BUSINESS BRIEFS
Positive drug-test findings decline
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Percentage of employees testing positive for marijuana and opiate use in Hawai'i declined slightly in the third quarter, according to statistics released by Diagnostic Laboratory Services.
From July to September, 2.4 percent of the drug tests conducted on workers or job applicants tested positive for marijuana, the report said. In the second quarter, 2.5 percent tested positive, the report said.
Opiate use dropped from 0.50 percent in the second quarter to 0.40 percent in the third quarter, according to the report. Use of other drugs, including cocaine and amphetamine, remained stable, the report said.
DLS' quarterly sample size typically includes from 7,000 to 10,000 drug tests. The company does the drug testing for about 800 businesses in Hawai'i.
ANTI-DRUG GROUP GETS $50,000 GRANT
The EWAlution STOP Act Project Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii has been given a $50,000 award by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
It was one of 79 grants made by the agency totaling about $16 million over four years for the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act grant program. The program is designed to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youths in communities throughout the country.
The 79 awards can be funded up to $50,000 per year in total costs.
PROFESSIONALS MUST RENEW LICENSES
The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is encouraging about 9,000 Hawai'i professionals to renew their licenses online before the Dec. 31 deadline.
The department is continuing to offer a 25 percent customer appreciation credit on the renewal fee and a 10 percent discount on the compliance resolution fund fee for all licenses renewed online. Renewals can be done online at www.pvl.ehawaii.gov/renewals.
Professionals able to renew online include electrologists, mortgage brokers, mortgage solicitors, occupational therapists and physical therapists. Online renewals for these licensees increased 64 percent in 2006 from 40 percent in 2004.
Instructions for completing the online renewal have been mailed to each license holder. Online renewals will be accepted until midnight Dec. 31.
For more information, call 586-3000 on O'ahu, 808-274-3141 on Kaua'i, 808-984-2400 on Maui, 808-974-4000 on the Big Island and 800-468-4644 on Lana'i and Moloka'i.
GENERAL GROWTH SHARES FALL 8.7%
Shares of General Growth Properties Inc. fell yesterday after the Wall Street Journal reported the mall owner may sell up to $2 billion in preferred shares to investors, including private equity and hedge funds.
General Growth, whose Hawai'i holdings include Ala Moana Center and Ward Centers, has approached Blackstone Group LP, Colony Capital LLC and Vornado Realty Trust, the newspaper said.
"We're pursuing all available alternatives actively," General Growth spokesman Timothy Goebel said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg News Service. He wouldn't comment further, citing a Sept. 22 statement by Chicago-based General Growth saying it was developing a plan to raise capital from asset sales, joint ventures, the sale of preferred equity or other sources.
General Growth declined 53 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $5.59 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Company shares have lost almost 90 percent of their value in the past 12 months.
