Peanut butter illness

WASHINGTON >> The Food and Drug Administration halted operations of the country’s largest organic peanut butter processor Monday after agency officials found salmonella at Sunland Inc.’s New Mexico processing plant. Forty-one people in 20 states were sickened by peanut butter manufactured at the plant and sold by Trader Joe’s.

Honolulu personal income increases 5.1%

Personal incomes of Hono­lulu residents rose 5.1 percent in 2011 from 2010 on a per capita basis, putting it in the top one-fourth of the 366 metropolitan areas surveyed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Honolulu’s 2011 increase was the 79th highest out of the metro areas surveyed. The average increase nationally was 4.4 percent.

Hawaii’s increase in 2011 represented an improvement from 2010, when per capita personal income rose 1.3 percent from 2009.

Hawaii’s per capita personal income was $46,624 in 2011 compared with $43,798 in 2010. The 2011 figure was 31st highest among the 366 metro areas. Bridgeport, Conn., which is about 60 miles from New York City, topped the list with a per capita personal income of $78,504. McCallen, Texas, had the lowest per capital personal income at $21,620.

The data reported by BEA are not adjusted for inflation, which erodes the value of personal income. Statewide personal income rose 5.7 percent in 2011 from 2010, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The increase was 1.9 percent after adjusting for inflation, according to DBEDT.

‘Smart meter’ installations under way

Kauai’s electric utility is more than halfway finished with a project to replace older mechanical meters with "smart meters" that allow utilities and consumers to use energy more efficiently.

The Garden Island newspaper reported Monday that the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has installed 17,500 meters so far. The new meters will help the utility accommodate more renewable energy on the grid. The cooperative aims for Kauai to get half of its energy from renewable sources, such as biomass, hydro power and solar, by 2023.

The smart meters allow a utility to read customers’ meters, as well as connect and disconnect service, remotely. They’ll provide customers with information on their energy use that can guide them to use energy more efficiently. KIUC plans to install smart meters at 33,000 homes and businesses.

Hawaii startups offered money, services

Certain Hawaii startup companies could receive an upfront investment of $20,000 and access to more than $100,000 in in-kind services through Blue Startups, established by entrepreneur Henk Rogers of Blue Planet Software.

Blue Startups is accepting applications from companies that are capital-efficient and specialize in scalable technology of various types for the Internet, software, mobile, gaming and e-commerce, or those focused on Asia.

Blue Startups’ mission is to become a hub of entrepreneurial activity in Hawaii as well as between the mainland and Asia, and it has received preliminary notification of funding from the state’s Hawaii Strategic Development Corp.

For more information, see www.bluestartups.com.

Mortgage interest deduction vulnerable

A tax break that has long been untouchable could soon be in for some serious scrutiny.

As President Barack Obama and Congress try to hash out a deal to reduce the budget deficit, the mortgage interest deduction looks vulnerable. Limits on a broad array of deductions could emerge in any budget deal. It is likely that any caps would be structured to affect high-income households and would diminish or end the mortgage tax break for many of those taxpayers.

"This is definitely a chance worth jumping for," said Amir Sufi, a professor at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Such a move, however, would be fiercely opposed by the real estate industry.

U.S. travelers warned of violence in Mexico

Although the number of U.S. citizens killed in Mexico so far this year is down, the U.S. State Department has again issued a detailed travel warning for visitors to the country.

The state-by-state assessment urges travelers to "defer non-essential travel" to four of Mexico’s 31 states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Tamaulipas. The department also warns tourists to avoid unnecessary travel to remote towns and border areas in 11 other states, mostly in the northern section of Mexico. The latest travel warning said 32 U.S. citizens were slain in Mexico in the first six months of 2012, compared with 113 in all of 2011.

Mexican tourism officials said that so far drug violence is limited to a small percentage of the country’s 2,500 municipalities. In addition, protection of tourists "is at the pinnacle of importance to the Mexican government," said Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, chief operating officer for the Mexico Tourism Board.

On the Move

Communications Pacific promoted Huy Vo to account supervisor and Andrea “Anj” Lum to account executive. Vo joined CommPac as a senior account executive. He previously worked at Bright Light Marketing. Lum joined Comm­Pac as an assistant account executive, providing support to a number of clients in corporate communications, travel and tourism public relations, and digital and social media.

Central Pacific Bank CEO and President John Dean and Senior Vice President/Neighbor Island Regional Manager Alvin Imada presented a $10,000 check to the American Heart Association in support of the 15th annual Maui Heart Walk.

The sixth annual Run Around the Lake, “Run for Wounded Warriors,” raised $25,157 in donations last month, which brought the six-year total to more than $100,000. The Fairfax, Va., event was sponsored by service-disabled veteran-owned businesses J.M. Waller Associates, which has an office in Hono­lulu, and Halfaker and Associates. Donations were provided to the Wounded Warrior Project and Vail Veterans Program.