lives from the time they were “in the womb.”

Born and raised in Mākaha on Oʻahu’s West Side, DeSoto comes from a deep waterman lineage as the son of world champion longboarder Duane DeSoto, who described watching his son as one who is aligned with the ocean.

“That is always the best surfer, the one who’s able to naturally just do their art on the wave – and the wave is it’s like a relationship right, the wave and the person is totally in sync,” said Duane DeSoto.

DeSoto, who first surfed with his dad as an infant, finds purpose in the ocean beyond competition.

Whether surfing, bodysurfing, paddling, or any other ocean discipline, DeSoto seems limitless. When not training, he is often fishing or volunteering with youth at Nā Kama Kai Ocean Safety & Conservation Awareness Clinics. He also serves as an ambassador for the Smile Wave Fund.

“It’s also like just continuing on my culture and surfing is a cultural practice, not just sport,” explained DeSoto who hopes to achieve a world title. “It’s both – the end goal is a world title and to show the world our cultural practice.”

Part of that practice is displayed in the way DeSoto will kilo (observe). Just as he did as a 4-year-old studying older skaters perform 12-foot drops down a vertical ramp, DeSoto is always studying the ocean.

“His intellectual IQ in the ocean is insane because he’s so observant and is kiloing all the time,” said Kaʻaihue. “Even if he’s dropping into a 30-foot wave, it’s calculated, it’s processed. He’s already seen himself come out of it before he’s dropped in.”

That may explain DeSoto’s quiet demeanor. He’s what Kaʻaihue describes as a “silent observer.”

“He has like very much a kupuna spirit where he’s not always talking and saying a lot, but he’s thinking,” she added.

And, he’s learning.

“[Surfing] has taught me a lot about respect, like respect for the ocean, respect for the people,” said DeSoto. “You also have to have respect in the lineup to be respected.”

Surfers advance through a competitive qualification system, beginning with regional World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) events, progressing to the Challenger Series, and ultimately earning a place on the elite Championship Tour, where the world’s best compete for a world title.

DeSoto hopes to one day win a world title on the WSL Championship Tour and perhaps represent Hawaiʻi in the Olympics, but his immediate focus is the next QS event.

Another contest is always on the horizon. DeSoto’s approach remains the same: watch, learn, and when the moment comes, commit.

The post Kalā DeSoto: Watching, Learning, and Committing appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

The ʻuaʻu kani lay near the entryway of the Whole Foods market at Kahala Mall. It was unclear how long it had been there or how many people had unknowingly walked past a bird in distress.

“I look down, and I see this bird, between the sliding glass door, the automatic doors, and the crates,” said Mary Moriarty who thought it was a pigeon until she looked closer.

Her quick recognition came from experience. Moriarty grew up on Kauaʻi at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in the 1980s, where her father was the manager. “Kīlauea has the largest native seabird colony in the main Hawaiian Islands,” she said.

On that evening of Nov. 30, 2025, Moriarty’s son asked her if it was a duck. That’s when her instincts kicked in.

“The easiest way to identify any shearwater bird is by the web feet. That’s how you can tell that it’s not a pigeon. That and knowing that lights will down them,” said Moriarty.

Every November and December young ʻua’u kani (wedge-tailed shearwater) take their first flight out to sea led by the light of the moon. It also marks “fallout season,” as the young birds are often disoriented by the bright lights in developed areas.

“It’s called ‘fallout’ because when they go inland, they will circle lights, get exhausted and literally fall out of the sky. Or, if they go inland, they [often] hit light poles or buildings,” explained Rae Okawa, development director at Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center (HWC).

“So, malls, stadiums, road construction, parking lots – anything with bright, unshielded lights can draw these birds in,” said Okawa.

Moriarty understood that – and that predators might get to a fallen seabird. She recalled that there were areas on Kauaʻi that had boxes available for people to safely place seabirds that were found and in distress.

On that evening at Kahala Mall, Moriarty didn’t have a box. When she informed staff at the mall she didn’t get much of a response. So, instead she carefully picked up the seabird.

“I know how to hold them because I spent a lot of time banding shearwaters as a child,” said Moriarty. “You have to watch out so they don’t bite you.”

She carefully tucked it under her arm, and it calmed when she got it into her car.

Once she was home, Moriarty turned off the lights and set the bird on her lānai. “I just let it sit, and then it was gone, like, a couple hours later,” she said.

