BUSINESS BRIEFS
HTA postpones meeting on CEO
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The Hawai'i Tourism Authority will postpone a meeting scheduled Monday to decide the employment future of president and CEO Rex Johnson in the wake of a controversy over e-mails he sent from his state laptop computer.
The meeting was postponed until 11:30 a.m. Thursday because not enough voting board members will be available Monday to meet the needed quorum for decision-making, board chairman Kelvin Bloom said .
The 16-member board had scheduled a meeting for 9:30 a.m. Monday to decide what to do with Johnson after discovering that he had forwarded X-rated, racist and sexist jokes to friends on his state computer.
The discovery of the latest e-mails came after the HTA's board last month cut Johnson's annual pay by $40,000 and reduced the length of his contract from four years to one year. Johnson apologized for "bad judgment" in forwarding the e-mails to friends that were discovered in an unrelated audit.
A group from the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People plans to march through Waikiki at midday today to call for Johnson's removal.
AVERAGE GAS PRICE DROPS TO $4.27
Hawai'i's average gasoline price fell to $4.27 a gallon this week, a 3-cent-per gallon decline from the previous week, according to the AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch.
In Honolulu, the average price fell 2 cents a gallon to $4.17, down 12 cents from the previous month, but $1.07 higher than this time last year.
In Hilo, the average price was $4.33 a gallon, down 2 cents from last week and 10 cents less than a month earlier. The Hilo average price was up $1.09 from last year.
The average price in Wailuku was $4.58 a gallon, 2 cents less than last week, down 11 cents from a month earlier, and $1.05 higher than a year earlier.
LONGS EXPANDS IN CALIFORNIA
Longs Drug Stores Corp., which is being pursued as a takeover target by both CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co., announced it is opening a new store in Madera, Calif.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held today at the location about 30 miles northwest of Fresno in California's Central Valley.
The 12,500-square-foot store has an in-store and drive-through pharmacy, a convenience food area and digital photo processing capabilities.
Longs has more than 500 stores in four Western States, including 39 in Hawai'i.
DICK CONSTRUCTION RESTRUCTURES
Dick Construction Co., the parent company of Honolulu-based Dick Pacific Construction Co., said it has completed a restructuring plan, which includes the sale of select assets to a new global construction company called dck worldwide LLC.
The new company is led by president and chief executive officer Stephen F. D'Angelo. Gerry Majkut, the former senior vice president and general manager of Dick Pacific was named executive vice president of operations for dck worldwide. Majkut will oversee all operations of the new company around the world.
At Dick Pacific, Majkut oversaw numerous landmark projects in Hawai'i and Guam, including the U.S. Pacific Command Headquarters at Camp Smith, the Honolulu Advertiser Production Plant at Kapolei and Walmart/Sam's Club in Honolulu.
The new company will operate in North America, Pacific Rim, Guam and the Caribbean as well as pursue opportunities in the Middle East.
