New Assisted-living, Dementia Facility Opens

The county’s newest assisted-living facility, Where The Heart Is, has opened in Burlington.

Owners Nancy and Kendall Gentry greeted business and community leaders during a grand opening the end of November of the 37,000-square-foot, 59-room facility at 410 Norris St.

The building, designed by local architect Mark E. Christ and Portland-based interior decorator Arlene Harwood, features communal living clusters outside residents’ private living quarters, many of them set up to accommodate two persons. Where the Heart Is has room for about 75 clients, including some with dementia-related diseases.

“This is to promote interaction among those living in each section,” Christ explains. “Each area has a small kitchen and dining area as well.” Even so, every room, he points out, also is equipped with its own microwave and refrigerator if the occupant wants to remain alone.

The clusters are also set up with conversation and game areas.

“Unlike typical assisted-living facilities, Where The Heart Is has no corridors,” he adds.

The Gentrys also own and operate HomePlace in Burlington, Wee Care day-care centers and Landed Gentry Real Estate. In addition, Nancy was nominated last year for Business and Professional Woman of the Year by Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network (S.W.A.N.).

For more information, call 755-8007, or visit the Web site at www.wheretheheartis-alr.com.

 

Consolidated Cellular Snips Ribbon for HQ

A Who’s Who of Sedro-Woolley turned out last month to open Consolidated Cellular’s new $2 million headquarters building at the Sunset Business Park west of downtown.

Consolidated, owned by John Falavolito, has grown rapidly in its four years. The biggest jump has been in the number of retail shops it owns in Washington and Oregon, 30, but it also took a leap from a small, cluttered store at Sunset Park to the brand-new building across the street.

On hand for the gala grand opening were County Commissioner Ted Anderson, Sedro-Woolley Mayor Sharon Dillon, EDASC head Don Wick, Sedro-Woolley Chamber of Commerce executive director Ken Cornet, Bank of America’s Andrea Martin, contractor Doug Smith, Sunset Park’s Andy Thompson and a host of subcontractors, contractors and business neighbors.

Falavolito says his Sunset Tower Plaza at 638 Sunset Park Drive already is home to two other businesses, Cascade Limousine Service and West Side Delicatessen, with about 8,000 square feet more to lease. Call 856-6676.

 

NW Flower Show Features Local Businesses

Skagit’s floral and landscaping industries will be represented at this year’s premiere Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle next month, but not on the scale of past years.

Nurseries, landscapers and others associated with horticulture in the valley say they will limit or pass up participation in this year’s event, Feb. 7-11 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, although attendance will be strong.

Jeff McClelland of Big Lake, who seems to outdo himself every year at the show, says he will be there as Skagit Landscaping in February, but under the auspices of the National Park system.

“This year, I’ve been hired by the three national parks in Washington to do their display,” he explains. “The display is intended to bring awareness about our parks.” Among the goals, he adds, is to raise interest in the Washington National Park Fund, the trail system and the greenhouses used to grow plants for rehabilitation.

“I will use all native plants and set up a garden with subalpine and alpine settings and waterfall,” he comments.

Last year, McClelland picked up the coveted Ethel Moss People’s Choice Award bronze medal for favorite garden or major exhibit with his 1,300-square-foot display with water tumbling from a romantic castle in a dense forest.

Waterfalls and rare alpine hemlocks are his specialties.

Meanwhile, Christianson’s Nursery on Best Road west of Mount Vernon, also a multiple top winner for its displays at NWF&GS in past years, will only have two commercial booths, according to workers there.

Charlie Yaw, owner of Charley’s Greenhouse Supply on Memorial Highway in Mount Vernon, says he plans a regular booth as usual at the show, but nothing more.

Other local companies expected to participate include Cascade Waterscapes, Etera and Summersun, all of Mount Vernon.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, which has had displays in the past, will not participate this year, but products promoting the annual event will.

“Perennial Favorites, owned by Boyd and Ginny Bode, will have (festival-sanctioned) cups, posters and such available,” says Audrey Smith, Tulip Festival executive director.

Wells Nursery of Mount Vernon, a past-participant, has opted out this year. Wells spokesman Roger Ragusa says the Northwest Flower and Garden Show doesn’t lend itself to his kind of marketing. “We do most of our business outside of the area,” he adds.

