Ige Appoints Parole Authority Chair 'Special Master' Over Public Safety Department
COVID Count 66 new cases out of 774 tests
Caldwell Extends Oahu stay-at-home order two more weeks
SA: … Oahu’s stay-at-home, work-from-home order to curb a surge in new daily coronavirus cases will continue for the next two weeks, with modifications to allow for outdoor activities, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced today.
Parks, beaches and hiking trails will reopen for “limited solo activity,” the mayor said at a news conference at Honolulu Hale....
“We’re turning the corner on active cases and the hospital numbers have begun to decline,” Lt. Gov. Josh Green told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I’m really proud of people — their sacrifices worked. It is certainly time to increase people’s freedom somewhat and make sure people can be outside in low-risk activities. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
With declining infections, the state can begin to open tourism on Oct. 1, Green said....
HNN: What’s open and closed? Here’s what the city’s new stay-at-home order says
News Release: City parks, certain park facilities, and beaches reopening Sept. 10
PDF: Caldwell Emergency Order
read … VIDEO: Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell extends stay-at-home, work-from-home order for 2 weeks
Arrests at Anti-Lockdown Protest
SA: … Leighton Badayos, 27, of Waianae was arrested for what he said are three counts of violating the stay-at-home order along with another man, Cole Hanson.
Badayos had organized a caravan of about 60 vehicles and more than 100 people to raise awareness of sex trafficking, especially the trafficking of children.
(Sex Trafficking Hysteria Flashback July, 2020: Telescope Protester Arrested in Hilo Home Depot zip-tie hoax)
Before they left Maunalua Bay Beach Park on Monday morning for the Leeward Coast, Badayos told the Star-Advertiser that wearing a mask “is a form of being silenced.”
While waiving signs in the Waianae Mall parking lot around 1:30 p.m., members of Kia‘i 4 Da Keiki said Badayos and Hanson were arrested.
After he was later released from the Honolulu Police Department’s Kapolei substation on $2,600 bail, Badayos said he had not been wearing a mask — like many others across Oahu on Monday — and was targeted for expressing his First Amendment rights.
Members of Kia‘i 4 Da Keiki said they also support a protest that occurred at Honolulu Hale on Monday in opposition to Caldwell’s stay-at-home order, but said no one was arrested there for expressing their First Amendment rights or for not wearing masks, according to Kia‘i 4 Da Keiki member Sonia Gomes.
Honolulu Hale has been the site of previous lockdown protests, including by many who also wanted to show support for President Donald Trump.
Members of Kia‘i 4 Da Keiki said they were waving signs at Waianae Mall when 10 HPD vehicles arrived with nearly 20 officers.
“We had a right to peacefully protest,” said Lorrain Scanlan, a member of the group.
Some members insisted they were all wearing masks and maintaining social distance while they carried signs that read, “Kia‘i 4 Da Keiki.”
Asked whether he was wearing a mask and maintaining social distance, Badayos told the Star- Advertiser, “Nope. Wasn’t wearing a mask. … They trying to put a mask on our face to keep us silent.”
Badayos, 27, of Waianae said he owns his own hauling business. Badayos said he was arrested on suspicion of three counts of violating Caldwell’s stay-at-home order.
“They said we didn’t disperse,” Badayos said. Hanson was not available for comment.
Badayos said Hanson raised $5,200 to bail each of them out of HPD’s Kapolei substation.
After he was released, Badayos told the Star-Advertiser that he has a court date in November and was targeted for “peacefully protesting, exercising our First Amendment right.”…
read … Oahu’s Labor Day low key, but arrests made for stay-at-home charges
Protestors rally in opposition of stay-at-home orders, other COVID-19 response efforts
HNN: … Dozens of ’angry’ protestors rallied in Downtown Honolulu on Monday, demanding changes to Hawaii’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and voicing their displeasure with Oahu’s current stay-at-home order ― and the leaders who enacted it.
The demonstration, which doubled as a pro-Trump campaign rally, was filled with signs that included such messages as “Let Hawaii Work Again,” “Wake Up” and “Freedom Is Our God-Given Right.”
“We’re here to preserve our first amendment, our second amendment, and to end this treasonous lockdown,” said one protester, holding a megaphone in one hand and an American flag in the other.….
read … Protestors rally in opposition of stay-at-home orders, other COVID-19 response efforts
Yacht Clubs, Country Club Grab Illegal PPP Loans
SA: … The U.S. Small Business Administration established PPP at the direction of Congress under rules that excluded social clubs with 501(c)7 nonprofit designations while allowing participation by 501(c)3 charitable organizations that can include hospitals, schools and churches.
Yet banks, which earned fees from approving and issuing PPP loans guaranteed by SBA, granted such loans totaling at least $1 million to ineligible social clubs in Hawaii, and these loans can become taxpayer expenses under forgiveness provisions.
According to SBA data, at least three local 501(c)7 social clubs — Hilo Yacht Club, Lahaina Yacht Club and Mid-Pacific Country Club — received PPP loans of $150,000 to $1 million.
SBA won’t disclose names of entities that received PPP loans of less than $150,000, so it isn’t possible to publicly see whether more improper loans were made….
SBA spokeswoman Cecelia Taylor confirmed that 501(c)7 nonprofits aren’t eligible for PPP, but said the agency does not comment on individual borrowers.
Taylor also said that any fraud, abuse or waste in SBA loan programs isn’t tolerated and can be reported anonymously to SBA’s Office of Inspector General.
In Hawaii, 25,097 businesses and nonprofits received nearly $2.5 billion in PPP loans through Aug. 8. Of these loans, 129 were over $2 million….
read … Yachting at your Sacrifice
Business owners request more aid to pay commercial rent
KHON: …Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is expected to announce an additional $25 million to be added to the small business recovery fund, although Resolution 20-208 proposes more aid for landowners by using commercial annual real estate property tax to evaluate costs….
