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HOGAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
GIVES CHAMINADE HONORS

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Ed Hogan, co-founder and chairman of Pleasant Holidays and co-chairman of the Hogan Family Foundation, congratulated junior Erin Smith, winner of the Hogan Entrepreneurial Aloha Spirit Award during the first graduating class of Hogan Entrepreneurs at Chaminade University. Hogan's wife, Lynn, is on the right. Other awards were given yesterday to Christophe Alziar (Leadership Award), Angela Arevalo (Outstanding Junior), Vu Duong (Outstanding Hogan Entrepreneur), Mathew Harrell (Aloha Spirit), Jessica Hisatake (Outstanding Senior) and Sean Rostron (Leadership). The foundation also said it is donating an additional $100,000 a year to the entrepreneur program at Chaminade, bringing the total to $250,000.

Hospital mum on strike plans

Wahiawa Hospital officials had no comment yesterday on plans to care for patients in the event of a strike by the facility's 65 registered nurses, which could begin Monday.

"We're not prepared to comment right now but should be releasing something soon," said Richard Aea, the hospital's manager of human resources.

Talks between representatives of the hospital and union negotiators broke off Wednesday night. A federal mediator shuttled between the two sides for more than 12 hours Wednesday in an attempt to get the two sides back to the bargaining table.

The nurses submitted their last revised proposal to management at 9:30 p.m. It was rejected by 10 p.m., according to the Hawaii Nurses Association. No new talks are scheduled.

Candy firm cuts workers' hours

Export sales of a Honolulu candy company have been hit so hard by effects of 9/11, the Iraq war and the outbreak of SARS that it has begun to cut hours of its employees.

Hawaiian King Candies said hours of 59 employees could be cut by more than 50 percent. Hawaiian King announced the cuts in a notice to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The situation at its Paiea Street plant will not improve for at least 60 days, the company said.

J. Marvin Fialco, president of Hawaiian King, declined to comment. In the state filing, he said the world events have hurt his company's sales in Asia and on the mainland. The company mentioned only work-hour cuts, not layoffs. Work hours may be increased if business improves, the filing said.

Hotel workers union rallies at Turtle Bay

More than 200 Local 5 union workers and supporters held a May Day rally yesterday at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu, saying the hotel had not made a reasonable offer to settle contract negotiations.

Local 5 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees, has 250 members working on an extended contract at Turtle Bay. Either side can cancel the contract with 48 hours' notice.

According to Local 5, outstanding issues are medical benefits and job security. The 470-room Turtle Bay is owned by Oaktree Capital Management LLC of Los Angeles and managed by Texas-based Benchmark Hospitality.

Unemployment hits 6% nationwide

WASHINGTON >> U.S. unemployment jumped to a four-month high of 6 percent in April and businesses cut jobs for a third straight month, the government said today.

The manufacturing sector was hit particularly hard, suffering its 33rd consecutive month of job losses. However, there was some good news for the sector in a separate report on March factory orders, and some analysts said activity could pick up.

The fall of 48,000 in payrolls was less steep than economists had feared.

In other news ...

>> Wal-Mart Stores Inc. today said it agreed to sell its grocery distribution unit to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for about $1.5 billion, passing off a slower-growing business that could thrive under new owners.

>> ChevronTexaco Corp. today said quarterly profit more than doubled to $1.92 billion as the second-largest U.S. oil company benefited from surging energy prices and improved profit margins from refining.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

New jobs

>> Javier Cano has been selected as The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua general manager. He has more than 23 years of hospitality industry experience, most recently as Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel general manager.

>> Al Linton has been named general manager of Kalu Glass Co. Inc. He was most recently general manager of Sorensen Pacific Broadcasting Inc. in Guam. Kalu Glass also announced its Fuller Glass Co. division has moved to a new site in Halawa Valley.

>> CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc. has named Adam "Aka" Wedemeyer as broker-in-charge and William J. Lally as vice president of its new Kona office in the Kona Marketplace. Wedemeyer was most recently an industrial sales and leasing agent at another real estate firm. Lally has more than 25 years experience in commercial real estate and was previously vice president for commercial real estate for CB Commercial Real Estate Services Group in Anaheim, Calif.

>> Summit Lending of Hawaii has hired Lydia Rodriguez and Russell R. Reis as retail loan officers. Both Rodriguez and Reis work with loan clients. Reis also is working on the start-up of Summit Lending's new call center. Rodriguez was formerly a mortgage solicitor with Hometown Financial Services. Reis was director of business development and call center manager at Premier Realty 2000.

>> Joslyn Fiddler has joined Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Co. as Hawaii military sales manager. She most recently worked for Verizon Wireless as a major account manager servicing government, military and corporate accounts.