July 1, 2020

New strain of swine flu virus spreads to humans in China

HONG KONG >> A new strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus is spreading silently in workers on pig farms in China and should be “urgently” controlled to avoid another pandemic, a team of scientists says in a new study.

H1N1 is highly transmissible and spread around the world in 2009, killing about 285,000 people and morphing into seasonal flu.

The newer strain, known as G4 EA H1N1, has been common on China’s pig farms since 2016 and replicates efficiently in human airways, according to the study published Monday. So far, it has infected some people without causing disease, but health experts fear that could change without warning.

“G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus,” the study said, adding that controlling the spread in pigs and closely monitoring human populations “should be urgently implemented.”

Read more: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/06/30/breaking-news/new-strain-of-swine-flu-virus-spreads-to-humans-in-china/

July 1, 2020

Hawaii Supreme Court rules in favor of Native Hawaiians in land trust case

The Hawaii Supreme Court today took the state to task for its mismanagement of the land trust for Native Hawaiians and allowed a class-action lawsuit to proceed to a phase for calculating damages in a major victory for some 2,700 plaintiffs in the case.

In a 5-0 decision, the justices largely ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, permitting the case to go to an administrative process for determining what damages are owed to individual plaintiffs for years-long waits for homesteads.

The justices cited the state’s wrongful conduct in administering the trust and noted it has “done little to address the ever-lengthening waitlist for lease awards of Hawaiian home lands.”

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 1999 in a case known as Kalima v state. Leona Kalima is the lead plaintiff. Even though a lower court judge ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor in 2009, finding the state in breach of trust and liable for damages, the case has dragged on for years through the court process, and no damages have been paid.

Read more: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/06/30/breaking-news/hawaii-supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-native-hawaiians-in-land-trust-case/

July 1, 2020

Hawaii's largest daily newspaper agrees to deal with union on staff cuts

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Hawaii’s largest daily newspaper, will lay off 12 newsroom employees and institute furloughs as part of a deal with the media workers union that would also preserve 17 jobs.

The Pacific Media Workers Guild proposed the deal last week. However, in return, the employees will be taking a six weeks off without pay between now and Feb. 28.

A total of 12 journalists have agreed to be laid off with severance pay.

They’re also deferring a 1% raise and giving up half their vacation days for the year.

The agreement keeps most of the workers who initially received layoff notices on June 11.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/06/30/hawaiis-largest-daily-newspaper-agrees-deal-keep-employees/

July 1, 2020

State forges ahead with plan to reopen tourism with testing, despite potential loophole

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The plan to relax quarantine restrictions and reopen Hawaii’s tourism industry starts in about a month, but many say a big loophole still exists.

Come Aug. 1, travelers who come to Hawaii with proof of a negative COVID-19 test ― taken no more than 72 hours before arrival ― won’t be subject to quarantine.

But there’s no clear plan to make sure those who don’t get tested actually isolate themselves.

State Attorney General Clare Connors did say a new database for law enforcement should be ready once the new regulations take effect.

Read more: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/06/30/despite-potential-loophole-state-forges-ahead-with-plan-reopen-tourism-with-testing/

July 1, 2020

State Teachers Union, DOE Agree To Reopening Terms

The Hawaii State Teachers Association reached an agreement with the Hawaii Department of Education over the weekend over how to reopen schools for the 2020-21 school year.

The memorandum of understanding applies to all 13,500 members of the teacher’s union, including public charter school teachers, and covers areas like health and safety, social and physical distancing, personal protective equipment and privacy safeguards.

“They (DOE) have to follow this by law. It’s a contract they have to follow. There can be grievances filed if they don’t follow this,” HSTA President Corey Rosenlee said on Monday.

The 11-page MOU provides a preview of what the DOE’s school reopening plan will look like when it’s unveiled by department officials on Thursday, ahead of the official Aug. 4 start to the 2020-21 school year.

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/state-teachers-union-doe-agree-to-reopening-terms/

July 1, 2020

A New Direction For The Hawaii Supreme Court?

Gov. David Ige is expected to appoint Hawaii’s next Supreme Court justice this year, his first and perhaps only pick for the high court.

The opportunity comes with the retirement Tuesday of Associate Justice Richard Pollack, who turns 70 on Thursday — the mandatory retirement age for Hawaii judges and justices.

Pollack’s retirement could fundamentally change the legal bent of the five-member court. Pollack has often ruled in the majority with justices Sabrina McKenna and Michael Wilson, who are described as being more liberal compared with Paula Nakayama and Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald.

“I think it can have a profound effect when you see a lot of 3-2 decisions,” said Jeff Portnoy, an attorney with Cades Schutte and a former member of the state’s Judicial Selection Commission. “Whoever that third judge is on the bench — and we don’t know who that could be — it could easily flip the entire Supreme Court.”

