My OHA Recommendations
Chief Justice Recktenwald Retained for Another 10 Years
City Drops $10.5M for 29 Units that were already affordable
Corona Count: 63 new cases out of 1,489 tests
COVID Count 168 new cases out of 2,716 tests
Caldwell COVID Logic: Stores Closed Worlds’ Busiest Costco Open
Sen Dela Cruz Says Furloughs Inevitable
KHON: … While the cuts can still be negotiated, key lawmakers say the furloughs are inevitable.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, says the numbers do not lie. The state faces a budget deficit of $1.4-$1.7 billion a year for each of the next four years.
Unions say they have met with the governor, who proposed furloughs for state workers of two days a month for the next four years, starting in December. Because of the pandemic, Dela Cruz says the economy has been in a freefall. So the governor is also looking at other proposals.
“He’s also looking at additional cuts about $655 million and also looking at possibly borrowing about $750 million from the feds,” said Dela Cruz.
Unions say first responders, such as nurses and corrections officers, will not be furloughed. The union for public school teachers sent an email to its members saying, “Your negotiations team met last night to discuss these developments and stands ready to advocate strongly for you at the bargaining table in the weeks ahead.”
Dela Cruz points out that avoiding the furloughs will be difficult. He says even if tourism reopens on Oct. 15, that might not be enough to offset such a huge deficit.
“The negative percentages that we took over this fiscal year are so extreme that we’re gonna be in a shortfall for a while,” he said….
SA: ‘Likely’ human service furloughs would ripple among those in need
read … Key lawmaker says furloughs for state workers inevitable
HART: Canceling public-private partnership could cause 18 months of rail delays
HNN: … The Honolulu Authority of Rapid Transportation said delays of up to 18 months should be expected if its current plans to use a private-public partnership are scrapped.
In a presentation planned for an upcoming HART board meeting, the rail authority looked at the impact of other choices, including rebidding the contract for the final leg of the project.
Rail supporters are upset.
“Not doing (public-private partnership) is going to cost more going forward because you have delays ... It’s already been delayed how many times," said state Sen. Lorraine Inouye, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee….
It’s budgeted at $1.4 billion but one of the builders described it as a $2 billion dollar project.
While the P3 process has not been dropped yet, lawmakers are worried that there’s pressure to stop it….
read … HART: Canceling public-private partnership could cause 18 months of rail delays
Oahu retailers, eateries and salons allowed to reopen with restrictions under new order
HNN: … Retailers, eateries, salons, and other businesses will be allowed to reopen on Oahu with limited capacity, gatherings of up to five people will be permitted, and even attractions will be able to welcome back customers under a new emergency order set to go into effect Thursday.
The order is based on a new “tier system” that city officials say is aimed at strategically responding to increases in new COVID-19 infections. But residents are likely to still find the rules confusing.
Under the new framework, Oahu will be starting at Tier 1 — which allows for a host of nonessential businesses to reopen that had previously been forced closed under the “stay-at-home” order….
read … Oahu retailers, eateries and salons allowed to reopen with restrictions under new order
Businesses call on leaders to form clearer plans to revitalize local economy
HNN: … The city has said that COVID-19 restrictions will be eased later this week. But what the new rules will be still aren’t clear.
Businesses say the lack of a clear plan is frustrating — but not surprising.
“At this point, I think most of us are numb to the feelings of what’s coming,” said Dylan Ching, vice president of operations for TS Restaurants on Oahu and Kauai.
“At least do something or have some plan that we can see, that’s tangible,” added Natalie Tew, who works at To Thai for Restaurant in Kaimuki.
Last week, the Honolulu City Council discussed the possibility for instituting a “tier system” of reopenings that’s based on the number of COVID-19 cases and positivity rate.
But that system has yet to be officially released.
Gov. David Ige says he has also been working with the city to produce clear guidance for businesses.
“So under shutdown what activities are available and what things would be closed,” said Ige, in an interview with the Star Advertiser. “In the next tier, tier 2, if the virus activity drops below a certain level that these business and activities would be allowed to reopen.”
