News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The longtime head of California-Hawaii's chapter of the NAACP will resign in December after she again faced conflict-of-interest allegations involving her political consulting company.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden's first Cabinet picks are coming Tuesday and planning is underway for a pandemic-modified inauguration in January as his team moves forward despite road blocks from the Trump administration.

HONOLULU (AP) — Just as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold, in February, four people set sail for one of the most remote places on Earth — a small camp on Kure Atoll, at the edge of the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Police Department said it would cancel special coronavirus enforcement units after allegations of overtime abuse from its officers.

Updated: 11/21/2020, 1:30 p.m. In a second outbreak at a state prison, 87 inmates at the Waiawa Correctional Facility have tested positive and 70 tested negative, according to state Department of Public Safety yesterday. Fifty of the cases were added to the state's daily case numbers of 163, which today returned the count to three digits. Seven deaths were also reported by the state, unrelated to the prison outbreak.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii has released a plan on how it will try to strengthen broadband infrastructure across the state.

The 45-page Hawaii Broadband Strategic Plan 2020 aims to make broadband services available to as much of the state as possible.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, in conjunction with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Office of Planning, published the plan, which updates the original Hawaii Broadband Strategic Plan that was released in 2012.

HONOLULU (AP) — Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu has acknowledged leaving the scene of an accident after hitting a parked motorcycle without stopping in the parking lot of a shopping center.

Faaumu acknowledged the transgression on Wednesday. He said in a written statement to police that he did not realize he had hit the parked motorcycle on Nov. 7.

“I said, ‘No, I didn’t know I damaged the motorcycle or hit anything,’" Faaumu said. “I said, ‘I’m sorry that that happened.’ If I knew I did back up into the motorcycle and caused damage, I would stop. But I didn’t.”

Canadian citizens will soon be eligible to skip Hawaii’s travel quarantine with a negative COVID-19 test.

Hana has reported one case of COVID-19, Maui Mayor Michael Victorino announced yesterday. The case is believed to be the first in the rural East Maui community but the individual is being tested again to rule out the possibility of a false positive.

Updated: 11/20/2020, 12:09 p.m. 

The state Department of Health today reported one death and 95 new COVID-19 cases. Given the state’s recent reporting changes that delay the numbers for two days, the latest daily numbers represent cases for Wednesday through 11:59 p.m.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Some California lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — are being criticized for going to Hawaii this week for the annual Independent Voter Project conference as California's nearly 40 million residents are told to avoid travel.

A full list of legislators has not been made public but two Southern California Assembly members, Democrat Blanca Rubio and independent Chad Mayes, issued statements Wednesday acknowledging their participation.

Updated: 11/19/2020, 12:08 p.m. 

The state Department of Health today reported 107 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.

Given the state’s recent reporting changes that delay the numbers for two days, the latest daily count represents cases for Tuesday athrough 11:59 p.m.

Based on the latest numbers, Oahu saw 75 new cases, Hawaii County 12, Kauai 4, Maui 9 and Lanai and Molokai 0. 

After nearly two years and a pair of deadly crashes, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is clearing Boeing's 737 Max for flight. The nation's air safety agency announced the move early Wednesday, saying it was done after a comprehensive and methodical 20-month review process.

Updated 11/18/20, 12:59 p.m.

NEW YORK — New York City is shuttering schools to try to stop the renewed spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday in a painful about-face for one of the first big U.S. school systems to bring students back to classrooms this fall.

A report released in July shows nearly half of O'ahu's homeless who are reached by social service providers are successfully rehoused. The study shows continuous churn on the streets of Honolulu, but one segment of the population is consistently overrepresented. 

The report, Unsheltered in Honolulu, is based on four years of homeless data provided by the Point in Time counts between 2017 and 2020.

Updated: 11/18/20, 12:08 p.m. The state Department of Health today reported one new death and 71 new COVID-19 cases.

With the state’s recent reporting changes that delays the numbers for two days, the daily case counts are from Monday. The health department said the receipt of 4,000 to 5,000 electronic records daily from the labs that handle the tests take time to process, accounting for the delay.

Updated 11/17/20, 1:43 p.m.

With more shutdowns looming and a vaccine months away from wide distribution, governors across the U.S. are pleading for more help from Washington ahead of what is shaping up to be a bleak winter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a first for the Pentagon's push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said.

Updated 11/17/20, 3:49 p.m.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, returned to federal court Tuesday after a long hiatus to accuse Democrats in control of big cities of hatching a nationwide conspiracy to steal the election, even though no such evidence has emerged in the two weeks since Election Day.

Updated: 11/17/2020, 12:14 p.m.

The state Department of Health yesterday reported 53 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths.

With the state’s recent reporting changes, the daily case counts are two days old. The health department said by email that the receipt of 4,000 to 5,000 electronic records from the labs that handle the tests take time to process, accounting for the delay.