BUSINESS BRIEFS
St. Francis nurse contract ratified
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Unionized nurses at St. Francis West Medical Center ratified a three-year contract that provides a 25 percent pay increase over the three years.
The contract, ratified Thursday, covers more than 160 nurses represented by the Hawaii Nurses Association. The agreement brings wages at St. Francis in line with what nurses are paid at other Hono-lulu hospitals represented by the HNA, the union said.
$10,000 GOES TO DRUG EDUCATION
Friends of Hawaii Charities has awarded a $10,000 grant to Narconon Hawaii to fund drug education and prevention programs for children.
"This grant will allow us to continue our battle against the drug epidemic, which has its grip on our state," said Bobby Newman, executive director of Narconon Hawaii.
Since 2005, Narconon Hawaii has delivered drug education programs to more than 15,000 children in 60 schools on O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island.
WAL-MART EXEC SENTENCED, FINED
FORT SMITH, Ark. — A former No. 2 Wal-Mart executive who began his career as the company's theft-prevention chief was sentenced yesterday to 27 months in home detention after pleading guilty to stealing money, merchandise and gift cards from the retailer.
Thomas Coughlin, 57, avoided any prison time but was ordered also to serve five years probation and pay a $50,000 fine and about $411,000 in restitution to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the Internal Revenue Service.
OIL PRICES HURT AIRLINE STOCKS
ATLANTA — Shares in several major U.S. airlines slid further yesterday, a day after British officials said they foiled a plot to blow up planes crossing the Atlantic. But the latest slide may have more to do with higher oil prices than with the terror threat itself.
Crude-oil prices rose yesterday after dropping more than $2 a barrel a day earlier, as markets re-evaluated jet-fuel demand and consumer confidence in the wake of the thwarted airplane attacks.
After their stocks were pummeled Thursday on word of the terror threat, shares of Continental Airlines Inc. and UAL Corp. continued their slide yesterday on the oil price rise.
APPLE SCRAMBLES TO AVOID DELISTING
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Computer Inc. maneuvered yesterday to keep its shares listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market after reiterating its mishandling of past employee stock options will cause it to miss a regulatory deadline for filing its latest quarterly results.
Apple said it will ask for an administrative hearing in response to a Nasdaq letter warning of a possible delisting because of the company's delay in making its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
