Hawaiian-Aloha merger officially declared dead

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. today formalized its rejection of a merger with Aloha Airlines, notifying Greg Brenneman's TurnWorks Inc. and Aloha that the deal is officially off since the April deadline to conclude a merger was not met.

Hawaiian had effectively ended the discussions earlier, with its March 16 announcement that it would not extend the deadline.

American Classic may sell remaining two ships

An operator of river cruises in Europe said today it intends to make a bid for the New Orleans-based riverboat assets of the bankrupt American Classic Voyages Inc. The company, called Uniworld, said it hopes to buy the two riverboats that were operated by the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. -- the Mississippi Queen and the Delta Queen -- as well as Delta Queen Steamboat trademarks and other assets.

Los Angeles-headquartered Uniworld operates 15 ships in Europe under the name Global River Cruises. It did not disclose the amount it will offer. Securities & Exchange Commission documents show that American Classic earlier had a tentative agreement to sell the Delta Queen assets to another buyer for $3.75 million.

American Classic Voyages went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, putting an end to the company's $1 billion plan to build two new liners for Hawaiian waters.

It subsequently lost its Hawaii vessels, the SS Independence and ms Patriot, in what amounted to foreclosures.

Grant to fund Big Island health care analysis

The state Health Planning and Development Agency has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the HMSA Foundation to study the transportation needs of Hawaii County residents who require behavioral health services.

Agency administrator Marilyn Matsunaga said critical needs identified by Big Island community members included access to adequate transportation, particularly for those seeking mental health and substance abuse treatment.

"Access to health care services is sometimes as basic as the availability of transportation," Matsunaga said.

"With this grant, we can now analyze transportation issues on the Big Island and move forward to find some solutions."

Matsunaga said the study will examine the needs of Hawaii residents who require behavioral health services and provide recommendations for improving access.

The study will begin next month and will likely take about a year to complete, she said.

Hewlett shareholders narrowly OK merger

SAN FRANCISCO >> Hewlett-Packard Co. shareholders appear to have narrowly approved the company's bitterly contested $20 billion acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp., an independent proxy certifying firm said yesterday, though the result still is not final.

After spending more than three weeks going over the proxies, IVS Associates of Newark, Del., told HP its preliminary count showed that 837.9 million shares, or 51.4 percent of those cast, were voted in favor of the Compaq deal, with 792.6 million, or 48.6 percent, against it.

That supports HP Chief Carly Fiorina's claim immediately after the March 19 vote that shareholders had approved the deal by a "slim but sufficient margin."