Jan 28, 1997

Williams, Kastner & Gibbs

The Seattle office of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs LLP has named Mark Schedler and Matthew Green as partners of the firm. Schelder represents residential and commercial brokers as well as individuals in real estate and business transactions, and has extensive litigation experience. Green focuses his practice on litigation, with an emphasis in the areas of debtor-creditor rights and remedies and construction and lien related issues. James Miersma and Christopher Johnson have also joined the Seattle office as associates. Miersma will focus his practice creditors rights and other insolvency issues. Johnson will concentrate his practice on planning estates, including succession planning for family businesses, life insurance planning, planning for retirement benefits, and charitable transfers.

Bader Martin Ross & Smith

Kristi Mathisen, a certified public accountant at the Seattle firm of Bader Martin Ross & Smith, P.S., has become a shareholder in the firm. Mathisen's practice includes primarily estate, trust and gift taxation and planning, as well as general tax practice.

1997 WYLD Awards

The Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) is now accepting 1997 nominations for three awards recognizing lawyers who epitomize the best in the organization's membership and in the profession. The WYLD will award the Thomas Neville Pro Bono Award, the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award and the Professionalism Award, to practitioners who make exceptional contributions to the organization's professional community. To nominate a candidate for any of the awards described above, send a letter (with your name, address and daytime telephone number) detailing the bases for the nomination, as well as a copy of the nominee's resume or list of accomplishments to: Patrick A. Palace, P.O. Box 1193, Tacoma, WA 98401-1193. Nominations must be received by April 9.

CobWeb/AccessOne

Two Eastside Internet companies CobWeb and AccessOne have formed a co-marketing relationship to package Quad Pentium, Microsoft's NT-based World Wide Web Virtual Domain hosting service for small, medium and large companies in the Puget Sound region. CobWeb, a turnkey Web solution provider based in Issaquah, is AccessOne's largest co-location partner, and a major Web site developer for Microsoft. AccessOne is one of the region's largest Internet Service providers and a supplier of business-to-business Internet connectivity solutions.

Lumbermen's

Olympia-based Lumbermen's Building Centers has hired INS Advertising of Portland to purchase its electronic advertising for the company throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Arizona. INS was chosen because of their media capabilities, strength in strategic planning and knowledge of the industry. Lumbermen's, a chain of retail building material centers, operates 44 centers and is part of Redmond-based Lanoga Corporation which operates 11 stores in Alaska under the name Spenard Builders Supply and 120 stores in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states under the names of United Building Centers and Fish Building Supply.

Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll

The Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Haudfeld & Toll have recently established a Seattle office, where Matthew Ide and Jessica Eaves have joined as associates. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll specializes in class actions involving environmental damages, consumer products, securities and antitrust issues. The firm is located at 1301 Fifth Ave., Suite 2905, Seattle.

Metawave

Redmond-based Metawave Communications Corporation has hired Vito Palermo as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Palermo will oversee Metawave's financial and administrative operations, including accounting, treasury, financial planning, investor relations, MIS, legal and human resources. Metawave develops and markets SpotLight Multibeam Antenna Platform which enhances the capacity, coverage, and quality of wireless networks and reduces the need to invest in new cell sites.

Olympic Tug & Barge

Russell Johnson has joined Olympic Tug & Barge, a Seattle-based marine services provider, as marine operations manager. Johnson will manage the company's marine operations and work on new business projects both domestically and internationally. Rod Gullickson has moved to manager of engineering and Columbia River. He will be responsible for vessel repair, maintenance and conversion, in addition to being the profit center manager of Olympic's Columbia River Operations.

Rover's

Thierry Rautureau, chef and owner of the Seattle restaurant Rover's, will unveil ten original permanent paintings by local artist Isa D'Orleans that he commissioned to launch the restaurant's 10th anniversary celebration on February 10. Out of all of the artists displayed at Rover's, D'Orleans has been the most recognized. She has been the curator for the rotating artist exhibits at the restaurant since 1992 and has aided in the exposure of many painters and graphic artists in the Pacific Northwest. Rautureau is actually the subject of one of D'Orleans paintings, none of which he will see until they are installed.

M.A. Mortenson

Paul Cossette has been named senior vice president of M.A. Mortenson Co. and has assumed management responsibilities for the company's offices in the western United States, including California and Hawaii. He will continue to be based in the company's Bellevue office.

IEC

Independent Electrical Contractors Inc. has bestowed its 1996 National Apprenticeship of the Year Award to Don Lankhaar of Cannon Electric Co. Inc. in Ferndale. Lankhaar received the highest score among 15 contestants in a written examination and electrical installation test. IEC also elected Dale Vander Giessen, president of Lynden-based Dale's Electric Inc., to the post of national president.

The CIT Group

The CIT Group recently announced its new web site on the Internet. CIT's homepage profiles its eight individual operating units and other information, such as industry forecasts for construction and machine tools.

