Mokulele pilots switch to iPads
Mokulele Airlines said Friday its pilots have received Federal Aviation Administration approval for the use of iPads with electronic charts and satellite weather, replacing most of their paper books and charts with digital documents.
The 1.5 pound iPad replaces about 15 pounds of paper on each of Mokulele’s Cessna Caravans, saving an estimated $5,000 worth of fuel per year, the company said.
Pilots will use iPads as electronic chart and digital flight manual readers, making the flight deck paperless.
Toys R Us upgrading at Windward Mall
Toys R Us will upgrade its presence at Windward Mall in Kaneohe to a Toys R Us Outlet store from an Express location.
The company has operated its Express store concept at the mall since 2010, and its popularity led the company to seek a multiyear lease for a 4,000-square-foot Outlet store, according to a statement.
The store will feature a wide selection of value-oriented products unique to the company’s Outlet locations, as well as an assortment of items sold in full-size stores.
Grand opening festivities this weekend include giveaways of branded lunch bags and visits by store mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe and Brobee from "Yo Gabba Gabba."
Drop in oil costs means lower gas prices
There’s some good news behind the discouraging headlines on the economy: Gas is getting cheaper. It’s dropped to $2.99 in some parts of South Carolina and could soon fall below $3 in a handful of other Southern states.
A plunge in oil prices has knocked more than 30 cents off the price of a gallon of gas in most parts of the U.S. since early April. The national average is now $3.61. Experts say it could drop to at least $3.40 before Labor Day.
If Americans spend less filling their tanks, they’ll have more money for discretionary purchases. The downside? Lower oil and gas prices are symptoms of weakening economic conditions in the U.S. and around the globe.
Walmart CEO says company is committed
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. » Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke said Friday that the retailer is committed to integrity in the wake of recent bribery allegations in Mexico.
Duke joined other executives including Chairman Robson Walton, the son of founder Sam Walton, at the company’s annual meeting on Friday in pledging that Walmart will get to the bottom of the allegations.
This comes after the world’s largest retailer said it will overhaul its compliance program and expand its internal investigation into the accusations to other countries.
Consumer spending up 0.3 percent in April
WASHINGTON » Consumer spending edged up modestly in April, but personal income growth was the slowest in five months, raising concerns about the ability of Americans to keep spending in the future.
Consumer spending increased 0.3 percent in April following a revised 0.2 percent gain in March, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Americans’ income grew 0.2 percent in April, the poorest showing since incomes fell 0.1 percent in November. The April gain was just half the 0.4 percent in March rise.
U.S. factory activity grew slowly in May
WASHINGTON » U.S. manufacturing grew more slowly in May, hampered by weaker hiring and declining production. But a measure of new orders rose to a 13-month high, suggesting factory activity will pick up in June.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Friday that its index of manufacturing activity fell to 53.5 in May, down from a reading of 54.8 in April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
GM shifts white-collar pensions to annuity
DETROIT » General Motors Co. will change the way it makes pension payments to white-collar retirees, shoring up its finances by offering buyouts and shifting liabilities to an annuity.
The moves will unload $26 billion in pension liabilities from the Detroit automaker’s books, and experts say the changes are likely the start of a trend as companies with defined benefit pension plans try to cut risk and administrative costs.
GM said Friday that it will offer 42,000 retirees a lump sum of cash if they agree to stop taking monthly benefits. For the rest of the 118,000 U.S. salaried retirees and spouses, GM will buy a group annuity that will make monthly payments starting in 2013.
Google feature to aid searchers in China
BEIJING » Google has fired a new salvo in a censorship battle with Beijing by adding a feature that warns users in China who enter search keywords that might produce blocked results and suggests they try other terms.
Google’s announcement Thursday described the change as a technical improvement and made no mention of Beijing’s extensive Internet controls. But it comes after filters were tightened so severely in recent weeks that searches fail for some restaurants, universities or tourist information. Authorities were trying to stamp out talk about an embarrassing scandal over the fall of a rising Communist Party star.
Google Inc. closed its China-based search engine in 2010 because of government censorship. Mainland users can see its Chinese-language site in Hong Kong, but the connection breaks if they search for sensitive terms.
ON THE MOVE
The University of Hawaii Foundation has promoted and hired:
>> Lori Admiral to associate vice president of development from director of development for UH-Manoa.
>> Dave Mori has been appointed director of development for the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
>> Paul Oleniacz has joined the foundation as director of development for UH-Manoa Sciences.
YMCA of Honolulu has promoted Keola Taniguchi to executive director of the Mililani YMCA. Before his promotion, he was an associate executive director of Leeward YMCA. Taniguchi joined YMCA of Honolulu in 1995.
