The Kailua resident who made it big with his "Famous Amos" cookies in the 1970s and 1980s says he will open a new store in July at the Kailua Town Center called "Chip & Cookie," according to the center's landowner, Kane'ohe Ranch.

"I've decided to back into the cookie business," Amos said in a news release issued by Kane'ohe Ranch. Amos founded Famous Amos cookies in 1975 in Hawai'i after leaving a career as a William Morris talent agent in New York. Famous Amos began running into financial trouble in later years and Amos was forced to gradually sell off portions of the company until 1985 when he sold majority interest. He left the company in 1989.

Amos is one of nearly a dozen new tenant signed recently by Kane'ohe Ranch for several of its Kailua commercial properties.

Hawaiian Airlines officially exits bankruptcy

Hawaiian Airlines will officially emerge from bankruptcy today after it finalized its financing agreements with the airline's lender and its largest shareholder.

The airline's parent, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., said that a unit of Ranch Capital LLC is acquiring $60 million in newly issued notes as part of an August 2004 financing deal. The notes, which carry a 5 percent interest rate, will be convertible into stock in a year at a price of $4.35 per share.

Hawaiian, which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in March 2003, also has secured $50 million in financing from an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank.

Ranch Capital is the airline's controlling shareholder. Last year, the San Diego-based company paid $41.4 million to acquire 10 million of the 28.4 million outstanding shares of Hawaiian Holdings Inc.

UH researchers upgrade Hawai'i economic forecast

A group of University of Hawai'i economists is forecasting the state's economy will grow at a faster pace this year than previously thought.

"Visitor arrivals, employment and income growth are now expected to be a bit stronger than the figures we reported in out March" forecast, the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization said in its quarterly report on the state's economy.

Payroll jobs are forecast to grow at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, better than the 2.0 percent rate predicted in March. The unemployment rate is expected to average 2.8 percent for the year, compared with the previous forecast of 3.2 percent. Visitor arrivals are forecast to grow at an annual rate of 6.7 percent, up from the 4.9 percent growth rate reported in March.

The upward revisions reflect newly-available data for the fourth quarter of 2004 and first quarter of 2005, as well as stronger 2004 state income figures reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.