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Free tax services are available

Free tax services are being offered through April 15 by the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.

The society is offering the services out of its Honolulu office by appointment, and out of its community outreach sites on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Low-income residents and people for whom English is their second language are especially encouraged to apply for the help.

To schedule an appointment or for more information, call 527-8050.

Costco's profit rises but shares drop 3.6%

Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse-club retailer, said second-quarter profit rose 35 percent on a tax gain and lower health-care costs. The company's sales growth slowed and its shares fell 3.6 percent, the biggest drop in 19 months.

Net income climbed to $305.5 million, or 62 cents a share, from $226.8 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier in the period ended Feb. 13. Revenue, including membership fees, increased 9.6 percent compared with 14 percent a year earlier, the Issaquah, Wash.-based company said yesterday in a statement.

Sales were hurt after Costco opened fewer stores, and blizzards in the Northeast and flooding in California kept shoppers away. The company benefited from a $52.1 million tax gain and lower costs because Chief Executive Jim Sinegal, 69, increased employee contributions for health insurance.

Oil hits 4-month high on supply concerns

Crude futures climbed to a four-month high above $53 a barrel yesterday as traders bet that the world's petroleum supply would remain tight due to rising demand. They downplayed a U.S. government report that showed domestic supplies of oil and gasoline rising and pushed gasoline futures higher, too.

Oil prices are roughly 45 percent higher than a year ago, up sharply in recent weeks due to a combination of colder weather, the declining value of the dollar and fears that OPEC could rein in production to head off a seasonal drop in demand. Instability in Iraq and underlying fears about terrorism have also played a part in the rally.

Thieves hit ChoicePoint in 2002

ATLANTA » A newly revealed case shows that the vast commercial database of personal information at ChoicePoint Inc. was tapped by identity thieves in 2002 -- contradicting a statement by its CEO that a much more recent breach was the first of its kind.

A Nigerian-born brother and sister were charged in 2002 with a scam in which they posed as legitimate businesses to set up ChoicePoint accounts and gain access to its massive database. They then made 7,000 to 10,000 inquiries on names and Social Security numbers in the database and used some of those identities to commit at least $1 million worth of fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause in Los Angeles said yesterday.

Last week, after a similar case became public, ChoicePoint Chief Executive Derek Smith told the Associated Press in an interview that the company had never been victimized by that kind of criminal operation before. He did not mention the 2002 case.