West
Hawaiian lawmakers poised to make 'shaka' the official state gesture
- The shaka gesture, characterized by extending the pinky and thumb with curled fingers, originates from Hawaii and symbolizes various warm sentiments like greetings, gratitude and aloha spirit.
- Proposed bills in the Hawaii State Legislature aim to designate the shaka as the state’s official gesture, acknowledging Hawaii as its birthplace.
- Sen. Glenn Wakai said he anticipates minimal opposition to the measure, expecting it to pass smoothly through legislative channels.
A pinky and thumb extended with the remaining fingers curled down: That’s the “shaka” in Hawaii.
The gesture is sometimes known outside the islands as the “hang loose” sign associated with surf culture, but it was a fixture of daily life in the islands long before it caught on in California, Brazil and beyond. People in Hawaii have a variety of shaka styles and use it to convey a range of warmhearted sentiments, from hi and bye to thanks and aloha, among other meanings.
When captains of the Lahainaluna High School football team, from the Maui community devastated by last summer’s deadly wildfire, were invited to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas last month, they flashed shakas for the cameras.
SMALL FAMILY FARMS MAKE AMERICAN-GROWN ROASTED COFFEE THE WORLD’S BEST BREW
Now, a pair of bills in the state Legislature would make the shaka the state’s official gesture and recognize Hawaii as its birthplace.
Cody Matsuda, KihaaPi’ilani Makainai-Matsuda, Keli’inowelo Makainai-Matsuda and Mailani Makainai flash a shaka on March 6, 2024, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. A pair of bills in the Legislature would make the shaka Hawaii’s official gesture. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
Sen. Glenn Wakai, who introduced the Senate version, said he can’t imagine the measure meeting any opposition and expects it to “sail through.”
Here are some things to know about Hawaii’s shaka — including its purported origin with a seven-fingered fisherman.
WHAT IS THE SHAKA?
On paper, the House bill notes that the “shaka generally consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the wrist may be rotated back and forth for emphasis.”
In practice, the shaka is far more nuanced.
Some say the only requirement is an extended pinky and thumb. Others say shaking the shaka is a no-no.
Those from beach or rural communities tend not to shake their shakas. But in the capital city of Honolulu, it’s common.
“It’s just a strong movement — one movement,” said Chase Lee, who grew up just outside Honolulu. He was taught never to shake the shaka. If you do, “you’re a tourist,” he said.
But Erin Issa, one of his colleagues at Central Pacific Bank, likes to wag hers.
“I’m a very animated person,” she said. “I feel awkward if I’m just standing still.”
She prefers to flash a shaka with the palm facing outwards, as a sign of respect: “It’s shaka-ing to you, not to me.”
“As long as you get your pinky finger and your thumb out, you can wave it or you can just do just a flat shaka,” Dennis Caballes, a Honolulu resident, said while fishing at a beach park.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The shaka carries friendliness and warmth — aloha spirit. Some hold it low when greeting a child, and some like to flash double shakas. It can convey greetings, gratitude or assent, or it can defuse tension. It was particularly useful in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were afraid to shake hands.
“It’s such a versatile gesture,” said state Rep. Sean Quinlan, who introduced the House bill at the behest of a documentary filmmaker exploring the sign’s backstory.
Big Island state Rep. Jeanné Kapela, one of the House bill’s co-sponsors, said residents are “so lucky to have a visual signal for sharing aloha with each other.”
Shakas can avert altercations when people are cut off in traffic, said Wakai, the state senator who introduced the Senate version.
“The angst toward that driver kind of just immediately gets reduced,” Wakai said.
WHERE DOES THE SHAKA COME FROM?
The prevailing story of the shaka’s origin traces back to a Native Hawaiian fisherman named Hāmana Kalili, who lived on Oahu’s North Shore in the early 1900s. Mailani Makaʻīnaʻi, Kalili’s great-great-granddaughter, wants the bills amended to include his name — something lawmakers are considering.
Kalili lost three fingers in a sugar mill accident, she said.
After the mishap, Kalili worked as a guard on a train. Kids who jumped the train for a free ride would curl their middle fingers to mimic Kalili’s injured hand, giving other train-jumpers the all-clear, said Steve Sue, who researched shaka for his documentary.
Other residents adopted Kalili’s three-finger-less wave more broadly, according to family lore, and it spread, possibly fueled by the waves of tourists that began arriving after World War II.
