Good evening, Hawaii. Here are the main stories we've been following today:
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Today's Big Stories
1. New law expected to expedite arrest record expungements
Last year, the state established a groundbreaking pilot program that allowed for the state-initiated expungement of non-conviction arrest records related to the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Within the first month, more than 2,200 records were flagged for possible expungement. By the end of the year, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center had reviewed 640 of those cases and issued 81 expungements, with 112 more cases pending expungement and 414 cases still under review.
To help expedite the process, Gov. Josh Green last week signed off on House Bill 132, which expands the eligibility for expungement to include non-conviction arrest records for offenses involving any other Schedule V substance in any amount.
The expansion of eligibility is expected to help alleviate the backlog of case reviews. Currently, arrest records do not consistently specify whether an offense was for marijuana or another Schedule V substance, thereby requiring program personnel to manually search arrest and court records to verify. Making all Schedule V substances eligible eliminates this time-consuming step.
2. Honolulu Civil Beat: Attorney shortage undermines court-ordered mental health treatment program
The Assisted Community Treatment program launched in 2013 to get severely mentally ill people who refuse treatment into outpatient care and medicated. To qualify, a person has to have a mental illness or substance abuse problem that impairs their judgement or ability to care for themselves, a history of noncompliance with treatment and the potential to be a danger to themselves or others.
Often, those in the program also are chronically homeless, sometimes cycling in and out of the state hospital or jail.
Currently, there is effectively one person on Oʻahu who shoulders the vast majority of about a dozen cases a year, at most. Cases stretch on for months.
Guardians ad litem — private attorneys appointed by a judge to represent the person’s best interests — are mandatory under state law for these Assisted Community Treatment petition cases. But the compensation is low compared to what these attorneys would make as private counsel in family court, and the rates haven’t been increased since 2007.
To address the problem, the Legislature is considering increasing how much those lawyers get paid to $150 an hour.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi urged attorneys to step up and add their names to the list. The mayor’s office considers more guardians ad litem critical to scaling up the Assisted Community Treatment program and fulfilling the administration’s agenda on homelessness.
“We’re saying five. I’m hoping we get 25,” he said. “Quite honestly, we think there’s so much more that could be done.”
3. Lawmakers seek to preserve health coverage for DREAMers
One-hundred-seventeen Congressional Democrats, led by Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Tex., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., are calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to abandon plans to deny so-called DREAMers access to the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.
“Lack of health care coverage and the inability to afford medical costs leads to significant burdens on families, including the accumulation of medical debt, stress around out-of-pocket expenses and the delaying or forgoing of treatment due to financial constraints,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter transmitted to Kennedy on April 11. “For uninsured parents, this can mean choosing between securing food for the table or receiving needed treatment and medical care to maintain a healthy life and, therefore, providing and supporting their children and family.”
Last May, HHS enacted a new rule that extended ACA Marketplace and subsidy eligibility to DACA recipients.
Less than a year later, however, HHS published notice of proposed rule-making in the Federal Register that, among other things, proposed to revoke ACA eligibility for DREAMers.
In their letter to Kennedy, the lawmakers noted that President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for DREAMers.
4. State and county collaborate as the fight against CRB continues on Hawaii Island
First discovered in October 2023 in Waikoloa, the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle continues to make a showing on Hawaii Island, the latest being on March 4 in traps at the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.
Since January, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture has been working with the Hawaii County Public Works Department to prevent CRB infestations. The latest round of treatments was conducted on palm trees last week at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport.
“The staff of the Department of Agriculture remains dedicated to stopping the further spread of the coconut rhinoceros beetle, with emphasis in areas that are not known to be infested,” said Hawaii Board of Agriculture Chair Sharon Hurd in a release.
HDOA warns the public that coconuts from treated trees should not be consumed. Treated palms are tagged and surrounded with yellow tape. Anyone with questions regarding pesticide use can contact HDOA’s Pesticides Branch at 808-973-9402.
5. Ahead of Easter weekend, the price of local and organic eggs continues to rise
With Easter Sunday approaching, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture released its monthly egg price report for Honolulu, which shows that the price for locally produced eggs continues to rise.
However, the price increase was small, with a dozen large, locally produced eggs going up by 0.7% to $9.58 compared with the previous month. In contrast, the price of mainland eggs declined by 1.5% to $9.32 over the same period. This makes the average price of local and mainland eggs nearly on par, with an average difference of only $0.26.
The price of locally produced organic eggs jumped up 18.8% to $12.07 per dozen. The price of mainland-imported organic eggs also increased, by 2.6% to $9.74 per dozen. This means that the average price difference between locally produced and U.S. imported organic eggs grew to $2.33 per dozen, up from $0.67 the previous month.
Your Notes for Tomorrow
Thursday, April 17
- President Donald Trump hosts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House for an official working visit.
- Pope Francis holds Holy (Maundy) Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Vatican
- Court hearing for Menendez brothers as push to free them continues
- World Press Photo of the Year announced
- Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
- U.S. Weekly Export Sales Report, including Weekly Corn Export Sales, Weekly Soybeans Export Sales, and Weekly Wheat Export Sales
- New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and Building Permits/Primary Mortgage Market Survey
In Case You Missed It
Joseph Nāwāhi (Kanaka ʻŌiwi, 1842–1896): Oil on canvas of Untitled (Hilo Bay with a view of Mauna Kea), 1888. (Image courtesy of Kamehameha Schools)
View 3 historic Hawaii paintings at Honolulu Museum of Art
Three exceptional 19th century paintings are about to make their appearance at the Honolulu Museum of Art for a limited time starting Wednesday.
These painting are of deep cultural and historical importance to Hawaii and are rarely accessible to the public. Usually displayed at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama campus, they are being loaned to the museum because of renovations being done at the school over the next two years.
“The Honolulu Museum of Art is honored to share this historic art with a wider audience,” said Catherine Whitney, HoMA’s director of curatorial affairs, in a release. “These significant works will enhance the stories we are telling in our galleries.”
Two of the paintings are by British court painter John Hayter — one of Governor of Oahu Boki and his wife Liliha and another of Queen Kamāmalu. The third painting is a landscape scene of Hilo Bay by Joseph Nāwahī, famous for its appearance on the popular TV series “Antiques Roadshow” in 2006 after being “discovered” in an antique shop on Hawaii Island.
Visit the Honolulu Museum of Art website for information on current exhibits, tours, art classes and more.
