Job fair at Dole

U.S. Rep. Charles Djou will host a job fair next week that will feature representatives from several public and private employers.

The event is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 9 at Dole Ballrooms on Iwilei Road.

Among the private employers confirmed for the job fair are ABC Stores, Best Buy, GEICO, John Hancock Financial, Macy’s and Walmart.

Affordable rental homes project opens

KAILUA-KONA » A new affordable rental housing complex has opened in Kailua-Kona.

Affordable-housing developer Vitus Group Inc. hosted a blessing ceremony yesterday for the $60 million project.

The complex has 90 studios and more than 200 one- and two-bedroom units. Monthly rates range from $331 to $863.

Gov. Linda Lingle toured the housing development after the blessing.

State and federal affordable-housing tax credits helped fund the project. Vitus Group also obtained financing through Citibank, $33.5 million in tax-exempt bonds and an $11.75 million Rental Housing Trust Fund loan.

Big Isle seeks to expand cemetery

HILO » Hawaii County wants to increase the size of its largest cemetery by more than 50 percent.

The Department of Parks and Recreation, which manages the county’s 21 public cemeteries, says Alae Cemetery is running out of space.

The department’s deputy director, Clayton Honma, says the cemetery needs to be expanded to meet the demand for burial plots.

The nearly 18-acre cemetery north of Hilo has more than 9,200 plots. The department wants to develop an additional 11 acres of county land mauka of the existing grave sites.

The department’s proposal says at 500 plots per acre, that should produce between 5,000 and 6,000 new plots.

Any expansion would require a special permit from the county’s Windward Planning Commission.