Hawaii Business Magazine Newsletters

How the decline in lab testing is complicating efforts to track Covid
As the pandemic enters its third year, more people are taking at-home tests or none at all. The number of lab tests reported by the state has dropped to some of the lowest levels since the early stages of the pandemic, hovering around an average of 2,800 per week, according to the state’s most recent figures released Wednesday. During the height of the omicron surge in January, the state logged more than 15,000 tests daily. Civil Beat.

BOE OKs requests to reduce class time
The state Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to approve more than 200 requests from schools for noninstructional days, decreasing the number of hours students will spend in the classroom for the 2022-2023 school year. A majority of the requests will increase the number of professional development days for staff, where students are not present on campus. Tribune-Herald.

Free summer school to help students bounce back
The Board of Education plans to create a “robust summer school schedule” that has a variety of classes and programs aimed at helping students catch up. The DOE universal screener testing revealed that in the fall and winter of the 2021-2022 school year, almost a fourth of all elementary students were failing English. Though things improved slightly in English in the second quarter, more of them failed math. KHON2.

Isabella Kalua’s death has yet to trigger a clear plan to bolster child protection
The end of this year’s legislative session is just days away, and lawmakers say they still haven’t seen a clear plan for improving Hawai‘i’s child welfare system. This is because the state Department of Human Services also did not request a significant budget increase for the Child Welfare Services Division this year, nor did it announce plans to seek changes to state laws, rules or policies to help the agency do its job more effectively. Civil Beat.

Biden nominates ex-KPD officer to lead U.S. Marshals Office in Hawai‘i
President Joe Biden announced Friday that he is nominating Michael Contrades, a former deputy police chief in Kaua‘i, to lead the U.S. Marshals Office in Hawai‘i. His nomination does not come without controversy: in 2016 he was named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit that settled for $1.8 million. Civil Beat.

Hawai‘i lawmaker will not face additional punishment following DUI acquittal
State Rep. Sharon Har will not face additional charges for her conduct during an arrest on suspicion of drunk driving. A House Special Committee said it found no evidence that the Makakilo lawmaker misused her office during her arrest. Hawaii News Now. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat.

Permitting overhaul may mean faster build times for homeowners
City Permitting Director Dean Uchida said they are in the process of revamping the entire permitting system, which has been notoriously slow. For instance, the current average wait time between the approval and issuance of commercial permits is 117 days, which is up from 87 days last year. Staffing shortages and a broken pneumatic tube, which carries documents through the department’s divisions, are some of the reasons for the delays. KITV4.

FBI warning about threat to Honolulu’s mayor prompted additional officers at city hall
The FBI notified Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Lt. Gov. Josh Green that they were subjects on online threats by Lindsey Kinney, a witness against suspected crime boss Mike Miske. In response, two plainclothes HPD officers were stationed at the mayor’s office from April 4 through 11. The FBI specifically cited Instagram posts in the charging documents in which Kinney allegedly says he would behead them. Hawaii News Now.

Honolulu ranked in top 25 cleanest cities for air pollution
Honolulu is ranked #3 in the top 25 cleanest cities in the country, and officials at the American Lung Association credit both the success to the island’s trade winds and the increase of residents switching over to electric cars. KITV4.

Navy says it has cut irrigation use by 50% amid water shortage
A Navy official says that cutting its water use by 50% saves about 2 to 3 million gallons a day, which is a little over 10% of their overall normal use. Another water-saving measure is the installation of thousands of low-flow showerheads in public areas such as swimming pools and fitness facilities, as well as in barracks and dorms. Hawaii Public Radio.

O‘ahu North Shore property owner says he will fight $92K fine
State conservation officials are seeking to impose a $92,000 fine against a North Shore property owner for violating state laws by moving large amounts of sand in front of his two beachfront homes to shield them from coastal erosion and refusing to remove broken sandbags, rocks, concrete rubble and other debris that they say he stacked along the public beach. Star-Advertiser.

As housing prices on O‘ahu hit record highs, families grapple with rising rents
Prices for single-family homes on O‘ahu hit a new record high last month and are up more than 21% from last year, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors. On top of those increases, mortgage rates are as high as they were a decade ago: a 30-year fixed rate is over 5%. Hawaii News Now.

O‘ahu nonprofits to get $4.5M to address housing and financial woes
A group of 17 O‘ahu nonprofit organizations will receive $4.5 million collectively over the next three years to address issues related to housing and financial stability. Known as the 2022-24 ALICE Initiative, the program is designed to help working families in Hawai‘i, where a high cost of living and relatively low wages leave many people struggling to get by. Civil Beat.

Join NAIOP Hawaii at the Royal Hawaiian Monarch Room on Friday, May 6, for the 25th Annual Kukulu Hale Awards – a fun, ‘50s Flashback-themed celebration of this year’s award-winning CRE projects and special awardees, including Castle & Cooke Hawaii, 2022 Developer of the Year… read more.

Planning Commission defers extension request for subdivision proposal off Ali‘i Drive
A developer looking to build a subdivision near Ali‘i Drive will have to meet with the Cultural Resource Commission to ensure there aren’t any concerns from that body pertaining to plans for the subdivision near Kahalu‘u before the project can move forward. The property is near two burial sites as well as the Keauhou-Kahalu‘u heritage area. Big Island Now.

Funds sought for demolition of Uncle Billy’s
The former 145-room hotel, which sits on state leasehold land on Hilo’s Waiakea Peninsula, has been shuttered since 2017. An interim security contract for the Banyan Drive property expired at the end of 2021 and, according to authorities, the building has been occupied by squatters.  Tribune-Herald.

Water to be restored to five Moloka‘i streams
Water will be restored to five streams on Moloka‘i that for more than a century were almost fully diverted and often dry, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The state Commission on Water Resource Management voted Tuesday to set interim in-stream flow standards that will fully or partially restore East Kawela, East Kawela Tributary, West Kawela, Lualohe and Waikolu Streams. The commission committed to a goal of full stream restoration for East Kawela Stream. Maui News.

After outcry, Maui’s Baldwin High reverses ban on lei-giving at graduation
A significant reversal for graduating seniors who have endured years of pandemic restrictions, Baldwin High School recently repealed its ban on lei-giving at this year’s graduation ceremony. The Department of Education does not have specific restrictions on lei-giving and it is up to each school how it would implement Covid-19 guidelines encouraging distancing and safety during ceremonies. Maui Now.