Hawaii
Hawaii baseball team flexes depth in midweek rout of Hawaii Hilo
HONOLULU — Rich Hill saw an opportunity to empty his bench and took full advantage of it.
The Hawaii baseball team used all 17 of its position players — including first-time batter Itsuki Takemoto — and reached deep into its bullpen in a 13-1 midweek rout of little sibling Hawaii Hilo at Les Murakami Stadium on Tuesday night.
“It was great to see these guys compete,” Hill told Spectrum News. “Guys like Blake Hiraki, who’s meant so much to this program over four years. Getting Kamana (Nahaku) in there, getting Bronson (Rivera), and seeing our pitchers really compete. So that was awesome.”
Lineup regulars Kyson Donahue (2-for-3, three RBIs), Austin Machado (2-for-2, three runs) and Jake Tsukada (two walks, a hit by pitch and three runs) put up numbers while part-time starter Sean Rimmer belted his third homer of the season, best on the team among non-regulars.
Cory Ronan got the start and allowed Hilo’s only run, unearned, in the first inning. The first man out of the bullpen, Hunter Gotschall (1-1), went two innings with a walk to pick up the win. Six other relievers worked an inning each from there to round out the three-hitter.
UH (26-15, 9-9 Big West) has won five straight heading into this weekend’s three-game series against Big West co-leader Cal State Northridge (28-14, 14-4). The series opener is 6:35 p.m. Friday.
“I hope we have standing room only,” Hill said.
The ‘Bows are still well out of the BWC regular-season race, but with an RPI of under 90, have a chance to improve their resume for NCAA at-large consideration over the remaining 12 regular-season games.
UH improved to 4-0 against Division II competition this season, including 2-0 against Hilo. It’s closing in on its first 30-win season since 2012, which would be the first under third year coach Hill.
Takemoto, the freshman from Wakayama, Japan, entered the program billed as a two-way player but had so far appeared only as a right-handed pitcher.
That changed when he entered as a pinch hitter for Machado in the sixth inning. He struck out on four pitches against Jake Liberta in his first collegiate at-bat, but got a second chance as a designated hitter in the eighth and poked a single up the middle off of Waiakea High graduate Cody Hirata.
“He’s one of those guys in BP who’s shortened up everything,” Hill said. “He is exactly like (Shohei) Ohtani … it’s the whole batting stance and everything else. He’s got some juice in there. I’d like to get him some more reps. I think he’s got lightning in that bat; he just needs a lot of ABs.”
Hilo sophomore Tui Ickes, the older brother of UH third baseman Elijah Ickes, saw action at first base off the bench. But Elijah Ickes did not reach first with his brother manning the bag, nor did Tui Ickes reach third after drawing a walk.
UHH, led by coach Kallen Miyataki, was out of the running for the PacWest tournament and concluded its season at 19-31.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
Hawaii
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Hawaii
HGTV’s ‘Renovation Aloha’ accused of broadcasting human remains illegally
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The team behind a popular Hawaii-based home renovation show is now facing legal troubles after airing content that shouldn’t have been released, according to the state.
Hawaii’s Attorney General is now involved after HGTV’s ‘Renovation Aloha’ showed uncensored images of apparent ancient skeletal remains that were discovered at a Hilo property.
In a now-deleted clip on social media, Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama, along with the production team, discovered a cave beneath a Hilo property where they found the remains deep inside.
Video documented their shock when it was found, with the hosts saying, “There’s bones back here. I got to get out of here. Are you fricken serious? I’m serious dude. Is that a skull?”
Tristyn was seen standing further back, saying “This is terrifying. I’m at my stopping point” before leaving.
Hawaii News Now is not showing the bones, but confirmed with HGTV the episode was filmed in December 2025.
Video didn’t show them touching or moving the remains, and HGTV said authorities were notified after the discovery, the property was not developed, and the site was later blessed.
At the time, police said no crime was committed, and the state AG obtained a TRO to prevent the broadcast of the images in accordance with state law.
However this week, uncensored video of the bones was posted online by the Kalamas and HGTV, and included in the episode, triggering a quick rebuke from the community.
“We don’t kaula’i iwi. We do not lay our bones out in the sun to expose him in this manner,” former Oahu Island Burial Council Chair Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu said.
She also said the release of the images was “extremely disappointing,” saying the damage was already done.
“It is irrelevant that bones were not moved. It is irrelevant that they were not disturbed, per se, because somebody didn’t touch them — but you went into their space and that space becomes kapu space once they have transitioned over to po. And when you do that, we honor that. We don’t disturb them,” Wong-Kalu added.
The AG said they took immediate legal action to prevent the unlawful broadcast of images, pointing to a TRO issued prior to the episode’s release. They also said, “We are aware that the segment aired notwithstanding the court’s order, and we take this matter very seriously. The Department will pursue additional action as necessary.”
Court Documents revealed the Kalamas and producers of the show are now facing four counts for allegedly breaking Iwi Kupuna protection rules.
