feed2js_ck = true;

document.write('<div class="rss-box">');
document.write('<ul class="rss-items">');
document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/heres-how-hawaii-schools-will-distribute-covid-vaccines-to-younger-kids/" target="_self">Here’s How Hawaii Schools Will Distribute Covid Vaccines To Younger Kids</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:01:55 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Hawaii schools will host on-campus clinics to give the Covid-19 vaccine to children ages 5-11 after its anticipated approval by the federal government, but the shots will largely be limited to students from the individual schools, the state health department says. The school-based vaccination efforts will be an extension of the existing partnership between the Department of Health, the Department of Education and health care providers to inoculate kids ages 12-17. But those efforts were generally open to the wider public to help facilitate efforts to get as many people vaccinated as possible amid a surge in coronavirus cases due to the delta variant. Hawaii has seen the number of cases drop in recent weeks and has inoculated 71% of the population. Education and health officials are eager to begin giving the vaccine to younger kids as a way to protect the general population. They have stepped up preparations to be ready to administer the shots as soon as possible, with the governor saying an initial supply of 40,000 doses may be available as soon as Nov. 8. School campuses had already been serving as Covid-19 vaccination clinics for 12 to 17-year-olds, and their eligible family members, starting in May. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021 DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr said that as of Wednesday, 113 schools in Hawaii — 80 public schools, 25 private schools and eight charter schools — have expressed interest in hosting a clinic for children. All schools were given the opportunity to register. “A majority of these school sites will facilitate children from the host school and will be closed to the general public,” Baehr said. “Vaccination providers are being paired with schools. Schedules for administering vaccines are being developed. Questions about vaccine transportation, facilities, manpower and more are being addressed.” Other possible locations for kids to receive the shot will be pop-up clinics, community health centers, hospitals, pharmacies and pediatrician offices, according to the DOH, which promised to post a list of sites when available at hawaiicovid19.com. The health department also is planning a communication campaign across TV, radio, print and social media to reach parents, including in different languages to reach non-English-speaking households. “The Department of Health wants to make vaccine doses available and easily accessible to as many communities around the state as we can,” Baehr said. An independent advisory panel on Tuesday recommended the FDA extend emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for the 5-to-11 age group, which the agency is expected to do next week. That would clear the way for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make recommendations on the vaccine rollout. The vaccine for children is one-third the dosage of the one for adults and is administered in two shots spaced three weeks apart. Roughly 28 million kids around the U.S. are eligible in this next round of the country’s vaccination efforts, considered a watershed moment to help communities reach herd immunity and provide a greater level of protection to the general population, especially as many schools returned to full in-person learning this year. Hawaii counts more than 119,000 children in the targeted age group, which mainly includes kindergarten through sixth grade. Roughly 83,000 of them attend public schools, comprising more than half of the student body. About two-thirds of 12-17 year olds have been vaccinated so far, according to latest DOH data. ‘A Personal Choice’ Ige said the vaccine will only be administered to the younger age group with parental approval. Hawaii Pacific Health Executive Vice President & Chief Quality Officer Melinda Ashton, a pediatrician by background, said she believes the state would track very closely to a recent national survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation that found a third of parents would vaccinate their 5-11 year olds “right away” upon authorization. She described three likely groups, including parents who plan to sign up immediately; those who might wait and see, perhaps until it is offered at their child’s school; and those who will refuse the shots for their kids as has been the case for many adults. “Across the country, the experience has been, children do get Covid, they do spread Covid, a small percentage of kids get sick enough to get care and some percentage get sick enough to be in an intensive care unit,” Ashton said. Nationally, there have been over 8,300 Covid pediatric hospitalizations in the 5-to-11 age range — with rates three times as high for Black, Hispanic and indigenous children as for White children, according to health news website Stat — and close to 100 deaths. Hawaii has roughly 119,400 children aged 5 to 11, about 8.4% of its population. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021 Sunset Elementary parent Emily Klein said she does not plan to vaccinate her three kids, ages 6, 9 and 12. Neither she nor her husband are vaccinated. “My main issue is, there are no long-term studies about the side effects,” she said. “A vaccine needs to be studied for several years on humans before it can be safe.” The North Shore resident added that all five members of her household got Covid-19 in August, all with non-severe or long-lasting symptoms, though the kids had to quarantine from school for 13 days, she said. Pfizer said its data show the vaccine is safe for children 5 to 11 and generates a strong immune response. Meanwhile, researchers say they’ve found the side effects of the vaccine for kids to be not that much different than they are for adults, which could include muscle aches, fatigue, fever or soreness at the injection site. “I just really feel like it’s a personal choice and I respect everyone