State budget cuts suspend female furlough program
HONOLULU — State budget cuts are expected to prompt officials to suspend a program that provides work furloughs for female inmates, the Hawaii Department of Public Safety said.
The program’s suspension is the result of the economic impact of the coronavirus.
The Home of Reawakening for Women furlough program in Honolulu is scheduled to lose its contract with DPS at the close of the current fiscal year.
The change is a temporary measure and the department will consider restarting the program after the state’s budget situation becomes more clear, said spokeswoman Toni Schwartz.
A new contract would cost $613,200 for 14 female inmates for another year, Schwartz said.
The initiative is Hawaii’s only community-based furlough program for female prisoners trying to re-enter life outside custody.
The 30-year-old program has operated out of the YWCA in the city’s Makiki area for the past five years.
Planners approve communications tower permit
WAILUKU, Maui — The Maui Planning Commission approved a permit for a communications tower that would serve as a backup system in emergency situations.
The commission responded to residents’ concerns by prohibiting the use of 5G wireless technology at the West Maui site.
The Maui County Department of Public Works sought a special use permit for the site to replace the Maui Police Department’s communications facility in Makila.
The new facility would be employed exclusively by government agencies, with the police department as the primary user, project documents said.
Project plans call for building a tower standing 85 feet with five microwave antennas and a single-story radio equipment building in Launiupoko.
The site would allow the tower to use point-to-point microwave technology to communicate with the police department’s existing facilities in Ulupalakua and East Molokai and another planned facility in Lahainaluna.
