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Making the grade

The Baton Rouge Chapter of Executive Women International will award two $1,000 scholarships in support of adult students in transitional situations. To be eligible for the Adult Students in Scholastic Transition scholarship, candidates must be able to identify their career goals and objectives as well as meet the necessary educational and financial requirements. Applications will be accepted through April 22. For more information or a copy of the application, please contact Susie Furr at 376-0230.

Emergency expansion

The Interim LSU Public Hospital has expanded its emergency department by 20 beds to improve the care of patients experiencing acute behavioral health emergencies. The Mental Health Emergency Room Extension will provide an environment for evaluation, stabilization and short-term management of these patients in a setting appropriate to their needs. The MHERE is a dedicated area of the emergency department where psychiatrists will evaluate and make recommendations to stabilize patients experiencing behavioral health crises.

Now open

The LSU Health System Surgical Facility opened March 27 for the provision of ambulatory surgeries and procedures in the areas of adult and pediatric otorhinolaryngology, gynecology, orthopedics, endoscopy, diagnostic radiology and general surgery. The 49,641-square-foot facility and accompanying 7,000-square-foot office building will allow LSU’s Earl K. Long Medical Center to strengthen services it already offers. EKLMC will redirect less acute patients to the ambulatory surgical facility, which will increase access and reduce wait times for acute inpatients and emergency department patients at the EKLMC main campus and for less acute patients at the outpatient facility.

Collision central

Hollingsworth Richards Automotive Group has purchased a 5,000-square-foot building on Airline Highway in Prairieville and will turn it into a collision center. Mike Hollingsworth would not say how much the company paid for the old Aamco service center site, but he says the 30,000-square-foot site contains enough room for possible future expansion. The collision center, Hollingsworth’s second, is scheduled to open May 1.

Real sales

ERA Stirling Properties ranked fifth in units sold and sixth in sales volume among all ERA affiliates nationwide. ERA Stirling Properties sales associate Stevie Mack ranked eighth nationally in sales volume. In addition, Jill Slicker of the Baton Rouge office finished second for the Jim Jackson Memorial Award for First in Service.

A nifty 50

Capital Area United Way’s [CAUW] new-business solicitation project, 50 for the Future, wrapped up this week after recruiting 264 companies. These companies committed to supporting CAUW through Day of Caring on April 18, a 2008 Workplace Giving Campaign or a donation to CAUW. 50 for the Future is a new CAUW initiative where 50 young professionals from the Capital Area were selected to contact more than 800 companies and ask for their 2008 support. Businesses contacted had no history of participation with CAUW.

Channeling new names

Louisiana Public Broadcasting is changing the names of two of its channels in April. LPB Plus is now called LPB 2, which will continue its weekday lineup of award-winning children’s programming in primetime and all day Saturday and Sunday. LPB Create is now known as LPB 3, which also airs statewide as part of LPB’s digital feed. It will still feature Create’s cooking, sewing, travel, how-tos and art programs as well as a new lineup of Louisiana shows every Saturday between 6 p.m. and midnight.

AWARDS/HONORS

Adams and Reese received first place in Community Relations for the “Partnering for Pro Bono” project at the Legal Marketing Association’s awards ceremony. The project was designed to fill a void in legal services for low-income and hurricane-distressed families. The firm partnered with ConocoPhillips and National Appleseed, a nonprofit organization that works to advance pro bono efforts focused on changing policy in the legal area.

Phyllis G. Cancienne, an attorney with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, was named a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.

Jim Layne of Layne Photography was named Photographer of the Year by the Capital City Professional Photographers Guild. The designation is in recognition of having the highest average scores for the photo competition. Layne is also a four-time winner of Best Wedding Portrait from the Professional Photographers of Louisiana and the Masterpiece Award from Fujifilm USA.

Gary S. Williams, president and owner of RE/MAX de la Louiziane, received the Platinum Award for the third year in a row at the RE/MAX Dixie Region awards ceremony. Vice President Liacia “Lacy” Baaheth also received the Platinum Club Award. The award signifies a gross between $250,000 and $449,000 in commissions in 2007.

Ronald A. LaBorde was named to the Labarre Associates’ Advisory Board. LaBorde is president of HR Solutions, which provides comprehensive human resource services to small and mid-sized companies. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors for Amedisys, a leading provider of home health care and hospice services. He was formerly CEO of Piccadilly Cafeterias Inc.

Doré Binder was elected Chair of Woman’s Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. Binder is an ob/gyn with Louisiana Women’s Healthcare Associates.

Other officers are Vice Chair Mark-ham McKnight and Secretary/Treasurer Susan Puyau. Other board members are President/CEO Teri G. Fontenot, Robert S. Greer Jr., Francis Henderson, Jamar Melton, Amy Phillips, N. LaRon Phillip, Mike Polito, Nancy Richmond, Chief of Staff Edward Schwartzenburg, Ellis Schwartzenburg and Robert Stuart Jr.

James W. “Jamey” Firnberg Jr. has been named Chairman of the Board of the National School Supply and Equipment Association [NSSEA], which is comprised of more than 1,100 member companies representing 640 school supply retailers and distributors, 440 manufactures of school materials, supplies, furniture and equipment and 24 independent rep groups. Firnberg is president/COO of School Aids Inc., a 30-year-old Louisiana-based educational materials and supply dealer with retail locations in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and Alexandria as well as Jackson, Miss. and Jacksonville, Fla.

Marybeth Lima, LSU professor of biological and agricultural engineering, was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, joining more than 900 international engineers and scientists, among them Nobel Prize winners. Lima was recognized for seminal contributions in biological and agricultural engineering education by integrating community work into the curriculum through service-learning.

Gary A. Bezet, an attorney with Kean Miller Hawthorne D’Armond McCowan & Jarman, was named a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.

Kean Miller Hawthorne D’Armond McCowan & Jarman and Deborah J. Juneau received Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings in recognition of their highly regarded legal skills and professional ethics. Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings help in-house counsel and other sophisticated buys of legal services identify, evaluate and select the most appropriate lawyer for a specific task at hand.

Sharon Kleinpeter, vice president, governmental and public affairs for Cox Greater Louisiana, was honored by the Association of Cable Communicators, the public affairs arm of the National Cable Telecommunications Association, as the winner of the ACC Cable Communications Achievement Award, one of two national winners. She is only the fourth person from any Cox system to win this award. The Cable Communications Achievement Award recognizes individuals for their outstanding, lifetime contributions within cable communications and to ACC.

CERTIFICATIONS

J. Cullens, of Moore, Walters, Thompson, Thomas, Papillion, & Cullens, was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Advocate. Cullens had to document extensive civil jury trial experience over the course of his career, obtain numerous positive references from practicing attorneys and sitting judges, submit an acceptable writing sample and pass a eight-hour written examination regarding several areas of civil practice, including evidence and ethics.