Chiropractor Jorgensen is Kiwanian of the Year
Dr. Bruce Jorgensen, of Jorgensen Family Chiropractor, has received the Annual Kiwanian of the Year Award from the Kiwanis Club of Bellingham. The award recognizes his dedicated service to the club and his tireless work to organize several community service projects.
Under his leadership, the club accomplished such projects as the ongoing maintenance at the Kiwanis Pocket Park on the creek below Bellingham City Hall, a one-day clean up project at the Lummi Salvation Army children’s camp and the ARC House renovation project. He also serves on the club’s board of directors, as well as the club’s membership committee, the community services committee and the house reception committee.

Fisher Companies names Lowe safety manager
Dianne Lowe has joined the staff of Fisher Companies as safety manager. She will oversee safety issues for the company’s two divisions – Fisher & Sons Inc. in Burlington and JTM Construction in Seattle. Lowe will also oversee the company’s safety training, record keeping and claim management.
Lowe has 18 years experience in construction and safety, most recently as safety manager with a Bellingham company. She is an OSHA Construction Outreach Trainer, an Evergreen Safety Council Certified Safety and Health Specialist and a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers since 2002.

Open House honors retiring Tremaine
Rick Tremaine has announced his retirement, effective Jan. 4, 2008, from Business Bank. An open house for the public will be held in his honor on Thursday, Jan. 10, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Business Bank, 2417 Meridian Street, Suite 104 in Bellingham.
Tremaine is well known in Whatcom and Skagit County for his years of service in the banking and real estate industry. He began his career in 1975 at Mount Baker Mutual Savings Bank as a vice president and manager of loan production. In 1983, he became the vice president and Northwest district manager for real estate at Key Bank. From 1996 to 2005, Tremaine served as a member of the senior management team for Whidbey Island Bank. During this time, he developed and managed the real estate retail and wholesale department.
As the executive vice president for Business Bank, Tremaine has developed the real estate department and has been instrumental in the development of the bank’s success. Upon his retirement, Tremaine will become a member of the board of directors for Business Bank.
Throughout Tremaine’s career, he has also been a member of and served as director for the National Association of Home Builders, the Building Industry Association of Washington, Skagit/Island County Builder’s Association, and the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce. Tremaine was recently inducted into the Building Industry Association of Washington’s Hall of Fame. Currently, he is also chair of the Territorial Courthouse Restoration Committee for the Whatcom County Historical Society and assistant coach for the Mt. Baker High School girls’ basketball team.

WWU professor is fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology
Kathleen Knutzen, professor of physical education, health and recreation at Western Washington University, was recently named a fellow by the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.
The American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education announced the recent induction of its newest members at its 77th annual meeting in Savannah, Ga. Knutzen, who is also associate dean of WWU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was one of nine fellows named at the meeting.
The academy’s membership is considered a “who’s who list” of the top individuals in the fields of kinesiology and physical education. In order to be elected into membership, individuals must be nominated by a current member of the academy and must be currently engaged in professional or scientific work in kinesiology or physical education and have demonstrated competence in this discipline over a period of at least 10 years.

Windermere’s Lindberg earns designation
Maria Lindberg, a Mount Vernon-native and an associate broker at Windermere Real Estate in Fairhaven, was awarded the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation by the CCIM Institute, one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate associations. Lindberg was awarded the designation in October in San Antonio, Texas, after passing the institute’s designation process.
Lindberg is among 15 commercial real estate professionals – and the only woman – in Whatcom and Skagit counties who have earned the designation. CCIMs are recognized experts in commercial real estate brokerage, leasing, asset management, valuation, and investment analysis.
Lindberg obtained her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and holds a master’s degree from Western Washington University. She has earned several other real estate designations since she began selling real estate in 1996, including designations such as Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) and Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR).

CENTURY 21 Bay Properties welcomes Wright
CENTURY 21 Bay Properties is pleased to announce that Leah Wright has joined its Blaine-based firm as a sales associate. She will specialize in residential property sales in the Whatcom County area.
“We are thrilled to have Leah join our team,” said Carl W. R. Dufton, “It’s an exciting time to be with the CENTURY 21 System as we increase our market presence in the area.”

Leak to intern at Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism
Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism has hired Jennifer Leak as the winter marketing and public relations intern.
Leak’s responsibilities at the bureau include working with local and national media to promote the region as a desirable travel destination, tracking media publicity and assisting with key marketing projects such as the bureau’s award-winning Roadtrip Programs that promote travel packages throughout the region. She also plays a vital role in the bureau’s event management and creation of promotional materials.
Leak is currently a senior at Western Washington University working toward a communications major with a journalism minor. She will graduate at the end of 2007.

