Staffing woes nix visits to OCCC inmates
Visits to Oahu Community Correctional Center were canceled Sunday due to a staffing shortage, the second time that has happened this month.
No visits were allowed on July 6 as well. In June, visitation was canceled on one Sunday.
The Department of Public Safety gets the word out through social media to alert people who are planning to visit loved ones at the facility. Notice is usually posted between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. on scheduled visitation days. To learn more, check online at dps.hawaii.gov.
Hurricane brewing in eastern Pacific
Hurricane Hernan formed Sunday in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
The storm has sustained winds of 75 mph but is not a threat to land and it is not expected to remain a hurricane as it moves northwest into cooler waters, forecasters said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Genevieve moved into the Central Pacific on Sunday morning. At 11 a.m. the storm was about 980 miles east-southeast of Hilo.
Genevieve is moving west at 13 mph with sustained winds of 35 mph.
Genevieve is expected to weaken significantly and may no longer be a tropical depression Monday. The storm could bring another bout of muggy weather and an increased chance of showers to Hawaii by next weekend.
The forecast through the middle of the week calls for typical tradewind weather with windward and mauka showers in the morning.
Hurricane Hernan is still too far away from Hawaii to tell whether it will affect weather in the islands.
Bill would ban plastic-foam food boxes
WAILUKU » A Maui County Council committee will consider a bill that would ban disposable plastic-foam food containers.
The Infrastructure and Environmental Management Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Monday. The bill would prohibit food establishments and vendors from using or selling polystyrene containers.
The containers are now widely used to serve plate lunches.
Maui food providers would be able to apply for a one-year exemption if they can show no reasonable alternatives are available or if complying with a ban would cause significant economic hardship.
Proposal will be on ballot after Council balks
WAILUKU » Maui County voters will cast ballots in November on a proposal to impose a moratorium on the cultivation of genetically engineered organisms.
The Maui County Council on Thursday declined to take action on a voter initiative for the moratorium. That cleared the way for the measure to appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, the Maui News reported.
The group Sustainable Hawaiian Agriculture for the Keiki and the Aina Movement collected more than 9,000 signatures in support of the initiative.
Council members had the option of passing the measure as an ordinance, but policy committee Chairman Riki Hokama said he had "legal concerns" about the bill’s structure and about its compliance with the County Charter.
He recommended allowing the measure to go to the ballot without Council approval.
