This Day in History: Truman Announces Hiroshima Bombing
Ige Mandates Vax or Testing for Public Employees--Unions Resist
Chief Justice Recktenwald Statement on COVID Vaccinations
Feds Give Hawaii DoE $137M to Support School Reopening
Hawaii Fishermen Concerned Over Growing Chinese Presence
An $11.5 million renovation of Miske’s home? I don’t know….
Ilind: … according to the Memorandum of Plea Agreement of the accountant, Tricia Castro, “portions of an $11.5 million renovation to Miske’s personal residence were expensed as business expenses.”….
Miske purchased it on April 14, 2010 for $2,350,000, property records show.
Part of the purchase price was covered by a $1,175,000 conventional mortgage loan from Pacific Rim Bank. The mortgage loan was to Miske as trustee of the Michael J. Miske Revocable Living Trust….
Miske’s Kamaaina Plumbing replaced Ozzy’s Construction, a Waimanalo-based company, as general contractor for this project mid-way through the job, according to city’s online building permit database. To the extent that Miske used his own or related companies on these jobs, thewe would offer potential for padding costs and payrolls…
In March 2018, after construction was completed Miske took out a Bank of Hawaii loan for $1,999,999 secured by the new home, this time borrowing as an individual. The previous year, “several financial institutions terminated banking relationships with Mr. Miske and KTPC, without explanation,” and Miske then retained a criminal defense lawyer, according to a declaration filed in federal court last year.
Then on June 14, 2019, just a month before Miske was named in a sealed indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, he received a $500,000 line of credit from Hawaii Central FCU. This loan was again made to Miske as trustee for his revocable living trust.
As an aside: Miske’s home was the location for several weeks of shooting for the upcoming Amazon series, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” based on the original 1997 slasher movie….
read … An $11.5 million renovation of Miske’s home? I don’t know….
Accused Honolulu crime boss Mike Miske pleads not guilty
KHON: … Miske is charged with 17 offenses that include drug trafficking and weapons offenses, armed robbery, kidnapping, and murder for hire. His federal jury trial is set for March 21, 2022.
In related news, last Friday, the court unsealed the indictment, which was revised to add Delia Fabro-Miske and Jason Yokoyama as Defendants 12 and 13. The superseding indictment shows Fabro-Miske is charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of bank fraud. She is Miske's daughter in law.
Fabro-Miske turned herself in to the US Marshall on Thursday. She appears on court on Friday.
Yokoyama is charged in racketeering acts and was Miske's associate. On Thursday, he pled not guilty. The state filed a motion for Yokoyama to be held without bail; he's scheduled to be back in court on Friday for that….
read … Accused Honolulu crime boss Mike Miske pleads not guilty
Cabinet Kala: Who Gets Campaign Cash From Top State Officials
CB: … Gov. David Ige has received $103,000 from his current and former cabinet members, who have also donated more than $86,000 to state and county lawmakers….
In his last year in office, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell also reported raising campaign funds from more than a dozen city officials.
Besides Ige, top recipients of those cabinet donations were Sen. Jill Tokuda and Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz….
Dela Cruz is the chair of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee, which has control of the state budget and dozens of bills affecting state agencies that move through the Legislature every year. Tokuda is the immediate past chairwoman of the same committee….
read … Cabinet Kala: Who Gets Campaign Cash From Top State Officials
Unvaccinated pregnant mother who almost lost baby urges others to get the shot
HNN: … An unvaccinated pregnant mother who almost lost her baby and nearly died after getting COVID is urging other expecting moms to get the shot.
Colleen Bonds says she doesn’t want anyone else to experience the pain and suffering that she and her family went through.
Bonds was released from the Queen’s Medical Center on Wednesday after being in the ICU for nearly two weeks. She was intubated and hooked up to a ventilator.
She was 28 weeks pregnant, unvaccinated and contracted COVID-19 from her husband….
read … Unvaccinated pregnant mother who almost lost baby urges others to get the shot
Will UPW Members Quit Rather than Take Vax?
MN: … Liz Ho, administrator for UPW AFSCME Local 646, acknowledged that some employees in her union “may” leave their jobs due to the mandate.
“That’s their right, their option to decide if that’s the route they want to take. No one has expressed that to me as of today, so we are just waiting to see. I don’t know,” said Ho, whose union includes adult corrections officers….
Big Q: Do you support requiring COVID-19 vaccines for state and county government workers? -- 89% ‘YES’
read … Unions are concerned about vaccine mandate for workers
On Maui, hundreds protest mandatory vaccines for student athletes
HNN: … Many parents on Maui say mandatory vaccines for student athletes are unacceptable.
“Now it’s mandatory. If you want to play sports in high school, you need to get vaccinated, and that just blows my mind how the DOE is allowing that. How our government is allowing that,” said Kendall Grove, father of six.
