State auditor slams Health Department's oversight of care homes, security guards to patrol Honolulu parks, state tells Hawaiians to take down Mauna Kea access structure, Maui panel recommends $40M bond, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands, seen from GOES-17 at 6:30 a.m. EST, on Nov. 13, 2018. PC:NOAA/CIRA

The GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager has sent its first images from the satellite's new vantage point over the Pacific Ocean. NOAA.

State auditor finds licensing of care homes problematic. An inordinate number of Hawaii’s nearly 500 adult residential care homes were operating in 2017 either with no license or with “hastily issued” permits — and sometimes without even being inspected, according to a scathing audit of the agency charged with ensuring health and safety standards. Star-Advertiser.

Audit: Licensing Process For Adult Care Homes Is Seriously Flawed. The state agency overseeing adult care homes says it is improving its practices and there is no risk to the health or safety of the patients. Civil Beat.

A new audit has found major problems within the agency that licenses Hawaii's care homes. It says the office of health care assurance was renewing licenses for care homes even though there were deficiencies found. KHON2.

The Office of the State Auditor released an audit of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance today, identifying areas for improvement to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of residents in adult residential care homes. Maui Now.

Scathing audit says office charged with licensing care homes failing to ensure health, safety of patients. The state Office of Health Care Assurance is required by law to oversee the health, safety and welfare of care home residents by licensing and inspecting care homes and holding them to standards. Hawaii News Now.

Read full audit on adult care homes here.

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Harm Reduction Hawaii: Change State Laws for Sex Workers. Community advocates and sex workers in Hawai’i are mobilizing to be heard at the State Legislature next session. Hawaii Public Radio.

Back In Washington Ed Case Gets Ready For ‘A Wild Ride’. The congressman will join one of the most diverse freshman classes in U.S. House history, one that must decide if Nancy Pelosi will still lead them. Civil Beat.

UH Regents Approve New Leadership Organization. The recombining of the University of Hawaii system president with the Manoa chancellor is among other bureaucratic shifts coming to UH. Civil Beat.

A ‘time bomb’ waiting to happen: New figures highlight critical shortage of special ed teachers. Teachers sound alarms over worsening shortage. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii’s teacher shortage has reached “crisis proportions,” according to Hawaii State Teachers Association President Corey Rosenlee, who appeared before the Board of Education Thursday to address the state’s ongoing struggles to retain qualified educators. Garden Island.

Isle jobless rate edges up to 2.3%. Hawaii’s unemployment rate rose in October for the second straight month to a 16-month high of 2.3 percent as the labor force slightly contracted. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

HART to pay $13 million for rail claims. In what is being praised as a significant milestone for the troubled Honolulu rail project, the rail authority has reached an agreement that will finally allow it to close out major contracts with the company that built the first half of the elevated rail guideway. Star-Advertiser.

HART Approves Rail’s Recovery Plan – Again. The move is intended to free up more than $700 million withheld by the project’s federal partners. Civil Beat.

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City hires 24/7 security guards to curtail homeless in 9 Honolulu parks. Pairs of unarmed, private security guards Thursday began rotating among nine city parks around the clock to clamp down on illegal homeless activity. Star-Advertiser.

City to implement new security program to patrol Honolulu parks 24/7. The one-month pilot project will cost the city $44K. Hawaii News Now.

Security guards coming to nine Honolulu parks. KHON2.

Honolulu Rolls Out Ankle Bracelet To Monitor Drunken Drivers. Repeat drunken drivers in Honolulu can soon be made to wear a SCRAM CAM anklet that detects alcohol consumption through a wearer’s sweat and notifies the courts. Civil Beat.

The Prosecutors Office unveiled a new tool aimed at cracking down on habitual drunk drivers. These alcohol monitors can detect alcohol through sweat. KHON2.

Honblue hopes to fill void after Hagadone Hawaii closes. Printing company Honblue hopes to take over as many clients and employees as it can from Hagadone Hawaii, which announced last week it will stop commercial printing operations. KITV.

Exotic bengal cats confiscated in Honolulu. A pair of exotic animals got confiscated at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu in September. KHON2.

Hawaii Island

State tells group to take down structure at Mauna Kea access road. They say they are Native Hawaiian beneficiaries looking after the aina. But the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands says they are trespassing and that their unauthorized structure next to the Maunakea Access Road has to go. Tribune-Herald.

A Hawaii Island peace activist is raising concerns about an apparent U.S. Navy plan to expand non-invasive, or no live fire, training activities into the Mauna Kea Recreation Area along Saddle Road. Big Island Video News.

