Nov 19, 1996

Lydig Construction

Lydig Construction of Spokane and Bellevue has been sold to Larry Swartz. The former vice president of the company is now serving as president. Lydig also announced Gus Gottschalk will serve as vice president and oversee the Bellevue office, Ken Schwartz will be in charge of project management oversight in the Spokane office, and Mark Bray will serve as controller and secretary/treasurer.

Holmes Electric

Larry Alhadeff has joined Holmes Electric and Communications Company as marketing and business development manager. The company also announced Greg Gonzales is the new sales manager of the Seattle and Portland offices. Additions to the sales staff includes Frances Tschannen, Kai Schraml and David Watkins.

Ederer

Ederer Inc. of Seattle has been certified for compliance with the International Standard ISO 9001, which provides a quality management standard that covers all areas of product quality, from contract review to customer service after delivery. Ederer specializes in custom engineering and manufacturing cranes.

Process Heating

Process Heating Company Inc. has established a World Wide Web site and e-mail address. The homepage provides company background; an index of products; and detailed information and photos on immersion heating equipment, heat transfer systems, storage tanks, portable patchers for road maintenance, control panels and related products. The Web site is www.processheating.com and the e-mail address is inquire@processheating.com.

AGC

The Associated General Contractors of America has been awarded a $25,000 developmental grant under the Business Roundtable's 1996 Construction Industry Safety Excellence Awards program. Through the grant, the AGC will develop a hazard recognition training program to prepare construction workers and supervisors for the hazards they are most likely to encounter on the jobsite.

Safeco

The Safeco board of directors has announced the following promotions in the company. Karl Kreitzer, resident vice president and Northeast region manager, has been named senior vice president of Safeco Insurance Companies and will head its newly-formed National Distribution Division. Ray Hughes, vice president of Safeco's Northern California branch, has been promoted to vice president of Safeco Insurance Companies and will join the National Distribution Division as a program manager. John Reeves, currently Chicago branch vice president, has been named vice president and regional manager of the Northeast Region, replacing Kreitzer. All three of these changes will be effective Jan. 1, 1997. Other promotions at Safeco include: Charles Dwyer, regional commercial lines underwriting manager for the Southwest Region, has been named region vice president for commercial lines. Jim Swegle, St. Louis branch manager, has been named branch vice president of Safeco Insurance Companies. David Farrell, division manager for Safeco Credit Company, has been promoted to division assistant vice president. David Longhurst, accounting manager, has been named assistant controller of Safeco Asset Management Company, Safeco Services Corporation and Safeco Securities, Inc.

Williams, Kastner & Gibbs

Emily Sheldrick, Lisa Wiese and Brandon Schmid has joined the Seattle firm Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, LLP as associates. Sheldrick will focus her practice of labor and employment litigation and general litigation. Wiese's practice will emphasize general litigation. Schmid will focus on general business matters, including tax, antitrust, estate planning, securities and commercial leasing.

Saint Martin's College

Clayton Smith, dean of enrollment and student services at Saint Martin's College in Lacey, has been elected president of the Northwest College Personnel Association (NWCPA). The NWCPA is a regional association for student affairs professionals. Smith's resposibilities will include planning the organization's annual conference, communication with the membership through their newsletter and programming workshops for professional development. He will serve a one-year term. Ron Noborikawa has been appointed to the newly created postion of director of admissions and financial aid at Saint Martin's College. Noborikawa, formerly director of financial aid, will supervise all college admissions and financial aid employees. He will be responsible for the college's overall admissions plan and recruitment, along with his prior duties. These include administering all financial aid programs for the college and directing financial counseling for students, parents and high school counselors.

Sequel Technology Corporation

The Sequel Technology Corporation has appointed Albert Behr as vice president of product marketing, Cleve Adams as executive vice president of sales, and Eric Peterson as chief financial officer. Sequel Technology is a Bellevue based company dedicated to the development of solutions and technologies to manage Internet, intranet and on-line use.