“If that were our grandparent, would we want them, after they have physically transitioned to po, would we want to share our family in this manner? I don’t think so,” Wong-Kalu added.
HGTV said in a statement, “We take the concerns raised by the community very seriously and are committed to ensuring our programming is respectful and appropriate. We apologize to anyone who found any part of the episode offensive, that was not HGTV’s intention.”
They also confirmed the original episode was removed, and re-edited without the bones included.
Through our communication with the HGTV spokesperson, Hawaii News Now offered the Kalamas a chance to respond directly, but they did not. They did however take to Instagram to address the episode, saying they followed the protocols they knew, and never intended to build there. They stressed their respect for Hawaiian culture and practices.
The investigation remains active.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Hawaiian Airlines Ends April 22. What Replaces It.
That headline is something many of us never expected to read. This April 22, 2026, is the day Hawaiian Airlines officially ends. Alaska’s reservation system takes over, Hawaiian flight numbers disappear, and all operations move to Alaska. Hawaiian joins the oneworld alliance too on the same day, but for Hawaii travelers, the alliance is not the headline. The airline you knew will cease to exist as part of the process that began with Alaska’s purchase of Hawaiian on December 3, 2023.
You can still board a plane painted with the iconic Pualani on the tail, but you will not book an HA flight anymore. Your confirmation email shows AS (Alaska). Your boarding pass shows AS. What airport departure boards and gate screens display on day one is a separate question. That and more will be revealed later.
When the code disappears, not the paint.
The Hawaiian call sign already ended last fall, when HA866 flew from Pago Pago to Honolulu on October 29, 2025, closing out 95 years of Hawaiian flight numbers in the sky. Call signs are largely for pilots and air traffic control, and most travelers never really see them. April 22 is entirely different because flight numbers exist on your itinerary, your receipt, your screenshot, and your email, and when HA disappears from those, you see it.
What booking Hawaiian looks like after April 22.
Customer service interactions will route entirely through Alaska’s systems. Schedule changes, irregular operations, rebooking rules, and automated notifications follow Alaska’s logic, and frequent travelers will notice these differences first.
A huge reservation system change is happening behind the scenes.
April 22 is also when Alaska’s reservation system replaces what remains of Hawaiian’s Amadeus platform, which has been degraded since the 2023 Sabre-to-Amadeus migration went sideways, infuriating its customers. The cutover is supposed to resolve years of booking infrastructure problems. But we’re keeping in mind that system migrations at this scale have historically created turbulence before they stabilize, so patience may still be required.
Branding stays, for now.
The visual identity remains intact on April 22. Pualani stays on the tail, uniforms stay recognizable, and the onboard experience does not change that day. Alaska has acknowledged that Hawaiian branding carries value in Hawaii, but Alaska has not committed to how much of it stays or how long. Everything past the paint is already Alaska.
The oneworld alliance arrives on the same day.
April 22 is also the day Hawaiian becomes a full member of the oneworld alliance. International lounge access improves, elite status recognition lines up across partner airlines, and earning and redeeming miles across oneworld carriers becomes far easier. Hawaiian did not have that before and had limited partners on its own. Under Alaska, it does have, for the first time, a robust partner network.
Atmos status is part of the oneworld structure wherein Silver aligns with oneworld Ruby, Gold with oneworld Sapphire, and Platinum and Titanium with oneworld Emerald. For travelers who qualify, that means priority services and lounge access when flying internationally. Alliance benefits may work best outside of Hawaii for now, as many of you have noted.
What Alaska has promised next for Hawaii.
Alaska has announced a $600 million investment covering airport renovations at five Hawaii airports, a full A330 cabin refit starting in 2028, and a new flagship lounge at Honolulu in late 2027. All twenty-four A330s are set to receive a new business class in a 1-2-1 layout with privacy doors and direct aisle access, replacing the dated 2-2-2 configuration.
The same design team behind the 787 soft product is said to be handling the A330, and the refit was quoted as rolling out across the entire fleet over roughly 12 months starting in January 2028. A true premium economy cabin comes with it, separate from Extra Comfort, and extra legroom. Extra Comfort rebrands to Alaska Premium Class on April 22 as an Alaska alignment, but the new premium economy class does not arrive until sometime in 2028.
The Honolulu lounge will expand to roughly five times the current Plumeria Lounge footprint at the Terminal 1 Mauka Concourse entrance. Beat of Hawaii has covered that new Honolulu Atmos Lounge separately. None of these upgrades changes anything significant if you are flying Hawaiian anytime soon.
What happens to the A321neo, A330, and the 717 interisland fleet long term under Alaska is a separate question. Beat of Hawaii has been covering that.
But Hawaiian had been running out of runway long before Alaska arrived, and the acquisition is the reason there is still a Pualani tail flying to Hawaii at all. What Alaska does with the paint, the brand, and the Hawaii routes from here is the part we’ll continue watching.
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