Associated Press

BANGOR, Maine – A proposed federal rule aimed at helping U.S.-flagged cruise ships compete with foreign ships in Hawai’i could hurt the cruise ship market in Maine.

State and municipal officials and port businesses are working together to oppose a federal rule that they say would result in cruise ships spending less time in Bar Harbor and Portland and more time in ports in neighboring Canada.

Federal laws require ships flying under foreign flags to dock in another country before going to other U.S. ports. Cruise ships sailing from California to Hawai’i, for instance, typically make a token stop in Ensenada, Mexico, to meet the letter of the law.

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A wireless monitoring technology developed at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa has reaped yet another award, earning the 2008 North American Technology Innovation of the Year Award from growth company consultant Frost & Sullivan.

The technology now being refined by Kai Sensors Inc., a company with offices in the Manoa Innovation Center, is capable of remotely monitoring heartbeats, breathing and other vital physiological signs at the same time.

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Go! parent blames $80 million legal award for worst quarter

By: Rick Daysog

Reeling from an $80 million legal judgment, the parent of interisland carrier go! reported the largest quarterly loss in its history.

Mesa Air Group, which kicked off the interisland fare war when it launched go! in June 2006, said yesterday that it lost a total of $68.2 million, or $2.37 per share, during the three months that ended Sept. 30, 2007.

The loss compares with a net profit of $4.8 million, or 12 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.

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Let’s see how the City, State & environmentalists react to a private company’s efforts to reduce energy and water consumption.

By: Sean Hao

A company seeking to air-condition Downtown buildings with seawater has raised $10.75 million in private financing for the project.

Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning LLC expects to start construction on the $152.5 million system in January 2009. Remaining financing for the project, which could be completed 14 months after groundbreaking, is expected to come from $100 million in state tax-exempt revenue bonds and conventional borrowing.

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Hawai’i milk production plunged 50 percent to 2.2 million pounds in September 2007, versus September 2006, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Cumulative milk production for the first nine months of 2007 was down 35 percent at 29.0 million pounds.

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The Hawaii Venture Capital Association named Sopogy Inc. its Venture Capital Deal of the Year winner for 2007.
Sopogy, which was founded by entrepreneur Darren Kimura, has technology that provides solar power to the distributed power generation market. The company raised a large funding round from local and Mainland venture capital firms qualifying it for the award.
Sopogy and other winners will be honored at HVCA’s annual Venture Capital Deal of the Year awards luncheon on Jan. 24 at the Plaza Club in Honolulu.

Wal-Mart reports savings of $957 per person or $2,500 per family in 2005, up from $2,329.

Does that sound about right?  Read the whole article using the link below.

Wal-Mart Facts – American Families Now Save $2,500 a Year, Thanks to Wal-Mart