Hawaii

UH athletics director pick has strong ties to Hawaii, but will still face challenges

Published

6 months ago

June 6, 2025

UH athletics director pick has strong ties to Hawaii, but will still face challenges

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – University of Hawaii president Wendy Hensel announced her pick for the university’s next athletics director, appointing Matt Elliott on Thursday.

Community leaders praise Elliott for his short time he’s spent in the islands.

Elliott most recently moved to Oahu in 2022 and started working for the Hawaii Community Foundation, where their now-former CEO says UH is making the right move.

As CEO, Micah Kane worked closely with Elliott, who served as the nonprofit’s senior policy director.

“In my career, I would say he’s one of the top leaders that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with,” Kane told reporters. “I think what you’re going to find when he goes into the the system is that he’s going to map out a strategy and he’s going to be very collaborative on how that strategy is built.”

Longtime banker Jack Tsui also likes the pick.

The search committee co-chair says his team looked at more than 100 candidates and came up with four finalists based largely on their Division I experience, recruiting skills, and Hawaii ties.

Elliott’s wife, a Punahou graduate, was born and raised in Hawaii. They’ve lived off and on in Hawaii since in 2005, but Elliott also spent 13 years at UCLA.

“He worked successfully with coaches and guided UCLA’s entrance into the Big Ten,” Tsui said. “I think his personal attributes would be integrity, intelligence, honesty.”

Elliott said in a statement that he’s grateful for the opportunity and plans to “chart an ambitious and unified path forward.”

Former UH regent Jeff Portnoy says Elliott will need to adapt to a changing college landscape.

“I know that Mr. Elliott has been involved in college sports while he was at UCLA, apparently had a lot to do with their moving to the Big Ten, but so much has happened in collegiate sports in the last 24 months that he’s got a big learning curve ahead of him,” Portnoy said.

Pending approval by the UH regents, Elliott’s base salary will start at $425,000 with additional performance-based incentives.

That’s a change from former AD Craig Angelos, who was never on contract.

Tsui saying it was important that the next AD would be under contract.

“It was the first conversation I had with the president and that was in January,” Tsui said.

“I haven’t seen the contract. Unfortunately, when I was a regent, I saw way too many athletic contracts and know how problems can arise,” Portnoy said.

Elliott’s most obvious tests include the Aloha Stadium project and name image and likeness compensation for athletes, as well as transitioning more teams to the Mountain West Conference next year.

A more nuanced test will be navigating the political and business communities in a state that loves UH sports.

“He could be the right choice,” Portnoy said. “Again, I don’t know him. I just know these other things. He’s got some strong positives, but he’s got some huge challenges.”

Elliott would need to be approved by the UH Board of Regents at a special meeting set for June 16.

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Hawaii

Hawaii senator introduces bill to reunite, protect immigrant families

Published

8 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Hawaii senator introduces bill to reunite, protect immigrant families

WASHINGTON, D.C. (HawaiiNewsNow) – U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) reintroduced a piece of legislation on Thursday to strengthen protections for immigrant families and address long-standing problems in the family immigration system.

The Reuniting Families Act aims to reduce visa backlogs, boost efficiency across the immigration process, and ensure a fairer, more humane process for immigrant families.

“Immigrant families currently experience unnecessary obstacles and delays due to our country’s broken immigration system, keeping families separated for potentially long periods of time,” Hirono said. “By reducing family-based immigration backlogs and making common sense updates to how we treat families, the Reuniting Families Act will help take the first step in the right direction to keeping families together as they navigate our immigration system.”

According to the senators behind this bill, nearly four million people with approved visa applications are currently trapped in a massive immigration backlog, with many waiting more than a decade to reunite with their loved ones.

“As Donald Trump’s inhumane mass deportation campaign rips apart families and communities across the country, it’s paramount we address the unnecessary barriers in our immigration system that have created backlogs and kept families apart for years,” Duckworth said. “Our legislation would implement commonsense reforms to help end family-based backlogs, which keep too many with approved green card applications stuck in bureaucratic limbo, and help get more families where they belong—together.”

The Reuniting Families Act would shorten delays by recapturing unused visas, rolling them into future years, expanding who qualifies as a family member to include permanent partners, and increasing both the total number of available family preference visas and per-country limits.