“I love the compassion part of it, you know, where, ‘Oh, okay, he doesn’t have all three fingers. So, I’m going to say hi the way he’s saying hi,’” Makaʻīnai said. “It’s the idea that … I’m like you and you’re like me.”
There’s a bronze statue of Kalili, his right arm extended into a shaka, at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie.
There are various theories about how the term “shaka” became associated with the gesture. Some have suggested that the name came from Japan’s Shaka Buddha.
HOW IS THE SHAKA USED NOW?
The sign has spread around the world since the surfing boom of the 1950s and ’60s. It’s popular in Brazil, where it’s been used by martial arts aficionados. Brazil soccer greats Ronaldinho and Neymar Jr. incorporated it into their goal celebrations.
The shaka is such an integral part of Hawaii life that it’s easy to miss, said Sen. Chris Lee, chair of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts.
Some Honolulu city buses are outfitted with a digital shaka light that bus drivers can turn on to thank motorists for letting them merge. Texters have co-opted the “call me” emoji to symbolize the shaka, and local station KHON-TV has ended each evening newscast since the 1970s with clips of people flashing shakas.
HAWAII FACES HOUSING CRISIS AS REGULATORY COSTS DRIVE UP CONDO PRICES, REPORT SAYS
Longtime KHON anchor Howard Dashefsky said throwing a shaka is almost a reflex when people in the community recognize him and call his name.
“There’s a lot of other places where you only get a one-finger gesture,” he said.
Shakas also come out naturally when people from Hawaii are somewhere else in the world and want to display connection to their island roots.
Businesses often use the shaka to project community belonging.
Central Pacific Bank, for example, called their digital checking account Shaka Checking at the suggestion of electronic banking manager Florence Nakamura.
“It makes people feel good when they receive one,” she said.
Read the full article from Here
Continue Reading
Alaska’s statewide commercial salmon harvest this year is expected to total 125.5 million fish, less than two-thirds of the total landed by commercial harvesters in 2025, according to the annual forecast released last week by state biologists.
The anticipated 2026 total, detailed in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2026 forecast and 2025 review, is lower than annual statewide harvests in all but four years since 2000, according to department records.
The lowered expectations for the statewide salmon harvest are driven mostly by anticipated declines in runs of pink salmon, also known as humpback salmon, according to the forecast.
Pink salmon are the most plentiful, smallest and cheapest of Alaska’s five salmon species. They have two-year life cycles, the shortest of all of Alaska’s salmon species. Although there are regional variations, the general pattern for the recent past is alternating big-run and smaller-run years, with 2025 as one of the big-run years.
The year-to-year difference has been significant, said Forrest Bowers, who heads the department’s commercial fishing division.
“We have been seeing a pronounced even-odd year difference in pink salmon returns, with much larger returns in odd-numbered years,” Bowers said by email.
In all, about 197.4 million salmon were harvested commercially last year, 120 million of which were pink salmon, the forecast said. This year, about 60 million pink salmon are expected to be harvested commercially, according to the forecast.
For Alaska’s other four salmon species, the forecast calls for lower total catches as well, with a combined reduction of 11% below the 2025 non-pink salmon total harvest, Bowers said.
That is not considered a precise prediction. There are estimate ranges for different species and locations, which put the anticipated 2026 harvest in the general ballpark of last year’s harvest, except for pink salmon.
“When we consider forecast uncertainty and the distribution of harvests across the state, the forecast for non-pink salmon is fairly similar to the 2025 actual harvest,” Bowers said.
Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, is the second-most plentiful of Alaska’s five species, and the statewide harvest is dominated by Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.
That status will continue this year, according to the forest. Bristol Bay’s estimated 2026 harvest for this year is 33.5 million fish, a little over the average over the last 20 years — but smaller than in some recent years, when harvests in that region hit or approached records. Last year’s Bristol Bay sockeye harvest was about 41.2 million fish, a little more than three-quarters of the statewide sockeye harvest.
This year, the statewide sockeye salmon harvest is forecast to total 49.7 million fish, of which about two-thirds are expected to come from Bristol Bay.
The forecast chum salmon commercial harvest this year is 17.2 million fish, compared to 21.7 million last year. This year’s forecast harvest of coho salmon, also known as silver salmon, is 2.4 million fish, compared to 2.7 million harvested last year. This year’s forecast harvest of chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, is 197,000 fish, compared to last year’s total harvest of 201,000 fish.
