Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley honors Vietnam vets in Honolulu, Smith & Wesson sues over public records costs, Mexican Consulate assists hundreds on Maui, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speaks in Honolulu PC:DOD

Vietnam veterans commemorated at Punchbowl. National Vietnam Veterans Day was observed Tuesday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl in a ceremony attended by the country’s top military leader, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Star-Advertiser. KITV4.

Hawaii Health Department adopts CDC guidance, authorizes 2nd COVID booster for some. Effective immediately, people who received their first booster shot at least four months ago may receive a second booster shot of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine if they are over the age of 50. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat.

Ige’s New Attorney General Faces Senate Questions Over Employee Complaints. The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote on the nominee’s appointment on Friday. Civil Beat.

New Hawaii law clarifies procedures for filing criminal complaints. A newly enacted law that clarifies the process for filing criminal complaints will give prosecutors across the state a chance to refile charges in more than 1,000 misdemeanor cases that were dismissed in the wake of a December ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court. Star-Advertiser. KITV4.

Bill To Limit Public Access To Government Records Is Dying In The Senate. A bill that would make it more difficult for the public to get access to “pre-decisional” government records is quietly dying in the state Senate, but lawmakers want to establish a working group to consider when those records should be made public, and when they should be kept secret. Civil Beat.

Smith & Wesson Sues Hawaii Over The High Cost Of Public Records. The AG’s office wanted more than $20,000 for records related to firearms issues. Civil Beat.

Commentary: Hawaii Is The Latest State To Get Hit With Claims Of Election Fraud. The state elections commission is looking into a complaint about the accuracy of voter registration rolls. Civil Beat.

Oahu

Honolulu Prosecutors office pushes for more funding. Honolulu Prosecutor, Steve Alm, wants to hire about 15 more attorneys to help with the caseload. Currently, Alm says there are 89 deputy prosecutors on staff, but keeping them on the job is proving to be a challenge. KHON2.

Resolution calls for completing long-delayed land deal. In 1991, an act of Congress called on the secretary of the Army to hand over to the state 87 acres of land that makes up the western end of Dillingham Airfield, a section of property that also includes the adjacent shoreline, locally known as Army Beach. But the conveyance, for unknown reasons, never happened. Star-Advertiser. KITV4.

Menor To Run For Honolulu City Council, Not Lieutenant Governor. The former councilman and state representative wants to return to Honolulu Hale. Civil Beat.

BWS chief engineer worries Red Hill fuel contamination could be spreading. A state Department of Health spokesperson wasn’t aware of any changes. Hawaii News Now.

Feds checking new rail plan for potential problems. Federal transit officials are on Oahu this week asking questions about reducing rail construction to 19 stations over 18.75 miles at a cost of $9.8 billion. Star-Advertiser.

‘Complete Streets’ beacon aims to improve safety on Kailua Road. City officials Tuesday morning unveiled a new crosswalk with a flashing beacon to help pedestrians cross a busy thoroughfare in the heart of Kailua town more safely. Star-Advertiser. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Island

Hilo anesthesiologist, Honolulu ex-prosecutor’s brother, pleads guilty to one charge before drug trial. The brother of former Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha imprisoned in a corruption case pleaded guilty to one charge in an indictment alleging the doctor prescribed drugs to friends so they could sell them for cash. Rudolph Puana’s drug-dealing trial on 53 other counts began today with jury selection. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat. Associated Press. Hawaii News Now.

Groundbreaking for new HVO facility within the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s campus could happen next year. A new Hilo home for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is slowly getting closer to reality. Tribune-Herald.

‘The Flash’ Ezra Miller creates a stir in Hilo: TRO filed against the actor a day after arrest at Hilo bar. A Hollywood actor who was arrested in Hilo on Monday had a restraining order filed against them Tuesday after a series of erratic incidents over the last few weeks. Tribune-Herald. Big Island Now. Hawaii News Now. KHON2.

Maui

Hundreds on Maui assisted during Mexican Consulate visit. The Mexican Consulate handled about 480 appointments on March 26 and 27, helping individuals and families with their passports and other documentation. This was the first visit by the Consulate in two years due to the pandemic with brisk demand for appointments. Maui Now.

Kihei roundabout causing headaches and concerns. A new project is underway to make crossing a busy highway in Kihei safer for pedestrians. Construction on the state’s first two-lane roundabout started last week. KHON2.

Kuau landowner fined $60K over shoreline violations. Company must also install sand berms as part of agreement with county. Kuau Cove Properties, the landowner of Mama’s Fish House, will pay the county a $60,000 fine and conduct a project expected to cost upwards of $165,000 to resolve violations that occurred on the shoreline fronting the restaurant in 2019. Maui News.

Lahainaluna boys’ dorm to reopen Sunday. Facility has been closed since late February due to lack of staffing. Maui News.

Kauai

County seeking funds for Po‘ipu infrastructure projects. The county is taking another crack at a federal grant which would provide $26 million in funding for road projects in Po‘ipu. Garden Island.

