Category: January – February 2026
-
Celebrating the Samoan Culture
Since more than 1,500 years ago, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) have welcomed immigrants from every corner of the globe, cultivating and perpetuating a tapestry of diverse cultures. In the sixth article in this ongoing series on the many cultures that comprise Hawai‘i, we will focus on the Samoan, how the people arrived in the Hawaiian…
-
Bridging the Generation Divide
Last year, I was a “senior” senior at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) West O‘ahu. My learning adventure began in the fall of 2019 when I enrolled in a basic Hawaiian language course at the Moloka‘i Education Center at age 67. It is a satellite campus of UH Maui College and our classes were conducted…
-
Legal Warrior for Social Upheaval
Judge Daniel R. Foley, formerly an Associate Justice of the Hawai’i Court of Appeals, by his representation of three same-sex couples in the Hawai‘i court case of Baehr v. Lewin, moved to overturn the then hard-fast belief that marriage should be reserved to opposite-sex couples. Judge Foley’s legal strategy and courageous action changed the world,…
-
Food Stamps Are a SNAP for Seniors!
One of the things about growing older is that it happens gradually. When I retired from Hawai‘i Meals on Wheels last year at age 72, I didn’t realize I was already a dozen years into what is legally defined as “senior”—60 years old or older—by many government program standards. I had already started receiving early…
-
Cryptocurrency ATM Scams
The latest scam tool that international criminal gangs use to take money from kūpuna is likely in your neighborhood supermarket or convenience store. Bitcoin ATMs, which look similar to bank ATMs, have become commonplace sitting next to regular ATMs, alongside the DMV registration machine and video rental box. There are nearly 100 of them in…
-
First Scammed, Then Murdered
Thousands of seniors every year receive the scam message, “Congratulations! You’ve won the lottery!” For one man, however, that call didn’t just drain his savings, it cost him his life. Abe was a trusting 67-year-old retiree who had been receiving calls for months from a scammer claiming he had won a multimillion-dollar lottery. Like many…