New flights to link Kauai, Oregon
HONOLULU - Alaska Airlines will offer seasonal service between Portland, Ore., and Kauai.
The airline announced Thursday the four flights a week will start Nov. 5. The seasonal flights are in addition to flights Alaska offers between Portland International Airport and Honolulu, Maui and Kona.
Introductory fares starting from $199 each way must be purchased by Thursday.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority estimates the flights will provide $12.7 million in visitor spending and $1.4 million in tax revenue.
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Bus facility gets 1,000 solar panels
HONOLULU - Honolulu expects to save $83,000 in energy costs each year because it installed 1,000 solar panels at its Pearl City bus maintenance facility.
The city said Wednesday the solar panels will generate about 20 percent of the electricity the facility needs to operate.
The city also coated the building's roof with material that deflects heat and cuts the amount of air conditioning needed to cool its offices.
The 232-kilowatt system will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 53 typical Oahu homes.
Honolulu paid for the project with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
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Group offers to buy bankrupt hospital
HONOLULU - A San Francisco-based medical group and former executive of St. Francis Healthcare are offering to buy hospitals in Ewa Beach and Liliha that were shuttered after their owners went bankrupt.
Officials for Hampton Health Ltd. and former CEO Eugene Tiwanak of the St. Francis Healthcare Foundation said Wednesday they hand-delivered a letter of agreement on Tuesday with an offer, but declined to disclose the offer price.
Tiwanak and the group say they would expand services and programs at both hospitals, particularly at Hawaii Medical Center West in Ewa Beach.
The parent company of The Queen's Medical Center has already offered to buy the Ewa Beach hospital.
West Oahu has been without a hospital since Hawaii Medical Center West closed. Its closure has pressured other emergency rooms around the island.
