Business Briefs Star-Bulletin staff and wire services

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HAWAII

Salvation Army closing Kalihi site

The Salvation Army will close its thrift store in Kalihi effective Sept. 15 due largely to declining income from sales of donated items as well as the rising costs of maintaining the property.

With its closure, plans are under way to expand the offerings of the larger thrift store located on Sumner Street on the corner of Nimitz Highway, which is only two miles away, according to Rafael Escalera, business administrator.

The Salvation Army will be conducting a major bargain sale on the weekend prior to its closure. All remaining merchandise at the Kalihi store will be discounted 75 percent on Sept. 12 and 13.

Pacific Health gets $10,000 grant

Pacific Health Ministry has received a grant of $10,000 from the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, the charitable arm of First Hawaiian Bank.

The grant will support Pacific Health Ministry's "Community Health Ministry Program" to provide free health screenings and emotional/spiritual support to low-income seniors.

Pacific Health Ministry is a spiritual/pastoral care agency that provides spiritual and health care assistance to seniors who are ill, homeless or isolated. Special attention is given to persons living in retirement and long-term care facilities. For more information, call www.pacifichealthministry.org.

Free municipal Wi-Fi offered

CB Richard Ellis has become the first commercial property management company to offer free Wi-Fi access in partnership with the City & County of Honolulu. Wi-Fi will be available in seven of its managed properties, including Harbor Court.

Honolulu is the only city in the nation offering this service free to users. Kokua Wireless, as a city partner, will provide all the software and hardware.

WORLD

NEWSPAPER CLOSES: The San Juan Star, Puerto Rico's Pulitzer Prize-winning English-language newspaper, closed Friday, the owner said, blaming the union for not agreeing to benefit cuts and layoffs to offset declining revenue. The Star, a daily that operated for nearly 50 years and once employed Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy as its managing editor, had 120 employees, including reporters and photographers.

Promotions / new hires

» Kahi Mohala Behavioral Health has named Midge Blandamer as director of nursing. Her previous jobs include serving as director of nursing services at North Alabama Regional Hospital and Bradford Health Services, director of clinical services at Coastal Harbor Treatment Center in Savannah, Ga. and vice president of patient care services at Mercy Hospital at Independence, Kan.

» Parsons Brinckerhoff Americas has promoted Randall Urasaki to vice president and operations manager for Hawaii and Guam. He replaces Tad Ono, who stepped down to focus on his role as principal in charge of the Honolulu Transit Project. Urasaki is a PB-certified senior project manager with 22 years of service in the company and is a licensed civil engineer.

» Governor Linda Lingle has named Joshua B.Y. Strickler as energy facilitator in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. He will assist the state in the advance of renewable energy projects, and work with federal, state and county agencies in streamlining the permitting process. His previous experience includes working as an attorney at Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, facility manager for Raytheon Services, station engineer at the Admundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica and a maintenance engineer for the U.S. Air Force.

» Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has named Catherine Bailey as director of product development. She was previously the sole proprietor of a health care consulting firm for two years that assisted Kaiser with the re-launch of its Added Choice program and served various positions at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle for 26 years. She also serves as board chair for Group Health Credit Union and board member of the FaithTrust Institute, both based in Seattle.