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[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

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Airline plans to add Vancouver flights

Harmony Airways said it plans to increase service between Vancouver, Canada, and Hawaii after Aloha Airlines stops serving its Honolulu-Vancouver route April 11.

Starting April 25, Vancouver-based Harmony will operate daily flights to Hawaii, including four weekly flights to Honolulu and three weekly flights to Maui. The airline said it will expand service next winter.

Harmony flies 197-seat Boeing 757 planes.

Realtors board names another CEO

The Honolulu Board of Realtors has named a new chief executive just months after the controversial firing of its former top executive.

Rochelle Lee Gregson, who previously served as deputy executive director for the Hawaii State Teachers Association, will now oversee operations at the Realtors board, a 5,000 plus member trade organization.

Gregson also has been director of programs with the Hawaii Community Foundation and a vice president with the Aloha United Way.

Gregson is replacing Judy Sobin, whose October dismissal sparked internal strife within the organization. The board of Realtors held a special membership meeting Jan. 17 to consider reinstating Sobin, but the motion was voted down by a majority of members.

Lingle approves family leave rules

Gov. Linda Lingle has approved state administrative rules for the Hawaii Family Leave Law, which provides employees who work for bigger companies up to four weeks annually of protected family leave.

The four weeks can be taken off sporadically or at one time and employees will be able to return to their positions or an equivalent position without penalty.

Employers can require certification of a serious health condition from a health care provider. The Legislature passed the state family leave law in 1991 but no administrative rules were enacted.

For more information, visit the Web at www.dlir.state.hi.us.

Contractor starts housing project

Actus Lend Lease LLC has started the first phase of housing privatization at Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu.

The company has been selected to build or renovate 1,356 housing units on Hickam and 7,700 units at Schofield Barracks.

The rest of the housing not included in the phase is slated for privatization within the next two years, the company said.