It’s guidance that restaurants like Duke’s Waikiki have yet to receive.
“It’s hard being open and doing to go, it’s not anything near what anybody needs to survive so that’s difficult on its own,” said Ching. “To be really longing and looking for that time where we can get some kind of dine-in which really helps us is really nerve-racking.”
In an analysis by Yelp, 11 out of every 1,000 businesses in Honolulu permanently closed, one of the highest rates of closures in the nation.
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….
read … Businesses call on leaders to form clearer plans to revitalize local economy
Honolulu County Setting up its own Contact-Tracing Phone Rooms
SA: … The mayor said Tuesday at a news conference that he also is supporting additional surge testing and has contracted with a market research call center with 80 employees that will be trained and ready to start contact tracing work. He is preparing to bring on another 30 at a second call center, with a goal of hiring 250 contact tracers on Oahu to supplement those at the state Department of Health, which has been blamed for failing to build a robust tracing program….In addition, the city has spent part of its federal CARES Act money to secure a Waikiki hotel and acquire another hotel property in Aiea for quarantine and isolation of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases. It is also negotiating another hotel property, he said….
read … Honolulu is taking steps to keep the COVID-19 case count low
While DoH Dawdles, Community groups drive down COVID-19 cases among Pacific Islanders
HNN: …In just the last three weeks, Oahu has seen a dramatic drop in new COVID-19 cases in the Pacific Islander community.
The group, made up of Micronesians and Samoans, was the largest ethnic cluster of infections in Hawaii. Amid the peak in new infections in August, the group accounted for almost 40% of the state’s cases.
But since the beginning of September, community support and leaders have made incredible strides.
Pacific Islanders now make up 16% of the cases.
“It’s just fabulous. I want to stand up and cheer,” said Dr. DeWolfe Miller, a University of Hawaii epidemiology professor.
Miller had been tracking the data since the spring and helped organize a community testing site after seeing the spike in August. But he credits the Pacific Islander community for stepping up and taking action.
We Are Oceania is among the groups that sought to educate residents on the virus.
“The first thing was masks,” said Josie Howard, of WAO. "We all understand that masks play a big role in controlling the spread of this disease.”
Donations allowed WAO to distribute 100,000 masks and other PPE on Oahu and the Big Island.
“The private donations that we got from the community really helped because WAO didn’t have the capacity,” she said. "But we were able to get donations that allowed us to buy cleaning stuff, and gloves.”
Working with church groups, like Ohana Baptist Church, also helped educate people. Public service announcements were made in the various languages.
WAO also recently received some CARES Act money to help pay for hotel rooms to limit exposure. Howard said isolation was a huge problem before the funding came in.
She cited several cases where more than a dozen family members shared a small apartment unit.
When one person got infected, it would spread quickly through the home. Once WAO received funding, they were able to help stop the spread by moving healthy family members into hotels….
read … Doing the Job that Government Can’t Do
Antibody testing gives insight to COVID-19 among Hawaii Pacific Health workers
HNN: … Around 7,200 employees participated. The health care system announced the effort back in April to better understand what level of infection exists in the local population.
Now, several months into the test, researchers are learning more about the spread of the virus among residents and frontline workers.
“What we found is there was a very low rate of antibodies among our employees. Not unexpected. There was a low rate of infection in the community at the time, but what we also found is when we tested employees, doctors, nurses and other who’d cared for COVID patients and other employees who worked in offices and never saw a patient, there was no difference in their rate of antibody,” Dr. Melinda Ashton of Hawaii Pacific Health said.
“So it was very much the same and what we learned was our protective equipment approaches were working,” Ashton added….
HNN: Hawaii hospitals use antibody testing to better understand spread of COVID-19
read … Antibody testing gives insight to COVID-19 among Hawaii Pacific Health workers
COVID Fears Cut Hospital Admissions Sharply
HTH: … Hospital admissions and visits to Big Island emergency rooms are starting to rebound after drastically declining in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to information provided by Hilo Medical Center, daily visits to the emergency department decreased by 47% in April. Prior to the pandemic, the emergency department had an average of 4,300 visits per month, compared to 2,298 in April.
