Mar 04, 1999

Stoel Rives

Stoel Rives, a Northwest-based law firm, recently elected Christopher J. Voss to partner in the Seattle office; David Copley Forman, Gary W. Glisson, Eric A. Grasberger, Scott J. Kaplan, Michael C. Robinson, Peter L. Surrurier, John R. Thomas and Robert H. Thomson to partners in the Portland office; Martin K. Banks to partner in the Salt Lake City office; and Louis A. Ferreira IV to partner in the Vancouver, Wash. office. Voss focuses his practice on corporate and securities transactions. Amy S. Christophersen, Ivan A. Gaviria, Kristi L. Helgeson, Sherri L. Jefferson and Katriana L. Samiljan recently joined the firm as associates in the Seattle office. Christophersen practices construction and design law, Gaviria practices corporate and securities law, Helgeson practices commercial litigation, Jefferson practices employment and labor law and Samiljan practices corporate, securities and finance law.

Northwest Bookfest

Northwest Bookfest recently elected Virginia Felton president of the board of directors, Marianne Lewis vice president, Gary Fallon secretary, Darrell Oldham treasurer and Alison Gilligan member-at-large. Felton is a divisional director at the University of Washington's Educational Outreach program, Lewis is a principal in The Lewis-Baker Project, Fallon is a principal at the law firm Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, Oldham is the owner of Sound Marketing Service and Gilligan is a children's book author. Gigi Lamm was recently promoted to program coordinator and Era Schrepfer was recently hired as operations manager and exhibits coordinator. The Northwest Bookfest, the region's largest annual literary celebration, is scheduled for October 23 and 24 at Pier 48 on the Seattle waterfront.

Scott Bourne Photography and Digital Imaging

Scott Bourne, president of Tacoma-based Scott Bourne Photography and Digital Imaging, recently received four merit awards from the Pierce County Professional Photographers Association.

Mar 03, 1999

Imagio Technology Advertising

Seattle-based Imagio Technology Advertising and Public Relations recently added Jo Dixon as advertising director, Lisa Dunnavant as art director and Holly Toliver as senior account supervisor. Dixon formerly served as senior art director at Publicis in Seattle, Dunnavant formerly served as art director for Market Place Designs in Portland and Toliver formerly served as channel marketing manager at Microsoft.

Covad Communications

Covad Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier offering high-speed Internet DSL services in Seattle, recently elected Joe Devich president and general manager for the Northwest Region, Joseph M. Caston vice president for sales, Northwest Region and Thomas W. Powers vice president of operations, Northwest Region. Devich formerly served as vice president of operations and technologies for US West. Caston formerly served as senior manager of national accounts for Sprint. Powers formerly worked with Advanced Radio Telecom.

Foster Pepper & Shefelman

Daniel R. Plane recently joined Foster Pepper & Shefelman as a litigation associate practicing in the Seattle office. Plane formerly served as an associate with Quarles & Brady in Milwaukie. Seattle lawyers James Dugan, John Fandel, Joann Francis, Wade Leathers and Thomas Pors were recently elected members. Sandra Saville, who practices in the Anchorage office, was also elected to membership. Dugan practices intellectual property law, Fandel practices real estate law, Francis practices employment, municipal and public finance law, Leathers practices federal tax planning for corporate acquisitions and mergers, Pors practices land use, environmental and natural resources law and Saville practices litigation and family law.

Bader Martin Ross & Smith

Bader Martin Ross & Smith, a Seattle-based accounting and consulting firm, recently hired Bryan Graham, Ryan Bray, Sarla Sharma, Albert Kostanich, Greg Volland, Joseph Rinaldi and Robin Beukers as staff accountants. Brain Palmer and Gwynne Laurente have been added as interns in the tax departments.

Mar 02, 1999

Power Planning Council fishing for comments

PORTLAND -- The Northwest Power Planning Council, together with the Independent Scientific Advisory Board, have completed a draft report and recommendations on fish passage projects at Columbia and Snake River dams. Now the Council would like to get the public's response to the document before it is finalized and sent to Congress. The deadline for comment is March 23. Recommendations contained in the draft include:

• Relocation of fish bypass outfalls;
• Installing longer screens upstream of turbine entrances;
• Continuation of collection and guiding of fish near the river's surface;
• Continue efforts to reduce dissolved gas at dams;
• Improve adult fish passage at dams; and
• Use independent engineering review for fish-passage projects.

