Meeting will address Kam Drive-In plans
The owner of the former Kam Drive-In site in Aiea has scheduled a community presentation for Oct. 24 to share revised development plans for the property. Robertson Properties Group will share the plans from 7 to 9 p.m. at Pearl Ridge Elementary School.
Tokujo tapped to help with Waikiki show
Roberts Hawaii, the transportation company, said Monday it has hired Roy Tokujo as a consultant to assist in setting up a new stage show in Waikiki.
Tokujo is a former chairman of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Hawaii Tourism Authority. He managed entertainers Don Ho and Charo and launched Paradise Cove Luau.
Tokujo said, "I’ve been in (Hawaii’s) marketplace for over 40 years and have seen entertainment from when Don Ho started. I’ve seen a lot of new and old things come along. Each time I see a new challenge, I see a new opportunity to satisfy what customers expect when they come to Hawaii."
Netflix kills plan to split off DVD rentals
NEW YORK » Netflix generates more head-scratching plot twists than a cheap B-movie.
On Monday the company said it would reverse a previously announced decision to put its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming services on separate websites, a plan that was widely derided by Netflix subscribers.
People will be able to use both services under one account and one password, CEO Reed Hastings said Monday in a blog post.
Netflix Inc., however, intends to stick to pricing plans introduced in June, which means subscribers are now paying separately for streaming service and mailed DVDs. That change amounted to a price increase for most subscribers.
Dr Pepper Ten designed just for men
NEW YORK » Dudes don’t drink diet.
Or at least that’s the idea behind Dr Pepper Ten, a 10-calorie soft drink Dr Pepper Snapple Group rolled out Monday with a macho ad campaign that proclaims, "It’s not for women." The soft drink was developed after the company’s research found that men shy away from diet drinks that aren’t perceived as "manly" enough.
To appeal to men, Dr Pepper made its Ten drink 180 degrees different from Diet Dr Pepper. It has calories and sugar unlike its diet counterpart. Instead of the dainty tan bubbles on the diet can, Ten will be wrapped in gunmetal grey packaging with silver bullets. And while Diet Dr Pepper’s marketing is women-friendly, the ad campaign for Ten goes out of its way to eschew women.
For instance, there’s a Dr Pepper Ten Facebook page for men only. And TV commercials are heavy on the machismo, including one spot that shows muscular men in the jungle battling snakes and bad guys.
Facebook set to release iPad app
NEW YORK » One of the big, enduring questions of the technology world: When will iPad users get their very own Facebook app?
That question was answered Monday, as Facebook said it was set to release an updated version of its iPhone application, one that’s also designed to fill out the larger screen of the iPad.
The lack of an iPad app for the most popular social network in the world has confounded users ever since Apple launched its tablet computer a year and a half ago. Third-party developers have made money selling their own apps that show Facebook pages.
ECB slows down government bond buying
FRANKFURT, Germany » The European Central Bank bought only $3.1 billion in government bonds last week to keep pressure from the eurozone debt crisis off financially troubled governments.
The figures released Monday show the bank easing back on a controversial program that it wants to hand off to the eurozone’s bailout fund as soon as it can.
The purchases were down from $5.2 billion the week before, and well off the $30 billion spent when the program was relaunched in August after being dormant for months.
The bank was cutting back on purchases as it readied different measures that are more in line with its preferred approach to Europe’s government debt crisis. It is now aiming to support banks by offering them unlimited amounts of 12- and 13-month credits that will help secure their finances into 2013.
The ECB has pushed liquidity — lending large amounts of ready cash against collateral so that banks can operate day to day — as its key response to the crisis.
Superior Energy buys Complete
NEW ORLEANS » Superior Energy Services will buy Complete Production Services Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2.7 billion, the company said Monday, giving it a broader reach in the oilfield services sector.
The buyout equates to 0.945 common shares of Superior and $7 in cash for each share that Complete stockholders own.
Superior shareholders will own about 52 percent of Superior’s outstanding stock, and Complete stockholders will own the remaining 48 percent.
The acquisition will allow Superior to offer more products and services such as hydraulic fracturing and well servicing.
ON THE MOVE
The Hawaiian Eye Center has hired and promoted the following employees:
» Justine Lafata as a bookkeeper in the administration department.
» Shanelle Agustin as a resident nurse for the Hawaiian Eye Surgicenter in Wahiawa.
» Rachelle Tavares to senior patient services representative from patient services representative at the Wahiawa location.
» Jo Anne Nishigaya to oversee all departments for Hawaiian Eye Center offices and Surgery Center as the practice administrator. She was previously managing the billing department.
