The Conversation

Samples from local sound artist Kit Ebersbach; Jane Goodsill discusses new book, Voices of Hawai'i; Corporate support for hula and arts; Island Insurance Foundation on supporting arts and education; Kauai muralist on his work and travels; New Blue Clay Studio opens at fishcake gallery

Status of the arts in 2021

Remote testimony at the State Legislature; State mismanagement of Native Hawaiian burial grounds; Reality Check: American Samoans can return home after quarantine in Hawaii; Maui County planning 5,000 affordable housing units in five years; The Rent and Relief Housing Assistance Program.
 

Remote testimony at the State Legislature

Legislature convenes with increased security measures; Reality Check: Panel will evaluate State Auditor's performance; The Long View with Neal Milner: Building national unity; Hawaii's strategy to combat sex trafficking evaluated; Realities of the digital divide; Manu Minute

Legislature convenes with increased security measures

The Hawaii State Legislature marks the first day of its new legislative session with increased security and public health restrictions. HPR Government reporter Ryan Finnerty breaks down this unprecedented start.

Economic recovery ahead of the inauguration; Reality Check with Civil Beat: State owes feds $700 million for unemployment benefits; Marking the anniversary of the Hibiscus Drive Shooting

Economic recovery ahead of the election 

Improved public access at the state Legislature; Priorities from the Hawaii Senate; Reality Check with Civil Beat: Audit slams Hawaii Agribusiness Development Corp.; Hawaii Island doctor shortage worsens

State Labor Director; House Finance Outlook; Reality Check: Remote Learning Initiative; Outrigger Hotels

State Labor Director

Today we put agriculture in the spotlight. The pandemic has underscored the need to become more resilient when it comes to our food supply. The state has lofty goals for the islands to increase our sustainability. One way to do that is to encourage new farmers.

 Joining us today are: 

Kapiolani Medical Center nurses vote to strike; Hawaii Proud Boy founder arrested after Capitol riot faces court; Reality Check with Civil Beat: Maui COVID cases surge; Helicopter business, down from pandemic, rises with lava flow; University of Hawaii research finds mislabeled seafood

DOH Vaccine Update; Legislature's Handling of Hawaiian Affairs; Reality Check: State Tax Revenue; Massie Case Anniversary

DOH Vaccine Update

This morning we hear from Hawaii’s State Health Director Libby Char. She shares the details of how officials are strategically planning how to best roll out the vaccines. Part of the challenge is we will only know from week to week how much and when vaccines will be sent our way.

Washington D.C. Lockdown Reaction; Reality Check: D.C. Reporter Gives Firsthand Account of Chaos; Washington Lockdown in Context; Hawaii Vaccine Update; National Guard General

Washington D.C. Lockdown Reaction

With much of the country still reeling from Wednesday's unprecedented events, we reached out to a number of Hawaii lawmakers who were in D.C. and at the Capitol when the takeover occurred.

Breaking down the latest federal relief funding for small businesses; Hawaii Island photographer on latest volcanic eruption; Reality Check with Civil Beat: State sent out ineffective masks during mad dash for PPE; Nonprofit thanks ride sharing company for helping kupuna; Jim "Kimo" West's album up for a Grammy

Facing possible furloughs and layoffs, public employees opt to retire; Using the harp for healing; Reality Check with Civil Beat: Rail's terrible 2020; Native Hawaiians make notable firsts at Sundance Film Festival; Farrington High's T-Shirt Theatre documentary can now be streamed worldwide

UHERO's 2021 economic forecast; Aloha to Sherry Bracken, retiring from radio; Reality Check with Civil Beat: $1.7B in federal relief funds on the way to Hawaii; Thoughts on the year ahead

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services on vaccine rollout; Dr. Kozak of The Body Show talks COVID vaccine; Reality Check with Civil Beat: Marketing campaign to battle vaccine skeptics; Update on COVID at Hawaii's prisons; The Long View with Neal Milner: Lessons learned from a long bike journey

The federal relief bill signed into law this weekend includes what’s described as a lifeline for higher education. But how will the nearly 3 billion dollars set aside for Universities trickle down to us here in the islands?

