Kona features affordable rentals

Pacific Housing Advisors is accepting applications for affordable rental units in Kailua-Kona, the first of which are slated for completion in June.

The $75 million community will include 306 studio, one- and two-bedroom units, and a May 15 lottery will determine the order in which initial applications will be processed. Applications can be obtained online at www.lokahiapartments.com or by calling 523-8826.

UH-Hilo to honor Yahoo! co-founder

Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang will be honored with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, following a vote by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents last week.

Yang, a part-time Hawaii resident, will be presented the degree at UH-Hilo's spring 2009 commencement ceremony. He and his wife, Akiko Yamazaki, are higher-education supporters, having donated $75 million to Stanford University.

Professional online renewals offered

Hawaii nurses, acupuncturists and plumbers have until June 30 to renew their professional or vocational licenses and will receive a 25 percent discount on the renewal fee by doing so online.

The state of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Professional and Vocational Licensing Division encourages the 25,000 licensees affected to renew online at pvl.ehawaii.gov/renewals.

Hasbro earnings fall 47 percent

NEW YORK » Hasbro Inc. said yesterday that first-quarter profit fell 47 percent as retailers cut back on their inventory, but the toy maker said products tied into new movies like the upcoming “;Transformers”; film should boost future results.

The maker of board games such as Clue and Scrabble also said it instituted a salary freeze and is hiring only for critical positions in an effort to cut costs.

Earnings fell to $19.7 million, or 14 cents a share, from $37.5 million, or 25 cents a share. Revenue dropped 12 percent to $621.3 million from $704.2 million.

Island Air gets reliability award

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has awarded Island Air its top honor for having the highest overall dispatch reliability in the Q100/200/300 aircraft category operating in the Americas region.

The 2008 annual Airline Reliability Performance Award is given by Bombardier to recognize operators of its aircraft that have the least amount of cancellations annually.

Bombardier Aerospace is the manufacturer of Island Air's De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft, of which the airline currently has six in its fleet.

On the move

» Best Lawyers has named David J. Reber as the “;Hawaii Best Lawyers Corporate Lawyer of the Year”; for 2009. He is a partner of Goodwill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP as well as head of the company's corporate and securities and mergers and acquisitions practice groups.

» The Queen's Medical Center has announced John Semenza, M.D., and Lam Nguyen, M.D., as 2009 Ke Kauka Po'okela Outstanding Physicians of the Year. Semenza is an anesthesiologist at the Queen's Medical Center, and Nguyen is an attending physician and director of medical education-geriatric services at the Queen's Medical Center.