For UHH men’s basketball coach Aiona, youth minicamp is a start
This doesn’t figure to be as much a blast from the past for Kaniela Aiona, but more so a tiny glimpse, he hopes, of things to come.
Big Island Pop Warner gearing up for return
For any parents or keiki who might think it’s too late to start playing youth football, Big Island Pop Warner president Chad Tolentino has a message.
Mask rule delays trial for ex-Hawaii prosecutor’s brother
HONOLULU (AP) — A former high-ranking city prosecutor once took a photo with a line of cocaine on the desk of her husband, then-Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, according to court documents filed in preparation of a drug-dealing trial against her pain physician brother.
Council supports resolution to protect spinner dolphins
The Hawaii County Council is urging the federal government to implement rules to prohibit close contact between humans and Hawaiian spinner dolphins.
In-person DLIR appointments to begin Sept. 7
Some 15,000 Hawaii residents could lose unemployment benefits when federal unemployment programs end Sept. 6.
Help is on the way: Funding to assist ranchers in battling two-lined spittlebug
Help is on the way for Big Island ranchers fighting an invasive bug decimating pasture land in North and South Kona.
US virus cases nearly triple in 2 weeks amid misinformation
MISSION, Kan. — COVID-19 cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy into the fray.
Building code lives to fight another day: Skeptical County Council wants lots of changes
After almost six hours of extremely detailed and sometimes tense debate, the County Council on Wednesday first killed, then resurrected, a new residential building code.
Ola Brew opens new taproom in Hilo
Ola Brew has opened its second location, a taproom in Hilo.
Wildfire smoke clouds sky, hurts air quality on East Coast
PORTLAND, Ore. — Smoke and ash from massive wildfires in the American West clouded the sky and led to air quality alerts Wednesday on parts of the East Coast as the effects of the blazes were felt 2,500 miles away.
State briefs for July 22
Maui mayor vetoes hotel construction moratorium bill
Biden says getting vaccinated ‘gigantically important’
CINCINNATI, Ohio — President Joe Biden expressed pointed frustration Wednesday over the slowing COVID-19 vaccination rate in the U.S. and pleaded that it’s “gigantically important” for Americans to step up and get inoculated against the virus as it surges once again.
Unvaccinated staff eyed in rising nursing home cases, deaths
WASHINGTON — Lagging vaccination rates among nursing home staff are being linked to a national increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths at senior facilities, and are at the center of a federal investigation in a hard-hit Colorado location where disease detectives found many workers were not inoculated.
Obituaries for July 22
Mark Luis Gallegos, 53, died June 21 at Kona Community Hospital. He was born in Santa Rosa, Calif. Survivors please contact 808-322-9592. Arrangements by Dodo Mortuary.
Your Views for July 22
‘Our choice’
Republicans have their own private autocracy
I’m a huge believer in the usefulness of social science, especially studies that use comparisons across time and space to shed light on our current situation. So when political scientist Henry Farrell suggested that I look at his field’s literature on cults of personality, I followed his advice. He recommended one paper in particular, by New Zealand-based researcher Xavier Márquez; I found it revelatory.
The case for vaccine mandates
In much of America, vaccine hesitancy has turned into vaccine defiance. Several states have banned or are considering banning demands by businesses that people show proof of vaccination. Tennessee — where only 38% of adults are fully inoculated and the COVID-19 caseload is growing fast — has gone so far as to cancel public schools’ efforts to encourage eligible children to get their shots (including flu shots). For good measure, the state has fired its medical director for vaccine programs.
