May 30, 2020 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

CB: … Evidence has been mounting for years that prolonged unemployment in a community can result in increased deaths from suicides, substance abuse and other related problems.

That’s why Hawaii lawmakers need to move quickly to lift completely the state and county lockdowns imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, to prevent them from causing more deaths in Hawaii than the virus itself.

They also need to increase entrepreneurial opportunity and labor mobility, through lower taxes and regulatory reform, so Hawaii’s almost 140,000 unemployed residents can soon get back to work and once again enjoy reasonable levels of prosperity.

According to an estimate by the Well Being Trust and the Robert Graham Center, Hawaii’s current levels of unemployment could result over the next decade in 616 additional “deaths of despair” — from suicides, alcohol abuse and drug overdoses.

And that’s a conservative estimate. That study was based on a national estimate of 15% unemployment, while Hawaii’s unemployment rate is closer to 25%.

In 2018, at least 492 people died in Hawaii from deaths of despair, and based on the study’s methodology, that means this year there could be an additional 63 deaths, a 13% increase to 555.

(63 / 17 COVID deaths = 3.7 times more deaths)

If Hawaii’s primary industry, tourism, recovers slowly, as economists are predicting, this could result in even more avoidable deaths.….

read … The Best Reason To ‘Let Hawaii Work’ Is To Save Lives

Travel Bubbles a Challenge for Airlines

AG: … the idea of a “travel bubble” has formed. Countries that have the virus under control will create travel bubbles that will allow residents of those countries to travel freely among each other. If the virus has been eliminated or very tightly controlled there is minimal chance of spread among the countries since the virus wouldn’t be in circulation. There is a discussion that New Zealand will create one with Australia. If that works it could be expanded to countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Several countries in the Baltics have created their own bubble. Hawaii has been a hard hit due to the nearly complete stop in tourism but there is potential hope ahead. The state of Hawaii is in the works to allow visitors from Japan who have met certain safety thresholds to bypass Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Although this is good news for travelers, it is creating a significant problem for airlines. Countries with airlines that flew to all corners around the globe are going to have a prolonged recovery contingent on countries being included in travel bubbles. Resumption of routes would no longer be solely based on if there is demand but also on if the respective governments will allow it.…

read … Travel Bubbles Hinder Return of International Travel

Consumer Advocate: Cancel Young Brothers’ rate hike request

WHT: … Hawaii’s consumer advocate is recommending the Public Utilities Commission suspend Young Brothers’ 2019 rate increase request and open a new proceeding to “investigate all relevant facts and measures” surrounding the struggling interisland shipper.

The guidance from Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Consumer Advocacy Executive Director Dean Nishina follows Young Brothers earlier this week announced it would need $25 million in CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funding from the state to keep the company afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic….

In calling for suspending the rate docket, Nishina pointed to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Hawaii’s economy, including Young Brothers. He also noted concern over the “potential impact that YB’s generate rate increase request of approximately $27 million, or 34%, in Docket No. 2019-0117 will have on Hawaii’s economy during the recovery period from the pandemic.”…

TGI: YB wants to stop hauling small loads

PBN: Young Brothers seeks help from the state, creates contingency plans

read … Consumer advocate chimes in on Young Brothers’ request

DoE Did Nothing for 45 Days—Will They Get Back to Work in Fall?

SA: … much has been sacrificed and lost. Hawaii’s record 22.3% unemployment rate last month is dire evidence of this, as are the hundreds of lost learning hours when schools and colleges abruptly shut after spring break in mid-March. More than 45 days of in-person instruction vanished during the final quarter of the school year, which officially ended this week….

Academics…has suffered — a spotty challenge given the range of students’ socio-economics determining access to computers and internet service, not to mention individual teachers’ diligence in keeping students engaged in distance/online learning. Unfortunately, enrichment lessons that were clearly labeled “optional” left too much leeway for both teachers and students. The DOE and Superintendent Christina Kishimoto are rightly being pressed to give specific accounting of this spring’s online efforts forced by the pandemic.

Such questions and quantifications of meaningful instruction do matter, especially if significant amounts of distance learning become necessary in the new school year….

read … Hawaii education has lost and gained during pandemic

Caldwell Leaving an Infected Mess for Successor

SA: … Voters will choose a new mayor to succeed Kirk Caldwell, now struggling to control a runaway pandemic train. His successor will have to keep it from crashing.