HWC recommends handling a grounded seabird by gently covering it with a pillowcase, towel, or t-shirt to reduce stress (and protect yourself from its beak), then placing it in a ventilated box in a quiet, dark space until it can receive proper care. HWC partners with clinics across Oʻahu to support these rescues.

In 2024, the HWC Oʻahu Seabird Aid Program cared for 645 ʻuaʻu kani during the peak fallout season. Early reports suggest that 2025 could surpass that figure, underscoring the growing need for community awareness and response.

If you find an injured or downed native seabird, please help. On Oʻahu, Feather & Fur Animal Hospital in Kailua is the primary drop-off location for downed or injured native seabirds. For more information go to: hawaiiwildlifecenter.org.

The post Keeping Our Native Seabirds Safe appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Unuhi ʻia e Manakō Tanaka

Ke noho nei ka ʻuaʻu kani ma kahi o ka ʻīpuka o ka hale kūʻai ʻo Whole Foods ma ke Kiko-waena Kūʻai ʻo Kahala. ʻAʻole i ʻike ʻia ka lōʻihi o kona noho ʻana ma laila, a ʻaʻole hoʻi i ʻike i ka nui o nā kānaka e kāʻalo wale akula iā ia.

“Nānā ihola, eia lā he manu, i waena o nā ʻīpuka aniani uai, nā ʻīpuka ʻākomi, a me nā pahu,” wahi a Mary Moriarty, kai kuhihewa he manu nūnū a hiki i kona kokoke ʻana aku.

Aia nō a kokoke aku, maopopo koke ihola iā ia no ka ʻike i paʻa mua iā ia. Ua hānai ʻia ʻo Moriarty ma Kauaʻi ma kahi o ka pāka ʻo National Wildlife Refuge i nā makahiki 1980, a ma laila hoʻi i noho luna ai kona makua kāne. “Aia ma Kīlauea ka ʻāuna manu kai ʻōiwi nui loa ma ka pae ʻāina ʻo Hawaiʻi,” wahi āna.

Ma ia ahiahi o ka lā 30 o Nowemapa, 2025 i nīnau mai nei ke keiki kāne a Moriarty i ke ʻano o ia manu, he kakā nō paha. I ia wā nō i maopopo ai.

“ʻO ka pepewa o ka wāwae ka mea e ʻike ai he ʻuaʻu kani, pēlā e ʻike ai ʻaʻole ia he manu nūnū. ʻO ia kekahi mea e mao- popo ai, a ʻo kekahi hoʻi ka hoʻomanaʻo ʻana i ka huikau o ia manu i nā kukui kūlanakauhale,” wahi a Moriarty.

I kēlā me kēia Nowemapa me Kekemapa, hoʻomaka nā manu e lele i ke kai a hahai lākou i ka mālamalama o ka mahina. ʻO kīnohi ia o ke “kau hāʻule,” ʻo ia ka wā e huikau ai nā manu ʻōpio i ka nui o nā kukui ma nā kūlanakauhale.

“Ua kapa ʻia kēia ke ʻkau hāʻule’ no ka mea lele nā manu ma uka, a lele a puni ke kūlanakauhale, a laila paʻuhia i ka luhi a hāʻule lākou mai ka lani mai. I kekahi manawa, kuʻi lākou i nā pou kukui a me nā hale nui,” wahi a Rae Okawa, kūhina pai kākoʻo ma ka Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center (HWC).

“No laila ʻume nui ʻia kēia mau manu i nā kikowaena kūʻai, nā kahuapāʻani, nā kukui o ke kūkulu ala ʻana, nā kahua hoʻokū kaʻa – ʻo ia hoʻi nā mea a pau nona nā kukui māʻamaʻama.”

Ua maopopo hoʻi iā Moriarty, a manaʻo ihola e loaʻa ana paha e nā poʻiiʻa. Hoʻomanaʻo ʻo ia i ka wā ma mua ma Kauaʻi ua hoʻolako ʻia he mau pahu e mālama ai i nā manu kai i loaʻa ma hope o ko lākou hāʻule ʻana iho.

Ma ia ahiahi ma ke Kikowaena Kūʻai ʻo Kahala, ʻaʻohe pahu a Moriarty. I kona hoʻomaopopo ʻana aku i ko ke kikowaena kūʻai, ʻaʻole kōkua nui i loaʻa. No laila, ua hāpai mālie aʻela ʻo ia i ua manu nei.

