HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Oswalt-Sanchez owns Tin Can Mailman, tucked into Honolulu’s Chinatown along Nuʻuanu Avenue—a shop where history doesn’t sit behind glass.

“Generations progress, and they age out; people don’t realize how special some of this older stuff is,” says Christopher Owalt-Sanchez. “It’s all little, tiny pieces that if we don’t talk about and we don’t share, it’s going to be forgotten.”

It’s stacked, shelved, and cataloged in the form of everyday artifacts: vintage canned food labels, old travel brochures, restaurant menus, and movie lobby cards that once helped sell an evening at the theater.

Inside, you’ll find lobby cards advertising films shot in Hawaiʻi or centered on island life—bright, nostalgic snapshots from a time when going to the movies was an event.

“This is back when movie theaters only had one screen, and the lobby was like a very posh, sort of, like a nicer hotel lobby,” Owalt-Sanchez explains. “So, they would utilize every little bit of space. So, these would have been in the lobby, and they would have been advertised—a movie that could have only played one night or a movie that was coming.”

The shop also holds travel brochures from United Airlines and Aloha Airlines, along with menus from restaurants that helped define eras of Waikīkī dining—but are now long gone. Names like Ciro’s, Lau Yee Chai, and Tops live on in print, offering a glimpse into what people ordered, what it cost, and what “a night out” looked like decades ago.

“You know, you go to a lot of places now, new places that are opening up—the menus are digital. You scan a QR code,” he says. “Here, we’ve actually got the menu. You can see what people were eating. You can see how much it costs and think, that’s really interesting—that you can get, you know, a double bourbon for 25 cents.”

And it’s not just paper ephemeral. Tin Can Mailman is also home to collectibles and curiosities that blur the line between souvenir and story—objects that spark memories for some and discoveries for others.

A Shop With a Story of Its Own

Even Tin Can Mailman’s name comes with history—and the business has traveled nearly as much as the items it sells.

“Well, the Tin Can Mailman originally opened in the 1970s in a town called Arcata, California. It was originally a bookstore,” Owalt-Sanchez says. After a divorce, the original owners split: “The lady kept her Tin Can Mailman in Arcata, and the man took his Tin Can Mailman to Kauaʻi, opening in the mid-1980s.”

Over the years, the store moved through roughly five locations on Kauaʻi. The owner sold it in 2003, died in 2005, and the shop eventually made its way to Oʻahu—relocating to Chinatown in November 2009. The Arcata store, Owalt-Sanchez adds, still exists today, but the two are no longer connected.

So why “Tin Can Mailman”?

“He named it after an island in Tonga, where they would take the mail and weld it shut in big tin biscuit cans or cookie cans,” he explains. “And the men would swim out to the passing ships and deliver the mail and get the new mail and then bring it back to the island. And those were the tin can mailmen.”

The practice dates back more than a century, he says—first as a necessity, later as a novelty, even evolving into what was known as “tin can canoe mail.”

Keeping the Details From Disappearing

Owalt-Sanchez says Tin Can Mailman has sourced items from all over the world.

“Tin Can Mailman has bought things as far away as Argentina and as close as across the street,” he says.

But for him, the point isn’t simply collecting—it’s connecting. He sees each label, menu, card, and brochure as a fragment of lived experience, especially as older generations fade and their everyday stories go with them.

“I like to tell you about what the industry was like in the 40s, what was selling in the 40s, what people were sending home,” he says. “Because that generation is, you know, slowly disappearing. And if we don’t talk about it, it’s just gone. That’s all, little pieces of love and little pieces of light that are just float away into the wind.”

Six transgender residents in Idaho have launched a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s new, highly restrictive bathroom ban, which is set to take effect in July.

The plaintiffs are seeking a judicial declaration that the law, considered the strictest of its kind nationwide, is unconstitutional.

The legislation mandates that individuals use public restrooms, locker rooms, or changing areas corresponding to the sex assigned to them at birth, even within privately owned businesses.

Violators face severe penalties: a misdemeanor charge and up to a year in jail for a first offense, escalating to a felony with a potential five-year prison sentence for subsequent infractions.

Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal, the plaintiffs argue the law forces them into an impossible choice: either remain confined to their homes or risk harassment, assault, or arrest when attempting to use public facilities.

