Big Island Biodiesel makes first delivery
Hawaii Petroleum loaded Friday the first tanker of fuel produced at the Big Island Biodiesel facility in Keaau. The fuel was sent to the nearby Hawaii Fueling Network (HFN) station in Shipman Business Park, which offers 100 percent biodiesel and a 20 percent blend.
Hawaii Fueling Network has been selling biodiesel produced at Pacific Biodiesel’s facilities on Maui and Oahu at the recently opened HFN station. With Big Island Biodiesel up and running, all of Pacific Biodiesel’s fuel will now be produced at Big Island Biodiesel, which has the ability to process the most degraded recycled vegetable oil feedstock into the highest quality biodiesel available in the country. The plant incorporates technology that removes virtually all trace impurities and results in biodiesel that is clear instead of amber.
Hawaii Petroleum offers bulk fuel and lubricant delivery services to all districts of the island. In addition, its HFN network has five commercial card lock sites in Hilo and Kona, as well as six HFN retail locations around the island that provide a network of fueling sites. Its sister company, Maui Petroleum, offers similar services with nine HFN fueling locations on the Valley Isle.
Berkshire sells 2 short-line railroads
OMAHA, Neb. » Warren Buffett’s company has sold two short-line railroads it recently discovered it owned to satisfy regulators who might have reviewed Berkshire Hathaway’s 2010 acquisition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. Berkshire told the Transportation Department’s Surface Transportation Board earlier this month that it had completed the sale of both short-line railroads ahead of schedule.
If Berkshire had reported owning those railroads when it bought BNSF, the Surface Transportation Board would have had to scrutinize the deal. Berkshire first disclosed owning the railroads to the Surface Transportation Board in September.
Anticlotting drug Eliquis OK’d in Japan
TRENTON, N.J. » Regulators in Japan have approved sales of an anticlotting drug called Eliquis, developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc., that’s a potential blockbuster in a new category of medicines to prevent strokes and heart attacks. But that’s only if it can win U.S. approval, as two rival drugs have done.
Pfizer and Bristol-Myers said Wednesday that Japan approved use of Eliquis for treating the most common type of irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, in patients at risk for strokes or dangerous clots called systemic embolisms. Already approved for sale in Canada and the European Union, Eliquis has twice been rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
About a quarter of all people ages 40 and older develop atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s two upper chambers contract irregularly and don’t pump blood efficiently. This can persist for years or only happen occasionally. It increases the risk of a stroke fivefold, and strokes caused by atrial fibrillation are more severe than other strokes, with half of patients who suffer them dying within a year if not treated.
Chicago parking meter costs to top U.S.
CHICAGO » Chicago soon will have the nation’s most expensive downtown parking meters.
On New Year’s Day, meters in the city’s downtown Loop area will begin charging $6.50 an hour — up from $5.75.
A report from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says the rate change will make Chicago the city with the most expensive metered parking.
The company that operates the meters plans to have all machines set to new rates by the end of February.
Former Mayor Richard Daley got the City Council to approve the company’s 75-year contract in 2008. In return, the city got a $1.1 billion payment — much of which has already been spent.
Netflix transmission lost in the ‘cloud’
For some on Christmas Eve, "White Christmas" was a blackout on Netflix. That’s because problems with Amazon’s cloud computing service, which provides storage and computing power for all kinds of websites and services, caused Netflix to go down.
Social networks filled with complaints. Amazon said it had fixed the problem completely by the afternoon of Christmas Day. But the episode highlighted how consumers are increasingly using "the cloud." As more everyday devices, appliances and even automobiles rely on Internet services, consumers expect those services to be available at all times. Yet all sorts of disruptions can knock a service out for hours.
ON THE MOVE
Prudential Locations has hired the following new employees:
» Stefano Di Maio was previously a real estate agent with iProperties Hawaii. Before working in the real estate industry, Di Maio served in the luxury sector of the hospitality industry for more than six years.
» Lynn Kimi Sarroca-Shimabukuro was previously a Realtor associate with iProperties Hawaii. Before the real estate industry, she worked in sales, management and public relations.
» Deanna L. Kolivas was previously a Realtor for Watanabe International for more than two years. Before coming to Hawaii in 1990, Kolivas was a legal secretary for a law firm in the World Trade Center in New York City.