Today marks the beginning of Digital Saturdays, the one day a week on which The Garden Island newspaper is now available exclusively online. Our last printed Saturday edition of TGI was May 2.
We are still printing TGI six days a week — Monday through Friday and Sunday.
On Saturdays, you’ll still get the same amount of news you’ve come to expect from TGI, it’ll just be available only in digital formats. We’re also rearranging Friday and Sunday papers to make sure you get your Saturday horoscopes, puzzles and answers to the Friday crossword.
We know that many of our subscribers value reading their news from a printed paper every day, and look forward to picking up that printed copy from their driveway or local corner store on Saturday mornings.
Some of our readers will be disappointed that they won’t be able to get that paper copy of TGI on Saturdays. The staff at TGI shares that disappointment, but it is a necessary, company-wide step we’ve taken to ensure we’ll be able to continue delivering community news to you daily. Our parent company O‘ahu Publications Inc., also publishes the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and both Hawai‘i Island daily newspapers. Company President Dennis Francis touched on the Saturday subject in an early April column in the Star Advertiser (bit.ly/2URDcGz), and I further detailed the switch to Digital Saturdays in an April 28 column in TGI (tinyurl.com/ybho6ocv).
For those of you reading this in the digital replica TGI version at thegardenisland.com, congratulations. You’ve figured out how to access the unlimited, digital, page-by-page print replica that is included with your subscription. Even on the six days when printed versions of The Garden Island are available on newsstands or through delivery to your door, you can access an exact replica online.
For those who are still figuring out how Digital Saturdays work, daily print replicas of The Garden Island newspaper are available online and can be accessed by your computer, phone, tablet — most devices that connect to the internet. Digital access is included in home-delivery subscription packages.
Online, you can flip through pages just like you would through the printed version, print out stories, ads or puzzles, and share stories through email or social media easily.
Check out frequently-asked questions about the print replicas and the new switch to Digital Saturdays at thegardenisland.com/digital-saturdays-faqs/.
The past two months have been a long haul, Kaua‘i, for all of us, starting even before the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on the island March 14.
The World Health Organization ended January 2020 by declaring the COVID-19 virus a “public-health emergency of international concern,” and we watched the world react from our protected little island in the middle of the Pacific.
Then, Mayor Derek Kawakami declared a state of emergency on March 4. Major gatherings were curbed March 16, a few days after the first two virus cases were confirmed on Kaua‘i, and on March 20, Kawakami’s 9 p.m. curfew went into effect. Then came the March 25 stay-at-home and work-from-home orders and policed checkpoints enforcing those orders.
The Garden Island newspaper furloughed some employees, cut hours, and made changes to the content of our paper, but managed to keep the front doors open in Lihu‘e (following social-distancing orders).
We were deemed an “essential business,” and, thankfully so, as the public’s right to free-flowing information should always be preserved. Media was one of the few industries exempt from the stay-at-home and work-from-home orders. In the span of just about two months, lives changed. Restaurateurs and retailers, small-business owners and local families have been out of work for long enough to significantly impact the bottom line. Some business owners have closed their doors for good.
Kaua‘i will be forever changed.
There have been no active cases of COVID-19 on Kaua‘i since April 28 (as of the publishing of this column). In total, the island has seen 21 confirmed cases of the virus, and all of those people have either recovered or returned home to the mainland. And, right now, things are starting to look brighter. Businesses are opening back up. The contraflow cones are back up along Kuhio Highway in the mornings. People are going back to work. Health officials warn of a possible second wave, and government officials warn the full-fledged stay-at-home orders and curfews could be reinstated, if necessary. But the activity level and the spirits of Kaua‘i citizens seem to have risen a bit.
But still, Kaua‘i will be forever changed.
As an island community and as part of humanity in general, we’re all peering into the future and wondering: “What’s next?” That’s a conversation in which every citizen should take part, and once which our smartest, most-informed residents should direct. We’re encouraged to see some of those people representing their specific sectors on the Kaua‘i Economic Recovery Strategy Teams working on reopening the island. And we’re looking forward to covering the reshaping of a post-COVID Kaua‘i.
When it comes to the changes at TGI, it could be temporary. Time will tell.
One thing we know for certain is we will continue to deliver community news to our readers daily.
Mahalo to all of our readers and we’ll see you online on Saturdays.
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Jessica Else, editor-in-chief, can be reached at 245-0457 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
LOL. I remember when the Garden Island only came out on Wednesdays. And there was barely enough news to fill that. And the “news” in the paper was already known by everyone. LOL.
Forgot the word “fake” community news to our readers. TGI is too obvious! You forgot, many of us precede your editions and by paying attention Fifty years, we know each and every one that have gamed the people, all day, every way TGI is one of THEM!
Aloha Jessica, 500 people a year die on kauai…obesity and tobacco/lung disease head the list…all avoidable, little if anything being done, at least there is no positive results if there is any effort. Of course, Heart and stroke disease and cancer are high up on the list.
