---

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

---

BACK TO TOP
|

Hotelier Tatibouet wins brief reprieve

Bankrupt Honolulu hotelier Andre Tatibouet has gotten at least a temporary reprieve from an attempt by a creditor to replace Tatibouet with a trustee to oversee his bankruptcy estate.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris agreed yesterday to postpone until Oct. 3 a hearing on a request to replace Tatibouet, which was filed by ResortQuest Hawaii LLC, manager of Tatibouet's Coral Reef Hotel in Waikiki.

On the same date, the court will hold a hearing on Tatibouet's request to obtain $37.4 million of debtor-in-possession financing from Canyon Capital Realty Advisors LLC. Tatibouet has said the money would be used to pay back ResortQuest Hawaii and other secured creditors, which would make the motion for a trustee moot.

State taxes are up 8.5 percent

State tax revenues are running 8.5 percent ahead of the same period last fiscal year, but state Tax Director Kurt Kawafuchi said yesterday that it's too early to tell what sort of growth the state will see for the year.

The state saw growth of 16 percent during the last fiscal year. The state Council on Revenues, in its first projection for the fiscal year that began July 1, predicted growth of 6 percent through June 30, 2006, citing a slower visitor and construction market.

But monthly revenue figures can be volatile, and the new projection is based on just the first two months of the fiscal year, July and August, and could be premature, Kawafuchi said.

The state's total take for August was $398.3 million, according to the state Department of Taxation. So far, general fund revenues collected during July and August totaled $664.9 million, the department said.

General excise and use taxes, which account for the greatest single category of revenue collections for the state, were $238.8 million in August, and are up 10 percent for the year, when compared with the same period last year.

The transient accommodations tax, or hotel room tax, grew by 8.7 percent this year when compared with the same two months last year. The total hotel room tax collections for August was $21 million.

Sugar farmers get new lobbyist

Former U.S. House Agriculture Committee aide Claire Folbre has been hired as legislative director for the Hawaii Sugar Farmers, the Florida Sugar Cane League and the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers in Texas.

Folbre, hired in August, most recently advised the committee's chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, Virginia), on sugar policy.

Once dominated by the sugar industry, Hawaii has two remaining sugar growers, Alexander & Baldwin on Maui and Gay & Robinson on Kauai.

HVCB cited for 'excellence'

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has received a 2005 Award of Excellence from Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine. The award, which is voted on by meeting planners nationwide, recognized HVCB for providing excellent service to the corporate meetings and incentive industry.

2 big phone mergers moving ahead

WASHINGTON » The head of the Federal Communications Commission has asked agency staff to draft orders approving two big phone company mergers -- SBC Communications Inc. with AT&T, and Verizon Communications Inc. with MCI Inc.

Gas prices expected to ease demand

NEW YORK » Crude oil prices dropped yesterday, led by falling gasoline futures as Hurricane Katrina relief efforts gained momentum and traders expected the high cost of gas at the pump to hamper demand.

Light sweet crude for October delivery fell 74 cents to settle at $63.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $62.55 earlier in the day. Gasoline futures tumbled nearly 9 cents to settle at $1.8737 a gallon, while heating oil fell about 8 cents to settle at $1.8143 a gallon.

Brent crude for October delivery fell $1.04 to settle at $61.80 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

Former Westar execs found guilty of looting

KANSAS CITY, Kan. » A federal jury found two former Westar Energy Inc. executives guilty yesterday on charges that they looted the state's largest electric utility of millions of dollars.

Prosecutors claimed the two men, who were forced out of Westar in late 2002, engineered extravagant salaries and benefits for themselves at the expense of shareholders, hiding much of their actions from the company's board of directors and federal regulators. Former Chief Executive David Wittig was found guilty of 39 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, circumventing internal controls and money laundering.

Former Chief Strategy Officer Douglas Lake was found guilty of 30 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, circumventing internal controls and money laundering. Lake was acquitted of seven counts of money laundering, one count of circumventing internal controls and one count of wire fraud.

'