---

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

---

BACK TO TOP
|

hawaiiNew directors bring healthy perspective

First Hawaiian Bank has three new heavy hitters on its 26-member board of directors, all with extensive experience in health care.

Robert P. Hiam, Faye Watanabe Kurren and Dee Jay Mailer were named to the board earlier this month, replacing J.W.A. "Doc" Buyers, David Haig and Fred Weyand.

» Hiam is president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state's largest health insurer.

» Kurren is president and chief executive of Hawaii Dental Service, the state's largest provider of dental benefits.

» Mailer is chief executive of Kamehameha Schools, which she joined last year after a 27-year career in health care, including serving as chief executive of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.

First Hawaiian Bank is a subsidiary of BancWest Corp., which in turn is owned by BNP Paribas of France.

'Who's Who' convention due here

Two organizations that publish "Who's Who" volumes for worldwide distribution are sponsoring a conference next month at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel that is expected to attract about 100 delegates from more than 25 countries.

Many of the delegates are featured in the reference volumes published by the American Biographical Institute, based in Raleigh, N.C., and the International Biographical Centre, based in Cambridge, England.

The delegates to the two groups' weeklong 31st International Congress on Science, Culture and the Arts will be greeted by Lt. Gov. James Aiona Jr. and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. They will then participate in seminars and informal discussions covering a wide range of topics, the purpose being to formulate "a global picture for a better society."

Last year the congress was held in Dublin, Ireland; in 2003 it was staged in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For more information, see each organization's Web site: www.abiworldwide.com and www.internationalbiographicalcentre.com.

AARP praises its tax volunteers

The AARP on Friday honored the 176 volunteers who helped almost 10,000 Hawaii taxpayers prepare their taxes this year for free.

Barbara Kim Stanton, AARP state director, said the volunteers, each of whom had to be trained and certified by the Internal Revenue Service, were honored at a ceremony at the John Burns Building at Keehi Lagoon.

Stanton said the number of taxpayers helped by the volunteers this year was 5 percent more for federal tax returns and 6 percent more for state tax returns, both compared with the previous year. She added that the taxpayers who were helped did not have to be AARP members.

The tax-aide volunteers worked at 46 sites statewide, with refunds for those assisted amounting to almost $4 million.

The tax-aide program is an affiliated charity of the AARP Foundation in partnership with the IRS and the state Department of Taxation. It serves low- to moderate-income taxpayers, with special attention to those age 60 and older.