 

Engineering Software Company Uses Expertise

Tim Garrison and Rob MacKay have founded ConstructionCalc, Inc., a software and seminar company targeting contractors, building inspectors and others in the building trades.

Garrison, an engineer with Skagit Surveyors of Sedro-Woolley, says ConstructionCalc has two main divisions.

“We write technical software and bundle it with basic beam, column, footing and load calculations and wood and manufactured-wood cross-references,” he explains. “This is especially applicable to contractors and building officials who, using a laptop computer, can access calculations in seconds.”

The other function of the company, he says, is to put on seminars for the building trades.

“The whole thrust is to empower the construction industry. Many in the industry do not have formal training but are asked to solve engineering problems. That’s where we can help,” Garrison notes.

For more information, go to the Web site: www.ConstructionCalc.com, or call Garrison at 855-2121.

 

Peoples Bank Expands to Anacortes

Peoples Bank is adding another branch to its growing list.

The Lynden-based financial institution, with branches now in Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, is expanding to Anacortes. It was to open a temporary facility at 616 Commercial Ave. the first part of this year.

A new branch office — the 13th — is being constructed at 11th Street and Commercial.

Charlie Guildner will service as branch manager and brings 18 years of banking experience to Peoples. Customers will have access to a complete line of banking services including commercial, consumer and real estate lending at the new full-service office.

Peoples, started in 1921, has grown to more than $350 million in assets in Skagit and Whatcom counties.

 

NWMB Physicians Okay Merger with Regence

Physician members of Northwest Washington Medical Bureau voted to approve the merger with Regence BlueShield, the last obstacle to the marriage of the two health-insurance providers effective Jan. 1, 2001.

The vote was a near-unanimous 342 for approval.

“This overwhelming show of support for the merger is a testament of the physicians’ confidence in Regence BlueShield,” says John Boyes, M.D., chair of NWMB’s Board of Directors. “It’s a good decision that will benefit the community.”

Regence BlueShield remains as the surviving corporation and successor to NWMB assets and liabilities. NWMB customer agreements in effect at the time of the merger were to be honored by Regence, and any changes to benefit plans or rates were to be made in accordance with the terms of those agreements, according to NWMB.

“This was not an easy decision,” Boyes comments, “but it is a necessary one that will enable us to continue to provide quality services for our patients.”

NWMB is located on Gilkey Road in Burlington, behind Fred Meyer, and is the result of another merger a few years back between the Whatcom and Skagit medical bureaus.

 

Individual Insurance Policies Being Offered

The four health insurers that stopped providing individual policies because they were not cost effective have begun selling them again. Among them is Northwest Washington Medical Bureau, which is located in Burlington.

NWMB, Group Health Cooperative, Premera Blue Cross and Regence BlueShield quit selling individual policies two years ago when state regulations made them too costly. Signing of the Insurance Market Reform Bill last March gave the insurance industry new rules to work with.

Now, individuals must fill out a 272-question form, expected to screen out the 8 percent of high-risk applicants, who then would go into a state pool. According to one spokesperson, about 500,000 persons in the state are uninsured.

NWMB, a combination of the old Whatcom and Skagit medical bureaus, has since merged with Regence BlueShield. NWMB insures about 110,000 persons in Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan and Island counties.

 

Health Clinic Sold to Resident Doctors

Doctors at North Cascade Family Physicians have chosen to purchase the Mount Vernon clinic from owner Island Health Northwest of Anacortes.

Island Health, which operates Island Hospital and clinics in three counties, reported a loss of $1.1 million the first half of 2000, much of it through its only Mount Vernon facility. Chief executive officer Vincent Oliver announced last fall that Island Health was selling North Cascade.

About a dozen M.D.s — a quarter of the family-practice physicians in the county outside Anacortes — make up North Cascade. They signed a letter of intent to purchase the clinic, effective Dec. 1, 2000. Purchase price was not disclosed.

Pam Putney, business manager, says the first step in the changeover will be to make renovations.

“We’re doing a total restoration of the clinic, but we plan to keep the doors open and ask for patients’ understanding through all of this,” she says.

 

Island Radiology Gets Top Accreditation

Island Radiology and Nuclear Medicine received a major, three-year accreditation recently from the American College of Radiology (ACR).

The accreditation from ACR, which services more than 30,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists and medical physicists nationwide, was the result of an evaluation of Island’s MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) practices at Island Hospital.

