Associated Press

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-1) vs. Oregon State Beavers (3-7, 0-1 WCC)

Makawao, Hawaii; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Oregon State faces Western Kentucky in Makawao, Hawaii.

The Beavers have a 3-6 record in non-conference games. Oregon State is 1-5 in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Hilltoppers have an 8-1 record against non-conference oppponents. Western Kentucky has a 6-0 record against teams above .500.

Oregon State is shooting 39.5% from the field this season, 1.5 percentage points lower than the 41.0% Western Kentucky allows to opponents. Western Kentucky has shot at a 45.5% clip from the field this season, 5.2 percentage points above the 40.3% shooting opponents of Oregon State have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: AJ Marotte is shooting 34.8% and averaging 11.8 points for the Beavers.

Alexis Mead is averaging 15.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals for the Hilltoppers.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

One of Hawaii’s luxury hotels may soon have a new owner.

Blackstone is looking to potentially offload the five-star Grand Wailea resort in Maui, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The alternative asset manager is working with a broker to reach out to prospective buyers, people with knowledge of the proceedings told the outlet. However, only preliminary talks are taking place, and Blackstone could decide to retain the property. (A spokesperson for the investment company declined to comment to Bloomberg.)

The Grand Wailea is an 845-key, 40-acre hotel branded as a Waldorf Astoria property. It can host events for up to 3,200 guests, and it served as the filming location for scenes in the 2011 movie Just Go With It, starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Blackstone wasn’t the owner then, though: The company acquired the Grand Wailea for some $1.1 billion in 2018, Bloomberg reported at the time.

While the sale is still up in the air at the moment, it has been a rather bountiful time for the buying and selling of luxury hotels. Earlier this year, for example, billionaire Larry Ellison bought the Eau Palm Beach Resort in Florida for an unspecified amount. Just a few months later, the owner of the Ben hotel in West Palm Beach sought to sell that property for a whopping $1 million per room. Proving that Florida is a hot commodity, the Reuben Brothers also bought the W South Beach for more than $400 million, Bloomberg noted.

Blackstone hasn’t been immune to the trend either: Earlier this year, the company decided to sell the Turtle Bay resort in Hawaii for some $680 million, the outlet wrote. Nadeem Meghji, the global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, addressed that sale on Tuesday, saying that the market has been trending upward.

“The environment is improving,” Meghji told Bloomberg Television. “When you think about sale activity and you think about values, when there are more folks who want to buy real estate, that’s usually a better time to start selling, and so we expect to see even more of that next year.”

Looks like we could see Grand Wailea changing hands in 2025.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A concert to celebrate Reggae legend Bob Marley’s 80th Birthday is slated for early 2025, it’s called “Hawaii Fest.”

It’s slated for Feb. 15 and 16 at Moanalua Gardens.

The two-day jampacked music fest have some big-name headliners in the Reggae, Hip-Hop and R&B genres, including Ja Rule, Ashanti, J Boog, and local artists Kolohe Kai, Natural Vibrations, Spawnbreezie, Ana Vee, and Kanaka Fyah.

Bob Marley’s sons Julian and Ky-Mani Marley and grandson YG Marley are also in the star-studded lineup.

Ashanti and Natural Vibrations shared the news on their social media platforms earlier this month.

And organizer say there’s more than just music.

“We have Five-Star Michelin Chef David Hartwig. He will providing food, all food sources from local Hawaii farmers,” said Jonelle Layfield, one of the event organizers. “It’s incredible and never been done at concert before and we’ll have wellness tent IV’s, green juices, and merch all around.”

“We want it to be an immersive experience.”

As an ode to Hawaii and Moanalua Gardens’ unique history, the event organizers said some of Hawaii’s top halau hula will also be performing.

Tickets are on sale now for Hawaii residents at www.hawaiifest.com.

Global ticket sales open this Friday.

More details are said to be released in the coming weeks.

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