Waimanalo dairy plans to shut down by year-end

Meadow Gold Dairies will close its Waimanalo dairy farm by Dec. 31, leaving 26 people out of work.

In a notice to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the company said 19 of the employees to be terminated are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and are subject to those provisions. Seven salaried employees will be offered severance.

As previously reported, the dairy, owed by Dallas-based Suiza Foods Corp., planned to transfer the Waimanalo operation to the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture. The college operates animal science and agricultural research programs on 128 acres adjacent to the dairy farm.

At the time, plans called for UH to acquire the state lease on 360 acres, which expires in 2014; existing facilities including cattle pens, barns and milking equipment; and some of Meadow Gold's 1,000-cow herd. The university would offset some of its operating costs by selling milk to Meadow Gold under the plan being negotiated earlier this month.

Isle-mainland mail service to improve, Post Office says

The U.S. Postal Service says Hawaii customers should see a marked improvement in service to the mainland with FedEx flying Express, Priority and first-class mail.

The company launched the air transport portion of its $7.2 billion contract with the Postal Service today. Under the old system, mail was flown with commercial airlines.

"We had a handful, a dozen places we could reach overnight. That will triple or quadruple," said Felice Broglio, a Postal Service spokeswoman in Honolulu. She said it is possible mail could even reach the East Coast overnight.

US Airways matches Northwest fare sale

NEW YORK >> US Airways Group, the sixth largest U.S. carrier, today said it would match a Northwest Airlines fare sale on parts of its network for coach-class travel through Dec. 19.

US Air said that it would match the sale on its domestic, San Juan and Canadian routes, but not on its transatlantic service. Tickets must be bought by Sept. 14 and require a 14-day advanced purchase. The airline also said customers buying tickets online will receive discounts of up to 5 percent.

Leisure travel usually begins to wane in the fall, after the busier summer season. But this year, almost all U.S. airlines are losing money as business travel in particular has slumped.

[TAKING NOTICE]

NEW JOBS

>> The Mauna Lani Resort has named Alexander Antonio operations manager at the Mauna Lani Spa. He will assist with daily operations at the facility, as well as train and supervise spa staff. Antonio, a 10-year veteran of the hospitality industry, joins Mauna Lani after serving as a front office agent at The Venetian in Las Vegas.

>> David Wei has joined the urology department at Straub Clinic and Hospital. Wei, who is board certified in urology, received his doctorate of medicine at the University of Southern California.

PROMOTIONS

>> Shawn Malia Kanaiaupuni has been named director of Policy Analysis & System Evaluation, the research arm of Kamehameha Schools. A 1983 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Kanaiaupuni was an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison prior to returning to Kamehameha as a demographer and research scientist. She is also on the University of Hawaii at Manoa faculty.