Question: People are always saying you have to work two jobs to make it in Hawaii, but I don’t know anyone who works two jobs. How many people really do?
Answer: Six percent of Hawaii’s total labor force juggled more than one job in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That works out to about 37,140 people.
Workers in South Dakota (8.7 percent) were most likely to hold two or more jobs, followed by Vermont (8.5 percent) and Nebraska (8.4); six other states posted 2014 rates above 7 percent. Florida had the lowest multiple-job-holding rate, as the bureau puts it, at 3.3 percent. Five other states were below 4 percent. The national average was 4.9 percent.
Multiple jobholders are defined as those who report that they are wage or salary workers who hold two or more jobs; self-employed workers who also hold a wage or salary job; or unpaid family workers who also hold a wage or salary job.
Moonlighting has been on the decline in the United States over the past two decades, and Hawaii has posted the second-largest drop. Hawaii’s multiple-job-holding rate fell 3.4 percentage points from 1996 to 2014, second only to Arkansas, which fell 3.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, an indicator of whether there are second jobs for the taking, declined to 3.5 percent in August, the lowest joblessness level in years. The national unemployment rate was 5.1 percent.
Q: Why are the East Oahu Kalanianaole Highway street drains blocked by bags intended to minimize storm drain infiltration by the highway resurfacing? We are going to get flooded!
Q: There are a lot of sandbags and screens installed in the storm drains on Kalanianaole Highway between Aina Haina and Hawaii Kai. During heavy rain portions of the highway flood. … The huge splash from vehicles speeding through the flooded area will splash on following vehicles, making it difficult to see. These need to be removed before a major accident happens.
A: Your questions are representative of several Kokua Line has received on this topic recently. We contacted the state Department of Transportation ahead of last weekend’s downpour and heard back this week. DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said that the storm drains were cleared before the recent heavy rain in the area. He also explained why the obstructions are there and who monitors and moves them as necessary:
Q: Why are some storm drains along Kalanianaole Highway obstructed by sandbags and screens?
A: In an effort to protect the environment, best management practices are used, which are environmental-protection measures taken before a project starts to ensure that construction-related runoff does not enter roadside storm drain systems. For the project on Kalanianaole Highway, a variety of debris barriers, including sandbags, netting and black tubing, collectively referred to as BMPs, are used to block the drains so no construction debris or silt runoff enters the state waters.
Q: Who placed these obstructions?
A: Contractors under the authority of the state use the BMPs as regulated by federal guidelines.
Q: When will they be removed (and who will remove them)?
A: The BMPs are there to help protect the environment. However, prior to heavy rain events BMPs may be removed by the contractor in areas where flooding may occur, as they were in this case. HDOT inspectors also checked the work sites in the eastbound and westbound directions to ensure the BMPs were removed.
Q: So, the sandbags and screens that were put up on the curbs (in other words, removed from the storm drains) were moved by the contractors (not by worried residents, as some callers had speculated)?
A: The contractor opened the drains and moved the BMPs so water was able to flow. … The drains were opened from West Hind Drive to Hanauma Bay eastbound and westbound prior to the storm. BMPs may be left in the general area, but the drain is open for water to flow. The inlet protection devices were put back into place between East Hind Drive and East Halemaumau Street before construction resumed Monday morning.