Ha steps down as cannabis dispensary CEO. The CEO of Lau Ola LLC, one of only two Big Island medical cannabis dispensaries, announced his retirement Wednesday, before the dispensary has brought any product to market. Tribune-Herald.

Former Big Island farmer and medical marijuana advocate Richard Ha, CEO of Lau Ola, is resigning today, two weeks after the state gave the startup the green light to begin growing pakalolo. Star-Advertiser.

Effective Monday, Richard Ha, the head of Big Island medical cannabis company Lau Ola is retiring. KITV.

Little Fire Ants Discovered in Hawaii Volanoes National Park. Park officials announced today they have discovered the presence of the invasive ants in the popular Steam Vents area and Mauna Ulu parking lot. Hawaii Public Radio.

Little fire ants invade Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Tribune-Herald.

Unwanted visitors: Little fire ants discovered at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The invasive species is hazardous to the health of humans, native ecosystems. Hawaii News Now.

The Puna Community Development Plan Action Committee met in Pahoa on Wednesday evening, and eruption recovery was on the agenda. Big Island Video News.

Weather, water hit Cyanotech hard. Limited access to fresh water, inclement weather and a volcanic eruption has resulted in growing pains for Cyanotech Corp., forcing the company to post a loss for a third consecutive quarter. West Hawaii Today.

Estate in Hawaii's Kukio to be auctioned as part of China portfolio by Concierge Auctions. An estate in the Kukio Golf and Beach Club on Hawaii’s Big Island will be sold at auction online and in a live auction in Hong Kong next month as part of a portfolio of 18 luxury homes around the world marketed by Concierge Auctions to buyers in China and across the globe. Pacific Business News.

Maui

Panel recommends approval of $40M bond for project. Some council members say additional funding for Wailuku Civic Center plan is ‘premature’. Maui News.

Seabury Hall trims new headmaster list down to three. Maui News.

Updated Molokai Island plan to get public hearing Friday. Maui News.

Kauai

County officials with the Mayor’s Office, Office of Economic Development, as well as representatives from Kauai Community College and Hawaiian cultural practitioners are visiting Kauai’s sister city in Portugal for the first time. Garden Island.

Nearly 100 people gathered Thursday to learn about the rapid rise in popularity of e-cigarettes among Kauai teenagers, a trend affecting communities nationwide, recently described by the Food and Drug Administration as having reached “epidemic proportions.” Garden Island.

Navy holds first Hawaii hearing on missile test proposal, Honolulu police begin bodycam testing, Hagar selling Maui estate, Big Island bus ridership drops 30%, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1B interceptor missile is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) during a Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy test in the mid-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo)

Some seek to block Navy's bid to continue training in Hawaii waters. In a public meeting Monday evening at the Oahu Veterans Center, the community had a chance to weigh in on the Navy's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Hawaii News Now.

Environmental and cultural concerns expressed over proposed US Navy training exercises. The US Navy officials hosted the first of several public meetings in Hawaii regarding its Environmental Impact Statement on testing and training operations in the waters off Hawaii and Southern California. KITV.

A rare joint exercise of three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups — a combination wielding massive firepower — will occur in coming days in the Western Pacific as part of a pressure campaign on North Korea by the Trump administration. Star-Advertiser.

Nuclear shelter-in-place plan could keep parents, students separated for days. As nuclear rhetoric and missile tests continue from North Korea, Hawaii emergency officials say be ready to “Get inside, stay inside, and stay tuned.” KHON2.

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Two months after U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa announced her plans to run for governor, candidates looking to fill her seat in Congress are starting to emerge. Star-Advertiser.

Events to mark 100th anniversary of the death of Hawaii’s last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. Hundreds of churches around the state are expected to toll their bells 100 times at 8:30 a.m. — the time of day Liliuokalani died on Nov. 11, 1917. Star-Advertiser.

Ancient Hawaiian Tradition Threatened by Invasive Bug. The hala or pandanus tree can grow up to 30 feet tall and is characterized by its long, sharp and spiny leaves. Those trees are now being attacked by an invasive predator. And the cultural practitioners whose traditions depend on hala are feeling the impact. Hawaii Public Radio.

Oahu

Seventy-seven Honolulu police officers Monday began testing body-worn cameras in a 30-day pilot project, making the Honolulu Police Department the last in the state to use the cameras. Star-Advertiser.

Honolulu Police Officers Begin Testing Body Cameras. HPD has outfitted dozens of officers with the technology as part of a 30-day pilot program. Civil Beat.

The Honolulu Police Department started testing body cameras Monday. KITV.

