COVID-19

... We say it’s for the safety of your children, but it is clear that the decisions Hawaii is making in regards to COVID policies are for the sake of some adults ....

... thanks to a nationwide waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The waiver aims to minimize the possible spread of COVID-19 at schools across the country by eliminating meal payment transactions in school cafeterias ....

... More than 92% of University of Hawaiʻi students and 95% of UH employees of the 10-campus system have been vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus or plan to be, according to surveys administered in late June ....

... Ige today formally notified the Hawai‘i State Legislature and Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald that he will not be issuing any further eviction moratoria once the current moratorium expires on Aug. 6 ....

... For every teacher the state dedicates to distance learning when students return to class in August, it would need to pull a teacher out of the classroom, state Schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said Tuesday ....

"... I was asked to release all my medical records from Kaiser Permanente to CLEAR, not just the results of the vaccination ...." 

... Does our government overreach?  Yes.  Why does it do that?  Because we let them ....

... to each individual HGEA bargaining unit member employed by the City who feels they have worked under hazardous conditions relating to COVID-19 exposure ....

... Beginning today the Department of Health’s Disease Outbreak Control Division data dashboard reflects new data provided by federal agencies ....

... Access to in person learning varied by state with the lowest mean percent of all students with access in Hawaii (1.3%) and highest in Wyoming and Montana (100%) ....

... the board will discuss distance learning options for next school year at its next meeting on July 15, just a little more than two weeks before most public school students are scheduled to return to class ....

... it would be appropriate if our legislators spent some of that time addressing the balance of powers and the emergency management statute that has ruled our lives for the past year ....

“Just when you think we’d reached the prize, somebody moves our cheese. But what that really shows is a lack of transparency about the tier system.”

... The Safe Travels digital platform is now allowing vaccine document uploads for trips arriving in Hawaiʻi on July 8 and beyond ....

... Hawaii Non-Profit Executive Sentenced to 46 Months of Imprisonment for Embezzling Over $500,000 from AmeriCorps and for Agreeing to Receive a Bribe for Approving $845,000 in CARES Act Grants ....

... This new allotment of funds was made possible through the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and is part of the DHHL COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program ....

... When compared to 2019, visitor arrivals in May 2021 were down 25.7 percent from the May 2019 count of 847,396 visitors, and visitor spending decreased 22.2 percent from the $1.41 billion spent in May 2019 ....

... Repeat visitors were more likely to be fully vaccinated along with college graduates and those with household incomes above $100,000 ....

... Delta variant expected to spread rapidly ....

... Gov. David Ige announced that effective July 8, the State of Hawai‘i will eliminate its pre-travel testing/quarantine requirement for domestic travelers to Hawai‘i who have been fully vaccinated in the United States ....

... An island state without ferries but more than enough "environmentalists" ....

... First installment appears in July bills ....

... in April 2021 the state of Hawaiʻi had 53,000 people unemployed and 27,415 job openings ....

... More than a year into the COVID-19 emergency, we’re still experiencing the many ways in which the government can regulate and limit our daily lives ....

... 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 ....