Franchise holder WDI International decided not to renew its lease for Tony Roma’s Aiea location, said Mandy Amaral, assistant general manager for the restaurant, which opened in 1987.
All 29 employees at the restaurant will lose their jobs, including Amaral, who started as a server 17 years ago.
“It’s devastating,” said Amaral. “Everybody is really close.”
WDI also owns the Waikiki location of Tony Roma’s and plans to keep that location open.
The Aiea restaurant on Kaonohi Street is in the Westridge Shopping Center across from Pearlridge Center.
Wahiawa favorite closing for relocation
Sunny Side, the longtime Wahiawa takeout restaurant famous for its fried rice omelets and chocolate and peach-pear pies, is shutting down temporarily at the end of the month and relocating.
The restaurant will close March 31 at its current location on Kilani Avenue because its 10-year lease is up, Ariel Hidalgo, one of the owners, said. The eatery will reopen at another site in Wahiawa.
No reopening date has been set, and the owners are not announcing the address, he said, because they’re waiting on permits to build a kitchen at the new site.
Hidalgo estimates that it will be four to six months before Sunny Side will reopen.
U.S. bull market turns 9
NEW YORK >> The bull market turned 9 Friday, extending a run that began in the depths of the Great Recession. On March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 hit a cycle low of 676.53; it has more than quadrupled since. If the market continues on this trend until Aug. 21, it will be the longest bull market in post-World War II history.
China’s monetary help has strings, U.S. says
DJIBOUTI >> The United States is warning African nations that Chinese money flooding their continent comes with significant strings attached. The U.S. says with Beijing’s astonishing investments in ports, roads and railways come dependency, exploitation of local resources and intrusion on nations’ sovereignty. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is visiting several heavily indebted African countries this week, including Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya.
Insurers’ involvement in health care doubted
As costs spiral and traditional boundaries blur in health care, insurers are taking more control over monitoring customer health and delivering care. They say getting involved like this can keep people healthy and away from expensive hospitals. But this raises questions about whether the patient’s best interests will remain the focus. One medical ethicist wonders how hard doctors will fight for patients if it means clashing with their own employers.
Facebook to stream 25 MLB games
NEW YORK >> Facebook is getting deeper into the professional sports streaming game, signing an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball to air 25 weekday afternoon games. Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and other tech companies are in a race to acquire sports streaming rights. Verizon recently signed a deal with the NBA to stream eight basketball games on Yahoo, and Amazon paid $50 million last year to stream NFL games to Prime members last season.
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ON THE MOVE
The Public Relations Society of America, Hawaii Chapter, has announced its 2018 board of directors: Jocelyn Collado is the president for PRSA Hawaii Chapter as well as account director for Becker Communications; Francis Choe, president-elect; Courtney Liu, secretary; Keith DeMello, treasurer; Jennifer Armstrong, immediate past president; Kalli Abernathy, communications co-chair; Taryn Pascua, communications co-chair; Huy Vo, Koa Anvil Awards co-chair; Michelle Hee, Koa Anvil Awards co-chair; Patrick Williams, programs co-chair; Rebecca Pang, membership co-chair and assembly delegate; Amy Hennessey, education co-chair, assembly delegate and western district delegate; Kristen Bonilla, accreditation and leadership co-chair; and Melissa Torres-Lang, accreditation and leadership co-chair as well as vice president and corporate communications administrator for Bank of Hawaii.
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