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FAST FACTS HAWAII
HAWAII
Honolulu to host mayors' meeting
Mayors from throughout the United States and Japan will meet in Honolulu Sunday through Tuesday for the ninth Japan-United States Mayors Fellowship Exchange meeting.
The top two leaders of the U.S. Conference of Mayors will be participating: President Douglas Palmer, the mayor of Trenton, N.J.; and Tom Cochran, the executive director of the conference. The president of the Japan Association of City Mayors, Akita Mayor Norihisa Satake, and the secretary general of the association, Tatsuro Yoshiyama, will attend. They will be joined by 11 other U.S. and Japanese mayors.
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is hosting the event.
A key event will be a meeting of the tourism business roundtable, where panelists will discuss ways to stimulate more international tourism. Participants will be Hannemann; Palmer; Cochran; Chuck Merin, president of the Travel Business Roundtable; and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.
The group will offer perspectives on establishing a national policy on travel and tourism, federal legislative strategies, and tourism's role in the presidential election.
Tesoro to support Meals on Wheels
Tesoro Corp., which operates the largest oil refinery in Hawaii, said it will team up with 15 local Meals on Wheels programs, including in Honolulu, to donate 2 cents of every gallon of gas sold at its locations over a three-day period ending tomorrow.
The San Antonio-based company will team with the Meals on Wheels programs to help raise public awareness about the issue of senior hunger in America and to provide funding to those programs to better serve homebound seniors within their communities. Tesoro also is donating $2,500 in fuel cards to each of the 15 programs to be used by the programs and their volunteers to purchase gas needed to make deliveries.
Tesoro has pledged a minimum contribution of $100,000 to 15 local Meals on Wheels and senior nutrition programs throughout the three-day campaign.
NATION
Fed cuts discount rate by .5%
WASHINGTON » The Federal Reserve approved a half-percentage point cut in its discount rate on loans to banks yesterday, a dramatic move designed to stabilize financial markets roiled by a widening credit crisis.
The action sent stocks soaring, with the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 300 points right after the opening bell. The blue chip index finished the day up 233.30 points at 13,079.08.
The decision means that the discount rate, the interest rate the Fed charges to make direct loans to banks, will be lowered from 6.25 percent to 5.75 percent.
China forms panel to better safety
SHANGHAI » After a series of high-profile recalls this year, the Chinese government announced yesterday that it had formed a Cabinet-level committee to improve the quality and safety of the nation's food and other products, both for consumption at home and for export.
The State Council, the country's highest government body, offered few details about the committee, but said Vice Prime Minister Wu Yi had been appointed to head it.
The announcement, which had been expected, came on the same day that the government issued a white paper detailing what it said was an improving record in protecting China's food safety and quality.
BUSINESS PULSE