BUSINESS BRIEFS
Six laid off at Hawaiian Tel
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawaiian Telcom said it laid off six employees as part of a cost-cutting and restructuring effort. Another 60 employees accepted early retirement packages that were offered in January.
Hawaiian Telcom spokes-man Dan Smith said the job cuts were made Thursday across various areas of the company.
Hawaiian Telcom is the state's main telecommunications provider and has about 1,800 employees.
ALASKA/KONA FLIGHTS ADDED
Northwest Airlines will fly twice-weekly flights between Anchorage, Alaska, and Kona from Feb. 18 through April 8, the Big Island Visitors Bureau announced.
The Anchorage/Kona flights will have 224 seats. The Kona flights returning to Anchorage will stop in Honolulu to pick up more passengers. Northwest also offers five flights a week between Maui and Anchorage.
SHIPPER WILL BE OPEN MONDAY
Young Brothers will be open on Presidents' Day from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but the interisland shipper is cautioning that road closures from the Great Aloha Run will affect sections of Nimitz Highway beginning at 4:30 a.m.
Young Brothers said race officials estimate opening the Waiakamilo Road/Nimitz Highway intersection around 8:30 to 9 a.m., at which time the company's Nimitz gate will be open.
T.G.I FRIDAY'S CUTTING TRANS FAT
T.G.I. Friday's, which has restaurants in Waikiki and on Ward Avenue in Honolulu, said it will switch to a no-trans fat menu at all of its restaurants by July.
The restaurant chain said it will eliminate all oils, margarines and shortenings, in addition to pan-fried items, that contain more than a half-gram of trans fat per serving.
"Friday's is committed to providing our guests healthier menu choices, and this is one of the avenues in which we are providing this," Mike Archer, president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's USA, said in a news release.
CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING OFF 14%
WASHINGTON — Housing construction plunged to the lowest level in nearly a decade last month as the housing industry continued to struggle with a severe slowdown.
Meanwhile, wholesale prices fell 0.6 percent in January, the biggest drop in three months, providing fresh evidence that inflation pressures are easing.
Construction of new homes and apartments plunged by 14.3 percent in January, pushing total activity down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.408 million units, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
The decline pushed activity to the slowest pace since August 1997, with construction in January 37.8 percent below the pace of a year ago.
