Hawaii military sites to get more solar power

Honolulu-based Island Pacific Energy and two mainland companies were awarded a contract Friday worth up to $500 million to install solar power systems on Hawaii military installations.

The mainland companies are Pacific Energy Solutions, a division of ECC of Burlingame, Calif., and Photon Finance of Mountain View, Calif. The solar systems will be installed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield, Tripler Army Medical Center, Fort DeRussy and elsewhere.

"This contract will be the largest installation of photovoltaic solar energy facilities in Hawaii’s history," said Island Pacific Energy President Joseph Saturnia.

Mina Pharmacy to open today in Waimalu

Mina Pharmacy is celebrating the grand opening of its 12th location today at the Waimalu Shopping Center.

The pharmacy, inside the Palama Supermarket at 98-080 Kamehameha Highway, will host a free community health fair from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with glucose and cholesterol screenings, as well as flu and shingles vaccinations and free valet parking.

A new service offered at the location is delivery for care homes and free flu vaccinations on weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

The company’s flagship opened at the Hale Pawaa Building on the corner of Beretania and Keeaumoku streets in late March. Its first pharmacy on Maui at the Queen Kaahumanu Center in Kahului will open in early 2012.

CVS to pay $2 million to settle lawsuit

LOS ANGELES » CVS Pharmacy has agreed to pay more than $2 million in fines and other costs to settle a consumer protection lawsuit alleging that the drugstore chain overcharged customers for sale items and engaged in misleading advertising.

The civil complaint, filed Aug. 11 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that CVS failed to provide an immediate discount for certain advertised items. An investigation also determined that since 2006 the company routinely charged consumers more for items than the advertised sale price.

Under the terms of the settlement, CVS agreed to pay $1.2 million in civil penalties and $420,000 in investigative costs.

The company also agreed to contribute $300,000 to the California Department of Measurement Standards and $100,000 to the Consumer Protection Trust toward enforcement of consumer protection laws, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

A CVS spokesman said that the company worked cooperatively with the district attorneys for Los Angeles, Riverside and Ventura counties to resolve the allegations but that it did not admit any wrongdoing.

GOP insists rural air subsidy must be cut

WASHINGTON » Congressional Republicans are warning Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood he must cut subsidies for air service to 10 rural communities unless he can show it would be too difficult for residents to reach a larger airport.

White House assurances that the cuts would be waived cleared the way for Senate passage of legislation this month, ending a two-week partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

But in a letter released Friday by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Republicans requested that LaHood provide a "full, written justification" of any waivers of subsidy cuts.

The letter was signed by Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the committee, and GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

A dispute between the House and Senate, in part over the subsidies, forced a partial shutdown of the FAA beginning on July 23 that caused the furlough of nearly 4,000 federal workers, halted work on more than 200 airport construction projects and cost the government about $400 million in uncollected airline ticket taxes.

House Republicans sparked the dispute by adding a provision cutting $16.5 million in air service subsidies to a bill temporarily extending the FAA’s operating authority through mid-September.

Senate Democrats refused to accept the House bill, saying Republicans were breaking with precedent by including policy changes that hadn’t been agreed on to an extension bill.

Hewlett-Packard stock loses a fifth of value

LOS ANGELES »Wall Street showed Hewlett-Packard Co. what it thought of the company’s plans for a dramatic transformation: Shares plunged 20 percent to their lowest point in more than six years. The technology giant shed about $12 billion of its market value as more than half a dozen Wall Street analysts downgraded its stock, citing a litany of concerns over the company’s ability to reinvent itself.

Friday’s drop of $5.91, to $23.60 a share, came a day after HP said it would seek to spin off or divest itself of its personal computer division, which had made it the world’s largest PC maker and had provided 30 percent of its revenue in its latest quarter.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Susan Manfredi as managing director of in-flight services. She has more than 20 years of experience in the airline industry, including as senior director of in-flight service at Spirit Airlines, vice president of in-flight service at AirTran Airways and flight attendant for Hughes Airwest, Republic Airlines and American Airlines.

The James Campbell Co. has donated a total of $250,000 to the following schools to support the capital and technology needs of each: Kapolei High School, $45,000; Kapolei Middle School, $45,000; Kapolei Elementary School, $25,000; Barbers Point Elementary School, $25,000; Makakilo Elementary School, $25,000; Mauka Lani Elementary School, $25,000; Campbell High School, $20,000; Nanakuli High and Intermediate School, $20,000; and Waianae High School, $20,000.

The annual scholarships for Military Children Program were awarded to the following students: Nathan Butler, Brittney Maglangit, Chalynette Martinez-Martinez, Tiffany Schenberger, Zachary Granger, Danielle Ruiz-Ruiz, Rachel Lew, Noelle Corujo and Edward Johnson.

Alexander & Baldwin Foundation has presented a $100,000 gift to Aloha United Way. Funds will help achieve its mission of raising funds for Oahu’s non-profit agencies by mobilizing the caring power of the community.