Dec 31, 1996

Virginia Mason

Becky Foley has been appointed to the position of operations director for the Health Information Services Department at Virginia Mason Medical Center. She will oversee the day-to-day departmental operations including transcription and medical records.

Totem Resources Corporation

Seattle based Totem Resources Corporation (TRC) has added Marc Langland to its board of directors. Langland is from Anchorage where he serves as the president, director and co-founder of Northrim Bank. TRC is the parent company of Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Inc. (TOTE) and Foss Maritime Company, both of which provide marine transportation services to and from the State of Alaska.

Howard/Frost

Seattle based Howard/Frost Advertising & Communications has added Amy Vaughn as an e-pro specialist and Ellen Isley as a production manager. Vaughn previously was a designer at Quality Food Centers and has a broad range of skills in design and overall project production management. Isley experience includes agency organization and project management.

Piper Capital Management

The board of directors of Piper Capital Management has elected Richard Daly, formerly vice president of retail marketing, as senior vice president. Piper Capital Management is a subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Inc., an investment firm with retail office nationwide.

Tyler M. Johnson

Tyler M. Johnson has opened the Law Office of Tyler M. Johnson, P.S., Inc. in Bellevue. He will represent employers and contractors struggling to comply with government regulation, as well as construction disputes including lien foreclosures and contract disputes. Johnson recently left the Attorney General's Office where he represented the Department of Labor and Industries in occupational safety and health proceedings.

KIRO-TV

KIRO-TV 7 has hired Judi Sladky as community relations manager. Her responsibilities include directing the station's public affairs and public relations activities.

Harborview Medical Center

Richard Cully has been appointed manager of Security and Commuter Services at Harborview Medical Center. Cully brings 12 years of security experience to his new post, including the past two years as manager of Security and Transportation at Swedish Medical Center.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show

The 1997 Northwest Flower and Garden Show will take place on February 5 - 9 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The theme of this years show will be "Romance in Bloom." Tickets for the show are available at all western Washington U.S. Bank locations and selected branches in eastern Washington and Portland. They are also available at fine nurseries around the greater Puget Sound area and in British Columbia. For more information on the show, call the hotline at 1-800-229-6311 or in the Seattle area at (206) 789-5668.

The Municipal Court of Seattle

Judge Judith Hightower has been elected presiding judge for 1997 by the judges of Municipal Court of Seattle. Judge Hightower intends to continue the current effort to make the Court more responsive to its citizens. She will work with her colleagues to implement effective case flow management procedures, and looks forward to working with all court staff and other City officers to fulfill the Court's mission of "providing fair, accessible, and timely resolution of alleged violations of the Seattle Municipal Code."

E. Kent Halvorson

Timothy Teteak and Christopher Henderson have joined E. Kent Halvorson Inc. Teteak is a senior project manager and brings over 12 years of experience in retail project management. Henderson is a project manager and has 12 years of experience in project management and estimating. Teteak holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Architecture and Urban Planning and Henderson holds an economics degree from the University of Washington.

NWCCC

Officers for the Northwest Construction Consumer Council were recently elected for 1997. The list includes: Chris Steinbrecher of the Portland Development Commission, council chair; J. Donald Unruh of James River Corp., vice chair; Steven Hertner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, secretary; Gary E. Ervin of PacifiCorp, treasurer; Phyllis K. Kramer of Arco Products Co., immediate past chair; Mark Garland of Lease Crutcher Lewis, affiliate director of construction; and Erik Bodholt of R.W. Beck, affiliate director of design. NWCCC operates in five Northwestern states and includes representatives from public and private owner organizations, design professionals and contractors.

Summit Window

Summit Window & Patio Door is merging two of its plants in Oregon. Effective Jan. 1, the company's Tualatin location will be closed and operations transferred to its Stayton location. Existing facilities at Stayton will be expanded to increase capacity. The Stayton address is: 2044 Deschutes Drive, Stayton, OR 97383-9573.

Intertanko appeals court decision

SEATTLE -- The Norway-based International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) has appealed a recent federal district court decision that Washington state's oil spill prevention standards are constitutionally valid. Judge John Coughenour's Nov. 18 decision marked a major victory for the state's Office of Marine Safety (OMS) as well as the Washington Environmental Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Advocates, environmental groups that intervened in the case. Intertanko appealed Judge Coughenour's decision in mid-December. "We think this demonstrates that Intertanko has more dollars than sense," said Fred Felleman, a conservation biologist with Ocean Advocates in Seattle. Representing 300 independent shipping companies that transport 60 percent of America's crude oil, Intertanko sued the state in July 1995 because the state's oil spill prevention standards are more strict than federal and international standards. Intertanko's attorneys said OMS regulations for oil tankers are unconstitutional because they are preempted by federal law under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. However, Judge Coughenour ruled in favor of the state and the environmental groups on every point in his 33-page decision. Jeffrey Needle, a Seattle attorney who represents the three environmental groups, said he expects Intertanko to file an opening brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February or March. The state and the environmental groups will have 30 days to issue a responsive brief, and then Intertanko will have 15 days to reply. Oral arguments may be heard in late summer or early fall, Needle said.

