UHERO: Delta Wave Swamps Tourism
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Supreme Court Allows Investigation of Anti-Telescope Group
Police Officer Falsely Accused Senator, Police Critic of Being At Massage Parlor Raid
CB: … A Honolulu police officer received an unspecified administrative action for falsely accusing a former state senator of patronizing an illicit massage parlor.
The decision came after former state Sen. Will Espero filed a complaint with the Honolulu Police Department regarding the social media post made by Officer Chester Desiderio that claimed that Espero escaped a police raid of a “certain” massage parlor.
That complaint was sustained earlier this month, according to a letter from the HPD’s Professional Standards Office to Espero….
The initial complaint was made on April 29 and was in reference to an exchange Espero had with Desiderio on a Civil Beat Facebook post. The post shared an April 20 article about the Honolulu Police Department refusing to release body camera footage of its officers shooting and killing 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap.
In the comments, Espero, who served as state senator from 2002 until 2018, called for the footage to be released.
“Be transparent. Release the tragic video of a child being shot. The video belongs in the public domain,” he wrote, calling the choice not to release the footage a “bad decision.”
Moments later, Desiderio shot back at Espero, tagging the former senator in his post.
“Will Espero, I am an honest citizen and member of the community who saw through your lies and didn’t vote for you!!!” Desiderio wrote.
The officer then added, “Will Espero, remember the time when you was at a certain massage parlor and when HPD came to raid the place you went exit in the back to escape. Wow so quick to bash HPD aren’t you.”…
read … Police Officer Falsely Accused Former State Senator Of Being At Massage Parlor Raid
Hawaii’s High Cost Of Living Just Keeps Getting Higher
CB: … Rising gasoline and housing prices are driving up living costs for isle families, offsetting wage gains that had appeared to offer a bright spot in a tepid economic recovery….
…the Consumer Price Index rose 4.6% for July compared to the same month in 2020, according to the latest available data. That compared to a 4.6% increase in June, 3.8% in May and 2.8% in April….
read … Hawaii’s High Cost Of Living Just Keeps Getting Higher
Ag Board Chair Admits Auditor is Right
SA: … Thursday’s appearance by Phyllis Shimabukuro- Geiser — chairwoman of the state Board of Agriculture and a member of the ADC board who was the only person to appear before Thursday’s hearing — lacked the tension and fireworks that have occurred during three appearances by state Auditor Les Kondo.
During the first two weeks of hearings, Kondo has questioned why he was subpoenaed to testify under oath and repeatedly advised that he had the right to legal counsel. Kondo, a lawyer who has not been accompanied by counsel, has tangled repeatedly with House Majority Leader and committee Chairwoman Della Au Belatti and has not gotten an explanation of why he and his office are under investigation for its separate audits of land management by the ADC and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
On Thursday there was no suggestion of impropriety over the way the audit of the ADC was conducted in either questions to Shimabukuro-Geiser, her answers or in her opening and closing statements.
Instead, Shimabukuro- Geiser backed up some of the critical findings of the ADC audit, including that the ADC suffered from poor planning….
read … No fireworks in auditor investigation
It was all Fake: After Decades of Lawyering and ‘Historic Win’ Kuleana farmers say water promised hasn’t come
MN: … Over the last two decades, kalo farmer Emilou Alves said she’s never seen anything like it.
Alves testified this week that her Native Hawaiian family, along with other South Waikapu kuleana kalo farmers, have had zero to “very minimal” water for their lo’i since October of last year. Even in times of drought, it’s never been this bad.
Going without water for nearly a year — especially when a monumental state decision prioritized Na Wai ‘Eha water rights for kuleana Native Hawaiian users above others — is unprecedented, according to Earthjustice attorney Isaac Moriwake.
“Occasionally over the 17 years I’ve been working on this case, we’d get complaints from kuleanas about sudden shutoffs, usually it’s a maintenance issue, sometimes they get notice, sometimes they don’t, usually it lasts for days, maybe a week or two,” testified Moriwake….
Hailed as the most comprehensive application of the Hawaii Water Code to water use and protection in history, the commission decision impacted more than 150 water applicants, resulting in 116 recognized appurtenant rights and 176 permits.
For the first time, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary kalo cultivation has received priority in allocation of water through the water use permit allocation process, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs said.
Still, five permittees in the South Waikapu kuleana intake area have been saying they are not receiving anywhere close to what their state permits allow….
Avery Chumbley, Wailuku Water Co. president, countered on Thursday, saying that allegation is “not true.” In fact, kuleana users are getting the water delivered daily to the ‘auwai at a rate of about three times as much as paying customers, he said.
“We want to go on the record and say Wailuku Water Company is in compliance with the decision and order and is delivering at the distribution point the required volume of water for the south ‘auwai kuleana users,” he told The Maui News….
read … Kuleana farmers say water promised in historic decision hasn’t come
70% is not Enough: Kaua‘i to move away from tier system
TGI: … The current tier system anticipated dropping all COVID-19 safety-mitigation measures, including limited capacity at restaurants and bars and restricted size limits on social gatherings indoors and outdoors, when the state reaches a 70% fully vaccinated population.
According to the state Department of Health, about 67% of the state’s total population is vaccinated. On Kaua‘i, that number is about 65% fully vaccinated, and 70% initiating inoculation….
