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Costco won't confirm store to open in Iwilei
Costco Wholesale Corp.'s senior vice president for real estate today said no deal has been concluded for a fourth store in Honolulu.Joel Benoliel declined to comment on reports that the Issaqua, Wash.-based company is considering a facility at Dole Cannery in Iwilei.
He said the company is working on about 250 potential locations throughout the United States and foreign countries, "some of which may open sometime in the next three or four years, and some of which may never open because real estate transactions by nature are uncertain until concluded.
"This has nothing to do with Iwilei as a specific situation," he said. "We don't rule anything out. We look at hundreds of sites every year."
Costco opened a new, 150,000-square-foot store last month in Waipio Gentry. Its Hawaii Kai store has about 110,000 square feet. The current prototype of Costco stores across the country is 148,000 square feet.
Duncan MacNaughton, who owns the 137,000-square-foot leasehold property occupied by Costco in Salt Lake, said a number of years remain on the lease.
Postal workers to get COLA compensation
A check will soon be in the mail for about 3,000 past and present employees of the U.S. Postal Service's Honolulu District. They will share a $232.5 million payment awarded to federal and postal employees in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands."It's an unexpected surprise to all of us," Edward Broglio, district manager, said today.
A federal court has approved the payment in a settlement of a lawsuit complaining that the workers' cost-of-living
allowances were too low.
Broglio said the retroactive COLA payments "can be sizable for some individuals because it's a certain percent of salaries." However, he said the payments have been at the right level for employees -- 25 percent of their salaries -- for the past two years.
According to the settlement, government workers employed in affected areas after Oct. 1, 1990, will receive the back pay.
Tomorrow
Some events of interestTOMORROW
9 a.m.-5 p.m., JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina: Third annual E Malama I Ke Kai Family Ocean Festival. Free. For information, call 679-0079 or 536-7999.
MONDAY
Chinatown town vision meeting, Mayor's Conference Room, third floor. Call Salvatore Lanzilotti at 831-4351 for information.
Correction
A quote in Friday's sports section from Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, omitted a word. Amemiya said, "If we do decide to impose mandatory random drug testing, it would not surprise me if we faced legal challenges.''
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Anti-pot efforts yield 'ice,' $10,000, 6 arrests
KAILUA-KONA -- Police seized 1,825 marijuana plants and raided a house with plants in eradication operations in Kona and Kau from Monday through Wednesday.The house, at Keokea, South Kona, was spotted during a reconnaissance flight, police said.
In addition to 82 plants at the house, police found 76.7 grams of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," and associated paraphernalia.
Police seized $10,000 in cash, a 410-gauge shotgun, and a Toyota sedan.
Four men and two women were arrested.
Family friend arrested in sex assault on girl
Police have arrested a 30-year-old man who is accused of sexually assaulting his friend's 14-year-old niece early this morning.The girl had been spending the night at her uncle's house on Makakilo Drive when she woke at about 3 a.m. to find a family friend having intercourse with her, police said. The girl told her cousin and they notified the police.
Police said the suspect is facing a first-degree sexual assault charge.
