Just as the economy’s recovering, a blow to jobs

It seems a perfect storm is gathering to help destroy any gains that might have been made over the past year on the local employment front.

More than 300 people are set to lose their jobs at the Ala Moana Sears in June, more than 200 people will lose their jobs when Tesoro shuts down its oil refinery in Kapolei in April, and more than a hundred BAE Systems workers at Schofield Barracks on Friday were furloughed for 30 days, starting immediately, and it’s not certain how many of those jobs will be resumed when the furlough period ends.

Tourism, of course, remains a bright spot, but it, too, may be in for some problems as Japan resumes an monetary policy that could devalue the yen and make it more expensive for Japanese to vacation here.

UH set to open cool new cancer center

Temperatures have been on the cool side lately, so it’s easy to forget that the sun’s rays are still doing their worst to skin cells.

However, the folks of the American Cancer Society and the Hawaii Skin Cancer Coalition will be happy to issue sunscreen reminders on Saturday to anyone who stops by the grand opening of the new University of Hawaii Cancer Center. In fact, we’re told, they’ll be handing out sunscreen to those who forgot to put theirs on, and even to those who remembered.

The big event is set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on the center’s campus, 701 Ilalo St., just makai of the UH medical school in Kakaako. Nobel laureate Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn will give one of the keynotes, and there will be all manner of hands-on displays and lessons to explain some of the center’s work.