Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, March 11, 1999
HTA considers event sponsorships
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has received dozens of proposals for sports and cultural events requesting a total of between $20 million and $30 million in sponsorship.The request for proposals went out in late February as part of the HTA's consideration of how best to spend its budget of about $60 million a year. HTA board member Mark Rolfing, head of the events committee, told the board yesterday that his committee has begun sifting through the proposals, which came in response to a newspaper advertisement. "The lobbying already is intense," he said.
Rolfing said the requests run from the $5,000-$10,000 bracket all the way up to $3 million sought by Aloha Racing Foundation, the group putting together Hawaii's entry in the Americas Cup yacht racing challenge to be held in New Zealand later this year.
Mortgage rates rise to 10-month high
WASHINGTON -- The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.11 percent this week, the highest level in 10 months, mortgage company Freddie Mac said today. The average, up from 7.06 percent last week, was the highest since mid-May and marked a significantly higher level than the 6.74 percent average at the end of January.The average reached a 31-year low of 6.49 percent in early October as worried world investors poured money into U.S. financial markets.
Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 6.75 percent this week, also the highest since mid-May and up from 6.70 percent last week. One year averaged an initial rate of 5.88 percent, up from 5.74 percent last week and the highest in nearly two years.
In other news . . .
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Sears Roebuck & Co. plans to buy back up to $1.5 billion of its stock. The buyback, which will take place over an unspecified time, represents about 9 percent of Sears stock outstanding, the company said yesterday.
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