Those numbers, however, are creeping up, with 3,550 visits in July and 3,362 visits in August.
HMC admissions also were down significantly in April — 537 compared to an average of 720 per month before the pandemic — but are increasing. HMC had 686 admissions in July and 668 admissions in August.
Dan Brinkman, East Hawaii Regional CEO, Hawaii Health Systems Corp., said HMC patient volumes have declined approximately 10% compared to last year….
According to HMC, the hospital’s budgeted revenue for the 2020 fiscal year, which ended June 30, was $192 million, but actual revenue was $177 million, an 8% shortfall.
For the current fiscal year, HMC is anticipating another 10% revenue shortfall.
More than $11.5 million in federal funding provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act has “certainly helped bridge some of that gap through the fiscal year we’re in now,” Brinkman said….
read … Isle hospitals scraping by
Column: Action needed on education emergency
SA: … HawaiiKidsCAN created a petition asking the governor to direct $10 million in emergency funds under the CARES Act — called the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund — to help families educate their children in this time of crisis. States including North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota and Tennessee, have adopted policies that put money into the hands of families for critical education needs….
read … Column: Action needed on education emergency
Hawaii County Water Board proposes 13% rate hike; Public hearing set for Oct. 21
HTH: … The public will be able to weigh in Oct. 21 on an average 13% increase in island water rates, following action Tuesday by the county Water Board.
The 6 p.m. public hearing will be conducted via web conferencing, with connection details to be announced later….
The board voted unanimously to forward a plan to public hearing that assumes a 3.5% decrease in consumption because of a depressed COVID-19 economy, plus an increase in bad debt of 1.5% in 2021 and 3% in 2022.
The proposed hike translates to a $5.06 increase in monthly bills for a household on a 5/8-inch meter, the smallest, using 12,000 gallons. That’s 8% higher than the existing bill, said consultant Ann Hajnosz of Harris &Associate…
The proposed rate increase comes on the heels of an 11-cent increase per 1,000 gallons to the power cost charge approved in July that went into effect Aug. 1. That equates to an extra $1.32 per month for a family using 12,000 gallons.
The facilities charge, a hookup fee for new connections that was last increased in 2003, will increase 11%. For a 5/8-inch meter the rate will go to $5,500. That money, less than $2 million annually, is used to increase capacity of the system, not to maintain existing infrastructure….
read … Water Board proposes 13% rate hike
Hu Honua Treasure Trove -- Follow the Money
IM: … A massive legal fight is occurring in California between two major players in the Hu Honua fiasco. The Harold H.Robinson IV vs. Jennifer M. Johnson jury trial is scheduled for January and February 2021. What evidence will be admitted? Which witnesses will be excluded? Will there be a multi-million-dollar settlement?
Discovery in the California lawsuit has resulted in the public being able to see formerly classified financial information….
read … Hu Honua Treasure Trove -- Follow the Money
Miske sought cocaine supply deal with Mexican source, prosecutors say
ILind: … Two local men boarded a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Los Angeles on a mid-July day in 2014. Each carried a carry-on bag containing $200,000 in cash allegedly provided by Honolulu businessman Mike Miske, the owner of Kamaaina Termite and several other local companies now facing multiple criminal charges in federal court. The men’s assignment was to meet a “Mexican cocaine source” in Los Angeles and bring a load of the drug weighing more than 20 pounds back to Honolulu where it would be distributed and sold, the test run for what they hoped would become a new cocaine supply line to Hawaii for Miske’s “enterprise.”
These and other details of the 2014 drug deal are contained in a document filed last week in Honolulu’s federal district court.
One of the travelers, Michael Buntenbah (also known as Michael Malone), “had a reputation for moving (selling) large amounts of drugs quickly,” according to last week’s filing.
Buntenbah is one of ten people arrested and charged with being part of the criminal group headed by Miske, which allegedly used his businesses as fronts to either hide or facilitate crimes ranging from drug dealing to money laundering to murder….
read … Miske sought cocaine supply deal with Mexican source, prosecutors say
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