“Maopopo iaʻu ka hoʻopaʻa ʻana i ka manu no ka mea ua nui kaʻu hoʻopaʻa ʻapowāwae ʻana i kuʻu wā kamaliʻi,” wahi a Moriarty. “Makaʻala o nahu ʻia auaneʻi.

I ka hoʻi ʻana i ka hale, ua hoʻopio ʻo Moriarty i nā kukui a waiho ʻia akula ka manu ma ka lānai. “Ua waiho wale a hala kekahi mau hola ua hoʻi i Kahikimoe,” wahi āna.

I ka manaʻo o HWC, maikaʻi ke hāpai ʻia nā manu kai i hāʻule me nā pale uluna, kāwele, a i ʻole pālule-t i mea e emi ai ka haʻalulu (a i mea hoʻi e pale ai mai ka nuku mai). A laila, waiho ma loko o kekahi pahu me nā puka ea i kau ʻia ma kahi mālie a ʻano pōuliuli a hiki i ka wā i hiki ai i kekahi ke lapaʻau kūpono aku iā ia. Hana pū ʻo HWC me nā keʻena kauka like ʻole a puni ʻo Oʻahu i mea e mālama ai i kēia mau manu.

I ka makahiki 2024, ua hoʻomaka ʻo HWC i ka Papahana Kōkua Manu Kai, ʻo ia hoʻi ka Seabird Aid Program a ua hoʻōla ʻia he 645 mau ʻuaʻu kani i ke kau hāʻule. Wahi a nā hōʻike e ʻoi aku ana paha ka nui o nā manu i ka makahiki 2025, a he mea ia e hōʻoia ana ua wela ka hao e aʻo ai ke kaiaulu i nā hana e pono ai.

Inā loaʻa iā ʻoe kekahi manu kai i hāʻule, e ʻoluʻolu e kōkua. Ma Oʻahu, ʻo Feather & Fur Animal Hospital ma Kailua kahi e lawe nui ʻia ai nā manu kai. No ka ʻikepili hou aku, e kele aku iā: hawaiiwildlifecenter.org

The post Ka Mālama ʻAna i nā Manu Kai ʻŌiwi appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Lawyer, plaintiff, activist, teacher, businessman, father, grandfather, and friend, Clarence Ching was affectionately known as Uncle Ku. He was also sometimes known as “Goat.”

“The kids used to call him goat, not just because they thought he was the ‘greatest of all time,’ but because he was like a billy goat,” laughed Ching’s oldest daughter, Christi Maumau.

Born on June 27, 1936, in Pauoa, Oʻahu, Ching passed on Sept. 16, 2025, at the age of 89. He was a father of four, grandfather of seven, and great-grandfather of one.

In his later years, Ching spent most of his time walking Maunakea, tracing the traditional trails on the mauna and leading huakaʻi for his friends and family – earning him the nickname “goat” from his grandchildren.

He also acknowledged that he was referred to by some as “Ku: the old man of the mountain.”

“All the native trails are actually part of the highway system,” said Maumau, recalling the lessons her father taught her. “He felt that, as long as he could keep walking on those native trails, he could prove that people were still using them and that they couldn’t be taken away. He was trying to preserve the trails.”

Ching once wrote about his given name, Kukauakahi. “My DNA ascends through all islands, principally Liloa and ʻUmi on Hawaiʻi; Manokalanipō on Kauaʻi; and Kakuhihewa and Kualiʻi on Oʻahu. Also, Lonoikahaupu (one of Liliʻuokalani’s ancestors). I took the name of another of [my] ancestors, Kukauakahi.”

Prior to enrolling at Kamehameha Schools and graduating in 1954, Ching had attended Pauoa Elementary School. It was there that he first met Mary Maxine Kahaulelio.

“He was quite a guy, yeah. Very, very warm-hearted and yet kolohe,” said Kahaulelio of her friend of 75 years. “He was brilliant.”

After high school, Ching attended Brigham Young University in Utah, where he studied chemistry, and later earned his juris doctorate from the University of Idaho. Before becoming a private attorney in Honolulu from 1976 to 1992, he worked as a stockbroker, a radiochemist, a clerk, and a lifeguard.

His steadfast advocacy for the protection of the ʻāina and Native Hawaiian culture dates to the 1980s, eventually bringing him to serve as a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for one term, from 1986 to 1990.

