Jobless rate up to 6.6 percent HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s unemployment rate climbed 0.1 percentage point to a seasonally adjusted 6.6 percent last month from 6.5 percent in November. ADVERTISING The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Tuesday
Jobless rate up to 6.6 percent
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s unemployment rate climbed 0.1 percentage point to a seasonally adjusted 6.6 percent last month from 6.5 percent in November.
The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Tuesday the fields of trade, transportation and utilities lost jobs during the month. So did professional and business services. The construction, leisure and hospitality industries all hired more workers.
$4M collected by U.S. attorney
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Attorney’s Hawaii district says it collected more than $4 million in civil and criminal actions in the 2011 fiscal year.
U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said Monday that amount is an increase of about 20 percent over the prior fiscal year.
About $2.1 million was collected in criminal actions and about $1.4 million was collected in civil actions.
The office collected an additional $490,778 in criminal and civil forfeitures — more than tripling the previous year’s figures.
$1.4 million for dry forest study
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military has awarded scientists a $1.4 million grant for a Hawaii study aimed at identifying what areas of dry forests have the most potential for ecological restoration.
The U.S. Forest Service said Monday one of its scientists is on the team that received the grant, along with researchers from California State Polytechnic University and the University of Maryland.
The team will use data collected from satellites to create models that will gauge the suitability of habitats for threatened, endangered and at-risk plant species. The research will be conducted at the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area, but the methodology may be used to generate models for dry forest recovery elsewhere in the world.
Bird may go on endangered list
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaiian forest bird is being considered by federal officials for the endangered species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday it has initiated a year-long review period of a petition to list the iiwi as threatened.
The petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and Life Net. It cites several factors including degrading habitat, invasion of non-native plants and climate change for contributing to the iiwi’s population decline.
Wildlife officials say the iiwi, known for their bright scarlet feathers, plays a crucial role as a pollinator of native plant species. They are most prevalent in wet forest canopies.
