Business briefs
‘Hawaii Five-0’ sweeps ratings
"Hawaii Five-0" booked the competition Monday night with a sweeping ratings victory, according to Nielsen numbers released by CBS yesterday.
"Five-0" drew 11.01 million viewers, well ahead of ABC’s "Castle," which drew 9.26 million, and NBC’s upstart challenger "Harry’s Law," which drew 9.22 million viewers. Among adults ages 18 to 49, a key target audience for "Five-0," the show drew 2.8 percent of the total TV viewing audience and 8 percent of those who were watching TV at the time.
"Castle" drew 2.5 percent of the total viewing audience and 7 percent of those watching TV at the time, while "Harry’s Law" attracted 1.7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
The "Five-0" episode was the first new one since a special Sunday evening time slot after the NFL’s AFC Championship game on Jan. 23. That episode drew 19.3 million viewers.
Disney profits surge
LOS ANGELES » The Walt Disney Co. posted a 54 percent jump in earnings yesterday in the latest quarter. The results beat analyst expectations thanks to higher advertising revenue at its ESPN and ABC television networks, stronger performance at its theme parks and cost cutting at its movie studio. Net income rose to $1.3 billion from $844 million. Revenue grew 10 percent to $10.7 billion from $9.7 billion a year ago.
HEI’s Lau tapped for banking council
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. President and CEO Connie Lau, who is also chairwoman of American Savings Bank, has been appointed to a three-year term of the newly formed Twelfth District Community Depositary Institutions Advisory Council.
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The council, drawn from communities across the nine-state Twelfth District, will meet twice a year to provide input and local perspective to the San Francisco Federal Reserve’s Bank’s senior management on a variety of topics, including economic and banking conditions, regulatory policies and payments issues.
Tesoro plant reports chemical flaring
Tesoro Corp. is operating the Kapolei refinery at targeted levels after a "process upset" that led to flaring, a company spokesman said.
"The flaring lasted for approximately 90 minutes, but there was no impact to neighbors or on refinery throughput," said spokesman Mike Marcy, who is based in San Antonio, in an e-mail. The upset and flaring happened Sunday, he said.
A filing with the National Response Center said a "process upset" led to the flaring of sulfur dioxide. U.S. refineries must notify the response center if they release hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities, according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.
Maui Electric seeks renewable power
Maui Electric Co. is seeking approval from the state Public Utilities Commission to begin a search for approximately 50 megawatts of new, firm, dispatchable renewable energy generation capacity for Maui, with the first increment to be in service starting in 2015. The utility said a request for proposals is anticipated to be issued within the next two months.
On the Move
Aqua Engineers has hired Jennifer Parker as collection systems superintendent. She will be responsible for the oversight of waste-water installations at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hickam Air Force Base, Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, Red Hill Coast Guard and other places. Parker was previously a project engineer for Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., which includes management, quality and cost control, analysis, scheduling and tracking projects at Disney Aulani Grand Vacation Resort & Spa at Ko Olina, Hawaiian Electric Co. at Campbell Industrial Park, Kapolei and Pearl Harbor.
The Queen’s Medical Center has named Nancy Valla as its director of inpatient services. She will be responsible for managing inpatient neurology, labor and delivery, postpartum, nursery and inpatient oncology units. Valla has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry and was previously vice president of operations and site principal for CIGNA Corp. in Phoenix.