Due to mechanical repairs, the Hanalei refuse transfer station will only be accepting bagged trash from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16. All other services will continue to be available. Residents and businesses may also use the Kapa‘a refuse transfer station. If there are changes to the schedule of this repair, announcements will be made to the public. Mahalo for your patience. For more information, please go to: https://www.kauai.gov/TransferStations

The County Transportation Agency is announcing that effective Sept. 16 Kaua‘i Bus drivers will no longer be providing face coverings to passengers. “As a reminder for everyone’s health and safety, The Kaua‘i Bus is for essential trips only, and users are required to use face coverings on the bus and while waiting near others at bus stops,” said Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami. While on The Kaua‘I Bus, passengers are to observe COVID-19 safety protocols. Up-to-date bus schedules and additional information can be found online at, the County of Kaua‘i and the Kaua‘i Bus Facebook pages, or at 246-8110.

Taking a minute to reach out to someone in your community – a family member, friend, colleague or even a stranger – could change the course of another’s life. Individuals who have survived a suicide attempt have much to teach us about how the words and actions of others can be important, and many of them are now working as advocates for suicide prevention and have informed resources which are now readily available. People are often reluctant to intervene, for many reasons, including a fear of not knowing what to say. It is important to remember, there is no specific formula. Empathy, compassion, genuine concern, knowledge of resources and a desire to help are key to preventing a tragedy. Another factor that prevents individuals from intervening is the worry of making the situation worse. This hesitance is understandable as suicide is a difficult issue to address, accompanied by a myth that suggests talking about it may instigate vulnerable individuals to contemplate the idea or trigger the act. Evidence suggests that this is not the case. The offer of support and a listening ear are more likely to reduce distress, as opposed to exacerbating it. We need to look out for those who are not coping. Individuals in distress are often not looking for specific advice. Warning signs of suicide include: hopelessness, rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge, acting reckless or engaging in risky activities – seemingly without thinking, feeling trapped like there’s no way out, increased alcohol or drug use, withdrawing from friends, family & society, anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep or sleeping all the time and dramatic mood changes. The listening ear of someone with compassion,empathy and a lack of judgement can help restore hope. We can check in with them, ask them how they are doing and encourage them to tell their story. This small gesture goes a long way. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or call 911 immediately. Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues. Every year thousands of individuals die by suicide, leaving behind their friends and family members to navigate the tragedy of loss. In many cases, friends and families affected by a suicide loss (often called “suicide loss survivors”) are left in the dark. Too often the feelings of shame and stigma prevent them from talking openly. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic. We use this month to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services. It is also important to ensure that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention. Informational Resources Know the Warning Signs and Risk Factors of Suicide Being Prepared for a Crisis Navigating a Mental Health Crisis Need more information, referrals or support? Contact the NAMI HelpLine. Crisis Resources If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call 911 immediately. If you are in crisis or are experiencing difficult or suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273 TALK (8255) If you’re uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line. Awareness Resources Help promote awareness by sharing images and graphics on your website and social media accounts. Use #SuicidePrevention or #StigmaFree. While suicide prevention is important to address year-round, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month provides a dedicated time to come together with collective passion and strength around a difficult topic. The truth is, we can all benefit from honest conversations about mental health conditions and suicide, because just one conversation can change a life. How To Engage Online With You Are Not Alone NAMI.Org Personal Stories Throughout the month of September, we will feature personal stories about how suicidal ideation/behaviors or suicide prevention have affected people’s lives or what the message of “You Are Not Alone” means to them. Personal stories are brief, informal snapshots of lived experience, making them unique from pieces published on the NAMI Blog. By sharing these stories, we aim to raise awareness and make people feel less alone in their mental health journeys. nami.org/yourstory Please share the link with your networks, and they could be featured on nami.org/personal-stories and NAMI social media channels. NAMI Blog During the month of September, the NAMI Blog will focus on preventing and preparing for a crisis, as well as how to respond in the aftermath. New posts will be added weekly. Be sure to check out the NAMI Blog at nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog and look for posts on our social media featuring quotes from our authors. Social Media Content posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter will highlight facts about suicide and key resources for support. We will also feature videos with members of the NAMI community telling their personal stories that we invite you to share. It is important to reference crisis resources throughout the month. Here are some suggested social posts featuring helpful information: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (@800273TALK) offers free, confidential crisis counseling 24/7/365 - and you don’t have to be in crisis to call. #SPM20 #NotAlone .@CrisisTextLine is free 24/7 mental health support at your fingertips. Text “NAMI” to 741741 for help. #SPM20 #NotAlone Crisis episodes related to mental illness can be incredibly difficult. To help navigate through them, NAMI created this downloadable guide available in English and Spanish: nami.org/crisisguide #SPM20 #NotAlone Hashtags to Use: #SPM20 or #NotAlone Fast Facts These are only a few of the reasons why it’s important to take part in promoting Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Please use these facts and others, including the “It’s Okay to Talk About Suicide” infographics on our website, to encourage discussions with your community through social media or other forms of outreach. Individual Impact: 75% of all people who die by suicide are male. Although more women than men attempt suicide, men are nearly 4x more likely to die by suicide. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 and the 4th leading cause of death for people 35-54 The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased by 31% since 2001 46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition While half of individuals who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental health condition, research shows that 90% experienced symptoms. Community Impact: In 2017, suicide was: the second leading cause of death for American Indian/Alaska Natives between the ages of 10-34.1 the second leading cause of death for African Americans, ages 15-24.1 the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, ages 15-24.1 the second leading cause of death for Hispanic people in the U.S., ages 15-34. American Indian/Alaska Native adults die by suicide at a rate 20% higher than non-Hispanic white adults. Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth. Transgender people are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population. 10% of young adults say they experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year. 1CDC. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). [Accessed 08/02/2019]. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

