BUSINESS BRIEFS
Papaya crop up from December
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i fresh papaya production totaled 2.4 million pounds in January, up 9 percent from December, but down 17 percent from January 2006.
Cool, wet and windy conditions posed a problem for growers in January, toppling trees and delaying fruit ripening, according to the state Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
TRADER VIC'S GOING TO MAUI
Trader Vic's, a California-based restaurant chain, said a new Maui restaurant is among six more locations scheduled to begin operations this year. Other openings are slated for Las Vegas; Chicago; Beijing; Amman, Jordan; and Doha, Qatar, the company said in a news release.
NEW ZEALAND SUBBING FOR ISLES
Hawai'i is getting a stand-in for an upcoming Disney Channel movie.
A made-for-cable film, "Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board," is supposed to be set in the Aloha State but is being shot in New Zealand, according to an article appearing on the New Zealand Herald's Web site. The movie is a sequel to 1999's "Johnny Tsunami," partially shot on O'ahu.
"New Zealand looks amazingly like Hawai'i," the newspaper quoted the film's executive producer, Douglas Sloan, as saying.
JAPANESE STOCKS HIT 6-YEAR HIGH
TOKYO — Japanese stocks rose with the Nikkei reaching above 18,000 today for the first time in more than six years.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues rose 195.58 points, or 1.1 percent, to 18,108.79. It was the first time the Nikkei has closed above the 18,000-level since May 8, 2000. The broader Topix index advanced 15.67, or 0.9 percent, to 1802.90. It closed above 1800 for the first time since Nov. 15, 1991.
