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State bond rating gets upgrades

Moody's Investor Service has upgraded the state's general obligation bond rating to "Aa2" from "Aa3" and Standard and Poor's has increased the state's rating outlook to positive from stable, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday.

Both agencies cited Hawaii's growing economy, increased tax collections and strong state financial management.

Hawaii's ratings are among the top 15 percent of state and local governments in the United States, the state said.

United Air mechanics OK contract

CHICAGO » With United Airlines' mechanics accepting a tentative contract agreement, the machinists union remains the lone holdout in granting the bankrupt carrier further concessions.

The airline and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association struck a deal yesterday on the five-year pact. United's pilots and flight attendants agreed earlier to five-year deals, although the flight attendants pact is in arbitration.

The mechanics' deal left the International Association of Machinists as the last of United's unions without at least a tentative agreement.

Negotiators for the machinists presented a new contract proposal yesterday to United and were awaiting a response, spokesman Joseph Tiberi said. The mechanics' agreement would not affect IAM's contract talks, he said.

Pulitzer shareholders to vote on buyout

ST. LOUIS » Pulitzer Inc. has asked its shareholders to convene next month in New York City to decide the company's planned $1.46 billion buyout by fellow publisher Lee Enterprises Inc.

St. Louis-based Pulitzer -- publisher of the the Garden Island on Kauai, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers -- announced the June 3 meeting at the New York Palace Hotel in a proxy filing late last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The buyout, announced Jan. 31 and also including Lee's assuming $306 million of Pulitzer debt, has been unanimously endorsed by the boards of both companies. Pulitzer said it hopes to close the sale by July.

The company said its board unanimously recommends that Pulitzer's shareholders vote in favor of the deal, having deemed it "advisable and fair to and in the best interests" of the company and its stockholders.

Japan's economy roars back to life

Japan's economy grew at a 5.3 percent annual pace in the first quarter, twice as fast as economists forecast, as rising wages prompted consumers to boost spending.

The world's second-largest economy accelerated from a revised 0.1 percent pace in the fourth quarter, a report by the Cabinet Office in Tokyo showed today. The median forecast of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for gross domestic product to expand 2.4 percent.

Consumer spending at retailers accounted for more than half of the expansion, helping sustain a recovery from last year's recession. .