Entries for January 2022

... The plan’s strategies include broadening Native Hawaiian and community participation in planning and programming ....

... As School Disruptions Continue, Families Call Attention to Educational Flexibility, Opportunity During Twelfth Annual Public Awareness Week ....

... House Speaker Scott Saiki announced plans in an unusually specific, brief speech ....

... 60 percent of businesses have been devastated by the pandemic ....

... we’re also being told that we can’t fully open the State Capitol to public interaction because it isn’t safe ....

... Nearly 4,700 rooftop solar systems installed in 2021; 92,500 now online ....

... Ige today said the State of Hawaiʻi allocated all the $1.6 billion received last May ....

... As part of the settlement, Hawai‘i will receive a total of $367,867 in restitution payments for 1,380 federal loan borrowers. Additionally, 196 Hawai‘i borrowers will receive a total of more than $4.3 million in private loan debt cancellation .... 

... DIT is Unable to Meet Certain Service and Support Expectations .... 

... Insights From Fiscal 50’s Key Measures of State Fiscal Health ....

... workers at employers of a minimum size would be enrolled automatically in the program with the ability to opt out ....

... Tonga, which was devastated this weekend by volcanic ash and tsunami waves, with unknown loss of life, major damages, and an outage of the undersea cable communications ....

... McDermott (R) Ewa Beach announced he will be a candidate for US Senate this year, challenging incumbent Brian Schatz ....

... A total of 14 venues and events were recognized ....

... LawnStarter ranked nearly 200 of the largest U.S. cities on remote worker-friendliness ....

... Honolulu Council Bill 41, that would limit "short-term” rentals on Oahu to no less than 180 days at a time ....

... With this kind of money projected to come in the door, politicians of all stripes are staying up nights plotting and planning how to spend it ....

...Just like they were a year ago at this time, the businesses that provide jobs to the state’s civilian workforce are in danger of having their annual unemployment taxes skyrocket....

... bills introduced and votes cast this week  ....

... Board of Regents (BOR) will consider adopting the draft Master Plan for UH-managed lands on Maunakea at the BOR January 20, 2022 meeting  ....

... Graham resigned, so aside from normal reimbursements and compensation earned, no additional monies will be owed to the coach ....

"...what he is bringing to the table is absolutely valid.…"

... What to do with the state’s $3 billion budget surplus ....

... According to the study, Maui County ranked as the top place in Hawaii for small business owners ....

... Broadband telecommunication customers on Hawaiian Home Lands will soon have more options under the lifting of a former exclusivity clause that allowed only one provider ....

... A Hawaii company that provides security officers to the state’s National Guard, the Hawaii State Arts Museum, Foster Botanical Gardens and other public and private facilities ....

... the problem isn’t too little money, it’s too much ....

"...For these accused felons to have taken money budgeted to hire more police officers and use it to pay off a failed former police chief is sickening...."

... Converse said those reports “will allow [the Navy] to make a long-term decision” as to whether the facility, used by all the services in the Indo-Pacific, will remain in operation. He said the question comes down to evaluating other sites and finding “better methods of distribution.” ....

... The 2022 Legislative Briefings will be held via Zoom on the following Tuesdays from 7:30 am- 8:30 am ....

...  In Hawaii, smoking can burn a nasty hole through your wallet .... 

... Alm’s subpoena of credit card records and video from the AnyPlace Lounge in Rep Sharon Har’s recently-dismissed DUI case ....

... 2022’s States with the Most Racial Progress ....

... a survey to learn more about the experience of people who have been affected by the petroleum contamination ....

... The HSTA hears that others were being told by the DOH that adults can return after five days “to sustain the workforce” ....

... Democratic Party of Hawai’i State Central Committee (SCC) passed a Resolution expressing disappointment with Blue Dog Democrat Congressman Ed Case over his position, action, and inaction with regards to the national Build Back Better agenda ....

... HSTA’s Government Relations Committee spotlights priorities for the 2022 Legislature ....

... 270 affordable rental units for native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act ....

... Will Hawaii be able to benefit from the cryptocurrency boom? ....

...  So what have we done with the federal TANF money?  We’ve let it pile up unused ....

... BWS statements have become increasingly apocalyptic.  Just don’t ask them to get specific ....

“If we don’t provide the right type of visitor accommodations in the right places, we could see an influx of vacation rentals in our residential neighborhoods."

... only two votes this week ....

... Griffin will serve until June 30, 2022.  Gov. Ige will nominate Griffin’s replacement in the coming months ....

... the trade-off in temporary losses during the adjustment period is met with significant gains in public health ....

... the fifth year in a row that the state has shown a population decline ....

... This year needs to be the year you step up and put in the work to protect your rights ....

... This hearing will conduct oversight into the Navy’s maintenance of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, the Navy’s investigation into and response to the November 2021 release of fuel from Red Hill facility ....

"Today, we remember these Americans who have been held in prison, without trials, and reportedly being mistreated, at a Washington DC detention facility."

... Coastal plants and animals have found a new way to survive in the open ocean—by colonizing plastic pollution ....