Facebook buys face.com
NEW YORK >> Facebook is bringing one of its long-term vendors, facial recognition technology company Face.com, in-house.
The Israeli company’s technology helps people tag photos on the Web by figuring out who is in the pictures.
Hospice of Hilo to open new care center
Hospice of Hilo will open a new care center on Hawaii island on Friday.
Pohai Malama a Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Care Center at 590 Kapiolani St. measures 14,140 square feet and has 12 bedrooms, dining and meditation rooms, as well as a spa, keiki area and training center.
The facility will provide round-the-clock hospice care for patients, including children.
Hospice of Hilo has raised $9.4 million of the $10 million cost of construction and is seeking additional monetary donations, as well as kitchen, home and children’s items. For more information, call 808-969-1733.
J.C. Penney says its president is leaving
J.C. Penney Co. says Michael Francis, the former Target Corp. executive brought in to redefine the brand, is leaving the company.
The department store operator gave no reason for his immediate departure.
J.C. Penney hired Francis in October as president to redefine the Plano, Texas, company’s brand and boost its sagging sales.
J.C. Penney has hired a number of big-name executives to help transform everything about the retailer. The riskiest move was the elimination of hundreds of sales events in favor of more predictable low prices, a change that shoppers have not embraced.
Builder confidence up to 5-year high
WASHINGTON » Confidence among U.S. builders ticked up this month to a five-year high, an indication that the housing market is slowly improving.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose in June to 29, the highest reading since May 2007. It increased from a reading of 28 last month, which was revised down one point from its initial figure.
The index, which was released Monday, has risen in seven of the past nine months, suggesting builders see the seeds of a recovery taking shape after years of stagnation.
Barrett to run Yahoo’s advertising team
SAN FRANCISCO » Yahoo is turning to a former colleague of its interim CEO to oversee the troubled Internet company’s efforts to sell more online advertising.
Monday’s announcement that Michael Barrett, as chief revenue officer, will be running Yahoo’s advertising sales team comes five weeks after the Sunnyvale, Calif., company dumped Scott Thompson as its CEO amid a flap about misleading information on his biography.
Thompson’s replacement, interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, worked with Barrett while they were both top Internet executives at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. when that company owned MySpace, once the most popular online social network.
Samsonite pulls bags amid safety scare
HONG KONG » Samsonite International SA pulled its "Tokyo Chic" line of luggage from Hong Kong stores Monday after a local consumer group reported finding high levels of compounds linked to cancer in the handles, although the company insisted the bags were safe.
The Hong Kong Consumer Council said last week it found that the side handles on three Samsonite suitcases had higher levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons than recommended in voluntary guidelines.
The compounds are commonly found in plastics, rubber and lubricating oil and it’s possible that traces were left during manufacturing, the council said.
They have been known to cause cancer and birth defects in animals.
China optimistic about economic growth
LOS CABOS, Mexico » China’s economy, the world’s second biggest, may be improving this month after government measures to support growth, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said in Mexico.
"The downward economic trend in April and May this year is pretty obvious" and the central government took "some preemptive measures to boost consumption," Chen told reporters at a briefing at the G-20 summit in Los Cabos on Monday. "I personally think that the June situation is turning for the better," he added, without being more specific about the improvements.
China’s first interest-rate reduction since 2008 this month highlighted the threat to the economy from budget cuts in Europe that are constraining demand for exports. Chen said that his nation’s goal of 10 percent growth in trade this year is "still possible" if the European debt crisis can be contained in the second half.
The world’s most populous country has to "start our own consumption so that domestic markets can help offset some impacts from global trade," Chen said.
On the Move
Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School announces:
>> David Rizor has been named director of operations, taking over July 1. He was director of the Volcano School of Arts and Sciences.
>> Sue Deuber has been retained as a hiring consultant. She is currently a consultant with Joining Hands Consulting Services.
‘Olelo Community Media has selected new members to serve three-year terms on the board of directors:
>> Dee Jay Mailer, chief executive officer of Kamehameha Schools.
>> Tyler Tokioka, vice president of external affairs for Island Insurance.
RIM Architects’ has announced that Stacy Hansen, an associate, has moved to the firm’s Hawaii operation from its Anchorage, Alaska, office. She has 11 years of experience in architecture.