Diego Fable, one of the plaintiffs, shared his experience in a news release, “I’ve been enjoying life as a man and using the men’s restrooms hasn’t been a big deal. But this law would force me to use the women’s facilities, and doing so would only invite suspicion, questions, and raised eyebrows. I would have to face tough choices every time I leave my home: Do I know the restroom situation when I go out to eat with my friends? Do I know the restrooms available when I go to public parks to go birding? What do I do while I’m at work all day?”

Republican Sen. Ben Toews, a key sponsor of the legislation, asserted in March that the law was necessary to safeguard women and children. He suggested transgender individuals could simply opt for single-occupancy gender-neutral restrooms.

However, the lawsuit highlights the scarcity of such facilities.

Fable noted that his workplace, local grocery stores, and many other public venues primarily offer multi-occupancy gendered restrooms.

Perceived by others as a man, Fable fears violence if compelled to use women’s facilities as the new law dictates. “Ultimately, complying with this law would be extremely isolating,” Fable stated.

“The only safe option truly available is to just stay home, or leave the state entirely, leaving my treasured friends and community behind.”

Other plaintiffs echoed these concerns. Peter Poe, a transgender man with a beard, anticipates disruption if forced into women’s restrooms.

Amelia Milette, a transgender woman whose job requires client visits, often finds these offices lack gender-neutral options. She plans to restrict her food and liquid intake to minimize the need for public restroom use if the law is enacted.

Idaho is among at least 19 states with laws restricting transgender individuals from using bathrooms and changing rooms aligned with their gender in schools and, in some cases, other public spaces.

The Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, notes that Florida, Kansas, and Utah have introduced criminal penalties for violating bathroom laws under certain conditions.

Yet, Idaho’s legislation stands out for its expansive reach, applying broadly to private businesses under the definition of a “place of public accommodation.”

The law does include nine exceptions, such as for janitorial work, emergency responses, assisting children, or instances of “dire need.”

The plaintiffs contend the ban will inflict emotional harm, worsen gender dysphoria, and potentially lead to medical issues like kidney and urinary tract infections due to forced restroom avoidance.

They argue the law is excessively vague, discriminatory based on sex and transgender status, and infringes upon their constitutional right to privacy by compelling them to disclose their transgender identity.

Barbara Schwabauer, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project, condemned the measure, stating: “This law is a dangerous and discriminatory effort to push transgender people out of public life.”

Schwabauer affirmed the ACLU’s intention to seek a complete block on the law, emphasizing, “If you cannot use the restroom at work, you cannot go to work. If you cannot use the restroom at school, you cannot go to school.”

Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with several county prosecutors, is named as a defendant in the case. Labrador’s office conveyed its stance in an email to The Associated Press, stating, “We look forward to defending the law.”

BUTTE, Mont. — The city of Belgrade has earned some serious bragging rights.

The city of Belgrade’s tap water won a blind taste test on Thursday morning at a joint conference of the Montana Section of the American Water Works Association (MSAWWA) and the Montana Water Environment Association (MWEA).

Belgrade now moves onto the national AWWA annual conference in Washington D.C. in June, where they will compete for the People’s Choice and Best of The Best Awards.

Montana tap water has scored well at the national conference in the past. In 2015, the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District won the Best of the Best award. In 2019, Bozeman won third place in the Best of the Best competition.

Water is judged based on taste, clarity, aftertaste, and odor.

“It is definitely a point of pride and a little bit competitive between communities around Montana. It’s pretty fun to see the operators that work so hard on their water sources and bringing that into their communities to be able to take that to even the state level and the national level, and take home a prize for that,” said Carrie Gardner, national director for the Montana section of the AWWA and a water/wastewater regional team manager for Great West Engineering. “So, it’s truly important to everyone here just to deliver clean, safe, water. But that’s also a fun aspect, to be able to have some bragging rights, too.”

Belgrade was one of only three cities that provided samples of their water to the conference this year, joining Missoula and Kalispell.

Thursday’s taste test was part of the final day of the conference, where operators, engineers, consultants, and regulators from across the state work together to protect Montana’s water resources.

This year’s conference theme was Resiliency and Risk.

“All of us are here because we care about the communities we live in in Montana and being able to have drought resistant systems,” said Gardner. “Water is a critical resource. So our focus is delivering clean water, public health, and safety. Making sure we have sources available, and, that we’re cleaning that water going back so we can have less environmental impacts and be able to reduce the issues that drought causes.”