for their choices,” Klein said. “I made the choice for me and my family, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for another family.” Teachers and other DOE employees are required to be vaccinated or take weekly Covid tests, but the state doesn’t require students to be vaccinated against Covid-19, with the exception of student athletes and coaching staff. However, DOE policy often has separate sets of restrictions for unvaccinated kids. For instance, they have to face longer quarantines if considered a close contact to an infected individual, versus those who are vaccinated. Or, they could be subject to more Covid testing protocols after traveling out of the state. Le Jardin Academy, a pre-K private academy on Windward Oahu, is planning to host an on-campus vaccine clinic for ages 5 to 11 that will fall on a weekend. It will also be open to neighborhood children outside of the school’s regular enrollment, according to head of school Earl Kim. The school hopes to partner with Adventist Health Castle or another health provider to administer the doses. “This is a community service,” Kim said. “We are in a public health crisis. Anything parents can do to help blunt that crisis would be greatly appreciated by the community.” Other private schools are developing plans with other providers. Iolani School, for instance, will be working with Safeway to host a Pfizer clinic for its students, according to spokesman Michelle Hee, while Punahou School will partner with Hawaii Pacific Health to host a clinic for students, its fourth vaccine clinic overall, according to spokesman Robert Gelber. Across the DOE, several teachers interviewed were unsure about their own school’s plans to host a vaccination clinic for the younger kids. But those who are parents said they have eagerly waited for this moment to arrive. The bulletin board in teacher Sarah Milianta-Laffin’s classroom at Ilima Intermediate in Ewa Beach invites students’ questions about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine. Courtesy: Sarah Milianta-Laffin “We were waiting on pins and needles for the vaccine to be available,” said Justin Hughey, a third-grade teacher at King Kamehameha III Elementary in Lahaina on Maui. He and his wife, who is pregnant, have a 2-year-old. So far his school had seen roughly 18 cases of students and five employees who have contracted the coronavirus since the school year began. “It is very encouraging that it is ready and kids can get it, but I won’t feel safe until it is mandatory,” he said. At Ilima Intermediate in Ewa Beach, STEM teacher Sarah Milianta-Laffin teaches seventh and eighth graders who have been eligible to receive the vaccine since earlier in the year. Staff is generally prohibited from asking about students’ vaccination status, though Milianta-Laffin encourages them to reach out with any questions. Some students proactively and proudly reveal their vaccination status to her, while others say their parents are adamantly against it. “I smile and say, ‘You have to respect your family,’” she said. “Now, with the vaccine being open (to kids), the idea we can ensure more people are safe, to bring in a lot more group work and activities that schools are known for, is great.” The post Here’s How Hawaii Schools Will Distribute Covid Vaccines To Younger Kids appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
document.write('</li>');
document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/neal-milner-the-worst-job-in-hawaii-may-be-school-superintendent/" target="_self">Neal Milner: The Worst Job In Hawaii May Be School Superintendent</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:01:44 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('The state’s Board of Education has decided that it needs more time to select Hawaii’s next school superintendent. The board wants to bring a consultant into the process and make it more deliberative. Sure, follow best practices. Good idea. Kind of. The real issue behind the search for any major superintendent’s job, though, is not about the nature of the search. It’s this: The job sucks. According to Michael Casserly, an expert in school superintendent recruitment, “There’s not very many positions either in the public or private sector where you have this unusual stew of race and religion and income and language needs with everyone struggling over the one thing they care about the most, which is their children.” This “makes the balancing act and the political demands, plus the demands for results, more acute than almost any other CEO-like position in any field one can imagine.” Take that, Mark Zuckerberg — who, by the way, donated $100 million attempting to reform Newark, New Jersey schools. The initiative failed in part because of community resistance to the new school superintendent. Last week DOE officials had a meeting with the Board of Education. It was a miniature version of the things that make being a school superintendent a terrible job even though it was not about the superintendent at all. Anyone thinking of applying for the job here would have seen what she would be up against. DOE got together with the board to discuss the dramatic drop in student test scores during the pandemic. Scores that have been historically mediocre, and in fact stagnant since 2015, dropped in all categories. Hawaiian and Pacific Island students declined the most. In the eyes of the public, nothing is a more important measure of school success than test scores. The numbers are a Jumbotron scoreboard of school quality. So, there it was, a potently critical combination of low scores and a lingering pandemic. The pandemic is likely the main reason that Christina Kishimoto, the state’s last superintendent, saw the handwriting on the wall and quit before her contract wasn’t renewed. She lasted four years. The national average is only five. In Kishimoto’s case, parents complained a lot publicly about DOE’s response to the pandemic, with much media coverage. So did the teachers’ union and principals. That’s a lethal coalition of people often at odds. When it comes to running the schools, though, this was just a moment in time. All the issues that came up directly or indirectly in that meeting — chronic absenteeism, racial and economic disparities, concern about the fragile reputation of the public schools, the need for, as someone put it, “community mobilization” — are old issues that won’t go away. They won’t go away because given the way things work in Hawaii, they are entrenched, rooted and structural. The meeting was more about shock and awe — “extremely alarming,” as one person at the meeting put it — than about what needs to be done. But two chronic issues came up. One was who can best fix the problem — the school principals or the DOE itself. This is a baby step in the historical struggle over how centralized Hawaii’s school system should be. Hawaii has the most centralized school system in the nation, and it has not led to greater efficiencies. