Happy Halloween!

We Want Your Ideas and Input:  Last Chance to Take Our Fall 2021 Community Survey Before Halloween
Mahalo if you have already filled out our survey.  We are closing it at the end of this month, so if you haven’t gotten a chance to, please take it now.  We look forward to sharing the results with you next month.

City Will Allow Full Capacity at Indoor & Outdoor Venues Starting Nov. 3
The city is loosening covid restrictions by lifting some limits on gatherings, effective Nov. 3, but it’s maintaining mask and vaccine requirements. The city updates include the following:

• Outdoor and indoor seating events can be at 100% capacity. Water will be allowed but no food. This includes sporting events, marathons and concerts.
• Restaurants, bars, and gyms still limited to 50% capacity but may stay open until 2 a.m., starting immediately.
• The University of Hawaii’s Ching Field will be open to about 9,000 people if they can fill up those seats.
• The annual Honolulu Marathon will continue with no masks at capacity limit.; groups of up to 200 are allowed.
• Other road races and triathlons can include an unlimited number of fully vaccinated participants but will be held in staggered groups of up to 50 people each. Starting Nov. 24, that number will increase to 200.
• Interactive events such as funerals and weddings will be kept at half capacity – up to 150 people max for indoor events and 500 for those held outdoors, with continued mask and vaccination requirements. On Nov. 24, the number will increase to 300 at indoor events, and no attendee limit for outdoor events.

Attention Sports Fans! Planning to Attend UH Sporting Events?
The University of Hawaii (UH) is offering tips to fans planning to go to the next football home game on Nov 6 against nationally ranked San Diego State. Below are instructions to follow to prepare for the event:

• Download the LumiSight UH daily health check app here.

• Upload your vaccination information to the LumiSight UH app at least 3 days before the first game or match to allow time for verification.
• On the day of the event, you must complete the LumiSight UH daily health screening for COVID-19 symptoms and possible exposure, which takes less than a minute.
• Everyone must present the green “You may report to campus” status with the current date on the app to enter the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex and the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
• Fans will also be able to show their vaccine cards and answer the COVID-19 health check questionnaire on site  but expect longer wait times to enter.
• Wear face masks at all times at the event, indoors and outdoors, except when drinking water.

A complete list of fan requirements is available here.

Small Businesses Can Still Claim Covid Vaccine IRS Tax Credit
The credit allows for a tax credit of up to 80 hours per employee up to $511 per day from April through September for time off from being sick, quarantining, awaiting the results of a Covid test or getting a vaccine. Also allowed for is care for someone else with Covid-19 of two-thirds of an employee’s salary, up to $200 per day. That tax credit — which can be complicated for small-business owners to navigate — officially expires at the end of 2021. At first, the tax credit was set at 50% of up to $10,000 in qualifying wages per employee for the 2020 calendar year. But the American Rescue Plan Act extended and expanded the credit to include up to 70% of $10,000 in qualifying wages per employee per quarter in 2021, making it much more lucrative to business owners. Read more here.

Postal Shipping Tips for Hawaii Ahead of the Holidays
Hawaii shipping deadlines for Christmas are in December, but the Postal Service says folks should start preparing now. Shortages and supply chain issues mean getting those packages off early is key. Here’s what you need to know:

• Hawaii’s suggested deadline for getting Priority Mail to the mainland before Christmas is Friday, Dec. 17.
•  The deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 21 for last-minute shoppers who use Priority Express Mail.
• Select Post Office locations around the country have upgraded their mail processing and transportation networks since 2020.
• The flat rate box is the best pound-for-pound option but officials still recommend planning ahead.

Click here for more info.

USPS Seeking to Hire Hundreds of New Employees Statewide
The United States Postal Service is seeking to hire 600 new employees statewide for the upcoming holiday season. Here’s what you need to know:

• Entry-level opportunities include positions in the mail processing facility and mail carriers on all islands.
• These positions are for shifts scheduled from November through early January. Starting pay for the available positions ranges from $18.01 to $20.66 an hour.
• Available are 275 Entry-Level & 350 Seasonal Positions.

Interested applicants click here.  Click on “Apply Now,” then select “Hawaii” as their location to see all currently available positions and begin the application process.

HPD Urges Everyone to Drive Responsibly During Holiday Season
The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is encouraging safe driving and especially during the holiday season. To make sure you do, HPD will set up impaired driver checkpoints at unannounced locations from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, as part of the ongoing effort to reduce the number of traffic injuries and deaths. Know that promoting intoxicating liquor to anyone under the age of 21 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one-year imprisonment.

Scrambling to Save Hawaii’s Disappearing Beaches
On Oahu, rising oceans have washed out roads and beachfront homes have collapsed from coastal erosion – costly, painful problems, but isolated. The future will bring much worse. The Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission’s report from 2017 estimates that, statewide, 3.2 feet of sea level rise would displace more than 20,000 people and destroy over $19 billion worth of land and structures, not counting a lot of critical infrastructure. These human and financial impacts would hit the urban core heaviest, including the epicenter of the state’s tourism sector, Waikīkī. On the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s sea level rise viewer (NOAA) a 3-foot rise would flood areas near the Ala Wai Canal. At just 4 feet of sea level rise, more than half of Waikīkī would be underwater. At 6 feet, it’s all submerged, along with much of the southern coast. Read more here.  Because of these concerns, I am working on a sea level adaptation community plan with a university-government-community group facilitated by State Office of Planning & Sustainability Director Mary Alice Evans.  Stay tuned.

Moiliili’s Kokua Market Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Hawaii’s oldest natural foods cooperative is celebrating its 50th anniversary — and to mark the occasion, the store is launching two weeks of festivities. Kokua Market on South King Street in Moiliili has been operating since 1971, providing locally-grown, organic and healthy foods to the community for years. The grocery store is hosting a number of weekend activities that include discounts, contests, specials guests and themed events through Nov. 7. On Oct. 30, the store will be celebrating Halloween with a costume contest at noon, and on Nov. 6 the market will provide a special fundraiser dinner by Makana Provisions. For more information, click here.

High Tech Workout Facility Makes Debut at Ward Village
F45 Training Studio, the fifth for the worldwide company on Oahu and sixth in the state, Officially opened on Oct 16 at Ward Village. It’s across from The Rice Factory that was previously a Destination Hawaii. There are now five F45 locations on Oahu: Kapolei, Pearlridge, Kahala, Hawaii Kai and now Kawaiahao Street. The “F” stands for functional training, a mix of circuit and high-intensity interval training, workouts, and the “45” is the minutes length of a team workout session led by trainers. Learn more here.

Voters Needed for Waikiki Art Gallery’s ‘Made in Hawaii’ Artist Competition
Park West Gallery selected 10 semi-finalists for the “Made in Hawaii” artist competition after sorting through hundreds of submissions. That group needs to be narrowed down to three and the Gallery needs YOUR help to do it. The pieces will be on display beginning Monday, Nov. 1. On Nov. 2, the public will be invited to vote in-person for the top three. People will be able to walk in, look at the collection and vote for their favorite artist. Voting continues until Nov. 8. After finalists are chosen, Park West’s committee will reconvene to select the winner of a yearlong contract at the Gallery.  The Park West art gallery is located at the Waikiki Beach Walk, 226 Lewers St. Suite L118, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Click here for more info.

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR COMMUNITY HERO: HEATHER LUSK