CAP plane was off-course when it crashed. Witnesses say fatal Kauai flight was flying near mountain. U.S. safety regulators said today that a small plane that crashed on Kauai earlier this month and killed two men on board had been flying close to a mountain in poor weather. Associated Press. Garden Island. Hawaii News Now.

Honolulu delays plastic, polystyrene ban, Maui hospital seeks more state aid, 'The Flash' actor Ezra Miller arrested in Hilo bar, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Man checks out Hawaii lunch plate ©2022 All Hawaii News

Honolulu’s Ban On Plastic And Polystyrene Containers Is On Hold For 6 Months. Implementation of Honolulu’s ban on plastic and polystyrene containers is being further delayed after businesses said supply chain challenges are preventing them from complying. Civil Beat.

Bill To Ban Male Jail Guards From Strip Searching Female Inmates Advances. Senate Bill 2777 faces another hearing in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Civil Beat.

Lawmakers call on exploring a four-day work week. Some lawmakers said a four-day work week may not be such a bad idea, and now there is a proposal to create a task force to explore this possibility. KHON2.

Citizen whale counts wrap up for 2022 season. This season’s totals for the three days were higher than last year’s and almost equivalent to 2019. The one-day volunteer counts provide a snapshot of humpback whale sightings and activity from the shoreline across multiple sites, as distinguished from deeper research into population trends. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

Water use on Oahu continues rising. Water use on Oahu has continued to increase since November, despite the Honolulu Board of Water Supply urging residents to implement conservation measures after a fuel leak at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility resulted in the closing of three municipal wells. Star-Advertiser.

$1B to defuel Red Hill in budget proposal. President Joe Biden included $1 billion to defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in his annual budget proposal. This is on top of the hundreds of millions already directed toward dealing with the water contamination crisis. KHON2.

Punawai Hale hoping for full occupancy. Punawai Hale studio apartments hopes to finally fill its 20 units with once-homeless residents by the end of the month after opening in November 2020. Star-Advertiser.

Planning for new Oahu jail hits snag over state funding. Hawaii’s 50-member House of Representatives recently passed a state budget draft that rejects a request from Gov. David Ige to allocate $15 million for continued planning and procurement work to build a new Oahu Community Correctional Center in Halawa. Star-Advertiser.

City expands homeless outreach response team to Kailua. The city’s Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement units, or CORE, made contact with 10 unsheltered individuals living across Kailua last week. Hawaii Public Radio.

Hawaii Island

$600 million DHHL bill advances. A bill that would allocate $112 million to Big Island housing projects on Hawaiian Home Lands is still alive and moving through the Senate. Tribune-Herald.

‘The Flash’ actor Ezra Miller arrested at Hawaii Island bar. Actor Ezra Miller, who has prominent roles in the Justice League and Harry Potter “Fantastic Beasts” film franchises, was arrested for suspicion of disorderly conduct and harassment early Monday after allegedly becoming belligerent at Margarita Village on Silva Street. Star-Advertiser. Tribune-Herald. Big Island Video News. Hawaii News Now. KHON2.

Maui

Maui’s Private Hospital System Is In Need Of More State Aid. The hospital group is expected to request a state subsidy increase for the first time since Kaiser took over five years ago. Civil Beat.

Kaiser Permanente’s clinic in Kīhei reopens April 4. After being closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi’s clinic in Kīhei will reopen April 4. Maui Now.

College enrollment still trails pre-pandemic levels. There was a slight recovery in college-bound enrollment by Maui County’s 2021 graduating high school seniors compared to the previous graduating class, but efforts to continue higher education are still being hampered by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. Maui News.

Online public meeting to discuss South Maui budget priorities Wednesday. Hosted by Maui County Council Member Kelly Takaya King, a virtual town hall at 6 p.m. Wednesday will discuss South Maui budget priorities for fiscal year 2023. Maui Now.

Former Maui DWS employee says he was fired for pointing out contamination concerns. One year after filing a whistleblower lawsuit against Maui County, a former Department of Water Supply employee is still fighting for his job back. Ashley Hooks’ lawsuit claims he was retaliated against and unlawfully fired in 2020 after he alerted the state that Maui’s largest surface water treatment facility had been contaminated. Hawaii News Now.

Kauai

DeCosta’s agriculture bills get pushback from local lawyer. A trio of proposed bills that would eliminate tax exemptions for large-scale tree farms, orchards and wasteland was met with some resistance at a public hearing last week. Garden Island.

How cuts in state mental health care affect Kaua‘i. On Kaua‘i, one clinical psychologist, one social-service assistant and six human-service professionals were laid off as part of the 2020 cuts. Now, despite a state budget surplus, whether or not these positions will be restored remains an open question. Garden Island.

Kauaʻi County to temporarily suspend rental relief program during April. Kauaʻi County will temporarily suspend its rental relief program next month. But government officials will still be accepting new applications for assistance. Hawaii Public Radio.

Lawmakers want Kauai’s Russian Fort Elizabeth to have a new name. Resolutions moving through the state Legislature urge the Board of Land and Natural Resources to restore the eastern shoreline of Kauai’s Waimea Valley, currently called Russian Fort Elizabeth Park, to its former Hawaiian name, Paulaula. Star-Advertiser.