COVID-19 Testing Sites for Thursday, September 10 Aloha Stadium – 95-500 Salt Lake Boulevard Waipahu District Park – 94-230 Paiwa Street Honolulu Police Department Headquarters - 801 S. Beretania Street, Lawn Area, 1st Floor Makiki District Park – 1527 Keeaumoku Street Pacheco Neighborhood Park – 1062 Waimano Home Road • Test sites open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. No registration needed! • Bring your ID. • If you received a voucher for another day/time you can still come to any test site. • Minimal lines and wait times. • Visit www.doineedacovid19test.com for more information.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chair of the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, released the following statement on a new report titled Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System from the Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC). “The findings in this report should be a wake-up call: climate financial risks are real. They will destabilize our financial system and the whole U.S. economy if left unchecked. We need the Federal Reserve, the SEC, and our other regulatory agencies to immediately move forward with the recommendations in this report—including climate risk stress testing and mandatory public company disclosure of climate risks and emissions. I thank subcommittee chairman Bob Litterman for his hard work and Commissioner Rostin Behnam and his staff for championing this effort.” https://www.schatz.senate.gov/press-releases/schatz-statement-on-cftc-climate-risk-report

Schatz, Senators demand answers from Census Bureau on how they will ensure fair count, accurate apportionment of congressional representation in 2020 census. Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of 19 senators in calling on the Census Bureau to provide more details on how they plan to use data from the 2020 Census to apportion congressional representation. This comes after multiple attempts by President Trump to interfere with the count for political purposes, as well as the limitations on conducting the census in full during the coronavirus pandemic. “With the president’s unconstitutional memorandum excluding undocumented people from apportionment, coupled with your agency’s decision to end the 2020 Census count one month early, we also raise serious concerns about a fair and accurate distribution of congressional representation,” the senators wrote. In their letter to Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, the senators are asking for answers on the data and methodologies that the bureau will use to decide how many members of the House of Representatives each state will receive in the 118th Congress. They highlight concerns about how only certain states are sharing citizenship information and the data acquired could be inconsistent, unreliable, or incomplete—which may lead to an inaccurate distribution of congressional representation. “The resulting reapportionment report submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives by the president will be an inaccurate, arbitrary, and unconstitutional distribution of congressional seats across the country,” the senators wrote. In addition to Senator Schatz, the letter was signed by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). The full text of the letter can be found below and is available here. Dear Director Dillingham: We write to raise concerns about the data and methodologies that the Census Bureau will use to develop apportionment counts for each of the states. With the president’s unconstitutional memorandum excluding undocumented people from apportionment, coupled with your agency’s decision to end the 2020 Census count one month early, we also raise serious concerns about a fair and accurate distribution of congressional representation—a fundamental and crucial aspect of our constitutional democracy. From the time of our founding, the Constitution established a democracy premised on the idea that all persons—no matter where they are from, regardless of whether they can vote—deserve representation in our government. To ensure representation for all, the Constitution, through both Article I, Section 2 and the Fourteenth Amendment, explicitly requires the federal government to accurately conduct an “actual Enumeration” of the people. The Fourteenth Amendment places a clear duty on the federal government to count the “whole number of persons in each State.” In other words, the federal government must count all people living in the United States, whether they are citizens or non-citizens, whether they were born in the United States or in a distant part of the world, whether they are living here in accordance with our laws or not. Furthermore, the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment considered immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, as people entitled to equal representation, insisting that the “whole immigrant population should be numbered with the people and counted as part of them.” The Supreme Court has affirmed this constitutional understanding, emphasizing that “the Framers chose to use population . . . as the basis for representation,” and that “representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote.” Following the Supreme Court’s ruling to block this administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the president issued an executive order directing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to collect citizenship information from other governmental sources. Per this directive, the Census Bureau has amassed a collection of administrative records from various sources—some from existing agreements with federal, state, and local agencies, and others from newly established partnerships. However, the collection of citizenship information is not uniform across the country. This raises the prospect that the Census Bureau will have incomplete