EPA supports 'SmartWood' program

PORT TOWNSEND -- "SmartWood," an ecological timber certification program that is new to Washington state, just received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA Sustainable Development Challenge Grant -- one of 10 awarded nationally to assist projects promoting sustainable development -- will help the Port Townsend-based Olympic Peninsula Foundation develop the certification program for Washington. The SmartWood certification program is designed to stimulate market demand for wood products that have been raised, harvested, processed and marketed in an environmentally-sensitive, sustainable manner. Timber harvest practices that incorporate pollution prevention, watershed protection and wildlife-habitat conservation will qualify for the SmartWood certification. "We have seen a lot of interest so far," said Larry Nussbaum, forestry certification coordinator with the Olympic Peninsula Foundation. "We're in the process of looking for mills that are willing to buy wood from some of our certified sources." The certification program was developed by the Rainforest Alliance, which collaborates with non-profit organizations like the Olympic Peninsula Foundation to encourage the adoption of sustainable forest management practices worldwide. Since its establishment in 1989, the Rainforest Alliance began focusing on temperate forests as well as rain forests. The Olympic Peninsula Foundation will use the grant money to create market-based incentives for sustainable harvesting and develop a closely-knit network of producers, harvesters, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Nussbaum mentioned several businesses around the country that already are using and selling SmartWood products. Those businesses include: Gibson guitars; Smith & Hawken, a mail-order retailer of outdoor furniture; EcoTimber International in California; Whitethorn Construction Co. in California; and Environmental Home Center in Seattle. For more information on the certification program, call Larry Nussbaum or Judith Rubin at the Olympic Peninsula Foundation at (360) 379-9421.

Pierce County landfill project recognized

TACOMA -- Pierce County's Landfill Siting Project recently won an Honor Award in an awards program sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW). Pierce County's consultant for the siting project is Parametrix Inc. So far, Parametrix has completed Phase I and II of the study to identify viable landfill sites in the county. Since 1992, the county has had the goal of establishing its own landfill if at all possible. Pierce County residents mobilized last year in opposition to a different landfill project proposed by the private firm Land Recovery Inc. LRI was denied a wetland-fill permit by the Army Corps of Engineers in October. Meanwhile, the county's landfill siting project has met with much less public opposition. That's largely because of the careful planning and screening criteria used by the county and Parametrix to select potential sites, said Steve Wamback, a solid waste analyst with Pierce County. "We feel this award validates the careful process we've been going through," Wamback said. "The county is building a sound basis for a future landfill." Phase I of the project involved extensive use of geographic information system (GIS) mapping and analysis. In Phase II, Parametrix identified and evaluated potential landfill sites, starting with 11 sites. Consultants then narrowed the list down to five sites through a broad site evaluation, then to two sites in a focused site evaluation. Both of those sites are located south of State Route 702 and west of State Route 7 in south-central Pierce County. "We spent close to four months developing all the siting criteria that would be used," said David Mattern, a senior planner and assistant project manager with Parametrix. "A landfill project is very controversial. We wanted to give this study as much credibility as possible." The next step is to seek Pierce County Council approval for more studies at the sites, possibly to be followed by a full environmental impact statement.

E & E appoints regional manager

SEATTLE -- Sheila Fleming has been named manager of the Seattle regional office of Ecology & Environment Inc. A resident of Seattle, Fleming holds bachelor's degrees in business administration and architectural engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She also has a master's degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fleming joined E & E at its Buffalo Corporate Center in Lancaster, N.Y. in 1990. She relocated to the Seattle office in 1991. She was project engineer for E & E's environmental studies for the Maroven petroleum refinery in Venezuela. Fleming also has managed hazardous waste site investigations and cleanups in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Before being promoted to regional manager, Fleming served as program manager for E & E's environmental services contract with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. She is registered as a professional engineer in Washington. E & E is an international environmental scientific and engineering consulting firm with office in 22 U.S. cities and subsidiaries and affiliates in 27 countries.

$5.2 million water quality loan for Washougal

WASHOUGAL -- The state Department of Ecology has issued a $5.2 million low-interest loan to the city of Washougal to expand and upgrade the city's wastewater treatment plant. The city will use the loan to replace its lagoon treatment system with a modern activated sludge treatment system. The new facility is expected to produce a higher-quality wastewater, which will be discharged to the Columbia River. The loan also will prepare the plant to accommodate the city's growing population. The plant currently collects and treats wastewater from about 7,500 people, but it should be serving almost 18,000 people by 2014. For information on the Washougal treatment plant, call Charles Meyer at (360) 407-6318 or Renee Guillierie at (360) 407-6239.

MTCA subcommittee meeting set

LACEY -- The ecological risk assessment subcommittee of the Model Toxics Control Act Science Advisory Board will meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Department of Ecology headquarters building, Room 2S-21, 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey. Subcommittee members will discuss potential approaches for developing ecologically-based screening levels for soil. The meeting is open to the public. For more information, call Nigel Blakely at (360) 407-7189 or send E-mail to: nbla461@ecy.wa.gov.

Deputies will fight pollution by driving less

PHOENIX (AP) -- In an effort to combat the pollution problem in the Phoenix area, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday ordered three-day work weeks for his 180 patrol deputies. The change from five-day weeks, effective yesterday, cuts the number of trips deputies make to work each week, Arpaio said. "Not only does this help clean up our air, it also helps my office attract and maintain quality employees," the sheriff said. Arpaio said law enforcement agencies that have shifted to three-day, 12-hour-a-day schedules report better morale and increased productivity among their employees. "What was done to originally help the environment also ends up improving our operations," he said.