OHA in Court: ‘Mauna Kea Must be a Money-Maker for Us’
Ige Appoints Peter Kubota Judge 3rd Circuit, Hilo
Hawaii Senate Committee Passes Two Anti-Gun Bills
Feds Want Katherine Kealoha In Prison For 14 Years
CB: … In a series of sentencing memos filed Friday, prosecutors are seeking the harshest sentences for the Kealohas and their co-conspirators….
Federal prosecutors want Katherine Kealoha to go to prison for 14 years and pay more than $450,000 in restitution.
They want her husband, former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, to get locked up for more than seven years and pay about $240,000….
In a series of memos sent to U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright on Friday, the prosecutors laid out their case for why the Kealohas and their co-conspirators — Honolulu police officers Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen and Derek Hahn — deserve hefty prison sentences for their part in framing Katherine’s uncle, Gerard Puana, and attempting to cover it up….
Prosecutors recommended 7.25 years for Nguyen and Hahn….
read … Feds Want Katherine Kealoha In Prison For 14 Years
Tulsi Gabbard Intervenes after ‘Friend’ Threatens Workers at Health Clinic
HNN: … Urgent Care Hawaii says about 100 people showed up at its drive-up service in Kapolei on Thursday. About a quarter of those people were actually tested, with some waiting for a long as four hours to finish the process.
“We were overwhelmed yesterday to the response to people wanting testing," said Donna Schmidt, the company’s chief executive officer.
Critics like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard claimed on social media that the clinic was turning away people who should have been tested. On Friday, she tweeted that one of her friends ― who said he was sick and had recently been in contact with a coronavirus patient ― was turned away.
“In the hour he was there, three other sick people were turned away,” Gabbard tweeted.
(Really obvious question: Was he a cult member?)
But Schmidt said the man was not qualified for a test, didn’t have the required symptoms, and became agitated as he was rebuffed.
“He escalated and apparently he threatened our employees," Schmidt said. “We did call security, and the police came and helped too.” …
(CLUE: Chris Butler is a notorious germaphobe. The guru is probably demanding his servant be tested. The servant freaks out when his guru’s demands are not accommodated in the real world.)
The clinic now says people need to get a referral from Department of Health or their doctor for tests….
Newsweek: TULSI GABBARD SAYS HER SICK FRIEND AND THREE OTHERS WERE DENIED CORONAVIRUS TESTING IN HAWAII—Demands Answers from Governor
read … Walk-in healthcare clinics ‘overwhelmed’ by coronavirus testing requests
Two Tourists Test Positive –Quarantined on Kauai
RI: … Kaua`i today was confirmed to have its first active cases of COVID-19, in a tourist couple who are being kept in isolation.
The couple is at an undisclosed site overseen by Kaua`i County and being monitored by the state Department of Health. The case is being managed according to protocols set up in advance in anticipation of the event.
The confirmation, which was announced in a mass email from Kaua`i County a couple of hours after midnight, was based on testing of the couple performed yesterday (Friday, March 13, 2020)….
read … COVID-19: Kaua`i has its first confirmed cases, and debunking fake news--folks, the barges are still coming
Pentagon halts domestic travel for military due to coronavirus
KITV: … The Pentagon announced Friday that members of the armed services, Defense Department civilian employees and their family members who are living on or serving at military properties can no longer travel domestically starting Monday….
read … Pentagon halts domestic travel for military due to coronavirus
ACLU Plan: Mass Release of Prisoners When Corona Hits Jails
MN: … The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii urged officials to develop a plan for the prevention and management of the coronavirus in jails and prisons, as the state suspended personal visits to inmates Friday.
(When this plan inevitably fails, the ACLU will use Corona as an excuse for a mass release of prisoners.)
No inmates have met criteria to be under observation for COVID-19, state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said Friday.
She said one Maui Community Correctional Center inmate, who was diagnosed with Influenza B, was held back from being transported to court Friday, “which is a normal part of our health protocol for inmates who have a contagious illness.”
“Unfortunately, during this super-sensitive time, where everyone is on high alert, there was some inadvertent miscommunication about the inmate’s status that resulted in the cancellation of transports from MCCC to court today,” she said. “The miscommunication was cleared up and communication procedures were revised so it doesn’t happen again.”
