VIDEO: Should Government Account for Long-Term Liabilities?
Mobility Data Shows Fewer Residents Staying at Home
Hawaii Unemployment Drops to 9.0%
Hawaii: Anti-Gun Bills Go to Governor
Sacrifice? Hawaii Board of Education Approves Pay Boosts For Complex Area Leaders
CB: … The Hawaii Board of Education voted 5-3 to approve pay increases for the state’s 15 complex area superintendents on Thursday but deferred on similar proposed increases for the deputy superintendent and seven assistant superintendents due to pandemic-related economic concerns.
Though the original proposal was to approve raises for all of these positions, board member Dwight Takeno moved late in the day to give them only to the complex area superintendents due to the uncertain financial outlook for the state Department of Education and questionable optics over executive pay boosts amid the coronavirus crisis.
Complex area superintendents, who are in charge of the district spanning a high school and its feeder schools, make between $145,000 and $175,000 a year. The deputy superintendent makes between $155,000 and $185,000 a year while the assistant superintendents make between $150,000 to $180,000 a year….
(Obviously these people are suffering.)
The proposed pay boosts of up to 3% of total pay are tied to one’s overall performance rating. In a memo advocating for the raises, superintendent Christina Kishimoto said 18 of the total 23 positions considered would be eligible for a raise this year based on performance reviews.
That would amount to $70,000, or .0055% of the DOE’s general fund personnel costs, she said.
“I know there may be (an issue over) optics, because the public doesn’t necessarily understand the nuances of the year this applies to,” she told board members….
(Translation: She just said you are too stupid to understand these raises.)
read … Hawaii Board of Education Approves Pay Boosts For Complex Area Leaders
Hawaii Safe Travels coronavirus vaccine passport timeline pushed back
KHON: … “The mayors and the governor all seem to be on board, but there are some small details to work through, among them, making sure people have their cards,” explained Green.
Discussions are underway to figure out what to do if a traveler loses the physical vaccine card before arrival and only has a photo. Other concerns are the bottleneck at the airport when demand picks up. Making sure screeners can handle the high number of arrivals is also a priority.
Green said, he believes it will be easier at the airport to separate, check and verify people who have and have not received the vaccine.
“I think that all the questions that were raised in the meeting we had were solved by midafternoon,” Green said on Thursday, April 15….
Meanwhile: Pfizer CEO says third Covid vaccine dose likely needed within 12 months
(Really Obvious Question: If the vax is going to be annual, will the vaccine passport be used indefinitely as an internal passport system which discriminates against anti-vaxxers—ie Republicans and evangelicals?)
read … Hawaii Safe Travels coronavirus vaccine passport timeline pushed back
UH considers COVID vaccination mandate for students and employees
HNN: … The University of Hawaii is weighing the possibility of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for its community -- except for those who cannot receive the vaccine due to health reasons.
UH President David Lassner told the Board of Regents Thursday morning that at least 50 American colleges and universities plan to require coronavirus vaccines by the Fall semester.
Lassner said he is looking at the legality of this proposal.
He and the Board of Regents are also trying to find ways they can offer vaccines or tests to students coming from out of state.
“A second kind of approach would be to strongly urge it rather than requiring it,” Lassner said….
(This will bar anti-vax conspiracy theorists from university.)
read … UH considers COVID vaccination mandate for students and employees
Post-Arrival COVID Testing at Big Island Airports Winds Down
BIN: … Thursday marked the beginning of the end for COVID-19 testing at Big Island airports, as Premier Medical Group took its leave to refocus efforts on administering vaccinations.
Basis Dx, a California-based medical entity, will pick up post-arrival testing duties on the Big Island after being enlisted to the task by Hawai´i County Mayor Mitch Roth. How long the company will engage in airport testing of visitor arrivals and returning residents across the Big Island remains an open question, though the Mayor’s Office indicated Thursday that the timetable is not likely to stretch on for a protracted period.
“We are looking to steer away from post-arrival testing come the end of the month,” Cyrus Johnasen, the administration’s communication director, wrote in an email to Big Island Now….
“Between the dates of Dec. 15, 2020, and March 31, 2021, the County of Hawaiʻi relinquished all fiscal responsibility related to post-arrival airport testing to our private philanthropist partners who created a new contract with Premier Medical Group (PMG),” Mayor Roth said. “We did, however, oversee the daily operations of the Hilo and Kona airports during the same period.”
“When an agreement could no longer be reached between PMG and our partners, we took back fiscal responsibility on April 1,” the mayor’s statement continued. “In our resumption of fiscal responsibility for airport testing, we chose to seek lower testing rates, as public monies would incur the cost. PMG had notified us of a steep increase in rates, which led us to part ways.”…
But the end of airport testing will not be the end of Premier Medical Group’s involvement with COVID-19 protection and prevention on the Big Island.
“Moving forward, (Premier) will realign with our original mission and focus on Hawai´i County’s most vulnerable community members. We will continue to serve all interested in the benefits of our COVID-19 testing,” Miscovich said. “In collaboration with the (State) Department of Health, Premier will distribute vaccines in the community and maintain our testing program.”
Miscovich added that the group will deploy two mobile vaccination teams and will likely assume responsibilities for all large scale vaccination programs in Kailua-Kona by early May….
WHT: Airport COVID-19 testers ousted
read … Post-Arrival COVID Testing at Big Island Airports Winds Down
Legislature Did Nothing About Agribusiness Development Corporation
CB: … The end of the session is looming and lawmakers have failed to deal with the ADC….
Companion bills in the House and Senate — House Bill 827 and Senate Bill 335 — called for the ADC to ensure that at least 50% of its leased land went to operations whose primary business is local food production. House Bill 1271 went further: In recognition of the ADC’s abject failure, it called for the organization to be dissolved and for the Department of Agriculture to take over its operations….
read … Hawaii's Agriculture Development Agency Needs To Be A Priority For Lawmakers
Honolulu office vacancy rate jumps as Covid effect echoes through Q1
PBN: … Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Oahu posted a loss of 72,800 jobs between January 2020 and January 2021, with the hospitality and retail sectors suffering the greatest losses, the report by Colliers International Hawaii said. Since each job equates to about 140 square feet to 150 square feet of occupancy in Oahu’s office market, if those job losses become permanent, it could mean a loss of more than 1 million square feet of occupancy, Colliers said. “There are rough waters ahead, but being optimistic, there are also opportunities presenting themselves for office users,” said Neal Hafner, a senior associate in Colliers’ office division in Honolulu. Colliers’ islandwide vacancy rate of 12.69% was an increase of 1.11 percentage points from 11.58% in the fourth quarter, which Colliers said broke the record for quarter-over-quarter increases. The loss of 161,460 square feet of occupancy, or negative absorption, exceeded “even the worst quarterly performances reported during the Great Recession in 2008.” CBRE’s report came in with an islandwide vacancy rate of 15%, from 12.8% in the fourth quarter. CBRE reported 209,374 square feet of negative absorption for the quarter….
read … Honolulu office vacancy rate jumps as Covid effect echoes through Q1
Legislative News:
Corona Virus News:
QUICK HITS: