Blog: www.kgmb9.com/howard

Video Headline:

It's time for another hair-pulling edition of, Crisis at a Glance! In which we enumerate the alarming economic stories from the mainland. First, the airlines. US Airways has decided that to save money it will stop showing movies on some flights. Now, Howard's rule of airline news is, the dumber a new policy sounds, the more desperate it means the airlines are to pay their soaring fuel bills. This means US Airways is very desperate, although not quite as desperate as United, which last week began charging eight dollars for an alcoholic beverage. Now let's part this piece in the middle and put on our hairshirts. On Wall Street, corporate cutbacks are sometimes described as taking a haircut. Regis Corporation is taking a haircut. It owns 85-hundred hair salons but plans to close 160. If you never heard of Regis, it's the parent company of Supercuts and the Vidal Sassoon salons. And on that note, I think we've combed through enough bad economic news for this edition of, Crisis at a Glance. Until next time, lather, rinse, repeat.

Other Headlines:

Aloha flight attendants are suing -- they didn't get the federally-required 60 days' notice of termination so they want 60 days' pay instead. Now, the corporate corpse of Aloha isn't exactly made of money, but the attendants' union wants the claim considered an administrative expense, which would move them closer to the front of the line.

Hawaii Securities Commissioner Tung Chan has issued a cease-and-desist order against Andrew Steger and JAIC Retirement Services. She says they've taken big money from local investors, promising massive profits in a prime bank scheme. For more information, click here.

Flowers and nursery products is a more-than 100 million dollar a year business for Hawaii. Landscaping plant revenues are up 25% to 26 million, a quarter of the whole nursery/flower business. Another detail from the annual report on this industry -- plant rentals are also up 25%. Many stores and offices rent plants from companies that not only provide the plants but also send someone around to service them.

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