Good evening, Hawaii. Here are the main stories we've been following today:
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Today's Big Stories
1. Lawyer: Missing woman Hannah Kobayashi found safe
On Wednesday, a lawyer announced 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi has been found safe, more than a month after she left Hawaii and prompted a lengthy search.
Sara Azari, an attorney, issued a statement on behalf of Kobayashi's mother and sister.
“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” the statement said.
“This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through.”
The statement did not provide details about where or how Kobayashi was found.
On Nov. 8, Hannah took a flight from Maui to Los Angeles, but missed her connecting flight to New York, where she was supposed to meet up with relatives.
Authorities later said she intentionally missed her flight.
2. Avian flu detected in Hilo wastewater
The Hawaii Department of Health State Laboratories Division on Tuesday reported that a wastewater sample collected on Dec. 2 at the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant on Hawaii Island contained the H5 avian influenza.
This is the first time bird flu has been detected on a neighbor island.
Wastewater testing isn’t able to determine if the sample is of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 subtype of bird flu virus recently found on Oahu.
The H5N1 virus in Hawaii was first confirmed in Nov. 2024, in a backyard flock of birds in Central Oahu. DOH says that virus strain is a different genotype from the one that has infected birds and dairy cows on the U.S. Mainland.
Risk to the public remains low, according to DOH, but HPAI can cause severe illness leading to a high mortality rate among certain bird populations such as poultry.
The public can report multiple or unusual illnesses in poultry, livestock or other wild birds or animals to the HDOA Animal Industry Division at 808-483-7102 from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or 808-837-8092 during non-business hours and holidays.
3. Updated water resources bill includes Hawaii priorities
The latest Water Resources Development Act, which cleared the U.S. House of Representatives this week, includes several requests from U.S. Sen. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, that would have a direct benefit for the state.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers executes the projects in partnership with federal, local and state agencies, non-government organizations and tribal nations.
The latest iteration of the bill was approved by the House on a 399-18 vote and is expected to pass out of the Senate for Pres. Joe Biden to sign before Congress goes on hiatus for the holidays.
Provisions secured by Case in the 2024 WRDA include expanding and upgrading Honolulu Harbor, confirming Honolulu Harbor’s role in defense and national security, expediting the Ala Wai Canal flood risk management project, including Hawaii in USACE studies involving the Pacific Region and expanding eligibility for federal assistance for coastal communities dependent on key ports.
Case worked with Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii to secure provisions that would increase funding for water infrastructure projects for Maui and authorize an assessment of Lahaina’s watershed.
4. New drug monitoring program aims to prevent drug overdoses, death
The Department of Law Enforcement Narcotics Enforcement Division is partnering with Bamboo Health to help prevent drug overdoses and deaths from lethal drug combinations.
The partnership with Bamboo Health will improve NED’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program by integrating a patient’s history of prescriptions for controlled substances into their electronic health record. According to NED, this will “enhance the prescriber’s ability to identify the dangerous allocation of prescription drug quantities or combinations and reduces the risk of possible substance use disorder.”
NED Acting Administrator Michael Hartsock stated, “Advanced prescription monitoring improves the quality of care in our communities and combats the rise in drug overdoses. We are empowering our healthcare providers with the tools they need to make informed decisions and improve health outcomes for the people of Hawaii.”
Funding for the $346,000 annual contract with Bamboo Health comes from a grant awarded to the Hawaii Department of Health by the CDC’s Overdose Data to Action in States Initiative.
NED encourages healthcare providers and pharmacies to enroll in the program through Bamboo Health’s PMP Gateway.
5. Honolulu Civil Beat: Senators urged to examine Gabbard’s ‘deep and intense’ ties to Hawaii sect
A former member of a secretive Hawaii religious sect is warning members of Congress about the potential dangers of confirming Tulsi Gabbard as President-elect Donald Trump’s next director of national intelligence.
Anita van Duyn says she spent 15 years inside the Science of Identity Foundation, a fringe offshoot of Hare Krishna that was formed in the 1970s and has been described by defectors as a cult.
Van Duyn has sent letters to Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, detailing Gabbard’s deep ties to the organization and its reclusive founder, Chris Butler, who still resides in a multimillion-dollar beachfront home in Kailua.
The letters come as Gabbard is trying to salvage her nomination on Capitol Hill this week after national security experts, former colleagues and others have openly questioned her fitness for the job, with many of the criticisms centered on her lack of intelligence experience, her parroting of Russian propaganda and sympathies for international strongmen, such as Syria’s recently deposed President Bashar al-Assad whom she visited in 2017.
The van Duyn letters outline what she says are Butler’s long-standing political ambitions and the ways he groomed and supported his disciples, Gabbard included, in their pursuit of public office while promoting his own ideologies, which include a long history of espousing anti-gay rhetoric.
Van Duyn says she worries that Gabbard is still under Butler’s influence, which could compromise national security, noting in her letter that she suspects that any sensitive intelligence Gabbard is privy to will be “communicated to her guru.”
Erika Tsuji, a spokesperson for Gabbard, did not respond to Civil Beat requests for an interview with Gabbard about her relationship with Butler and the Science of Identity Foundation.
Trump’s transition team similarly did not respond to requests for comment.
Van Duyn pointed to Gabbard’s shifting political allegiances and constant upward trajectory as evidence that she’s following Butler’s playbook, from running as a progressive anti-war Democrat in 2020 to going all-in on Trump’s second-term agenda that includes promises of pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, rolling back environmental regulations and mass deportation.
“Everybody is thinking her allegiance is to Trump, but in reality her allegiance was already given away to her guru,” van Duyn said in an interview with Civil Beat. “You can’t just go in and out of that. That’s a lifetime commitment.”
Your Notes for Tomorrow
Thursday, Dec. 12
- Man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on Florida golf course in court
- Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
- TIME Person of the Year revealed
- The Game Awards for video games
- Billboard Music Awards
In Case You Missed It
UH Manoa selects 'future' as 2024 Hawaii Word of the Year
Reflecting on the complexity of what lies ahead, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Department of English selected “future” as its 2024 Word of the Year for Hawaii.
“‘Future’ is neither clearly positive nor negative. It's something we might want and something we might fear. It's something at risk, so it's something we have to protect,” said John David Zuern, UH Manoa Department of English chair and professor, in a release.
UH Manoa Department of English undergraduate students in the English Majors Association came up with the word this year, and the Department of English Executive Committee approved it.
“We felt that at this moment in our country’s history, it would be best to listen to how our students, many of whom are young people, are encapsulating their experiences and aspirations in words,” Zuern said.
Other words under consideration were “solidarity,” “community,” “hope,” “nightmare,” and “dystopian.”
On Dec. 9, Merriam-Webster announced its 2024 Word of the Year as “polarization.”