Mar 18, 1997

TCI

TCI Media Services (Puget Sound) has hired Steve Fries as account executive and has promoted Trisha Vanderhoff to account representative in the Tacoma office. Sophia Marciano has been promoted to Everett sales manager. As the first on-site sales manager for the Everett office, Marciano will support and oversee all sales in the Everett area.

Lane Powell Spears Lubersky

Alayne Pettyjohn, director of paralegal services at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP has been elected to serve as vice president on the board of the Pacific Region of the Legal Assistant Management Association (LAMA).

King County MWB loan program

The Economic Development Program of King County's Office of Budget and Strategic Planning has retained Cascadia Revolving Fund, a 10-year old, non-profit community development financial institution, as program administrator for the King County Minority and Women Business Loan Program. The program provides state-funded loans under $50,000 to credit worthy Washington State Certified minority or women-owned businesses located in King County, outside Seattle city limits, that can not get financing through conventional loans. Cascadia hired Mary Ann Johnson to administer the loan program. For more information on the program call (206) 447-9226.

LEP Group

John Swope has been hired to handle European business development at the LEP Group of Logistics and Transportation Services. Based at LEP's Seattle headquarters, Swope will concentrate on developing and promoting added logistic services in Europe to multi-national corporations in the U.S. that are seeking to establish or expand their presence in the region.

Hornall Anderson

The Frank Russell Company, a Tacoma-based investment management and consulting company, has hired Hornall Anderson Design Works to create a marketing kit on the company's services for 401(k) and other types of retirement savings plans.

Keesal, Young & Logan

The law firm of Keesal, Young & Logan has opened an office in Hong Kong. Jon Zinke will act as head of the office. Keesal, Young has offices located in Seattle, Anchorage, Long Beach and San Francisco.

Kaufer Miller Communications

Kaufer Miller Communications of Seattle has opened an office in San Mateo, Calif., to support its growing Bay Area client base. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company BITSource has been added to its client portfolio. Kaufer Miller is a communications and marketing agency for emerging consumer and business-to-business technology companies.

IMCO

IMCO General Construction of Bellingham recently made several promotions. Janie Ross-Johnson is the new safety and risk control manager. Her duties will include safety training, claims, accident investigations and development of site-specific safety plans. Mark Stouder has been promoted to construction manager. He will oversee management of ongoing projects, including personnel development, budgeting, planning and subcontractors. Diane Cochran has been promoted to personnel/administrative manager. She will administer personnel procedures including safety training, drug and alcohol policies, new hires and employee development training.

McKinstry

Ned Gebert has been promoted to vice president of operations at McKinstry Co. He will oversee construction for the mechanical contractor's operations in Oregon and Washington. He is a licensed professional civil engineer and is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Shirey Contracting

Bellevue remodeler Donna Shirey has been named Remodeler of the Month for February by the National Association of Home Builders. She has 25 years of remodeling experience and owns Shirey Contracting with her husband Riley.

Meeting this week on oil-burn test

ABERDEEN -- A citizens advisory committee will in Aberdeen this week to discuss a controversial proposal to spill 10,000 gallons of crude oil off the southern coast of Washington. The spill would be done deliberately to test a cleanup technique known as in situ or "in place" burning. The citizens committee is providing input for an environmental impact statement on the proposal. The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the Port of Grays Harbor conference room at 111 S. Wooding. A short public comment period will begin at 1 p.m. The oil-burn test is being proposed by the Department of Ecology and other state, federal and private spill response organizations in the Pacific Northwest. The EIS will examine potential environmental impacts from the proposed test burn, mitigation of those impacts and alternatives to conducting a test burn. For more information on the meeting or the test burn, call Curt Hart at Ecology at (360) 407-6973.

Additions, promotions at Pentec

EDMONDS -- Pentec Environmental Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Edmonds, has announced the following additions and promotions: Jeffrey P. Fisher, Ph.D., has joined Pentec as an environmental toxicologist. Fisher's background is in aquatic toxicology, fish pathology, aquaculture and fish biology. Stephanie Allen has joined Pentec as a wetland ecologist. She will perform wetland delineations, mitigation and monitoring. Chris Scott is Pentec's new computer network administrator. He also will be responsible for AutoCAD and graphics production. C. Rhett Jackson, Ph.D., P.E., senior hydrologist at Pentec, has been promoted to principal-in-charge of the watershed group. Ken Sargent, senior wetland ecologist at Pentec, has been promoted to principal-in-charge of the wetlands group. Pentec provides environmental services for coastal, waterfront and land development projects and natural resources management projects.

