Travelers clog airports as COVID cases spike, Maui cracks down on illegal vacation rentals, no love for Love Island, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

HNL on July 31, 2021 PC: My Kailua Facebook community page

Traveler complaints increase as Hawaii tourism rebounds. When the pandemic hit, the number of people flying in the U.S. plunged below 100,000 on some days, a level not seen in decades. This year it has climbed from less than 700,000 a day in early February to 2 million a day in July. Star-Advertiser.

Army, community are at a pivot point at training range lease renewals in Hawaii. It’s in this pressure-cooker atmosphere — and with focus on the Indo-Pacific as the Pentagon’s “priority theater” — that the Army is trying to keep nearly 30,000 acres of training lands on Hawaii island and Oahu. The state land leases all expire in 2029. Star-Advertiser.

Global Competition Over Fish Stocks Increasingly Affects Hawaii. Competition over dwindling fish stocks has led to violent confrontations around the world. Hawaii longliners are feeling the effects. Civil Beat.

Incoming Interim Schools Chief Previews Broad Vision For Hawaii. Priority areas include in-person attendance, social and emotional well-being as well as staff well-being and the safe return to campuses. Civil Beat.

Parents, teachers are nervous for the start of the new school year as the pandemic escalates in Hawaii. The new public school year in Hawaii starts Tuesday for an estimated 175,000 students amid growing concern about the escalating coronavirus pandemic. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Records 452 New COVID Cases As Positivity Rate Soars To 5.7%. The new cases reported Sunday included 276 on Oahu, 99 on the Big Island, 66 on Maui, six on Kauai and five residents diagnosed outside of the state, according to the health department. Civil Beat.

Oahu

Hanabusa Becomes Chair Of The Honolulu Rail Authority Board — Again. HART officials now hope to shore up rail’s finances with money from the 3% hotel tax the city is authorized to impose. Civil Beat.

In need of relief, Queen’s Health Systems asks FEMA for additional frontline workers. Queen’s Health Systems said it has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send 80 nurses immediately and then 50 more per month. Hawaii News Now.

Robotic police dogs: Useful hounds or dehumanizing machines? If you’re homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eye to make sure you don’t have a fever. Associated Press.

No opening date yet, but big plans ahead for Honouliuli monument, officials say. Six years after Honouliuli was designated a national monument, officials still are not sure when the former internment and prisoner of war camp will officially open to the public. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Island

Little love for ‘Love Island’: Neighbors miffed over production of CBS reality television show. While “Love Island,” one of the largest film or TV productions ever made on the Big Island, is a hit with viewers, neighbors of the villa are less enamored with the production. Tribune-Herald.

Bus hubbub: New interim administrator, big changes in the works. Mayor Mitch Roth’s administration has officially ruled out land owned by a politically connected Pahoa resident as the site for a bus hub, overturning steps taken by the previous administration. The Roth administration has also hired as interim transit administrator John Andoh, an experienced transit veteran who once worked at the agency. West Hawaii Today.

Breakwater study results expected to be released in fall. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a study of whether potential alterations to the Hilo Bay breakwater would improve water quality in the bay. Tribune-Herald.

Connections’ permit request to build school back before planning commission. A previously rejected special permit application for a Hilo charter school to build a campus on state land in Kaumana is once again before the Windward Planning Commission. Tribune-Herald.

Waimea fire eases, evacuation lifted. Hawaii County officials Sunday night lifted a mandatory evacuation order for Pu‘u Kapu Hawaiian Homestead, Waikii Ranch and Waikoloa Village, saying the threat to homes in the area was no longer imminent. Star-Advertiser. West Hawaii Today. Big Island Video News. Big Island Now. Hawaii News Now. KHON2.

Maui

Agreements beef up illegal vacation rental enforcement. Maui County signed agreements with two major hosting platforms for vacation rentals on Friday in a move aimed at improving enforcement of illegal vacation rental operations. Maui News.

Maui Mayor Requests Postponement of Return to School Amid Delta Variant Surge. “In light of new CDC data showing the Delta variant can spread as easily as Chickenpox,” Maui Mayor Michael Victorino is asking the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, Department of Health and the Ige Administration to postpone the return of classroom learning until the impacts of the current COVID-19 surge on Maui County’s healthcare facilities can be assessed. Maui Now. KHON2.

Lahaina Recreation Center Ballfield to Undergo Fencing Improvements. The Lahaina Recreation Center Little League Ballfield No. 4 will undergo fencing improvements from Aug. 2 through Oct. 31. The Department of Parks and Recreation project includes the removal and replacement of the outfield fencing. Maui Now.

Kauai

County to improve Hanalei Baseyard. The Hanalei Baseyard project will break ground later this month, following a planning process that included input from several community organizations, according to county officials. Garden Island.

County quickly matches jobs, work-seekers. A new county initiative, Ho‘ohana Kaua‘i, is a one-stop shop for job-seekers and hiring managers. Garden Island.