Bids close today to buy University Health Alliance

Bidders seeking financially strapped health insurer University Health Alliance have until the end of today to file a plan with the state Insurance Division.

Last month, state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Metcalf said his division would spend 30 days assessing whether the company could be rehabilitated or whether it would have to be liquidated. During that period, which ends today, Metcalf had said he would aggressively look for potential investors to save the company. Metcalf declined comment until after the deadline has passed.

UHA provides insurance for about 32,000 members. Earlier this month, the company was about $2.3 million short of the minimum level of financial reserves required by the state to do business. It entered into a supervisory arrangement with the Insurance Division in May. Since June, a court-appointed rehabilitator has been overseeing company operations.

Bankoh seeks $4.5 million for Kalihi office building

Bank of Hawaii is selling a three-story office building formerly known as Pioneer Plaza Kalihi.

The bank, which recently took over the property from the Marn family, is asking $4.5 million for the 54,145-square-foot, fee-simple building.

The property, at 2153 N. King St., has a vacancy rate of about 66 percent.

The bank has hired Sofos Commercial Brokerage Corp. as its agent.

Warner Bros. store closure to cost 41 jobs at Ala Moana

The planned closing of the Warner Bros. store at Ala Moana Center will result in the loss of 41 jobs. In a filing with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the retailer said the layoffs will take effect during a 14-day period starting Sept. 30. The layoffs will include sales associates, supervisors, stock clerks, cashiers and store managers.

Kea Lani Hotel gift store to close in October

Lamonts Gifts and Sundry Store at the Kea Lani Hotel on Maui will shut down Oct. 14.

The retailer said that seven positions will be eliminated as a result of the closing of the Wailea resort store.

Workers affected will be able to reapply positions at other stores owned by Lamonts.

Japan's spending sags amid record jobless rate

TOKYO >> Personal spending sagged in June while Japan's jobless rate was pinned at record highs, government data showed today, underscoring the extent of the economic problems facing reformist Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Spending by Japanese wage earners' households, a key gauge of personal consumption, fell a real 3.3 percent in June from a year earlier to &YEN304,318 ($2,442), the third straight month of decline, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said.

Japan's unemployment rate was at a record 4.9 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, unchanged from May, the ministry said.

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[Taking Notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Aston Hotels and Resorts Hawaii recently named Debbie Goo and Victoria Gallegos to positions within the company. Goo, who joined Aston in 1998, will serve as an operations analyst. Gallegos, a graduate of Heald College, was named accounting manager-marketing/ loyalty programs manager at the company. She has been with Aston since 1999.

RECOGNITION

>> Hospice Hawaii recently recognized the following individuals for their service to the organization: Linda Lewis, Bank of Hawaii; Emilie Smith, Care Resource Hawaii; Rose Ann Poyzer, Home Care and Hospice; and Cheryl Nishita, AIG Hawaii Insurance Co. Lewis and Smith are outgoing members of Hospice Hawaii's board of directors. Poyzer and Nishita were elected to the board in June. The four were honored at Hospice Hawaii's annual meeting last month.