Ulupono Initiative, BioEnergy team up

Ulupono Initiative and BioEnergy Hawaii LLC, developer and operator of waste treatment and alternative energy systems, have partnered to fund a resource recovery facility on the west side of Hawaii island.

The Hawaii-focused impact investment firm and BioEnergy Hawaii will share all financial obligations and proceeds of the $50 million facility.

The project will accept municipal solid waste and divert 70 percent of it from the West Hawaii Sanitary Landfill by recycling the waste to produce multiple products, including organics and residual solid fuel.

The project will be near the Puuanahulu landfill. BioEnergy Hawaii said construction is scheduled to begin during the summer of 2016.

Banks fined $5B over market rigging

WASHINGTON » Four of the world’s biggest banks agreed Wednesday to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the currency markets — a rare instance in which federal prosecutors have wrung an admission of criminal wrongdoing from a major financial institution.

Traders at JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup’s banking unit Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland were accused of working together to manipulate rates on the foreign exchange market, where hundreds of billions of dollars and euros change hands back and forth.

The penalties are a victory for the government and reflect a broader effort by the Justice Department, long criticized as reluctant to prosecute big banks, to tackle financial misconduct.

In the past 18 months, prosecutors have brought criminal cases against banks accused of tax evasion and sanctions violations, and have reached multibillion-dollar settlements with several others for their roles in the 2008 financial meltdown.

Fed minutes indicate June rate hike unlikely

WASHINGTON » Federal Reserve policymakers largely agreed when they met last month that it would be too early to start raising interest rates in June, as they debated whether the economy’s winter weakness would fade or persist.

While "a few" Fed officials believed that the U.S. economy would be ready to raise rates in June, they were outnumbered by "many" Fed officials who viewed it as "unlikely" that the economic data would be strong enough to justify a hike next month.

Lowe’s profit up but misses expectations

MOORESVILLE, N.C. » Lowe’s sales and profit rose in the first quarter as the housing market began to thaw, but the performance was far from what Wall Street had expected.

The performance was a stark contrast to that of its rival, Home Depot Inc., which beat almost all projections Tuesday and raised its outlook for the year.

For the three months ended May 1, Lowe’s earned $673 million, or 70 cents a share. While better than the $624 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier, it was far from the per-share earnings of 74 cents that industry analysts were projecting.

Revenue for the Mooreseville, N.C., retailer climbed to $14.13 billion from $13.4 billion. That also fell short of the $14.23 billion that Wall Street had expected.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 5.2 percent, a figure that was easily outpaced by Home Depot and also below most expectations for Lowe’s.

Wage protest prompts McDonald’s closure

OAK BROOK, Ill. » McDonald’s shut down a restaurant near its headquarters Wednesday after the area was swamped by hundreds of protesters calling for pay of $15 an hour and a union.

The restaurant was closed because of traffic concerns, said Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, a spokeswoman for McDonald’s. The company also told employees in a building targeted by protesters they should work from home, she said.

ConAgra settles salmonella criminal case

SAVANNAH, Ga. » ConAgra Foods agreed Wednesday to pay $11.2 million, a sum that includes the highest criminal fine ever in a U.S. food safety case, to settle a federal charge that the company shipped Peter Pan peanut butter tainted with salmonella from a plant in Georgia, sickening more than 600 people and triggering a massive recall eight years ago.

Federal prosecutors filed a single misdemeanor charge of shipping adulterated food against the Omaha, Neb.- based company along with a plea deal Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Georgia. No company executives were charged.

Japan’s economic growth picked up in first quarter

TOKYO » Japan’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected 2.4 percent annual pace in the January-March quarter, suggesting a recovery is gaining traction despite persisting weakness in corporate and household spending.

About 2 percentage points of the first quarter’s growth reflected an increase in inventories stemming from the plunge in demand that followed a sales tax increase in April 2014. An increase of 7.5 percent in housing investment also drove growth.

Overall trends for the economy are positive, said Masamichi Adachi, an economist with JPMorgan in Tokyo. Lower costs for oil and gas imports due to the plunge in crude oil prices were a big plus, he said. The 0.6 percent rise in GDP from the previous quarter was the second straight quarter of growth. Economists had mostly forecast growth for the first quarter at 1.5 percent.

Hawaii Kai show to display 300-plus drool-worthy rides

The East End Hot Rod show will feature more than 300 cars at Hawaii Kai Towne Center on Monday.

Those who arrive early to the free event, scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m., will be able to see street rods, muscle cars and antique models as they parade through the Costco parking lot.

Organizers of the twice-a-year show also will offer attendees chances to win prizes from various center merchants.

Motorcycle sales up 8.2% despite high fatality rate

Motorcycle sales for the first quarter were up 8.2 percent, according to the industry trade group Motorcycle Industry Council.

That number reflects sales data from 20 leading brands and covers sales of road bikes, off-road bikes, dual sport bikes and scooters.

That’s good news, but could foretell a coming increase in motorcyclist deaths.

Motorcycle fatalities for 2014 remained high, a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association said.

Though motorcycles account for only 3 percent of vehicles on the road, their riders and passengers make up 14 percent of all U.S. motor vehicle-related deaths.

Estimated total fatalities for 2014 will reach 4,584, GHSA said, when the data set is complete. That’s a 1.8 percent drop from 2013, when 4,668 people died in motorcycle incidents.

But that fatality rate is double the number of deaths tabulated during the late 1990s, GHSA said — and the figure is more stark because automobile traffic deaths have dropped due to improved auto safety features.

Motorcycle deaths accounted for only 5 percent of all U.S. motor vehicle deaths in 1997, but represented 14 percent of all motor vehicle deaths in 2013. The report blamed the stubbornly high death rate on lax helmet laws, unlicensed riders, speeding, and use of drugs and alcohol.

Only 19 of the 50 states have universal helmet laws, with most of the remainder requiring helmets only for riders under 18 or in some cases 21. In those states, the GHSA report stated, helmet use is typically below 50 percent.

On the Move

» McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawaii has hired Shannon Scott as marketing consultant for its restaurants in Hawaii. Scott has 20 years experience in Hawaii media, including serving as promotions director at Cox Radio Group, an on-air radio personality at KCCN-FM as well as hosted Heineken Hot Hawaiian Nights, a television concert series.

» Locations, a real estate company in Hawaii, has announced that realtor associate Kellie Mason has joined the firm. Mason started her real estate career in 2013 with Fort Campbell Keller Williams in Clarksville, Tenn.

» Kelly Sanders, area managing director of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Waikiki, has announced that Lawrence Hanson has been named general manager of Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa. Hanson was previously serving as hotel manager of Sheraton Waikiki since October 2013 as well as a senior director of meetings and events for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for 13 years.

Ship Ahoy!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: