Category: News

NAN INC. AWARDED $118 MILLION CONTRACT FROM MILITARY

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One of our signatory contractors, Nan Inc., was awarded a $118 million price contract from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific on June 2, 2020, for the construction of a bachelor enlisted quarters (BEQ) at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The work to be performed provides for the construction of a multi-story BEQ, associated parking structure, and self-storage facility. The BEQ will include laundry facilities, lounges, administration offices, multipurpose recreation rooms, housekeeping areas, public restrooms with pile foundations, concrete masonry unit walls, built up roofing and concrete floor and roof structure. The multi-level concrete framed parking structure will be constructed with pile foundations as well as the self-storage facility, concrete masonry unit walls, structural steel framed roof structure and built-up roofing.

HOEISF is proud that the U.S. armed forces recognizes’ Nan Inc’s ability and commitment to exemplary construction. We are confident that this will be just one of many government contracts that will be awarded to our signatory contractors.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell reopening city parks for exercise, extending Honolulu stay-at-home order

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Mayor Kirk Caldwell said today he is extending the stay-at-home, work-from-home order “with modifications” for Honolulu through May and is reopening city parks for exercise only, beginning 5 a.m. Saturday.

He also announced a $2 million program for about 10,000 more COVID-19 tests to be conducted by community centers around the island who provide health care for underserved populations. “In order to open up, we need to do more testing, a lot more testing,” he said.

Caldwell’s original stay-at-home, work-from-home order was set to expire at the end of the month.

At today’s press conference, Caldwell said some businesses may be allowed to open before May 31 if it is safe to do so. “If this (new positive coronavirus cases) stays low, we can start talking about opening up other things too — in a phased way,” Caldwell said.

“We’re not going to be returning to a new normal anytime soon …. not until there’s new treatment therapies that are aggressive and really show that if you get sick, you’re treated rapidly and you become well,” Caldwell said. “The end game is really a vaccine, which they project is 18 months away, 24 months away.”

The idea is to slowly reopen segments of society as safety allows “and at the end of the day, the order will disappear end and we’ll return to the life we lived before the pandemic struck.”

He said he expects sports or other entertainment events may be the last to reopen because they entail large numbers of people gathering in confined areas. “That doesn’t mean … we’re not going to see sports won’t be played, but we’ll be watching from afar, from our TV screens but not in person sitting in bleachers.”

Read more here

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell urges all Oahu residents to wear masks outside

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Mayor Kirk Caldwell urged all Oahu residents today to wear face masks when going outside to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re asking all residents on this island, when you go outside, whether it is to shop, to jog, whatever it is you do, to wear a mask,” he said at a news conference this afternoon.

He said residents shouldn’t wear N95 masks, which are for first responders and in short supply, but should wear cloth masks that could be homemade or purchased.

“The point is, to wear a mask,” he said. “It doesn’t give you 100% protection. But it does protect you in two ways.”

He said there are folks who are asymptomatic who could transmit the virus without any signs of illness, and a mask could protect others from such a person. Masks also prevent people from touching their faces, he said.

“It’s a recommendation. A very, very strong recommendation,” he said. “Everyone on this island, when you go out in public, please wear a mask that you’ve either acquired or made that’s not an N95 mask or a surgical mask.”

Kuakini Medical Center emergency room doctor Darragh O’Carroll said up to 20% of those infected don’t show any symptoms so could be spreading the virus to others.

To watch Mayor Caldwell’s new conference, click here

Assistance available for homeowners, renters hit with financial hardship

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HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz continues to outline resources available for struggling residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

His office released an online guide for homeowners and renters who may be struggling to make payments due to a loss of income.

Assistance includes a delay in payments for homeowners with a federally-backed mortgage. There’s also a moratorium on evictions for most renters until July.

“Lots of Hawai‘i residents are struggling to make their mortgage or their rent, and these programs can help tens of thousands of people who need it,” said Sen. Schatz. “Please call either your mortgage servicer, your landlord, or a housing counselor to see if you are eligible for either forbearance or protections against being evicted.”

Schatz adds that more than 60 percent of all mortgages in Hawai‘i and across the country are backed by the federal government.

His guide for homeowners and renters comes a day after his office released a guide for struggling small businesses who were forced to close or cut staff.

To read more, click here: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/03/29/assistance-available-homeowners-renters-hit-with-financial-hardship/

CARES Act: Coronavirus Aid

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President Trump signed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act today. The CARES Act includes a one-time payout as detailed below:

– Adults: $1,200 Child: $500

– The check will get smaller for those earning over $75,000 a year based on 2018 tax returns.

Payments phase out at a rate of $5 per every additional $100 in income starting at $75,000 in adjusted gross income for singles, $112,500 for heads of households, and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. For example, a single adult who earns $85,000 would get $700 (a decrease of $500 due to his or her higher income). Individuals making more than $99,000 a year or married couples making over $198,000 would not be eligible for stimulus payments.

Checks could start arriving in three weeks, said the White House.

Other provisions include the following:

Unemployment

The CARES Act will add $600 per week for four months on top of what the state pays for unemployment.

Delayed Tax Filing Deadline

 The Income Tax filing deadline has been delayed to July 15, 2020.

Aid to Hospitals

 The CARES Act includes $130 billion for hospitals dealing with a shortage in medical masks, ventilators and hospital beds ahead of an expected wave of cases. It also provides $150 billion directly to state and local governments dealing with the outbreak.

$500 billion Treasury Fund

The final deal includes a $500 billion Treasury Fund for industries affected by the virus and offers more than $300 billion in small business loans.

WHAT VOTERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ELECTIONS BY MAIL

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Keep Your Voter Registration Record Up to Date: Ballots are mailed to the voter’s mailing address associated with their voter registration record. Voters who have moved, changed their name or mailing address, must update their voter registration. Voters may check online or call their Clerk’s Office to confirm that their voter registration is current.

Not yet registered? Register online or complete a Voter Registration Application and submit it to your Clerk’s Office. Click here to learn more about voter registration.

Receiving Your Ballot: All properly registered voters will receive a mail ballot packet approximately 18 days prior to the election.

The mail ballot packet contains:

  • A ballot
  • A secret ballot envelope
  • A return ballot envelope
  • Voting instructions

If you do not receive your mail ballot packet, contact your Clerk’s Office.

Here’s What’s Not Passing The Hawaii Legislature This Year

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Stay informed and up to date on the Hawaii Legislature and the legislators that you voted for.

On Tuesday the Hawaii Legislature is set to act on hundreds of bills as lawmakers near the halfway mark of the 2019 session.

The bills include measures that increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2022, enact voting by mail across all counties in 2020 and establish a carbon emissions tax.

Those are just some of the pieces of legislation that Civil Beat has been tracking this session out of the more than 3,100 House bills and Senate bills that were introduced in January.

To read more, click here

Proposal to address Pali Highway rockfall hazard includes tunnel extension

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The state’s preliminary plan for protecting Pali Highway townbound drivers from rockfalls includes extending the tunnel over existing lanes and reinforcing the slope with mesh.

Officials have estimated that addressing the hazard will cost about $15 million and could take months to complete.

The rockfall that prompted the closure of the townbound lanes happened last month, following a heavy rain. In the days after the incident, several additional landslides happened, sending boulders as big as SUVs raining onto lanes.

To read more, click here

Construction exec to join rail board

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A longtime local construction industry leader will replace Colleen Hanabusa on the board overseeing Oahu’s financially troubled rail project.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced his pick of Glenn Nohara to join the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board Friday, just as Hanabusa stepped down after nearly a year and a half with the agency.

Read more here