Queen’s and Kaiser cited as best in Hawaii
The annual Best Hospitals in America list by U.S. News & World Report cites the Queen’s Medical Center as the best hospital in Hawaii.
The hospital is cited as having 10 high-performing specialities versus five for Kaiser Permanente Moanalua, according to the list released Tuesday.
Neither hospital is listed by the publication as having specialties in which it is nationally ranked.
No neighbor island hospital made the list. According to U.S. News and World Report’s online coverage, none of them met standards for strong performance.
Honolulu called top city for child-free life
With the highest percentage of households without children and the third-highest number of fancy restaurants per capita, Honolulu is being called the best U.S. city for child-free living.
Online identity management website mylife.com rated the 100 most populous U.S. cities to derive its rankings, rating Honolulu at the top.
Among the measurements used were the fewest babies born in each city’s metro area based on the percentage of the population, performing arts theaters per capita, and bars per capita.
The rest of the top five cities, in order, are San Francisco, Boston, Pittsburgh and Seattle.
Island Air renames frequent-flier program
Island Air has renamed its frequent-flier program Island Miles.
The program, previously called Cloud 9, enables passengers to earn a free one-way ticket after nine paid flights or after reaching 4,500 miles. Other perks included with the program are pre-boarding privileges and special members-only flights. There are no blackout dates.
Membership is free and passengers can register at www.IslandAir.com/island-miles.
Molokai farm co-op installs solar array
The Hikiola Cooperative in Hoolehua, Molokai, has installed a 12-kilowatt grid-connected solar array that will provide almost all of the power needed to run the co-op.
First organized in 1976 as a farm supply and marketing cooperative, Hikiola shifted to making supplies available to both farmer-members and the greater community.
Molokai pays one of the highest rates for electricity in the nation. The rate this month is 52 cents per kilowatt-hour.
"The use of alternative energy is a positive step in our mission to lower the cost of supplies for our agribusiness patrons," Hikiola Cooperative Manager Tina Tamanaha said.
ProVision Solar is installing the net-energy-metered photovoltaic system.
Apple, IBM join up on mobile devices, apps
CUPERTINO, CALIF. » Apple is teaming up with former nemesis IBM in an attempt to sell more iPhones and iPads to corporate customers and government agencies.
The partnership announced Tuesday calls for the two technology companies to work together on about 100 different mobile applications designed for a range of industries.
The applications, expected to be released this fall, will feature some of the data-crunching tools that IBM Corp. sells to companies trying to get a better grasp on their main markets while scouring for new moneymaking opportunities.
Intel beats forecasts on demand for PCs
Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, announced Tuesday second-quarter financial results that were well above expectations, aided by strong demand for chips in both personal computers and computer servers, its two mainstay businesses.
Intel said net income rose 40 percent, to $2.8 billion, from $2 billion a year earlier. The company earned 55 cents a share, compared with 39 cents a year earlier. Revenue was up 8 percent, to $13.8 billion from $12.8 billion.
ON THE MOVE
Finance Factors has hired:
» Lisa Wong as vice president and human resources director. Before joining Finance Factors, Wong managed human resources functions, including recruitment, employee relations and staff development at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
» Ryan Shiroma as vice president and bank secrecy act officer. He was previously a senior cash management officer at Central Pacific Bank for two years as well as an investigator and team leader for Bank of Hawaii’s Financial Investigations Unit.
Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel announced attorney Gail Cosgrove has joined the firm. Cosgrove has been practicing law for more than 30 years and was previously the officer and director of Hisaka Yoshida & Cosgrove.
