Waihee: Hawaii Secession Possible if Trump Reelected
COVID Count 68 new cases out of 4,234 tests
Special session of Hawaii Legislature may be needed to pass mask mandate
SA: …Maj Gen. Kenneth Hara said the state is looking to implement a statewide mask mandate to make the rules more uniform and easier to understand, and that a special session of the Hawaii Legislature may needed to pass it quickly to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are working with the state Legislature and the attorney general will put in a legislative proposal,” Hara said on Spotlight Hawaii this morning.
As it stands now, violators of the state or county mask mandate can be cited with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine or up to a year in jail.
Some people, including Lt. Gov. Josh Green, have advocated changing the punishment to a ticket and fine, similar to jaywalking. But to do that, the law itself must be changed by the Legislature, which is not set to reconvene until mid-January 2021.
“What we want to do is work with the Legislature to see if they’ll be willing to come in to do a special session to get that legislative proposal passed, so that we can implement the ticket/fine concept,” Hara said….
read … Special session of Hawaii Legislature may be needed to pass mask mandate, says Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara
Retail, restaurants see a sales bump with visitors back
MN: … Maui retailers and restaurants, among the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, reported an almost immediate bump in sales after the state offered the pre-travel testing option to trans-Pacific travelers about two weeks ago.
“We noticed on the (Oct.) 16th it just doubled in sales,” Malia Stewart, manager at Paia Fish Market’s flagship restaurant on the north shore, said Friday. “It’s been pretty consistent since then.”
Many small businesses have mixed feelings, though, about having to adapt to more traffic coupled with stringent state Department of Health COVID-19 measures required to stay open. Funding to be compliant and enforcing social distancing, mask-wearing and sanitizing add layers of complexity to owning and operating a business.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in sales — maybe 10 to 20 percent more,” Melodee Ajifu, supervisor of Baked On Maui, a family-owned and operated bakery in Haiku, said Friday. “We love the business, but we are trying to keep everyone safe….
HNN: Restrictions still in place, visitors try to make the most of their Hawaii vacations
read … Retail, restaurants see a sales bump with visitors back
More Hysteria from Failed ‘Experts’ -- Now Project Hawaii 900 cases a day by February
HNN: … Scientists (who have gotten it wrong before) believe Hawaii’s true caseload is much higher than what’s reported because most people have no symptoms and so they aren’t getting tested. (This is a truism designed to make the authors seem reasonable.)
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington said Hawaii may actually be averaging about 215 daily cases right now — rather than the 80 to 90 being reported. (There it is again.)
They say if restrictions are eased, Hawaii could shoot up to 900 cases a day by February…. (This is what they are selling. They’ve sold us projections before….)
Same ‘Experts’, Same Hysteria FAILS April, 2020: Zero Deaths from COVID on So-Called Experts 'Peak' Day
read … Study: Number of active COVID-19 infections in Hawaii likely far higher than reported
Increased fares for Oahu public transit introduced in City Council
SA:… The Honolulu City Council will consider increased fares for public transportation after two bills were recently introduced.
Bill 89 would set up a fare structure for the city bus and, when applicable, the rail system, and increase fares nearly across the board, while Bill 87 would increase the fare for the city’s paratransit services.
Both bills were introduced Thursday by City Council Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi by request after the Honolulu Rate Commission had finished its deliberations for fare schedules.
On Oct. 21 the commission sent its recommendation for a fare increase for paratransit services to Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Kobayashi and the Department of Transportation Services.
Bill 89 would take effect in July and falls in line with the Rate Commission’s suggestions, which would increase adults’ single rides to $3, monthly passes to $80 and annual passes to $880.
Prices for children ages 6 to 17 and high school students who are 18 or 19 years old would increase to $1.50, $40 and $440. Seniors, people with disabilities and Medicare cardholders would see their prices increase to $1.25, $20 and $45.
Children 5 years old and younger would continue to ride for free.
Bill 87 similarly goes along with the Rate Commission’s recommendation to increase the fare for a one-way Handi-Van trip to $2.25, up from $2. The fare hasn’t been increased since 2001.
The commission said in its Oct. 21 recommendation that the goal is to have single-ride fares for the Handi-Van and TheBus eventually become the same.
read … Increased fares for Oahu public transit introduced in City Council
COVID Justice: ‘Released on Recognizance’ after bust allegedly nets $1M coke, cash and jewelry
HTH: … A 33-year-old Waimea man facing felony charges in a major drug bust is free on his own recognizance without posting bail.
Hawaii Police Department Assistant Chief Robert Wagner, the department’s Kona operations commander, said Alika Akima, who’s charged with two counts of promotion of a dangerous drug in the first degree — a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment upon conviction — and misdemeanor marijuana possession, was released because of the COVID-19 pandemic after being charged.
