The Hawai'i State Department of Health Clean Air Branch said it has fined Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC and CTS Earthmoving Inc. for air permit violations.

Castle & Cooke Resorts was cited for late submittal of a 2008 semi-annual monitoring report for a diesel engine that provides power for a water well on Lana'i, the agency said. The violation was discovered June 1 and a penalty of $2,600 was paid.

CTS Earthmoving was cited for failing to conduct an initial performance test on its Kailua-Kona Cobratrack mobile crusher plant within 180 days of start up. The violation was discovered Jan. 27 and a penalty of $3,500 was paid.

CPB SHAREHOLDERS MEETING OCT. 22

Central Pacific Financial Corp. will hold a special shareholders meeting Oct. 22 to vote on a proposal to increase the number of its authorized shares of common stock.

CPF's board approved a plan to increase the number of shares from 100 million to 185 million. The plan now requires shareholder approval.

Last month, Central Pacific postponed plans to sell up to $100 million of its stock but recent declines in the company's share price, combined with a limited amount of issued shares, made it difficult to raise the full $100 million.

ISLES' ECONOMIC OUTLOOK RATED 41ST

Hawai'i's economic outlook is among the bottom 10 states nationally, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit conservative organization that advocates free markets and limited government.

The council's "Rich States, Poor States," ranked Hawai'i's recent economic performance 21st best in the nation, but, because of a variety of factors, ranked the state's economic outlook 41st.

The report said the bottom-10 ranking was based on what it said was Hawai'i's poor labor laws, high income taxes and the highest burden from taxes on retail sales in the nation.

One of the report's authors, economist Arthur Laffer, said the report shows states cannot tax their way into prosperity and that the study shows which states are best positioned for recovery from the recession.