Kawakami pointed to high community spread of the virus within the county linked to the delta variant.
As of Thursday, the county has recorded 777 new cases of COVID-19, the majority, 716, attributed to community spread.
“As we have seen the effects of the delta variant, and as we approach that 70% benchmark, we know that continued safety measures will be necessary to contain the spread of disease on our island,” Kawakami said….
AP: Kauai to change COVID reopening plan to handle delta variant
read … Kaua‘i to move away from tier system
‘Someone’s parent, someone’s child’: COVID continues to hit Native Hawaiian community hard
HNN: … Nearly 30% of all COVID-19 cases in Hawaii since late June ― when the delta variant emerged in the islands ― have been among Native Hawaiians.
That’s according to the latest statistics from state Department of Health.
Overall, Native Hawaiians make up nearly a quarter of all infections in Hawaii since the start of the pandemic in 2020. That’s more than 12,000 infections, which is more than any other ethnicity in Hawaii.
Native Hawaiians are also at the top of the list when it comes to COVID hospitalizations, according to the state Department of Health.
read … ‘Someone’s parent, someone’s child’: COVID continues to hit Native Hawaiian community hard
Big Island COVID patient's family wants court to force hospital to let Naturopath give him Ivermectin
HNN: … The fight to give Ivermectin to coronavirus patients now goes before a state judge. A Big Island man is is "on death's doorstep," according to his family. Now they hope to force the hospital to give him an experimental drug.
"He is dying! They want to do something to save his life!" exclaims Honolulu attorney Michael Jay Green, hired to represent the case of Lane Keoki Lindsay, a 49-year-old Big Island firefighter who got sick with the coronavirus in August.
The father of three sons is now in the intensive care unit at the Queens Medical Center. "He's in a coma. Nothing is working."
Green says Lindsay's doctor (naturopath) Hanalei Roberts, wants to give him Ivermectin as a last resort. The hospital says no. The Federal Drug Administration has not approved Ivermectin as a coronavirus treatment….
Related: Union Lawsuit Compares COVID Vaccine to Nazi Experiments
read … Big Island COVID patient's family wants court to force hospital to give him Ivermectin
Guam appeals ruling striking down abortion restriction
SA: … Guam’s government is appealing a judge’s ruling that removed a barrier to women in the U.S. territory accessing telemedicine abortions.
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys fighting for abortion access on Guam said the appeal is alarming because it comes as the island is grappling with the deadliest wave of the pandemic.
The Guam attorney general’s office and the Guam Medical Board of Examiners filed notice in court this week they are appealing a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked a provision of Guam law that forced patients to have an in-person visit before abortion medication can be prescribed via telemedicine.
The September ruling stemmed from a lawsuit by two Guam-licensed physicians who live in Hawaii and want to remotely supply medication abortions to Guam patients through telemedicine. They took issue with the requirement that information about the procedure be given to patients in person….
read … Guam appeals ruling striking down abortion restriction
Activists Give Maui Tweeker Camp Hawaiian Name, Find ‘Aunty’ to Tell Media How Good it was
KITV: .. Dubbed Pu'uhonua o Kanaha, the (meth) encampment acted as a safe haven for the more than 60 people (addicts) who live (shoot up) there -- and some said they felt forced out of their home.
A woman who goes by "Aunty Penny," (not very original) and lived at the encampment for three and a half years, described the encampment as "fabulous."
"Everyone got along, shared whatever (meth) they had, people offered (sold) to one another, I mean, the cops, you know, the county didn't work with us," Aunty Penny added.
County officials said they have been working to get the houseless individuals along Amala Place into shelters for weeks….
read … Tired old tricks
Waikiki Bums Sleep on Doorstep of Police Substation
HNN: … The area is near lifeguard tower 2D. On Thursday afternoon, there were some belongings — including pillows and blankets — piled there with some litter nearby.
Resident Carey Johnson took a video in Waikiki late Tuesday night, walking past the homeless who have gathered up and down Hawaii’s most famous beach.
Johnson also happened upon a man striking and yelling at another man who had fallen out his wheelchair and was lying on the ground.
“I was actually afraid for my life as I was passing by and was relieved once I got by,” said Johnson. “I was ready to run if they were going to chase me, but luckily they didn’t.”
The area is a homeless hot spot during the day as well.
The city’s Emergency Services Division said it gets several calls a week to respond to fights, drug overdoses and medical emergencies there — off-camera, police officers say they get called there on a daily basis.
“The abuse that some of these people do on local people, plus the tourists have to walk this gauntlet down Kalakaua and be verbally abused, harassed for money,” said Tim Garry, who comes to Waikiki to surf.
Garry said it’s no coincidence that the homeless hang out there — it’s just a half-block from the daily free lunches provided by St. Augustine Church.
They eat and then go back to the grass for the rest of the day. And then when the park closes at 2 a.m., they head to Ohua Street. That’s where Johnson recorded several of them sleeping on the sidewalk.
He counted many more before dawn Thursday morning.
“Just between the police station and Kapahulu, I counted 54,” said Johnson. “Fifteen of them were between the Duke (Kahanamoku) statue and the police station. I mean, right on their front doorstep.”
read … Resident’s late-night video of homelessness in Waikiki shows scope of problem
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