Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, April 1, 1998
Senate confirms Loui to state PUC board
The state Senate has confirmed the appointment of former Board of Land and Natural Resources Deputy Director Rae Loui to the three-member state Public Utilities Commission. The approval came over three "no" votes yesterday.Loui's appointment to the $70,000-a-year post was praised by Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee Co-Chairmen Wayne Metcalf (D, South Hilo-Puna) and David Ige, (D, Waimalu-Pearl City-Pacific Palisades), who held a hearing on the appointment. But she was criticized by West Oahu Sen. Brian Kanno (D, Ewa Beach-Makakilo-Waipahu).
Kanno criticized Loui's opposition to a Senate proposal to split the PUC into two -- one governing telecommunications and the second controlling all other public utilities.
United Air's parent warns on earnings
CHICAGO -- UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said revenue for the first quarter and full-year 1998 may fall below expectations as a result of reduced business in Asia.The Chicago-based airline asked employees in a phone message today to cut costs to save money and said that the carrier must come up with more ways to make up the lost revenue, Bloomberg News reported. Asia's problems have led to reduced demand for air travel. United's Asia passenger traffic fell 11.5 percent in January and February.
In other news . . .
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., already targeted by a federal fraud investigation, also is under scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is looking into whether the nation's largest hospital company violated federal securities law, Columbia disclosed yesterday in its annual report.