“The ACR awards accreditation to an MRI practice for the achievement of high practice standards after a voluntary evaluation of its practice,” the accreditation states.

“This is a significant award,” says Sandra Carl, business manager at Island Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.

“This is the only such unit accredited north of Everett,” Carl adds. “There are 18 total in the state.”

 

National in Burlington Closes Plant for Good

The sign on the 74-year-old food-processing plants says “for sale.”

National Frozen Foods of Seattle closed its Burlington plant as of Dec. 5 last year. It has shifted much of the operations, and some management, to its much larger plant in Moses Lake in Eastern Washington.

In recent years, the National lines on Washington Avenue in downtown Burlington processed many of the vegetables and fruits produced by Skagit farmers, notably peas and carrots. When the plant first opened in 1926, the main products processed were strawberries and raspberries, commodities abandoned here several years ago because of price competition from growers in California and Oregon.

National (subject of a cover story for The Skagit County Business Monthly in September 1999) employed about 100 full-time and 250 seasonal workers. The local payroll was about $5 million.

 

Local Manufacturer Hamstrung by G-P Closure

LignoTech USA, a major manufacturer of dispersants and product for animal feed, can no longer get the raw material it needs to turn out goods because the product was supplied by the Georgia-Pacific pulp and paper mill in Bellingham.

G-P closed its doors in early December because of high electricity costs to run the plant. A byproduct of the pulp industry is lignin, a natural component of trees, used by LignoTech, on Farm-to-Market Road west of Burlington, to make industrial binders and other products. G-P provided about 90 percent of LignoTech’s raw material.

Jim Kolp, LignoTech USA’s general manager, says the closure had greatly affected his company’s ability to make finished products, 65 percent of which are exported.

He said the company was evaluating options.

 

Festival of Trees Brings in Record $175K

The 12th-annual Festival of Trees raised more than $175,000 to help the Family Birth Center at Skagit Valley Hospital.

The total set a new fund-raising record for the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation, which sponsors the gala event each year. Proceeds will contribute to the purchase of a central fetal heart-monitoring system at the center.

Meanwhile, the foundation released the winners at the festival, held over the Thanksgiving weekend. They were:

Best of Show: “Winter Wonderland with the Elves,” tree sponsored by Wire Fab and decorations by Westside Mount Vernon Merchants. Jeff and Lynell Darnell were designers.

President’s Choice: “Hopping through the Forest,” tree and decorations sponsored by Puget Sound Refining Co. Linda Hendricks, Jan Nations and Elsa Atterberry were designers.

Public’s Choice: “North Pole Fire Station,” tree sponsored by Sedro-Woolley Eagles #2069 Aerie and Auxiliary and decorations by a list headed by Mike Joy Meats, Boyd’s Radiator and Muffler Service and Strauss Jewelers. Don and Wendy Paton, Kelly and Heather Devlin and Carla Lopez were designers.

Children’s Choice: “Star Light, Star Bright,” tree and decorations sponsored by the five local funeral homes: Evans, Hawthorne, Hulbush, Kern and Lemley. Hart’s Floral owner Colleen McKnight was designer.

Designer’s Choice: “All That Glistens . . . All That Glows,” tree and decorations sponsored by Blade Chevrolet and RV Center. Vicki Blade, John and Judi Tesarik, Denny and Michele Tremblay and Kelly Youngquist were designers.

Most Traditional: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” tree and decorations sponsored by Northwest Orthopaedic Surgeons, P.S. Robin Thramer, Sharon Gilbertson, Tanya Maestas and Jim Mock were designers.

Most Unique: “Merry Grinchmas,” tree and decorations sponsored by Whidbey’s Coffee Co. Sherrie Marble and Joan Marble were designers.

 

Pacioni’s Celebrates Decade in Business

Pacioni’s Pizzeria reached a major milestone at the end of last year. The popular downtown Mount Vernon restaurant celebrated 10 years in business.

Originally opened by Paula and David Alberts, the pizzeria is now owned by Andrew Glocker and Glenda Downs.

“Every item is made to order using traditional methods. We are proud to say we use stone ovens and sauté pans. You will not find a single microwave in our kitchen and the freezer is for storing ice cream,” the owners say.

Paula Alberts, from a southern Italian family named Pacioni, gave the pizzeria its name when she and her husband opened it at the end of 1990.

