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Care home sold to Utah company

The Arkansas-based owners of Beverly Manor-Honolulu have notified the state Department of Labor that the 108-bed skilled nursing facility is being sold to Utah-based Heritage Management Inc.

Beverly Manor has 147 employees, according to its letter, and the new owner is expected to retain most if not all of them.

A corporate spokeswoman for parent Beverly Enterprises said she could not say when the sale would be completed or if Beverly Manor's sister facility, Hale Nani Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, was included in the transaction.

Earlier this month, Beverly Enterprises Hawaii Inc. was ordered to pay $1.2 million to settle allegations of overbilling for Medicaid services. An investigation by the state Medicaid Investigations Division found that between 1996 and 2003, workers at Hale Nani falsified records, had irregular prescription practices and engaged in kickback schemes for medication and pharmacy services.

SIDA taxi firm files for bankruptcy

SIDA of Hawaii Inc., which went out of business in May, four months after the end of its Honolulu Airport taxi contract, has filed for bankruptcy court protection.

The Chapter 7 filing, which means business has stopped and any remaining assets will be sold, leaves the state unlikely to be able to collect more than $700,000 in unpaid concession fees for the right to pick up fares at the airport. In its Chapter 7 filing, a company representative checked a box indicating "there will be no funds available for distribution to creditors."

At the time the company closed its office, the state Department of Transportation was claiming $734,000 in delinquent concession fees. The state has since sued for that amount plus interest. The SIDA filing indicates assets of less than $50,000 and debts of more than $1 million.

Local 5 hotel workers to rally

Hotel workers union Local 5 will hold a rally this afternoon outside the Imperial Hawaii Resort timeshare in Waikiki, where 58 union workers have been working without a contract since March.

Negotiations have stalled over issues including outsourcing of jobs, job-protection language and random drug testing, according to Local 5. Workers have not received a raise since 1999. Former Waikiki Councilman Duke Bainum is scheduled to take part in the rally.