Hawaii News

Verizon Wireless announced today that it is bringing the world's first large-scale 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network to Kahului-Lahaina on July 21. Residents in areas such as Kahului, Wailuku, Kihei, Wailea, Makena, Lahaina, Kaanapali, Napili, and Kapalua with 4G LTE smartphones, laptop modems and hotspots will be able to take advantage of speeds up to 10 times faster than the company's 3G network. "We are proud to help lead Maui into the 4G LTE wireless broadband world, helping residents, ... read more

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has received the inaugural Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) Quality Award. This award recognizes Kaiser Permanente's achievement of a 5-star rating on the PQA measures of medication safety that are included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Rating Program. "This award is truly unique because it uses publicly available quality data from CMS," said Laura Cranston, PQA's Executive Director. "Therefore, plans don't have to be nominated, they simply have to perform exceptionally ... read more

Verizon Wireless announced today the activation of a new cell site in Waikiki which will make calling, downloading applications and surfing the Internet on the provider's 3G network easier and faster for Honolulu residents and visitors. The site expands 3G wireless coverage and voice and data capacity in Waikiki, in the areas of Ala Wai Boulevard to Saratoga Road and from Kalia Road to Hobron Lane. Verizon Wireless' ongoing network investment in Hawai'i now totals more than $254 million, including $40 ... read more

Calling, downloading apps and surfing the web on the Verizon Wireless 3G network is now easier and faster for residents and travelers in Kailua Kona and the Hualalai area on the Big Island of Hawai'i, thanks to a new cell site. The site expands 3G wireless coverage, and voice and data capacity in Kailua Kona town. The company's ongoing network investment in Hawai'i now totals more than $254 million, including $40 million in 2010. Since the company was formed, Verizon ... read more

Sopogy, Inc., the leader in MicroCSP solar technology development, manufacturing and installation, announced the promotion of Jim Norvelle to Vice President of Manufacturing and Research & Development. Norvelle is a Silicon Valley senior business executive with extensive experience in ... read more

Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc. (OTC: HWLT.PK) reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31(1). The highlights are as follows: Revenue totaled $98.5 million, resulting in Adjusted EBITDA(2) ... read more

A study presented today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting suggests that sleep disturbances like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), excessive awakening and insomnia, may be a normal result of combat experience, rather than a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), major depression or other psychiatric conditions. The retrospective study, which will be published this summer as "Sleep Disruption Among Returning Combat Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan" in the peer-reviewed journal Military Medicine, examined the electronic ... read more

The Hawaii Workforce Development Council, the Hawaii Department of Education and the University of Hawaii System today announce a partnership with ConnectEDU, Inc., (www.connectedu.com), the leader in developing web-based college and career access solutions. ConnectEDU will collaborate with the State of Hawaii to develop the first statewide college- and career-planning web portal that utilizes student academic performance data. Portal users will gain access to innovative tools that support student performance and make the college application process more efficient, such ... read more

The Hawaii Workforce Development Council, the Hawaii Department of Education and the University of Hawaii System today announce a partnership with ConnectEDU, Inc., (www.connectedu.com), the leader in developing web-based college and career access solutions. ConnectEDU will collaborate with the State of Hawaii to develop the first statewide college- and career-planning web portal that utilizes student academic performance data. Portal users will gain access to innovative tools that support student performance and make the college application process more efficient, such ... read more

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has been selected to help the U.S. Navy develop technologies that will accelerate the ability of military, government, and civilian agencies to respond more effectively to natural and man-made disasters. The Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to support U.S. Marine Corps, Pacific, in developing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief technologies. This two year effort is valued at $1.9 million. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110419/PH85737LOGO-b) "We are excited to work ... read more

ActionPacked! Networks, announced that it has joined the Cisco Developer Network as a Registered Developer within the Network Software and Systems technology category. In addition, ActionPacked!’s LiveAction software version 2.2 has successfully completed interoperability testing* with Cisco Medianet version 2.0. ... read more

Referentia Systems, an award-winning advanced cybersecurity solutions leader headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, announced today the opening of its new Cyber Collaboration Center which will focus on cybersecurity initiatives critical for advancing the Defense, Energy, Healthcare, Transportation, and Financial sectors and other national critical ... read more

Tissue Genesis, Inc., an emerging leader in adult stem cell and regenerative medicine, announced today that it has begun clinical trials for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) with adipose (fat) derived adult stem cell-coated vascular grafts at the University of Louisville Hospital. Tissue Genesis is the first to initiate a FDA-approved trial using the patient's own adipose-derived adult stem cells (ASCs) prepared at the point-of-care. The clinical trial commenced enrollment in April and is led by Dr. Charles B. ... read more

Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org, was in Hawaii for the "launch on remote" intercept test yesterday. Ellison is one of the world's top lay experts in missile defense. His comments on the significance of yesterday's successful test are below: "Last night in the dark skies between Hawaii and the Kwajalein Atoll, a Standard Missile-3(SM-3) Block IA missile, part of the current inventory on all 21 Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) ships, was launched ... read more

Results from a two-year retrospective cohort study presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), Hawaii, U.S., showed that patients were significantly more likely to develop cardiovascular (CV) conditions, including hypertension, cardiac dysrhythmias and chronic ischemic heart diseases after an initial diagnosis of RLS, as compared to controls without RLS. "These findings suggest a significant association between a diagnosis of RLS and subsequent records of major cardiovascular conditions, and build on previous evidence suggesting that ... read more

Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system successfully tracked and engaged an intermediate range ballistic missile using data from a remote AN/TPY-2 radar during a test off the coast of Hawaii. This marked the Aegis BMD system's first engagement against an intermediate range ballistic missile, as well as the first time the system used a launch-on-remote capability, which allows the Aegis BMD system to employ remote sensors to detect threats as early in flight as possible. The ... read more

A new drug called perampanel appears to significantly reduce seizures in people with hard-to-control epilepsy, according to results of the first clinical trial to test the higher 12 mg dose of the drug. The late-breaking research will be presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, April 9-16, 2011, in Honolulu. "For about one-third of people with epilepsy, the drugs either don't stop their seizures or the side effects are not tolerable," said study author Jacqueline ... read more

New rotigotine data shown in four poster presentations at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Hawaii, U.S., highlighted the importance in Parkinson's disease (PD) of addressing both motor- and non-motor symptoms, such as sleep. The data also demonstrated the long-term efficacy and tolerability of rotigotine and showed that plasma rotigotine levels remained stable following patch removal and application of a new patch in advanced Parkinson's disease. Treating motor and non-motor symptoms of PD Post-hoc analyses of ... read more

Today, GE Healthcare announced interim results of a recently completed randomized study of the impact of DaTscan(TM) SPECT imaging on the clinical management and diagnosis of adult patients who exhibit signs or symptoms of parkinsonian syndromes (PS). The results, presented at the 2011 American Academy of Neurology Meeting, are an important step in documenting the value of DaTscan as an adjunct diagnostic tool for use in differentiating between PS and disorders such as essential tremor (ET) that have ... read more

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced today data from an open-label extension study (Fx-006) of the pivotal Phase II/III (Fx-005) trial. This extension study evaluated the long-term clinical outcomes of tafamidis, a novel, oral, investigational compound being studied as a treatment for patients with Transthyretin Familial Amyloid ... read more