Waikiki Trade Center rental space available
Nearly half of the rentable space in the Waikiki Trade Center, an office and retail building at the corner of Kuhio and Seaside avenues, is available for rent, and the new owners have hired Bishop Street Commercial to manage the office leasing.
Seaside Equity LLC, which bought the 248-foot tower on Feb. 7, said in a news release Monday it has hired Bishop Street Commercial to manage leasing.
The glass office tower has four levels of parking and a ground-floor retail mall with a Starbucks and Jamba Juice.
The building has about 205,390 square feet of rentable space and currently has 96,097 square feet available, Bishop Street Commercial said in the news release.
Low rate is boosting trade, Bernanke says
WASHINGTON » Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that the Federal Reserve’s low-interest-rate policies are helping to boost growth around the world, rejecting criticism that they could lead to a global currency war.
In a speech at the London School of Economics, Bernanke staunchly defended the Fed’s policies and similar stimulus efforts pursued by other central banks since the 2008 financial crisis.
Last week the Fed stood by its policies to keep borrowing costs at record lows, saying the U.S. economy still required the support to help lower high unemployment.
OneTouch Verio blood sugar meters recalled
Johnson & Johnson is recalling all its OneTouch VerioIQ blood glucose meters in the U.S. because they do not provide a warning when a diabetic’s blood sugar level is dangerously high. Instead, at a certain sugar level, the meters turn off.
The meters are made by J&J’s LifeScan unit, which will issue a free replacement meter to all patients.
The company says the meters shut down when a patient’s blood sugar hits 1,024 milligrams per deciliter. That’s an extremely high level requiring immediate medical attention.
Ford India apologizes over bondage ad
MUMBAI, India » The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologized for advertisements decried as demeaning to women, including one depicting Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a trio of bound women in the trunk of a car.
A Ford India spokeswoman said Monday that the company is investigating whether anyone at the automaker ever saw the print ads, which were never used commercially but appeared over the weekend on a website showcasing creative advertising.
The ads caused an uproar online and came just after India passed a new law on violence against women following a fatal gang rape of a student on a bus that prompted mass protests and spotlighted the status of women in India.
Boeing makes test flight to check battery
SEATTLE » A Boeing 787 took off from Seattle on Monday on a test flight to see if a redesigned battery system works properly while the plane is in the air.
The test flight is an important step in Boeing’s plan to persuade safety regulators to allow airlines to resume using the plane, which the company calls the Dreamliner.
Boeing filed a flight plan shortly before the plane took off from Paine Field near Seattle.
ON THE MOVE
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has announced that Keli‘i Akina has been named its president and chief executive officer. He has been a public policy spokesman and a community leader as well as a scholar and educator. Akina is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Hawaii Pacific University.
The Hawaiian Humane Society has announced:
>> Aleisha Swartz has been appointed to the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association board as an Oahu delegate. She is a chief veterinarian for the Hawaiian Humane Society.
>> Keoni Vaughn has been elected to serve as president
of CrimeStoppers Honolulu’s board of directors. He is the Hawaiian Humane Society’s director of operations.
Pacific Links Hawaii Foundation has presented $100,000 to Ka‘ala Farms, the University of Hawaii at West Oahu, the Kapolei Community Development Corp., the Malama Learning Center and Kupu. The mission of Pacific Links Hawaii Foundation is to help cultivate and sustain programs that aid Hawaii’s ecosystem, keiki and culture.
The Ethisphere Institute has named the Nature Conservancy one of the “Most Ethical Companies for 2013.”