Reflecting on his time at OHA, Ching wrote on his website: “Before I ran for OHA, I had already dedicated myself to the restoration of the Kingdom. When I was elected, I hoped to assist in the restoration of the Kingdom and continued revival of our culture and spirituality. As a trustee, I worked on the ʻOHA Blueprint’ to connect Hawaiian issues with global issues and helped negotiate with the state for back rent on ceded lands.”

Ching was involved in many cultural organizations over the years and was also part of the construction crew for the voyaging canoe Hawaiʻi Loa from 1990 to 1993.

He also served on the Cultural Advisory Committee for the Pōhakuloa Training Area from 2000 to 2013. In 2002, he led Huakaʻi i nā ʻĀina Mauna, which focused on learning about Maunakea landscapes by hiking from the Hāmākua Coast, starting at sea level, to Maunakea’s summit, then back down to swim in Luahinewai at Kīholo on the Kona coast.

Maumau recalled joining one of the huakaʻi and having difficulty with the altitude. “He came over, he goes, ʻcan you make it to the road?’ I said, ʻyeah, I think I can make it to the road.’ He goes, ‘okay, I’m going to go up and get the truck, and I’m going to meet you right there. Just go right there.’ He took off. He was so much older than me, but he was so much more fit than me.”

Ching hiked those trails well into his mid-80s, until his body could go no longer. “I feel that when he’s not checking on us, then he’s definitely there,” Maumau added.

Kahaulelio moved to Waimea in 1999 where she crossed paths again with her childhood friend and became active as a kiaʻi ʻāina alongside Ching.

“We were getting involved with a lot of struggles here, like Pōhakuloa, Maunakea, other things pertaining to real bad things happening in Waimea – let’s put it that way,” said Kahaulelio. “But 2014 is the time we went to court.”

In 2014, Ching and Kahaulelio filed a lawsuit against the State of Hawaiʻi and the Department of Land and Natural Resources over the state’s mismanagement of public trust lands at the Pōhakuloa Training Area. The land, part of the ceded lands trust, has been leased to the U.S. military for training purposes since 1964.

As trust beneficiaries and cultural practitioners, they argued that the state failed its constitutional duty as trustee by not adequately monitoring, inspecting, or enforcing lease conditions, instead relying on the military to self-report compliance.

The lawsuit, Ching v. Case, resulted in a 2019 Hawaiʻi Supreme Court decision affirming the state’s obligation to actively oversee third-party use of public trust lands.

“Malama ʻāina became codified as a legal argument and [that] set a kind of legal precedent,” said Candace Fujikane, of the landmark case.

Fujikane, a University of Hawaiʻi English professor and author of Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future: Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawaiʻi first met Ching in 2012 and became a part of Huakaʻi i nā ʻĀina Mauna.

She reflected on the lessons learned along the way – from the beauty of the landscapes and their historical and scientific significance – to moments of stillness and kilo (observation) as Uncle Ku shared moʻolelo.

“He was my alakaʻi,” Fujikane said. “He was our fearless leader. He was the one who would plot out our course.”

The post A Brilliant and Fearless Hawaiian Leader appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

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Drawing came easily for Alika Spahn Naihe, who started sketching at around the age of three. As he grew, his love for drawing focused on characters from Mortal Kombat or Batman, along with cars and trucks. That changed when he came across a magazine article about Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos.

“I had seen his Kamapuaʻa series on a flight to Maui to go spend time with my family one summer when I was 15. It just blew my mind, and I loved it,” said Naihe. From that moment on, Naihe, now 39, drew art that reflected Hawaiian culture and dove into written resources to inform his drawings.

Years later, in 2018, his art caught the attention of Jeffrey Vierra who had been teaching a Place-based Afterschool Literacy Support (PALS) course at Nānākuli High School. Vierra, who is experienced in game design, asked Naihe to join him in the PALS program to add an artistic touch. Both were driven to create games that reflect Hawaiian cultural values.

Vierra and Naihe brought in a former student, 2020 Nānākuli High School graduate Jack Hobbs, and together they co-founded a gaming business called TheoryCraftist Games.

“Usually, the games that we create address some kind of a social issue that’s happening in the community,” noted Vierra.

They wanted to create something fun from their collective imagination. In the summer of 2022, they finally got to work.

“I started creating art first and then I showed them the art and then they’re like, ʻoh yeah let’s make a Hawaiian war game, let’s do that,’ so I was excited to get into it,” Naihe recalled.

After extensive research and several prototypes, TheoryCraftist Games successfully created Hoa Kaua, a competitive two-player card game inspired by the battles of Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi Island and Kahekili of Maui.

