Joyce Woodard, Better Business Bureau president, says the Nigerian fax and letter scam has turned into an attempt to steal merchandise from area businesses.

Woodard warns Northeast Kansas businesses to alert their employees to not accept orders to be shipped to Nigeria from a TTY relay operator. E-mail orders also are being sent asking for large orders of merchandise and using stolen credit card numbers.

For more information or to report a scam, call the bureau at (785) 232-0454.

Ranelle Fischer has been promoted to vice president at Emprise Bank, Lawrence. Fischer will oversee consumer deposits, residential real estate loans and consumer loans. She has been with Emprise Bank for nine years and is a graduate of Emporia State University.

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Employees from the Lawrence Hy-Vee Food & Drug Stores were among more than 2,200 Hy-Vee employees honored for achieving service milestones in 2004. Hy-Vee’s Service Awards program recognizes employees for continuous service to the company.

Employees at the 3504 Clinton Parkway store who were honored: John Olson, 20 years; Debbie Barnett, Mike Clark, Michael Frantz, Patrick Hubbell, Becky Kearns, Jamin Nally and Shelly Robinson, 5 years; and Terry Nord, 10 years.

Employees at the 4000 W. Sixth St. store who were honored: Jon Hensley, Bob McMullen, Kevin Merz, Shane Nicks and Jim Swoyer, 5 years; and Leroy Beers, 10 years.

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Roy and Sue Rodgers, Gridley, announce the opening of Mailbox It, 23rd and Louisiana streets. The store is an authorized shipping point for FedEx, USPS and other domestic and international carriers. It also offers packing services and mailing supplies. The store’s managers are Tiffany Kuras and Fred Ricley.

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In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Brighton and The Etc. Shop have teamed up to raise money for the Breast Center at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine. Brighton has created an exclusive bracelet to help raise awareness and money for the cause. Linda Lester, owner of The Etc. Shop, and Jerry Kohl, president and chief executive officer of Brighton, will donate 100 percent of the retail value of the bracelets. All money raised by The Etc. Shop will be donated to the new center.

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David Jones recently completed 18 credit hours of continuing medical education. Jones is a family physician whose office is located in Baldwin. He attended the midyear meeting of the Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine, which included two days of continuing medical education curriculum.

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General Nutrition Centers Inc. of Lawrence participated in national Denim Day on Friday. The employees were given the opportunity to help in the fight against breast cancer by wearing jeans and a pink ribbon to work. Participating employees donated $5 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

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Farmers in Douglas, Johnson, Osage and Shawnee counties who suffered losses because of natural disasters may apply for Farm Service Agency emergency loans. Loans covering physical and/or production losses may be made at a 3.75 percent interest rate.

To be eligible for a loan, an applicant must be operating a family-size farm or ranch, must be unable to get credit elsewhere and must have suffered a qualifying physical and/or production loss from the disaster.

For more information, contact the agency in Ottawa at (785) 242-3527.

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Beauty Brands Salon Spa Superstore, 3514 Clinton Parkway, raised more than $2,000 in donations to support Women’s Transitional Care Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence in Lawrence.

From Aug. 30 to Sept. 26, Beauty Brands donated 100 percent of sales from its specially priced Redken Guts volume-boosting spray foam to Women’s Transitional Care Services. The program was part of Beauty Brands’ fourth annual Reduce Abuse program to support victims of domestic violence.

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Carolyn Bloom, Eudora, was appointed to the State Examining Committee for Physical Therapy. She will serve a four-year term.

Bloom owns Bloom and Associates Therapy in Eudora, Lawrence and Topeka. She is a physical therapy consultant to the Kansas Medicaid Program, Topeka USD 501 Special Education and the Kansas Neurological Institute. Since 1997, she has been a peer reviewer for health care excellence and since 1985, she has been a physical therapy consultant and claim reviewer for Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medicare of Kansas.

The State Examining Committee for Physical Therapy advises the state board of Healing Arts on examination and registration of physical therapists.

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Connie Ingle recently joined the staff of Lawrence’s Office Helpline as marketing director. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and human relations from MidAmerica Nazarene University and is a student in the MBA program.