McKinley selected leader of the year
Bellingham Public Works Director Dick McKinley recently was awarded the state’s top honor among public works professionals.
McKinley received the Roy Morse Award for Washington State Public Works Leader of the Year from the Washington State Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) at its 2007 fall conference in Spokane in early October.
The board of directors and the chapter awards committee present this prestigious award to only one person in the state each year. The recipient is then eligible for the APWA National Top 10 Public Works Leaders of the Year.

WWU professor testifies before U.S. Congress
Michael Medler, an associate professor at Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment, testified Nov. 1 before a U.S. House Committee hearing on “Wildfires and the Climate Crisis,” held in the wake of the massive fires in Southern California.
Medler also testified before the U.S. House select committee on energy independence and global warming on linkages between ongoing climate change and changes in the nation’s fire seasons during the last 20 years.
“Alongside melting glaciers, rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes, it is clear that conflagration wildfires or ‘megafires’ are providing another dramatic signal of climate change,” Medler said. “In our view, global warming is fundamentally a fire issue, for it is the burning of fossil fuels that is the primary anthropogenic cause of climate change.”

Pike sworn in as mayor of Bellingham
Elected mayor in the November election, Dan Pike was sworn in to office Nov. 27 before a full house at City Hall in a ceremony attended by his extended family, campaign team, city staff and dozens of community members.
In his remarks, Pike reflected on his love for Bellingham, his enthusiasm for his new job as mayor and his faith in the community’s ability to work together to keep Bellingham livable, healthy and strong.
Pike is committed bringing a spirit of respect, civility and inclusion to city government.
The ceremony was opened by departing Mayor Tim Douglas. Douglas served during the past year as interim mayor to fill the vacancy left by former Mayor Mark Asmundson’s resignation.
Pike filled the remaining month of Asmundson’s term and began a new four-year term this month, which ends on Dec. 31, 2011.

Snapp sworn in tocity council
Long-time Bellingham resident and former firefighter Stan Snapp was sworn in to his position on the Bellingham City Council at a ceremony on Nov. 27 at City Hall. Snapp was elected in the November General Election to serve the remaining two years of the late Joan Beardsley’s term representing Ward 4.
Snapp said Bellingham currently faces many opportunities and challenges.
“I am honored to fill the remaining two years of Joan Beardsley’s term and represent the citizens of Bellingham as we take advantage of those opportunities and address our challenges,” he said.
Snapp is a 1971 graduate of Western Washington University. He served with the Bellingham Fire Department for 25 years, including 17 years as division chief, which is responsible for training and facilities

WWU faculty and student attend seminar in Jordan
Two faculty members and a student from Western Washington University recently attended an international seminar in Amman, Jordan, focused on sustainable development, ecotourism, water management, leadership and education.
Huxley College of the Environment assistant professor Troy Abel, associate professor Nick Zaferatos and Huxley senior Nicole Brown joined approximately 57 other students, practitioners and academics from around the world at the United Nations University Leadership Institute from Oct. 21-25.
The seminar allowed students to discuss a wide variety of topics, including sustainability, globalization and environmental challenges. Abel said he will integrate his experiences and his firsthand knowledge about Jordan’s premier conservation area, the Dana Biosphere Preserve, as a case study in his classes to teach students how sustainable-development strategies can be implemented.

Coldwell Banker hires Bagwell
Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason is pleased to announce that Lena Bagwell has been hired as a sales associate for its Meridian office in Bellingham.
Bagwell holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Washington University and brings sales and customer service experience she gained from working in the advertising and marketing industry.
At Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason, she will specialize in residential property sales in Whatcom County. Bagwell said she enjoys the challenge of real estate and looks forward to providing exceptional service to her clients. Founded in 1906, Coldwell Banker is America’s oldest real estate company.

Caldwell joins Fairhaven Mortgage
Fairhaven Mortgage Advisors LLC is excited to announce the hiring of longtime Bellingham resident Renee Caldwell. She passed her loan officer exam with the state and is a fully licensed loan officer. Caldwell entered the mortgage industry last spring after being a small business owner for 10 years. She provides professionalism, integrity and customer satisfaction to the process of obtaining home loans.

Husband-and-wife DUO publish first cookbook
Chef Brian Tolbert and his wife, Deborah, have published their first cookbook, which is filled with recipes from their restaurant, The Dulce Plate Restaurant in La Conner. The cookbook is available locally and contains recipes for Spanish Paella, Dulce gazpacho, desserts and much more.

