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HAWAII

Maui's Napili Plaza gets new owner

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. has found a buyer for its Napili Plaza, a 45,000-square-foot shopping center just south of the company's Kapalua Resort on Maui. The price and the name of the buyer were not disclosed, but the company said it expects to close the transaction by the end of July.

MLP said two weeks ago that its bigger shipping center, the Queen Kaahumanu Center in Kahului, is being sold, also to an unnamed buyer. That center, with 570,000 square feet of leasable space, is half owned by the state Employees' Retirement System.

MLP lost $5.7 million last year and a further $626,000 in the first quarter of this year.

New kamaaina fare on Island Air

CORRECTION Sunday, June 15, 2003 » Besides the new kamaaina fare of $75 for one-way inter-island travel, Island Air charges $82 seven days or more before travel, $88 for a three-day advance and $93 within three days. Incorrect fares were reported in a brief on Page C1 on Thursday. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Island Air has begun offering a limited number of seats to Hawaii residents at $75 each way on its flights between Honolulu, Lanai, Molokai and Kapalua, West Maui.

That is more than 9 percent lower than the unrestricted fare of $82.50 and 3 percent below the $77.50 three-day advance booking fare on Island Air. The airline also has a seven-day advance purchase fare of $72.50 and a Web-only fare of $73, but is marketing the kamaaina fare as a good deal for many local travelers.

Island Air, which flies 37-passenger Dash 8 turboprop planes, is part of Aloha AirGroup Inc., which also owns Aloha Airlines.

Builders talk military contracting

The Building Industry Association of Hawaii is holding a forum on Hawaii military housing privatization Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park.

The panel of speakers will include representatives from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy, as well as the Small Business Council, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the BIA. Attendees can learn about assistance available to partner with developers.

To register for the free event, call Nalani Blane at 857-4666, ext 210, or e-mail RTC@bia-hawaii.com.

MAINLAND

Freddie Mac faces criminal probe

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into possible misconduct at Freddie Mac, the home-mortgage giant whose accounting already was being probed by other U.S. authorities.

The diaries of David Glenn, the company's president who was fired on Monday, are drawing interest.

Yesterday's news of the criminal inquiry came two days after the government-sponsored company shook up its top leadership because of accounting problems, jolting the stock market and raising concern about a possible impact on the housing market.

"The U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia has initiated an investigation involving Freddie Mac," said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty. He declined further comment.

The McLean, Va.-based company said it was not aware of the investigation but would cooperate in all respects.

Northwest recalls 275 workers

Northwest Airlines Corp., the fourth- largest U.S. airline, is recalling about 275 airport workers as summer vacations in the United States increase travel demand.

The St. Paul, Minn.-based airline is bringing back 215 baggage handlers and 60 customer-service agents for at least through August, spokesman Bill Mellon said. Almost half of the employees are in Detroit, where the carrier has its largest base.

Carriers have been cutting jobs since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Northwest has eliminated more than 9,000 jobs since the end of 2000.