Dairy farmers happy with state inspections

LYNNWOOD -- According to the Dairy Farmers of Washington newsletter, "NewsFeed," published yesterday, most of the state's dairy farmers are satisfied that the Department of Ecology's inspections of farms for improper discharges are being conducted fairly and reasonably. Inspections of all dairy farms was mandated by the state's 1998 Nutrient Management Act, which became law last April. By fall, 99 percent of the state's 765 dairies had registered with Ecology. The newsletter states that Ecology's dairy program director, Phil KauzLoric, has taken steps to reduce farmers' anxiety by hiring experienced inspectors, by sending new inspectors out with veterans, and by meeting with farmers to explain the law and inspection procedures. Inspectors are also instructed to be courteous and polite, and to identify themselves and request a tour before conducting their inspections. NewsFeed quotes Everson dairyman Dick Bengen as saying, "Ecology has been easy to work with and they're getting things done diplomatically. They haven't come in with a hammer, even though there's a hammer behind it. I don't always agree with everything they do, but they've done well with the job given to them here."

Relax, come to a sprawl meeting

SEATTLE -- The Seattle chapter of the Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Washington will hold two forums about urban sprawl in the Seattle region. The forums will discuss salmon, traffic and sustainability. On Tuesday, March 16, the first forum will feature UW oceanography professor Robert Francis, who will discuss the proposed listing of the Chinook salmon as an endangered species and the consequences of sprawl on its habitat. Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin will address the second meeting, on April 20th. He will discuss how city policies could help save salmon and reduce urban sprawl. Both meetings will start at 7 p.m. in the Seattle REI store, 222 Yale Ave. Interested persons should RSVP to Lauren at (206) 343-0681.

Green marketing service debuts

SEATTLE -- Patty-Lynne Herlevi has started a business to promote green businesses and educate the public about conservation issues. Called Crow Mix Media Service, her firm can be reached at (206) 525-1964.

Should we call it the IBM PET?

Rapid change in the high-tech business change has a downside: a mountain of obsolete computer components that ends up in landfills. IBM announced Monday it was trying to counter the trend, selling a commercial PC made of recycled plastic from old, discarded computer parts. The computer, the IntelliStation E Pro CPU, has a $2,155 price tag, but International Business Machines Corp. expects the new PC to do well. "Clearly a lot more people are focused on the environment," said Carla Davison, vice president of marketing for commercial PCs for the computer maker, which produced the PC at its plant in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Davison said the computers don't cost more to make because of the recycled materials. Van Baker, director of consumer market research at Dataquest, a San Jose, Calif. high-tech research firm, called the PC a clever idea that will catch the attention of consumers.

Weather forecast: wet

SEATTLE (AP) -- Even Noah and his arkful of animals had to deal with only 40 days and 40 nights of rain. But here in the Puget Sound region, it's rained for a record 90 days since Nov. 1 -- and more is in the forecast. "I can't stand this rain. I'm going crazy," said National Weather Service meteorologist Terry Morse, a Florida native. "I need some sun." The constant rainfall broke the old record set in the winter of 1958-59, when it poured for 87 days. Not only is the rain consistent, it's considerable. The past record for rainfall in the four-month span from November through February was 32.46 inches at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, set in 1995-96. Totals for the same period this winter add up to 34.39 inches, weather service meteorologist Kirsten Willman said today. The average for those four months is usually only 21.11 inches.