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2019 It’s very centralized, as in state superintendent, more centralized than any school system in the country. The early justification for a centralized public school system was that it would be more equitable and efficient. Instead, equity and consistency have turned into intractability and inefficiency. Add to this the Legislature’s and governor’s control of the DOE budget, along with political meddling, and the DOE finds itself in a weird and vulnerable position. It has little control over its budget, but whatever funds it gets tend to disappear in an awesomely inflexible, impenetrable bureaucracy. Any important educational issue, Covid-19 response and otherwise, is filtered through these long-term, firmly-rooted factors, many of them outside the superintendent’s control. The problem is that we expect too much from our school superintendents while ignoring the need to change things that make the job impossible to carry out successfully. A few years ago, the education school at Drexel University published a short article “How to Become a School Superintendent.” Superintendents, it says, need to be “transformational leaders who facilitate change to meet the challenges facing education today,” with a “strong vision of what education should be, passionate about improving the delivery of instruction, and ready to create learning environments to prepare tomorrow’s global leaders.” (My italics, indicating big-time buzz words that sound noble but in real life are rhetorical death traps.) “Are you that person?” the blurb asks. Before you answer “Yes, that’s me!” there’s more — those tightly screwed in nuts and bolts again, and it’s these nuts and bolts that really make the job so hard to do. While the superintendent is busy envisioning, collaborating, global-educationalizing and predicting the future, in her spare time she also needs to act like a CEO who manages hundreds of employees while “balancing a multi-million-dollar budget.” What a job! Change the balanced budget currency from dollars to shekels, and it could be a job description for Jesus himself. So it’s not surprising, as that superintendent recruitment expert put it, that the job “takes a real toll on people.” Whoever takes these jobs “has precious little in the way of personal and family time.” Number six in a list of “classic mistakes a new school superintendent makes” is this: buying a fancy car and taking a dream vacation soon after they start their job. When I first read this, I was surprised. What kind of a tone-deaf dumbass would do something like that? But after thinking some more about the job, I understand. It’s about the need to escape, to get quick relief from the skeletons in the closet and a resistance to change that is way more formidable and dramatic than you thought. In my hometown of Milwaukee, new school superintendents barely have time to put deli mustard on their first bratwurst before big, big trouble begins — the kind that makes the super look at job ads and the board to think about writing another. So why not? Buy something smooth and swift, maybe an Acura coupe with stick or a Porsche SUV, pack it with snacks and drinks and head off as soon as possible for anywhere that gives some temporary relief. Don’t feel sorry for superintendents. They chose the challenge. But put the job in perspective. Keep in mind the deep-seated nuts and bolts political context over which the Hawaii superintendent has little control. When we consider the school superintendent as a superhero the way those job descriptions do, we unrealistically expect superhero work. If you focus only on the superintendent, you have your head in the sand. It’s not just an individual problem or even just an educational problem. Making it possible for superintendents to do their job is a political problem that the community must solve. As that person in the test scores meeting said, “community mobilization.” Things will begin to change, Randy Roth says in his critique of Hawaii’s school system, “only when instead of saying ‘shame on them,’ we start saying ‘shame on us.’” Don’t expect the school superintendent to do that work for you.  She can’t. The post Neal Milner: The Worst Job In Hawaii May Be School Superintendent appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
document.write('</li>');
document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/ka-ho%ca%bbopakele-%ca%bbana-i-ko-hawai%ca%bbi-%ca%bboihana-mahi-mai%ca%bba-he-ho%ca%bbokahi-mai%ca%bba-o-ka-manawa-pakahi/" target="_self">Ka Hoʻopakele ʻAna I Ko Hawaiʻi ʻOihana Mahi Maiʻa ‘He Hoʻokahi Maiʻa’ O Ka Manawa Pākahi</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:01:42 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Kā ka luna hoʻoponopono noka: Unuhi ʻia na N. Haʻalilio Solomon. Click here to read this article in English.  I ka wā e kokoke ana i ka hoʻomaka ʻana mai o ka maʻi ahulau Covid-19, i nā mahina mua o ka makahiki 2020, ua loaʻa ka nūhou pōʻino iā Matt Hong, ka mea nāna i hoʻokumu pū i ko Oʻahu mau hale kūʻai mea ʻono ʻo Banan. ʻO ka mea hoʻolako maiʻa na Banan, ʻo Sugarland Farms, ua hoʻopau lākou i ke kanu ʻana i ke ʻano maiʻa a Banan e hoʻohana ai, he Cavendish, me ka haʻi mua ʻole ʻana mai hoʻi.  