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Insurors & Investors Inc. changed its name to Sunflower Insurance Group Inc., reflecting the company’s alliance with Salina-based Sunflower Bank.

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Thomas Howe, of Reece & Nichols Acres Realty in Lawrence, completed a two-day course in customer service referral-based business. The course was given by the Council of Residential Specialist of the National Association of Realtors in Springfield, Mo.

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Linda Pullen, Topeka, has joined the staff at Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging Inc. as a case manager II. She had retired from the agency in March, but decided to return to work. Her duties include providing ongoing case management for senior clients through assessments, the coordination of services and monitoring of changing client needs.

Honors and awards

The 75th Street Brewery of Kansas City and Lawrence received a gold medal for their Fountain City Amber Ale at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The beer beat 26 contenders in the Irish-style red ale category. The beer was judged on proper balance of taste, aroma and appearance. During the festival, more than 2,000 beers from nearly 400 breweries were judged in 67 categories.

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The Public Relations Society of America’s Greater Kansas City chapter recently presented its annual PRISM Awards in Kansas City, Mo.

Fleishman-Hillard and Hallmark Cards received the prestigious Best of Show Award for a program “Hallmark Writers on Tour.” Robin Broder of Fleishman-Hillard received the Public Relations Service Award for her volunteer efforts. Roshann Parris, of Parris Communications, took home the Public Relations Professional of the Year Award.

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Lawrence resident Curtis Woods, president and CEO of Pace Alliance Inc., has been named the Kansas Pharmacists Assn.’s Pharmacist of the Year for 2004. Woods was honored during the association’s annual meeting Sept. 16-19 in Wichita.

Woods graduated from the School of Pharmacy at Kansas University in 1978. He worked two years in Wichita at the Wesley Medical Center before moving to Lawrence to work at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

In 1986, Woods was hired at Pace Alliance as vice president responsible for negotiating contracts with drug companies and interacting with member pharmacies. Woods was promoted to president and CEO of Pace Alliance Inc. in 1999. He is responsible for the operation of Pace Alliance Inc., a buying group consisting of close to 2,000 member pharmacies nationwide purchasing in excess of $1 billion of pharmaceutical products annually. Pace Alliance’s corporate offices are in Lawrence.

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The Lawrence Humane Society named Dr. James Kraft, of Lawrence Veterinary Hospital, as Veterinarian of the Year for dedication and commitment to the Ise Memorial Animal Shelter Companion Animals. He received the award during the Pawsible Dreams 10th annual benefit auction Sept. 24. Kraft and the staff at Lawrence Veterinary Hospital have provided spaying and neutering of dogs and cats free of cost, provided medical care to ill and abused animals and adopted some of them into their homes. They also have donated office equipment, food, medications and comforters.

Coming events

The Twilight Chapter of American Business Women’s Assn. will meet Monday at the American Legion, 3408 W. Sixth St. Networking begins at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 6:30 p.m. The Vintage Players will perform. For more information or to make reservations, call Connie Torneden at (913) 723-3576 or e-mail conniet@firststateks.com.

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The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center will present a seminar “Mapping Out Success — Streamlining Processes and Eliminating Waste With Value Stream Mapping” Nov. 3 in Overland Park.

The seminar will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the center, 10561 Barkley, Suite 602. The cost is $250 for a single registration or $225 each for groups of at least three. To register or for more information, call (888) 649-4333 or click online at www.mamtc.com.

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Lawrence Technology Assn. will meet at 11:45 a.m. Oct. 28 at the Hereford House, Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. Curt Clinkenbeard, director of the Kansas University Small Business Development Center, will present “Hypergrow: How to Manage Growth Needs of Your Company.”

The cost is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers. To make reservations, contact Peggy Williams by voice mail at 864-7354, fax at 864-0387 or e-mail at pwilliams@ittc.ukans.edu.

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East Kansas Agri-Energy has announced the official ground-breaking ceremony for an ethanol plant in the Golden Prairie Industrial Park in Garnett will be at 2 p.m. Oct. 29 at the plant site.

HDB Construction, of Topeka, received the contract for site excavation. ICM Inc., of Colwich, will be the plant designer, and Fagen Inc., of Granite Falls, Minn., will be the general contractor. The plant is expected to be complete by June 1.