Trump’s Case For Excluding Illegal Aliens From Census is Based on Hawaii Apportionment Ruling
DLIR: Fraudsters got $35.98M from Hawaii Unemployment
We've touched a nerve
Maui County Actually Reduces Budget
90MPH Hurricane Douglas Aiming at Northern Shores
COVID Count: 73 cases out of 1,262 tests
Laughing at Your Sacrifice: BoE Gives Teachers $27M Non-negotiated Pay Boost
CB: … Salary increases for teachers in certain hard-to-staff positions that kicked in early this year will remain in place for the upcoming school year.
On Thursday, the Hawaii Board of Education tabled a request by education officials to suspend the pay increases as a way to help make up for an $84 million budget shortfall related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, it’s not clear where the $27 million needed for the salary hikes for the 2020-21 school year will come from….
The yearly pay boosts range from $3,000 to $8,000 for those teaching in remote complexes such as Hana, Keaau, Lanai, Molokai, Kau, Nanakuli, Pahoa and Waianae; $8,000 for Hawaiian immersion teachers; and $10,000 for special education teachers.
Teachers in the hard-to-fill positions submitted testimony to the board earlier this week urging the board to keep the incentives, saying the extra pay enabled them to stay in the profession or even in the islands.
Justin Hughey, a special education teacher at King Kamehameha III Elementary on Maui, testified that he and his wife, who teaches science at Maui High, had been planning to leave Hawaii by this school year until the pay boosts were implemented in January
(Great. We get to keep Justin Hughey. Oddly he didn’t tell his prospective constituents of his plans when he ran for Legislature in 2018.)….
Based on preliminary DOE data, the pay boosts, which cost $16.5 million for the second half of the 2019-20 school year, made a dent in plugging some shortage areas.
Hawaii grapples with a qualified teacher shortage consisting of about 1,000 vacant positions each year.
For the 2020-21 school year, 106 teachers transferred into a special education line, a bump of 24 teachers from the prior year. In addition, 40 teachers asked to transfer to a remote location, nearly double the amount from the prior year.
January 14, 2020: HSTA Pushing ANOTHER Massive Pay Hike with No Accountability
read … Some Hawaii Teachers Will Still Get An Extra Pay Boost Despite Looming Budget Cuts
Rail’s P3 Proposals Finally Arrive But Costs Remain Sealed
CB: … The bids won’t be publicly released until the contract is awarded by unidentified officials. That’s expected to take at least another month…..
(CLUE: Caldwell and HART aren’t in the news cheering the result of P3 bidding. Therefore the bids are bad.)
Big Q: Is it a good sign for the rail project that up to three bids have been submitted for a public-private partnership?
read … Rail’s P3 Proposals Finally Arrive But Costs Remain Sealed
Maui mayor asks Gov. Ige to restore quarantine restrictions on inter-island travelers
HNN: …After two consecutive record-setting days when it comes to new coronavirus cases in Hawaii, the mayor of Maui County is asking Gov. David Ige to re-instate a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone who travels on an inter-island flight….
with the state Department of Health having reported 115 positive coronavirus cases over the last two days ― and 354 in the last two weeks ― Mayor Michael Victorino believes it’s time to reintroduce those restrictions.
At least, he says, until Oahu gets “the numbers more in line.”
”It’s extremely dangerous. They’ve been averaging more than 25 new cases a day,” Victorino said, in a news conference Friday. “I’m extremely concerned for our residents and the residents of the rest of the state.”….
read … Maui mayor asks Gov. Ige to restore quarantine restrictions on inter-island travelers
Ige says breaking quarantine for hurricane prep OK as a ‘last resort’
WHT: … Gov. David Ige on Friday said a mandatory quarantine for travelers, in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, may — as a last resort — be broken to gather supplies and materials in preparation of Hurricane Douglas.
“I would like to remind everyone who is in quarantine that you should remain in quarantine to the extent possible,” Ige said during a news conference Friday. “If you need supplies, please ask a friend and others to provide and help you acquire them.
“As a last resort, if you need to, you can break quarantine to get the needed supplies as necessary, but please, we ask you to maintain physical distance (and) utilize noncontact retail transactions to the extent possible … so you can maintain physical distance and reduce the ability to infect others.”
Ige said they will be required to return to quarantine after getting supplies.
Mayor Harry Kim, however, spoke out against the possibility.
“Don’t break quarantine,” he said told the Tribune-Herald on Friday. “I don’t want to compound one problem and cause another.”
Kim explained that if someone needs emergency supplies during quarantine, they should shelter in place and contact the individuals monitoring their quarantine.
“They know exactly where to find you,” he said.
However, Kim said it is OK to break quarantine if one’s safety is in jeopardy.
Ige said individuals will be asked to shelter in place, but if they believe the quarantine site isn’t safe, those individuals should contact the state Department of Health, other emergency responders, or go to an emergency shelter.
According to Ige, new procedures will be implemented in all emergency shelters across the state to help guard against COVID-19.
People will be kept at least 6 feet of apart, which means the number of people allowed at any given shelter will be “dramatically reduced.”
All counties have been working to identify additional shelter spaces, the governor said.
Kim said the county will list available shelter locations as the storm approaches.
“All of the resorts and hotels have an arrangement with the county to be used as a shelter if they need, and that still stands,” he said….
read … Ige says breaking quarantine for hurricane prep OK as a ‘last resort’
First Hawaiian puts aside $55.4 million for potential loan losses
SA: … First Hawaiian Bank set aside $55.4 million in the second quarter to cover potential bad loans as the state reels from a tourism shutdown, millions of people out of work and a surge in coronavirus cases.
With the economic fallout from the virus continuing to mount, the state’s largest bank has now put in reserve an additional $96.6 million through midyear, including the $41.2 million loan-loss provision it took in the first quarter for businesses and consumers unable to pay their debts.
The latest provision resulted in parent company First Hawaiian Inc. reporting today that its net income plunged 72.3% to $20 million, or 15 cents a share, from $72.4 million, or 54 cents a share, from the second quarter of 2019. The company’s nonperforming assets — delinquent loans not accruing interest and foreclosed real estate — swelled 755% to $33.3 million from $3.9 million in the year-earlier quarter….
read … First Hawaiian puts aside $55.4 million for potential loan losses
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