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/a-new-direction-for-the-hawaii-supreme-court/

July 1, 2020

A Socially Distanced Senate Runoff Debate Finally Got MJ Hegar and Royce West to Throw Down

It’s too bad the Democratic Senate runoff in Texas between MJ Hegar and Royce West has gotten buried by, you know, everything, because it tells an interesting story about where Texas Dems find themselves in 2020. The race is between two very different candidates, with very different claims to the support of the party’s base. If Monday’s debate is any indication, they won’t be getting a beer together when this is all over.

Hegar, 44, has an impressive personal story to tell, one that helped her become a national figure of sorts even as she lost her first race, for the U.S. House in 2018 against Representative John Carter, by a thin margin. She’s a former Air Force helicopter pilot who was wounded in action in Afghanistan and is a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. But she’s also never held elective office, and wasn’t active in the party until recently, which is something that means a lot to Texas Dem activists who’ve been slogging it out in the trenches for what feels like forever.

The blue wave that brought Democrats the U.S. House in 2018 relied in part on the support of college-educated white women who may have been Republican voters in the past but had come to despise Donald Trump. That’s Hegar, who voted in the Republican primary in 2016. (She says it was a protest vote against Trump, and that she voted for businesswoman Carly Fiorina.) The hope of appealing to those red-to-blue voters again is perhaps why Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer made clear early on that Hegar is his preferred candidate. Health-care issues have been a core part of her campaign, and she spoke at the debate about the possibility of working with Republicans on pharmaceutical pricing reforms.

Royce West, meanwhile, is a veteran African American lawmaker from Dallas, a city critically important to Democrats. At age 67, he has been in the trenches. Too long, critics say, Hegar among them: as a lawyer in the state Senate, he’s traded on his influence in the way nearly all lawyers in the Lege do, profiting from government contracts and representing local governmental entities in the DFW area. But he also has real accomplishments under his belt, including passing important police reforms. He was a pivotal player in the long Democratic effort to flip Dallas County.

Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/west-hegar-runoff-debate/

July 1, 2020

Dr. Steven Hotze Confronts Gay Protester at Anti-Mask Rally

Local waiter’s pro-mask sign ripped up by the anti-LGBTQ activist.


Norman Earle’s pro-mask sign was stolen and ripped in half by Dr. Steven Hotze on Saturday, June 27 (screengrab via KPRC-TV Channel 2).


The June 27 downtown protest against the Harris County order requiring people to wear masks inside businesses almost turned violent when Dr. Steven Hotze knocked a sign out of a pro-masker’s hands, ripped it up, and threw it on the ground.

“I was so shaken up,” says Norman Earle. “I could not believe he just did that.”

About 60 anti-maskers showed up at Market Square Park to protest, as well as a dozen or so attendees who were in favor of the new mask order. Several police officers were also there.

Earle learned about the protest online.

“My friend posted it on Facebook,” he says. “At first we just laughed about it, because it showed a picture of the Statue of Liberty wearing a mask. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided to make a ‘wear a mask’ sign and go down there myself.”

Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2020/06/dr-steven-hotze-confronts-gay-protester-at-anti-mask-rally/

July 1, 2020

Update! TWC, again, suspends job searches for those collecting unemployment benefits

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) on Tuesday said that it is suspending a plan that would require those individuals who are receiving unemployment benefits to take part in weekly work searches.

Normally the TWC requires those receiving unemployment benefits to actively search for a new job each week that they request unemployment benefits.

The TWC had suspended the work search mandate earlier this year when stay-at-home orders were initiated, and the state was dealing with a weak overall economy.

As the Texas economy begin to slowly reopen in mid June, TWC officials made the decisions to resume work searches beginning on July 6. At least three work searches were to be required each week in order for someone to retain their unemployment benefits.

Read more: https://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/news/twc-again-suspends-job-searches-for-those-collecting-unemployment-benefits/article_53ffa558-bb02-11ea-af81-4f01ae8ea619.html

July 1, 2020

Dallas County Posts 601 New Coronavirus Cases, 20 Deaths

Dallas County crossed two grim thresholds Tuesday in its ongoing surge of cases of the novel coronavirus.

County health officials reported 601 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon, marking the first time the county has reported more than 600 cases in a single day. The county also reported 20 coronavirus-related deaths, a new single-day record for the county.

The two youngest victims were men in their 30s, one from Richardson and the other from Dallas. The Richardson man died in a hospital, where he had been critically ill. The Dallas man, who didn't have any underlying conditions that placed him at higher risk, was found dead at home.

The oldest victims were two women in their 90s, both of whom lived in long-term care facilities in Dallas. Both women died in hospitals. Of the county's 373 coronavirus-related deaths reported since the beginning of the pandemic, more than a third have been associated with long-term care facilities, health officials said.

Read more: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-county-record-coronavirus-cases-11923238