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INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 219
34 PAGES
TROPICAL STORM HILDA FORMS AS
GUILLERMO PASSES BIG ISLAND
Tropical
Storm
Hilda
formed early Thursday far
east of Hawaii as a weakening
Guillermo passed north of the
Big Island.
Hilda, located about 1,495
miles east-southeast of Kailua-
Kona, was circulating 60 mph
winds and moving toward the
west at 14 mph, forecasters with
the National Hurricane Center
in Miami said. Tropical storm
force winds extended outward
up to 60 miles from the center
of the storm.
Steady strengthening is fore-
cast as the stormmoves through
an environment of low verti-
cal wind shear and warm sea
surface temperatures. Hilda, the
eighth named storm of the 2015
Eastern Pacific hurricane sea-
son, is expected to be upgraded
to a hurricane Friday. It should
peak as a Category 1 stormpack-
ing 90 mph winds this weekend
before starting to weaken.
Meanwhile, Guillermo weak-
ened to a tropical depres-
sion as the former hurricane
passed north of the Big Island
Thursday. Located 140 miles
north of Kailua-Kona, the
disturbance was circulating
35 mph winds and tracking
toward the west at 9 mph as of
5 p.m., forecasters said.
Very strong vertical wind
shear and drier air are fore-
cast to continue to weak-
en the storm, which peaked
as a Category 2 hurricane last
week, to remnant low Friday.
The current forecast track for
Guillermo has the storm clip-
ping Oahu and passing over
Kauai and Niihau as a depres-
sion on Friday.
Guillermo has a near zero
chance of redevelopment as
The United Public Workers union rep-
resenting Hawaii health care workers is
suing to block the privatization of the
state’s hospitals.
An injunction filed in federal court in
Honolulu on Thursday seeks to bar the
state from implementing House Bill 1075.
The legislation approved this past session
allowed Maui’s three state-run hospitals
to begin the privatization process and
paves the way for facilities like Kona
Community Hospital to pursue the same
avenue.
KCH administrators facing a $6 mil-
lion shortfall have eliminated 34 posi-
tions, and plan to close the skilled nurs-
ing unit next month. Administrators and
board members at KCH have expressed
keen interest in seeking a public-private
partnership with an entity such as The
Queen’s Medical Center for financial and
logistical support.
The union is pushing back against pub-
lic-private partnerships as the answer
to recurrent budget shortfalls. The suit
alleges the provisions of H.B. 1075 violate
a clause in the contract between UPW
and the state which prevents the state
from abrogating its contracts.
“Privatization of our state hospitals
would have a profound effect on the com-
munities they were originally intended
to serve,” said Dayton Nakanelua, UPW
state director, in a statement.
“We already see how layoffs at several of
our hospitals are not only affecting those
who work there but also patients and
their families, as well as diminishing our
ability to care for an aging population,”
Nakanelua said. “We have to keep in mind
that health care is about people, and peo-
ple should be the number one priority.”
State Sen. Josh Green, an emergency
room physician who until recently chaired
the Senate Health Committee, has been a
key supporter of privatization, saying the
old health care model is no longer able
to sustain the public hospital safety net.
Thursday, Green said he was committed
to making sure the health care safety net
survives.
“That will take compromise and sacri-
fice from everyone,” he said.
Green said he feels strongly that an
emergency appropriation would help the
period of transition from public to private
operation of the hospitals. The statewide
Hawaii Health Systems Corporation faces
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
BY BRET YAGER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
A group of property own-
ers who want Kohala to be the
island’s bread basket, not its
medicine cabinet, have started
a petition drive to keep medi-
cal marijuana farms out of their
neighborhood.
“The new marijuana law just
passed last month does not pro-
vide for the protection of our
community. We want to make
sure that our North Kohala
community is protected from
the 6,000 plants each licensee
is allowed to grow,” said Lani
Eugenio.
The opponents plan to attend
the Action Committee meeting
of the North Kohala Community
Development Plan onMonday to
Kohala
group
opposes
pot farms
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
SEE
TROPICAL
PAGE 4A
SEE
HOSPITAL
PAGE 4A
SEE
MARIJUANA
PAGE 4A
UNION
SUES
TO PREVENT HOSPITAL PRIVATIZATION
Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua.
LAURA SHIMABUKU/
WEST HAWAII TODAY
This GOES-West
infrared shows a
newborn Tropical
Storm Hilda on
Thursday.
NASA/
NOAA GOES PROJECT
This GOES-West
infrared image of Guillermo early
Thursday as a westerly wind shear
continued pushing clouds and
showers northeast of the center.
NASA/
NOAA GOES PROJECT
Get more hurricane-related content,
including preparation tips, evacuation
info and daily tropical weather updates,
on our hurricane season page, sponsored
by Clark Realty, at
.
com/hurricane-season-2015.
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westhawaiitoday.com
HILDA FORECAST TO REACH HURRICANE STRENGTH FRIDAY
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 7, 2015
WESTHAWAIITODAY.
COM
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