The Walmart Foundation has given a $60,000 grant to the Hawaii Foodbank that will support the Food 4 Keiki Program for the 2016-17 school year at Kaiulani Elementary School in Kalihi.
Each Friday, all students will receive bags of fresh food to take home.
“The Walmart Foundation Hawaii State Giving Council grant will help purchase and deliver approximately 18,900 bags of food that will bring smiles to the faces of some our most valuable resources, the keiki of Hawaii,” said Gerald Shintaku, president and CEO of Hawaii Foodbank.
The Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program supports organizations that create opportunities so people can live better, awarding grants that have a long-lasting, positive impact on communities across the U.S. Information about the program and application instructions are available online at giving.walmart.com/foundation.
Lex Brodie’s celebrates 55th anniversary
Lex Brodie’s Tire Co. will celebrate its 55th anniversary with a 55,000 HawaiianMiles giveaway to a Lex Brodie’s Love Hawaii Rewards program member.
People can enter to win beginning Sunday by signing up for a free customer number at one of Lex Brodie’s five locations on Oahu. Lex Brodie’s is also providing free giveaways Sunday of its limited-edition “Lex Rocks” CDs and Aloha Road Warrior tattoos (while supplies last), and offering a $55 discount on any two installed tires that are regularly in stock during August.
Founded in Kaneohe on July 31, 1961, Lex Brodie’s moved to 701 Queen St. in 1964. It expanded to Waipahu in 1972, Aiea in 1996, Kalihi in 1998 and back to Kaneohe in 2006.
To enter the contest, customers must join the free Lex Brodie’s Love Hawaii Customer Rewards program and use their customer number to enter. The contest runs until Dec. 24. The winner will be selected Dec. 26. All Oahu residents 18 and older are eligible to win.
Wind farm comment period extended
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Friday it is extending the period for the public to comment on offshore Oahu wind farms to Sept. 7.
The comment deadline was originally Aug. 8.
Residents can submit public comments by visiting regulations.gov and entering “BOEM-2016-0049” in the search bar; mailing in an envelope labeled “Comments on Hawaii EA” and addressed to Regional Director, BOEM Pacific OCS Region, 760 Paseo Camarillo, Suite 102, Camarillo, CA 93010; or attending the public meetings.
Two companies are interested in the project: AW Hawaii Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Danish-based Alpha Wind Energy; and Oregon-based Progression Energy LLC. AW Hawaii wants to build two projects: an Oahu South project, consisting of 51 floating wind turbines 17 miles south of Diamond Head, and a 51-turbine Oahu Northwest project 12 miles northwest of Kaena Point. Progression Energy wants to bring 50 turbines to a site 15 miles off Oahu’s South Shore.
For more information go to boem.gov/Hawaii.
Hele station offering $1.99 gas today
Par Hawaii said the company is offering customers gasoline at $1.99 per gallon for regular gas this morning at the Hele Gas station at 1311 Palama St. between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Palama station is the first of 37 stations renamed Hele statewide. Twenty-five of Par Hawaii’s Tesoro-branded stations and 12 76-branded stations are being converted to Hele stations. Four or five stations are being re-branded each week, and Par Hawaii said the process will be complete by December.
“It’s an opportunity for us to make it our own,” said Par Hawaii President Jim Yates.
U.S. GDP grows at a weak 1.2 percent
WASHINGTON >> Growth in the U.S. economy was sluggish again in the spring, dashing expectations for a robust rebound after a tough winter.
The Commerce Department said Friday that the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy — grew at a 1.2 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. That was far below the 2.6 percent GDP growth rate economists had been forecasting.
Stronger consumer spending was offset by weakness in housing construction and a big slowdown in the pace that businesses restocked store shelves.
On the Move
Kaiser Permanente has announced the following new hires for its facilities on Oahu:
William Brian Hatten at the Moanalua Medical Center, practicing hospital medicine. He was previ- ously associate medical director at Sutter Medical Group and is board-certified in family medicine.
James Jones at Kapolei Clinic’s family medicine department. He was previously chief resident at Tripler Army Medical Center and is board-certified in family medicine.
Kaipo Pau at the Mapunapuna Medical Office, specializing in pain medicine. He was previously chief of pain management at the Orthopedic Surgical Center of the North Shore in Peabody, Mass.
Robert Pedersen at the Mapunapuna Medical Office, as a pediatric neurologist. He is an Army veteran was previously at Tripler Army Medical Center, where he was chief of child neurology, director of continuing medical education and director of the pediatric residency program.
Heidi Solberg- Shankle at Moanalua Medical Center’s emergency medicine department. She previously worked at Cascade Emergency Associates St. John Medical Center in Longview, Wash.