information as to the citizenship status of all persons residing in the country. For example, some federal agencies have agreed to share citizenship information with the Census Bureau. However, a person’s immigration status can change over time. The administrative data on a person is only as good as the moment when the agency interacts with that person. For example, a person who entered the country without documentation may have received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protection, or may have started a path to citizenship by serving in the military, or may have been granted asylum protection. Depending on when a person interacts with an agency, their status may be very different from what it is currently. At the same time, not every state is sharing citizenship data. States such as Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and South Dakota agreed to share driver's license and state identification card information. But states like Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Illinois denied the Census Bureau’s request to share information. Furthermore, state administrative data on citizenship can be unreliable and inaccurate. As a result, your agency will have arbitrarily collected information based on state officials who decide to share or not information about their citizens, some of which will contain citizenship information, and some will not. This arbitrary collection of citizenship information implicates the president’s unconstitutional attempt to exclude undocumented people from fair representation in the Congress. Apportionment is a geographic division of congressional seats. If only certain states are sharing citizenship information—and the data shared is itself unreliable or inaccurate—and federal data sets do not capture all persons in the country, then the data available to the Census Bureau for apportionment tabulation will be incomplete and run afoul of the Constitution. The resulting reapportionment report submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives by the president will be an inaccurate, arbitrary, and unconstitutional distribution of congressional seats across the country, based on states that either had or did not have citizenship information for selected portions of their population. An arbitrary collection of data will produce a bad output based on that data—garbage in, garbage out. In addition, the Census Act prohibits the Census Bureau from using sampling methods to determine apportionment. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Census Bureau’s proposed uses of statistical sampling to calculate the population for purposes of congressional apportionment following the 2000 decennial census. A similar effort by the agency to use statistical sampling to determine the numbers of undocumented people in each state should be rejected by the courts. These problems are further exacerbated by the agency’s decision to end self-response and non-response follow up operations a month early—from October 31 to September 30. The shortened schedule risks the accuracy of the Census Bureau’s data products, including the apportionment tabulation, and raises risks that errors will neither be found nor fixed. A federal judge recently issued a temporary restraining order to stop the Census Bureau from winding down or altering 2020 Census field operations until a September 17 hearing. Furthermore, the administration’s refusal to include statutory deadline extensions in their negotiations with congressional leaders on coronavirus relief legislation, raise questions about their commitment to addressing these concerns. To address some of these concerns, we ask that you provide answers to the following questions: In implementing Executive Order 13880, can the Census Bureau collect administrative record data uniformly and universally across the country? If so, how? What are the models and methodologies that the Census Bureau is currently developing and studying to tabulate apportionment? Does the agency have enough time to study, test, and implement these apportionment models and methodologies prior to the December 31, 2020 deadline? How will these models and methodologies comply with the Census Act’s prohibition on the use of statistical sampling for apportionment purposes? An agency document on 2020 Census operations and data processing notes that “A compressed review period creates risk for serious errors not being discovered in the data – thereby significantly decreasing data quality.” The document also notes that “serious errors discovered in the data may not be fixed — due to lack of time to research and understand the root cause or to re-run and re-review one or multiple state files.” How will the Census Bureau ensure that its apportionment tabulation does not contain significant errors? As the Census Bureau implements the president’s July 21, 2020, memorandum, how will you ensure that the apportionment tabulation is developed in a way that is not arbitrary when the agency uses administrative data collected through agreements with other federal, state, and local agencies that is not uniformly shared and may contain errors and inaccuracies? To what degree of confidence can the Census Bureau assure the public that its apportionment tabulation is not arbitrary, does not contain significant errs, and is a fair and representative distribution of congressional seats? What is the basis for the agency’s confidence, considering many of the quality assurance processes that will be side-stepped or completed hastily under the condensed timeframe? These questions raise serious concerns about one of the most fundamental constitutional activities: the apportionment of congressional representation. With the end of the 2020 Census and the apportionment deadline fast approaching, we request your written response by September 24, 2020. Thank you for your attention to our request. Sincerely,