“We conferred with prosecutors about this to see what they’re going to do,” Wagner said Friday. “They’re releasing all but the most violent (offenders).”…
As of Oct. 19, there were 248 inmates in Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo, 42 above its design capacity of 226 and 22 above its “operational capacity” of 226 — the latter number is the one the state Department of Public Safety uses when calculating a facility’s occupancy rate.
According to DPS calculations, HCCC is the only facility within the state with an inmate head count above operational capacity….
Kona Vice and South Kohala Patrol officers executed a search warrant Tuesday at a Kipahele Street home in Waimea, assisted by agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. According to police, that search turned up 7.25 pounds of cocaine, just over a quarter-pound of methamphetamine, and slightly more than a half-ounce of marijuana.
Wagner said the cocaine has a street value of $410,862, and the street value of the methamphetamine is $8,500.
In addition, officers seized for potential forfeiture $353,398 in cash, jewelry Wagner described as “predominately gold chains” valued at $117,000, a .223 caliber semi-automatic rife and three vehicles — a 2008 Toyota pickup truck, a 2008 Toyota sport-utility vehicle and a 2018 Polaris utility vehicle….
Business is Up During Shutdown: Oahu Drug Related Crashes up 60%
read … Nearly $1M in coke, cash and jewelry seized in Waimea drug bust
2013 shooting was apparent attempt on the life of Miske’s brother, John Stancil
ILind: … Thinking about the big picture, I wonder whether Rapozo was connected with a group of drug dealers who were ripped off by Stancil and other Miske associates, in the same manner as several armed robbery incidents included in the Miske indictments….
read … 2013 shooting was apparent attempt on the life of Miske’s brother, John Stancil
Guzman details ongoing friction with Victorino
MN: … Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino is seeking to remove Prosecuting Attorney Don Guzman because he allegedly raised his voice during a meeting to reprimand a deputy prosecutor, amid a backdrop of disagreements between Guzman and Victorino in recent months, Guzman said Friday….
Guzman said he has been on vacation leave for a couple of weeks, with First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rivera serving as acting prosecutor….
The mayor’s resolution seeking Guzman’s removal will be heard at 9 a.m. Thursday by the council Governance, Ethics and Transparency Committee.
Leading up to the mayor’s decision to remove Guzman, he and Victorino “have not seen eye to eye on many issues,” Guzman said.
He said that a week after his appointment was confirmed by the County Council, Victorino wanted Guzman to sign a resignation letter with the date left blank.
“I refused to pre-sign the resignation letter because that would circumvent the charter, causing checks and balances to be ignored and denying the council its authority and power,” Guzman said. “Such a maneuver would allow the mayor to usurp the council’s charter authority to make the final decision as per removal of the director, thereby resulting in a facade that there is a balance of power.
“Such a pre-signed resignation creates unilateral power in the mayor, which is contrary to the charter’s intent to maintain checks and balances of power.”…
“The dilemma that these pre-signed resignations cause is a choice between what is appropriate under their charter fiduciary duties to run their department and make decisions for the public interest versus challenging the mayor or working with the council, which could put them at risk of resignation.”…
Other conflicts surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic when police issued more than 2,000 citations for violations of the governor’s and mayor’s public health emergency rules.
“The mayor ordered that 100 percent of the cases be brought to trial regardless of whether there was adequate evidence to prosecute,” Guzman said. “I refused to follow his order and proceeded to dismiss 38 percent or more cases because there were defective citations and insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In July, when Guzman joined the mayor, council members and others for a blessing of the Maui Lani roundabout, a project that Guzman had advocated for as a council member, Victorino yelled at Guzman for wearing an orange polo shirt, he said. “He then ordered me to never wear any orange-colored shirts at any government-sponsored functions or events,” Guzman said.
Guzman supporters were known as ‘Ohana Orange, and orange was the theme color for Guzman’s campaigns for the County Council’s Kahului residency seat, as well as for mayor in 2018, when he ran against Victorino and former Council Member Elle Cochran….
He noted that Maui County is the only county in the state that has a prosecuting attorney appointed by the mayor. The prosecuting attorney is elected in the other three counties.
“I refused to resign and chose to take this matter to the council because I feel that they represent the people from each district in the county,” Guzman said….
read … Guzman cites ongoing friction with Victorino
Fevella proposes change in steward of Mauna Kea
TGI: … Sen. Kurt Fevella (R – ‘Ewa Beach, Ocean Pointe, ‘Ewa by Gentry, Iroquois Point, portion of ‘Ewa Villages) has issued an open letter to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the consultant recommending that the University of Hawai‘i be replaced as the steward of the department’s Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan by a nonprofit Native Hawaiian group or groups that the senator believes will be a better “caretaker of the ‘aina of Mauna Kea” than UH has proven to be “ever since the first telescope was proposed and built there 50 years ago in 1970.”
The DLNR is currently having an outside consultant, Ku‘iwalu Consulting, whose principal is Dawn Chang, conduct an independent evaluation of how well UH is managing the CMP….
read … Fevella proposes change in steward of Mauna Kea
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