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Published on Jan 8, 2017 Five Indian-American members of Congress were sworn in on Tuesday, including California Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Washington state. Seven new members of the Senate joined those who won re-election in receiving the oath of office from Vice President Joe Biden. House Speaker Paul Ryan swore in 52 new members of the House of Representatives. Harris is the first Indian American to ever serve in the U.S. Senate. Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to join the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tensions flared at a Senate hearing on Antifa when a top Democrat walked out of the room declaring she couldn’t sit through Sen. Ted Cruz’s rhetorical speeches any longer. The dustup occurred when Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Democrats for not condemning Antifa more directly for the violence and destruction that has taken hold in certain U.S. cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. But Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Cruz just wasn’t listening during the more than three-hour hearing when Democrats said violence is not acceptable. “Sometimes I don’t think you listen,” Hirono told Cruz at the Senate...

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) singled out a statue of Father Damien, a Catholic priest who ministered to a Hawaiian leper colony, as an example of “white supremacist culture.” Father Damien, born Jozef de Veuster in Belgium, arrived in Hawaii in 1864 when the islands were an independent kingdom. The priest conducted missionary work on the islands and for the last 16 years of his life ministered to a leper colony, until he died after contracting leprosy himself. A statue of Father Damien stands in the U.S. Capitol. “It’s not Queen Lili’uokalani…the only Queen Regnant of Hawaii, who is immortalized...

Father, son with COVID-19 forced to quarantine in Hawaii The state public health director said he invoked a rarely used special health order to force them into isolation. Image: Hawaii mand and son breaking quarantine Nethcali J. Naisonet is detained by authorities after breaking quarantine. Hawaii News Now A father and his teenage son with COVID-19 were forced to quarantine by authorities in Honolulu this week, authorities said. The teenager, allegedly "in violation of the COVID quarantine restriction," was spotted by a Honolulu Police Department officer on patrol Tuesday morning at a shopping center, police said in a statement Tuesday....

HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Tropical Storm Douglas has strengthened to a category 1 hurricane Wednesday, according to the Pacific Hurricane Center. This is the first hurricane of the 2020 eastern Pacific season, with wind speeds up to 75 mph. Douglas has resumed strengthening, after remaining steady for almost 24 hours. The system has developed a ragged eye during the past couple of hours. The system is expected to reach the islands beginning with Hawaii Island on late Sunday into early Monday.

By HNN Staff | July 17, 2020 at 4:13 PM HST - Updated July 17 at 4:27 PM HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state said at least 182 people have been arrested so far in the islands for violating the 14-day mandatory quarantine for all incoming travelers. The figure does not include the total number arrested by the Honolulu Police Department. In a supplemental emergency proclamation signed Friday, the governor extended the quarantine through August, as he previously announced he would do. The mandate was issued in late March.

Group tracing quarantine breakers is busier than ever by: Max Rodriguez HONOLULU (KHON2) — Despite having to quarantine for two weeks, more visitors keep arriving in Hawaii, and among them are some who will try to avoid the state’s rules. It is getting harder to keep track of visitors for a group of volunteers who monitor that quarantine orders are being followed. Angela Keen, the Administrator of Hawaii Quarantine Kapu Breakers group, said she is getting reports of people breaking quarantine almost by the hour. Keen said, “Back in March, we had maybe one or two quarantine breaker reports a...

Incentive programs for electric cars and solar panels mostly benefit those who can afford those things, while regulations that drive up the cost of energy hurt those who can't afford much to begin with. ... a growing rift on in the environmental world between those who favor the state's far-reaching "green" policies—and those who want to hector us to use less energy. "Wealth is a prominent driver of demand for residential energy, ... a constant theme from the environmental community when it comes to every resource-related policy debate, from electricity production to fossil fuels to water availability. Activists talk about...

23 new cases of COVID-19 bring state total to 1094 HONOLULU (KHON) -- After yesterday saw the highest single-day caseload since the pandemic began, https://www.khon2.com/coronavirus/41-new-cases-of-covid-19-bring-state-total-to-1071/ the Department of Health reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on July 8 for the state: 20 from Honolulu County, 2 from Maui County and 1 from Hawaii County. The cumulative state total is now 1094. Of the 1094 total positive tests, 264 are active cases. The DOH reported 102,674 test results have been received as of July 7. Three new cases required hospitalization. 14 additional patients were released from isolation. The total number of...