 

Business Award Accorded Charley’s Greenhouse

Charlie and Carol Yaw, owners of Charley’s Greenhouse Supply on Mount Vernon’s West Side, have received a Hero Award for small-business achievement from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (S.C.O.R.E.).

The 25-year-old business, which has been in Mount Vernon since 1986, sells garden supplies and accessories and greenhouses of various sizes and shapes.

S.C.O.R.E., which exists to advise and help new businesses with capitalization plans, helped the Yaws in 1983. Since, they have grown their business into a multimillion-dollar company with 36 employees.

“From its early beginning in 1975 in a vacant chicken barn near Pine Lake, Wash., the firm has grown to a multimillion-dollar global source of greenhouse and gardening supplies,” S.C.O.R.E. states.

Yaw says “to survive,” he called S.C.O.R.E. for information, which eventually put him on track with, as S.C.O.R.E. notes, “hard work and a strong vision.”

 

Safety Award Goes to Brown Line

Brown Line Inc., a Mount Vernon-based trucking firm, has received a second-place award in a safety contest sponsored by the American Trucking Association.

Accepting the award at the Safety Management Council meeting and exhibition was Dennis Morgan, safety director at Brown Line, located in south Mount Vernon.

 

Henry Klein Architects Given Awards

The Henry Klein Partnership Architects of Mount Vernon recently received citations for outstanding designs from the Northwest Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The NWAIA 2000 Awards were presented the end of last year.

Henry Klein was presented a citation award for the Lasher House private residence. “New and old buildings work together well to make a splendid grouping,” the jurors wrote.

Architect David Hall was presented an “unbuilt” citation award for the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, to be constructed near Diablo Dam in the Upper Skagit basin. “An exceptional project that we can’t wait to see when it gets built,” the jurors said.

 

Bookstore to Help Local Primary School

Bargain Bookland of Burlington has established a quarterly donation program with West View Elementary School.

The regional bookstore chain, with an outlet at the Cascade Mall, will provide books to children who might not have the resources to buy books themselves as part of an ongoing program to help local nonprofits and schools.

“Our goal is to establish a long-term relationship with West View Elementary that can benefit children in our community,” states Kathy Preszler, manager of the Burlington store. “We love sharing our love of books with our customers. This is a chance to help students form that love of reading through giving them the opportunity of ownership.”

 

Swinomish Tribe Gets $10K from Harvard

Harvard University has given the Swinomish Tribe a $10,000 award for its handling of disputes with nontribal landowners on reservation property.

The award went to the tribe’s Office of Planning and Community Development for its 1998 Cooperative Land Use Program that effectively ended jurisdictional disputes between the county and tribe over fee-simple land.

The award was for the program, which established a nationwide model for handling such disputes.

 

Corrections

• In the November 2000 issue of The Skagit County Business Monthly Business News section, an item about Pinnacle Awards give to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival indicated the annual festival had received its first “Gold Award.”

In fact, the festival has received numerous Gold Awards and set a record in 1998 with three for Best Other Merchandise, Best Poster and Best Web Site. “We have at least 40 plaques in different categories,” says executive director Audrey Smith.

• In the December 2000 issue Business News section, an item titled “Kelley Buys Energy Bar” appeared to have violated the first rule of journalism — never assume anything — when it reported in the body text that the new owner, Micah Kelley, was a “she.” The accompanying photo shows that Micah is definitely not a woman. We seriously regret the error.

 

Budgets Released Countywide for 2001

As always seems to happen at this time of calendar, the various cities, county and port authorities have issued their budgets for the year.

Skagit County’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a $36.7 million general-fund budget, which includes $29.2 million in salaries — a 3.8-percent increase over last year. The new general-fund budget is $1.9 million higher than 2000’s. The overall budget was about $105 million, a 13-percent increase over last year.

Port of Skagit County commissioners approved a $5.8 million budget, $2.4 million of which was earmarked for capital improvements at Skagit Regional Airport, the La Conner Marina and new Riverbend Business Park in Burlington. Most of it, about $2 million, will be used to dredge the marina. The operating budget is $3.4 million.

Port of Anacortes commissioners approved a $7.8 million budget, a 3.2-percent increase over 2000. Most of the money comes from use of the marine terminal and Cap Sante Boat Haven, as well as rentals and airport taxes, while 6 percent is raised through a levy of 17.6 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

City of Anacortes approved its $41 million budget, just 2 percent over that of 2000. The budget includes funds to construct a new library and replace a water line as well as hire one new police officer.

