IN HAWAII

Drive-thru check-in restored at Hawaiian

Hawaiian Airlines has reopened its drive-through check-in service for passengers leaving Honolulu Airport on its interisland flights. The service was closed because of a reduced flight schedule and a staff reduction after the Sept. 11 mainland hijackings hurt tourism.

Hawaiian said it has recalled workers furloughed after Sept. 11 and has now filled not only the 400-plus positions vacated then but more than 200 additional posts to cope with its new flights to the mainland. The drive-through check-in is on the ground level outside the mauka end of the interisland terminal.

Hawaiian has also resumed curbside check-in for passengers on its mainland and interisland flights, at a booth on the second floor of the interisland terminal.

Cave crawers need state's permission

Commercial tour operators who want to take visitors through Hawaii's caves have until Aug. 27 to notify the state of their activities, or they can face a $10,000 fine under a new law, said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The law defines commercial entry as "an activity undertaken to exhibit a cave for which compensation is received by any person for goods or services, or both, rendered to customers or participants in that use or activity." Nonprofit organizations are exempt, provided that they show the DLNR that their fees are strictly meant to cover expenses and that their tours do not lead to degradation of caves.

ON THE MAINLAND

Fannie, Freddie agree to disclosure

Washington >> Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest buyers of mortgages in the United States, agreed yesterday to register their securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission and meet disclosure requirements that apply to other publicly traded companies.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill praised the "self-initiated compliance" by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The two companies have come under fire from critics who say the shareholder-owned companies have hidden risks in their mortgage portfolios that may hurt the U.S. housing market in times of a slowing economy or wide swings in interest rates. The companies say that isn't true.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from lenders and package them as securities to hold in their own portfolios or sell to investors. Congress exempted them from SEC filing rules when it chartered them to promote home financing.

PayPal gets subpoena for online gambling

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. >> Online payment provider PayPal Inc. said the New York state attorney general's office has issued a subpoena seeking information about the company's involvement in Internet gambling.

Mountain View-based PayPal received the subpoena earlier this week and plans to "cooperate fully" with the request, company spokesman Vince Sollito said yesterday. A spokes-woman for New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer declined to comment.

Spitzer has been scrutinizing the online gambling market industry, which is expected to hit $4 billion in revenue this year.

PayPal has been collecting fees for sending bets through its e-mail service.