Association of Life Underwriters

For the fifth time the Seattle Association of Life Underwriters has received the Louis I. Dublin Community Services Award. The award was presented at the National Association of Life Underwriters' (NALU) 107th Annual Convention held in Philadelphia. The Louis I. Dublin Community Service Award is sponsored jointly by NALU and the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI), a trade association representing life insurance companies. The award is a tribute to state and local life underwriters' association for conducting commendable community service programs throughout the association year. NALU is a federation of 1,000 state and local life underwriters associations representing 130,000 agents in life and health insurance sales and other financail services.

International Telcom Ltd.

International Telcom Ltd. (ITL), a privately held telecommunications provider located in Seattle, has appointed Darrell Hughes as president of engineering. Hughes will be responsible for managing the operations of the programming, switching, and international networking departments, as well as offering input in to future network expansion and software development efforts.

Boston Market

Boston Market, a chain of "home-style meal" restaurants, will open its 29th location on Nov. 25 in Totem Lake. The restaurant will be located at 12507 116th Ave. N.E. BC Northwest, L.P., the owners and operators of Boston Market restaurants in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, plan to have 147 locations in this region in the next five years. Presently there are 44 locations.

Seattle Youth Garden Works

Seattle Youth Garden Works has been awarded a $25,000 grant by the Merck Family Fund to support garden-based education, employment, and empowerment for homeless youth and youth in need. The Merck Family Fund focuses support on programs that address the root causes of problems faced by socially and economically disadavntaged people in the U.S. They have a particular interest in connecting disadvantaged youth with others in their community on the basis of common goals and concerns. Seattle Youth Garden Works provides street youth ages 14-22 with garden based job training, horticulture education, and an introduction to small business, as well as a positive link to a continuum of valuable social services. From now until Christmas, Youth Gardeners will be working on hand-made bay and laurel wreaths. They will be on sale on Nov. 24, at St. Joseph's Church Alternative Bazaar (732 18th Ave. E.); Dec. 7 & 8, at Phinney Neighborhood Assoc. Winter Festival (6532 Phinney Ave. N.); and Dec. 14 & 15 at University Heights Center Holiday Market (5031 University Way N.E.).

Final `Building with Value' workshop set

SEATTLE -- People interested in learning about environmentally-friendly building techniques will have a chance to do so Thursday in West Seattle. The final workshop in the "Building with Value Workshop Series '96" is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at Camp Long. The workshop will focus on new residential construction with an emphasis on multi-family projects. Experienced industry representatives will offer tips on how to prevent or recycle construction waste, how to use cost-effective, sustainable building materials and techniques, and how to reduce toxicity in buildings. Building and design professionals are encouraged to attend. Speakers will include: Tom Paladino, an architect and engineer and the developer of the "Sustainable Building Specifier," a database of environmentally-friendly materials; architect Jan Gleason, who will explain how to "design in" waste prevention to avoid waste before it even happens; and Anne Schuessler, a project manager from Rafn Construction, who will discuss Rafn's experience with waste management and other resource-efficient techniques. The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and Seattle Solid Waste are sponsoring the workshop. Cost is $30 for pre-registration and $35 at the door. For more information, call O'Brien & Co. at (206) 842-8995 or send e-mail to: obrien@halcyon.com.

Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction

PORTLAND -- A meeting on the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Airport Shilo Inn, 11707 N.E. Airport Way, Portland. The meeting is open to the public and comments are encouraged. The HEDR project is a scientific study to estimate radiation doses the public may have received from releases of radioactive materials from the Hanford site between 1944 and 1972. A technical steering panel made up of independent scientists, state and tribal representatives and a public representative was formed in 1988 to oversee the project. By April 1994, the panel issued reports on radiation releases into the air and the Columbia River. The panel also outlined additional work to be done so radiation dose estimates can be calculated for individuals by mid-1997. The panel disbanded in December 1995, and the HEDR Task Completion Working Group was formed to oversee the remaining technical work for the project. The working group consists of representatives from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the Intertribal Council on Hanford Health Projects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides funding for the working group. The working group's meeting on Wednesday will focus on a survey of farmers who produced milk in seven affected counties, a study of migrant farm workers, public involvement activities, an update on Native American tribes and a CDC technical workshop. The next working group meeting is scheduled for Feb. 25 and 26 in Seattle. For more information on the meetings or the HEDR project, call (800) 545-5581.