The department’s forecast details regional differences along with species differences.
In the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems, salmon runs are expected to continue to be weak, as they have been for the past several years, according to the forecast. There is no commercial fishing anticipated on either of those river systems. The only commercial fishing in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region is expected to be in Norton Sound and in the Kotzebue area, as was the case last year and in other recent years.
The newly released forecast is for commercial harvesting alone. It does not include subsistence or sport harvests. Reports detailing last year’s subsistence harvests are expected to be released in the future, the forecast said.
Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.
The decision to cut the Big 12 Softball Tournament field down to eight this season means there’s a lot to play for in the final week of conference games. While Houston completed its season due to a conference bye the final week, nine of the 10 teams that will play next week can still improve or damage their postseason situations in the last series of the regular season.
Texas Tech’s sweep of Arizona State over the penultimate weekend secured the top seed in the conference tournament. While several other teams are secure in the knowledge that they will be included in the league tourney, none of the other nine teams have a seed wrapped up.
The four teams behind the Red Raiders could all technically end up with the No. 2 seed in Oklahoma City two weeks from now. Arizona’s sweep of Houston gave the Wildcats a 15-6 record and (most importantly) a .714 winning percentage to retain the second position in the league rankings. Winning percentage is especially important because one of the teams hunting Arizona has a tie and has a very remote chance of surpassing Arizona based on that tie.
The club with the best shot to overtake the Wildcats is the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. OSU is on a five-game winning streak, including a sweep of Baylor in Waco, Tex. over the weekend. That gives the Cowgirls a 14-7 Big 12 record and .667 winning percentage.
The advantage for the Cowgirls is that they’ve already taken two of three games from Arizona this year. They only need to tie the Wildcats’ winning percentage to get the second seed.
OSU hosts No. 4 Kansas (13-8/.619) to wind up the regular season. Arizona goes to No. 7 Utah (8-12-1/.405). OSU needs to win one more game than the Wildcats the final weekend to take over that second spot. The Cowgirls do not control their own destiny. If Arizona sweeps Utah on the road, the Wildcats will stay in second no matter what anyone else does.
Both the Wildcats and the Cowgirls are trying to hold off the Jayhawks and the UCF Knights, who sit at No. 3 and No. 4 heading into the final weekend. KU has a better chance to get to No. 2 than UCF does, but both have an outside chance. Kansas also controls its own destiny as far as getting to No. 3 in the standings.
If the Jayhawks go 2-1 or better in Stillwater, they will leapfrog Oklahoma State for third. A 2-1 weekend would tie the two teams on record and winning percentage, but KU would have the tiebreaker based on head-to-head results.
To get to second, Kansas must win at least two games at Oklahoma State and finish with a better winning percentage than Arizona. If Kansas and Arizona end up tied, the current Big 12 tiebreaker for conference seeding falls heavily on winning percentage and runs allowed if two teams don’t meet head-to-head:
- Head-to-head
- Winning percentage versus common conference opponents
- Runs allowed divided by innings pitched of teams ties
- Runs allowed divided by innings pitched in all conference games against common conference opponents
- Runs allowed divided by innings pitched versus common conference opponents occupying the highest position in the final regular standings
- NCAA RPI
- Coin toss
A tiebreaker between UA and KU would fall to the second tiebreaker with common opponents being Oklahoma State, Baylor, Utah, ASU, BYU, and Houston. Prior to the trip to Utah, Arizona has a record of 14-4 against the common opponents (including the Cowgirls), giving it a winning percentage of .778. Prior to taking on OSU, Kansas has a record of 12-6 against common opponents (including Utah) for a winning percentage of .667.
The Wildcats could end up with a winning percentage as high as .810 against common opponents with a sweep. At 2-1 in Salt Lake City, that drops to .762. At 1-2, they would have a winning percentage of .714. If the Utes sweep, it would drop to .667.
The Jayhawks could end with a winning percentage of .714 against common opponents with a sweep in Stillwater. A 2-1 series would drop that to .667. Anything less, and they cannot even tie Arizona based on the second tiebreaker.
What it comes down to is that the Jayhawks need to win at least two games against the Cowgirls and have Arizona lose at least two to Utah to have a chance to get to the third tiebreaker or overcome the Wildcats. If they can get to the third tiebreaker, though, they have a very good chance of leaping Arizona based on superior pitching numbers.
