General News

Updated: 11/2/2020, 4:46 p.m. A lawyer for U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams pleaded not guilty Monday on behalf of the official who was cited by Honolulu police for being in a closed park during a trip to help Hawaii cope with a spike in coronavirus cases.

Updated: 11/2/2020, 3:10 p.m.

The state Department of Health reported no deaths and 78 new COVID-19 cases today. The total infections since the pandemic began now number 15,231.

Oahu had 65 new cases, Hawaii County 4, Kauai 1, Lanai 1, Maui 2 and Molokai none. There were 5 new cases diagnosed out of state. The death toll stands at 219.

There have been 13,250 cases on Oahu, 1,304 on Hawaii Island, 410 on Maui, 100 on Lanai, 66 on Kauai, and 17 on Molokai. There have been 84 cases diagnosed out of state.

The Honolulu City Council has introduced two bills that would increase fares for public transportation.

A Hawaii inmate has died at a privately owned prison in Arizona that has experienced an outbreak of the coronavirus, Hawaii officials said.

MANILA, Philippines — A super typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines with ferocious winds early Sunday and about a million people have been evacuated in its projected path, including in the capital where the main international airport was ordered closed.

Updated: 10/31/2020, 12:30 p.m. The Hawaii Department of Health reported 68 new COVID-19 cases today, pushing the statewide total in the pandemic to 15,071. There were three new deaths, raising the toll to 219. 

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Development of a $10.5 million facility on Hawaii island to make compost using green waste and food waste has been postponed because of a shortage of the key components.

As early voting breaks records across the U.S., political analysts and campaigns are reviewing reams of data on the voters, looking for clues to key questions: Who is voting? And who is winning?

More than 600 dogs and cats flew across the Pacific Ocean from crowded Hawaii shelters to Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, where there's more space for them to await adoption — a charity operation that organizers said is the largest pet rescue flight.

Updated: 10/30/2020, 12:26 p.m. Hawaii marked another milestone with an additional 94 new reported COVID-19 cases, pushing the statewide total in the pandemic to over 15,000 today.

HONOLULU (AP) — The pilot of a plane that crashed and killed all 11 on board had a history of taking unnecessary risks and pushing the limits of his skills to give passengers an exciting ride, witnesses told federal officials.

Updated: 10/29/2020, 1:15 p.m. The Hawaii Department of Health reported 2 deaths and 77 new COVID-19 cases today. The latest count brings the total number of COVID cases during the pandemic to 14,911. The death toll now stands at 215.

Updated: 10/28/2020, 12:15 p.m. 

The state Department of Health today reported no deaths and 62 new COVID-19 cases. The count for Lanai, which is seeing an outbreak that has locked down the island, increased by 7 cases to 94 in total.

Mass COVID-19 testing of hundreds of Hawaiʻi inmates being held at an Arizona prison begins Thursday. This comes days after 56 Hawaiʻi inmates at the Saguaro Correctional Center tested positive for the coronavirus.

Travelers from Japan will be able to avoid the state’s 14-day quarantine with a negative COVID-19 test starting on November 6th.

Updated: 10/27/2020, 12:40 p.m. The Hawaii Department of Health today reported three deaths and 66 new COVID-19 cases. The count for Lanai , which is seeing an outbreak that has locked down the island, increased by 9 cases to 87 in total.

A federal lawsuit against the city and Honolulu Police Department alleges an officer arrested a 15-year-old at school after the boy was in a fight with the officer’s son. The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii says the case illustrates how some officers abuse their positions while the disciplinary actions taken by the police department are shrouded in secrecy. 

Updated: 10/26/2020, 12:15 p.m. Gov. David Ige has approved a stay-at-home order and travel restrictions on Lanai beginning at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The order would require travelers and visitors to remain at home or in their lodgings except for essential reasons such as grocery shopping.

Farm-raised marine animal sales in Hawaii last year reached $83.2 million, breaking a record, a new federal report said.

Lanai High and Elementary School has switched to distance learning as the COVID-19 outbreak on the island grows and Maui County officials await approval to impose a stay-at-home order on the island starting Tuesday. 

An increase in firearm permits issued and firearms registered this year may be the result of the coronavirus and the upcoming national election, the Honolulu police chief said.

Hawaii had more than 65,000 travelers arrive in the islands in the first week of its pre-travel coronavirus testing program, a state effort to get the tourism-based economy moving again amid the pandemic.

State officials said in an email to The Associated Press on Friday that 66,644 people were screened between the Oct. 15 launch and Thursday. Of those visitors — including returning residents, tourists and others — 41,783 tested negative for the coronavirus and were allowed to skip the previously required two weeks of quarantine.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino expects Lanai residents and visitors will be under a mandatory stay-at-home order beginning Tuesday. The order is subject to approval by Gov. David Ige, who Victorino said should be signing off on it this weekend.

Updated: 10/23/2020. 7:30 p.m.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino has asked the governor to lock down Lanai to travel and order residents to stay at home beginning Tuesday after the number of COVID-19 cases on the island spiked to 65 today. Lanai has a population of about 3,000.