Southwest board of directors elects new leaders

          

       

Pictured above top row from left to right are: Twyla Barnes, Brett Bryant, Ron Prill. Bottom row left to right are: Judi Brenes, and Lee Kearney.

Lee Kearney, a retired executive with Kiewitt Construction, has been elected as chairman of the board of directors for Southwest Washington Health System. Kearney takes the helm from Twyla Barnes, Ed.D., superintendent of ESD 112, who has served as the chair since October 2005.

Also selected for the nonprofit’s governance was Brett Bryant as vice chair, Judi Brenes as secretary, and Ron Prill as treasurer.

Bryant is the executive vice president & chief relationship officer of First Independent. Brenes is a former nurse and leader with Kaiser Permanente. Prill is the former president of Target Financial Services.

The 16-member board is made up of community leaders who volunteer their time and experience to the 150-year-old Southwest Washington Medical Center and its affiliated health service entities, including Southwest Medical Group, Columbia United Providers, and Southwest Homecare and Hospice.

Entreprenuer and TVW co-founder Denny Heck to run for Congress

Denny Heck has announced he will run for Congress in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Brian Baird.

“We’re facing enormous challenges to finally get this economy moving and growing the way it ought to be,” said Heck, a Clark County native with deep roots in the 3rd District.

“There’s no doubt, whatsoever, that the people of Southwest Washington have the skills, the drive and the commitment to recover and make this region prosperous again,” Heck said. “They deserve leaders with the skills, the drive and a commitment to jobs and prosperity that matches their own.”

Born in Vancouver, Heck was raised in the Lake Shore area of Clark County, where he graduated from Columbia River High School before attending and graduating from The Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1973.

Heck, who served as chief of staff to Washington Gov. Booth Gardner during Gardner’s second term, also served five terms in the State House of Representatives from the 17th district in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat Counties. Heck was chosen by his colleagues as majority leader, co-chaired the Education Committee and wrote the state’s historic Basic Education Act.

As the Democratic nominee in 2008, President Barack Obama chose Heck to serve as one of Washington State’s representatives on the Rules Committee at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Co.

Heck is perhaps best known for founding in 1993 the TVW Channel, the nation’s preeminent statewide public affairs television network from which he retired in 2003. While at TVW, he hosted the award-winning public affairs program, Inside Olympia, and also won an Emmy™ for a documentary he wrote and produced.

Heck was an original investor in Real Networks, the digital entertainment company that pioneered streaming media on the Internet. He co-founded Intrepid Learning Solutions, a Washington State-based worker-training and learning business-services company with offices in several states. Today, Denny serves on the company’s board of directors.

Heck is also the co-owner of Bruin Development and is the lead investor and chairs the board of directors of Digital Efficiency, a company that provides electronic medical records solutions to health care providers. Both companies are based in Thurston County.

Denny has been married for 34 years to Paula Fruci Heck, an educator who began her career as a teacher and later vice principal in the Evergreen School District and retired as principal at Jefferson Middle School in Olympia. Together, they have two sons, Bob and Trey.

This Phoenix is still rising

The 2009 edition, which was issued during Clark College’s 75th anniversary year, marked the 45th year of Phoenix. The publication was originally called The Egg; 16 issues of The Egg were produced.

For the second consecutive year, Phoenix, the student art and literary magazine of Clark College, has been named the best literary and art magazine in the country by the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA). Phoenix received the top award in the category of junior/community colleges with enrollment of more than 2,501 students.

The 2009 Phoenix also received a first place with special merit award in the annual magazine competition of the American Scholastic Press Association – the only college west of the Mississippi River to earn that honor. The 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions of Phoenix also received first place with special merit honors in the ASPA competition.

Art professor Kathrena Halsinger, fine arts advisor to the Phoenix staff, says: “From a graphic production standpoint, this issue may have been the most ambitious Phoenix to date. We had many challenges last year. But the team not only lived up to their potential, they exceeded their own individual abilities through excellent teamwork and really hard work.”

Student staff of the 2009 Phoenix was as follows: Daniel Acosta, business manager; Whitney Anderson, co-layout editor; Emily Antoine, literary editor; Sarah Campeau, design editor; Nathan Childs, fine art editor; Robert Cramer, illustrator; Jason Curl, photographer; Chris Flanders, co-layout editor; Kristin Haagen, designer; Stacey Hargis, designer; Angel Hayes, designer; Leah Kooiman, literary editing assistant; Jennifer Lewis, literary editing assistant; and Kristen Weigand, web editor.

News Briefs

West Coast Bank will be hosting a blood drive for the American Red Cross from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, at the downtown Vancouver location, 500 Broadway. The mobile bus will be parked alongside the parking structure behind the West Coast Bank building with registration taking place inside the bank lobby. To make an appointment, call Gloria Campbell at 906-4252 or visit www.givelife.org.The code to enter online is westcoast.  

Calendar

State Rep. Tim Probst, from the 17th legislative district, will be holding a Town Hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Jan. 7, at the Creekside Estates Neighborhood Association Clubhouse, 5101 BE 121st Avenue.

Thursday on the air

 

Cascade Park Community Library Grand Opening Celebration (12-15)--3:42 p.m. CVTV

C-TRAN's 20-Year Transit Development Plan (1-5)--4:30 p.m. CVTV

FYI-State of the County 1-10 KILL 2-4-10--CVTV

Clark County Planning Commission Joint Hearing with the Clark County Board of Commissioners (11-16)--CVTV

Clark County Planning Commission (12-9)--CVTV  

 Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber

• City of Vancouver Calendar

 

Thursday, January 07, 2010 Headlines

 

Links to news of local & national significance

Downtown group gets $133K for revitalization--Columbian, Cami Joner

RS Medical co-founder steps aside--Columbian, Julia Anderson

New jobless claims inch up; reports show better market--USA Today, AP

Challenger slams county assessor's performance--Columbian, Michael Andersen