Hilo corrections officers took to the streets Tuesday, claiming their union failed to pursue alleged contract violations relating to the closure of the Kulani Correctional Facility and to staff reductions at the Hawaii Community Correctional Facility. Officers, staff, and family members carried signs reading “No support from UPW” and “UPW fails to respond”. Tommy Johnson, the deputy director of the Department of Public Safety’s Corrections Division, told the “Hawaii Tribune-Herald” there are enough openings in Hawaii prisons to employ all 76 men and women who once ran the Kulani Facility.
According to the “Hawaii Tribune-Herald”, W. H. Shipman is going to court to close an adult store that has opened across from Keaau Middle School. Private Moments, which opened on January 8th, is located in the Keaau Plaza, which also houses a diner, a tatoo parlor, a bar, a pawnshop, and a fitness center. Shipman alleges in a complaint filed on Tuesday that Keaau Plaza owner Jerry Nagakura violated terms of his lease by subleasing the 800-square foot space to Private Moments.
The former girlfriend of murder suspect Malaki McBride told the Hilo Circuit Court that she and Tyrone Torres were having an intimate relationship in her car when McBride opend the passenger door and shot Torres to death with a shotgun. McBride faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole if he is convicted of second degree murder. According to the “Hawaii Tribune-Herald”, the defense concedes that McBride shot Torres, but claims McBride was under extreme mental or emotional stress at the time.
According to the county’s Research and Development Department, ten percent of Hawaii County’s workforce was unemployed in November. Statewide, the unemployment rate reached 6.9 percent. DLNR Director Darwin L.D. Ching told “West Hawaii Today” that his department has launched a new program to help the unemployed develop new job skills while they still receive unemployment benefits. The initiative is called the “Volunteer Internship Program”. Businesses may register to train interns for up to 32 hours per week for eight weeks.
Hawaii Island State Representative Cindy Evans says $280,000 have been released for the Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor improvement project. The funds will provide for a paved access road and water system improvements at the Kawaihae Harbor South Basin.
The Association to Advance College Schools of Business has announced that the UH-Hilo College of Business and Economics is one of 45 institutions worldwide whose business accreditation has been renewed. Chancellor Rose Tseng said the accreditation is the gold standard and placed UH-Hilo in some very exclusive company with the finest business institutions around the world.
Habitat for Humanity is asking the public for donations at KTA stores islandwide. Just tear off the tabs at the registers until the end of the month. Also look for donation boxes at your favorite local restaurants.
(AP). Forecasters say Hawaii’s dry spell may linger through March. The U.S. Drought Monitor says 99 percent of the state is experiencing “abnormally dry” or worse conditions, and more than a third of the state is suffering “severe to exceptional” drought. Hawaii County Civil Defense says a water conservation notice has been issued for Naalehu, Waiohinu, and South Point.