Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, February 13, 1997
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, February 13, 1997
WASHINGTON - Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.65 percent this week, the lowest in seven weeks, according to a national survey released today by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. 30-year mortgages
fall to 7.65 percentThe decline, from 7.74 percent the week before, put the rate at the lowest level since the week ended Dec. 26, when it was 7.64 percent.
On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.52 percent, up from 5.51 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.14 percent this week, down from 7.25 percent a week earlier and the lowest in nine weeks. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.
Wahiawa General Hospital will be moving to Mililani after the board of directors approved a plan to build a $30 million facility at Mililani Technology Park. Wahiawa's hospital
moving to MililaniThe Wahiawa hospital will remain open, and still will provide ambulance service and long-term care, board chairman Roger McCloskey said yesterday.
The unanimous approval for the new building given by the board on Tuesday is the "first step in a long process," McCloskey said.
Building a new hospital is preferred to shutting down the 41-year-old Wahiawa facility for renovations, McCloskey said.
The hospital now must apply to the state for permission to start the project. It's currently negotiating for 20 acres at the technology park.
Kauai's two cable television companies are being sold in a package deal that eventually will involve merging the two systems. Kauai's two cable
TV companies being soldG Force LLC, a North Carolina investment firm, offered $22 million for Kauai Cablevision and $18 million for Garden Island Cable. G Force president Gordon Gray said there still are issues to resolve within the purchase agreement.
But Richard Argus, general manager for Kauai Cablevision, said the sale is expected to close sometime in early March.
The sale is subject to approval by the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, which regulates the cable industry in Hawaii.
Garden Island Cable general manager Bill Harkins said that if the two systems are merged, the new owners expect to spend about $1.5 million to increase service to about 60 channels.
Harkins will manage the new company, which will be known as Garden Isle Telecommunications. The merger of the two Kauai companies would result in the third-largest cable company in the state.
NEW YORK - AT&T Corp. customers can have the same dime-a-minute rate that Sprint Corp. clients enjoy - and not just on nights and weekends. AT&T matches
Sprint rate - if you askThey just have to ask for it, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
One Rate, AT&T's offer of 15 cents a minute around the clock, was designed to compete with Sprint's dime rate for long-distance calls on nights and weekends.
But the new deal of 10 cents a call 24 hours a day has not been advertised and AT&T's customer service representatives aren't talking, the paper said.
"How did you find out about this? Who told you?" one representative asked a caller.
News of AT&T's latest deal may irk customers who find out they are paying more than they have to. But in the highly competitive long-distance price wars, AT&T is unapologetic, saying the best deals go to those who haggle best.
Sprint will likewise match AT&T's 15-cent around-the-clock rate if their customers demand it. MCI Communications Corp., however, says it won't haggle over its 12-cents-per-minute deal.
The AT&T dime-a-minute deal, called One Rate Plus, can be made even sweeter, the Journal reported, by pushing AT&T to waive a $4.95 a month fee for several months.