Declining revenues led to projections of budget shortfalls of $130 million or more for the next fiscal year. Should the trend continue, hard decisions will have to be made about need-to-have versus nice-to-have, to paraphrase a previous mayor. The beleaguered rail project, which depends on the general excise and hotel room taxes, could be in the hole by $100 million — through October. And there is no end in sight for this coronavirus; it could take years before we’re healthy again, and the next mayor will need to lead the recovery with competence and confidence….

Big Q: Are you paying attention to the Honolulu mayor’s race?

read … Clean up Caldwell’s Mess

Top DoH Execs Still Obstructing Testing—District Office Disagrees

MN: … State epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park explained that when a virus enters the body, it hijacks the cells, reproduces and then goes out in search of other cells to infect. The immune system recognizes the virus and puts up a fight, and in the process, it creates antibodies like IgG, or immunoglobulin G.

“The question really is, which one of these antibodies or proteins is actually protective that basically allows you to be immune to that new pathogen?” Park said in an interview Thursday.

(WRONG: It doesn’t matter which antibody is more effective because he purpose of the test is to determine whether you hasd COVID, not determine how effective your body was at fighting back.)

Sara Hauptman, public health educator with the district office, explained that the virus itself peaks at about 14 days, but the antibodies that are created in response to the virus can stick around for a lot longer, perhaps six months, a decade or for the entirety of someone’s life.

“This is very powerful because we can test for that entire length of time,” Hautpman said Thursday during a news conference.

Use the antibody test too early, and you might not pick up the virus. But use the nasal swab too late, and you may never know the virus had been in someone’s system.

“Why should we do antibody tests? It can’t predict protection right now. It can’t predict if you’re shedding the virus. Why do we do it?” Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang asked. “It’s very, very important, at least to me, and it should be important to everybody as we reopen the economy.”

March, 2020: VIDEO: Hawaii DoH Official Goes on 10-minute Rant Against Corona Testing

read … Health officials still cautious about factoring in antibody tests

OHA Insiders: DoH Should Take Time to Track Racial Data so money will come to our Profitable Nonprofits

CB: … Back in 2012, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs lobbied to pass a law that would have created a uniform policy regarding race and ethnicity data collection for all state agencies.

State departments pushed back and the House and Senate versions of the bills both died before their respective money committees. Gov. David Ige, then head of the Ways and Means Committee, never called a hearing for the Senate version….

Since the proposal failed, OHA has focused on working with departments to encourage and facilitate data collection. OHA has a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Education, he says, and has also been happy with race and ethnicity data provided by the University of Hawaii….

So many Native Hawaiians are mixed race that such a categorization could be hiding numerous cases, he said. He noted that if you count people who are at least part-Hawaiian, the Native Hawaiian community makes up about 22% of the state population, far more than the 10% on the Department of Health’s website….

But collecting and parsing race and ethnicity data isn’t easy in health care, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.

“It’s not as simple as, ‘Just pull it out,’ otherwise we would have just pulled it out a long time ago quite frankly,” Park said.

The Department of Health is typically informed about confirmed coronavirus cases from lab reports, Park says, which don’t include race and ethnicity data.

When a positive COVID-19 lab result comes in, state workers take that information and track down the health care providers who submitted the data. If the state is lucky, Park says, the patient’s physicians will have filled out a Center for Disease Control form about the case.

“But if that form isn’t filled out, then we have to start at square one,” Park said.

The initial goal is to find the patient and begin investigating with whom they had contact. There’s a lot of data that investigators need to collect about each case, and “something like race is not going to be as important at the start of the outbreak,” Park says.

As the number of new cases each day has fallen, state investigators have been calling up patients to fill in data gaps, including asking questions about race. Park says her staff is working on disaggregating the data but didn’t give a timeline for when it would be completed.….

May 3, 2020: 32 Marshallese COVID Cases Kona McDonalds Cluster (OHA is exploiting these numbers to grab money for itself)

May 9, 2020: OHA to Ige: Bypass Legislature and Give Us $21,287,134

May 21, 2020: COVID Team Waihee: OHA Insiders hope to see new Cashflow

read … Why The State Doesn’t Consistently Track Data On Native Hawaiians

Hawaii commercial real estate investment to drop by 50% in post-Covid 2020, Colliers says

PBN: … Commercial investment in Hawaii is expected to drop by 50% this year, retail vacancy rates are expected to double, and the work-from-home trend caused by the Covid-19 closures and industrial vacancies will double to a still-low 4%, according to a coronavirus update on the commercial real estate market by Colliers International Hawaii.

