Industry magazine honors Star-Advertiser

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser has been cited as one of the "10 Newspapers That Do It Right," by Editor & Publisher, an industry magazine.

The paper was included for its program that raised funds for Red Cross relief efforts after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. From April through June 2011, subscribers going on vacation and requesting a hold on delivery were asked if they would like to donate the value of their subscription to the Red Cross Japan Disaster Relief Fund. The Star-Advertiser also contributed $10 for each new subscription. In all, $75,000 was raised to help the people of Japan.

The success of the Subscriber Charity Donation Program led the paper to help other nonprofit organizations: It has raised more than $30,000 for Adult Friends for Youth and has pledged to raise $100,000 for the Kapiolani Health Foundation.

"It is an honor to be selected by the leading media publication for newspapers in the country in their annual recognition of 10 newspapers doing it right," said Dennis Francis, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "There are approximately 1,300 daily newspapers in the U.S. so it is quite an accomplishment. I’m even more proud that the program that they recognized as innovative and unique is one that provides significant give-back to the community."

‘The River’ heads downstream in ratings

The spooky ABC drama "The River" continued to lose viewer interest Tuesday night, according to Nielsen ratings released by the network.

"The River" drew its smallest audience in five episodes: 4.08 million viewers to finish well back in the hour, ABC said Wednesday. The CBS drama "NCIS: Los Angeles" led the hour for scripted drama with 15.66 million viewers.

Among adults 18-49, the key target audience for advertisers, "The River" drew 1.5 percent of the total viewing audience and 4 percent of those watching TV at the time. On the end of the scale, "NCIS: Los Angeles" drew 3.1 percent of the total viewing audience and 8 percent of those watching TV.

First farmed fish in U.S. excel off Big Island

Kampachi Farms said Wednesday it successfully completed the final harvest from the "Velella" Research Project, which raised fish for the first time in federal waters.

The harvest completes the grow-out cycle of sashimi-grade kampachi from an unanchored drifter pen that has been in the ocean, three to 75 miles offshore of Hawaii island, since last summer.

"This final harvest far surpassed our expectations," said Neil Anthony Sims, co-CEO of Kampachi Farms. "The fish thrived in the research net pen far from shore, with phenomenal growth rates and superb fish health … and without any negative impact on water quality, the ocean floor, wild fish or marine mammals."

These were the first farmed fish raised in federal waters, and Sims said the project represented a significant step in developing the open-ocean aquaculture industry in the U.S.

Hawaiian Tel completes debt refinancing

Hawaiian Telcom said Wednesday it has completed a debt refinancing that will reduce its borrowing costs. Proceeds from the new $300 million term loan were used, along with $16 million of existing cash, to pay off the company’s outstanding term loan. Proceeds also were used to pay accrued interest and call premium amounts, as well as closing costs and other third-party expenses related to the transaction.

"We are very pleased to close this new credit facility, which significantly lowers our cost of debt and provides us with improved covenant flexibility," said Eric Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom’s president and chief executive officer.

Hoku gets $10M loan, Nasdaq warning

Honolulu-based Hoku Corp. said Wednesday it borrowed $10 million from the New York branch of China Merchants Bank Co. to pay for operating and capital expenses for its polysilicon production plant being built in Idaho.

The five-year loan was secured by a standby letter of credit drawn by Hoku’s majority shareholder, China-based Tianwei New Energy Holdings. To date, Hoku has borrowed a total of $78 million from China Merchants Bank.

Hoku also said it received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market saying that the company is not in compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements because it did not file its last quarterly earnings report on time. Hoku officials said it delayed the filing because it was analyzing the impact of recent declines in the market price for polysilicon.

Hoku has until April 23 to submit a plan to regain compliance. If the plan is approved, Hoku would have until Aug. 19, 2012, to regain compliance. Hoku shares closed down 4 cents at 76 cents on the Nasdaq Wednesday.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaii National Bank has announced the following promotions:

» Mark Saiki is now assistant manager of the Kapiolani branch. He joined the bank in 2007 and was most recently a loan officer.

» Kelli Myers has become loan officer at the Kihei branch. She joined the bank in 2003 as a credit analyst and entered the bank’s management training program in 2006.

Hawthorne CAT has named Shane Oliveira sales manager. He was previously an account manager at Allied Machinery Corp. and has nearly 10 years of management and sales experience in the real estate and construction industries.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Marianne Morgalis as sales coordinator at the firm’s South King Street office. She will assist agents in all procedures including new listings, escrow, marketing and maintenance of other necessary transactions. She was previously a marketing specialist at Security National in Mason, Ohio.