Feds Bust DoH Lab Tech--Allegedly Making LSD During COVID outbreak
VA and HIEMA Report on Hilo Veterans Home COVID Deaths
Kauai on a Slippery Slope with New COVID Bracelets
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How they Voted Sept 20, 2020
Common Cause 2020 Legislative Wrap Up
List of Honolulu Charter Amendments on General Election Ballot
Governor proposes public worker unions furloughs that would amount to 10% pay cut
HNN: … The governor is proposing furloughs for thousands of government workers that would amount to a 10% pay cut.
The furloughs ― essentially unpaid days off ― would last four years, according to sources.
Gov. David Ige met with union leaders Monday afternoon to discuss the proposal, which is poised to start Dec. 1 and would conceivably be coupled with drastic cuts to contracts and other areas….
The unions are expected to fight the proposed furloughs and demand to negotiate….
(Idea: HGEA members can supplement their income by manufacturing LSD on their off days.)
SA: Department of Human Services employees told to expect 10% furlough for 4 years
read … Governor proposes public worker unions furloughs that would amount to 10% pay cut
Robbins Ouster Timed to Match P3 Deadline: Caldwell: ‘I know nothing’
SA: … Supporters of HART Executive Director and CEO Andrew Robbins said the announcement by HART officials that they intend not to renew Robbins’ contract Thursday will send another message of uncertainty to Federal Transit Administration officials.
The FTA has extended to Dec. 31 (ie ‘The End of the Year’) the deadline for HART to explain how it plans to pay for the final leg of construction with an unidentified partner in a so-called public-private partnership, or P3 agreement.
“This is going to be a red flag for the federal government,” said state Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). “He (Robbins) had just restored the relationship with them.”
Fevella, who believes rail will particularly benefit his Leeward constituents, signed a letter of support for Robbins to HART’s Human Resources Committee, which had been discussing Robbins’ future behind closed doors and now plans to recommend at Thursday’s board meeting that Robbins be removed at the end of the year (ie Dec 31).….
Former Mayor Mufi Hannemann — rail’s biggest, original supporter — said removing Robbins and finding a replacement will cost even more money in delays and send the wrong message.
“Whether you’re pro-rail or anti-rail, this is the worst thing that you can do, change horses in midstream,” Hannemann said. “Having six directors in less than 10 years is not the message you want to send to the FTA and to Washington, D.C. They want answers on how the city’s going to come up with their part of the funding to go beyond Middle Street.”
Hannemann also signed a letter in support of Robbins, whom he called “a good and decent man who’s trying to do his job. I think he’s done a great job.”…
In a statement, Mayor Kirk Caldwell emphasized that he had no influence on the HART board’s intentions to get rid of Robbins and find new leadership.
“The rail project is a very important project to the City and County of Honolulu; however, HART, the organization that is charged with building the rail system, is structured as a semi-autonomous organization as established by a City Charter. One implication of this structure is that the oversight of the HART CEO, including that person’s employment, is the responsibility of the HART Board. Accordingly, I have not been involved in any decisions regarding Mr. Robbins’ employment contract.
(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
“I understand that this topic is on the agenda for a HART Board meeting scheduled for later this week. I have not had any discussions about this matter with the HART Board Chair or other members of the HART Board.”
(Translation: I wanna be governor so I need deniability on this next phase of the rail disaster.)
HART’s Thursday agenda suggests that Robbins’ future again will be discussed in executive session, with no public access….
Related: Council Candidate Greg Thielen Cautions Against Awarding P3 Contract Under Robbins' Tenure
read … Bad time to replace HART leader, critics say
DoH Incompetent Tracing is Excuse to Impose Spy-Tracking on Public
SA: … Tracking where an infected person has been, and with whom they have interacted, remains an important part of our pandemic response, especially as we stumble toward reopening.
Yet the state government’s efforts to do contact tracing is strained: undervalued early on, underfunded even now, ramping up only thanks to a motley coalition that knew that more had to be done.
(UN-)Fortunately, there are apps for that.
There have been several independent efforts to use apps to address the pandemic, from AlohaTone’s text-based notification system for businesses to Sustain Hawaii’s comprehensive PERSEUS platform. The University of Hawaii has an app for students, and Bank of Hawaii made one for local businesses.
But what we’ve needed is an app that can take advantage of the unprecedented exposure notification system jointly developed by Apple and Google. And that requires coordination with the state’s primary public health agency, the Department of Health. (We can trust them. They’re not much good at tracking but they make LSD and they try to make CYA.)
I lamented last month that such coordination was unlikely, given the other crises that the DOH is facing. But against all odds, DOH-sanctioned contact tracing apps actually exist. (They can’t do tracking but they can approve spy systems.)
They, too, started as an independent effort, a crowdsourced web survey called AlohaTrace that collected daily symptom reports and provide anonymous, aggregated data to researchers and public health officials.
