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[ HAWAII INC. ]

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HAWAII

Isle builders win $250M Navy pacts

Two Hawaii construction firms have won contracts from the Navy that could be worth up to $250 million during the next five years.

Under the contracts, Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Inc. and Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc. will handle design and construction of pier, wharf and other waterfront facilities for the Navy, Marine Corps, and at various federal and other facilities in the state, according to a Defense Department news release.

The contracts are being awarded for a base period of one year followed by four additional one-year options. The maximum value per year is $50 million.

Napa, Calif.-based Nova Group Inc. has won a similar contract. The news release said the three firms may compete against each other for some of the work.

3 home-buying fairs scheduled

The first of three home-buying fairs kicks off Saturday with representatives of various housing-related organizations dispensing advice on navigating Hawaii's current seller's market.

Visitors to the fourth annual Community Homebuyer Fairs can receive advice on qualifying for a mortgage, different types of mortgage products, improving one's credit, finding a home, and other topics.

The first fair will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at Kapalama School. Subsequent fairs will be on June 26 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Filipino Community Center and July 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Windward Mall Center Stage.

Organized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the fairs are free and open to the public. Representatives of the Hawaii HomeOwnership Center, Honolulu Board of Realtors, Mortgage Bankers Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Credit Union League and other organizations will be present.

Visitors can gain pre-approval for a loan by bringing records of gross monthly income and expenses.

NATION

Yahoo ups e-mail storage capacity

Let the e-mail wars begin.

In an effort to beat back Google, Yahoo plans to dramatically increase the storage capacity of its e-mail today, allowing users to keep more messages without being forced to delete them.

Customers of Yahoo's free e-mail service will see their storage capacity jump to 100 megabytes, up from 4 or 6 megabytes. Users of Yahoo's premium service will get 2 gigabytes of storage, billed as the most in the industry.

The cost of the premium e-mail will be $20 annually. Subscribers to Yahoo's high-speed Internet service, offered in conjunction with SBC, will get the service at no extra cost.

Yahoo's e-mail enhancements come two months after Google unveiled a test of its free e-mail with 1 gigabyte of storage. That announcement raised fears that Yahoo's users would be siphoned off.

Gold's Gym chain sold to TRT

Fitness chain Gold's Gym International Inc., which has five gyms in Hawaii, has been sold to the owner of the Omni Hotels group for an undisclosed sum.

TRT Holdings Inc., which owns about 40 Omni Hotels in North America, bought the 2.5 million-member chain from Brockway Moran & Partners Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla.

There are 648 company-owned or franchised Gold's Gyms in the world.

Gold's Gym's Hawaii-California area manager Mike Ward declined to comment on any expected impact from the sale, but said the company was expected to issue a statement today.

Besides its fitness centers, Gold's Gym has its own brand of clothing, gym equipment and food supplements. It earns about $20 million a year before expenses and has added 36 comporate-owned gyms since 1999.

Fed approves merger to form massive bank

The Federal Reserve cleared the way for Wall Street powerhouse J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to combine with Chicago-based Bank One Corp., forming the nation's second-largest bank with more than $1 trillion in assets.

The Fed's board of governors, including Chairman Alan Greenspan, voted 6-0 yesterday to approve the megamerger, finding that the investment firm's acquisition of the bank would not threaten competition or unduly concentrate banking resources.

The $58 billion deal will eliminate about 10,000 jobs by 2006 and the Bank One name sooner, in one of a series of consolidations in the financial services industry. Some experts believe the combination will shift the U.S. banking industry landscape, setting off a cascade of deals among mid-sized institutions while creating opportunities for community banks to steal customers.

Levin exits as WB CEO after low-rated year

Coming off a year of disappointing ratings, the WB network announced yesterday that Jordan Levin would leave his position as chief executive. Garth Ancier, the chairman who had shared overall management responsibilities with Levin, will now have sole oversight of the network.

Levin, who, among other duties, was the top programmer for WB for the last three years, will become an independent producer affiliated with the network, the traditional exit for ousted network executives.

But the company noted that Levin had been offered a chance to stay on as president of entertainment for WB, a position he previously held. Levin declined.