Criminal Case Against Kealohas Puts Brakes On Uncle’s Suit. The lawsuit filed by Gerard Puana will have to wait while the case against his niece and her husband continues, a judge rules. Civil Beat.

Defense attorneys in Kealoha corruption probe face heat over questionable practices. Legal experts say questions surrounding the attorneys for the former police chief and his deputy prosecutor wife are extremely troubling. Hawaii News Now.

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Waialua sunflower farm to hold open house. DuPont Pioneer, which recently merged with the Dow Chemical Co., held a media tour Monday at its 2,000-acre Waialua property, one of Hawaii’s largest farms. Star-Advertiser.

Waimanalo Tent-Dwellers: A Different Kind Of Homelessness. People living in a roadside encampment receive an unusual amount of community support, because many of them are longtime residents. Civil Beat.

Carbon monoxide poisoning linked to 2 Marco Polo deaths. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu home prices creep higher. For single-family houses, October’s median sale price edged up 1.3 percent to $752,000 from $742,000 in the same month last year. Star-Advertiser.

Home sales on Oahu saw a “healthy uptick” in the number of sales in October, compared to the same month last year, as the median price of a single-family home and condominium nudged up slightly, according to a report by Honolulu-based real estate firm Locations LLC. Pacific Business News.

Ward Village condo sales aid developer’s profit. Howard Hughes Corp. earned $27 million from condominium sales at Ward Village in the third quarter, according to a financial report the company published Monday. Star-Advertiser.

The Howard Hughes Corp. has sold nearly 90 percent of the 1,381 condominium units the developer is building at its Ward Village community in Honolulu and last month repaid a $195.3 million construction loan on the Waiea and Anaha towers there, the company said Monday in its third quarter earnings report. Pacific Business News.

Hawaii Island

House Finance Committee checks in on state investments in West Hawaii. Members of the state House of Representatives Finance Committee were in town Monday to take a closer look at some of the projects they’ve recently funded throughout West Hawaii, including the major overhaul at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport. West Hawaii Today.

Big Island bus ridership has dropped by almost a third over the past four years, mostly due to unreliability of an aging fleet, consultants said Monday. West Hawaii Today.

Hawaii County Talks Vacation Rental Rules. Local and state lawmakers discussed possible regulations for the growing vacation rental industry during last week's county council committee meeting. Big Island Video News.

Demolition of Uncle Billy's Pagoda Hotel uncertain. A hotel sitting vacant in Hilo will remain that way for at least the near future. Hawaii News Now.

October home sales soar on Hawaii's Big Island. Home sales on Hawaii’s Big Island soared in October, with increases of more than 25 percent from a year ago for both single-family homes and condominiums, but the median price of a condo fell by more than 25 percent, according to data provided by Hawaii Information Service on behalf of Hawaii Island Realtors. Pacific Business News.

Cyanotech earns $475K in second quarter. Hawaii island microalgae producer Cyanotech Corp. more than quadrupled its fiscal second-quarter profit in large part through a $900,000 reduction in legal fees. Star-Advertiser.

Maui

Victorino to run for mayor. Former Maui County Council Member Mike Victorino officially announced his intention on Monday to run for mayor in what is shaping up to be a competitive battle in 2018 to succeed Mayor Alan Arakawa. Maui News.

Kaanapali development met with resistance from Maui residents. Hundreds of people packed Lahaina Intermediate School Monday night to question the landowners and developers behind the Kaanapali Golf Courses Revitalization Project. Hawaii News Now.

Puunene Shopping Center filling up. Planet Fitness, Massage Envy and Ulta Beauty to open outlets on Maui. More retailers are flocking to the Puunene Shopping Center with pet store Petco opening its doors Monday and farm-to-table restaurant Fork & Salad slated to open early next year. Maui News.

Rocker Sammy Hagar is selling the 10-acre Maui estate he bought more than 20 years ago after searching for a place to relax in Hawaii following a world tour with Van Halen. Pacific Business News.

Kauai

KIUC issues request for qualifications for solar-hydro project on Kauai's west side. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative last week issued a request for qualifications for its Puu Opae Energy Project on the Garden Isle's west side. Pacific Business News.

Kauai condo sales nearly double in October, median prices up by double digits. The number of condominiums sold on Kauai in October nearly doubled, when compared to the same month last year, while sales of single-family homes rose by more than 30 percent and median prices in both categories increased by double digits, according to data provided by Hawaii Information Service on behalf of the Kauai Board of Realtors. Pacific Business News.

Kids can earn money, recognition on the floor of the state House of Representatives, and a chance to mingle with legislators through a statewide contest running now through Jan. 31. Garden Island.