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Friday, June 4, 2021
June 4, 2021 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:30 PM :: 2202 Views

Map: How Many are Vaccinated in Your Zip Code?

DLIR: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Recipients will Have to Look for Work

Nominees Sought for Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court

HB862: House Finance Chair Admits Purpose of TAT hike is to Reduce Tourism

CB: … To Hawaii’s tourism industry, House Bill 862 is a jobs killer, coming just as Hawaii is starting to recover from an economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

“It’s all about timing,” said Mufi Hannemann, a former Honolulu mayor who now heads the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association. “We still have a lot of people who are unemployed, over 50,000. This is where we have to be very careful.”

But as Hawaii Rep. Sylvia Luke sees it, the measure responds to public calls to rein in the tourism industry, which had grown to more than 10 million visitors annually before the pandemic. If higher hotel taxes do lead to fewer people, and those who do come spend more money, Luke said, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Isn’t that what people want?” asked Luke, who chairs the House Finance Committee. “And then we have all these people coming out against it. We were just floored.”….

Hannemann agreed the counties might not need to impose the full 3% taxes.

“But they will,” he said. “They have ice cream in front of them.”….

read … House Finance Chair: Fewer Tourists Is ‘What People Want’

Rebuild Aloha Stadium? That’s Not A Good Idea

CB: … there is legislation to build a new 30,000-seat stadium next to the existing stadium, funded by at least $170 million from general obligation bonds that come directly from taxpayer money.

But Gov. David Ige should veto House Bill 1348, even though he approved the bond authorization for the development two years ago and even though his own administration, a majority of state legislators and more than a half-dozen construction unions support the measure.

The cold reality is that Hawaii, one of the few states without a professional sports team, doesn’t need a large football stadium.

UH has already arranged to upgrade Clarence T.C. Ching Field at the Manoa campus to allow the Rainbow Warriors to play for the next three years. It will seat 9,000 spectators and, with zoning changes, could accommodate as many as 15,000. Given that in 2019 the Warriors sold between 12,000 and 13,000 season tickets, that sounds about right….

read … Rebuild Aloha Stadium? That’s Not A Good Idea

Governor expected to loosen coronavirus restrictions as Hawaii nears 60% fully vaccinated

KHON: … According to the Department of Health (DOH), 52% of Hawaii residents are fully vaccinated while 59% of residents have received at least one dose….

“In two to three weeks, we will touch 60% [fully vaccinated],” explained Lt. Gov. Josh Green. “And I believe Governor Ige will make some really significant announcements in the next day or so.”…

HNN: State scrambles to vaccinate more inmates as it grapples with ongoing outbreak

SA: Hawaii’s coronavirus vaccine incentive campaign will launch Friday

read … Governor expected to loosen coronavirus restrictions as Hawaii nears 60% fully vaccinated

Most Hawaii adults fully vaccinated, but survey finds 12% don’t plan to get COVID-19 vaccine

SA: … Although nearly 70% of Hawaii adults recently polled are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and an additional 7% are partially vaccinated, there are still 12% who say they don’t intend to get any of the COVID-19 inoculations available to them.

Those are the results of a statewide survey of 412 random residents May 18-26 by SMS Research & Marketing Service Inc. of Honolulu.

According to the independent and non-sponsored survey, another 12% have yet to be vaccinated but still plan to get it accomplished….

read … Most Hawaii adults fully vaccinated, but survey finds 12% don’t plan to get COVID-19 vaccine

Mitsunaga Executive Refuses to Testify, Gets Locked Up

HNN: … An … executive from engineering firm Mitsunaga & Associates was jailed for several days last month after failing to report to the federal courthouse for a grand jury proceeding, Hawaii News Now has learned.

Arnold Koya, 73, is a vice president with the firm. Records from the Bureau of Prisons show he was an inmate at the Honolulu federal detention center and released on May 24.

Mitsunaga & Associates has close ties to embattled former prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, a target of an ongoing federal corruption investigation.

Numerous employees from the firm have been called to testify over several months, but Koya is the only one HNN has identified who was jailed for not showing up….

read … Kaneshiro grand jury witness jailed for not showing up to testify

Online learning took a heavy toll on students.

HNN: … Online learning left thousands of students behind ― and teachers, counselors and mentors had their work cut out for them to help Hawaii’s keiki.

The state Department of Education doesn’t have figures yet for how many students missed the mark for graduation, and officials hope that summer learning programs will help fill the gap.

But according to DOE data from March, about 1 in 4 seniors weren’t on track to get their diploma. Many younger kids were having trouble, too. Some 35% of middle schoolers were behind in mathematics and 40% in language arts, according to the DOE data….

read … Online learning took a heavy toll on students.

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