City of Burlington has passed a $23 million budget, 78 percent of which comes through sales and property taxes, while 6 percent comes from licenses and permits, 3 percent from services and 4 percent from other sources. Almost two-thirds of the total goes to public safety, including 48 percent to police.

Town of La Conner passed its $2.3 million, which is about $176,000 more than last year’s.

City of Mount Vernon approved a $35.5 million budget, a 4.7-percent increase over that of 2000. About 52 percent of that goes to salaries. With annexation of the south Mount Vernon area, the city is faced with a need for added police and fire positions. To offset this, the City Council also approved a 2-percent increase in property taxes, which will bring in about $80,000 above the $4 million it collected last year.

City of Sedro-Woolley’s budget for 2001 was approved at $14.4 million, an increase of 8 percent over last year. Police will get 52 percent of that. The City Council earlier hiked property taxes by 18 percent.

 

Four Bits to Ride Bus Starting May 1

Starting May 1, riders on Skagit Transit (SKAT) buses will use a computerized card to register a trip, costing them 50 cents each.

The cards, available in grocery and convenience stores in different denominations, are provided through a Coin Card International of Victoria, British Columbia. The system, similar to those used in European cities with tram and bus service, requires the rider to slip the card in a slot. The fare will be deducted and a computer will keep track of the number of riders for each route.

SKAT, which approved fare boxes last spring, hopes to raise $166,000 — about 3.7 percent of the 2001, $4.5 million budget — between May 1 and Dec. 31. SKAT also receives revenues from Anacortes Ferry Shuttle and Seattle City Light for transporting workers to dam work in Newhalem.

 

Boyle Honored in Naming Cypress Reserve

Former state Land Commissioner Brian Boyle was honored recently when an aquatic reserve on state-owned tidelands around Cypress Island in Skagit County was named after him.

Boyle, commissioner from 1982 to 1990, was honored by outgoing commissioner Jennifer M. Belcher.

The reserve, including tide- and bedlands surrounding the island, as well as 85 percent of the island itself, is managed by the Department of Natural Resources, much of it as a conservation area. Cypress Island, home also to Secret Harbor School, is northwest of Anacortes in the San Juan Archipelago, although it is administered by Skagit County.

Other state aquatic reserves include Cherry Point in Whatcom County, Fidalgo Bay off Anacortes and Commencement Bay in Tacoma.

 

Job Corps Could Stay in Sedro-Woolley

Four sites at the old Northern State Hospital campus east of Sedro-Woolley have been added to the list of possible homes for the Cascade Job Corps Center, which is already located at the campus.

Job Corps, a federally funded arm of the Department of Labor, has been negotiating a new lease. Saying the Sedro-Woolley site is too costly, the center has looked at bids on sites on Whidbey Island and near Everett.

Since then, the possibility of staying at the Northern State site has been revisited, with two locations on county property and two others on state land included with the others. At least two other sites in Skagit County are being considered, according to reports.

“It would make sense if Job Corps decided to stay at Northern State, since they wouldn’t have to move,” says Don Wick, executive director of the Economic Development Association of Skagit County, who recently toured the campus with Department of Labor officials.

 

Grants, Loan to Help Bring More High-tech Here

State grants and a pledge for an interest-free loan totaling $1.5 million will help communities in Skagit County develop infrastructure to attract more high-tech business to the area.

The state Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) approved a $500,000 grant for the City of Mount Vernon to complete a fiber-optic loop to serve two businesses in the city, Independent Market Service (IMS) and WebEKG, as well as any new high-tech business that might come in. IMS, based in Redmond, has pledged to move to Mount Vernon. WebEKG, in Burlington, is moving to the city’s Tech Center.

In addition, CERB granted $150,000 and guaranteed an $850,000 loan for the proposed 130-acre Fredonia Business Park development at Bay View Ridge. The project is one of a handful of “smart parks” proposed for the area that require state-of-the-art high-tech infrastructure and fiber-optic cable. The grant/loan will also provide road, water, sewer and storm-water upgrades to support the park, says CERB. It would also support the expansion of EDCO, Inc., a metal fabrication company on Ovenell Road.