Professional women dress for success at fashion show
Scott Caldwell, a financial adviser for Waddell & Reed, and Theresa Griffin, owner of Bellingham-based boutique Unique West, hosted a fashion showing for professional women on how to “dress for success” in today’s professional world.
The Nov. 8 event combined the one-year anniversary celebration of Unique West with the fashion show. Caldwell spoke of the role women in today’s world have in accumulating wealth, protecting assets and distributing wealth in years to come. Approximately 15 women attended the event.

President of Merit Engineering receives fellowship
Bellingham-based Merit Engineering recently announced that Austin Huang, the company’s president and principal engineer, was elected as a fellow to the American Society of Civil Engineers in June 2007. This fellowship represents a high level of professional distinction and achievement.
Huang, a registered professional engineer in four states and a registered geologist in the state of Washington, received a bachelor of science in mining from the China University of Mining and Technology as well as graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Hilltop Restaurant Catering appoints new manager
Hilltop Restaurant Catering of Bellingham has named Ernie Coslick its catering and event manager.
Coslick has 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including six years in catering. He is handling sales, management and administration for Hilltop Restaurant Catering, which saw revenues double last year and expanded its kitchen to accommodate the growth.

Bellingham director’s video gets 50,000 YouTube hits
Bellingham-based film director Terri Krantz’s short film, “The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom,” was viewed by 50,000 people as of Nov. 30, 2007.
The film, Krantz’s first, was a finalist in the Pure Schlock category at the 2006 NW Projections Film Festival. Bellingham viewers might recognize familiar local sights such as Cornwall Park, Chuckanut Bay and Whatcom Middle School in the video.
Krantz also directed and worked on several other local film productions. Most recently, she designed costumes for “Kung Fu Joe,” a martial arts parody to be released in 2008.

Robinson receives LEED certification
On Nov. 16, Greg Robinson, an architect and design department manager for Cascade Joinery in Bellingham, passed the United States Green Building Council’s professional accreditation examination for new construction. Passing the exam gave Robinson the designation of LEED AP, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional.
The LEED standard is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED certification verifies that a building is environmentally responsible, profitable, and a healthy place to live and work.
Robinson’s designation recognizes that he demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and familiarity with LEED requirements, resources and processes.
Robinson has worked as an architect for Cascade Joinery since 1996.

Squalicum Family Dental hires dental hygienist
Jeannette Mann, a registered dental hygienist, has recently joined the dental team of Dr. Aaron Lemperes and Dr. Jeffrey Staskiews.
Noted for her gentle and thorough technique, Mann provides comprehensive hygiene dental care to patients.
Mann graduated from Cypress College, located in Cypress, Calif., in May 2007 as a registered dental hygienist. Originally from San Jose, Calif., she moved to Bellingham in June 2007 to be near her family. In her spare time, Mann enjoys swimming and hiking.

Rep. Morris to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore
Amid the fray of a rare November session in the Washington state Legislature, one local lawmaker was selected to serve in a new leadership position.
Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, received the unanimous support of the House Democratic Caucus to as serve Speaker Pro Tempore of the House during the 2008 legislative session.
The Speaker Pro Tempore presides over floor debate in the House during the Speaker’s absence and also serves as a member of the House Democratic leadership team.

Diamond ‘B’ adds five to management staff
Diamond “B” Constructors (DBC) is pleased to announce the following five additions to its management staff.
Liam Lindsay joins the staff after working for DBC as a project engineer. Prior to joining DBC, Lindsay served several years in the Army Infantry and in the special forces unit in the Utah National Guard. An Idaho native, Lindsay attended Idaho State University, where he completed a certificate in building construction technology, then completed additional coursework in construction management at the University of Washington. 
Modesta Urbano joins the staff after being hired as a field safety specialist in August. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University, and has several years of construction safety experience in local oil refineries. She is responsible for field safety on a project at the BP Cherry Point Refinery.
Seth Davick joins the staff after he was hired in August as an assistant project engineer. Davick worked at DBC’s demolition project at the Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes. Prior to that, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Northwest Nazarene University, where he graduated with honors. He then joined the U.S. Army and completed two combat tours of duty in Iraq. 
Bobbette Halterman joins the staff after she was hired in August as a project engineer. She received her bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University, and has been a volunteer firefighter and EMT for the past 10 years. Halterman is currently assigned to a demolition project at the Shell refinery in Anacortes. 
Dan Soderberg was recently promoted from field superintendent to project manager. Soderberg is currently managing three projects: Bellingham Art and Children’s Museum, Bothell High School Phase III and Ferndale Elementary School. Soderberg is a Bellingham native and has been with DBC since 1991. His responsibilities include estimating and project management. 

