Monica Jones, a transgender activist and advocate for sex-worker rights, will make appearances this week in Honolulu.

She will speak at 11 a.m. Monday in Room 224 at the state Capitol, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the University of Hawaii Campus Center Room 308, and from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Carnation Room. The events are free.

Jones’ visit is being sponsored by Harm Reduction Hawaii, a coalition working to improve the health and well-being of those affected by substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, violence and other harmful situations.

While a student at Arizona State University, Jones campaigned against police sting operations involving prostitutes. In 2013, a day after she protested a city ordinance prohibiting “manifesting prostitution,” Jones was arrested on the charge after accepting a ride home from an undercover police officer after visiting a bar. The ordinance outlaws behaviors such as flagging down passing cars and asking whether someone is a police officer.

Jones, an African-American, and other activists including transgender actress Laverne Cox, joined the American Civil Liberties Union in opposing the law for targeting transgender women of color and other minority populations. An appeals court vacated Jones’ conviction in 2015 on the grounds she failed to receive a fair trial.

Humpback data collected across state

More than 612 volunteers gathered humpback whale data Saturday from the shores of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island.

Volunteers on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island were participating in the second event of the 2019 Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count, while those on Maui were taking part in the the Pacific Whale Foundation’s Great Whale Count.

Volunteers collected data from 55 sites across the main Hawaiian Islands and logged 372 whale sightings between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m.

Volunteers tallied humpback whale sightings and documented the animals’ surface behavior during the survey.

The next count will be held March 30. Preliminary data from this count is available at oceancount.org/resources.