After months of work the volunteer-led, public-private initiative has built two mobile apps for both iPhones and Android phones called AlohaSafe Story and AlohaSafe Alert.
AlohaSafe Story is simple and available now. Based on the open-source PathCheck GPS+ system, it’s a private digital diary of the places you’ve been. The app doesn’t know who you are, just where you are, and data doesn’t go anywhere without your consent. If you never get sick, AlohaSafe Story has nothing to do.
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
AlohaSafe Alert, coming soon, is the more powerful and important app. Not only does it not know who you are, it doesn’t care where you are, either. Instead, it keeps track of other smartphones that it has been near based on anonymized Bluetooth signals.
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
With AlohaSafe Alert it becomes possible to send very specific notifications to people that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Again, it doesn’t know one person from another, just that their phones were in close proximity. But whether you crossed paths in a grocery store or an office, if your contact was within the window of contagion, you’ll be notified and be able to quarantine and get tested to help keep the community safe.
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
The Department of Health will confirm cases before triggering the device alert chain — all without the DOH, or Apple or Google, knowing anything about you….
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
(CLUE: In 7 weeks we will have a vaccine and COVID will be history. They are desperate to get this spygear out before the window of opportunity closes.)
AI: Pennsylvania launches COVID Alert PA app based on Apple-Google tech, Hawaii next
read …Column: AlohaSafe app is coming, but Hawaii needs to use it
Internal emails suggest officers are being pressured to write more emergency order citations
HNN: … Participation in HPD’s special COVID unit is voluntary and considered overtime.
In an email obtained by HNN to unit leaders on Sept. 10, a lieutenant wrote that "The major and captain brought up that this assignment is voluntary overtime, and they are seeing people coming in with zero, one, two, three citations for a six to eight hour shift. They stated that this was unacceptable.”
The lieutenant notified officers that he would be calling during shifts to get updates on enforcement.
Officers in the unit are paid using federal CARES Act funding.
But according to the lieutenant who wrote the email, the people in charge of distributing the funding are not interested in warnings or park checks, implying that only actual citations matter.
A sergeant, unhappy with the lieutenant’s email, wrote back:
“The main objectives of these operations are to ensure compliance from the public through enforcement of the emergency orders, to ultimately get a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic."
The sergeant continues, “I think we are going down a complicated path by obsessing about how many citation(s) are being issued during every operation.” …
read … Internal emails suggest officers are being pressured to write more emergency order citations
Civil Beat: Defund the Police
CB: … The mayor should seriously reconsider his decision to direct more than $30 million in federal CARES Act funds to HPD. About half of that figure is for overtime and other differential pay, while more than $2 million is for new trucks and all-terrain and utility-terrain vehicles….
KITV: Budget will not be cut for first responders on Maui
read … Mayor Kirk Caldwell's Foolish Plan To Fatten HPD With CARES Money
Survey: Hawaii Residents Give State Low Marks For COVID Response
CB … Overall, residents were relatively critical of the state government’s response to the pandemic. Respondents gave especially low marks to the state for not being open and transparent to the public. Native Hawaiians, those making less than $35,000 per year, and those who responded that they would not take the vaccine when available, were the most critical of the state’s response….
read … Survey: Hawaii Residents Give State Low Marks For COVID Response
Yet Another Oceanit Sales Pitch: Gimme $10M for a Saliva Test that is Just a Copy of tests Already Available Elsewhere
CB: … Sullivan said he’s discussed a deal with the state to provide 400,000 ASSURE-19 tests in exchange for $10 million in seed money to set up a manufacturing facility in Hawaii. That cost, $25 per test, is much more than the $5 for Abbott’s test. But Sullivan said the price will come down as the company scales up production.
(Better idea; Make a phone call and order these up from the mainland $2.50 each fedex here tomorrow.)
According to Sullivan, for its investment of federal CARES Act money, the state would get 400,000 rapid-action tests and 50 new jobs, many suitable for displaced hospitality workers, and a medical manufacturing facility in the state.
“If we’re going to build a diverse economy, then we’ve got to do things like this,” he said….
(Reality: Yale Univ Saliva Direct)
(If you believe Oceanit is ‘developing’ a saliva test that doesn’t already exist elsewhere, click >>> HERE, or HERE, or HERE <<<)
(BTW: JABSOM just scored $3.9M with the fake COVID lab scam read >>> HERE <<<)
HNN: Oceanit’s new virus test reaches global semifinals
read … Oceanit Corporate Welfare
Hawaii has among nation’s highest rates of businesses closed for now or for good
HNN: … The Yelp survey found 9 in every 10,000 businesses in Hawaii have permanently closed — one of the highest rates in the country. In Honolulu, the figure was roughly 11 out of every 10,000 businesses.
