Hawaii to host clean-energy summit

Hawaii plans to host a regional clean-energy summit for the second straight year.

Gov. Linda Lingle says a key focus of the 2010 Asia-Pacific Clean Energy Summit will be renewable energy in China. Parts of the meeting will focus on energy efficiency and alternative energy sources like solar, wind, biofuels and geothermal.

The conference is scheduled to be held from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2 at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

Last year, 800 energy industry representatives attended from nearly two dozen countries and territories including Fiji, Canada, China, New Zealand and Palau.

The meeting is being coordinated by the state of Hawaii and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization.

Volcano House might be shut to '12

VOLCANO, Hawaii » Volcano House will remain closed longer than expected.

The hotel and restaurant atop Kilauea on the Big Island was closed at the start of the year for a $3.5 million renovation.

An initial March deadline for concessioners to submit bids to operate Volcano House envisioned it to reopen this coming January. But the deadline was pushed back to the end of June and has now been extended to Aug. 3 as the National Park Service amended details of the contract prospectus.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said Thursday that the reopening could be delayed until June 2012. The park service wanted a 12.5 percent of gross receipts, up from 5 percent paid most recently. The new figure is 9 percent.

CPK opens express airport eatery

California Pizza Kitchen has opened a quick-service location in Honolulu Airport. The new location, opened by CPF franchise partner HMSHost Corp., is in the main terminal.

The menu will feature a selection of CPK's pizzas, salads, soups and sandwiches from the full-service restaurant menu.

Regulators shut 3 more banks

WASHINGTON » Regulators have shut down banks in Nebraska, Mississippi and Illinois, boosting the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 81.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. yesterday took over TierOne Bank, based in Lincoln, Neb., with about $2.8 billion in assets. Great Western Bank, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., agreed to acquire the assets and deposits of the failed bank. The FDIC also seized two small banks: First National Bank, based in Rosedale, Miss., with $60.4 million in assets, and Arcola Homestead Savings Bank in Arcola, Ill., with about $17 million in assets.

On the move

St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii has appointed Dr. Anna Loengard co-medical director for St. Francis Hospice, Hawaii. Her experience includes being founder and president of Successful Caring, assistant professor of geriatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and attending physician for the school's Acute Care for the Elderly Inpatient Unit and Palliative Care Consult Service.

RIM Architects has promoted the following:
» Doris Wong to senior associate. She has more than 20 years of architectural experience, including work on projects such as the parking structure at Honolulu Airport.
» Douglas L. Allen to senior associate. He has more than 25 years' experience as a project manager/project architect on multifamily residential, hospitality, commercial/retail, health care, educational and industrial projects.

Helber Hastert & Fee has hired the following two planners:
» Ronald A. Sato, a senior planner, has 21 years of planning experience including working for multidisciplined engineering firms.
» Tara DePonte's experience includes work as a planner and landscape architect on large-scale residential and resort developments in the Middle East, Asia and Hawaii.