ʻO ka mea pōmaikaʻi, no Banan, he ala hou aku kona e lako ai: ʻo Gabriel Sachter-Smith, he akeakamai a mahi maiʻa hoʻi e kapa ʻia nei ʻo “Banana Gabe.” Ua hoʻopukapuka kālā ihola ʻo Banan he $10,000 he mau makahiki aku nei i kōkua no Sachter-Smith i ka hoʻokumu ʻana i wahi hoʻoulu maiʻa ma ko Haleʻiwa Counter Culture Organic Farm ma nā one ʻākau o Oʻahu, wahi a Hong. ʻO kā Sachter-Smith ʻoihana maiʻa, i kapa ʻia ʻo Hawaiʻi Banana Source, e pala mai ana nō i ia manawa, ʻo ka wā nō ia e nele ana ʻo Banan i ka maiʻa ʻole. Ua ʻōlelo maila ʻo Hong, me he mea lā he hoʻokupu hoʻopōmaikaʻi i loaʻa mai ma hope o kona hoʻomanawanui ʻana, ʻo ka lūlū lima ihola nō ia ma waena o lāua ʻo Sachter-Smith me ka ʻaelike aku, e hoʻokaʻa ʻo ia iā Banan i ka maiʻa i ka wā e hiki ai. “Me he paʻi mālie lā o ka lima ma ka hokua ka ulu ʻana o ka maiʻa, i hōʻike ʻia mai ai ka hana mana hoʻopōmaikaʻi,” wahi a Hong. ʻO Gabriel Sachter-Smith, e ʻike ʻia nei ma ʻaneʻi, me ka maiʻa he Iholena; ua lilo kāna hana hoʻonanea ʻo ka mahi maiʻa i hana hoʻowaiwai ma ka hulina ʻākau o Oʻahu. Stewart Yerton/Civil Beat /2021 ʻO ka hana pū ʻana a Sachter-Smith lāua ʻo Banan, hoʻokahi nō ia o kā ia kanaka puni maiʻa, he 32 makahiki, lawelawe ʻana i ka hana e kūkulu hou ai i ko Hawaiʻi ʻoihana maiʻa, me kona hoʻohui ʻana i kona ʻike kulanui i loaʻa iā ia ma o ka ʻimi naʻauao ma ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa, a me ka ʻike i loaʻa ma ka huli ʻana o ka lima i lalo i ka hana mahiʻai me ka piha ʻeu o ka naʻau. Ke mahi akula ʻo Sachter-Smith ma kahi o 200 mau mana maiʻa ma ka Hulina ʻĀkau. ʻO kekahi, he iholena no loko mai o ka moʻokūʻauhau mua ma ka wā i lawe mua ʻia mai ai nā mea kanu Hawaiʻi ma luna o ka waʻa a kanu ʻia ma nā mokupuni e nā kānaka Polinekia i noho mua iā Hawaiʻi. ʻŌlelo ʻo Sachter-Smith ua hiki ke hoʻoulu ʻia ia mana maiʻa ma ke ʻano laulā ākea. ʻO nā papahana ʻē aʻe e lawe ʻia nei, ʻo ka hoʻopiʻi ʻana i kekahi pūmaiʻa liʻiliʻi nāna e hoʻolako mau mai he mau pūmaiʻa e kanu ai i loko o nā māla o nā home ponoʻī. No Banan hoʻi, ke hoʻoulu akula ʻo ia he mana ʻo Gros Michel ka inoa, ʻo ka mana kumu no ʻAmelika Waena me Hema i hoʻolilo ʻia mai i waiwai no ʻAmelika Huipūʻia ma mua o ka pani ʻia ʻana o kona wahi e ka mana he Cavendish, ʻo ia ka mana e kūʻai pinepine ʻia ma nā hale kūʻai mākeke. Eia hoʻi kekahi, ʻo kā Sachter-Smith papahana ʻimi naʻauao, ʻo ka hele mamao ʻana i nā wahi kuaʻāina e palapala ai i nā ʻano mana like ʻole o nā mea kanu, ʻo ia nō ʻoe ʻo Indiana Jones e ola maoli nei ma ke ao maiʻa. “Nui loa koʻu hōʻihi ʻana iā Gabe,” wahi a Richard Manshardt, he polopeka no ka ʻoihana kanu a mālama lāʻau ma UH Mānoa, kahi i ʻimi naʻauao ai ʻo Sachter-Smith a loaʻa ka palapala lae pua a lae oʻo ma ke College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. “Makemake wau e ʻōlelo aku, naʻu i hoʻoulu i nā ʻaoʻao maikaʻi ma loko ona, ʻaʻole naʻe i hiki.” ʻO ka ʻoiaʻiʻo, wahi a Manshardt, ua “maʻa ʻē ʻo Sachter-Smith i kekahi hapa nui o nā papahana ʻimi noiʻi ma ka ʻoihana kanu pūmaiʻa o ke ao nei” i kona hiki mua ʻana mai i Hawaiʻi ma kona kūlana he haumāna lae pua mai Colorado mai kahi ona i noho ai i kona wā ʻōpiopio me ke kanu pūmaiʻa ʻana a mahi hoʻi i nā mana hapahapa. He mea ʻē hoʻi ka piha ʻeu o Sachter-Smith i ka mahi ʻana a he mākaukau kū hoʻokahi kona i ke kūkulu pilina me nā kānaka. ʻO ka mea nui loa naʻe, wahi a Manshardt i ʻōlelo ai no Sachter-Smith, he “kamaliʻi ʻike loa i ka ʻimi noiʻi no ka maiʻa.” Ka Loaʻa ʻAna Mai O Ka Mea Kanu E Kanu Ai I Ka Lepo ʻAʻole hoʻi paha ʻo Banan ka mea hoʻokahi e kākoʻo ana iā Sachter-Smith i ka hoʻolilo ʻana i kona mau moemoeā he mea ʻoiaʻiʻo. ʻO kekahi mea e pono loa ai, wahi a Sachter-Smith, ʻo ia ʻo Rob Barreca, ʻo ia kekahi o nā mea akamai i ka ʻoihana e kupu hou mai ana ma Hawaiʻi he mahi ʻai ʻano like ʻole. Ua hoʻokumu ʻia e Barreca ʻo Counter Culture Organic Farm ma kona wā e hoʻokumu ana iā Farm Link Hawaiʻi, he mākeke kū pūnaewele e kūʻai ana i nā ʻai i mahi ʻia ma nā mālaʻai kūloko ma ke halihali pū ʻia ma nā kauhale, he mea hoʻi i pahū kona waiwai i loko o ka maʻi ahulau.  Ua kaʻa ihola nō nā ʻeka he 40 ma lalo o Counter Culture, pēlā pū me nā pā ʻāina 5-ʻeka he ʻelua e kokoke ana iā Haleʻiwa, a he pā ʻāina 30-ʻeka i loaʻa iho nei e kokoke ana iā Waialua. Na Sachter-Smith e hoʻolaukaʻi i ka ʻaoʻao mahiʻai, pēlā i nui aʻe ai ko Barreca wā e mālama ai iā Farm Link, wahi a Barreca. ʻOiai he mau mea kanu ʻē aʻe e hoʻoulu ʻia e Counter Culture, e laʻa ka hēʻī, ke kalo, a me ka ʻōlena, ʻo ka maiʻa ka mea e piha ʻeu loa ai ʻo Sachter-Smith. I loko o ka nui o ka ʻāina a me ka wai e loaʻa iā Banana Source, hoʻokahi nō ālaina, wahi a Sachter-Smith i pane ai. “ʻO ke ālaina hoʻokahi ʻaʻole hiki ke hemo wale aku, ʻo ka ʻimo o ka maka a loaʻa mai nā mea kanu a kanu ai i lalo o ka lepo,” i ʻōlelo ai ʻo ia.  ʻAʻole naʻe ia ālaina he mea e pau ai kāna paʻu ʻana. Loaʻa mai nō iā ia nā mea kanu hou ʻakahi nō a kupu mai mai ke kauwahi i kapa ʻia ʻo ka Biodiversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre ma Belegiuma, e ʻōlelo ʻia nei ma kona paena pūnaewele hoʻi, ʻo “ko ke ao nei waihona ōewe nui loa a puni ka ʻāina.” Akā, nāna hoʻi e hoʻokawowo aku ia mau kawowo i mau mea kanu he nui. I kekahi manawa, no ka hoʻokō ʻana pēlā, ʻoki ʻo ia i ke poʻo o ka mea kanu a ʻokiʻoki kaʻakepa i ka hā o nā pūmaiʻa oʻo ma nā kula mahi i mea e hoʻokawowo aku ai a loaʻa nā ʻohā. ʻO kekahi ala o ka mahi ʻana, ʻo ka mahi ʻana i pōpō i like me ke aʻa ma ke kumu o ka mea kanu, i kapa ʻia he ʻiʻo, me ka mahi ʻana i kekahi mau kawowo mai loko mai o kēlā me kēia ʻiʻo.  Ua kōkua ʻia ka hoʻopukapuka kālā ʻana a Sachter-Smith e ka ʻahahui kūʻai hau kalima no Honolulu no ke kūkulu ʻana i ke kīhāpai hoʻoulu mea kanu, e lilo paha ia kīhāpai ʻo kahi e kupu hou ai ka ʻoihana mahi maiʻa no Hawaiʻi. Stewart Yerton/Civil Beat /2021 Akā, he wā nō hoʻi e hana ʻia ai kēia mau hana a pau, a he hana nui hoʻi ia i ka wā e hoʻolawa aku ai no hoʻolako nui ʻana i kekahi ʻahahui, e laʻa ʻo Banan, nāna e hoʻopaʻa hau i ka maiʻa no ka hoʻolilo ʻana i mea ʻono i like me ka hau kalima, he ʻoi aku nō naʻe kona maikaʻi no ke ola kino.  Ua hoʻokumu ʻia e nā hoaaloha he ʻeha no ke Kula ʻo Punahou, me ko lākou holomua ʻana i ka hoʻokumu pū ʻana i pāʻoihana ma hope o ko lākou hui hou ʻana aʻe ma Hawaiʻi ma hope o ko lākou hele kulanui ʻana ma ʻAmelika. No laila i hānau mai ai ʻo Banan, he kalaka kūʻai mea ʻai ka ma ʻaoʻao iho o Lēʻahi, i kūʻai ʻia no nā kālā he $2,000 e nā mea hoʻokumu o ia pāʻoihana. I ka wā i hōlapu aku ai ka maʻi ahulau, ua ulu aʻe ʻo Banan he ʻehā kona mau hale: ʻelua ma Waikīkī, hoʻokahi ma Kailua, hoʻokahi hoʻi ma Mānoa ma kahi o ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi. No kekahi wā, ʻelua nō hale o Banan i kūkulu pohā ʻia ma Iāpana.  Ma mua o ka maʻi ahulau, i kona wā i paʻa loa ai kona ʻoihana, e pau ana nā maiʻa he 5,000 a 6,000 paha paona i loko o ka pule hoʻokahi, wahi a Hong. ʻAʻole hoʻi he “ʻaʻohe pilo maiʻa” ke ʻano. Ua ʻike ʻo Banan, ʻo ka maiʻa ʻāpala e hoʻoulu ʻia ma Hawaiʻi, he mea keʻakeʻa i kā lākou mīkini, no laila, ʻo ke Cavendish wale nō ka mea pono ke hoʻohana ʻia e lākou, ʻo ia ka mana maʻamau e kūʻai ʻia ma nā hale kūʻai. ʻO ka pōmaikaʻi, no kekahi wā hoʻi, nui kā Sugarland lako i ka maiʻa Cavendish, a no laila, pau nā maiʻa a Banan i ka hoʻoulu kūloko ʻia, pēlā i kō ai ko Banan ʻōlelo nuʻukia, ʻo ke kākoʻo ʻana o ka ʻoihana mahiʻai kūloko ma o kēia papahana lawelawe pololei i ka mea ʻai mai ka mālaʻai aku a luna o ke pākaukau, me ka loaʻa pū hoʻi o nā kūlana hana ʻano nui a waiwai no kāna mau limahana. Akā, ʻo ka hiki maila nō ia o ka maʻi ahulau, pēlā pū me ka nūhou e hoʻopau ana ʻo Sugarland i ka mahi maiʻa Cavendish. Ua ʻōlelo mai ka mea ʻona māla ʻai, ʻo Larry Jefts, ʻo nā mea kūʻai mai a nui loa i kāna mahi, ʻo nā hōkele a moku holoholo moana, a i ka wā i pani ʻia ai ka ʻoihana hoʻokipa malihini e ke Covid-19, pau loa ka manaʻo akamai ʻo ka hoʻoulu maiʻa Cavendish. Ua hōʻike maila nō naʻe ia he oia mau nō kona hoʻoulu maiʻa ʻāpala. Ua ʻōlelo pū mai ʻo Jefts, ʻo kekahi papahana ʻūomo ikehu lā nui e kūkulu ʻia nei, ʻo ko 176 Power Global Māla Mahi Mana o ka Lā ʻo Kupehau, ʻo ia kekahi mea e paʻakikī ai ma muli o ka lawelawe ʻia ʻana aku o nā ʻeka mahiʻai o Sugarland i hoʻohana ʻia i kekahi manawa no ka hoʻoulu mea kanu, e laʻa ka maiʻa ʻāpala. ʻŌlelo mai nei naʻe ʻo Jefts, ʻo ke kumu mua loa i haʻalele ai ʻo Sugarland i ka hoʻoulu maiʻa Cavendish, ʻo ia ka hiolo ʻana o ka mākeke ma muli o ka maʻi ahulau.  Me kēlā, huli akula ʻo Banan iā Sachter-Smith.  ʻO ka nīnau, pehea ka wikiwiki o kona hoʻomāhuahua ʻana i ka mahi maiʻa ʻana i mea e kō ai nā kauoha a Banan? Ua pani ʻia ko Banan hale ma Mānoa, ma hope o ka naʻi ʻana o UH i ia hale kahi ona i waiho ai, wahi a Hong.  ʻO Christina Hee, kekahi o nā mea ʻona no Juicy Brew, me kona hoʻohana ʻana i nā maiʻa iholena maiā Hawaiʻi Banana Source ma ka hale ʻaina ʻailau e waiho nei ma Kaimukī. Stewart Yerton/Civil Beat /2021 Akā naʻe, ma ka pani ʻana o kekahi o kona mau hale, ʻo ka nui maiʻa e pono ai ʻo Banan, aia nō ma luna o ka nui i hiki ke hoʻoulu ʻia e Sachter-Smith, wahi āna. ʻŌlelo maila ʻo Sachter-Smith, aia mau nō ʻo ia ma ka pae “hoʻomaka hōʻīnana” o kāna ʻoihana, ʻo ka hoʻoulu ʻana i nā maiʻa he 2,000 paona i loko o kekahi pule i nui o ka mahi ʻana. He mea hoʻopio hoʻi, he hoʻopae mai ʻo Banan i ka maiʻa mai nā ʻāina ʻē mai, wahi a Hong. Akā naʻe, kūpaʻa kona manaʻo, he hiki nō iā Sachter-Smith he hoʻomāhuahua mai a hoʻolawa i kā lākou hemahema. “Inā hoʻokahi wale nō mea i hiki iā ia, ua hiki nō iā Gabe,” wahi āna. ʻAʻole ʻo Banan ka mea kūʻai hoʻokahi no Sachter-Smith. Kūʻai aku hoʻi ʻo ia ma o Farm Link, ke kūkulu nei hoʻi ʻo ia i mau pilina me nā mea ʻona hale ʻaina e makemake ana e hoʻomāʻikeʻike aku i nā meaʻai Hawaiʻi maoli. ʻO kekahi kumu alakaʻi, ʻo Juicy Brew, he hale ʻaina ʻailau ma ke Alanui Waiʻalae ma Kaimukī. No kekahi mau makahiki lōʻihi, ua hoʻolalau ʻia e lākou ka manaʻo e kau ma luna o kēia mea he ʻulu, ʻo ka mea kanu i lawe ʻia ma ka waʻa, ma o kā lākou hoʻomoʻa ʻana i loko o nā meaʻai. I kēia manawa hoʻi, aia kekahi mea kanu i lawe ʻia mai ma ka waʻa, ke hoʻohana ʻia nei e Juicy Brew, ʻo ia nā maiʻa iholena a Sachter-Smith. Wahi a Christina Hee, ʻo ia kekahi o nā mea ʻona no Juicy Brew me kona kaikaina/kaikuaʻana, ʻo Jennifer, hoʻohana lākou i ia maiʻa no nā ʻumeke Cuba a black bean, a no kekahi meaʻai taco. “ʻO ia kaʻu mea e hana ai me ke aloha nui: ʻo ka hōʻike aku i nā lauʻai kūloko, oki loa hoʻi ʻo ka lauʻai kūloko ʻano laha ʻole hoʻi,” wahi a Christina Hee. Akā naʻe, he nui anei a lawa ke kauoha ʻia ʻana o kekahi mea kūʻai a Hawaiʻi Banana Source no ke kākoʻo ʻana i kekahi māhina ʻai e nui aʻe nei? “No kēlā me kēia mea aia nō iā ia kekahi mea kūʻai, he wahi kona e kū ai,” wahi a Jefts, he mahiʻai ma Oʻahu no nā makahiki lōʻihi he nui, i aʻo ʻia ma ka ʻoihana hoʻokele waiwai. “Inā he mākaukau akamai kāu lawelawe ʻana i ka ʻoihana, e loaʻa auaneʻi kahi māhele o ka mākeke iā ʻoe.” He ʻIke Lehia ma ke Kuhi ʻAna i ke ʻAno Maiʻa Ma waena o nā mea e hilinaʻi ana, e hoʻopōmaikaʻi mai ana ʻo Sachter-Smith iā Hawaiʻi, aia ʻo Anne Vezina, e noho ana ma Quebec ma ke ʻano he mea kākau no ke akeakamai a he ʻimi noiʻi hoʻi i noho akula ma Montpelier, Palani he mau makahiki ma ka hana pū ʻana me ka International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain, he ʻahahui alakaʻi ma ka ʻoihana mahi maiʻa. Hoʻomanaʻo aʻela ʻo ia i kona hele pū ʻana me Sachter-Smith i ka huakaʻi ʻimi noiʻi ma Samoa, kahi o lāua i holoholo ai ma kinohi o ka huakaʻi ʻana. Ua ʻike ʻia akula e Vezine kekahi mau pūmaiʻa ma luna o ka ʻāina, ma hope mai hoʻi ua ʻōlelo ʻo Sachter-Smith ua ʻike nō hoʻi ʻo ia la, me ka helu pū ʻana mai i nā inoa he ʻumi a ʻoi o nā inoa maiʻa a lāua i māʻalo ai, wahi āna. Hoʻomanaʻo aʻela o Vezine i ke ʻano ʻeʻehia o kona naʻau. “ʻAʻole hiki ke wehewehe ʻia, kona ʻano e helu ai pēlā,” wahi āna i ʻōlelo ai no ko Sachter-Smith akamai i ka wae ʻano ʻana i nā mana maiʻa. “Kohu mea lā he ʻike ia no loko mai o kona naʻau.” ʻO kā Sachter-Smith koho ʻana e holomua ma ka ʻoihana mahiʻai, he mea e nele maoli ai ka ʻoihana ʻimi naʻauao akeakamai no ka ʻoihana maiʻa, ʻaʻole hoʻi ka ʻimi ʻana i ke kēkelē lae ʻula a lilo i mea ʻimi noiʻi ma ka wā piha, wahi āna.  He mea naʻe ia e pōmaikaʻi ai ʻo Hawaiʻi, wahi āna. Kū nō i ke akamai ka manaʻo o Sachter-Smith e hoʻomau i ka mahi ʻana i nā maiʻa iholena, i ʻōlelo ai ʻo ia, ʻo kekahi kumu, no ka wikiwiki o ka ulu a hoʻohua ʻana o nā mea kanu, me ka ʻāwīwī i ʻoi aʻe ma mua o ko ka maʻi e kapa ʻia nei ʻo Banana Bunchy Top, ma mua o ke kaʻa ʻana iho ona. Ke hilinaʻi nei ʻo ia e pōmaikaʻi maoli mai ana kā Sachter-Smith mau papahana ʻimi noiʻi ma nā mea kanu hapahapa a hoʻokawowo ʻana hoʻi. Nui nā kuleana āna e ʻauamo nei; ʻo kekahi o ia mau kuleana, pehea lā hoʻi e kō ʻole ai, i nīnau mai ai ʻo ia. No kāna māhele ponoʻī, ʻōlelo ʻo Sachter-Smith no kāna pau papahana kālaikali a ʻimi akeakamai me nā ʻano, mana, a hapahapa like ʻole, me nā hoʻokawowo ʻana hoʻi, hoʻokahi nō pahukū e lōkahi ai ia mau mea a pau. “Ua pono nō hoʻi au ke loaʻa mai iaʻu he hoʻokahi wale nō maiʻa maikaʻi,” wahi āna. Hoʻolako ʻia kekahi hapa o “Hawaiʻi Grown” e nā pūʻulu kālā mai ka Ulupono Fund ma ka Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, mai ka Marisla Fund ma ka Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, a me ka Frost Family Foundation. Ua kākoʻo ʻia kēia papahana e ka ʻOhana o Harry Nathaniel, Levani Lipton, ka ʻOhana Mar, a me Lisa Kleissner. The post Ka Hoʻopakele ʻAna I Ko Hawaiʻi ʻOihana Mahi Maiʻa ‘He Hoʻokahi Maiʻa’ O Ka Manawa Pākahi appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
document.write('</li>');
document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/when-will-joe-manchin-care-about-global-warming/" target="_self">When Will Joe Manchin Care About Global Warming?</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:01:10 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Climate change killed hundreds of Americans this summer and caused billions of dollars in damage. This year we have witnessed record heatwaves, wildfires and flooding. And little wonder, for Northern Hemisphere lands, including the continental U.S., this was the hottest summer on record. President Biden needs all 50 Democrats in the Senate to vote for his reconciliation bill, which includes a clean electricity program that would rapidly replace the nation’s coal- and gas-fired power plants with wind, solar and nuclear energy. Passing this legislation would show the world that the U.S., Earth’s worst polluter, is finally ready to lead on averting climate catastrophe. And in the few days left before COP26 — the UN Climate Change Conference in Scotland — that would be a significant rallying cry to other nations as investment in renewable energy needs to triple by the end of the decade in order to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degree Celsius and adhere to the Paris Climate Accord. Even so, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin doesn’t care. He was busy counting fossil fuel money in the air-conditioned, information-vacuum of his Capitol Hill office. He raked in more than $400,000 from polluters as he fought his party’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is opposing curbs on fossil fuel production. manchin.senate.gov More than 1,400 people died in the 121 degree Fahrenheit Western North America heat wave this summer. Thousands more visited emergency rooms with heat-related illnesses. This was a 1,000-year weather event that was made 150 times more likely because of climate change. For the second year, Death Valley, California, set a world record, for the hottest temperature (130 degree Fahrenheit) ever measured on Earth. That’s the recommended temperature for cooking a medium-rare steak. Joe Manchin doesn’t care. He’s paid by corporate polluters to block solutions to this problem. ‘Dirty Politics’ It is not surprising that Joe Manchin opposes clean energy. As I wrote back in August, studies show “the more a given member of Congress votes against environmental policies, the more contributions they receive from oil and gas companies supporting their reelection.” This finding is from an academic study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. I’d call that dirty politics, wouldn’t you, Joe? Manchin has received more in political donations from the oil and gas industry than any other senator, more than double the second-largest recipient. He is also the No. 1 beneficiary of donations from the coal mining sector, leads the way in money accepted from gas pipeline operators, and is sixth in the ranking of donations from electric utilities. Today, 98% of the West is in drought, and 75 million Americans live under drought conditions. The period 2000 to 2018 was the driest 19-year span since the late 1500s and the second driest since the year 800 CE. The six U.S. Southwest states have been plunged into an unyielding, unprecedented, and costly drought driven by the lowest rates of precipitation and the highest air temperatures in the 125 year-long record. This is just the beginning. A more extreme trend of mega-drought is projected as global warming continues. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, supply water and electricity to over 20 million people. But drought has lowered water levels to only one-third of their capacity. As the current La Niña develops, the entire region is poised for a water catastrophe in 2022. Mega-drought drives mega-fire. As of Oct. 19, the National Interagency Fire Center reported a total of 47,602 wildfires across the country that had burned almost 6.5 million acres. Nearly 6,000 courageous firefighters are deployed to 28 large, active fires across the U.S. Of these, 16 are uncontained. Mega-fires spawn their own dry thunderstorms that generate lightening which sets more land on fire. Studies of infant health in mega-fire regions show increased premature births and lower birth weight, as if pregnant mothers had been smoking six cigarettes per day. Drought and mega-fire are not confined to the U.S., it’s a global phenomenon that is driving displacement among human communities. The World Bank describes how failing food and water security create hotspots of internal climate migration. These will emerge as early as 2030 and continue to spread and intensify, eventually involving over 200 million people by mid-century. Air temperature anomalies across the continental United States and Canada on June 27, 2021. NASA Earth Observatory A report last week by U.S. intelligence agencies paints an equally dire picture of growing risks caused by radical changes in the world’s climate as countries compete for dwindling water and food supplies while facing waves of migration across borders. Joe Manchin doesn’t care. Average U.S. temperature has increased about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since record keeping began in 1895. The most recent decade was the nation’s warmest on record. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, climate change threatens U.S. agricultural productivity through changes in temperature and precipitation, increased pest and disease pressures, decline in pollinator health, reduced crop and forage quantity and quality, and infrastructure damage. The Department of Defense has identified climate change as a critical national security issue and threat multiplier. Extreme weather events already cost DoD billions of dollars and are degrading mission capabilities. Not adapting to climate change will be even more consequential with failure measured in terms of lost military capability, weakened alliances, enfeebled international stature, degraded infrastructure, and missed opportunities for technical innovation and economic growth. In 2020, the United States experienced a record-breaking 22 natural disasters that each resulted in at least $1 billion in damages, including a record seven linked to hurricanes or tropical storms. Weather events affect communities, school districts, and institutions of higher education. A more extreme trend of mega-drought is projected as global warming continues. The U.S. Department of Education believes that fulfilling its mission requires confronting the rapidly changing climate, its impact on students, educators and infrastructure, as well as the implications for the future world in which the United States competes. Scientists determined that record-shattering heat events are up to seven times more likely to occur between now and 2050, and more than 21 times more likely to occur from 2051 to 2080. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that severe heat waves that previously occurred once every 50 years will now likely happen once per decade. As the governments of almost 200 nations prepare for a pivotal meeting on climate change, millions of Americans stand dumbfounded at the sheer gall and cold, uncaring detachment displayed by West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Without immediate, drastic cuts in greenhouse gases, the world will continue to burn, thirst, and bake. Joe Manchin, now is the time to care. You can stop this. The post When Will Joe Manchin Care About Global Warming? appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
document.write('</li>');
document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/what-the-federal-spending-bill-could-mean-for-hawaii-families/" target="_self">Hawaii Families Look To The Federal Spending Bill To Keep Them Afloat</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:01:08 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Lingie Chiu, a pediatrician in Hawaii, sees a lot of families struggle when their children are hospitalized.  There’s the parent’s emotional burden of not knowing what will happen, and the anxiety of children who may not understand what’s going on. But there’s another element too — the fact that many parents can’t afford to stay with their kids in the hospital. Chiu has sometimes had to tell parents that they can’t leave their children alone. Those are difficult conversations, Chiu says, where parents often cry knowing that they can’t afford to miss work. Sometimes, even if the hospitalization only lasts a few weeks, parents will be forced to quit work to take care of their kids. That’s one reason why Chiu is hopeful the Senate will approve President Joe Biden’s proposed paid family and medical leave plan, part of a bigger social spending bill that he’s trying to get through Congress. To Chiu, something like that feels long-needed. “I’m surprised that there are so many pukas or holes still in the system,” she said.  Thomas Gill and Liza Gill have struggled to find child care in Kapolei for their baby Ryan Olivia Gill. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021 The House version of the bill called for 12 weeks of paid medical and family leave, with a broad definition of family that would enable a range of people to take paid time off to care for their loved ones, including but not limited to parents, spouses or siblings. It’s still unclear whether legislation guaranteeing paid family leave will actually pass, and if it does the length is likely to be reduced to four weeks or less. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the provision was likely to be dropped from the bill due to opposition from Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, but that Democrats are fighting to keep it in. Still, Hawaii parents and advocates for children say even a scaled-down version of Biden’s proposed programs for children and families would be instrumental in helping Hawaii families stay afloat given the state’s high cost of living. The U.S. Senate has been tangled up in negotiations since the House passed a $3.5 trillion version of Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which also included universal pre-kindergarten, subsidies for child care and a provision to make the refundable child tax credit permanent. The New York Times reported the plan was originally envisioned as the greatest expansion of the social safety net since President Lyndon Johnson’s administration created Medicare and Medicaid. But the combination of opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats has forced Democrats to carve out huge aspects of the bill, eliminating free community college and key climate change provisions and reducing the estimated cost to between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion. Kathleen Algire from Hawaii Children’s Action Network Speaks says the federal funding proposed for universal pre-K would give Hawaii the boost it needs to expand its small program and meet the state’s ambitious enrollment goals. Research shows that access to pre-K benefits child development. “It is not a hyperbole when we say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve people’s lives,” Algire said of the family-related proposals in Biden’s plan. “It would benefit not just our current generation but generations to come.” To Algire, this moment recalls the 1970s, when then-President Richard Nixon vetoed a bill that would have provided universal child care. “We don’t want to wait another 50 years to have something like this,” Algire said. Paid Family Leave The United States is one of only a handful of countries that doesn’t offer paid family leave. And despite the dominance of the Democratic Party