In a world where digital gaming seems to dominate, TheoryCraftist Games is not deterred. In fact, they have risen to the occasion to meet what Vierra calls, “board game fanaticism.”

“In the last 15 years, these analysts have been saying that the bubble is going to break, but board game sales have far surpassed video game sales year after year,” explained Vierra. “And it’s this massive market.”

While Hoa Kaua began as a side project, it quickly gained interest from local board game enthusiasts and those seeking something different. At the Hula ‘Oni E craft fair in August, TheoryCraftist Games was among the featured local vendors. The vibrant game drew attention from players of all ages, and interested customers got the chance to play on its custom-designed play mat.

Coincidentally, interest was heightened by the release of the Apple TV series Chief of War.

“We were developed around the same time that Chief of War started filming,” said Naihe. “So, it was really interesting”

In October, TheoryCraftist Games took Hoa Kaua to the Kauaʻi Comic Convention where attendees eagerly tested their knowledge of historic chiefly wars.

“When we got the right answer, you know, it was like we were legit, so we earned their respect,” added Vierra.

The day-to-day business of TheoryCraftist Games is to develop games that educate and entertain. They don’t advertise but have a steady clientele seeking purpose-driven designs. In all the company’s projects, Hawaiian culture remains at the center.

“Nobody is doing the type of wellness games that we focus on, especially integrating Hawaiian culture,” said Vierra. “That’s what we’re interested in.”

One ongoing project involves working with the Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center which sought to expand the Kamehameha Schools’ Lōkahi Wheel, a model that defines six areas of health to progress to wellness.

Dr. May Okihiro of the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine learned about Theorycraftist Games through a contact at PALS, reached out, and began the creative discussions.

“We decided instead of trying to just straight up teach them about the Lōkahi Wheel, what we would do instead is take a full game immersion approach, and we broke those six aspects of the Lōkahi Wheel into an RPG, or a role-playing game,” said Naihe.

The result is an app called Kaona, accessible for those 17 and older.

Said Okihiro, “While gaming and games are often thought of in a negative light, they are engaging and fun. TheoryCraftist is taking this strategy and using it to provide youth an immersive, captivating, fun experience that enables the participant to think about and learn new perspectives at the same time.”

She emphasized the importance of recognizing the strengths, assets, and deep knowledge that already exist within communities and among new partners to advance health and wellbeing.

“It has been an honor and pleasure to work with them,” added Okihiro. “They have taken the challenge on to create an engaging game, grounded in community and ʻāina, that promotes lōkahi along with so much more.”

TheoryCraftist is not threatened by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), even as models become better at generating art, textures, animations, and level design.

“I’m not against AI at all. I see it as another tool, a groundbreaking historical tool,” added Naihe. “I love all the possibilities that come out of it. And at the same time, I also see its limitations. Like, you really can’t rely on AI for anything Hawaiian culture. You really can’t.”

While AI reshapes creative industries, TheoryCraftist Games is charting a path grounded in research, cultural integrity, and imagination rooted in place. Their success shows that even in a rapidly changing world, authenticity and purpose can be the strongest competitive edge.

For more information or to purchase TheoryCraftist Games go to theorycraftist.com.

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When Hawaiʻi committed in 2014 to becoming 100% renewable by 2045, it signaled a new era of sustainability.

For Kanaka ʻŌiwi innovator Olin Lagon, then a member of the Hawaiʻi Clean Energy Initiative Steering Committee that pushed for the goal, it also revealed a deeper challenge: ensuring that the benefits of clean energy reached everyone, not just those who could afford it.

Lagon realized that underserved communities and renters would face major financial challenges.

“Upwards of 75% of Native Hawaiian families live under the ALICE poverty threshold, which is absolutely criminal. And when I’m talking about the underserved, I’m talking about our Hawaiian community,” said Lagon. ALICE stands for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.”

Two years later, Lagon and his business partner, Forest Frizzell, founded Shifted Energy in his garage to enable widespread access to energy solutions. The company combines smart hardware and software to help utilities balance the grid using everyday devices like water heaters. Powered by advanced machine learning, the system automatically shifts energy use to lower-cost times and stabilizes circuits without users ever noticing a change.

The water heater was just the first of many devices Lagon and Frizzell realized they could manage and control.

“In Hawaiʻi, the water heater is the number one user of energy in most homes,” said Lagon who explained that many underserved homeowners have cheaply made and inefficient electric resistance water heaters. Shifted Energy sought out to target lowering cost and ensuring quality products.