SVC athletic director inducted into Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame
Skagit Valley College Athletic Director Gary Knutzen was inducted into the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Pacific Lutheran University on Nov. 10, as recognition for 53 years of devotion to the sport as a wrestler, coach and official.
Skagit Valley College President Gary Tollefson praised Knutzen’s contributions to wrestling, community college athletics, and Skagit Valley College saying, “For over 40 years Gary Knutzen has been a towering figure in Skagit’s successful development of students into accomplished, principled, productive citizens. Wrestling and athletics provided that opportunity.”

Bellingham photographer wins awards
Bellingham-based photographer Tore Ofteness’ entries for the cover of the quarterly newsletter of the Professional Aerial Photographers Association International, PAPA Views, won first and third place.
PAPA is an organization of more than 300 members worldwide and each member was invited to submit two images. Ofteness’ winning image is titled “ARCO Texas in Autumn Sunset” is a photograph of the ARCO tanker as it transited Rosario Strait in 1994. The image that won third place is of the Russian tall ship Pallada as she entered Bellingham Bay on a visit here in 1990.
Tore Ofteness will also be presenting a slide show titled “Koma Kulshan, The Great White One, studies of Mount Baker” at the annual PAPA meeting in Los Angeles in February.

Pauley joins Neighborhood Mortgage
Dave Pauley, a loan officer with more than 30 years of home finance experience, has joined the lending team at the Bakerview branch of Neighborhood Mortgage in Bellingham.
Most recently Pauley managed the local branch of First Horizon, which discontinued operations in Bellingham and closed the office. At Neighborhood Mortgage, he said he looks forward to the opportunity to continue service to the many clients he has served in Whatcom County over the years.

Brown represents local realtors at conference
Bellingham Realtor Mark Brown, of the Whatcom County branch of Windermere Real Estate Inc., attended the National Association of Realtor’s annual convention in Las Vegas in October.
As a local board president, Brown had the opportunity to vote on proposed amendments to the organization’s code of ethics, constitution, and, most importantly, its new plan to start a member-only credit union.
A record number of more than 30,000 Realtors and guests from the United States and abroad attended the meeting. Brown is the incoming president of the Whatcom County Association of Realtors for 2008.

WCC’s Langstraat receives conference honor
Whatcom Community College coach Nate Langstraat has recently been named Volleyball Coach of the Year by the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC). Additionally, he was also selected North Region Coach of the Year.
Langstraat’s team won the North Region title with a 10-2 record. This is the best finish ever by a Whatcom volleyball team. During their run, the team defeated Walla Walla, Linn-Benton, Spokane and Columbia Basin College.
In the NWAACC, 29 colleges throughout Washington and Oregon compete in volleyball. Langstraat was selected based on a vote of conference coaches.

Allen joins Northwest Computer
Carlyn Allen has recently joined Northwest Computer as professional services coordinator. She will manage the company’s team of engineers, technicians and support staff and work with clients to manage IT projects and out-sourced network management.
“Managed services – where we provide IT support for client’s networks – has been the fastest growing part of our business for some time,” company president John D’Onofrio said. “Carlyn brings a centralized customer-friendly interface to ensure that all of our clients are receiving the kind of service that they expect and deserve.”

Robertson, Young complete training certifications
The Bellingham Tennis Club and Fairhaven Fitness would like to congratulate Robin Robertson and Scott Young on their completion of the CycleOps Power Training Systems Certification, a course for indoor cycling. Robertson and Young are the first two of 100 instructors to achieve this certification nationwide. The CycleOps cycling system focuses on advanced power training using watts to measure progress. Young is one of the Club’s indoor cycling instructors and Robertson is the club owner and manager, who also teaches cycling classes.

Windermere’s Hilton ranked among top Puget Sound real estate agents
Sue Hilton of Bellingham has been named among the best real estate agents in Puget Sound for the third consecutive year.
Hilton, a 16-year agent with Windermere Real Estate, was honored as a “2007 Five Star Real Estate Agent: Best in Client Satisfaction” in Seattle magazine’s December issue. Hilton is the only agent in Whatcom County to receive the 2007 award.
The customer service award was bestowed after client-based surveys by a national independent research firm. Real estate agents were rated in many categories, including integrity, marketing, communication, negotiations and overall satisfaction.