Entries for July 2021

... Hawaii no longer has the nation’s highest unemployment rate ....

... Over the past four years, Hawaii’s population has declined by more than 22,000 people, equaling the third-fastest population decline per capita in the entire nation ....

... More than 92% of University of Hawaiʻi students and 95% of UH employees of the 10-campus system have been vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus or plan to be, according to surveys administered in late June ....

... Ige today formally notified the Hawai‘i State Legislature and Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald that he will not be issuing any further eviction moratoria once the current moratorium expires on Aug. 6 ....

...“The emerging digital and clean energy in Hawai‘i is well aligned with the mission and purpose of Hawaii’s Defense Economy,” said Mike McCartney, director of DBEDT....

... Some old laws have withstood the test of time. Some haven’t ....

... how the protectionist federal maritime law known as the Jones Act complicates life in the these outlying states and territories ....

... For every teacher the state dedicates to distance learning when students return to class in August, it would need to pull a teacher out of the classroom, state Schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said Tuesday ....

... State lawmakers and DLNR leaders believe the 2021 legislative session was the most productive and effective for natural and cultural resources protection and support of any in recent decades ....

"... I was asked to release all my medical records from Kaiser Permanente to CLEAR, not just the results of the vaccination ...." 

... H.J.Res. 55, reduces the successorship qualification of a lessee’s spouse, children, grandchildren and brothers or sisters from one quarter to one thirty-second Hawaiian ....

... Today’s complaint, filed in Hawai‘i Circuit Court in Honolulu, challenges the board’s failure to reject the latest environmental impact statement submitted by trade representatives, which the group says violates state environmental protection laws ....

... The cost to insure underage and 30-year-old drivers increases by 214% on average after just one violation ....

“...This is the first major correctional facility construction project since the Halawa Medium Security Facility was completed in 1998....”

... Hawaii County 3rd worst, Maui 5th, Kauai 13th ....

... But don't worry.  We are still going to blame global warming ....

... Does our government overreach?  Yes.  Why does it do that?  Because we let them ....

... HB891, written by the Attorney General's office, makes tasers and other electric weapons legal in the state.  The Governor did not sign the law but did not veto it either. This means the bill becomes law without his signature ....

... leadership from Hawaii Rifle Association with the Hawaii Youth Livestock Association has teamed up with the Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation ....

... Governor David Ige has signed House Bill 1366 and House Bill 31 into law .... 

... Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers must make public more than 30 million documents, including attorney-client privileged communications about the original FDA approval of OxyContin and the tactics used to promote opioids ....

... Maloian has been a Deputy Public Defender in Honolulu for the past 18 years ....

... What part of ‘mutually assured destruction’ did they not understand? ....

... If you want to find something that perfectly captures Hawaii’s schizophrenic tourism policy, you couldn’t do much better than House Bill 862 .... 

... The Governor has until Thursday, July 22 to act on HB1299 and SB589. ...

... HDOT announced in a press release on June 10 that it has installed approximately 70 “no parking” signs on Hana Highway ....

... Ige has appointed Executive Director/General Counsel of the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission Daniel Gluck to the Intermediate Court of Appeals ....

... 2021’s Most & Least Energy-Expensive States ....

... Honolulu ranks 269th out of 300 ....

"...Any changes to your salary and conditions of employment must be negotiated and it was wrong for the Legislature to interfere with the bargaining process...."

... to each individual HGEA bargaining unit member employed by the City who feels they have worked under hazardous conditions relating to COVID-19 exposure ....

... 29 years after Iniki, will Kauai finally get a youth drug treatment center? ....

"... Canto is currently employed as a processing assistant for Maui Grown Therapies ...."

... HB58 “Enola Gay Frankenbill” really is dead this time ....

“...I am prioritizing our resident workforce as the first beneficiaries of this water to motivate construction of right-priced housing as soon as possible....”

... The Senate will reconvene on Thursday, July 8, 2021 at 3:00pm to reconsider a potential veto override of HB53 and vote on proposed floor amendments to meet the Governor’s objections in his veto message for HB54, HB1299 and SB589 ....

... Ige announced that he has vetoed 26 of the 28 bills on his Intent to Veto list ....

... Beginning today the Department of Health’s Disease Outbreak Control Division data dashboard reflects new data provided by federal agencies ....

... Electric foot scooter bill signed into law (Act 174) ....

... Honolulu’s first island-wide pedestrian plan ....

... Access to in person learning varied by state with the lowest mean percent of all students with access in Hawaii (1.3%) and highest in Wyoming and Montana (100%) ....

... Hopefully, the bad stuff will die and remain dead ....

... update of the “Hawaiʻi 2050 Sustainability Plan: Charting a Course for the Decade of Action” to serve as the State’s climate and sustainability strategic action plan for the 2021-2030 decade ....

... The two bills are SB589 SD2 HD2 CD1 – Relating to the University of Hawaii and HB1296 HD1 SD2 CD1 – Relating to State Funds ....

... the board will discuss distance learning options for next school year at its next meeting on July 15, just a little more than two weeks before most public school students are scheduled to return to class ....

... The tracking system is designed to allow survivors of sexual assault to obtain up-to-date information on the status of their sexual assault evidence collection kits, from collection through testing, and to do so in an anonymous way ....

... it would be appropriate if our legislators spent some of that time addressing the balance of powers and the emergency management statute that has ruled our lives for the past year ....

... such as in Alaska where Alaskan Native people individually own shares of their corporation’s stock ....

“Just when you think we’d reached the prize, somebody moves our cheese. But what that really shows is a lack of transparency about the tier system.”

... The Safe Travels digital platform is now allowing vaccine document uploads for trips arriving in Hawaiʻi on July 8 and beyond ....