It took years of tinkering, testing and perfecting. Between pitching to investors and expanding the company, Shifted Energy remained focused on helping those who needed it most. They knocked on doors, talked story, identified issues and sought to solve them. This also included securing funds to get additional work done.

One Waimānalo homestead family had been spending more than a $1000 a month on electricity. Lagon and Frizzell were puzzled. The home had no major electrical appliances such as air conditioning. They traced the issue to a leaking water heater and then identified grant funds to replace the water heater for the family.

“Their bill the next month dropped to $100. There was a $900 swing – and it stayed at that level,” said Lagon.

They also came across homeowners who were sold a bill of goods by unethical companies with no follow-up services. In other cases, Shifted Energy upgraded homes with energy-efficient heat pump water heaters and foresaw other issues.

“They were installed outdoors and started to get damaged,” noted Lagon. “So Forest got some more philanthropy dollars, and we came back out and built enclosures for them, like we don’t have to do that, but we want them to have that thing for 20 years.”

Not only did they introduce their product to households, they also helped people in other ways.

In one house visit, Frizzell came across a kupuna who could not afford to furnish his home. Lagon said he received a call from his co-founder who was determined to find a bed for him to sleep on that night. After calling friends, they were able to deliver a futon.

Lagon calls this “leaning in” to the work they do. “It’s not just about energy. It’s about people and community. And we do that over and over and over again,” he said.

Both founders practice traditional Native Hawaiian farming on weekends and volunteer with the state’s largest technology education nonprofit, Purple Maiʻa, which works in Native Hawaiian communities throughout Hawaiʻi.

Shifted Energy has grown to manage more devices, so they use energy when it is cheapest. Air conditioning systems, electric cars, heat pumps, solar, and batteries can ramp up when power is abundant and ease off when it is costly. The mission never changed. Serve the people most often overlooked.

The company has completed thousands of installations in underserved neighborhoods in Hawaiʻi, on the continent, and in Canada. They have even expanded pilot programs to Europe and Aotearoa (New Zealand).

“I don’t think there’s another company on this earth that is better than us and we’ll beat anyone in any RFP (request for proposal) head-to-head. That is our legacy of Indigenous innovation and here, like you know, we’re the smartest people in the world and not smart in the ʻwestern’ sense but smart in the community sense. We lean into the strength of diversity,” said Lagon.

Lagon’s pride in what they’ve built is well-founded. On Oct. 9, 2025, Shifted Energy announced its acquisition by San Francisco-based Resource Innovations (RI), a major move to advance grid-edge technology and bolster energy equity.

“Adding Shifted Energy’s capabilities to RI’s offerings enables us to deliver scalable, end-to-end DSM (demand-side management) and grid-edge solutions to more customer segments than ever before,” said Lauren Casentini, founder and CEO of RI.

Following the announcement, Frizzell said, “Tomorrow we get back to building solutions that are equitable, innovative, and rooted in the communities we come from.”

Shifted Energy is Lagon’s third social venture to grow from small Native Hawaiian nonprofit roots to national and international work. Two of his previous social ventures were acquired by larger firms.

“When Kanaka ʻŌiwi values guide entrepreneurship, solutions can scale here and then everywhere,” said Lagon. “Of course, this is not easy but when you are doing the right thing, how can you not be inspired to bust your ʻēlemu (butt) for the community?”

He continues to lean in – inventing and building to solve problems in new ways that honor community and create equity.

The post Innovating for Equity appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

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More students are graduating from kula kaiapuni Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language immersion schools) and taking their language skills and Hawaiian worldviews into higher education and their careers. This is both an incredible achievement and a growing challenge for Hawaiʻiʻs public school system, which struggles to meet the demand for kaiapuni.

“Our kaiapuni graduates are making a difference here in Hawaiʻi and across the globe, nationally and internationally,” said Keith Hayashi, Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) superintendent. “We all should be proud of them, doing what they’re doing, making a commitment to making a difference. And at the same time, sometimes selfishly speaking, I want to tell them to stay home and be a teacher because we need you.”

The first kula kaiapuni within HIDOE opened in 1987 with two pilot kindergarten classes—one at Waiau Elementary in Pearl City, Oʻahu, and the other at Keaukaha Elementary in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island. These programs built upon the pioneering efforts of the Pūnana Leo preschools, which first opened in 1984 to revitalize ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi through full language immersion.

