HAWAII

American Savings supports North Shore

Parents and Children Together, a Honolulu-based private nonprofit family-service agency, said its Economic Development Center has received a $25,000 grant from American Savings Bank to promote economic development on the North Shore.

EDC, which has been helping economic development efforts on the North Shore since 1996, plans to use the money for two purposes. It plans to help individuals involved in the "Savings for Start-Ups" initiative start at least five new businesses by providing technical assistance and support during their business operation. EDC also will open at least five Individual Development Accounts, or IDAs, which are special matched savings accounts that reward monthly savings of low-income families who are saving toward productive assets such as post-secondary education, first-home ownership, or business capitalization.

MAINLAND

Shipping lines balk at giving feds documents

SAN FRANCISCO >> Shipping companies embroiled in a labor dispute with longshoremen again delayed filing today of documents promised to the Department of Justice as proof of a dockworker slowdown at West Coast ports.

The records are key because prosecutors will review them and decide whether to go after the longshoremen's union based on a federal court order that reopened the ports last week after a 10-day lockout.

Officials with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union pounced on the apparent delay as evidence the association was scrounging for a case.

But a spokesman with the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and port terminal operators, dismissed that suggestion. Association lawyers were reviewing the document, a narrative sprinkled with data that asserts work productivity is off up to 30 percent in some ports, and would either e-mail it tonight or Monday.

Honda halts work at four U.S. plants

MARYSVILLE, Ohio >> Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. temporarily halted production Friday at four Ohio plants to allow parts to build up in the automaker's supply line, disrupted because of the labor dispute at West Coast ports.

The move affected nearly 12,000 workers.

Honda halted production at its Marysville auto and motorcycle plants, its East Liberty car plant and its Anna engine plant because of a lack of parts caused by the dispute. Production at the engine plant will resume Monday, and production at the other three plants will start Tuesday.

Honda also plans to suspend production Monday at its auto plant in Alliston, Ontario, and resume it on Tuesday. About 4,200 workers are employed at the plant, which makes the Civic, Acura EL, Odyssey minivan, and Pilot and Acura MDX sport utility vehicles.

Prudential, Wachovia may form joint venture

Newark, N.J. >> Prudential Financial Inc., whose brokerage unit has lost money since the end of 2000, and Wachovia Corp. are considering merging their brokerage units, people familiar with the talks said.

A joint venture of the second-largest U.S. insurer and Wachovia, the nation's fourth-biggest bank, would have 13,600 brokers, almost the same as Merrill Lynch, the No. 1 brokerage force in the United States, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Prudential Chief Executive Officer Arthur Ryan said last year he would fix or sell the securities business within the next two years.

Prudential spokesman Robert DeFillippo declined to comment. Betsy Weinberger, a spokeswoman for Wachovia, said the bank doesn't comment on rumors.