The proposal for additional business relief will be heard by the full council on Sept. 9….
HNN: Small businesses are struggling to pay rent. City leaders are working on a plan to help
read … Business owners request more aid to pay commercial rent
To Get Paid, Landlord Signs Tenants up for CARES Money
SA: … landlord JoDee Hunt says she informs her tenants of assistance programs.
“Because we are successfully helping them get some funding, the amount owing at the end of this (moratorium) will be minimized,” said Hunt, who with her husband, Ernie Hunt, owns commercial properties and artists’ lofts in Chinatown’s Mendonca Building, residential properties in McCully and Wahiawa, and short-term vacation rentals in Volcano, Hawaii island.
“We have helped all of our commercial tenants to get the small-business CARES Act relief,” Hunt said, “but they still need customers!”
While short-term vacation rentals are nonoperative, the Hunts received personal relief in the form of an economic injury disaster loan under the federal Small Business Administration.
For the rest, “we will just take one tenant at a time and work something out that we can live with,” Hunt said, “usually, two payments a month, or we’ll break up the debt into many months of payments.” .…
read … Hawaii attorneys and landlords brainstorm to keep tenants in homes
State's COVID-19 quarantine hotel program fills need, but concerns Waikiki neighbors
HNN: … Neither the state nor the city has released the names of hotels taking part in the quarantine program, but when people see boarded up entrances and people wearing full personal protective equipment, word gets out quickly. And word is -- according to sources wishing to remain anonymous -- as well as a person who's family's in the program, the Pearl Hotel and Equus hotels in Waikiki are on the list.
70-year-old Ken delivered food to six family members in isolation at the Pearl Hotel. They tested positive for COVID-19 -- so he's not allowed inside. …
"I feel for them, I feel for the economic situation, but nobody felt for us," said Stuart Gurney, 74, who lives next door. "They just made it unilateral decision without any input from the residents in the neighborhood. And that's what concerns me."
Gurney worries the state won't be able to keep the virus from spreading.
"We don't feel comfortable at all our family, I have two elderly in-laws, my wife's parents, 91 and 95 years old. My mother-in-law's diabetic," Gurney said. "The DOH does not have any credibility right now. I think everybody knows, most people know that."
Sources tell us Equus also offers quarantine rooms, but unlike the Pearl, the reception area remains open to the public. Dave Moskowitz lives next door and supplied recent photos he took showing in-person dining and the bar open for business -- something he says he called police about….
read … State's COVID-19 quarantine hotel program fills need, but concerns Waikiki neighbors
Term Limits Proposed For Offices In 3 Counties
CB: … On the Nov. 3 ballot, voters will be asked this question: “Shall the Revised City Charter be amended to establish for the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu a term limit of two consecutive full four-year terms, the same term limit as is applicable to the Mayor and Councilmembers of the City and County of Honolulu?”
The idea comes from Councilman Ron Menor. Resolution 19-35, which was proposed last year and approved in January, warns of prosecutors becoming “entrenched in power and thereby in a position to abuse the powers entrusted to them by the voters.”…
Mayors on the Big Island may serve two four-year terms, while prosecutors have no limit on the number of four-year terms they may serve.
County Council members, however, are currently allowed to serve two-year terms for no more than eight consecutive years. A charter question on Hawaii County ballot this November (there are 16 total questions) asks, “Shall the Charter of the County of Hawaii be amended to change the term of office of Council Members to four years from the current two years, starting with the 2022 County Council term, with no current member serving more that eight consecutive years?”…
Currently, Maui’s charter reads, “A mayor shall not serve more than two consecutive full terms of office.” A term is for four years.
The charter also states this: “No member of the county council shall serve more than five consecutive full terms of office.” A term is for two years.
Maui has a total of seven charter questions this fall, including these two:
- “Shall the Charter be amended to establish term limits for Council members by limiting the number of terms a person may serve as a Council member to five full terms?”
- “Shall the Charter be amended to establish term limits for the Mayor by limiting the number of terms a person may serve as Mayor to two full terms?”
What is missing in those two questions is the word “consecutive,” which would be repealed from the charter should the measures pass.
read … Term Limits Proposed For Offices In 3 Counties
Henry Curtis: Hu Honua Throws Several Hail Mary Passes
IM: … Hu Honua BioEnergy LLC President Warren Lee filed an attack against Life of the Land on Friday night at the start of the Labor Day Weekend.
Hu Honua filed the smear document with the Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission and then sent a copy of the submittal to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser prior to sending an email copy to Life of the Land.
The first inkling that anything was amiss was when a Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter called Life of the Land`s Executive Director to ask his reaction.
The argument is bizarre.
The Public Utilities Commission ruled against Hu Honua and in support of the positions that were taken by Life of the Land, the Consumer Advocate, and Tawhiri Power.
Hu Honua then launched a massive web-based attack against the Public Utilities Commission decision.
Then, according to Hu Honua, Life of the Land sabotaged its winning position by using the Hu Honua web site to send seven fake emails to the Commission to decrease the credibility of Hu Honua.
Hu Honua explained to the Commission that Hu Honua lacked any supervision over their own website that generated over two-thousand identical letters each with a purported unique email signature….
Hu Honua generated over two thousand identical and misleading letters and emails bombed the Commission and the Legislature.
The Commission sent emails to each commenter. The Commission received seven emails from people who asserted they never made a comment on the proposed project.
Hu Honua asserted that the seven of the 2000+ emails came from a zip code that Life of the Land`s Executive Director lived in and therefore the emails came from him.
Life of the Land consulted with several cyber-security experts and filed a response to the Commission on Tuesday morning….
read … Hu Honua Throws Several Hail Mary Passes
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