McKelvey Pleads Guilty to Campaign Spending Violations
Reporters threatened by campus security at public meeting at UH Hilo
On Keystone: The President Has Thrown Working People Under the Bus of His Legacy
Which Counties Benefit Most From Earned Income Tax Credit?
Hilo Veterans Parade Saturday
Obamacare: Re-enrollment of 30,000+ individuals by February unrealistic, Hawaii Health Connector Director Flees State
PBN: Health care enrollment through the federal website, healthcare.gov, is taking hours, and Hawaii officials are concerned that the state will not be able to reenroll Hawaii residents by the Jan. 31 deadline, the Hawaii Health Connector announced Friday.
The average enrollment time for individuals is now roughly 1.5 hours, according to Jeff Kissel, who delivered his report at the health care exchange’s board meeting.
It can take up to two-and-a-half hours for English-speakers and four hours for non-English speakers, he told PBN, because of limited language resources at healthcare.gov and persistent problems with the federal platform....
Kissel estimates the enrollment process for 30,000 individuals to take over 140 work days, at a minimum of 45 minutes per enrollment.
read ... Unrealistic
Obama Admin Orders Schools to Let Trannies into Girls' Locker Rooms
HNN: Public schools in Hawaii could be breaking the law if they don't allow transgender students to use the locker room and restroom with which they identify.
This week, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights said schools must give those students full access -- or risk losing funding. The agency is Title IX to back them up. The federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally-funded education program or activity....
LGBT Student Services at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has a data base of close to 2200....
Note: Obama term ends January 20, 2017 .... we just have to wait him out.
read ... Slow Walk This--Obama Will be out of Office Soon
Churches extend helping hand to Hawaii's homeless
HNN: A month ago, St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Kalihi invited a pregnant woman and her boyfriend to move into a converted shipping container in the church's parking lot.
It's nothing fancy but better than the sidewalk Jerome Pannell and his girlfriend, Marie Kane, were used to sleeping on.
"It fits four bunk beds, a desk, and a small table," Pannell said.
St. Elizabeth's brought in the container in June, and the the couple are the second family to be housed in the converted shipping container....
First Assembly of God on Moanalua Road is looking for land to put up dome shelters to house homeless....
read ... Churches
66,000 Oahu Hosing Units Needed to Satisfy Demand
PBN: Hawaii’s housing crisis, quantified in this week's cover story with some staggering statistics: Nearly 66,000 housing units are needed during the decade to satisfy demand.
That target is even more daunting when considering that, on average on Oahu per year, between 2,000 and 2,500 units have been produced....
Click here to read what the people who build home for a living have to say in PBN’s cover story on the housing issue.
read ... No single solution will resolve Hawaii's housing crisis, officials say
Jaylin Kema appears in court, Peter Kema Sr. released pending investigation
KHON: Jaylin Kema, 45, appeared briefly in a Hilo courtroom Friday on a second-degree theft charge.
According to court documents, Kema wrongfully received welfare benefits, a total of $17,961 in overpayments that she was not entitled to.
The benefits came from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the documents claim.
Authorities say Kema began receiving welfare benefits in August 1988.
From at least May 2009, documents say she consistently claimed not to reside with her husband, Peter Kema Sr., and did not report his income to the department.
However, documents say, investigators checked with the home’s property manager and interviewed neighbors who said she had been living with Peter Kema Sr. in a home on Uilani Drive for the past five years.
Authorities also said Peter Kema Sr. had been receiving wages since June 2009....
Click to view Judicial Determination of Probable Cause:
read ... Investigation
HPD officer indicted for conspiracy, trafficking of motor vehicles
KHON: Officer Landon Rudolfo was indicted this week on two counts: “conspiracy to traffic in certain motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts” and “trafficking in certain motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts.”
According to the indictment, in one case in 2011, Rudolfo asked two men to get him a Toyota 4Runner with an altered vehicle identification number (VIN).
One man purchased a totaled 4Runner, while the other man stole a similar vehicle, then they swapped the VIN from both vehicles, court documents claim.
Rudolfo allegedly bought the stolen 4Runner with the altered VIN for $3,000 and later sold the vehicle for $6,500.
read ... HPD officer indicted for conspiracy, trafficking of motor vehicles
Dengue Hits 23 on Big Island, Mass Pesticide Spraying in Honaunau, Hookena
HTH: Hookena Beach Park remained closed as DOH and park crews sprayed and assessed the area, and pesticide also was being sprayed in the Telephone Exchange Road area in Honaunau in response to suspected cases. State epidemiologist Sarah Park said she was not certain how many suspected cases were in that area, and that the number could change hourly. Hawaii County is taking the lead in spraying other Honaunau areas known to harbor mosquitoes, she said.
While Hookena and Honaunau are considered “hot spots,” the disease has been found throughout the island, and the DOH has been frustrated in attempts to pinpoint its source. (Hookena and Honaunau are also 'hot spots' for anti-pesticide activism.)
Twenty-one of the confirmed cases are adults, and two are children, with the latest onset of illness dating to Oct. 30, said Park. Another case of dengue on Oahu was confirmed, but lab tests show it is a different strain than the one on the Big Island. The infected individual recently traveled to a part of the world known for having dengue present, Park said.
Park acknowledged Big Island residents have been wondering why it took the DOH so long to identify the disease and inform the public of its presence. That’s because the DOH was not notified until about two weeks after the first known patient was seen by a health care provider, Park said.
“We’re talking three weeks from the time of infection to when we learn about it,” she said.
read ... Protest This
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