Shipwreck salvage consultant loves it

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) -- Bill Milwee, flak catcher for the "responsible party" in the New Carissa shipwreck, didn't write the book on salvage operations. He wrote two of them. The bearded, 6-foot-5 Milwee has become a familiar face on Oregon television after answering for the ship's owners for more than three weeks. "You've got to have a steady hand and a steady nerve to be in this business, and Bill has all of that," said Jack Gallagher, chairman of Gallagher Marine Systems, the outfit hired to run the salvage operation. Shipwreck work may seem exotic to the rest of the crews and onlookers, but it's the life that Milwee has lived for 17 years. He attends two to four disasters a year from Antarctica to Tahiti. The work was not something he dreamed of as boy in Montgomery, Ala. He didn't build model ships, read sea stories or pine for adventure. "You kind of stumble into things through life," he said. Milwee, 62, entered the Naval Academy in June 1955, earned his graduate degree in naval architecture and rose to the rank of commander in the U.S. Navy. He rounded up his military career in 1979, did a stint as manager for a Gulf Coast oil drilling operation and then settled in Portland. Milwee was contract writer for a 1990 book called "Mud, Muscles and Miracles" that recounted 80 years of naval salvage operations. He also wrote the 1996 "Modern Marine Salvage," which is considered nearly the Bible in the salvage industry, Gallagher said. So when the crowd of people gather in a tight room to decide what to do next with the New Carissa, they look to Milwee. "Basically he's been calling the overall shots," Gallagher said. Milwee said the New Carissa has been the most complex of all his salvage jobs. Jon Savelle is the Journal's environment editor. He can be contacted at (206) 622-8272.

Voyager Capital

Voyager Capital, a Seattle-based venture capital firm investing in private information technology companies, has added Erik Benson as a senior associate. Benson formerly served as president of two early-stage software companies in Seattle.

Odessa Brown Children's Clinic

The Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in Seattle's Central Area recently added Dr. Christopher Delecki as chief of the dental program. Delecki formerly served as director of dental disease prevention for the USPHS-Indian Health Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In April, Dr. Ben Danielson will join the clinic as medical director. Danielson currently serves as an attending physician at Children's and Harborview. The clinic is a satellite of Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

Sparling

Hunter S. Fulghum and Jeffrey S. Hankin have been named as principals at Sparling, a Seattle-based specialty electrical consulting firm. Fulghum leads the communication design group and Hankin manages a studio that focuses on retail, healthcare and commercial projects.

Cole & Weber

Cole & Weber, an advertising, direct marketing, interactive and public relations firm, recently added Mary Love Mattox as senior vice president and group director in the account services group in the Seattle office. Mattox formerly served as group account director with Suissa Miller in Los Angeles.

Littler Mendelson

Littler Mendelson, a national employment and labor law firm, recently elected Michael W. Droke shareholder. Droke works in the Seattle office and focuses his practice on employment relations.

Kenyon Law Firm

Kenyon Law Firm, an Issaquah-based law firm, recently hired Bruce L. Disend and Carol A. Morris. Disend formerly served as city attorney for Bellingham, Puyallup and Shoreline. Morris formerly served as a member of Ogden Murphy Wallace and joins Kenyon Law Firm as Of Counsel. Morris is also an adjunct professor of municipal law at Seattle University School of Law.

Seatran

Richard Miller has been appointed director of the Roadway Structures Division of Seatran. Miller has worked for the division for 20 years and is a professional civil engineer. He recently oversaw the city's largest bridge projects, including a $23 million six-year program to strengthen 24 key bridges to withstand a major earthquake. His primary goal as new director is to secure some of the more than $350 million needed for work on Seattle's aging bridges.

Berschauer Phillips

Jerry O. Oetgen has joined Berschauer Phillips Construction Co. as chief estimator, design build. Oetgen has over 30 years of construction, design and estimating experience. He worked for Lugo Construction and Rushforth Construction before coming to Olympia-based Berschauer Phillips.

BFC Frontier

Growth in BFC Frontier's commercial construction operations has lead to new staff and promotions at the Lynnwood contractor. The new hires include Danny Rampt, a project manager, and Jack Long, a project superintendent. Kathy Friess was promoted to the newly-created position of executive administrative assistant. She has been a contract administrator at BFC for over two years. Rampt has worked as a project manager and estimator throughout the U.S. since 1986. He holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He is working on LDS church projects in Port Orchard and Bainbridge Island, and an office project in Kirkland. Long studied construction management at the University of Minnesota and currently supervises construction of the Safeway Plaza project in Maple Valley. He has over 17 years of field supervisory experience.

Valley Quality Homes

Valley Quality Homes of Sunnyside has been recognized as the state's 1998 Energy Efficient Builder of the Year by the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program. The award was made last month in recognition of the builder's dedication to the production of Super Good Cents & Natural Choice homes -- which feature superior insulation, state-of-the-art windows and high-quality ventilation systems. They also use about 30 percent less heat than manufactured homes built to the national code.