in Hawaii, the state, like most others, doesn’t have a family leave insurance program. Jing Guo, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii who specializes in comparative family policy, says even though the U.S. policy already requires large companies to offer three months of unpaid family and medical leave, many people can’t afford to take that time off. Jing Guo, of the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health at the University of Hawaii University of Hawaii The lack of paid leave creates a huge disparity between high income workers who have access to such programs and low income workers who don’t. Establishing a paid leave program that enables all mothers to take time off when their child is born — which Guo noted is the norm in other developed countries — would start to bridge that gap. “It would be great to have up to 12 weeks, but four weeks still will be revolutionary for the U.S. because for so long we don’t have paid family leave,” Guo said.  But there are a lot of potential hurdles. Currently, many employers don’t offer paid leave because of the cost. The government faces the same price tag. Outreach and education about the program alone would cost $150 million, according to the House version of the bill. Then there’s the cost of wages. The House proposed reimbursing businesses for providing paid leave, which The Hill reported could cost as much as $225 billion over 10 years, funded by tax hikes on wealthy people. Those proposed tax increases have received pushback from Republicans as well as centrist Democrats. Child Care Deserts Compared to families in many other states, Hawaii families have a particularly large need for child care support given the high cost of living in the islands. About 9% of Hawaii households are living below the federal poverty line, but an analysis by Aloha United Way found an additional 33% are living just above that line and at risk of falling into poverty if they hit any financial snags, such as sudden unemployment. These are individuals living on about $31,000 a year, or families of four earning around $90,000 a year. That salary might be a lot in another state, but in Hawaii, where housing prices are sky-high compared to most states and food is taxed on top of being expensive to begin with, paying for child care for two children on $90,000 annually can be difficult. The average annual cost of sending a kid to a child care center in Hawaii exceeded $14,000 per child in 2019, according to Child Care Aware of America. Costs can rise significantly for infants. Jerome Stone and his family smile in a photo they took after moving to Hawaii island. Stone says the child tax credit helped the family afford food after his wife lost her job during the pandemic. Courtesy: Jerome Stone Even when families can afford child care, it may not exist. More than two-thirds of Hawaii residents live in child care deserts, according to the Center for American Progress. Only families in Nevada and Utah have less access to professional child care, according to the center’s analysis. That’s one reason why the proposed child care subsidies in the Build Back Better plan sound like a good idea to West Oahu resident Liza Gill, who hasn’t been able to return to work full time since having her daughter in March. As a consultant, she didn’t have access to paid family leave but decided to take off unpaid time to take care of her daughter. That meant the family relied on the income of her husband, who was working as an emergency room physician and couldn’t afford to take unpaid paternity leave. By June, Gill was ready to return to work. But when she called child care facilities in Kapolei, the next opening wasn’t until April 2022. Her daughter is now on the waitlist, and Gill has only been able to squeeze in 20 hours of work each week in between caring for her. She may have found another spot in town, but it didn’t make sense to spend 10 hours in traffic every week when both of their jobs were in Kapolei. Not being able to return to work full time has meant the family has taken a much larger financial hit than expected. “I can’t really not be working any longer, but I also don’t have child care,” Gill said. Other local families might rely on family to help but that’s not an option for them. “We can’t rely on our grandparents because they’re still working.” She is hopeful that the federal support for child care proposed by Biden would help expand their family’s options. Paying For Food Another aspect of the proposal — to make the refundable child tax credit permanent — will likely be reduced to only a year-long extension, if it passes. Jerome Stone, 63, hopes that element makes it through. Stone moved to Hilo with his family of three in October 2020 after getting priced out of Boulder, Colorado. His wife had been a massage practitioner for 27 years when the pandemic shutdowns and fears of Covid-19 brought her business to a grinding halt. Stone, a hospice nurse, became the family’s sole breadwinner. Then the monthly checks from the child tax credit started coming in. Stone was relieved and gratified, and said the money helped pay the grocery bill. “Food is very expensive and our son has celiac disease so we have to buy everything gluten-free,” Stone said. Buying groceries is also how Kaneohe resident Jamie McOuat partially spent the child tax credit she received for her son. The 59-year-old mother got laid off in June from a nonprofit job and suddenly found herself part of the low-income community that she used to serve. The child tax credit helped enable her family to keep her 7-year-old in his sports and violin programs that they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. “The biggest benefit for us has been social emotional growth of our child,” she said of the tax credit. McOuat, who is from Canada, is still shocked and amazed at how the U.S. lacks paid family leave and other social support programs for children and families that she once took for granted. “Every other country or culture I lived in, it’s obvious that it’s always prioritized,” she said.  The post Hawaii Families Look To The Federal Spending Bill To Keep Them Afloat appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
document.write('</li>');
document.write('</ul></div>');