Hawaiian Air most punctual carrier again

Hawaiian Airlines continued its perch at the top among the nation’s most punctual carriers as its flights arrived on time at a rate of 92.8 percent in August to beat the industry average by 13.7 percentage points. The state’s largest carrier also had the fewest canceled flights of the nation’s 15 largest airlines with just two cancellations out of 6,628 total flights.

In other categories, Hawaiian ranked third for fewest consumer complaints with a rate of 0.46 for every 100,000 passengers, and was 10th for fewest mishandled-baggage reports with 3.61 per 1,000 passengers, or 2,998 out of 830,745 passengers.

Final HMC-East garage sale set for Oct. 27

St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii will hold a final garage sale Oct. 27 at the now-shuttered Hawaii Medical Center-East campus in Liliha. The sale, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2230 Liliha St., will include discounts on file cabinets, office chairs, desks, lockers and office supplies. The former HMC-West closed in December, and HMC-East shut down in January.

The Roman Catholic religious order, which took control of the former St. Francis hospitals in Ewa and Liliha in May, said everything must go.

All of the proceeds will support St. Francis’ services and programs. The sale is cash and carry only, with free parking for garage-sale shoppers. The company is seeking volunteers to sign up by Oct. 24. Volunteers will receive a 50 percent discount on purchases. For more information, contact Betty Coffer at 547-8152 or bcoffer@stfrancishawaii.org.

Girls Scouts of Hawai‘i to honor 3 women

Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i will honor three former Girl Scouts on Nov. 7 at the 2012 Woman of Distinction Dinner at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Honorees are Carolyn A. Berry Wilson, a supporter of many local organizations, including the Hono­lulu Museum of Art, Diamond Head Theatre, Special Olympics Hawaii, PBS Hawaii and Cha­mi­nade University; Faye Kurren, president and CEO of Hawaii Dental Service since 2003; and Shelley Wilson, founder, president and CEO of Wilson Care Group, which caters to those in need of long-term care.

The event will be held in the Coral Ballroom. A reception and silent auction begin at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner and program scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets are on sale through www.girlscouts-hawaii.org.

For more information, contact Kristi Cardoso at 675-5516 or at krcardoso@girlscouts-hawaii.org.

Kaiser awarded 5 stars for Medicare plan

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave Kaiser Permanente Hawaii the highest, five-star rating for quality and service for its Hawaii Medicare plan.

The award from CMS is based on Kaiser’s 2013 plan — the only five-star plan in the state for the second year in a row.

Hawaii is one of only 11 plans nationwide to receive the five-star rating. Overall scores are based on more than 50 measures across five categories, including staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, member satisfaction, customer service and pharmacy services.

Kaiser earlier this year was ranked as the best health plan in the state by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

State food agency wins $1 million grant

Feed the Hunger Foundation has won $1 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to create a revolving loan fund for small businesses in Hawaii’s food industry.

The agency has provided loans since 2009 to enable more than 35 low-income entrepreneurs on Oahu to start and expand their small businesses.

The federal grant will be used to invest in food entrepreneurs and infrastructure, including water, storage, production and distribution; and to build a diverse agriculture and aquaculture base that will lead to greater security.

These loans are for small businesses that most traditional banks would consider unworthy of credit.

Profits soar at 2 largest mortgage lenders

NEW YORK » The country’s two biggest mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, reported Friday that a surge in home lending pushed them to record profits.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon declared that the housing market "has turned the corner." Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said that "every quarter, we have more confidence."

Wells said it issued $139 billion in mortgages from July through September, compared with $89 billion in the same period last year. Wells earned $4.7 billion in the third quarter, up 23 percent from the same period a year ago.

JPMorgan wrote $47 billion in mortgages, compared with $37 billion last year. The bank made $5.3 billion in the third quarter, up 36 percent from the same period a year ago.

More retailers object to card settlement

NEW YORK » A group of retailers and trade groups has launched a last-ditch effort to stop a settlement worth at least $6 billion that Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and major banks have agreed to pay retailers for alleged fee fixing.

Ten out of the 19 retailers and trade groups that are plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against the credit card companies say they’re trying to block the deal because they believe it would allow the credit card industry to continue to take advantage of merchants and their customers while stopping competition.

The proposed settlement, which was disclosed in July, is expected to be submitted to the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn by Friday. Merchants objecting to the deal will then have 30 days to submit arguments urging the court to reject the proposal.

On the Move

The American Diabetes Association Hawaii has won the following awards:

» Gayle Ishima received the Volunteer ACT Advocacy Award. She is operations manager for Mann Mortgage.

» Mia Noguchi received the Community Share Marketing Communications Award. She is a senior vice president of public relations at Bright Light Marketing.

» Michael Tam also received the Community Share Marketing Communications Award. He is CEO of Martin & MacArthur.

» Dr. Jane Kadohiro and the Youth and Family Committee won the Community Learn Outreach Award for their "Diabetes is …" PSA contest.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: