Faces and places

Leslie Miller has joined Stevens & Brand, Lawrence, as an associate attorney. She previously spent five years in private practice in Topeka, where she was a board member of the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka and received the Topeka Bar Assn.’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in April 2001.

Miller also is a member of the Topeka and Kansas Bar Associations and the Sam A. Crow American Inn of Court. Miller will concentrate her legal practice at Stevens & Brand on domestic relations, including divorce, adoption, guardianships and conservatorships.

Miller is a 1997 graduate of Washburn University School of Law and received a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Deanna Dibble of Dee Dibble Real Estate Systems/Remax Professionals announced she is expanding her service to include a team approach with a newly-licensed sales assistant, Sherry Gill. Gill is a Lawrence native with experience in business and education.

Michele Buffkin, physical therapist with Lawrence Therapy Services and Baldwin Therapy Services, recently attended the course “Manual Therapy One” in Kansas City, Mo. The course focused on examination and treatment of the upper and lower extremity to treat pain and stiffness.

Dr. Sue Mulcahey opened a chiropractic office in June at 2721 W. Sixth St. Before coming to Lawrence, Mulcahey had a practice in Platte City, Mo. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a doctor of chiropractic degree.

Michael Conner of Conner & Associates, Farmers Insurance Group, has qualified as a premier agent in Kansas. Conner is one of only two agents qualifying in Kansas. He is among the top 2 percent of Farmers Agents company-wide who have attained premier status.

Lisa Kaspar has been appointed director of communications for the Kansas Department of Revenue. She has served as the Revenue’s Learning Center manager since 1999. She has been with the department since 1982.

Kaspar succeeds Gayle Martin, Lawrence, who has accepted the position of executive director of Salina Downtown Inc.

Michael Peck has joined the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. team as vice president of business development and portfolio management.

Peck grew up in Olathe and Osawatomie. He recently returned to Kansas after spending several years in Illinois and California. In San Francisco, he worked in management consulting with Accenture and was vice president of operations for an e-commerce retail business. More recently, in Los Angeles, Peck was vice president of product development for a mergers and acquisitions portfolio company of eCompanies, an e-business incubator.

Peck’s education includes a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Kansas University, and a master’s of business administration and a master’s of engineering management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering.

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. Board of Directors recently elected Ted Haggart as the new board chairman. Haggart is the president and chief executive officer of Douglas County Bank, Lawrence. Before his move to Douglas County Bank in 2001, Haggart was a senior vice president at Commerce Bank in Manhattan. He also was an assistant professor of economics at Kansas State University and served on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. He received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and economics from Kansas University and a doctorate in economics from the University of Minnesota.

Doug Brush was named the new vice chairman of the KTEC board. Brush operates an advertising agency in Downs. Brush attended Kansas University and Kansas State University. He has served on KTEC’s board for two years.

The Sunderland Foundation of Overland Park recently provided a $100,000 grant to Ottawa University for a new athletic facility, university officials announced. The new $2.8 million center will be the home of the Braves Hall of Fame, the Hull Center for Health and Fitness, the Norman Jeter Sports Physiology Lab and the Scherich Brothers Classroom.

Dr. Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor of the Kansas University Medical Center, has been elected to the board of directors of the Center for Business and Technology at Johnson County Community College. The board of directors oversees the Center for Business and Technology by approving its budget, making recommendations for programming and formulating strategic planning.

AAA Kansas announces that Laird Noller Collision Center, 814 W. 23rd St., has been accepted by the AAA Kansas Approved Body Shop program. AAA’s Approved Body Shop program inspects repair facilities to ensure they meet a series of high standards in order to be accepted into the program. The manager of Laird Noller Collision Center is Becky Taylor.

Brady Schroer has joined the Stormont-Vail West psychiatric staff and will serve as an inpatient psychiatrist for adult and senior services. Schroer received his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree in 1998 from the University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas City, Mo. He completed three years of his general psychiatry residency program at Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and the last year at Kansas University Medical Center.