Kamehamenui Forest Acquired for Conservation 3,433 acres of Mountain Watershed Lands Protected in Perpetuity for the People of Hawai‘i A recent land acquisition protects the Kula water aquifer, habitat for endangered species, and community-based forest restoration opportunities. These lands are now protected in perpetuity thanks to federal, state, and non-profit partners. The Trust for Public Land (TPL) purchased 3,433 acres of upland Kula property from the Shizuka Asakawa Revocable Trust in July 2020 and conveyed the property to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) on August 31, 2020. The acquisition will provide substantial community benefits. As the property has just been acquired, it is not yet open to public use. Over the coming year, DOFAW will add the property to the Forest Reserve System and will initiate consultation with the community to develop a management plan for the area. This plan will address native forest restoration and tree planting for self-sustaining forestry operations, and endangered species recovery. The area is home to endangered Hawaiian petrels, and the restored forest is expected to improve habitat for numerous native plants and insects. Reforestation efforts will also help recharge the Makawao aquifer, securing clean drinking water for people for generations to come. In the future, the property is intended to provide new recreational opportunities for Maui residents and visitors with hiking trails, places to picnic, and places to grow and gather forest products. Federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both funded as part of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), provided most of the funds needed. In the recently enacted Great American Outdoors Act, Congress provided permanent full and dedicated funding for the LWCF, which will support similar projects in Hawaiʻi in the future. State funding secured through legislative appropriation is providing the matching funds needed to complete the project. "Our Maui delegation worked very hard to secure state funding to help with the purchase of the 3,433-acre Kamehamenui property in upper Kula," noted Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English. "This area is beloved by many and we want to make sure that it is protected for future generations." Representative Kyle Yamashita said, “I am proud to have been part of this collaborative effort. Thanks to the efforts of DLNR, TPL, and federal funding, this spectacular property will be preserved in perpetuity for the benefit of the public.” Sources of funding for the $9,830,000 purchase: • U.S.D.A. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program - $3,830,000; • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Plan Acquisition Program - $2M; • State funding procured through legislative appropriation - $4M. More photos on our Senate Flickr Page: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQErVtV

Senator Clarence Nishihara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs released the following statement regarding the retirement of Public Safety (DPS) Director Nolan Espinda: “Like many across the State, I too have lost faith in DPS and its leadership team’s ability to curb the spread of COVID-19 in our prison system. From the beginning, Director Espinda and the department were slow to implement proper safety protocols, such as testing for inmates and staff. Serious issues such as lack of personal protective equipment and unsafe conditions for uninfected inmates were never appropriately addressed by Director Espinda. This lack of leadership and inability to guide the department through this pandemic has put us in the difficult situation that we find ourselves in today. As chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, I welcome the opportunity to work with Governor Ige in finding someone who has the qualifications and leadership ability to guide the Department of Public Safety moving forward.”

Senator Rosalyn Baker, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health released the following statement regarding the retirement of Department of Health (DOH) Director Bruce Anderson: “I want to thank Dr. Anderson for his many years of service in State government. Had the Legislature been in session, my committee would have held oversight hearings on the Department’s budget, contemplated cuts in services and lack of leadership exhibited during this COVID-19 crisis. The Department of Health needs a leader that has the ability to effectively guide our critical public health initiatives going forward and I’m confident that the Governor made the right decision in choosing Dr. Libby Char to lead the department at this critical juncture as its interim director. Dr. Char understands the importance of collaboration, funding of essential services, and the necessity to maintain our critical healthcare infrastructure throughout the entire state. She also has the experience needed to help hospitals, care facilities and community health centers work together to carry out the State’s COVID-19 response efforts. I look forward to working with her in the months ahead as we endeavor to address health disparities and curb the spread of COVID-19 in communities across Hawaiʻi.”

Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 calls for pre-testing pilot program for travel between neighbor island counties Members of the Hawai‘i State Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 sent a letter to Governor David Ige calling for neighbor island counties to serve as Pilot Program testing sites for exclusive travel between neighbor island counties (e.g. Maui-to-Kauai, Kauai-to-Big Island), with the possibility of including O‘ahu interstate travel once the surge in cases subsides. The letter states, “This Pilot Project is a proactive measure that could yield important outcomes for our state while also providing a process for critical interisland travel during the pandemic. As evidenced by the DOT [Hawai‘i Department of Transportation] Airport Quarantine process, these systems require time to initialize, pilot, and standardize so they can be scaled to peak capacity. The results yielded by the Pilot Program could provide valuable information that could be applied to an eventual trans-Pacific pre-test or bubble program, which would be a critical element to successfully reopening Hawaii’s economy.” The letter, sent September 3, requests a response from the Governor by today at 4 p.m. At a June 18 special committee briefing, the Hawai‘i Department of Health outlined steps that would need to be taken by travelers seeing an exemption to the 14-day quarantine, including: 1. Confirmation of a negative Nucleic Acid Amplification Test from a certified Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment lab no more than 72 hours in advance of travel; 2. Submission of electronic travel and health questionnaires; 3. A pre-departure symptom screening; 4. A post-arrival health screening; 5. Appropriate social distancing measures taken throughout the travel experience, including masks being worn; and 6. Download of an optional location tracing app. The members of the special committee are Senators Donovan Dela Cruz, Jarrett Keohokalole, Michelle Kidani, Donna Mercado Kim, Sharon Moriwaki, and Kurt Fevella.

Department of Health: Three Additional O‘ahu Deaths and 100 New Cases Three (3) O‘ahu men are the latest people to pass away from coronavirus. All three had underlying medical conditions. Two were in the 60 to 69-year-old age group and the third was in the 70 to 79-year-old age group. Their deaths increase Hawai‘i’s death toll to 91. The DOH is aware of six additional deaths associated with COVID-19 at the veterans home in Hilo. To confirm those deaths, the department is awaiting the medical records from the facility. Confirmation of all COVID-19 deaths is based on medical documentation. www.hawaiicovid19.com

John De Fries has accepted the offer to become the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s new president and CEO. The HTA Board of Directors unanimously agreed during the August 27 board meeting to make an offer to De Fries. He will start on September 16. “Hawaii’s pathway to economic recovery and enhanced community well-being will require unprecedented levels of focus, collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and unified executive leadership throughout all sectors. I am grateful to have been chosen to lead the Hawaii Tourism Authority,” De Fries said. Born and raised in Waikiki, now living in Kona on Hawaii Island, De Fries was raised by family elders steeped in Hawaiian culture. He has more than 40 years of professional experience in the tourism and resort development industries. His recent visitor industry experience includes serving as executive director of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association. He is also president and principal advisor for Native Sun Business Group, a business consulting and project management firm focused on Hawaii’s hospitality and real estate development industries. De Fries previously led the Department of Research and Development for the County of Hawaii, a division responsible for stimulating economic growth in sectors including tourism, agriculture and renewable energy. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Hokulia, a luxury residential community on Hawaii Island. De Fries serves as an advisor and board member to many organizations in the community, including the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, the Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Memorial Committee, Bishop Museum, Hawaii Green Growth, Friends of the Future, the Keahole Center for Sustainability, and Kualoa Ranch. “Beset now by a global pandemic and economic collapse, Hawaii faces a myriad of daunting challenges – among them, the reopening of our tourism industry, at a time when immense and growing anxiety can be felt in our local communities. The radiance of hope, however, is found in the resilience and creativity of Hawaii’s leaders in both the public and private sectors – the aunties, uncles, parents, kupuna, youth, coaches, teachers, ministers, health care workers and essential workers who are diligently searching for solutions, for their communities,” De Fries said. In recent years, De Fries has been a part of rare gatherings in Hawaii that highlight opportunities for leadership in sustainable living, human rights, and embracing native intelligence. He has engaged with His Holiness the Dalai Lama; members of the Rapid Evaluation Team from Google X; Gro Harlem Brundtland, the first female prime minister of Norway; Hina Jilani, a renowned lawyer, pro-democracy campaigner, and a leading activist in Pakistan’s women’s movement; Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa; and New Zealand’s Sir Sidney Moko Mead, Ph.D., who created the country’s first department of Maori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. “All of us at HTA are looking forward to having John take the helm of Hawaii’s visitor industry. I was pleased to see that he has already become involved with working on ways that we can safely reopen tourism while keeping COVID-19 under control,” said HTA board chair Rick Fried. HTA received more than 300 applications for the position. Honolulu-based executive search and staffing firm Bishop & Company assisted with the process. A committee of six HTA board members and three community members reviewed the qualifications of the applicants before narrowing the list down to a group of nine finalists for interviews. The full HTA board interviewed the final two candidates on August 27 when the meeting went into executive session. De Fries is the first Native Hawaiian appointed as HTA’s president and CEO. Chris Tatum retired from his job as HTA president & CEO on August 31. Keith Regan, HTA’s chief administrative officer, is serving as interim president & CEO.