The HIDOE Office of Hawaiian Education (OHE) Director Kauʻi Sang, a former classroom teacher, stated, “Early on in kaiapuni’s existence, the teachers came out of the homes. They were the parents of the students.”

Since then, the HIDOE has faced incredible demand for more.

“When we first started, everything was rapid and there was no way to catch up with the materials and so we’ve always been building the plane and flying it at the same time,” said Sang. “I think we’re just trying to look for the point in time when we can see how we start to stabilize the system to make sure that we can also ensure quality and meet the demand at the same time.”

Over the last 10 years, the HIDOE has added 12 more kaiapuni sites – increasing from 14 to 26 – with enrollment rising 60%, from 1,552 to 2,607 students.

The 2025-2026 school year welcomed the expansion of a kaiapuni ninth grade level at Kapolei High School after Ke ʻAlohi ʻo ʻEwa (KAʻE) advocated for growth in the ʻEwa district. The group took to social media to solicit a kumu. In July, Kapolei High School announced it had secured a ninth-grade teacher and began seeking interested students. KAʻE also spread the word.

Andrea Dias-Machado is the president of KAʻE and part of the latest generation of parents pushing for kaiapuni expansion and the larger gain of ʻolelo Hawaiʻi in communities.

“Kaiapuni education is here because of mākua (parents). Mākua are the direct driving force of kaiapuni education,” said Dias-Machado. “So we think about the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the mamas and the papas of the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi movement, you know, them going door to door, canvassing communities, asking ʻohana to take this risk. And, you know, we stand on their shoulders.”

KAʻE emerged from six parents whose children attended Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Waiau. Together they mobilized their networks to learn what happened after students advanced beyond elementary. They discovered that many kaiapuni K-6 students did not continue immersion education due to the lack of resources in their home communities.

Currently, HIDOE has only one K-12 kaiapuni school on Oʻahu – Ānuenue in Pālolo. Ke Kula ʻo Samuel M. Kamakau, a K-12 public charter school in Kāneʻohe, serves Windward Oʻahu. In addition, four HIDOE high schools offer kaiapuni: Castle, Kailua, Kahuku, and now Kapolei. According to the Ke ʻAlohi ʻo ʻEwa Strategic Vision Report, 42% of Ānuenue students reside in the ʻEwa and Waiʻanae districts. KAʻE envisions a K-12 kula kaiapuni built within three years to serve not only ʻEwa, but also the leeward and central districts.

“We were thinking about how many Native Hawaiian students could be served with what has become the most densely populated Hawaiian community in Kapolei with four Hawaiian homesteads,” said Dias-Machado. “It is our kuleana to really illuminate that brilliance of our keiki through ʻōlelo Hawai’i place-based immersion education. So, we honor the moʻolelo of this place, we honor the momi (pearls) of this place, and we honor it through the advocacy of creating this organization to realize our vision of a K-12 kula kaiapuni.”

KAʻE seeks to go further. “Another goal that we have is to create a community of practice between cultural practitioners and kumu kaiapuni to create a K-12 sequence ʻEwa Moku-specific curriculum,” said Dias-Machado, noting that KAʻE reached out to the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu to explore a teacher pipeline.

OHE works with the community to support kula kaiapuni through its Board of Education ʻAha Kauleo, a statewide advisory council of parents, teachers, and administrators from kaiapuni schools.

“We can have hard conversations with our community partners through the department-hosted quarterly ʻAha Kauleo meetings,” said Sang. “I think it’s the best chance for us from a systems-wide perspective and a systems-thinking perspective to be able to try and negotiate how much and where – to have the right kinds of conversations.”

These conversations include the complex needs HIDOE must address when opening new kaiapuni programs. The department faces a difficult balance between quality and quantity. Despite strong support from the legislature and state policy, teacher shortages remain a pressing issue, with 20 current vacancies despite incentives and recruitment strategies aimed at building the pool of proficient candidates.

KAʻE is ramping up its advocacy efforts for the upcoming legislative session and plans to work with HIDOE and other kaiapuni partners to expand educational resources for Hawaiian language immersion.

Sang noted that there has been legislative support and, as more programs embrace Hawaiian language, she remains hopeful.

“It definitely indicates that there is a desire for all of us to move in that direction. That increases value for ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and that starts to validate that we are a two-language state,” said Sang.

The post Parent Advocacy Results in New Kaiapuni Class at Kapolei appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

There’s an undocumented organizational chart that John De Fries follows as executive director of the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority (MKSOA).

