Commission Hears Complaints on Election Integrity
No Buyout: Todd Graham resigns as University of Hawaii head football coach
UH regents to consider new Maunakea Master Plan
Hawaii public school teacher absences hit 2,159 amid omicron surge
SA: …The number of Hawaii public school teachers calling not showing up for work spiked to 2,159 today amid a surge of the COVID-19 omicron variant, the Hawaii State Department of Education said today. The state was also short 472 substitute teachers, who are supposed to help cover for missing teachers.
Teacher absences on other school days this week ranged from 1,685 to 1,790, with similar shortfalls among substitute teachers, llustrating the struggle the rise of omicron continues to impose on schools, teachers and families.
Almost 17 percent of the department’s 12,800 teachers were out today, up from about 14 percent a week earlier. In the past, state schools interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said about half of the absent teachers called out sick, while the other half were out for other reasons, such as family leave and vacation.
read … Hawaii public school teacher absences hit 2,159 amid omicron surge
State gets OK to once again streamline food stamp application, renewals process
HNN: … Some pre-COVID eligibility requirements to get or maintain benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were supposed to take effect this month.
But the federal government has approved the state’s request for another waiver….
Nakasone said the interview process would have significantly delayed the process because of staffing shortages and high demand.
In December, about 19,000 residents were notified that they needed to renew their applications.
Requiring interviews could have even caused a gap in benefits….
Since the pandemic began, demand for food stamps has skyrocketed, peaking last summer. In July 2021, more than 206,000 people had the benefit ― a 33% jump from July 2019.
The current waiver goes through March….
read … State gets OK to once again streamline food stamp application, renewals process
How The Victim Of Mistaken Identity Was Finally Let Out Of The Hawaii State Hospital
CB: … He was changed to a new medication in August 2019 and things started to improve. “His thoughts became more and more organized,” Garrett wrote, although he was still found unfit at a hearing that month.
He continued to improve and at a meeting with his treatment team on Jan. 2, 2020, he said he was not Thomas Castleberry and he didn’t know why there were drug charges associated with him because he didn’t use drugs. He also told them he wasn’t even living on Oahu in 2006 when Castleberry was incarcerated.
“While he had denied being Thomas Castleberry before … this was the first time he actually denied that the charges had anything to do with him,” Garrett wrote.
Spriestersbach also told doctors he was hospitalized in California in 2006.
Garrett called the hospital in California, which did have an admission documented for him — except it was in 2003, Garrett wrote.
When she told him that, Spriestersbach said he must have been on the Big Island then. That turned out to be true….
Meanwhile, the actual Thomas Castleberry appears to be in prison in Alaska where he has been since 2015 on kidnapping, assault and weapons charges, according to documents filed by defense attorneys on Friday. He’s scheduled to be released from prison this year….
BACKGROUND: Lucky Dude: Mistaken identity gets homeless man the forcible mental health treatment he needed--Now he lives on 10ac Farm in Vermont
read … How The Victim Of Mistaken Identity Was Finally Let Out Of The Hawaii State Hospital
HPD says 20 of the city’s security cameras in Chinatown don’t work
KHON: … The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) said out of 26 cameras in the area, 20 of them are not working. Business owners there said the problem has been going on for years….
The cameras provided some peace of mind for business owners when they were installed about 25 years ago, but they have not been upgraded since. HPD said they still record on VHS tapes, and business owners said fixing the broken cameras does not make much sense at this point.
“Many of the reasons are there are no parts, they cannot replace the parts,” said Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business and Community Association.
She said the Honolulu City Council has approved money to replace the cameras, and it is only a matter of getting it contracted out and finally replacing the aging system….
read … HPD says 20 of the city’s security cameras in Chinatown don’t work
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