VIDEO: Prosecutor Debate Steve Alm vs Miske's Lawyer
American Samoa Governor: I haven’t been a Democrat Since 2013
Second Stay at Home Order issued for O‘ahu
COVID Count: 215 new cases out of 2,307 tests
Watchdog group urges Ige to release COVID records
Massive Effort to Provide 60,000 Free COVID Tests on Oahu Starts Wednesday
Hawaii is one of 11 states without a statewide financial relief program for businesses
Under mounting pressure, Jones Act lobby claims the law is cost‐free to Hawaii
The Road to Recovery is Roads for Lower Puna
COVID numbers that tell “the rest of the story”
It is just not that trendy to post videos of police saving lives
Caldwell Does What DoH Will Not—500 Contract Tracers to be Hired by County, Hotel Rooms rented for Quarantine
SA: … Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Tuesday the city plans to hire between 250 and 500 coronavirus contact tracers to work in coordination with the state on a “more aggressive” approach to tracking the path of the virus.
The decision represents a major city foray into coronavirus prevention after it asked for months to help but was rebuffed by the state….
State Health Director Bruce Anderson said last Wednesday that contact tracing is one part of COVID-19 containment, but it isn’t very effective when case counts are soaring.
The collective mindset seems to be changing.
In announcing a federally- funded two-week period of Oahu “surge testing” with 60,000 available tests, Caldwell on Tuesday was flanked by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, representing new involvement by the federal government.
The new testing and contact tracing initiatives were revealed in conjunction with a new “stay at home, work at home” order.
Caldwell said about a week ago his office “got a call from the White House saying, how can we help in Honolulu? And we said we need help with testing and we we need help with tracing.”
At Tuesday’s news conference, Caldwell also noted the need for more of the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir.
Federal coronavirus officials “stood up and they responded, and the surgeon general is not up here in our community (regularly),” Caldwell said, adding Adams is “committed to Oahu for the next couple of days to help us.”….
CB: Honolulu Is Taking Contact Tracing Into Its Own Hands
SA: Waikiki hotels agree to house those under quarantine
read … Hundreds of virus contact tracers to be hired on Oahu
Caldwell, Legislators Bypass DoH to reach Micronesians, Filipinos
SA: … Advocates for ethnic Pacific Islanders and Filipinos on Oahu applauded the multi-agency effort to reach into their communities and provide them with “low barrier” COVID-19 testing, quarantine and related services, calling it long overdue.
State Department of Health statistics show the percentage of Pacific Islanders and Filipinos who test positive for the coronavirus is much greater than the percentage of their populations.
Three of every 10 people in Hawaii who test positive are categorized as Pacific Islanders, excluding native Hawaiians, even though they make up only 4% of the state’s population, Health Department figures show….
Councilman Joey Manahan, who represents the Kalihi area that’s seen a larger share of COVID-19 positive clusters, said that he, Caldwell and other city officials have been asking the state since April to be able to assist in the testing efforts by paying for testing at community health centers.
That’s where many immigrants without much income go for their medical care, Manahan said Tuesday afternoon. “It was a free testing program for people who didn’t have the means to pay for something, low barrier,” he said. That offer was rebuffed by Department of Health officials who were skeptical about the company that the city had enlisted to help with the testing but then offered no alternative solution, he said.
Rep. Rida Cabanilla administers a test during drive-thru COVID-19 testing being conducted at Geiger Community Park in Ewa Beach by Kalihi Kai Urgent Care on Saturday. Cabanilla is owner of Kalihi Kai Urgent Care.
Manahan also criticized the Health Department for declining to test all residents in the Kalihi Valley Housing project after a cluster formed there, leading to more positive cases….
Josie Howard, program director of the Micronesian advocacy group We Are Oceania, said that after being approached by Caldwell’s office about the partnership, the nonprofit group was happy to help the program however it can.
“We’re going to provide language services and we are also doing outreach into the community,” Howard said.
A key to the program will be that it won’t just provide testing, but also temporary housing for those in need of isolation.
“They need to go into the concentrated areas and we need to continue to make sure that there’s enough spaces to isolate the people,” Howard said….
STATE AND COUNTY PARTNERSHIP BUILDS CAPACITY FOR ISOLATION AND QUARANTINE ROOMS
WATCH LIVE: U.S. surgeon general joins Ige, Caldwell for COVID-19 briefing
read … Hard-hit Pacific Islander, Filipino communities in Hawaii receive targeted help
COVID-19 work stoppage cost $3.4M: Most employees back at work after several months of paid leave
WHT: … Hawaii County’s first tumultuous months of the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in an estimated 141,850 lost hours of work from county employees, at a cost of $3.4 million in salaries.
