Hawaii

Hawaii Celebrates Blessing of New Water Tank at Schofield Barracks

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9 months ago

April 18, 2025

Hawaii Celebrates Blessing of New Water Tank at Schofield Barracks

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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — Representatives from U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers participate in a Maile ceremony for a new water tank, April 17, 2025. The new concrete tank replaces the old decommissioned steel tank that was out of service for extended period of time, will support the needs of 35,000 soldiers and their families.
(Photo Credit: Eric Tagayuna)

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Hawaii Celebrates Completion of New Water Tank at Schofield Barracks — 7 / 9

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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — Representatives from U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers participate in a ribbon-cutting and Maile ceremony for a new water tank, April 17, 2025. The new concrete tank replaces the old decommissioned steel tank that was out of service for extended period of time, will support the needs of 35,000 soldiers and their families.
Highlights include acknowledgments of the project’s completion, actions taken during a previous water crisis, and the significance of the water infrastructure improvements. Key speakers include Col. Rachel Sullivan and Lt. Col. Adrian Biggerstaff, who both expressed gratitude to the engineers, plumbers, and other essential workers involved. Additionally, Maj. (CH) Kim performed an invocation, and Kahu Kordell Kekoa led a traditional Hawaiian blessing and untying of the lei ceremony, emphasizing the cultural and practical importance of water.
(Photo Credit: Eric Tagayuna)

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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — In a ceremony rooted in tradition, partnership, and shared responsibility, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii commemorated a new 2-million-gallon concrete water tank—a key milestone in the Army’s $1.2 billion, 10-year plan to modernize water infrastructure across its Oahu installations.

On behalf of the garrison, Deputy to the Garrison Commander David Roudybush welcomed guests and opened the event, which featured spiritual blessings from Capt. (CH) David Kim and Kahu Kordell Kekoa, and musical performances by the 25th Infantry Division Woodwind Quintet—each reinforcing the ceremony’s emphasis on unity, cultural respect, and community care.

“This tank is more than steel and concrete,” said Col. Rachel Sullivan, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii. “It’s part of a promise we’ve made—to rebuild, modernize, and secure our water system not just for the Army, but in a way that complements and respects our neighboring communities and shared resources.”

Awarded in late Fiscal Year 2021 at a cost of $16 million, the project replaces an aging water tank with a new, resilient structure designed to meet the daily needs of Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield. Importantly, the project supports the Army’s efforts to be a responsible steward of local water infrastructure—preserving access for residents within and beyond the installation footprint.

Sullivan noted that the tank’s added capacity is critical to emergency response and system resilience—not just for Army families, but for the surrounding region that relies on a common aquifer system.

“Our role is to ensure our infrastructure supports readiness without compromising the broader community’s access to water,” said Sullivan. “This project strengthens our system without taking away from our neighbors.”

She also reflected on a near-crisis in 2023, when three of five Clearwell pumps failed. Thanks to emergency conservation and assistance from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the Army was able to maintain water service without interruption. When a fourth pump failed, an emergency replacement was quickly installed, and water was carefully distributed across 12 linear miles of pipeline—preventing outages for more than 5,000 homes and 40 barracks.

Department of Public Works employees Burt and Dan Ewen, plant operators Jareth and Josh, and key engineers from the Hawaii Infrastructure Task Force were among those recognized for their around-the-clock efforts during the emergency and beyond.

Lt. Col. Adrian Biggerstaff, District Commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District, reinforced the shared benefit and fiscal responsibility of the project.

“This tank holds the equivalent of three Olympic swimming pools, or 16 million bottles of water,” Biggerstaff said. “And we built it at a fraction of that bottled cost—without a single reportable injury and with long-term resilience in mind. It’s a win for the Army and for the people of Hawaii .”

The tank was delivered in partnership with CCI Facility Support Services, with oversight from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Schofield Barracks Area Office, ensuring every aspect met safety and engineering standards, from 757 cubic yards of concrete to intricate post-tensioned cable systems.

The ceremony concluded with a traditional Hawaiian blessing led by Kahu Kordell Kekoa, who invited key contributors to place handprints on the tank using sacred rainwater—symbolizing the living, communal value of water and the people it sustains.

“Water is life,” said Kekoa. “And it must always be shared and protected—with aloha—for all who live here now and for the generations yet to come.”

As the lei was untied and the Army song echoed across the installation, the new tank stood as a lasting symbol of partnership, preparation, and shared stewardship—a commitment not only to the Army’s mission, but to the island community it calls home.

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Hawaii

Hawaii suffers first defeat of the season against Loyola Chicago | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Published

4 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii suffers first defeat of the season against Loyola Chicago | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The second-ranked Hawaii men’s volleyball team expected a different Loyola Chicago team to show up Friday night in the rematch of Thursday’s 94-minute sweep by UH.

They were certainly correct in that assessment.

Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said flatly the Ramblers were better after No. 7 Loyola Chicago handed Hawaii its first home loss in January in two years in a 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 29-27 win before a season-high crowd of 5,811 at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Aleksandar Sosa put down a match-high 19 kills and setter Ryan McElligott set the tone with four of his five aces in the first set for Loyola Chicago (1-1), which out-served and out-blocked the Rainbow Warriors.

“I thought they touched a lot of balls on the block and those first two sets, the first set, we had three or four balls back on our side to score some points and we didn’t,” Wade said. “We kind of screwed it up. We weren’t quite as crisp and efficient and against a good team, we let them hang around and they come back and make some plays late.”

Hawaii looked done for the night trailing 20-13 when it mounted a furious comeback in the third set to avoid a sweep.

Loyola Chicago had five match points in the fourth set and finally put the contest away with a double block of Ofeck Hazan to complete the upset.

“I think they served way better and we really struggled passing their serve,” said Hazan, who started in place of Trevell Jordan in the middle. “They were more creative out of system. (Thursday) they just hit into our block and today they just found the touches or just played better.”

Louis Sakanoko led Hawaii with 18 kills and set a career high with 12 digs, and Kristian Titriyski added 16 kills before sitting out the fourth set. UH hit .254 for the match and had six aces to the Ramblers’ eight. Loyola Chicago hd 15.5 blocks to Hawaii’s 10.5.

“We weren’t clicking on all cylinders and I’m not trying to use this as an excuse, but (setter) Tread (Rosenthal) didn’t practice all week. He had a back that tightened up,” Wade said. “Trevell’s back tightened up and I thought Ofeck played pretty well and he gave us a nice spark, but you’re just a little off rhythm there. Kristian was kind of grabbing his back late and obviously we made the decision to go with Kainoa (Wade) to give us a spark and he gave us that.”

Kainoa Wade and Sakanoko each served three straight points for UH in the third set after it fell behind 20-13 and Finn Kearney came off the bench to serve the final two points that ended in blocks to get UH back in the game.

Hawaii hit just .171 in the fourth and made eight service errors. It had 20 serving errors for the match and served in at less than 80%.

“Obviously it’s a work in progress. We’re in game four of the year,” Kainoa Wade said. “We got a lot of work to do, but we’ve got to trust what we know. We’ve served a lot of balls in our lives, all of us, so we know we can go on runs and make plays.”

The Ramblers gave Hawaii a taste of its own medicine in the opening set with McElligott building a strong poker hand of aces during an 8-0 run during which Charlie Wade used both timeouts.

McElligott had three aces after Jake Read’s kill put him behind the service line, and despite two Hawaii timeouts and the media timeout, he poured it on until UH caught a break with a Loyola Chicago net violation on an overpass that almost certainly would have been a Ramblers point.

Sakanoko followed with back-to-back kills, including a deep tip into the far corner over a triple block that prompted Loyola Chicago to call timeout leading 17-14.

Hawaii extended the run to 5-0 after Titriyski put down a kill following a long rally to pull UH within a point.

The Rainbow Warriors got back to even at 22-all on Kainoa Wade’s ace as a serving sub. The set was tied once more until a Rosenthal service error and a McElligott ace for his fourth of the set handed UH its first set loss of the season.

Rosenthal wasn’t able to spin serve all night due to the back injury.

Neither team separated by more than a point in the second set until Justin Todd had two aces during a 4-0 UH run to put the ‘Bows ahead 13-10.

Hawaii led 21-19 when the Ramblers scored six of the next seven points to go up two sets to none.

UH’s only point during the final 6-1 run came on a Loyola Chicago service error. The Ramblers scored three of their points on errors by UH and another on their sixth ace of the match.

The Rainbow Warriors will have four days off before playing four matches in three days next week.

Hawaii has doubleheaders against Roberts Wesleyan and Rockhurst in reverse order on Wednesday and Friday.

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2026 Sony Open field is announced. See who’s playing in Hawaii

Published

16 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

2026 Sony Open field is announced. See who’s playing in Hawaii

The Sony Open in Hawaii has the honors of being the kickoff event to the 2026 PGA Tour season after the cancellation of The Sentry at Kapalua this season.

Instead of Maui, the Tour debuts in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Jan. 15-18, at the Seth Raynor-designed Waialae Country Club, where Nick Taylor prevailed in a playoff over Nico Echavarria last year.

Among the changes this season is the field size, which was reduced from 144 to 120, and, there is no longer is a Monday qualifier offering four spots. Will that help with pace of play? Stay tuned.

The field includes the following notables in addition to Taylor and Echavarria: Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Michael Brennan, Corey Conners, Tony Finau, Chris Gotterup, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Sahith Theegala, Gary Woodland and 62-year-old Vijay Singh.

Here’s the full field for the Sony Open, which will be live on Golf Channel all four days as well as NBC with early-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s Sony purse is $9.1 million and the winner also will receive 500 FedEx Cup points.

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