Doctors Tell State of Hawaii: ‘I’m leaving’
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted March 20, 2021
Hypocrisy: Legislators Set to Scoop 10% Salary Hike This Year
CB: … members of the entire Legislature, will be getting a pay raise this year: a 10% increase in their salaries, which translates to over $6,000 per year each or about $3 per hour. The raise is effective as of July of this year. In 2024, members of the Legislature are slated to get yet another $3 per hour increase….
SA Editorial: SB1127 -- Restore funds for most vulnerable
Meanwhile: Rep Har DUI Arrest: Smelled of Alcohol, Yelled 'Black Lives Matter'
read … Hypocrisy in Hawaii's House of Representatives
Hawaii ‘Vaccine Passport’ Coming by Mid-May?
CB: … Officially, Gov. David Ige’s administration isn’t talking. Hawaii’s public health director, Dr. Libby Char, recently called a vaccine passport for Hawaii “a possibility” but didn’t respond to an interview request for this article. Gen. Kenneth Hara, who leads the state’s response as director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, declined to comment.
But unofficially, there are signs that a passport could be coming in time for summer. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who serves as the state’s COVID-19 liaison and who helped develop a program that lets people skip a 10-day quarantine by getting a negative test, said that while “there’s no official date,” he thinks a vaccine passport for travelers to Hawaii could be in place by May 15.
Meanwhile, although executives with the firm working to develop Hawaii’s passport wouldn’t comment for this article, a spokeswoman for CommonPass wrote in an email that, “We have some news that corresponds to your query going out next week.”
While there are several vaccine passports in the works – most notably ones being created by IBM, CommonPass’ parent The Commons Project, an aviation outfit called Verifly and the International Air Transportation Association – they all would generally do the same thing: provide proof that the person carrying the document had been vaccinated.
The obvious application for Hawaii is to enable travelers into the state more easily, by using proof of vaccination instead of a negative test….
Green sees it also helping special events, like weddings, as well as the Honolulu Marathon, usually held in mid-December before the holiday season, and the IRONMAN World Championship Triathlon in October on the Big Island.
“The marathon and the Ironman become possible if you have a vaccine passport to help,” Green said….
read … A Hawaii ‘Vaccine Passport’ Could Open Door To Weddings, Concerts And More Tourism
HPD Orders Anti-Vaxxer Rally to Disperse—Two Arrested
HNN: … Two people were arrested and two others cited in Waikiki for violating emergency rules Saturday following a large rally at Kapiolani Park.
The rally, organized by the Aloha Freedom Coalition, drew hundreds of people to the park to protest the use of masks among other COVID restrictions.
HPD eventually showed up in force in response to the gathering. At one point, there was a heated exchange between participants and officers where one woman was forced to the ground….HPD gave verbal warnings to the crowd to disperse over loud speakers….
Flyer: Anti-Vaxxers to Rally at Kapiolani Park
read … Rally over COVID rules draws large crowd, strong HPD response to Kapiolani Park
Hawaii 8th-highest Vaccinated Percentage (or 9th)
AP: … A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina and Florida that raced ahead of others to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut….
(Purpose of article: Get DeSantis.)
Alaska maintained a high vaccination rate with a smaller eligible population, then threw shots open to everyone 16 and older March 9. This big increase in eligible adults near the end of the period studied led the AP and Surgo Ventures to omit Alaska from the analysis.
(OK. So Hawaii is really 9th.)
The analysis found that as of March 10, Hawaii had the lowest percentage of its adult population eligible for vaccination, at about 26%. Yet Hawaii had administered 42,614 doses per 100,000 adults, the eighth-highest rate in the country….
(Because Hawaii public worker unions organized their members to jump the line very efficiently.)
Among high-performing states, five in the top 10 for high vaccination rates — New Mexico, North Dakota, Connecticut, Wyoming and Hawaii — stuck with more restrictive eligibility.
(Yeah. Age 75 plus the friends and family plan for HSTA and HGEA.)
read … A rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollout backfired in some US states
Maui Lagging: Only 51% of 75+ Kupuna Vaccinated
KHON: … Recent data from the Department of Health shows Maui County is lagging behind when it comes to vaccinating those 75 and older.
Right now, Kauai County, Oahu, and the Big Island all have over 70 percent of their residents 75 and older getting at least the first dose of the vaccine.
In Maui County, that number is only 51 percent. This comes as the state is already expanding eligibility to Phase 1C, which includes those 65 and over…..
read … Lagging
Honolulu Council Hopes Federal Relief Can Reverse Cuts In Blangiardi Budget
CB: … Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s budget proposal includes cuts in every city department, and City Council members have expressed concern that his plan leaves critical needs unfunded.
But an influx of federal cash has the potential to fill some of the perceived gaps.
The city is anticipating the delivery of approximately $395 million from the American Rescue Plan, the federal COVID-19 stimulus act, according to city officials.
Exactly where that money will be spent has not been determined. Blangiardi hasn’t specified his priorities for the federal funds other than a desire to target the “most needy” residents.
While the previous mayor was given wide latitude to spend $387 million in CARES Act money last year without going through the traditional City Council budgeting process, it may be different for Blangiardi.
The new council headed by chair Tommy Waters has made clear it wants more of a say this time around. …
Related: Blangiardi Submits City Budget
read … Honolulu Council Hopes Federal Relief Can Reverse Cuts In Blangiardi Budget
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