Thousands more businesses are temporarily closed, either because of orders that require them to be or because it doesn’t make financial sense to bring back workers if there are no customers….
Food-A-Go-Go has been keeping a list of Hawaii eateries that have permanently closed down since March, when the state instituted its first stay-at-home order.
Fifty businesses are now on the list.
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii has also said that hundreds more Hawaii businesses are on the brink of closure and need immediate aid to remain open, especially given dim hopes for federal help….
read … Hawaii has among nation’s highest rates of businesses closed for now or for good
Ige: Airlines Will not Block Untested Passengers
SA: … The state has said that it would require travelers in the program to take a Food and Drug Administration-authorized COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test from a certified lab no earlier than 72 hours before their flight arrives in Hawaii. If the test is negative and they can produce it upon arrival, they would be allowed to bypass the quarantine. If the test results don’t arrive before they get to Hawaii, travelers must quarantine in Hawaii until they can produce a negative test result.
Travelers must pay for their own pre-arrivals tests and Ige said the state won’t allow travelers to bypass the quarantine using tests taken after they get to Hawaii.
Ige acknowledged that despite the state’s partnerships with CVS and Kaiser some travelers might find getting a test within the required window difficult. Also, families could have difficulties since the state’s partners don’t offer tests to children under 12.
It’s also still unclear how the quarantine system will monitor travelers whose test results don’t come back in time or who elect not to participate in the program once the volume of travelers to Hawaii scales up.
Ige acknowledged that Hawaii’s pre-arrivals travelers plan won’t be able to keep out all infected domestic travelers as the Federal Aviation Administration won’t give the state permission to require that all passengers get COVID-19 tests before getting on a plane.
“Clearly the airlines have informed me that they are not able to require every passenger to have completed the pre-travel testing program so every flight would have a mix of those who are COVID-free, those who have taken the test, and those who may be infected and there’s no way in the U.S. to separate those passengers,” he said.
Ige said U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) is pursuing legislation that would allow Hawaii more control over the entry of domestic travelers.
Few international destinations are currently allowing travel to the U.S., but Ige said the state is working with other countries like Japan and S. Korea and they seem more willing to require that all of their Hawaii-bound passengers comply with the pre-travel program requirements.
Ige said the state also is discussing lifting the partial interisland quarantine with the mayors; however, testing capacity is still a concern when the state only has about 5,000 tests a day now and some 25,000 people a day were traveling to the Neighbor Islands before the COVID-19 pandemic….
read … Gov. Ige says he’s reluctant to set COVID-19 benchmarks for reopening, closing
Class-action suit filed over COVID-19 outbreak at OCCC
HNN: … Several inmates and an adult correctional officer at the Oahu Community Correctional Center have filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging state that prison officials failed to protect staffers there and housed sick inmates with healthy ones.
A total of 400 people -- 310 inmates and 90 staffers -- were infected at the prison, making it the largest cluster in the state….
Because the lawsuit seeks class-action status, anyone who was infected at the prison is potentially eligible to join the suit
Among the allegations: One inmates who got sick said he was required to work in a kitchen with a prison staffer who was infected with COVID.
Another prisoner said that he got infected after he was placed in the same room for two days with another inmate, who was feverish and later tested positive.
The ACO alleged that she was assigned to one of the prison’s annexes where there were 65 positive cases….
HTH: DPS: Mass COVID-19 testing ongoing at Kulani
read … Class-action suit filed over COVID-19 outbreak at OCCC
We’re learning lots of new details about the Hu Honua proposal
ILind: … It’s clear that insiders knew of the central role of Jennifer M. “Jenny” Johnson in financing Hu Honua Bioenergy, but that hasn’t really been known generally. Johnson is President and CEO of Franklin Resources Inc., the parent company of the Franklin Templeton funds. It’s a huge global publicly-traded firm controlled by the Johnson family. Jennifer Johnson’s brother, Greg, holds the positions of Executive Chairman and Chairman. Their father, billionaire Charles Johnson, is a former CEO of the company that was started as a mutual fund by his father. All in the family, I guess.
So that controversial little former plantation power plant in Pepeekeo ties right into the elites of the global financial world. Another investor was the controversial Irish businessman, Andy Ruhan (for example, see, “The ‘ruined’ Irish millionaire, his wife, a bizarre murder plot, and the battle for his secret fortune,” The Independent, Nov. 12, 2017). Ruhan apparently invested through a company registered on the Isle of Man, adding to the global spread of the Hu Honua story. Another figure who shows up is Peter Kleis, who was a manager of Grandis Ventures I, which placed at least $31 million into Hu Honua Bioenergy in 2012, and controlled the company for a couple of years until its shares were bought out by Johnson. Kleis died in a single-car crash in January 2015….
read … We’re learning lots of new details about the Hu Honua proposal
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