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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, July 9, 1999

Straub laying off 40 employees

Straub Clinic & Hospital today began laying off 40 of its 1,800 employees, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed.

Some of the employees are associated with two satellite clinics, the Westridge Clinic in Aiea and the Manoa Clinic, to be closed early next month. Other affected employees are within "selected departments," according to spokeswoman Michelle Jerin Shirai. The layoffs are to occur over the next three months. Shirai said the staff reduction is part of ongoing efforts at Straub to offset dwindling Medicare reimbursements from the federal government.

Meanwhile, Straub and Queen's Medical Center have been in talks since April 19 over a possible merger or collaboration, Shirai confirmed.

Kennedy-Wilson sells Big Isle land

Real estate company Kennedy-Wilson Inc. has sold a 660-acre parcel on the Big Island to an Arizona-based investment and development firm for $4.6 million. The Kona land was purchased by Pacific Star Co. A partnership controlled by Kennedy-Wilson was the owner. Kennedy-Wilson obtained its original interest in the parcel by purchasing nonperforming notes from a Japan financial institution.

FCC grants license for undersea cable

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission granted a license to a group of companies led by AT&T Corp. to build an undersea fiber optic cable between the United States and Japan.

At the same time, the FCC said it will open a broad inquiry into the undersea cable business in the near future. Hamilton, Bermuda-based Global Crossing Ltd., which is also building an undersea cable, sought an investigation amid concerns that the AT&T group would stifle competition.

The FCC approved the license for the AT&T group -- which also includes MCI WorldCom Inc., British Telecom Plc, Sprint Corp., KDD Corp. and other companies -- after the companies addressed the agency's competitive concerns.

In other news . . .

LOS ANGELES -- Litton Industries Inc. said today it has withdrawn its bid to acquire Newport News Shipbuilding Inc., saying the deal was unlikely to receive government approval. Litton had offered $1.26 billion in stock for Newport News, but the Pentagon planned to tell the Justice Department to reject the bid.





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