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Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, February 4, 2000
Hawaii tops nation for sales growth
Hawaii had the highest increase in retail sales in the nation last month, compared with January 1999, as measured by items paid for by check, according to TeleCheck Services Inc. The national check-authorization company said Hawaii sales were up 6.2 percent from the year-earlier level, higher than the national increase of 4.6 percent. The state with the next-highest increase was Illinois, where check purchases were up 5.9 percent, and the state with the smallest gain was New York, up 3 percent.
Concrete strike enters 2nd month
A strike at Island Ready-Mix Concrete entered its second month as union drivers continued to picket today at the company's Campbell Industrial Park headquarters. Police reported some harassment by picketers this morning as cement trucks rolled out of the company's base yard with newly hired drivers. Some 15 employees, members of Local 681 Cement Quarry Workers Ready Mix & Dump Truck Drivers, walked off their jobs Jan. 4 after contract negotiations broke down. Their contract expired in December. Union agent Renny Rego said the impasse is over wages and benefits.
Vodafone wins bid for Mannesmann
FRANKFURT, Germany -- The supervisory board of Mannesmann AG cleared the road for history's largest corporate takeover today, recommending shareholders approve the $180 billion merger with Britain's Vodafone AirTouch Plc. Shareholders have until Feb. 17 to decide whether to hand over their shares to Vodafone. Vodafone will have a controlling stake of 50.5 percent and Mannesmann will have 49.5 percent of a company poised to be an overwhelming powerhouse in global telecommunications with 42 million customers. With a market value of $350 billion, the combined company would be the world's fourth most valuable in terms of market capitalization, behind Microsoft, General Electric and Cisco Systems. It would control the No. 1 or No. 2 mobile phone market position in 11 European countries.