Hundreds rallied outside the state Department of Education Maui district office on High Street in Wailuku on Thursday morning trying to get the attention of state and county employees.
The DOE announced on Wednesday that all Hawaii public high school student athletes are required to get a COVID vaccine in order to play fall sports….
Kendall and Anna’s eldest son plays football for Baldwin High School. Anna said they decided to send him to live with family on the mainland so he can play football unvaccinated….
Uilani Tevaga, a mother of five, asked Baz to be a voice for them.
“I don’t want to see another kanaka leave the island for better opportunity because of a shot. I don’t understand that. We just really pleading with you as our leaders, as kanaka of this island, to communicate that to the powers that be,” Tevaga said.
Baz says Mayor Victorino believes the vaccine is completely safe and the choice not to get it has consequences….
Big Q: Do you support requiring COVID-19 vaccines for state and county government workers? -- 89% ‘YES’
MN: Column: Now what? Answers coming soon after DOE’s bombshell decision -- “Should have required vax months ago for student athletes, coaches, support staff, teachers. It is ridiculous, selfish, and 100 percent reason for this surge. Ugh. Heartbroken for these kids.”
SA: Petition underway against Hawaii public school sports delay
read … On Maui, hundreds protest mandatory vaccines for student athletes
Educated People Almost 100% Vaccinated
HNN: … Iolani School says this fall there’s no mandate for teachers since 99% are already vaccinated. But seventh through 12 grade students, who are at 96% vaccination, are now required to get the shot….
Mid-Pacific Institute has 1,400 students. The school says more than 97% of its staff is vaccinated….
Parker School on Hawaii Island is mandating the vaccine for everyone on campus….
read … Hawaii private schools are taking different approaches to vaccine mandates
Hawaii distance learning options are limited, increase in demand is leaving some in limbo
HNN: … About 1% to 3% of students are in distance learning statewide, but the DOE said the demand is going up. The reason? Parents are worried.
“I don’t want them to catch COVID,” BJ Shavers explained. Shavers has two kids enrolled in public school….
Unebasami said every school has a contingency plan if case counts get out of control, but they do not have a threshold that would trigger hybrid or full virtual classes.
“We’re interested in what others are using as triggers because we would use that to help make the department of education,” Unebasami said….
KITV: Some public school parents say state's distance learning options fall short
read … Hawaii distance learning options are limited, increase in demand is leaving some in limbo
Gov. David Ige says Hawaii eviction moratorium to end Friday
SA: … Hawaii renters will have a 30-day pause on evictions after receiving an eviction notice, and Ige urged both renters and landlords to contact their local mediation centers about their rights ….
CB: Oahu Hasn’t Spent Tens Of Millions In Rent Aid As State Eviction Ban Expires
KHON: Aug. 6: Hawaii’s eviction moratorium expires, landlords begin eviction process
read … Gov. David Ige says Hawaii eviction moratorium to end Friday
‘Something violent happened’: Trial opens for foster parent accused of killing toddler
HTH: … Trial began Thursday for a 47-year-old Waimea woman charged with murder in connection with the 2017 death of 3-year-old Fabian Garett-Garcia.
Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie was indicted by a Kona grand jury in October 2019 and pleaded not guilty to a single charge of second-degree murder, which is punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole….
On the night of Garett-Garcia’s death, July 25, 2017, paramedics who arrived within minutes of the 911 call found the toddler not breathing.
Perazich said Alcosiba-McKenzie claimed Garett-Garcia fell on his face that day while wearing virtual reality (VR) goggles. Paramedics observed bruising on the child’s face, neck, and torso.
However, Perazich said the autopsy report stated the child died of blunt force trauma to the head and a fall did not cause his death, that injuries he suffered were akin to a severe car crash or fall from 30 feet…
Next to take the stand were employees of Child Welfare Services (CWS) who testified Alcosiba-McKenzie was very good at complying with reports and medical appointments for the children. She told them after his fall, Garett-Garcia took a nap and began to vomit, but his youngest sibling had a flu so she thought he caught the illness too.
One social worker testified the boys were rowdy and would often hit each other, and she had no concerns about Alcosiba-McKenzie as a foster parent, however, the child’s biological parents expressed concerned that the kids were getting hurt.
A CWS supervisor testified she first received the Garett-Garcia case in 2015 because the home the children were living in with their parents had no running water, electricity or refrigeration and was considered an unsafe environment. She said Alcosiba-McKenzie was a loving foster parent and never had any problems with previous foster children.
Garett-Garcia’s guardian ad litem, a court-appointed advocate for the child, said she never suspected neglect or abuse in the Alcosiba-McKenzie home, and did not object to the other two siblings staying there after the tragedy….
read … Another CWS Failure?
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