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Family Practice Care
Specializing in Diabetic Care
ACCEPTING
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Sheareen Gedayloo
MD LLC
Family Practice
Physician
935-1193
1028 Kinoole St. Hilo, Suite 101
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Trans-Paci c celebration
Internet
Merrie Monarch Week
Enjoy Hula Shows
Food & Drinks
Live Demonstrations
Hawaiian Crafts
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CRAFT FAIR
Hilo Hawaiian Hotel • April 4th - April 7th, 2018 • 8:00am - 5:00pm
‘Where
do we
go from
here?’
BRING THE
WHOLE
FAMILY
HILO HAWAIIAN HOTEL
71 Ban yan Driv e • Hilo, Ha waii 96720
Big Isle History B4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Commentary A6
Issue No. 95
18 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A7
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Island Beat A8
Nation A3
Obituaries A2
Sports B1
State A3
Stocks A2
Surf Report A2
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
Nation’s lowest
unemployment rate
no paradise for Hawaii
By AUDREY McAVOY
and CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
Associated Press
HONOLULU — Are there downsides
to a low unemployment rate?
In Hawaii, which has the lowest jobless
rate in the United States at a minuscule
2.1 percent, the answer is yes.
Employers are frustrated
by their inability to
find workers. And unfilled
jobs might be slowing the
state’s economic growth.
A low unemployment
rate is certainly better than
a high one. And many
employers are responding
to the worker shortage
by offering higher pay.
Still, Hawaii’s experience
serves as a cautionary
tale for the nation as
a whole: Low unemployment
can mask underlying
HANABUSA
TIAN
problems. Nationwide, the jobless rate
is at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, and
economists forecast it could drop another
half-point by next year. That would
bring the rate to a half-century low.
Employers already complain
about their struggles to find qualified
employees. The number of open
$576K grant secured for Hele-On system
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
Hawaii County’s beleaguered
bus system is getting a little
boost from the federal government
thanks to a $576,000
grant announced Wednesday.
“This investment in public
transportation will improve people’s
commutes, reduce traffic
and costs to road maintenance,
and help shrink our
carbon footprint,”
said U.S. Sen.
Brian Schatz in a
statement announcing
the grant.
Schatz,
D-Hawaii, sits
on the Senate Appropriations
Committee. He said the money
is an award from the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
The money will
be used to buy six
small disabled-accessible
buses,
said Mayor Harry
Kim. He said
the award came
from a competitive
grant application, and
that he and Mass Transit
LAURA RUMINSKI/West Hawaii Today file photo
See GRANT Page A5 A Hele-On bus sits at Kmart in Kailua-Kona.
KIM SCHATZ
See NO PARADISE Page A4
Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Hula Halau ‘O Kamuela Iapana from Japan performs Wednesday night during the 2018 Merrie Monarch Ho‘ike at
Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo.
Ka Pa Hula O Ka Lei Lehua from Oahu performs during the Ho‘ike on
Wednesday night.
The Merrie Monarch Festival’s
Wednesday night Ho‘ike
featured a tribute to the
original crew of the Polynesian
Voyaging Society double-hulled canoe
Hokule‘a, which returned to Hilo
earlier this week for the first time
since leaving on a world tour in 2014.
Performances included Halau O
Kekuhi under the direction of co-kumu
hula Nalani Kanaka‘ole Zane and
Huihui Kanahele-Mossman and
Halau Na Kamalei O Lililehua under
the direction of Robert Cazimero.
The free event concluded later
than the Tribune-Herald’s print
deadline. For a full story, visit
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com.
The festival’s three-night hula
competition starts at 6 p.m. today
with 12 women vying for the
coveted title Miss Aloha Hula.
>>> For a schedule of Merrie Monarch
events, see page A4 of today’s edition.
Sakamoto play to be on UH-Hilo stage April 12-15
Find the story in today’s Island Beat, PAGE A8
/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com