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Business/In Brief • Aug. 26, 2014

Summer doldrums? Not on Wall Street.The stock market notched another first Monday as the Standard & Poor's 500 index nudged briefly past the 2,000-point mark and closed with its second record high in a week.The move was the latest milestone in a five-year rally for U.S. stocks, which are enjoying a late-summer revival after dipping earlier this month on concerns about geopolitical tensions in Russia and the Middle East.Investors have put aside those concerns for now, focusing instead on the improving outlook for the U.S. economy, rising earnings and corporate deals.News on Monday ...

Despite differing opinions, the aloha spirit should prevail

A negative and pervasive wave is sweeping our community over differing opinions, and the way people are being treated is just wrong. In this country, we are all entitled to our own opinion, but people are being chastised for having different views from a vocal group in a way that shows a complete disrespect for the law of the land - the aloha spirit. What am I writing about? The actions and comments against people who are opposed to the anti-GMO and pesticide initiatives. We all understand passion for an issue and actively promoting one's views. However, it crosses the line when ...

Business/In Brief • Aug. 21, 2014

Honolulu inflation below national rateHONOLULU - Honolulu's consumer price index lags the national rate for the first time in 11 years, thanks to a decrease in apparel prices.Inflation rose 1.1 percent during the first half of 2014 compared with the same period last year, according to statistics released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national inflation rate was 1.7 percent in the same period. Last year, Honolulu inflation increased just 0.5 percent from the second half of 2013.Clothing was the main driver for the low inflation after the sector dropped 5.9 percent ...

Insurer pulls plans from Hawaii Health Connector

HONOLULU - Hawaii's largest health insurer is pulling out of the small-business side of the state's troubled health exchange, leaving the Hawaii Health Connector with only one insurance company for employers to select.Michael Gold, president of Hawaii Medical Services Association, told The Associated Press that his staff is spending too much time and money dealing with the Connector's technical problems."It's an ongoing expense that everyone in the state is going to have to bear, and almost everyone in the state agrees it is not the best model for Hawaii," Gold said in an interview.The ...

Rail station bids exceed projected budget

HONOLULU (AP) - Bids that came in for construction of the first nine stations of a Honolulu rail transit system indicate the project's cost may far exceed estimates.Each of the three bids exceeded the estimate by at least $100 million. The least expensive, a $294.5 million proposal from Nan Inc., was still 60 percent more that the budgeted amount, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported."Clearly our estimates right now are suspect," said Don Horner, vice chairman of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.Legal challenges stopped construction for more than a year. Construction ...