Commercial investment last year dropped by 50% from the record high of $5.3 billion set in 2019…

According to data from Real Capital Analytics, Hawaii saw a 70% decline in commercial real estate sales in the first four months of this year, said Hamasu, who delivered a very different 2020 forecast at CCIM’s annual event in January. Extrapolating that out for the rest of the year, Colliers expects investment sales volumes to reach $1.3 billion, half of last year’s volume and a quarter of the 2018 volume, he said.

“A lot of [the decline in sales] has to do with the fact that buyers and sellers are not seeing eye to eye on where a property should trade,” he said. “So we're saying that the bid-ask spread is actually widening.”…

read … Hawaii commercial real estate investment to drop by 50% in post-Covid 2020, Colliers says

Hawaii Hospitals Losses Exceed $100M from Federal Health Care Bailout

CB: … The $100 million in relief has been a lifeline to Hawaii hospitals and clinics during the pandemic, but it won’t fully cover their losses…

“If patients continue to forgo their medical and dental appointments we may face the tough decision of layoffs and furloughs once again,” he said….

Queen’s, which received about one quarter of funds distributed to date, says it’s still dealing with financial losses caused by canceled non-emergency and outpatient surgeries as well as higher expenditures on equipment and protective gear.

While appreciative of the federal support, “the monies we have received do not cover the financial shortfall we are experiencing along with other hospitals across the state and around the country,” said Mich Riccioni, The Queen’s Health Systems executive vice president and chief financial officer

read … Queen’s, Hawaii Pacific Health Get Big Chunk Of Federal Health Care Bailout

Business owners in Hawaii rally at the state Capitol

KHON: … Bar owners, musicians and supporters of Reopen Hawaii echoed their frustration today at the state Capitol while demanding to reopen their non-essential businesses “now.”

Over 100 people demonstrated by waving American flags and held signs that read, “We are educated adults and can make educated decisions. Please allow us to reopen.” …

Bill Comerford — owner of O’Toole’s Irish Pub, Anna O’Brien’s, Kelley O’Neil’s and the Irish Rose Saloon — said his businesses has been closed for 70 days.

“We are closed, and they’re not telling us when we can reopen,” he said. “It’s a huge issue for us.”

Comerford said that by June 3o, he and other bar owners, have to pay a liquor license.

“For me that’s going to be about $8,500,” he said. “I’ve had zero income. I’ve had to use my loan.”

He said he received a $580,000 loan through PPP.

PPP borrowers can have loans of up to $10 million forgiven if they spend at least 75% of proceeds to pay employees over eight weeks. The balance can be spent on rent, mortgage interest and utilities….

WHT: 100 Kona Residents protest coronavirus lockdown

KITV: Out of money and hope, owner of iconic Irish pubs in Honolulu closing for good

MN: Visitor-oriented companies suffer longer wait to recover

read … Business owners in Hawaii rally at the state Capitol

Honolulu and Kauai Mayors: Property owners illegally renting to tourists are ongoing problem

KITV: … Law enforcement, hotel staff and residents say tourists from outside Hawaii are telling authorities they're staying with friends, but are illegally renting privately-owned condos or homes….

read … Renting to Tourists

Calvin Say Leaving Long-Held House Seat For Council Run

CB: … One of Hawaii’s longest-serving lawmakers aims to fill a vacant council position….

read … Calvin Say Leaving Long-Held House Seat For Council Run

Emergency shelters on Maui will provide temporary shelter for displaced families

KITV: … More than 20 temporary emergency shelters (not tents!) at Waiale Park in Wailuku were blessed on Friday ….

read … Emergency shelters on Maui will provide temporary shelter for displaced families

Homeless Dude from Mainland Accused of Murder in Lahaina

MN: … The 61-year-old suspect in a Lahaina murder case told a witness that he “killed a guy” and asked the man if he wanted to see the body….

Stevens, who is homeless, was charged by police last week with second-degree murder. On Friday afternoon, Judge Kirstin Hamman ruled that there was sufficient evidence of probable cause to sustain the second-degree murder charge.

Hamman also supported the enhanced charge. Deputy Prosecutor Brandon Segal said the crime was “heinous” and “cruel.”…

Segal asked for no bail for Stevens, saying that he had made threats to others prior to the case, that he has parole violations in Michigan and that he could be a flight risk. The judge maintained bail at $500,000….

Feb, 2020: Lahaina Bumfight: Man charged with threat to set fire to assault witnesses—woman charges with murder

2011: Man raped in Lahaina Homeless Tent City

read … Another Lahaina Bum Fight

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