But county taxpayers didn’t shoulder all of that burden when 1,128 of the county’s 2,800 employees stayed home because they were deemed nonessential, couldn’t find childcare, weren’t able to work from home or had other issues requiring them to take paid administrative leave.
Some employees used vacation or sick time and the federal government paid for some of that expense, Mayor Harry Kim said Tuesday. The Family and Medical Leave Act reimburses the county for three-quarters of an employee’s pay under certain circumstances….
The leave and salary numbers cover between March 24, when the emergency stay-at-home proclamations took effect, and June 30, the end of the budget year, and were provided by the county Finance Department to the newspaper pursuant to a public records request….
By the end of July, only eight employees countywide were on paid administrative leave related to COVID-19, according to the county Department of Human Resources. In all, 18 employees were on administrative leave….
HNN: HSTA has a gripe over order that deepens divide between public, private schools (HSTA senses another opportunity to be paid for pretending to work from home.)
read … COVID-19 work stoppage cost $3.4M: Most employees back at work after several months of paid leave
The Public Wanted More COVID-19 Data. What DOH Delivered ‘Misses The Point’
CB: … New data released this week from the health department is mostly repackaged information already available on the state dashboard….
DoH: ENHANCED COVID-19 DATA INCLUDES ADDITIONAL AGE & RACE TABLES
CB: The new stay-at-home order must be accompanied by greater disclosure from government
read … The Public Wanted More COVID-19 Data. What DOH Delivered ‘Misses The Point’
Unions Call For Removal Of Hawaii Prison Chief Espinda
CB: … Citing “escalating unrest and unsafe conditions” at the state’s largest jail, the union that represents Hawaii corrections officers urged Gov. David Ige on Tuesday to force Department of Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda to resign from his role overseeing all state prisons and jails.
The Oahu Community Correctional Center has emerged as the scene of the largest COVID-19 infection cluster in the state, and officers have been warning for weeks of serious problems such as a lack of personal protective equipment for staff, and unsafe conditions for uninfected inmates who in some cases are housed in the same dormitories as prisoners who have the disease.
“We’ve been calling for more PPE, more testing and more realistic options for battling overcrowding. But we are no closer to getting this virus under control,” said United Public Workers administrator Liz Ho….
read … Union Calls For Removal Of Hawaii Prison Chief Espinda
Applications bog down Kaua‘i Small Business Boost website
TGI: … The application opened at 9 a.m. on Aug. 24 to incredible demand. As many as 600 small businesses and non-profits were waiting to apply in the first minute.
Unfortunately, this amount of immediate interest overloaded the application site. While the application site did not crash, some applicants reported receiving error messages….
By 12:30 p.m., 665 applications had been received. By 4:30 p.m., 886 applications had been received, most likely exhausting the $5 million allocation.
As such, the kauaiforward.com website has been updated to indicate that the application is now closed….
TGI: How Kauai county chose CARES Act grant recipients
read … Applications bog down Kaua‘i Small Business Boost website
How the Hawaii Department of Education is spending $43M in relief funding
PBN: … Here are the HIDOE allocations of ESSER funds to date:
$15.01 million for devices and connectivity including $2.89 million for mobile hubs, $6.57 million that went toward purchasing 12,000 new devices for school reopening, and the purchase of 10,000 new devices for summer learning — which cost about $5.46 million
$6.34 million for special education including $4.34 million for special education summer learning and $2.05 million for summer assessments and meetings.
$6.01 million toward summer learning, which includes $6 million that went to summer learning hubs, and $13,380 for Career Technical Education student interns in HIDOE offices
Technical Education student interns in HIDOE offices
$4.34 million for state education agencies and charter schools including $4.34 million allotted for private schools and $2.07 million separate, non-ESSER funding for charter schools
$2.43 million for training and support including $1.73 million that went toward HIDOE's Ohana Help Desk, $500,000 toward learning platforms, and $200,000 for professional development…
read … How the Hawaii Department of Education is spending $43M in relief funding
As state seeks additional $300 for unemployed, thousands of claims still left unprocessed
HNN: … the state braces for an increase in layoffs in the wake of a stay-at-home order for Oahu, which will close a host of non-essential businesses for at least two weeks.
Meanwhile, at least 10,000 jobless claims have yet to be processed.
At last check, about 83,000 Hawaii residents were receiving unemployment benefits.
Karen Winpenny has been seeking unemployment insurance since in mid-May and she still hasn’t received any benefits. “It’s been a nightmare,” she said. “It’s a disgrace what the state has been doing with thousands of us. I’ve faxed, I’ve emailed. I’ve called hundreds and hundreds of times."