Consultant to speak on Puget Sound wetlands

SEATTLE -- Michael P. Williams will speak on the subject, "Puget Sound Wetlands: Who Cares?" at Thursday's meeting of the Engineers Club. The meeting will begin at 11:45 a.m. at Latitude 47, 1232 Westlake N., Seattle. An ecological-botanical consultant, Williams received a doctorate in botany with an emphasis in plant ecology in 1995 from the University of Washington. He has been working as a consultant since 1976. Williams' technical specialties include: riparian wetland inventories and assessments; mitigation and monitoring designs; vegetation surveys; inventories of endangered, threatened and sensitive plant species; population distributions; and forest composition characterizations. To make reservations for Thursday's luncheon, call the Engineers Club office at (206) 623-3250.

Oregon revises salmon plan for feds

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- House Speaker Lynn Lundquist predicted Monday that a revised plan for paying for Oregon's coho salmon recovery program will help assure its approval by federal regulators. A legislative leaders' new proposal guarantees the first $15 million of the $30 million plan. The remaining $15 million would be contingent upon the government not extending federal protection to central and northern Oregon coastal coho under the Endangered Species Act. Lundquist said the revised plan will almost certainly meet the approval of National Marine Fisheries Service regional administrator William Stelle, who must decide by April 25 whether to list the fish as threatened or endangered. "From my conversations with him in the past, I can tell you he'll be very, very pleased," Lundquist said. "This gives us a much more solid position." Stelle said Monday he was waiting to receive more details on the proposal before making a judgment. Gov. John Kitzhaber said he would prefer an unconditional funding source, but that overall the new proposal was a step in the right direction. "It would be stronger without the contingency," Kitzhaber said, "but we are pleased with the progress that's being made toward a stronger salmon funding plan." The timber industry had promised to put up $15 million for the restoration plan, as long as the federal government didn't list the runs on the northern and central Oregon coast for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A listing could prompt the federal government to impose tighter restrictions on fishing, agriculture, development and logging. Stelle called that plan a "grave mistake" because it didn't guarantee a long-term source of funding for saving the salmon. Even though the revised plan also carries a no-list condition, Lundquist said it's better than the previous plan because it's free of another important condition set by the timber industry. Timber companies had said they didn't want federal limits on the number of fish that could be counted as "taken" because of timber practices that damage habitat on southern coastal coho streams. Those runs, unlike the runs farther north, are virtually assured of being listed. The new legislative proposal drops that condition. If federal officials and the timber industry can come to an agreement about practices on the southern runs, the industry's $15 million could be donated and the Legislature wouldn't have to kick in the matching funds, Lundquist said. The Legislature would fund the full $30 million only if the timber industry backs out, said Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass. If the extra $15 million from the general fund is needed, it will come out of the ending balance left over from the Republicans' latest budget, Lundquist said. Roughly two-thirds of the southern coho runs lie in California, which has decided not to contest a federal listing. Lundquist said Monday he hadn't spoken to Stelle about the Legislature's latest salmon plan, but said he's confident a listing for the runs on the central and northern coast will be avoided. "It appears, from all that we can gather, that it will not be listed," Lundquist said.

EPA halts sales of 'germ-killing' sponges

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered 3M to stop selling its O-Cel-O brand sponges because the agency says they don't kill germs as advertised. The company says it got approval for the products three years ago and was surprised by the EPA's action. "Consumers should be aware that these products have not been proven to kill germs or prevent food-borne illnesses like their labels claim," said Norman Niedergang, a regional EPA director. "Any company that intends to sell a product with pesticide claims must show EPA that their product works." The EPA said any product aimed at killing surface bacteria or others that cause food-borne illnesses must be registered with the agency. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., based in this St. Paul suburb, said it was told it did not need to register because the germs were killed in the sponge. "We never claimed that it would kill the germs on any surface other than the sponge," said company spokeswoman Mary Auvin. 3M said that if it has to stop making the kitchen products, it would have to lay off more than 300 workers at its Tonawanda, N.Y., plant.