Judge throws attorney off Hanford case

SPOKANE (AP) -- A federal judge has thrown a Spokane attorney off the massive Hanford "downwinders" lawsuit, saying the public must be protected from "an unqualified or unscrupulous practitioner." U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald of Yakima also ordered federal marshals to seize the files of attorney Nancy Oreskovich's 1,500 clients in the class-action lawsuit. The files contain records of medical problems allegedly suffered by the downwinders as a result of radiation releases during nuclear weapons production at the Hanford nuclear reservation. Oreskovich said last week that the order violates the rights of her clients to choose their own attorney and their due-process rights, since the documents ordered seized belong to the clients. She plans to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. McDonald wrote that Oreskovich violated rules of conduct for Washington state attorneys. He gave her clients 90 days to find another lawyer. If they don't, they may be dropped from the case. Oreskovich ran a substandard solo practice, violated court orders, missed deadlines and overcharged her clients for work on the case, McDonald said. A federal judge can remove a lawyer when the attorney's conduct threatens "the very integrity of the adversarial process," he wrote.

ONRC appoints new director

PORTLAND (AP) -- The Oregon Natural Resources Council named a new executive director last week to replace Andy Kerr, who had been the lightning rod for Northwest environmentalists in stormy battles over the spotted owl. Marc Smiley runs a consulting firm for nonprofit organizations and is president of REACH Community Development, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost housing, neighborhood revitalization and economic development in Portland's inner city. "He brings with him years of nonprofit experience and a dedication to protecting Oregon's ancient forests, salmon streams and drinking water supplies," said Scott Lewis, president of ONRC Action's board of directors. ONRC has been a leader in the Northwest environmental movement. It was a plaintiff in lawsuits that sharply reduced logging in northern spotted owl habitat on national forests and pressed the government to protect salmon and steelhead from extinction. Smiley grew up in Bend and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1984 with a degree in journalism. He is 37, married, and has a 3-year-old son. His environmental background includes working for the Land Trust Alliance, River Network, and the Yakima Greenway Foundation. "Smiley's the kind of guy who's going to get the job done," said Kerr, who retired last October after 20 years with ONRC to start his own environmental consulting firm. "He's got great organizational skills and a passion for protecting the environment." Smiley said he wants to keep the organization a household word for environmental advocacy, but without the reputation for controversy. "I think the conflict of the past has been important, but it doesn't have to be part of the future," he said. Smiley said he hopes to build ONRC's membership from 6,000 to more than 10,000. To do that he must temper the organization's reputation and broaden its appeal.

New leader named for Pacific Rivers Council

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Longtime conservationist Tryg Sletteland has been named the new head of the Pacific Rivers Council, a Northwest group dedicated to restoring dwindling salmon runs. Sletteland replaces longtime director Bob Doppelt, who will head the council's newly formed Center for Watershed and Community Health. Sletteland was a founder of the Sacramento River Council and managed the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund's Pacific salmonid project. "His experience in salmon recovery and public lands issues, along with his solid scientific and legal background and fund-raising experience, made it clear that he is the right person for the job," said Arthur Johnson, president of the council's board of directors. Johnson said the council was establishing the Center for Watershed and Community Health because it believed a separate organization was needed to focus on linking business and economic development with sound environmental management. The Pacific Rivers Council will maintain its offices and programs in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, and Washington, D.C., Sletteland said.