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As demonstrations continue across the country, more peaceful protests continue to pop up around Maui, including demonstrations this morning along Kaʻahumanu Avenue in Kahului and fronting the Lahaina Cannery Mall in Lahaina.

Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani authored a statement supported by the Hawai‘i State Senate Majority Caucus saying the Senate shares in the grief of fellow citizens and send prayers to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other victims of what she called “the enduring, violent racism in our nation.”

Yesterday marked ten weeks since the state’s mandatory 14-day self-quarantine started for all passengers arriving in Hawai‘i from out-of-state. On Thursday, June 4, a total of 1,621 people arrived in Hawai‘i on 19 trans-Pacific flights–including 546 visitors and 433 returning residents.  

The Honolulu Police Department shared information on their official Facebook and Twitter feeds this afternoon saying the department has received “multiple inquiries about social media posts saying that mainland agitators are on Oʻahu to participate in local protests.” According to the Police Department’s Tweet, “HPD is aware of the posts and will be taking appropriate actions where warranted.” The HPD message went on to say that “There are also rumors about a medical facility being told to prepare for large numbers of injured protestors.  This rumor is false.”

The state Department of Health is reporting nine additional COVID-19 cases today–including seven Oʻahu, one on Maui and one on Kauaʻi.  Four of the newly reported cases are actually older cases that were added (two in Honolulu, one on Maui and one on Kauai) as a result of corrected discrepancies in laboratory reporting.  The updated count also reflects one case that was removed from Honolulu. 

While Governor David Ige announced last night his approval of bars reopening on Oʻahu on June 19, Mayor Victorino said he’s considering potential re-opening of bars on Maui next week, but said he still needs to work out details before making an announcement.  Any reopening date would also need the approval of the Governor before taking effect. 

Governor David Ige last night approved Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s proposal to re-open designated indoor and outdoor businesses, including bars and theaters on Oʻahu.

The Maui Ocean Center celebrated the birthday of six Hawaiian green sea turtles, which have been serving as ambassadors at the facility for the past two years. 

Credit Unions of Maui Donate $7,500 to the Maui Food Bank: Because of the pandemic, the Maui Food Bank has seen a decline in donations from grocery stores and food drives at businesses, so monetary donations are vitally important right now.

Effective immediately Wiki Permits, the online permitting system for limited commercial activities on State beaches, such as weddings and vow renewals, is resuming service subject to the following COVID-19 “Act With Care” restrictions:

There was one new COVID-19 case reported today on the island of Oʻahu, and one case in a resident who was diagnosed while outside of the state, resulting in an updated COVID-19 case count for Hawaiʻi of 655.

While family members are still reeling over the death of Abraham Reinhardt, they are proud of the legacy they he left behind.

Organizers said, “It is time to move toward healing.  It is time to move toward forgiveness.  It is time to move toward love.  It is time to love ourselves.”

The Senators wrote, “Those peacefully protesting are not ‘thugs’ or ‘terrorists’ but are individuals exercising their fundamental Constitutional rights. The military should never be weaponized by the President to limit these expressions for liberty and justice. We believe it is antithetical to what those in uniform have sworn to protect and defend, and a serious threat to our democratic system.”

The training takes place on a parcel of Mahi Pono land just south of Haleakalā Highway and west of Keahua Road on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  

The arrest stems from a June 2, 2020 motor vehicle collision at 10:35 p.m., fronting 175 East Līpoa Street, involving a pedestrian and a truck that allegedly fled the area.  

Effective immediately, emergency restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic for commercial and recreational boating and ocean recreation are being relaxed statewide. Commercial and recreational boating can now include up to ten people on a vessel at one time, operating under new COVID-19 “Act With Care” guidelines.

Governor David Ige said troops would be able to return and the state would be able to extend National Guard presence at the traffic checkpoints until July. “I think we all can agree that we don’t want to return to what it was before COVID-19; and we would like to come up with a plan to figure out how to best manage the Hāna Highway–and then also the Piʻilani Highway on the back side,” said Sen. English.

The new case today is a non-resident who traveled to O‘ahu and became ill while in self-quarantine. A previous Maui case was removed after re-testing with negative results. To date, 612 people (96.2%) have recovered including 111 in Maui County. There are currently 24 active cases in the state.

Police say Maui County’s total index crime rate in 2019 was the lowest on record since the state began collecting data in 1975. The number of reported crimes increased for five Index Crime categories: robbery (67 cases), +26.4%; aggravated assault (271 cases), +3%; theft (3,746 incidents), +2.9%; and arson (128 cases), +4.9%.