Zero Covid19 deaths on Kauai, nice, but statistics dictate that it was not because of government crisis prevention. No credit due.
Hawaii had 17 Covid19 deaths out of 1,400,000 people…and the deaths were of sick old people, no surprise there. That’s 1 Covid19 death for every 82,000 people, while 27 people in Hawaii die every day…from preventable diseases and no one is doing anything about…why because an entire medical industry makes their lkiving off disease…which shows some people cannot live without disease while innocent naive people die from it.
Cancer produces nationwide 1.8 million new medical customers, most of which is avoidable until natural end of life.80’s 90’s, 100+
260,000 people walk, not ambulanced, into US hospitals each year and are dead in a day or a week…mystery? What’s done about that…apparently nothing, they been waiting for the new flu in town to blame everything on.
In Hawaii we had 17 Covidq9 deaths, that’s 1 Covid19 death per 82,000 people…and regular flu deaths were 1 out of every 2,200 people.
And 650,000 people worldwide die each year from the regular flu, and our visitors come from worldwide and we never shut down the nation much less the Kauai economy…we realize Mayor Kawakami is having his 1st Rodeo and no crisis training was provided hi…excpet we all know the Gov botched the fake missile crisis…I guess CoVid is just a fear and paranoia holdover from the missile imminent “attack”…and now make up for the fake mossile sattack and over react just to show the gov cares.
There needs to be a serious reconsideration of what is being done to ruin Hawaii and destroy the private businesss owners and employees tax paying abiilty, before the fear of the virus destroys the government employees lives as well, without our taxes paying their wages.
The Gov needs end all this FFF, fake fear factor,now,let the economy open and allow visitors to bring flu and virus (and $$$) in and let us develop our own immunity instead of some fake vaccine coming down the $$$ Corporate Profit Freeway…vaccine patented by whom, for corporate profit? Sold to billions of scared people worldwide, with more vaccine risk of side effects for the public, and no immunity from the Covid19, just limited immunity from the vaccine…so stupid…nobody needs immiunity from some manmade vaccine.
Look at world travelers thinking…Hawaii…?…Paradise…? You’re arrested for sitting on the Beach…? What a farce and hiccup for the Gov…obviously the Gov don’t surf…! ! !
Beside the vaccine waiting in the wings, is there also a certain pointed discrimination against those people and businesses predominant in the tourism industry…seems to be a certain class of people being targeted…is it a takeover being brewed…?
All factors and statistics point to only a minor flu for those but the few sick and elderly, after all 17 old sick dead people out of 1,400,000 people statewide is nothing to bring out the Nationa Guard. for…! ! !
The Giov did nothing but sit back and let people freak out on the “missile Attack”, nothing then…but now seems he is making up for that by overreacting worse, and single handedly by Proclamation shutting and destroying businesses, and families, even kids schooling…and what if this manmade disaster turns unnecessarily ugly about food and $$$…who gonna stop the speeding train wreck then? Won’t be the Gov, not Derek apparently…you can’t find the solution to this if you “Stay AT Home”, be sure to wash your hands, and wear your mask to bed…the broke joke on the working people of Hawaii is getting worse…all the Believers think the virus is the Boogie Man…when it’s just the flu, like the one you had the last time…just don’t be old and have multiple end of life diseases and taking multiple prescription drugs a day…that’s the boogie man, and always you are responsible for your own health since no one else cares, though they do care about your money making disease, that is coming ripe for the picking.
VACCINE, the call of the ignorant panicked…! .
Why did our Gov and Mayor go bonkers…Fear of the unknown since neither know the immune system and their medical advisors make a living on Diseases being successful in the population, not health it makes no money.
No Health Care advisors…just disease care advisors…no wonder so many are sick on Kauai. 25% are overweight and obese, and 50% of Hawaiians are overweight and/or Obese…which is assocaited with Heart and stroke disease, Cancer and Diabetes…and smoking an avoidable top killer for ling disease…they can shut down the economy for another brand name of flu, but the real killer diseases are ignored. Shame on the authorities.
Apparently; un-Natural food, highly processed, with tons of food added toxic chemicals, too may kinds of sugars for the weak, and snacks, sodas, candy, chips, fast food junk food, fake colors, fake flavors,fake aromas, fake food, Agriculture poison chemicals…it’s out of control, and the people sick and the medical industry making a killing on all the diseases.
And no one of all the medical geniuses can figure this out…?
One guy on Kauai, Derek, can shut down our economy, but can’t shut down epidemics of several diseases continually going on, on the island for decades…CoVid was never a threat…everyone who got it either had no symptoms,or mild, or bedrest, even nationwide …and the hospitalyzed on Kauai were the elderly and sick, so, good job Wilcox.
Since the only path to immunity is exposure then lock down only serves to leave the Kauai population “naked”, no immunity for the next wave of the virus…vaccines have never worked relying on lies for statistics. More deaths will be on the politicians’ hands, the medical world will never accept responsibility. It’s always the patients fault when they die…
All best to Editor Jessica.