Tourism issues to be aired at Capitol today
State Rep. Tom Brower, (D, Waikiki, Ala Moana) chairman of the House Committee on Tourism, will hold an informational briefing on Hawaii’s tourism industry today at 4 p.m. in the auditorium at the state Capitol.
Hawaii Tourism Authority and Waikiki Improvement Association officials will brief the committee and the public on issues facing the state’s No. 1 industry.
UNITE HERE Local 5, which represents many tourism industry workers, said hundreds of its members will attend the hearing. “In the last six years alone, and despite record profits and record number of visitors to our islands, hundreds of jobs have been lost in Hawaii’s hotel industry,” the union said in a news release. “Over 900 good paying union hotel jobs have been lost, not including the hundreds if not thousands of workers who have seen their hours cut.”
HECO warns customers about bill scam
Hawaiian Electric Co. is warning customers about a scam involving telephone calls claiming people are behind on their electric bills.
The utility said customers have reported they are being told to make bill payments at retail stores using specific debit card services.
The caller tells customers to provide a confirmation number granting access to customer funds.
Hawaiian Electric said customers should not provide their personal, confidential or financial information to any unidentified individual. Customers should be cautious when responding to phone calls, HECO said.
The company suggests asking for the caller’s name, phone number and company name to deter any leading questions.
Hawaiian Electric urges customers to report any suspicious activity to police.
Hawaiian Air offers DIY luggage tagging
Hawaiian Airlines is allowing passengers to weigh, check and tag their luggage by themselves at all check-in kiosks at its Honolulu Airport ticket lobby.
The carrier estimates that the new system will reduce check-in time to less than five minutes.
The self-tagging system, launched on March 12 in Honolulu, will start at Hawaiian’s check-in lobbies on the neighbor islands later this year.
Previously, passengers using the self-service kiosks were required to wait for a customer service agent to tag their luggage and complete the check-in process.
Airline agents will be available to help passengers with the new process, and service counters will be staffed for additional help.
Farm grant for Waimea homesteaders
The Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association Inc. on Hawaii island has won a $37,500 grant for its "Farming for the Working Class" project.
The homesteaders’ association is one of 10 Native American organizations awarded grants by the Michigan-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation this year, presented under its First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative.
It is at least the second consecutive year the homesteaders group won a Kellogg grant for its program enabling Native Hawaiians to farm otherwise fallow land through hands-on training as well as classroom education along with business training. Its 2012 grant was $45,000.
Hawaiian Electric Co. wins award
A nonprofit alternative energy advocate has recognized Hawaiian Electric Co. for the utility’s work to add more solar energy to its electrical generation network.
The San Francisco-based Vote Solar Initiative recently named HECO one of its two "Solar Champion Award" winners for 2013. The group cited the nearly 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic generating capacity added last year by HECO customers and independent power producers in Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii counties.
"This rate of growth brings many economic and environmental benefits, but also presents new challenges to a grid not originally designed with distributed generation in mind," according to a news release from the group. Distributed generation refers to electricity generated at one customer’s home and distributed to another customer.
The other winner of the 2013 Solar Champion Award was Tom Steyer, a co-founder of a California think tank that successfully defended the state’s carbon-cap-and-trade program.
Lululemon: Downward dog not required
NEW YORK » No "downward-facing dog" is required.
Lululemon said Wednesday that no demonstrations of yoga or any other positions are needed to return the pricey black yoga pants that the company pulled from shelves last week after finding that they were too sheer.
The Vancouver-based yoga gear maker’s statement comes a day after a New York Post report that was widely circulated by the media recounting one woman’s tale of being asked by sales staff to bend over to prove that the yoga pants she was trying to return were sheer.
The hubbub comes a week after Lululemon said it was recalling its black "Luon" yoga pants, which account for about 17 percent of all women’s pants in its stores, because their material was too sheer. The pants are made from a combination of nylon and Lycra fibers.
The company still hasn’t determined the cause of the problem. And officials have declined to say when the items would be back in its stores. But the company has added more stringent controls and is diversifying its suppliers to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
ON THE MOVE
Bishop Street Commercial has announced Serena Longo as director of the office services group. Her responsibilities include developing new business representing both tenants and landlords as well as representing BSC’s new leasing assignment, Waikiki Trade Center, and other tenant clients. Longo was previously a managing attorney for Crowell Law Offices in San Francisco for nearly 10 years.
The Locations Foundation has awarded Jenny Maeda its 2013 Top Teacher Award. She is a pre-K and special education teacher at Enchanted Lake Elementary School. The foundation also selected the following award winners from a list of nominations: Mandi Scott, Shelly Yoshikawa, Andrew Joyce and Maxine Nu‘uhiwa were top teacher award finalists. Other awardees include: Elsa Valentini, Joy Kamei, Lisa Hyatt, Whitney Mahoney, Kimi Kawachi, Koren Uyemura, Charmaine Orbistondo, James Petersen, Tracy Asai, Nicole Ito and Cami Naito.