The City of Mount Vernon wants to complete 5.1 miles of redundant fiber SONET loop to connect to 5.3 miles of cable already installed from downtown to Continental Place and beyond. WebEKG, now in Burlington, had planned to relocate to Continental Place, across from the city’s police department and court.

 

Olympic Hopes to Restart Pipeline in Spring

Although it has completed repairs on pipeline from Ferndale to Allen in Skagit County, Olympic Pipe Line Co. says it will be the second quarter of this year before it can hydrotest the entire line to Renton.

Closed by the fatal fire in Bellingham June 10, 1999, the pipeline from the two refineries at Cherry Point has been repaired from Ferndale to Allen Junction north of Burlington.

“The southern portion of the 16-inch pipeline from Allen to Renton Station, totaling 77 miles, is still undergoing excavations, evaluations and repairs,” Olympic, now owned and operated by BP, says. “When the repair program is complete on the southern section, a hydrotest will be performed. That section of pipeline is not expected to return to service until the second quarter of 2001.”

Meanwhile, BP/Olympic formally applied to the federal Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to restart the Ferndale-Allen section of the line. It wants to run nitrogen — a harmless, inert gas making up most of the earth’s atmosphere — through the pipeline and keep it there 24 hours to verify its readiness.

BP Amoco took over operations July 1. Since then, Olympic states, “our new management has been focused upon developing and implementing a comprehensive safety action plan. This plan not only meets or exceeds all the requirements of the OPS to ensure the safe restart of our line, but also represents a continuous, long-term commitment to address pipeline safety.”

 

Puget Sound Refinery Helps Students Connect

Puget Sound Refining Co. recently hosted students from PrepWork Consortium on a tour of the March’s Point facility.

Company president Judith Moorad and engineer Joe Luciano took the visitors, including high school students Nick Grillot of La Conner and Tyson Lacroix of Anacortes, on the tour that included control centers for refining crude oil into gasoline and other petroleum products.

“This is the kind of thing we as a consortium are trying to do with employers,” says PrepWork’s director Linda Nelson. “Our high schools are trying to recognize how they can prepare our students for the future. They help them prepare for college and they are taking a hard look at what students need in terms of vocational and technical courses.”

PSRC also recently contributed $1,000 to fund a business and education summit.

 

Skagit Habitat Receives $5K Grant from U.S. Bank

Skagit Habitat for Humanity received a $5,000 grant recently from U.S. Bank.

The funds will be used for completion of Habitat Place, an eight-home housing development at North 29th Place and Division Street in east Mount Vernon.

“We are extremely appreciative of U.S. Bank’s ongoing generosity and commitment to Habitat Place,’ says Hardy VanRy, executive director of Skagit Habitat for Humanity. “This gift will be used to purchase building materials needed for our final two homes.”

Habitat is a nonprofit organization that “builds decent, affordable homes with local families in need.” Families help build the homes and pay back no-interest mortgages, which are then used to build additional houses.

 

Workers’ Comp Rate Reduction Adopted

The state Department of Labor and Industries has adopted a 2.2 percent general rate reduction for workers’ compensation premium rates. The result is about a $20 million general rate reduction for 2001.

L&I, representing more than 163,000 employers and 1.9 million workers, manages the State Fund that provides coverage for workers hurt on the job.

The reduction this year includes a 7.5-percent decrease in the Accident Fund, premiums for which are paid entirely by employers.

 

L&I Revokes Wal-Mart’s Work-comp Privilege

For the first time, a major employer is losing its privilege to manage its own workers’ compensation program for not paying proper benefits to its injured workers.

The state Department of Labor and Industries recently revoked Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s ability to manage more than 300 currently open claims.

“For the past seven years, our audits continue to show Wal-Mart has fallen far short in meeting self-insurance requirements under Washington law,” L&I Director Gary Moore states.

Under state law, about 400 large employers representing about 800,000 workers are allowed to provide their own workers’ compensation coverage.

 

Lefeber Sale Won’t Affect Tulip Fest Events

Although owners of Lefeber Bulb Co. in Mount Vernon have announced they have put the business up for sale, Tulip Festival events scheduled for the site this spring will go on as planned, according to Audrey Smith, the festival’s executive director.

Dan Lefeber announced recently that, for health reasons, he was selling the long-established flower-bulb business.

“He (Lefeber) is fully committed to continue the crowd-pleasing events enjoyed by Tulip Festival attendees, which also include the Museum of Tulip History and display gardens at the farm at 15379 Highway 536,” Smith states.

