Hawaii Loses 4.3% of Construction Jobs
Why Panos Prevedouros Left Hawaii
VIDEO: Sam King for OHA Trustee
After a Kauai woman was brutally murdered in 2010, police say they may be getting closer to solving the crime.
COVID Unemployment Bounce Back? Hawaii 48th
After Thug allegedly intimidates Witness into Retraction, Senate Votes to Make his Lawyer a Judge
SA: … Thursday’s hourlong hearing was largely dominated by discussion of a criminal complaint filed against Meyers on Monday and received by the committee Wednesday.
(Today the Senate will vote on making Meyers a Judge.)
The complaint made by a Kauai County deputy prosecutor alleges that Meyers, a defense attorney, tampered with a witness in a criminal case initiated in December and resolved in April.
The allegations, contained in a police report and a complaint filed with the state Judiciary’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel by Kauai County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Christensen…
According to Meyers and his supporters who are familiar with the allegations, the complaint involves a case in which Meyers represented a client who was charged with assault stemming from a fistfight….
The complaining witness in the fight wanted to withdraw his complaint to police, according to Meyers, so Meyers interviewed the man without saying much and took notes.
(Translation: The alleged attacker called the victim on the phone and the lawyer listened in.)
Meyers told the committee that his client asked for a written account based on the notes, and shortly after that the client returned with a signed statement from the complaining witness that Meyers forwarded to the Kauai County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney….
(Translation: The attacker went to the victim’s house and demanded a retraction.)
Prosecutors still proceeded to charge the client of Meyers with a crime, but after negotiations the accused person pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, which Meyers said is an infraction that resulted in a ticket as opposed to a criminal offense.
Christensen didn’t present oral testimony to the committee, but opposed the confirmation of Meyers in written testimony in which Christensen said that he filed an ODC complaint and said Meyers is under criminal investigation for witness tampering initiated by his office and being investigated by the Kauai Police Department.
Meyers told the committee that what he did was ethical, and that it would have been malpractice not to talk to a witness who volunteered that they wanted to withdraw their police report….
(IQ Test: Did you notice Meyers left out the part about the assailant going to the victim’s house to get the retraction statement?)
read … Kauai judicial nominee fends off criminal complaint
Hawaii Congressmen Warn The Draining Of Red Hill Won’t Start Until Late 2024
CB: … The removal of fuel from the Navy’s troubled Red Hill storage facility will take longer than expected and may not begin until the fall of 2024, Hawaii’s congressmen said Monday during a town hall meeting.
(Translation: After presidential election.)
The Navy is currently under a state order to defuel the facility following leaks last year that contaminated the drinking water supply for thousands of families living in the Pearl Harbor area. But officials have not specified a clear timeline for fuel removal.
At the public meeting in Honolulu, the congressmen said it will taken longer than they and the community would like. The military needs to be sure another leak won’t occur in the process of removing the fuel, they said…
read … Hawaii Congressmen Warn The Draining Of Red Hill May Face Delays
DOE: Hawaii teacher accused of sharing child porn also worked at these places
KHON: … Court records said Alden Bunag admitted that he recorded sexual encounters with a 13-year-old boy who was a former student. Records said Bunag also admitted to distributing child pornography involving other minor victims.
According to the Hawaii Department of Education, Bunag held various positions sine 2012. That includes most recently a part-time temporary teacher at Pearl City High School from 2020 to 2022, a substitute teacher for the Leeward Oahu District from 2017 to 2022, and part-time temporary teacher at Ilima Intermediate from 2016 to 2017.
“The department will have their investigation and then thereafter, the Hawaii Teacher’s Standards Board will have an investigation as well,” said Rep. Justin Woodson, (D) Education Committee chair.
The Navy sent out this letter to parents Friday, stating Bunag worked part-time at the Hickam School Age Care and Teen Center. Another letter was sent out by Pearl City High School Friday, stating Bunag was a long-term substitute teacher. It goes on to state, the alleged incident doesn’t involved a Pearl City High student….
read … DOE: Hawaii teacher accused of sharing child porn also worked at these places
26 priors Gets Bail, Doesn’t Show up for Trial
KITV: … When the two got to the location, Ike Fowler 40 refused to get out of the car and started to argue with the victim. Police say Fowler then got into the driver’s seat of the car and refused to let the victim out. He then threatened to kill the woman before attempting to drive the car off a cliff – fortunately it got stuck on a tree stump.
Police say when the victim tried to get out of the car, Fowler grabbed her by the hair and started stabbing her with a pen. Witnesses near the scene saw what was unfolding and intervened, subduing Fowler before police arrived.
Fowler was arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault in the second degree. He was scheduled to appear for the trial on June 15, but police said he did not show up.
Fowler is described as being a Caucasian man, approximately 6’2” tall and weighs about 220 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
A $250,000 bench warrant has been issued for Fowler’s arrest. Police say he has 26 prior convictions and is known to frequent the Honolulu area. Anyone who spots him or knows of his whereabouts is asked to call 911 immediately.
Authorities did not say when Fowler initially bonded out of jail for the 2019 crime nor did they say why it’s taken more than two and a half years to go to trial….
read … $250k bench warrant issued for suspect in 2019 kidnapping, assault in Nuuanu area
Shortages are driving up prices — and frustrations — at Hawaii restaurants
HNN: … Executive Chef Eric Leterc says fallout from the global pandemic has made shortages — and price increases — the worst he’s ever seen. He says mahi mahi, once $8 per pound is now double that
“Seafood is definitely a big, big jump,” said Leterc.
He says overall costs have gone up 20% while prices and supplies of meat, dairy and other products are unstable. “Sometimes sorry there’s no more of that, no more of this,” he said, referring to what he’s forced to tell customers….
Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult.
The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more.
“We can’t find people,” he said….
HPR: Agriculture companies are desperate for workers
read … Shortages are driving up prices — and frustrations — at Hawaii restaurants
Hawaii Tourism Self-Correction Coming As Economy Whipsaws?
BH: … As all the talk turns from Covid to possible recession, here’s how Hawaii travel may look due to an upcoming economic slowdown….
HB: What’s Next for Hawaiian Airlines: Restoring Flights and Adding New Ones
read … Hawaii Tourism Self-Correction Coming As Economy Whipsaws
Expert says large amounts of COVID community spread likely until mid-July
HTH: … A health expert has warned that the state is underestimating the impacts of an ongoing spike in COVID-19 cases.
Tim Brown, an infectious disease expert with the East-West Center, appeared on a livestreamed interview Monday to discuss the current rise in cases he said has largely been ignored by the general public.
The state Department of Health reported 7,199 new cases statewide between June 8 and June 15, with 803 reported on the Big Island alone. That number averages out to more than 1,028 new cases per day, more than the delta surge in the late summer of 2021.
However, Brown said people are “acting like nothing’s going on.”
“The problem is that the epidemic is being downplayed now from a political perspective and also a public health perspective,” Brown said. “The reality is that we’re still in a very high surge.”…
(Political: Democrats figured out that COVID lockdowns would hurt them in the November elections.)
Brown said current COVID test positivity rates are nearly 20%, although he noted that doesn’t take into consideration the thousands of home tests in circulation. But he estimated that there will continue to be large amounts of community spread until mid-July — as long as new variants don’t take hold.
“The protection due to a past infection (from the omicron variant) is turning out to be comparatively weak,” Brown said, adding that the latest variants — called BA.4 and BA.5 — “eat (previous variants) for lunch,” and have evolved to circumvent COVID immunity from vaccines or previous infections.
Brown said anywhere between 20% to 40% of people who have been infected with COVID report some form of long-term “long COVID” symptoms, and half of them report that their symptoms have impacts on their daily lives. He went on to say that continuing to underestimate the long-term damage caused by the coronavirus will “come to haunt us.”….
read … Expert says large amounts of COVID community spread likely until mid-July
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