Pasha lowers fuel surcharge

Pasha Hawaii Transport Line said Tuesday it will lower its fuel surcharge for delivering ocean cargo to Hawaii from the mainland.

The company said the decrease of 3 percentage points, to 38.5 percent from 41.5 percent, was effective Tuesday.

Pasha’s move follows a similar-size decrease that took effect Sunday at Matson Navigation Co., which cut its customer fuel surcharge to 42.5 percent from 45.5 percent.

Finance Factors to close Chinatown branch

Finance Factors will close its Chinatown branch at 102-A N. King St. on Dec. 30, the company said Tuesday. Employees will be moved to other branches, the company said. Finance Factors has 14 branches, including Chinatown.

“While we regrettably made the decision to close our branch in Chinatown, we look forward to providing our customers with the same high-quality banking options and friendly customer service they’ve come to know and enjoy at Finance Factors,” said Steven Teruya, Finance Factors president and CEO, in a news release.

Green Dragon relocates on Maui

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case of Green Dragon Markets LLC, a Maui farmers market, has been dismissed with all related claims and counterclaims dropped. The company had cited estimated assets and debts of up to $50,000 in its voluntary petition in July.

“We relocated, and with an independent (building) owner, we have the same space, less lease and no restrictions” on items its vendors can sell, said co-owner Robert Gagne.

The market renamed Green Dragon Farmers Market LLC has relocated to the old Y. Hata & Co. Ltd. building at 200 Waiehu Beach Road where its daily hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The space will hold up to 26 vendors who sell produce, fresh and frozen fish, meats and a variety of prepared foods.

Walgreen shares fall on deal concerns

INDIANAPOLIS » Shares of Walgreen Co. tumbled Tuesday as investor concerns over the fate of a multibillion-dollar contract outweighed a jump in the drugstore operator’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

The Deerfield, Ill., company said Tuesday morning there has been no substantive progress in contract renewal negotiations with Express Scripts Inc., and company officials later told analysts the two sides remain “miles apart.”

Walgreen said in June that it was ending a $5.3 billion-per-year relationship with Express Scripts Inc. Walgreen said that the St. Louis company was not paying it enough money to fill prescriptions. It also complained that Express Scripts was trying to dictate terms of the partnership.

Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, such as Express Scripts, pay Walgreen to fill prescriptions.

The PBMs make money by reducing the costs in prescription drug plans. Walgreen had a similar contract fight last year with CVS Caremark Corp. that was eventually resolved.

Walgreen shares fell 6 percent, or $2.26, to close at $33.77 Tuesday.

Many cities imposing broad cuts

WASHINGTON » More than half of U.S. cities have cut staff, canceled construction projects or raised fees this year, according to a report from the National League of Cities that catalogs the vast damage from shrunken property- and income-tax revenue.

Cities are struggling from the same problems that have left the national economy sputtering: high unemployment, a depressed housing market and weak consumer spending. Those factors have reduced the taxes that cities collect for a fifth straight year. Many have had to make up the gap by laying off employees, freezing pay, cutting services, raising fees or suspending building projects.

Two-thirds of city finance officers said they had delayed or canceled public-works projects this year. Two in 5 reported raising fees for city services. One in 5 had cut spending on public safety. Nearly 1 in 3 had laid off staffers.

Spring buying boosts U.S. home prices

WASHINGTON » The depressed housing market flashed a positive signal in July, with home prices in most major U.S. cities rising for the fourth straight month.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed that prices rose from June to July in 17 of the 20 cities the index tracks. Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis posted the biggest percentage gains. Prices fell in two cities among those hit hardest by the housing crisis: Las Vegas and Phoenix.

The index, which covers half of all U.S. homes, measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The July data are the latest available.

ON THE MOVE

Hoakalei Country Club has promoted Kellan Anderson to head golf professional from assistant head golf professional. He will oversee day-to-day operations for the golf department, which includes purchasing merchandise and managing staff for the golf shop. Anderson’s experience includes working in various positions at Mililani Golf Academy, Turtle Bay Golf Club and Ala Wai Driving Range.

Ferraro Choi and Associates is the first Hawaii project to receive the LEED 2009 Platinum Certification for sustainable design. The certificate is the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest possible registration and the most difficult to achieve.

Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network raised $133,085 at its fifth annual Radiothon for Kids, which was held Aug. 25-26. The radiothon is an annual event that turns Kapiolani’s cafeteria into KSSK’s studio for two days to raise awareness and funds for Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network.

Edmund C. Olson, chairman of A-American Storage Management Co., has donated $500,000 to the Nature Conservancy for forest conservation on Hawaii island. The funds will be used to protect the native forests of South Kona and Kau, which provide a habitat for the island’s endangered forest birds.