Ige to headline medical research forum 

State Sen. David Ige, the Democratic candidate for governor, will talk about his vision for medical research in Hawaii at the ThinkTech Downtown Forum on Wednesday at the Laniakea YWCA, 1040 Richards St. in Honolulu.

Ige, who also will give the opening remarks, is scheduled to speak at 11:45 a.m. The lunch event, whose theme is world-class medical research in Hawaii, is slated from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Register online at thinktechhawaii.com.

Dr. Ginny Pressler, executive vice president and chief strategic officer of Hawaii Pacific Health, will moderate the panel. The panel will include Susie Chen, M.D., the Cancer Center of Hawaii; Peter Greenwood, M.D., John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM); Scott Lozanoff, Ph.D., JABSOM; Hilton Raethel, executive vice president, Hawaii Medical Service Association; Charles Rosser, M.D., University of Hawaii Cancer Center; and James Turkson, Ph.D., UH Cancer Center.

Bull Shed returns employees’ money

Workers at the Bull Shed restaurant in Kapaa, Kauai, have had wages and tips restored following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Seventeen servers were repaid $55,674 in tips and $2,959 in minimum-wage pay for violations of wage provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act by Castle Resorts and Hotels Inc., the restaurant operator.

Wage and Hour Division investigators found that the company reduced the cash wages of tipped employees below the $7.25 per hour minimum wage and unlawfully required servers to pay a portion of their shift tips to nontipped kitchen staff, who were paid at least the full minimum wage, the Labor Department said in a statement.

"We appreciate this employer’s full cooperation in resolving this matter," said Terence Trotter, the division’s district director in Hawaii. "Employers cannot take a credit against their minimum wage obligation to tipped staff when they required a portion of those tips to be shared with traditionally nontipped staff such as kitchen employees."

Hawaii job application law reduces crime

Hawaii’s 1998 law banning employers from asking applicants if they have been convicted of a crime has reduced the incidence of repeat offenders in the state, a new study shows. Without income from a paying job, an ex-offender likely will return to criminal activity, so the criminal conviction question with the "yes" or "no" box to check on job applications was eliminated by state law.

The so-called "ban-the-box" law has been instituted by other states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island, and several major cities, according to researchers at Florida International University.

They reviewed data from Hawaii’s state Judiciary and found that criminal defendants prosecuted for a felony in the City and County of Honolulu were 57 percent less likely to have had a prior criminal conviction since the previous-conviction question was stricken from job applications.

The study, while restricted to one county, shows that ban-the-box laws can reduce repeat offenses by helping ex-offenders obtain employment. Researchers said the study, published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, should be broadened to include other jurisdictions to determine the true effectiveness of such laws.

Burger King OKs deal to buy Tim Hortons

MIAMI » Burger King said Tuesday it will buy Tim Hortons in an $11 billion deal that would create the world’s third largest fast-food chain. The company is hoping to turn the coffee-and-doughnut chain into a household name outside Canada, and give itself a stronger foothold in the booming morning business.

Alex Behring, Burger King’s executive chairman, said the new company would be one of the fastest-growing fast-food chains in the world. The international ambitions for Tim Hortons echo the strategy Burger King’s owner, 3G Capital, has applied to Burger King since buying the hamburger chain in 2010. Given Burger King’s struggles in the U.S., the investment firm has focused on opening more locations in countries including China and Russia by striking deals with local franchisees.

Last year, 3G accelerated expansion and opened 670 Burger King locations. Burger King now has nearly 14,000 locations globally, but that’s still far less than the 35,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world.

After the deal, which is expected to close by early next year, Burger King and Tim Horton said their combined company would have about $23 billion in sales and more than 18,000 locations. The corporate headquarters will be in Canada, but Burger King will still be operated out of Miami.

ON THE MOVE

Tom Chee & Watts has appointed:

» Attorney Bruce Yoshida as a new partner in the law firm. He has more than 33 years experience in real estate and business law, including officer and director of Hisaka Yoshida & Cosgrove.

» David Suh as a new associate. He has practiced law since 1999, concentrating on commercial and real estate transactions as well as litigation.

Prince Resorts Hawaii has appointed Caren Murata regional director of leisure sales. She was a senior regional sales manager for Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows, and held various sales positions at Aloha Airlines for more than 25 years.