Nov 14, 1995

Mayor Rice wins comedy showdown

SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle Mayor Norman Rice won a televised "Funniest Mayor" contest, edging out fellow chief executives with a joke that compared his rain-soaked city to a moisturizing pad. The victory on HBO's "Comic Relief VII" show Saturday night earned a $7,500 donation to Seattle's Health Care for the Homeless program. In a vidoetaped routine played for the HBO audience, Rice said poked fun at Seattle's rainy climate, manipulating his voice to gurgle as though he was speaking under water. "Seattle is so wet I've heard some people describe Seattle as a moisturizing pad disguised as a city," he said. "In fact, Seattle is so wet that sometimes (gurgling begins) you talk like you're under water. So, if you come to Seattle, be ready for wet." Second place, which included a $1,500 donation for homeless assistance, went to Newark Mayor Sharpe James. Baltimore's Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke came in third and took home $1,000. The rankings were determined by an applause meter that measured audience approval, said HBO spokesman Henry Gomez. The three finalists were picked by a panel from among nine mayors who submitted videotaped routines.

Northwest Natural Gas

PORTLAND (AP) -- Richard G. Reiten, president of Portland General Electric, has been named chief operating officer of Northwest Natural Gas Co. He also will succeed Robert L. Ridgley as chief executive officer of Northwest Natural Gas on Jan. 1, 1997, when Ridgley, 61, retires. Reiten, 56, spent 20 years in the wood products industry and 18 months as director of the Oregon Economic Development Department under then-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt before moving to PGE. Reiten said the switch to the gas company was motivated in part by the chance to head it as CEO. He's the No. 2 executive at Portland General Corp., PGE's parent company, whose chairman, Ken Harrison, 53, appears in no hurry to move on. Harrison said Reiten will not be replaced at PGE, and senior officers will now report directly to him. Northwest Natural Gas serves 400,000 customers in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, while PGE serves 635,000 customers.

Bondo & Remer Creative Marketing

Dennis Palmer has joined Seattle-based Bondo & Remer Creative Marketing as vice president/management supervisor. Palmer, who has 20 years of advertising and marketing management experience, has held executive level positions in some of the region's largest agencies, including the Seattle office of Evansgroup as vice president/account supervisor. He also owned Pacific Rim Advertising, a Seattle-based agency that conducted campaigns in Japan for U.S. clients. Most recently, Palmer was the top advertising executive for Time Oil Co.

MWW/Strategic Communications

MWW/Strategic Communications, parent company of Seattle's MWW/Savitt, has been named the hottest public relations agency in the United States for 1995 by Inside PR, an industry magazine covering public relations news and issues. The company, ranked second in last year's competition, advanced to first place due to its growth and the addition of several new services in 1994, including graphic and multimedia design, investor relations and high-tech public relations. Founded in November 1993, the Seattle-based firm now has 17 employees and billings of more than $2.8 million.

M.A. Mortenson

Gene Hussey has joined M.A. Mortenson Company as director of business development. Hussey was previously senior vice president/area manager for Koll Construction's Northwest division. He holds a degree in science from the University of Washington.

SDL Corp.

Carl Friis has been promoted from project engineer to project manager at SDL Corp. Friis has been with SDL for nearly six years. His latest accomplishments have been several Barnes & Noble Bookstores throughout the Seattle area.

Summit Window & Patio Door

Northwest Windows & Patio Doors and Southwest Windows & Patio Doors, both units of JELD-WEN Inc., have united under the new name Summit Window & Patio Door. The name change reflects JELD-WEN's decision to bring together the two units for an eventual move from regional to national distribution. JELD-WEN says the change does not affect the company's business structure or relationship with its vendors or suppliers.

ACPA annual meeting

31st American Concrete Pavement Association Annual Meeting will be held Nov. 28-Dec. 2 at the Marriott Marco Island Resort and Golf Club on Marco Island, Fla. The theme of this year's meeting is "ACPA ... Creating Tomorrow Today." New to the event will be technical day. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the latest technical advancements in concrete paving. The main event will be a construction quality symposium, which will include a discussion on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' new quality assurance specifications guide. Also featured will be a review of ultra-thin whitetopping's performance across the country and a look at what's new in non-destructive testing. Attendees are expected to include contractors, cement company executives, equipment and material suppliers, engineers, transportation officials and members of the press. For further information, contact ACPA, 3800 N. Wilke Road, Suite 490, Arlington Heights, IL 60004-1268; (708) 966-2272.

Zoning code workshop

King County Department of Development and Environmental Services is presenting a Nov. 17 workshop on recent residential zoning changes. The workshop will include: an explanation of code changes; presentations by industry; product line overviews; working with examples; economic analysis; discussion, questions and answers; and a panel on water supply and disposal. The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until 2:30 p.m. It will be held at the Community Center at Mercer View (8236 S.E. 24th St., Mercer Island). Cost is $75, including lunch. Pre-registration is required by Nov. 14. Call (206) 296-7269 to pre-register.

Hot mix asphalt conference

The National Asphalt Pavement Association is holding its Third Annual United States Hot Mix Asphalt Conference Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Irving, Texas. The theme of this year's conference is Exploring Quality and Performance. The program is designed for paving professionals from both the public and private sectors. Topics will include case studies of Superpave implementation, the latest in construction technologies, the impact of metrication and many others. Co-sponsors of the event include the Asphalt Institute, state Asphalt Pavement Associations, the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The site for the conference is the Harvey Hotel at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Registration is $140 per person. For further information, contact LaDonna Burton at (301) 731-4748.

Safety competency training course

The Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors is holding a safety competency training course Nov. 29, 30 and Dec. 6, 7 and 13 in Spokane. Class will be held each night from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The course is designed to help contractors develop safety-and health-competent persons for their jobsites. It provides instruction on fall protection, excavation and trenching safety, electrical safety, hand and power tool safety, materials handling safety, personal protective equipment, heavy equipment safety, fire prevention and protection, hazard communication, record keeping and OSHA's Focused Inspection Initiative. The course includes 10 hours of training, a comprehensive safety manual, a complete copy of OSHA's Safety Standards for Construction, AGC safety publications, AGC completion card and OSHA 10-hour construction safety standards course completion card. Cost of the program is $150 for AGC members and $250 for non-members. Class size is limited to 20. For further information, contact Inland Northwest AGC, P.O. Box 3266, Spokane, WA 99220; (509) 535-0391.

Financial management

FMI Corp. is presenting Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers Nov. 28-29 in Harrisburg, Pa. FMI says participants can improve profits now and in the future by building a solid foundation of financial practices. For further information, contact Bekky Glover at (800) 877-1364.