“The mountain is above the governor – is above all branches of government – because ultimately, no matter where you stand in that org chart, we’re all accountable to Maunakea,” said De Fries.

“It’s just easier for me to keep that image constantly, because, in a cultural context, the spirit of that mountain is something real, and something that I personally feel accountable to.”

That guiding philosophy shapes the work of the MKSOA, which was created by state legislation in 2022. In July 2023, it began a five-year transition to assume governance of all general leases, easements, and permits for Maunakea currently held by the University of Hawaiʻi and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

De Fries became the executive director in 2024 after approval from the 12-member board. Most of the board is Native Hawaiian, including several who were at the forefront of Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) protest demonstrations on Maunakea in 2019.

Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, MKSOA vice-chair, is one of them.

“Being on the mauna was very emotional. And still to this day, you know, we carry that emotion deep in our naʻau,” said Wong-Wilson.

Although the MKSOA is a state government entity, its board’s composition has deeply shaped the way it operates, embedding cultural protocol and Hawaiian ʻike into every meeting and decision-making process.

“We ground ourselves in our cultural perspective,” said Wong-Wilson. “We open every one of our meetings either with a pule or we give the individual authority members the opportunity to reflect, to say something, to set our intention for the day.”

In July 2023, the MKSOA began co-management of Maunakea and is now developing a new, culturally responsive and sustainable management model for the mauna. The management plan requires community input and once approved, the MKSOA will assume full management duties on July 1, 2028.

In 2024, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) challenged the constitutionality of Act 255, which established the MKSOA. In June 2025, OHA withdrew its challenge, acknowledging the need for a new approach to Maunakea stewardship and advocacy, and pledged its support to the Native Hawaiian leaders currently serving on the MKSOA.

There’s a lot of work to be done in a short timeframe.

“Act 255 requires us to come up with our own management plan, our own master plan, and our own financial plan,” noted De Fries. “We’re going to need every day, every week left on the 34-month clock to get that done.”

The MKSOA meets the second Thursday of each month. It hosts “Community Talk Story” gatherings in districts across Hawaiʻi Island, although attendance has been low.

“Some of us have never served on government boards or commissions before, and so what really drives us is to ensure that every step of the way we engage community in what we’re doing,” said Wong-Wilson.

“And sometimes it can be frustrating because we’ll hold community meetings and we’re not certain if people are just not well informed that our meetings are taking place, or [if it’s] because TMT is no longer the hot topic issue.”

The TMT project shifted away from Maunakea after losing National Science Foundation funding following federal budget cuts in June 2025.

Maunakea remains home to 13 telescopes. As part of its long-term stewardship commitments, the University of Hawaiʻi has pledged to remove five telescopes from UH-managed lands. Since 2024, three have been decommissioned.

“I don’t discount the earnest aloha that people have for the mauna and the gifts that the mauna provides for us,” said Wong-Wilson. “The biggest challenge, for me personally, has been to be able to sit and listen with open ears and open heart and open mind to the various points of view and the people whose livelihood depends on being on the mauna.”

This kuleana for extensive community engagement while safeguarding the mauna’s integrity and sanctity, now rests with Kua o Wākea, a team of consultants recently contracted by the MKSOA to develop a comprehensive Maunakea Management Plan. Kua o Wākea is led by SSFM Consulting, nonprofit DTL Foundation, and the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation. It has additional support from Mahina Paishon Consulting, Kōnane Law, Hoʻopili Hou Research Group, and ʻĀina Archaeology.

Meanwhile, the slow pace of government checks and balances continues to frustrate the MKSOA, which must navigate procurement procedures to hire needed staff.

“It just takes a long time for us to get anything done given the processes that we’re forced to work under as a state agency. And not only that, but we’re also brand new. So, we’re building the vehicle while we’re driving down the road,” said Wong-Wilson.

On March 27, 2025, Maunakea was designated a Traditional Cultural Property and District on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States government.

“I think there’s also irony in the fact that the creation of the authority was to give more voice locally, right? And something like the national designation requires an additional tier of review,” said De Fries. “But I certainly appreciate the fact that people who care about Maunakea wanted to ensure that the highest level of scrutiny available by law would be applicable.”

Even with those extra layers of oversight, the MKSOA’s commitment is unwavering.

“Our focus is taking care of Maunakea and making sure that for future generations, we do so in a way that Maunakea will be healthy in all of its splendor and all of the ways that she feeds us,” said Wong-Wilson.

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