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Wednesday, March 11, 2020
March 11, 2020 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:19 PM :: 3209 Views

COVID19: Hawaii Tourism Drops 35% Since March 1

Is Hawaii Prepared for a Recession?

Protesters Ensure Tourism Dominance,  Drive Exodus

CB: … Pick a few people at random from Hawaii’s huge army of bar and restaurant workers, and chances are you’ll encounter someone like Mariah Lynn: a young person working multiple jobs, enjoying Hawaii, but not seeing a long-term future here.

It’s a defining aspect of Hawaii’s economy: an abundance of lower-paying service jobs that keeps people employed but not necessarily able to live comfortably over the long term in a state with the nation’s highest cost of living.

It also answers a question The Washington Post asked in the winter of 2018, when the state was beginning its perplexing run of record-low unemployment coupled with an out-migration of people: “Hawaii has record-low unemployment and it’s not a frozen hellscape,” the newspaper asked. “Why are people leaving?”

Peter Fuleky studies Hawaii’s economy as an associate professor with the University of Hawaii’s Department of Economics and the UH Economic Research Organization. He says that while hospitality industry jobs don’t generally pay well, “on the other end of the scale are construction jobs, which tend to be higher paying jobs.”

Fuleky notes that the hospitality jobs have remained a major part of the economy despite considerable discussion about diversifying.

“It looks like that didn’t really happen in the last expansion,” he said. “If anything, tourism has become even more prominent than it was before.”

Recent opportunities for growth in technology jobs, including the Thirty Meter Telescope and renewable energy projects, have been met with opposition that could scare away potential investment, he said….

(Translation: The protesters are working for the tourism industry and the protesters are the cause of the exodus.)

read … Jobs In Hawaii: The Future Looks A Lot Like The Past    

Weren’t we going to diversify our economy?

Cataluna: … Whew! It’s a good thing that Hawaii diversified its local economy so that we’re not so wholly dependent on tourism, huh?

Wait, we did do that, yes? Because lawmakers, business leaders and economists have been talking about it for decades. It must have happened by now, right?

Wrong….

read … Weren’t we going to diversify our economy?

Police Chief Susan Ballard supports enhanced sentence for her predecessor

HNN: …Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard is calling for a harsher sentence for former Police Chief Louis Kealoha, and two other former officers.

They were convicted of framing Gerard Puana, for a crime he did not commit. In a declaration filed to the court, Ballard said the amount of HPD resources dedicated to personal surveillance disrupted the operations of the Police Department.

Upwards of 20 to 30 officers conducted round-the-clock surveillance on Gerard Puana. Ballard told the court she’s never seen so many police officers assigned to a non-violent crime.

And not only did it drain resources, it also damaged HPD’s reputation in light of one of the biggest public corruption scandals in Honolulu’s history.

Federal guidelines suggest Kealoha could get anywhere from three to five years in prison….

PDF: Susan Ballard

read … Police Chief Susan Ballard supports enhanced sentence for her predecessor

Hawaii Environmentalists Slaughter Baby Whales While Chasing Filthy Lucre

HNN: … Humpback whale season in Hawaii is only at its midpoint, but so far nine collisions between ocean vessels and whales have been reported.

The Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary reported several whales showing propeller injuries since December. Most of those whales have been young calves and “sub-adults."

(Translation: Anti-Superferry protesters from Pacific Whale Foundation are at it again, just like last year and the year before….)

“Even though we are halfway through the season, a good number of humpback whales are in the sanctuary and nearby waters,” said Ed Lyman, natural resource management specialist for the sanctuary.

(Whale watching is profitable.  Sure we kill a few whales, but it helps pay for our anti-aquarium-fishing protests.) 

Marine experts are reminding boaters that the ocean is “shared water." They’re asking the public to take extra caution while out in the water in order to protect the endangered species….

TGI: One of those collisions occurred in waters off the coast of Kaua‘i, the rest occurred off the coast of Maui

read … Conservationists urge caution in the water as number of whales injured by boats rise

Programs Give Money to Renters at Risk of Homelessness

CB: … To date, the fund has supported 27 families including 60 children with an average cost of only $416 per child….