KAILUA, Hawaii (KHON2) — More than a thousand American flags are back on display in Kailua after being removed earlier this week. Fields of red, white, and blue were seen down Kailua Road. That’s what Kailua Chamber of Commerce President Michael Fry envisioned when he and other community members created the “It’s a 1000 Flag Celebration” project in Kailua in lieu of the parade and fireworks show that was canceled. “We were racking our brains thinking what can we do to lift everybody’s spirits and bring the community together and show our patriotism? And if we can bring people to...

HONOLULU (AP) — Twenty-one people who recently arrived in Hawaii, describing themselves as a family with a leader, were arrested and charged with violating the state's mandatory 14-day quarantine put in place in an attempt to protect the islands from the spread of the coronavirus, police said.

On Thursday morning, police arrested six women and seven men at a Railroad Avenue home in Hawaiian Paradise Park, including Eligio Lee Bishop, a 38-year-old Georgia man and self-professed cult leader of the “Carbon Nation,” who also is known as “Nature Boy.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway

Breaking Quarantine In Hawaii? A Citizens’ Group Is Watching The group, seeing gaps in enforcement, has helped state and local investigators track down scofflaw tourists. By Yoohyun Jung A group of Hawaii residents has taken on the role of enforcers of the state’s COVID-19 travel quarantine, scouring social media and fielding tips to track down visitors ignoring the requirement to isolate for 14 days after arrival. Take the case of 20-year-old Artyon Zhiryada and 19-year-old Dan Vlasenko, who posted a video of Zhiryada shooting a feral chicken with a spear gun. They were arrested May 22 after Hawaii citizens found...

Hawaii’s extraordinary success in curbing the local spread of COVID-19 has left Gov. David Ige with a dilemma unlike any in the nation. To a greater degree than any other governor, it will fall to Ige to eventually reopen the door to new infections when he finally authorizes the restart of the state’s tourism industry.

A tourist from New York was arrested in Hawaii after he posted beach pictures on Instagram when he was supposed to be in quarantine. The 23-year-old man was arrested for violating Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day quarantine rule and for “unsworn falsification to authority,” the Hawaii governor’s office said in a statement. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, the state requires travelers to the islands to self-quarantine for 14 days, without leaving their hotel room or residence. They are required to fill out a document acknowledging that violating the quarantine is a criminal offense punishable by a $5,000...

Hawaii’s top emergency response official said Monday he fears there will be civil unrest and rioting if the state doesn’t speed up its process of reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. “If we let the economy go the way it’s going, there will be, I feel, significant unrest that could lead to civil disobedience. In worst case, civil disturbance and rioting,” Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the state director of emergency management, told lawmakers Monday. Hara, who heads the state's coronavirus response team, argued before the state House Select Committee on COVID-19 in Honolulu Monday that, despite pushback from the...

State Supreme Court: Victims of Homeless Criminals May Sue Those Who Enable Homelessness By Court House News @ 5:49 PM :: 214 Views :: Homelessness Public Nuisance Court House News, May 6, 2020 HONOLULU — In the case of a bar owner who was assaulted by a homeless man illegally living in a nearby storage unit, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled, May 5, 2020, that plaintiffs can recover damages in public nuisance suits if they have suffered individualized harm. PDF: Hawaii State Supreme Court Ruling (Editor's Note: This may change the financial dynamic of the homelessness industry. Now, instead of...

A California couple who allegedly refused to sign a coronavirus quarantine acknowledgment after checking into a Hawaii hotel for their honeymoon found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Borice Leouskiy, 20, and Yuliia Andreichenko, 26, were arrested after leaving their Waikiki-area hotel by special agents for the Department of the Hawaii Attorney General on Thursday. "We appreciate the vigilance and cooperation of the hotel staff, and staff at other hotels, in helping maintain the health and safety of visitors and residents," state Attorney General Clare Connors said in a statement. "It is important that everyone flying into Hawai'i...

Governors press release at link