Endangered Species Act conference set

BELLEVUE -- A regional conference on the Endangered Species Act is scheduled for Jan. 30 and 31 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. The conference will focus on habitat conservation plans, one of ESA's most far-reaching and controversial features. Other major topics include the potential impacts of salmon and steelhead listings and the scope of the "take" prohibition after the Sweet Home legal decision. The conference is designed for lawyers, government and agency officials, real estate and industry professionals, consultants, engineers and others who work with the ESA. Top practitioners and key regulators will explain how to deal with ESA challenges that lie ahead. Speakers will include: Chuck Clarke, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; Bern Shanks, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; William Stelle Jr., regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service; Kristen Boyles and Suellen Lowry of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund; Bruce Davies of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission; and James Kraft, vice president, general counsel and secretary of Plum Creek Timber Co. Law Seminars International is sponsoring the conference. For information or registration, call (206) 621-1938 or (800) 854-8009, or send E-mail to: hkate@lawseminars.com.

Environmental education center to be built

SEDRO-WOOLLEY -- Seattle City Light, North Cascades Institute and North Cascades National Park are teaming up to build the North Cascades Environmental Education Center. The residential education center will be built on the site of the former Diablo Lake Resort in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The center will include classrooms, laboratories, accommodations for 50 students, a lodge and cafeteria building, an outdoor amphitheater and learning centers, staff residences, exhibit areas, a recreation area and trails. The center will take advantage of the site's Cascade mountain views and range of natural habitats for outdoor learning. People of all ages will be able to participate in educational programs on the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest. The education center is an environmental mitigation requirement imposed on the city of Seattle in 1995 when Seattle City Light was issued its new federal license to continue operating its three dams on the Skagit River. Seattle City Light must fund the design, construction and partial operation of the education center. The city is currently soliciting qualified firms for the center's design.

Settlement for area-wide cleanup in Yakima

YAKIMA -- The state Department of Ecology and 101 businesses and cities have reached settlement agreements that will advance area-wide environmental investigation and cleanup work in Yakima and Union Gap. The agreements were filed as proposed consent decrees in federal court on Dec. 20 and are available for public review and comment through Jan. 21. The businesses and municipalities settling with Ecology represent more than half the parties who sent carbon containing perchloroethylene (PCE) to Cameron-Yakima Inc., a carbon recycling firm. PCE is a common solvent used in commercial and industrial practices. Carbon containing PCE has been found in soil on the firm's property and is considered a source for groundwater contamination in the 6-square-mile Yakima Railroad Area. The basic cost of the settlement is $4.95 for each pound of carbon containing PCE shipped. Each party settling will pay into a trust fund that Ecology will use to determine the location of the groundwater, evaluate cleanup options and take cleanup actions to safeguard water supplies. Ecology is seeking comments on the proposed settlement agreements. A public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Ecology's Central Regional Office, 15 W. Yakima Ave., Suite 200, Yakima. For more information, call Rick Roeder, Ecology's site manager for the Yakima Railroad Area, at (509) 454-7837.

Tug fleet to be fortified in Alaska

VALDEZ, Alaska -- Oil shipping companies recently announced new steps they plan to take to make shipments of oil from Alaska to refineries in other parts of the country safer. The changes will include stationing a high-powered tugboat in Prince William Sound to help disabled tankers to safety and upgrading other vessels that escort tankers out of Alaskan waters. The changes are based on the recommendations of a $2 million study of how to improve the shipping of oil from the Valdez tanker port. The 18-month-long "Prince William Sound Risk Assessment" was commissioned by oil shippers and an oil-industry watchdog group called the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council. Each shipping company based in Alaska will chip in $500,000 a year to charter a powerful tug to assist tankers in the area from central Prince William Sound to the Gulf of Alaska. The shipping companies expect to have the tug in place by early 1997. Fred Felleman, a Seattle-based conservation biologist and activist with Ocean Advocates, has been pushing to have a similar tug stationed in Neah Bay or to extend tug escorts out the Strait of Juan de Fuca. "The timing of this report is a wonderful coincidence," Felleman said. "The same model could be used for Puget Sound." Instead, the Puget Sound shipping industry's proposal for improving oil-tanker safety in the Strait of Juan de Fuca involves outfitting existing tugs with electronic transmitters so the closest one could be sent quickly to aid a disabled tanker. Skeptics of this "tug-of-opportunity" system say it would do little to prevent a disastrous oil spill.