The operator of Hele and 76 brand gas stations in Hawaii said Friday that a 1.2-acre site it acquired in Kapolei last year soon will be home to a new Hele station, 7-Eleven store and Starbucks with a drive-thru. Par Hawaii said it will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today for the gas station, expected to be finished next summer. The project site is at 4960 Kapolei Parkway near HomeWorld Furniture and was acquired from a company that developed the Ilima at Leihano senior living facility in the area. Par, which operates an oil refinery in Kapolei, said the last new gas station it built on Oahu was 18 years ago in Kakaako.

UH gets $1.4M e-cig grant

A University of Hawaii Cancer Center researcher was awarded a $1.4 million federal grant to continue studying how marketing affects e-cigarette use among youth and young adults. Pallav Pokhrel won the three-year grant from the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to examine how marketing “spreads e-cigarette knowledge, attitudes and behavior.”

Vaping has become prevalent among those 18 to 25 years old, and researchers will seek to identify vulnerable groups who develop nicotine addiction as a result of targeted marketing, said Pokhrel, who also won a three-year, $2.6 million grant in 2016.

“This new study aims to generate knowledge … that would promote the health of young adults in Hawaii and across the nation,” he said.

ON THE MOVE

>> First Hawaiian Bank has appointed Nohonani Leslie to manager of the Hawaii Kai branch. Leslie has 13 years of financial services experience, including having previously served as a customer service representative and personal banking officer in the bank’s Main Banking Center, where she managed a portfolio of clients. Her responsibilities as the Hawaii Kai branch manager include staffing, administration, training and customer experience as well as day-to-day operations.