Cassie Ordonio
Culture & Arts ReporterCassie Ordonio is the culture and arts reporter for Hawaiʻi Public Radio. She previously worked for Honolulu Civil Beat, covering local government, education, homelessness and affordable housing.
She also reported for San Francisco-based newspapers El Tecolote, 48 Hills, Ingleside Light and Castro Courier.
Cassie, of Filipino and Chamorro descent, was born and raised in California. She graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Pacific Islands studies.
She was one of 22 fellows for AAJA Voices, a mentorship program that aims to increase diversity in journalism while providing mentors from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN to train them.
When she’s not working, she’s on a desperate search for some good horchata or simply trying to keep her house plants alive.
Contact Cassie at cordonio@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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The announcement comes as the canoes are in the midst of the Moananuiākea voyage, a three-year journey around the Pacific Ocean where crew members reconnect with the ancestral roots of wayfinding using the natural elements around them. HPR's Cassie Ordonio has more. -
Mehanaokalā Hind and her students are one of five hālau that performed the Kumulipo at ʻIolani Palace on Sunday to honor Queen Liliʻuokalani’s legacy. She translated the chant into English while imprisoned after the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. -
Abstract Expressionism emerged in the United States, specifically New York, during the 1940s. It was a way for artists to escape the fear and trauma after World War II. The artwork is recognized by expressive brush strokes and paint flicks on a canvas. Each work captures the emotion the artists are feeling at the time. -
Misha is a 29-year-old woman who has been alienated by her family and friends for lacking ambition. She finds solace in an 18-year-old who thinks she's also a high school student. -
The Hawaiian art of feather making that nearly went extinct has been a centerpiece for the new Apple TV+ series "Chief of War." At the opening premiere of the historical drama, many of the actors – like Jason Momoa – were seen wearing the prestigious feathered cape, known as ‘ahu ‘ula. HPR's Cassie Ordonio reports on the revival of the art form. -
A Virginia-based group, with no ties to Hawai‘i, has launched a website criticizing Kamehameha Schools' admission policy for students with Native Hawaiian ancestry. The anti-affirmative action nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions won major cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina over their affirmative admissions programs. -
Hōkūleʻa has returned to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, 10 years after it sailed there during the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. The vessel and its crew are scheduled to sail to Aitutaki on Sept. 15. -
Each student is awarded about $1,500, according to Sheldon Riklon, president of the Dr. Joakim Peter Memorial Scholarship Board. He said the board went through more than 30 applicants from Micronesian students across the Pacific Ocean, the continental U.S. and Hawaiʻi. -
Hawai‘i Island farmers and sellers say there's a higher demand for betel nut. But experts warn about the health impacts, as frequent chewing of the tropical seed is linked to cancer. HPR's Cassie Ordonio reports. -
The crew is now embarking on a journey to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands as part of the Moananuiākea voyage, which is the Polynesian sailing canoe's 15th major voyage in her first 50 years.
