Dan Schmidt has rejoined the staff of Laird Noller Automotive as fleet and commercial accounts manager, responsible for working with businessses and city, county and state governments.

Schmidt previously worked for the company as lease manager from 1995 through 2004, handling sales and customer relations.

¢ CritiTech, Lawrence, has hired Jahna Howell as its director of laboratory operations. Howell has worked in the laboratory industry for 14 years as an analytical chemist, most recently at the Higuchi Biosciences Center at Kansas University in conjunction with its collaborative research effort with CritiTech.

Howell is helping the company in obtaining FDA approval on its Nanotax drug for ovarian cancer. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at Emporia State University.

¢ Ryan Holthaus recently was recognized for his years of service at A-1 Plumbing Heating Cooling. Holthaus celebrated his 10th anniversary with the company July 3. Ryan is a lead furnace and air conditioner installer and usually installs around 200 furnaces and air conditioners per year throughout northeast Kansas.

¢ Allstate Insurance Co. has opened an agency in Shawnee. The agency, operated by agent Bart Spachek, offers auto, property and life insurance. For more information, contact Spachek at (913) 962-0400.

¢ Lawrence-based Gould Evans Associates has hired Jason Foote and Greg Zielinski as full-time associates. Working as interns are Katie Harms, Kathy Kalbac, Mickey Htoo and Cecile Pascual.

Foote, an architectural designer, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1991, and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kansas State University in 1998. Foote previously worked for Warner Nease Bost Architects in Kansas City, Mo., and Mozaic in Lawrence.

Zielinski, an architectural designer, graduated from Kansas University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in May. His previous experience includes work for the Denver Art Museum while completing an internship at Davis Partnership/Studio Daniel Libeskind.

Kalbac, a KU student, is working on model-making and AutoCAD drawings for a range of building projects.

Harms, a Kansas State University student, provides technical support, including AutoCAD drawing.

Pascual, a French civil engineering student visiting Lawrence, has been assisting the staff. He has a two-year degree in mathematics and physics and will return to L’Ecole Speciale des Trayaux Publics’ in Paris this fall.

Htoo, of Burma, and a KU student, has been assisting with organization of blueprints and renderings.

¢ Toni Detherage and Cathy Higbie have opened Legacy Consulting. Through personal interviews, the company collects, records and preserves personal stories and photos to create permanent personal memoirs, ethical wills, multimedia DVDs, personal cookbooks and calendars. It also offers intergenerational programming and presentations within the community.

For more information, click on www.legacyconsultingforyou.com or call 691-5653.

¢ Kathleen Boyd has been named a Child & Family Services’ clinical case manager for the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. She provides case management services, resource acquisition, crisis intervention and outreach activities to at-risk youth and their families. Boyd previously was employed by the Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka. She has a master’s degree in social work from Kansas University.

¢ Philip Anderson has been named a personal financial adviser with the Lawrence office of American Express, 3200 Mesa Way, Suite B. He previously was vice president of engineering for Millivision Inc. in Deerfield, Mass. He consults with clients on a one-to-one basis. Anderson has a doctorate in engineering from Kansas University.

¢ Sheldon Weisgrau and Lisa Ganz have joined the Kansas Health Institute.

Weisgrau, a senior policy analyst, is responsible for research and analysis in the health care finance and organization unit. He previously was senior partner with Rural Health Consultants of Lawrence. Weisgrau also has been a research analyst and special assistant to the director of the Health Care Financing Administration Office of Research and Demonstrations.

Ganz, senior administrative assistant, provides administrative support to the senior vice president for research and analysis. She has more than 19 years of administrative support experience. She most recently was assistant to the superintendent of schools in Coppell, Texas.

Honors and awards

Lawrence resident Ryan Catlin, an Edward Jones representative, received the A.F. McKenzie Achievement Award for outstanding sales and service efforts during the past year. He was one of 1,400 of the firm’s more than 9,000 representatives to receive the award. Catlin has been serving the Lawrence area since 2000.

¢ The Jayhawk Chapter of The Society for Human Resource Management has received the 2004 Superior Merit Award from the Society for Human Resource Management. The award is based on outstanding activities and programs in the chapter’s professional development of members, support of the human resource profession, professional operation of the chapter, and community involvement.

Coming events

Farm operators have until Aug. 1 to file acreage reports with the Farm Service Agency.

Failure to report 100 percent of the cropland on the farm by the deadline can result in loss of or diminished benefits under the Conservation Reserve Program, Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program, marketing assistance loans and Load Deficiency Payments. Acres reported after Aug. 1 are subject to a late-filing fee of at least $25.

There are limitations on planting of fruits and vegetables on base acres enrolled in DCP. The Farm Service Agency asks farmers to contact them at 843-4260 before planting them.

Producers are asked to bring planting dates for all crops when reporting.