In a letter Thursday, ACLU Legal Director Mateo Caballero asked the Public Safety Department “to immediately develop evidence-based and proactive plans for the prevention and management of COVID-19” in its correctional and detention facilities.
“People in prisons and jails are particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of contagious illnesses,” Caballero said. “They are housed in close quarters and are often in poor health. Without the active engagement of correctional staff, they have little ability to inform themselves about preventive measures, or to take such measures if they do manage to get such information.”
His letter said more than 5,000 people are in state correctional facilities, including some Hawaii inmates housed in Arizona….
SA: Public Safety Department is urged to have plan for prisons and jails during coronavirus pandemic
WHT: Courts, cops, cells and COVID-19: Criminal justice system in Hawaii wrestles with virus threat
read … ACLU: Prepare coronavirus plan for jails, prisons
No Longer Distracted by the Internet, Brun Impeachment Petition is now on Paper
TGI: … Community activist Fern Anuenue Holland, who organized an abortive online petition drive to force indicted County Councilmember Arthur Brun from office, said Friday she had started collecting actual signatures on paper petition documents instead.
(This makes her smarter than the Kaneshiro impeachment petitioners on Oahu. They never managed to get paper petitions circulating.)
Holland conceded that her initial attempt to launch the anti-Brun petition stumbled because the County Charter makes no provision for use of an online petition — as opposed to paper documents with actual signatures affixed — to oust Brun….
(Really Obvious Question: Has her petition format been pre-approved by the County Clerk?)
… Holland said signature-gathering has begun, but she has no organizational structure to rely on to provide signature-gatherers. She said she and others are distributing copies of the document and that completed forms can be mailed to her at: P.O. Box 1996, Kapaa, HI 96746. …
The cumbersome process of creating the petition and collecting actual signatures is necessitated by Section 23.13 of the County Charter, which provides for impeachment of officials for “malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in office.”
The process requires gathering the signatures of at least 5% of Kaua‘i registered voters — about 2,200 people. Each signature is subject to individual verification, and only registered voters’ signatures will be deemed valid.
Holland initially organized an online petition on change.org, which by Friday had gathered a claimed 1,723 electronic signatures.
If an impeachment petition receives the required number of verified written signatures, the matter would be turned over to the Fifth Circuit Court to determine if the allegations had been substantiated….
Poll: Should Councilmember Arthur Brun resign his seat?
read … Petition for Brun removal moving
Smug UH Law Prof Quits Supreme Court Bar
S: … James Dannenberg is a retired Hawaii state judge. He sat on the District Court of the 1st Circuit of the state judiciary for 27 years. Before that, he served as the deputy attorney general of Hawaii. He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law, teaching federal jurisdiction for more than a decade….
Dear Chief Justice Roberts:
I hereby resign my membership in the Supreme Court Bar.
This was not an easy decision. I have been a member of the Supreme Court Bar since 1972, far longer than you have….
(Translation: This is an easy decision. I am too old to go back.)
ATL: Judge Calls Out John Roberts, Likens Supreme Court To Trump Administration’s ‘Errand Boy’
read … B-bye
Homeless by Choice: Only 2 of 31 Accept Shelter
SA: … During IHS’ regular Thursday night outreach at St. Augustine’s Church in Waikiki, workers for the first time began asking new questions — such as whether they have a fever, cough, respiratory issues and whether they’ve traveled recently — of the nearly 100 homeless people who showed up in an effort to determine their risk of contracting the coronavirus.
No one required additional screening Thursday. If IHS workers do encounter a homeless person who requires further assessment, Phillips said they will put a mask on the person and call for an ambulance to avoid public transportation.
“What prompted this is a need to begin the process of informing and educating the homeless population about what’s going on,” Phillips said.
At St. Augustine’s Church, homeless people were served dinner, could pick out donated clothes, got haircuts — and 31 took advantage of a private, hot shower in the Revive + Refresh hygiene trailer. Two homeless people also agreed to move off the street and into shelters, Phillips said….
read … IHS begins coronavirus screening of homeless in Waikiki
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