For the current fiscal year, SHEG served 176 households (248 adults and 158 children) and prevented them from entering the homeless system.  The average cost per household is $514.98….

The program has pooled grants from Aloha United Way, Hawaii Community Foundation, and public agencies to issue more than 100 emergency loans that have assisted 314 children and parents to stay in homes.  The average loan amount is $4,250….

read … How Hawaii Nonprofits Are Helping At-Risk Renters

17-Year Felony Record Out on the Streets Does it Again (What a surprise!)

HTH:  … According to court documents filed by police, the search turned up 13 1/4 ounces of heroin and 5.75 grams of crystal methamphetamine.

Officers also allegedly found a Marlin .22 caliber rifle loaded with nine rounds of ammunition and a Ruger .45 caliber automatic pistol with a loaded magazine inserted but no ammunition in the chamber, plus hundreds of rounds of various types of ammunition, documents state.

Valentin has a felony record dating back to 1993, which disqualifies him from legally possessing firearms and ammunition.

He’s also scheduled to go on trial Monday in Hilo Circuit Court on second-degree assault and first-degree terroristic threatening charges, both Class C felonies carrying potential five-year prison terms….

read … Second Chance or 22nd Chance

Liberal Air America Founder Arrested at Guam Airport (again)

GPDN:  … A man faces a federal identity theft charge after a real estate agent noticed the man didn't appear to be who he claimed, according to court documents. 

A magistrate's complaint unsealed in the District Court of Guam Wednesday states (Air America founder) Evan Daniel Montvel-Cohen used his friend's information to lease an apartment at Guam Beachfront Residences.

An FBI special agent spoke to Montvel-Cohen's friend in Florida, who said he gave his information to Montvel-Cohen after inquiring about working for Montvel-Cohen's advertising firm, documents stated.

Montvel-Cohen told his friend he'd pay off his friend's debt, pay for his friend's family to fly to Guam and give them a place to live, according to the charging documents.

Court documents state the friend was stranded in New York on the way to Guam when Montvel-Cohen's check bounced. Montvel-Cohen told his friend his bank account was robbed. …

Montvel-Cohen will have a detention hearing on Friday. He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.  …

PG: Identity theft victim: Guam businessman was his best friend

PG: Montvel-Cohen accused of identity theft, wire fraud – “Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Petersburg told the court that Montvel-Cohen is a flight risk….”

2008: Liberal media mogul pleads no-contest in Oahu court

read … Evan Daniel Montvel-Cohen arrested, accused of stealing friend's identity

Foster Children Were Sent Out of State to Mental Health Facilities Where Some Faced Abuse and Neglect

PP: … For the family of a teenage girl from Hawaii, Millcreek offered hope that she could receive mental health services that their state could not provide. The girl, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, left for Arkansas shortly before her 18th birthday in 2016.

But in October of that year, her mother became concerned when she couldn’t get in touch with her daughter or the daughter’s therapist at Millcreek. She called Fordyce police.

In the end, Victoria Feinberg and her husband, David Jerke, flew to Arkansas. When they saw their daughter, they felt she hadn’t received proper care. “She had been sick,” Feinberg said. “Her gums were swollen.”

The family did what they could — taking her to the eye doctor, to the dentist and for a haircut — and left with the hope that Millcreek might yet help their daughter, a sensitive girl who had played guitar and violin before beginning to struggle in early adolescence.

But when the teenager was flown back to Hawaii months later in June 2017, she was heavily sedated and weighed only 90 pounds, according to her mother.

Children who stayed at Millcreek Behavioral Health in Arkansas have come forward to say they were mistreated or neglected.

“Her face was sunken. She didn’t know my name,” Feinberg said.

Feinberg’s daughter is now 21 and being treated in an institution in Hawaii….

read … Foster Children Were Sent Out of State to Mental Health Facilities Where Some Faced Abuse and Neglect

Hawaii visitor tests positive for coronavirus after she returns to Canada

SA: … An oncologist in her 30s at the Juravinski Cancer Centre returned to Burlington, Ont., following a personal trip to Hawaii on Saturday and is in self-quarantine. She became the city’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Tuesday….

read … Hawaii visitor tests positive for coronavirus after she returns to Canada

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