City Claims CARES Act Spending on Track
COVID: UH, OHA head different NHPI projects
Hawaii Could Get COVID-19 Vaccine As Early As December
CB: … First responders and health care workers will get access to the vaccine first, followed by the elderly and people with chronic health conditions. ….
In a Facebook Live interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Lt. Gov. Josh Green said Friday that he expects about 44,000 people — receiving two doses each — will be vaccinated during the first round.
First responders and health care workers would get access to the vaccines first, followed by kupuna and people with chronic or underlying conditions. A later phase of distribution would open for young and healthy people….
Green told the Star-Advertiser the vaccines would go straight to hospitals because they already have staff that can administer the vaccines. There are plans to distribute to long-term care facilities as well.
Green said he hopes by April a large chunk of Hawaii’s population will have immunity….
SA: Hawaii officials are preparing to immunize 44,000 high-risk residents next month if COVID-19 treatment is approved
SA: Lt. Gov. Josh Green says Hawaii may begin distributing coronavirus vaccinations next month; addresses criticisms from Honolulu mayor
read … Hawaii Could Get COVID-19 Vaccine As Early As December
HPD suspends COVID-19 enforcement patrols after audit finds major overtime violations
HNN: … The Honolulu Police Department confirms it has canceled special COVID-19 enforcement patrols amid allegations of overtime abuse, including against at least 10 officers who were found to have logged from 200 to more than 300 hours of overtime over five weeks.
In an internal memo on Nov. 10, department leaders were notified that 59 officers working on the department’s COVID-19 enforcement team had been flagged in a recent audit for apparent overtime violations. It said officers worked a “significant number” of hours “in excess of explicit instructions.”
Records show that two officers recorded more than 300 hours of overtime from Sept. 27 to Oct. 31. That translates to 65 hours of overtime each week.
Meanwhile, eight officers said they clocked between 200 and 256 hours of overtime during the five-week period. And 49 officers logged between 130 and 198 hours of overtime.
The memo says officers are limited to earning 20 hours of overtime a week….
In what the overtime audit identified as the most egregious examples of alleged overtime abuse, records show two officers ― who happen to be husband and wife ― logged more than three times the overtime allowed in the course of those five weeks.
Hawaii News Now has confirmed one of the officers is a corporal who ticketed U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams for allegedly violating park rules. Her husband is a sergeant. Both work on the Windward side in District 4 and have been with the department about three decades.
(CLUE: With top three income boosters, HPD may retire these old-time cops that supported Kealoha.)
Records show during that five-week period, they recorded 328 hours and 327 hours, respectively. When you do the math, that’s about the equivalent of working a double shift every day for 35 days….
Background:
read … HPD suspends COVID-19 enforcement patrols after audit finds major overtime violations
Robbins capitulates, public-private partnership for rail’s final leg is canceled
HNN: … Mayor Kirk Caldwell and HART CEO Andrew Robbins were in a standoff over the so-called P3 process until they met Friday afternoon.
“We came together today for about two hours to figure out how to go forward,” Caldwell said.
“It was a very productive first meeting. We agreed to work together.”
Robbins said the procurement process for P3 cost between $9 and $10 million, but maintained the money was not a waste.
“Much of the information we’ve been gathering from the bidders we will be able to use,” he said.
The meeting Friday at Honolulu Hale was also the first chance for HART and the city to talk about a new bidding process and a construction plan that will satisfy the federal government to make sure it will release $250 million that was to lapse at the end of the year.
The other big difference between HART and the city is their estimates of cost and completion.
The city says it will cost $1 billion more and take five years longer ― to 2033….
SA: Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and rail chief promise to work together on $11B project
SA: HART’s Andrew Robbins formally nixes plans to bring aboard a P3 partner
CB: ‘How Do We Go Forward?’ Honolulu Rail Leaders Kill P3, Confront Unknown Costs
read … After 2 years of planning, public-private partnership for rail’s final leg is canceled
Josh Green: “I’m not going to get in the mud with Mr. Caldwell”
HTH: … Lt. Gov. Josh Green contends that the state’s COVID-19 surveillance testing program is doing well, despite criticism this week from Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
“I’m not going to get in the mud with Mr. Caldwell,” Green said Friday during a live stream with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I just really have decided to rise above that. But let me make a few things clear. Hawaii is the only state doing Safe Travels in a comprehensive way, although others are starting to emulate us with additional testing.”
Since the Safe Travels Hawaii program launched on Oct. 15, just over 273,000 passengers have been screened, the state reported Thursday. Of those, 243,140 were permitted to skip the 14-day quarantine by testing negative for COVID-19 or because they had an exemption from the state.….
read … Green: Hawaii doing well, pushes back against criticism over testing
Honolulu mayor-elect Blangiardi seeks applicants for city's top positions
KITV: … Mayor-Elect of the City and County of Honolulu, Rick Blangiardi, is launching a jobs portal where applicants for top positions in the new administration can submit resumes….