The third tiebreaker comes down to runs allowed divided by innings pitched. Arizona currently sits at 0.91 runs/IP against Big 12 competition. Kansas has allowed 0.68 runs/IP in league play.
The problem for the Jayhawks is that it’s tough to know how good they actually are. They are in the same position Iowa State was in last year. The Cyclones finished third in the regular season, but they did not face Texas Tech or Arizona, which finished first and second. KU will face neither of those teams this season, so they are also missing the top two teams in the standings. All of its wins come against the bottom seven teams in the league and all of its series wins come against the bottom six. They were one of only two Big 12 teams to drop any games to Houston this year.
UCF is in a similar position as KU if it wants to help its cause, but it has an easier opponent. Its final series is against Iowa State, which is one of the teams in danger of not making the eight-team conference tournament at all.
The Knights need to sweep ISU and have Arizona get swept by Utah to overtake the Wildcats. While the two teams would both end with 15 wins in that scenario, UCF would have a higher conference winning percentage because one of its games ended in a tie. It would end with a 15-8-1 record for a .646 conference winning percentage. Arizona would end 15-9 with a .625 winning percentage in this situation.
This is the only way UCF can move past Arizona. The tied game against Utah earlier in the season means the Knights cannot end up knotted with any other team in the standings.
As for who Arizona would face in the opening round of the conference tournament, that doesn’t just depend on where it ends up. The final two teams in the field are still up for grabs with No. 6 Baylor (9-12/.429), No. 7 Utah (8-12-1/.405), No. 8 ASU (8-13/.381), No. 9 Iowa State (8-13/.381), and No. 10 BYU (7-14/.333) still battling to get in and secure seeds. If the Wildcats finish second, they will play the 7 seed.
The convoluted scenarios have each of the five teams teams facing at least outside chances of climbing to sixth or missing the tournament. Many of those scenarios require falling back on the third tiebreaker, and in some cases, the team that seems like it would come out on top in the third tiebreaker currently does not. For example, the third tiebreaker between Baylor and ASU goes to the Bears, which have allowed 0.71 runs/IP in conference play compared to 0.94 for the Sun Devils.
While it may seem anticlimactic to have the conference regular season champion decided before the final weekend, the competition throughout the rest of the standings means there’s a lot to follow the last week of the regular season.
More rain could be in store for Los Angeles this week.
Skies will be partly cloudy Tuesday, with temperatures warming to the low to mid-70s, said Ryan Kittell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
But by Wednesday night, most parts of Los Angeles have a roughly 20% to 30% chance of getting a measurable amount of rain, he said. There’s also a slight chance of showers over the eastern San Gabriel Mountains on Thursday morning and afternoon, according to the forecast.
Winds are expected to pick up late Wednesday into Thursday, especially in mountain and desert areas, with gusts in the 25- to 35-mph range, Kittell said.
No impacts are expected as far as flooding or downed trees, he said.
Many areas will probably remain dry, and those that do receive rain will see less than a quarter of an inch, Kittell said. The chance of rain increases farther south, in Orange and San Diego counties, he said.
Forecasters are then predicting a warming trend, with high temperatures in most places expected to be in the mid-70s to upper 80s on Friday and Saturday.
There’s an additional chance of very light rain early next week, probably on Monday, Kittell said.
These storms may represent the last gasp of Southern California’s rainy season, which typically ends in April. So far, downtown L.A. has received roughly 18.98 inches of rain since Oct. 1, the start of the water year. That’s more than the 13.65 inches that is normal at this point in the year.
Still, California is enduring its second-worst snow drought in 50 years, which experts say is a sign of how rising temperatures from climate change are worsening the West’s long-term water supply problems.
-
Alaska5 minutes agoBiologists forecast a reduced Alaska commercial salmon harvest
-
Arizona11 minutes agoArizona softball: Postseason inclusion, seeding up for grabs in final week of Big 12 play
-
Arkansas17 minutes ago
Herron and Johnson Selected to AUSL Reserve Pool
-
California23 minutes ago
Here’s where and when it’s expected to rain in Southern California this week
-
Colorado29 minutes agoColorado landfill emission rules could force mountain counties to hike trash fees. Lawmakers are seeking a solution.
-
Connecticut35 minutes ago6 Little-Known Towns In Connecticut
-
Delaware41 minutes ago‘Great sign of things to come’: Major rooftop solar project launches in Delaware
-
Florida47 minutes agoSickness, cold killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida import warehouse in 2024 and 2025