Schroer’s psychiatric focuses are general psychiatry, consultative/liaison services, geriatric psychiatry and addiction medicine.

Joseph Freund has been elected president of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers. He is vice president for Poe Van Doren in Topeka. He did graduate work at Kansas University.

The other new officers for KSPE are Rick Ensz, president-elect, Kansas City, Kan.; Timothy Austin, first vice president, Wichita; Thomas Mulinazzi, second vice president, Lawrence; and Shawn O’Leary, secretary/treasurer, Salina.

Serenata Farms School of Equestrian Arts Inc., Lecompton, announces the new board of directors for the 2002-2003 year. The officers for the Board of Directors will be: Jan Martens, chairperson; Harold Herrick, vice chairperson; Jim Tuchscherer, treasurer; and Melissa Doeblin, secretary. Other board members include Marti Newell, Wayne Newson, LuAnn Sanderson, Les Streit and Joe Weiler.

Advisory board members are Cameron Blain, Camille Heeb, John Martin, Marlys Strobel and Linda Weaver.

Herrick was named executive director, and Newell was appointed director of development.

The Lawrence Career College has added IC3 testing to the Microsoft Office User Specialist testing that is offered. IC3 is a series of three exams designed to measure an individual’s Internet and computing core knowledge. The exams provide a reliable, universal measure of basic computing aptitude. Businesses can rely on IC3 certification as a way to qualify potential employees.

Honors and awards

Gerry Collie, market manager for the Dillon Food Store at 3000 W. Sixth St., has been honored with the Kroger Community Service Award for 2001. The award recognizes outstanding volunteer efforts by individual associates and groups of employees in the Kroger divisions and manufacturing facilities.

Collie received a certificate and $500 is donated to the charity of his choice. He decided to divide the donation between the Scottish Rites Language Disorder Clinic and Lawrence Interdenominational Kitchen.

Collie, a 34-year Dillons employee, has done volunteer work in the Douglas County area for the past 18 years. He has helped the Kansas Blood Services of Douglas County, LINK, Salvation Army, Scottish Rite of Masons Lodge and others.

Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh recently received the 2002 Accenture and MIT Digital Government Agent of Change Award for introducing the Kansas Online Uniform Commercial Code filing system in July 2001. The system moved a manual, paper-based system to the Internet making the filing process faster and easier for businesses.

The award is presented to an individual from a federal, state or local government or higher education institution who demonstrates creativity and initiative. The recipient also will have inspired and motivated others in the transformation of services in government or higher education during the past year.

Evelyn Senecal, a senior financial advisor with the Lawrence office of American Express Financial Advisors, recently was honored with the President’s Recognition Award. The award is designed to recognize advisors who have made quality of service a top priority in their practices and who document their written advice in a way that is clear, specific and objective.

Coming events

Housing and Credit Counseling Inc. will present its three-part Home Maintenance series in August. Each three-hour class will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Buchanan Center, 1195 SW Buchanan in Topeka. The first session, “Weed & Seed,” will be Wednesday. It will take an in-depth look at lawn care and cost-effective landscaping tips.

“Pipes & Circuits” will be given Aug. 21 and will focus on simple plumbing and electrical repair techniques. “Paint & Paper” will be presented Aug. 28 and will cover the do’s and don’ts of painting and inexpensive decorating tips.

The cost per series is $25 per household. Pre-registration is required. To register call (785) 234-0217 or (800) 383-0217.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services will present “Discover More Dollars” from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Topeka Public Library in the Lucille Perkins Room, 1515 SW 10th St. in Topeka. The workshop will cover financial goal setting, developing a realistic budget, cutting costs, evaluating spending habits and starting a savings plan.

The workshop is free but reservations are requested. To make a reservation, call (785) 234-0217 extension 368 or (800) 383-0217 extension 368.