Members of the core transition team include Emi Anamizu, CEO of Core Group One, Inc., Ret. Judge Michael Broderick, CEO of the YMCA of Honolulu, Laurie Foster, Senior Consultant & Partner at Business Consulting Resources, Inc, and Karen Chang, former American Express and Charles Schwab corporate executive and wife of Mayor-Elect Blangiardi….
Interested applicants can visit the job portal at http://transition2021.honolulu.gov
read … Honolulu mayor-elect Blangiardi seeks applicants for city's top positions
Distance Learning: “We noticed a huge increase in failing grades”
HNN: … Waialua Intermediate and High School have allowed both seventh and eighth graders learn with the blended model.
The decision came after the school saw how difficult it was for seventh graders to transition to intermediate school.
“Jumping into eight teachers and eight periods was a real struggle for them,” said Waialua principal Christine Alexander. “So after the first quarter of mid quarter, we noticed a huge increase in failing grades and reached out to the community and the parents. And we decided to bring those students back by cohorts.”…
As of last week, public schools in Hawaii have seen 239 positive cases since summer among staff, students and contractors, according to DOE ….
read … Educators continue to make tough calls with transition to blended learning
After 20 Years of Sierra Club Resistance, First Family Moves into Koa Ridge Subdivision
SA: … Koa Ridge is in Waipio off Ka Uka Boulevard between Kamehameha Highway and the H-2 freeway.
The development has been planned since the mid-1990s but was fought by community and environmental groups. It took three tries to obtain state land-use approvals and survived two Hawaii Supreme Court challenges.
Since breaking ground in late 2017, Castle &Cooke has spent about $70 million on construction that includes installing storm drains, water pipes, sewer lines, underground utilities and other infrastructure within much of a lower quarter of the 576-acre site between Waipio and Mililani.
Gaynelle Ambrocio and Michael Daguio said they had been discouraged by the lack of inventory in their search for a home in Central Oahu. But when sales at Koa Ridge were finally announced in June, they were one of the lucky ones to be selected by lottery.
“Today our dreams have come true. We received the keys to our new house, and together with our daughter, Peyton, we look forward to making Koa Ridge our home,” Ambrocio said.
To date, public offerings at Koa Ridge included the release and sale of 53 single-family detached condominium homes at Nanea and 38 paired homes at Luana. All new homeowners will be owner- occupants and Hawaii residents….
read … At long last, Koa Ridge welcomes its first family after over 20 years
Bad timing on plastics ban?
SA Editorial: It seemed like a good idea at the time: Phase out the environment-harming disposable plastic serviceware like forks, knives, spoons and straws. A bill to do just that passed the City Council and was signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell last December, when the coronavirus was just a rumor. The deadline to comply was set at Jan. 1, 2021, a whole year away.
But what a year it’s been. Dozens of restaurants closed permanently, unable to survive as the coronavirus shuttered their dining rooms. The ones still standing — and barely, at that — are those that switched to or ramped up the takeout/delivery model, which uses the very plasticware that will be outlawed in a little over a month.
The Hawaii Food Industry Association and members of the Hawaii Restaurant Association make a reasonable case for postponing implementation until March 31. Those restaurants that haven’t already converted may have larger-than-expected stocks due to the unforeseen and dramatic slowdown in business. Acceptable replacements are more expensive and may be harder to get. And the pandemic shows no signs of fading any time soon. It’s just not a good time….
The city says the law won’t be enforced immediately — a three- to four-month education campaign will come first. That’s nice, but it’s not a proper legal shield that can protect a business at risk of up to $1,000 in fines for noncompliance….
read … Bad timing on plastics ban?
Tweeker gets Probation for Two Felonies, Guess what happens next…
HTH: … Poai is charged with first-degree robbery, kidnapping, first-degree assault, first-degree theft, unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury, first-degree negligent injury, methamphetamine possession, reckless driving and first- and second-degree reckless endangering.
Poai, who is on probation for second-degree assault, a Class C felony, and felony domestic abuse, remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $207,000 bail.
Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his probation.
According to court documents filed by police, at about 6:45 a.m. Nov. 6 the victim gave a stranger, identified by police as Poai, a ride in his white 2016 Nissan Frontier pickup truck from Banyan Drive to Railroad Avenue.
The victim reportedly told police Poai asked him to stop on the shoulder in a wooded area near Kahaopea Street. Poai allegedly then pulled out a glass smoking pipe and asked the victim if he wanted to smoke.
When the victim refused, Poai asked to use the victim’s cellphone, got out of the front passenger seat, went around the front of the truck to the driver’s side, then forcibly removed the victim from the driver’s seat, according to police.
Poai allegedly then took a ratcheting strap from the bed of the victim’s vehicle and tied the victim’s hands behind his back. The victim was able to free himself, but Poai then struck the victim with a closed fist to the back of the head, knocking him down, according to documents.
Poai then got into the truck and started to drive slowly away, according to documents. The victim reportedly then tried to stop Poai by reaching into the driver’s side of the vehicle, but Poai allegedly sped off, causing the man to fall to the ground.
A witness reportedly told police that the truck appeared to run over the victim….
HTH: Same story, different drug addicted probationer
VIDN: Stupid Tweeker Leaves Hawaii, Jailed in USVI
read … Soft on Crime
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