State gets $3.7M to fight diseases ADVERTISING State gets $3.7M to fight diseases HONOLULU (AP) — The federal government awarded $3.7 million to the state Department of Health to fight infectious diseases such as the Zika virus and Hepatitis A.
State gets $3.7M to fight diseases
HONOLULU (AP) — The federal government awarded $3.7 million to the state Department of Health to fight infectious diseases such as the Zika virus and Hepatitis A.
Health Director Virginia Pressler said the money will help the state investigate its Hepatitis A outbreak. More than 90 people throughout the state have contracted Hepatitis A in the Islands since mid-June.
Pressler said Tuesday the funds also will help the state prevent local transmissions of the Zika virus. Officials say anyone returning to the state from areas affected by the Zika virus should see a doctor if they fall ill within two weeks of returning home.
Stabbing leaves at least 2 injured
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu police are investigating a stabbing on a highway that left at least two people injured.
Emergency Medical Services officials say a 22-year-old man was taken to a hospital in critical condition after the Monday incident and a 23-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition. Media reports also quoted police as saying a third person was hurt but no other information has been released.
Witnesses said a man thought to be involved in the incident surrendered to officers who surrounded his Ewa Beach home after an hourslong standoff.
Police had shut down part of the H-1 freeway to investigate the stabbings — which media reports described as an apparent road rage incident — after they responded around 3:20 p.m.
All lanes had reopened to traffic Monday night.
Hawaii school year begins with hundreds of teacher vacancies
HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii Department of Education has yet to fill hundreds of teaching positions across the state as school has started for more than 180,000 students.
Officials with the department said there were 625 positions that still needed to be filled as of last week, even after 100 new teachers were hired during the summer. State data show the number of teacher vacancies more than doubled within two months this summer.
In response to the shortage, the department increased its recruitment efforts by sending teams to meet with potential applicants in mainland cities between March and July, including Chicago, Portland, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Teacher advocates maintain the department has struggled with hiring qualified teachers because of low salaries.
“More teachers are leaving, and fewer teachers are going into the profession,” said Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which represents 13,500 teachers. “We cannot find even emergency hires for these positions.”
The labor contract for teachers expires next summer, and Rosenlee said the union plans to advocate for better working conditions.
“If we want to fix the teacher crisis in Hawaii, we have to empower teachers, treat them like professionals and pay them like the professionals they are,” Rosenlee said.
DOE officials contend that the hiring process is selective and that more focus on a mentoring program for new teachers will continue to boost retention rates.
“Our overall trend is positive with regard to our retention of teachers in their first five years,” said Stephen Schatz, deputy superintendent for the Department of Education. “We have reason for optimism.”
Data from the 2014-15 school year, the latest state figures available, show that of the 785 teachers hired in school year 2010-11, 60 percent were still employed five years later, marking the highest five-year retention rate in at least a decade.