Winpenny started the unemployment process after being furloughed from her position at the Hawaii Theatre Center. She said since losing her job, she’s placed more than 100 calls a day to the unemployment office. She’s also filed 14 claims that have not been answered….
SA: Hawaii to apply for $300 federal unemployment weekly benefit program
SA: Jobless wonder why Hawaii unemployment offices closed after threats no longer seem to be a problem
read … As state seeks additional $300 for unemployed, thousands of claims still left unprocessed
As hospitalizations soar, ‘unprecedented’ number of ERs are turning ambulances away
HNN: … The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Hawaii has nearly quadrupled since Aug. 1, leaving some Oahu hospitals so overwhelmed they’re turning ambulances away.
To underscore the problem, sources provided Hawaii News Now with a snapshot of the tracking system used by hospitals across the island. At about 6 p.m. Monday, it showed Kaiser, Kuakini, Pali Momi, Straub, Queen’s Punchbowl, Queen’s West and Wahiawa General hospitals all on “ambulance divert.”
It happens when an emergency room is so busy it stops taking in most patients. Those ambulances are then rerouted to other facilities, oftentimes much farther away.
“To see two or three on reroute is unusual,” said community physician Dr. Jim Ireland, who has helped broaden COVID-19 testing in Hawaii. “But to see five, six or seven on reroute is really unprecedented.” ….
“We have 4,700 active cases,” he said. “When those individuals end up getting hospitalized in the next few weeks, it’s going to be very dire.”
Overall, COVID-19 patients make up only a fraction of the people who need care. The problem is that when someone needs hospitalization for COVID-19, their hospital stays tend to be long.
That fills hospital capacity….
read … As hospitalizations soar, ‘unprecedented’ number of ERs are turning ambulances away
Lawsuit: BOE illegally ignored public input on Kahuku turbines built near schools
KITV … During a virtual court hearing this morning, Sunny Unga alleged the BOE held secret meetings and ignored public input before commenting on an environmental impact statement for the construction of windmills near Kahuku Elementary School. …
Unga filed the lawsuit back in April.
"And only late in the afternoon yesterday they tried to negotiate something. And this is, late in the hours, the day before the hearing."
During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Ryan Roylo announced the Attorney General's office is making a sweeping policy change--calling on all boards and commissions to follow the Hawai'i "Sunshine Law"-- and hold open meetings.
The BOE was previously exempt from the law.
"It's going to require more than a he said, she said, that the attorney general said something, for that to happen because the rule is still on the books and if there's nothing in writing, there's nothing that can stop somebody from changing their mind tomorrow," Unga's attorney Lance Collins said. …
read … Concerned resident alleges BOE ignored public input on Kahuku turbines built near schools
Kealoha Sentencing Set for Tuesday Nov 3 (sort of)
AP: … Seabright warned that there may be another postponement. He issued an order this week that essentially shuts down jury trials until Oct. 13 to protect people from the virus in court. After that, only one trial at a time will be allowed. Because trials will take priority, the sentencing hearings may need to be rescheduled.
If so, there will be about a month’s notice, Seabright said.
read … Judge approves sentencing date in Hawaii corruption case
Mike Miske’s family history
ILind: … Walter Miske was also being investigating for “numerous sales of watches and other jewelry items at reduced prices to Milwaukee firemen and policemen,”…In the mid-1960s, Walter Miske moved to hawaii with his second wife and six children to become a vice-president of the House of Adler, the international jewelry business of Jacques Adler….
Later, the senior Miske started his own retail stores, operating the jewelry counters in several Holiday Mart Stores, before that company went into bankruptcy, and launching his own independent jewelry business, The Diamond Exchange, along with Golden Hawaii, a manufacturer of local jewelry. His sons, Michael (father of the alleged crime leader), Gary, and Thomas also followed him into the jewelry trade as young men.
Walter Miske had one additional brush with the law after moving to Hawaii. In June 1970, Miske was indicted on federal charges of “conspiracy and false invoices for importing jewelry,” the Honolulu Advertiser reported at the time….
Gary Miske, who followed his father into the jewelry profession, was arrested at the Diamond Exchange store on Kapiolani Boulevard in February 1980 after agreeing to buy what he believed was stolen jewelry from undercover police officers in an HPD “sting” operation. Police said Miske met the undercover agents in a parking lot near the Diamond Exchange on New Year’s Day, and the transactions were reportedly caught on video and audio recordings.
Miske, then 29, was charged with three counts of first-degree theft, a Class C felony. He was released on $6,000 cash bail….
ILind: Miske’s termite licenses expired, companies out of business
read … More of Mike Miske’s family history
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