“On April 10, Lefeber’s is the site of the U.S. Bank Pet Parade and Albertson’s Tulip Picnic. April 17 will feature the 3rd-annual Farmers Insurance Farm and Floral Parade, the Albertson’s Tulip Picnic, followed with fireworks by Salish Fireworks,” she adds. “Jackpot is the awards sponsor for the April 17 parade.”

 

Leads Clubs Hosting Event at Casino

The Western Washington Chapters of Leads Club International host Joan Sampson, vice president of Leads Club, Wednesday, Jan. 17 at the Skagit Valley Casino Resort on Bow Hill.

During the event from 2 to 5 p.m., Sampson will present a Focused Networking Seminar and hands-on workshop to teach business owners, sales people and entrepreneurs how to obtain more referrals using relationship-based marketing.

Workshop fee is $49.95 while a Networking Extravaganza, following the seminar at 5:30 p.m., is $20 at the door. Call 800-783-3761 for more information and reservations.

 

MV Chamber Prepares Events Schedule

The Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce is preparing a citywide schedule of events for this year and requests clubs, organizations, schools and other groups to submit information by Monday, Jan. 15.

The schedule will be available at the end of this month. Call 428-8547.

 

Stop Smoking Free through Health Plan

The state Department of Health is offering tobacco users help in quitting through a toll-free Tobacco Quit Line, according to Affiliated Health Services of Mount Vernon.

Callers will be provided with individualized one-on-one counseling from specialists skilled in working with all forms of tobacco addiction, assessments, skill-building and problem-solving advice, relapse prevention techniques, pharmacological support information, referrals to community support groups and a Tobacco Quit Kit.

Call 1-877-270-STOP (7867).

 

Art & Frame Offers Classes and Workshops

Anacortes Art and Frame is offering winter art classes and workshops in watercolor, drawing and oils.

Workshops will include “Drawing Portraits,” “Painting Landscapes” and “Dramatic Poured Paintings.”

The business, located at 603 Commercial Ave., Suite A (balcony of Bayshore Office Products) also offers a line of art supplies and custom framing. Call 293-2420 for reservations and information.

 

Gallery Features Ainsworth Oils

The Scott Milo Gallery at The Framemaker in Anacortes is featuring new Northwest oil paintings by Diane Ainsworth, through December 27.

Other works on exhibit are by Jennifer Bowman, Joel Brock, Ramona Hammerly, Brian Somers, Leo E. Osborne, Beki Killorin and David Moritz.

Call 293-6938 for information.

 

Eagle Watching Upriver Activity

This month is the peak time to view eagles on the upper Skagit River, and in anticipation of the forthcoming Bald Eagle Festival the end of the month, volunteers have fanned out to river posts along Highway 20 to help educate spectators about our national bird.

Eagle volunteers are on hand Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at stations signed “Eagle Watcher” as part of a program sponsored by North Cascades Institute (NCI) in cooperation with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

“By providing designated viewing spots equipped with spotting scopes, free information and up-to-date eagle counts, the program has had a significant impact on the problems associated with eagle watching in the past, such as traffic hazards and disturbance of the eagles,” NCI says. “Watchers educate the public on topics including bald eagle life history, behavior, adaptations, winter ecology, eagle-watching etiquette, salmon ecology, management considerations and appreciation and protection of bald eagles.”

For more information, call 856-5700, ext 209.

 

Language Exchange Offers Classes

The Language Exchange is offering new classes starting this month in Russian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian and American Sign Language.

The classes are forming for the third week of January and last from five to six weeks.

For exact dates and times, call the Language Exchange at 755-9910 or e-mail langex@langex.com.

 

Search for New Hospital Site Suspended

Hospital executives have suspended their search for a site to build a new hospital to replace Skagit Valley and United General, saying physicians in the area rejected the selection they had made.

Patrick Mahoney, chief executive officer of Affiliated Health Services, which administers the two hospitals, says that after looking at 20 possible sites for a new facility and scrutinizing of three of them, the AHS Board of Directors chose a neutral site on Swan Road, just off Francis Road and overlooking the Nookachamps Valley.

Physicians at both United General and Skagit Valley hospitals urged the board to keep things the way they are and bring at least Skagit Valley Hospital up to date.

Mahoney suggested the board study new options after the beginning of the year.