Joining us to talk about that and other pressing pandemic issues are:

• University of Hawaii Provost Michael Bruno

125 years ago, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prize for contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Peace that have made the greatest benefit to humankind. Today, we replay a broadcast with two women scientists with ties to Hawaii who received the prestigious award.

Biochemist Jennifer Doudna is a genome editing pioneer. She is a University of California Berkeley professor and Hilo High graduate. She is a co-winer of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work with what's known as CRISPR technology.

For today’s show we look back into our archives and explore the stories behind the Matson name. The influential shipping line has a long and storied history in the islands. We explore those ties, and look as the navigational company moves to modernize its operation.

Update on the 2020 Kilauea volcanic eruption; Local epidemiologist on mutating coronavirus; Reality Check with Civil Beat: Honolulu police double salaries with overtime pay; Honolulu sustainability report; New novel features unexpected journey of a rock star and a runaway

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the National Park Service’s presence at Kalaupapa on Molokai. COVID-19 has forced a change in plans to commemorate the milestone. Tours and access has been curtailed for most of the year. Today we hear from the park superintendent about what its presence in the historic settlement has meant as we plan for the day when the last resident leaves what has been home for so many.

We also hear personal reflections frome one man long exiled to the islands and we rebroadcast some stories about the island’s place names and important history about  the efforts to find a cure for Hansen’s Disease or leprosy.

Canadian visitors not here yet; Hawaii Tourism Authority looks ahead to 2021; Covert Honolulu police unit trailed former medical examiner; Pursuing a career in social work

Institute for Human Services on addressing Oahu's homelessness; ALEA Bridge partners with YMCA to house homeless at Camp Erdman; Houseless man awaits new year, new beginning; Update on the Kauai art scene; Spiritual guidance during the COVID crisis; Christmas music from local artists

Veterans Vaccine Plan; Reality Check: Vaccine Skepticism; Hawaii Small Business Woes; Kalaupapa Concert; “Allegiance” Memoir

Veterans Vaccine Plan

The Veterans Affairs office just hosted a virtual town hall meeting to take questions from its members about when they will be offered the chance to be vaccinated. Amy Rohlfs is the Public Affairs officer for the VA. We talked to her yesterday afternoon while the first of the Pacific Islands VA staff in Guam was getting the first doses.

The Long View with Neal Milner: Striking findings from 2020 national surveys; Systemic change needed to address Native Hawaiian health disparities, study says; Reality Check with Honolulu Civil Beat: HART, City low balled rail budget by $1.3 billion, according to P3 bids; Maui Mortuary; Koloa Iki campaign raising awareness on sea level rise in Hawaii

Vaccine distribution at Kaiser Permanente; Time running out for Hawaii to use federal pandemic relief funds; Kauai businesses need travelers to survive; Dodo Mortuary on grieving and death during the COVID crisis; Local publisher's new memoir program

Vaccine Logistics; Care Home Data Delay; Reality Check: Legal Battle Imminent over Final Stretch of Rail; Rice Farming in Hawaii

Vaccine Logistics

UHERO Forecast; Reality Check: DOE Furlough Plan; Aloha, Mayor Caldwell

UHERO Forecast

There is hope ahead for Hawaii’s economy, but any “meaningful economic recovery” is not likely to get underway until the middle of next year. That’s the latest forecast from the University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization - ”UHERO.” 

Furlough Reaction; Ampaire Hybrid Electric Planes; Reality Check: Concerning Progress Reports for Hawaii's Students; Electoral College Process; Art Scene Debrief

Furlough Reaction

State of Hawaii's airline industry; Checking in on Hawaii's small businesses; Addressing Hawaii's illiterate population; Public access in the time of COVID; Hawaiian Soul, a new film on George Helm

Vaccine Trials, Rollout Reaction; Black Water Dive Guide; Reality Check: Uncertainty Surrounding Rail Bids; Waikiki Film

Treating Maui sites for invasive Little Fire Ants; Naming Hawaiian birds; 2 Hawaii inmates who died in Arizona prison had COVID; Oahu civilian recounts Pearl Harbor attack