The bill would also put a time limit on visa processing, so no applicant has to wait more than 10 years for a visa if they have an approved application.

Click here to read the full bill.

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Hawaii

Rouhliadeff scores 16, Hawaii beats D-II Hawaii Hilo 98-46

Published

21 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Rouhliadeff scores 16, Hawaii beats D-II Hawaii Hilo 98-46

HONOLULU (AP) — Henry Rouhliadeff scored 16 points to lead six Hawaii players in double figures and the Rainbow Warriors beat Division-II Hawaii Hilo 98-46 on Wednesday night.

Rouhliadeff made 6 of 9 from the field and finished with nine rebounds and five assists. Dre Bullock scored 12 points for Hawaii (9-2) and Hunter Erickson, Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, Gytis Nemeiksa and Isaac Finlinson added 11 points apiece.

Jamal Entezami led Hawaii Hilo with 11 points and Jessiya Villa scored 10.

Hawaii shot 51% overall and made 13 3-pointers. The Rainbow Warriors, who went into the game averaging 13.4 assists per game, had a season-high 25 assists on 35 made field goals.

The 52-point margin of victory was Hawaii’s largest since a 106-49 win over Redlands on Jan. 28, 1972, and the third largest in program history. The Rainbow Warriors beat BYU Hawaii by 67 (106-49) in the 1962-63 season.

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Hawaii

Chef Sam Choy: America’s best poke not from Hawaii is a ‘slap in the face’

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Chef Sam Choy: America’s best poke not from Hawaii is a ‘slap in the face’

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Poke is a dish created by Native Hawaiians and perfected by local immigrants. But according to online reviews, the best poke in the country is not from Hawaii. And one world-renowned chef who’s credited with poke’s popularity calls it a “slap in the face.”

People are willing to stand in long lines every day for poke. So to say the best in the country is not in Hawaii – that’s fighting words for some.

“So for you to say that, yeah, I kinda like scrap kine,” said Branden Machado, poke connoisseur.

“Nah, I laugh, I laugh,” said Mike Sablay, poke connoisseur.

The restaurant in Big Bear, California, is called Tropicali and was recently reported to have America’s best poke, based on Yelp.

“When I heard that, I was very upset, because I well know, and as you well know, and our millions of listeners and watchers of our station, they well know that the best poke is in Hawaii,” said Sam Choy, world-renowned celebrity chef/restaurateur.

“When I read that, I felt a little slighted,” said Chris Kam, Alicia’s Market. “Understandable, people from the mainland don’t really know what Hawaiian poke is about.”

With a large shark’s head as the front entrance, the decor – just like the menu – is said to be based on Hawaiian culture, but not to emulate it. So poke there – and elsewhere on the continent – looks much different from the poke bowls we’re used to seeing in Hawaii.

“It came with cucumbers, it came with won ton strips, I ordered the spicy one, so it came with the spicy sauce, and then I ordered unagi sauce on the side, and it tasted so good,” said one anonymous local who tried Tropicali and liked it. “It tasted so fresh, I was so surprised it was crazy.”

“That’s not poke, that’s like a salad,” said Kam.

“Nah, nothing can beat back home,” said Sablay. “Everything over here is like the best. Everything’s all local, everything’s all fresh.”

“Like on Oahu, we have the freshest fish, we have the best recipes, like and it’s not only us,” said Justin Tanioka, Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering. “It’s other companies around the island that have mastered poke.”

Since this is a Yelp award, having great Yelp reviews does help. Tropicali currently has more than 4,000 reviews and maintains a 4.9 Star rating. However, locals say to declare themselves the best in the country for a food that’s not only born in Hawaii, but beloved in Hawaii, is extremely bold.

“It’s definitely a slap in the face for all the poke makers in Hawaii who work unbelievably hard to create their magical dishes,” said Choy. “Two things. One, we use fresh fish. And the other one is tender loving care, TLC is in there. We’re putting our heart and soul in that. We’re representing our history, we’re representing our aina, we’re representing all the people in the past that made poke.”

“It’s all preference, and you know where you are,” said Tanioka. “But to me, the best poke in the world, honestly, is in Oahu.”

“Cuz check that out, Big Bear ain’t got nothing on this, my cuz,” said Machado. “We get the best poke in the world. Bumbye, we teach you.”

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