Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, May 22, 1998
State plans Ewa ferry demonstration project
The state Department of Transportation is looking for operators to do a ferry demonstration project from Leeward Oahu to Honolulu, using $4 million in federal funds.A request for proposals will go out the first half of June, said Julia Tsumoto, head of the department's transportation planning office. Exact routes are yet to be determined.
She said the demonstration would be for three weeks or a month, possibly in October. The state wants a vessel to carry 100 to 150 passengers, she said.
The demonstration would test commuter routes, a possible shuttle service and potential for commercial voyages during off-peak times.
Mortgage rates decline to 7.1%, a six-week low
WASHINGTON -- The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 7.10 percent this week, a six-week low, Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, said yesterday. The decrease was from 7.19 percent last week.Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, fell from 6.82 percent to 6.75 percent, also a six-week low.
On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the average initial rate was 5.70 percent, down from 5.71 percent the previous week. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.
Moody's lowers credit rating for Japan Air
TOKYO -- Japan Airlines Co.'s long-term debt rating was cut to one notch above "junk" by Moody's Investors Service Inc.Moody's cited the airline's high costs and tough competition in cutting its credit-rating to Baa3 from Baa2, just a step away from what the credit-rating company considers below investment grade. Moody's also cited the airline's long-term debt of $3.97 billion. Japan's largest airline averaged a debt-to-equity ratio of more than three to one for the four years through last year.
Such cuts typically make it harder and more expensive for a company to borrow.
Standard and Poor's Corp., another credit-rating company, lowered JAL's long-term credit rating to "junk" April 30, citing the airline's shrinking market share.
Zenith proposal makes current stock worthless
SEOUL -- Zenith Electronics Corp. proposed a bankruptcy reorganization that would make its present shares worthless and its majority shareholder, South Korea's LG Electronics Inc., sole owner of the struggling U.S. television maker.The plan calls for LG to convert about $200 million of debt owed it by Zenith into all the common stock of the restructured company. Zenith said other creditors, as well as vendors and employees, would continue to be paid. Present shareholders would get nothing. LG Electronics, which owns a 15.5 percent stake of Zenith, and affiliate LG Semicon Co., which owns 38.6 percent, will take the biggest hits. The two companies may be faced with a charge of more than $350 million to write off their original investment.
Toys 'R' Us to sell products on Internet
PARAMUS -- Toys "R" Us Inc. said it will start selling on the Internet within the next two months, part of the world's largest toy retailer's push to revive lagging sales and profits.Toys "R" Us will initially sell about 1,000 products on its revamped web site, which currently displays just goods and information about the company. Its stores typically stock 8,000 to 9,000 products, said Debbie Kimball, marketing manager at Toys "R" Us.
As an added incentive for shoppers to shop online, Toys "R" Us may eventually add products that aren't available in its stores and deliver wrapped gifts.
Oregon labor leader to challenge Hoffa
WASHINGTON -- The director of the Teamsters warehouse division plans to enter the race for general president of the union, saying a current challenger to James P. Hoffa is going to withdraw from the race.Tom Leedham, an officer with Teamsters Local 206 in Oregon, said today that he will enter because he learned that Ken Hall, a labor leader who ran a successful strike last year against United Parcel Service, has decided not to run because of medical reasons.
Hall could not be immediately reached for comment , but an official at a Teamsters reform group that had backed his candidacy said it was "99 percent" certain that Hall would withdraw because of a serious eye condition.
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