Hawaii Community & Notices

HEADLINES

• Hawaii Island’s new Mayor, Mitch Roth, hits the ground running with cabinet positions, set to be filled by Dec. 7

• ON Arrival, post-flight COVID-19 Testing Program for Travelers Arriving to the Big Island will be scaled back Friday, according to outgoing Mayor Harry Kim.   Since the post-flight testing program — which allows travelers to skip a 14-day quarantine if they test negative for COVID-19 immediately after arrival — began on Oct. 15, only 17 travelers have tested COVID-positive out of more than 12,000 tests, Kim said.  On his way out the door, Mayor Kim’s order appears premature at best, with mainland cases peaking, and may be setting up Hawaii Island for another surge and spread of COVID-19 cases, as the tourist trade returns.

• Up in Pennsylvania and Nevada, Biden Edges Closer to Victory —  Leads in Pennsylvania; Nevada; and Georgia (which will go into a recount before final voting results are announced)

• Joseph R. Biden Jr. stood on the cusp of the presidency on Friday, seizing a lead over President Trump in both Pennsylvania and Georgia and building on his lead in Nevada as he drew ever closer to securing the 270 electoral votes needed to lay claim to the White House.

  Mr. Biden, who was winning the popular vote by more than four million votes and has already won 253 electoral votes, had pulled ahead of Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania by more than 19,500 votes by Friday evening. If his lead holds — and it is expected to — the state’s 20 electoral votes would vault him past the threshold to win the election.

• Donald Trump’s baseless vote fraud claim opens cracks in Republican ranks

• The Associated Press is still not calling the presidential race because neither Joe Biden nor President Trump has secured the 270 electoral votes — needed to claim victory. Millions of ballots are being counted in key states that remain too close to call, including Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Trump and his campaign continue to make unsubstantiated and unspecified claims of voter fraud as Biden inches ever closer to the 270-vote threshold.

Here’s where the race to 270 (Electoral College) currently stands as of 4 pm HT:   

• Biden: 264 (AP has called Arizona for Biden)    
• Trump: 214

Hawaii Island, COVID-19 Impact Response

As of November 5th, Civil Beat calculates at least 236 people have died from the disease in Hawaii including multiple deaths on Hawaii island that have not been recorded yet by the Department of Health due to medical verification lags. The statewide official death toll remains at 219 and the state’s COVID-19 death rate is 1.45%.

As of Thursday, 68 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were hospitalized, including 13 in intensive care and nine COVID-19 patients on ventilators.

As of Wednesday DOH reported that 15,473 individuals in Hawaii have tested positive for COVID-19.

Of these Hawaii COVID-19 cases:

• 219 have died
  1,125 required hospitalization
  11,958 have been released from isolation

Community Calendar

Steady progress has been made in turning the tide on commercial Aquarium fish extraction trade.  The environmentally destructive practice of harvesting reef fish throughout the state.

As you may have been noting, more than a few poachers on this island (many of whom were the primary applicants for the failed Environmental Impact Statement considering preferential permits for more collecting) have been marched into court recently for violating the court ordered moratorium on Hawaii Island’s “Gold Coast”.

Separately, legal actions against the reef fish extraction trade are underway, as a very important bill before the Honolulu City and County Council is pending calling for restricting inhumane practices associated with the shipping of reef fish abroad. The bill (066), would impose greater accountability in the tracking of fish mortalities associated with the Aquarium trade.

Presently, there is an for public input in setting policy, an opportunity to participate in the State’s long awaited “Holomua marine 30 x 30 initiative”.   Two DLNR hosted public meetings are scheduled for West Hawaii Island residents:

• November 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• December 3, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.