Firm chosen to rebuild Kauai’s Coco Palms
The Hawaii-based firm Agor Architects, which was instrumental in rebuilding Kauai after Hurricane Iniki left a path of destruction in its wake, has been selected to rebuild Coco Palms Resort, one of the island’s last remaining hurricane renovation projects.
Chad Waters and Tyler Greene of Coco Palms Hui LLC, a group of local investors who aim to restore the long-shuttered hotel, said they selected architect Ron Agor because he has a record of restoring old buildings on Kauai and giving them many more years of life. Agor’s Hawaii portfolio includes work on the Princeville Hotel room renovations, the Cliff’s interior and exterior renovations, the rebuilding of the Pali Ke Kua and Hale Moi Condominiums, Kiahuna Plantation ocean condos and the Poipu Shores.
"Over the years I have heard many plans for the Coco Palms property, but this is the first time I have seen real action," Agor said. "I am working hard to ensure that Coco Palms’ historical and cultural significance will be preserved."
Once the playground of celebrities and the filming site for "Blue Hawaii" starring Elvis Presley, the circa-1953 Coco Palms closed in 1992 after destructive winds and water swept through the property.
BlackBerry CEO could get $55.6 million
TORONTO >> BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins could receive as much as $55.6 million if the company is sold and he is ousted from the top job.
Heins would receive $48 million in equity awards, based on the company’s share price at the end of its latest fiscal year, according to a regulatory filing earlier this year. He would also get $7.5 million in compensation for his salary and bonus under the change of control provisions in his contract.
The company also would pay $72,000 in benefits and retirement savings.
Early diabetes test could aid moms-to-be
A new study by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research has found that early testing for gestational diabetes in the first trimester of pregnancy for high-risk women might benefit them by identifying the worst cases of the condition and allowing for earlier treatment.
Gestational diabetes, or diabetes during pregnancy, is a serious condition that can result in birthing complications, an increase in Cesarean-section births, large babies and a higher risk of obesity for the baby in later years.
Pregnant women in Hawaii have one of the nation’s highest rates of gestational diabetes at 6 percent.
Kaiser Permanente physicians screened obese (or high-risk) pregnant women up to 16 weeks into the pregnancy and found that 35 percent of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes during their first trimester had to use insulin, a rate more than twice as high as those diagnosed during the second trimester, when pregnant women are typically screened. Insulin use to control blood sugar was used as an indicator of severe gestational diabetes.
The study was published in this month’s American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and authored by Keith Ogasawara, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and chief of staff at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, and Teresa Hillier of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Honolulu and Portland, Ore.
The study included data collected from 64,687 pregnant women from 1995 to 2010.
Workers’ productivity rises to 0.9 percent
WASHINGTON » U.S. worker productivity accelerated to a still-modest 0.9 percent annual pace between April and June after dropping the previous quarter.
The second-quarter gain beat economists’ expectations and reversed a decline in the January-March quarter, when the Labor Department’s revised numbers show productivity shrank at a 1.7 percent annual pace.
Labor costs rose at a 1.4 percent annual pace from April through June, reversing a revised 4.2 percent drop the previous quarter.
On the Move
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has announced the following new physicians:
>> Dr. Erika Kwock is a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology practicing at the Waipio Clinic on Oahu. She completed her residency at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program.
>> Dr. Tony Clinton is a specialist in dermatology practicing at the Wailuku Clinic on Maui and Hawaii island. He was previously working at Kenner Dermatology Center at Castle Medical Center on Oahu.
>> Dr. James Bingham is a family medicine physician at the Kona Clinic. He was previously a staff physician at Group Health Cooperative Riverfront Medical Center, a Kaiser Permanente affiliate in Spokane, Wash.
