COVID-19

... Hawaii - Tahiti flights begin Aug 7 ....

... Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) today announced it will start processing MEUC applications beginning on June 17, 2021 ....

"... a household of four people earning up to $100,700 a year in total and demonstrating financial hardship from the pandemic can qualify for support ...."

...“Landlords are subject to GET on these amounts whether the payments are received from the tenants or directly from the agency that administers the relief program on behalf of the tenant.”  The same reasoning applies to income tax, federal and state....

... Hawaii businesses might be reopening, but Hawaii government agencies still have a ways to go ....

... Social gatherings up to 25 people allowed outdoors ....

... The biggest gainer in this year’s index is Honolulu. The city rose 46 places to fourteenth after its strong progress in containing the pandemic and rolling out its vaccination programme .... 

... Hawaii is struggling with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 9% ....

... eviction moratorium extended, procurement law restored ....

... those with a college degree (75%) were more likely to be fully vaccinated than were those without a degree (47%) ....

... The governor also announced that beginning June 15, travelers entering the state who have been vaccinated in Hawai‘i may bypass quarantine without a pre-travel test ....

... When you turn ordinary behavior into criminal behavior overnight, you need to be prepared for some unjust results .... 

... as of June 3, over half (52%) of Hawaii’s total population has been fully vaccinated and 59% have received at least one dose ....

... PUA claimants will need to begin reporting the three job contacts on June 20, 2021 ....

... Government should be based on clearly written laws, and not on the unpredictable will of one or even a few people ....

... wait until the State of Hawaii has vaccinated at least 60 percent of residents before allowing higher occupancy ....

... Vaccination sites are planned across the state at accessible locations such as malls, restaurants, farmers markets, and a beach park Saturday, May 29 ....

... 484,071 visitors arrived by air service to the Hawaiian Islands in April 2021, down 43.0 percent from the April 2019 count of 849,397 visitors ... 

... DBEDT revised its economic growth projection for 2021 to 3.5 percent, up from 2.7 percent ....

... The Alaska Tourism Restoration Act provides the Last Frontier temporary relief from the 135-year-old PVSA, which requires foreign-flagged vessels carrying passengers between U.S. ports to stop in a foreign port as part of the itinerary .... 

... best and worst ranked states closely correlate with 2020 presidential election results ....

... total employment in Hawaii declined by 10% between 2016 and 2021 ....

... The indoor mask mandate remains unchanged ....

... A look at SB540 ....

... imminent changes to state emergency rules related to youth ocean sports and mask-wearing ....

... Moratorium end on May 31 will not trigger immediate disconnections for past due customers ....

... House Bill 613, another bill that has undergone radical metamorphosis while in our Legislature. ...

... While 12 states are at 100 percent, Hawaii as the worst state is at 38.5 percent and California as the next is at 53.5 percent ....

... ADR was more than double last year’s level ($300, +138.6%), and occupancy was 50.8 percent (+42.0 percentage points), which would have been disappointing performance pre-pandemic ....

... The rule continues to prohibit socializing and potlucks at the field/court before or after the scheduled sports activity ....

... Airports Division announces the operation of Phase III of the thermal temperature screening and facial imaging project at Hawaii’s five major airports that accept trans-Pacific flights ....

... the arrestee is a senior aide to the Governor of the Nigerian State of Ogun, just outside Lagos ....

... This means that, to be on any UH campus, students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 ....

... age 0-17 is now at its highest peak since late August, 2020 ....

... The State Capitol has been closed since March of 2020 when the pandemic began, and unlike other State and government buildings across our State, the Capitol has remained closed to the public ....

... losing the state’s best and brightest to opportunities elsewhere ....

... In his letter to the governor, Schatz cites Hawai‘i’s progress on vaccinations and its low case counts, as well as the importance of safely lifting restrictions and returning to a more normal life ....

"... to 36 small businesses across Hawaii for PPE manufacturing ...."

... Hawaiian Electric is asking the PUC to approve the KES project but without the operational and financial conditions it imposed in its April 29, 2021, decision and order (No. 37754) ....

... If the 2,186-passenger cruise liner were redeployed or retired today, there would be no comparable ship to replace it under federal law ....

... Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that 12 to 15-year-olds receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ....

"... require any new PSP agreement with United Airlines or any applicant require the airline to refrain from outsourcing jobs ...."

... it's been deemed easier to work with Canada rather than those within the U.S. government committed to preserving the status quo ....

... The state’s Safe Travels platform went online today, allowing travelers to upload their travel information and vaccination data ....

... By getting the vaccine and encouraging your loved ones to do the same, we will be able to return to a comfortable level of normalcy and safety ....

... The more cautious tier was activated after the island’s average case count remained elevated for the past two weeks ....

... while the county and the state work together on incorporating vaccination counts on O‘ahu into modified metrics for the Tier system ....

... This number is 22 points higher than the 48-year historical average ....

... States that are Recovering the Quickest from COVID-19 ....

... Past due customers can avoid collection activity by setting up payment plan ....