Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging announces the hiring of Tim Lloyd as a case manager and Laura Andres as the new CARE specialist.

Lloyd, Topeka, provides ongoing case management through assessments, coordination of services and monitoring of changing client needs.

Andres, Topeka, coordinates and ensures compliance of the CARE (Client Assessment, Referral and Evaluation) program. She works with people considering nursing home care.

¢ Debbie Zago, a certified massage therapist, has opened Salt of the Earth at 2859 Four Wheel Drive, where she specializes in hot stone and deep tissue massage. She also is a certified iridologist and herbologist. For more information, call 218-2843.

¢ Jim Grant has joined Starfire Engineering and Technologies Inc., Lawrence, as business development executive, responsible for serving existing information-technology customers and for marketing Titan, the company’s internally developed enterprise process automation software.

Grant joined Starfire after more than a decade as a senior sales specialist for IBM.

Starfire, a privately owned company with 17 employees, also has an engineering division that serves the rail industry.

¢ KU Credit Union will provide $6,000 in scholarship prizes in its annual Scholarship Essay Contest.

Entrants are asked to write a 500-word essay on “What is the value of credit and how do you use it wisely?” An independent panel will judge entries based on their meaningful content, accuracy, clarity and originality.

KU Credit Union will give three scholarships for college or technical school: $3,000 for first place; $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place.

Entrants must be members of KU Credit Union or other divisions of 66 Federal Credit Union or Community Source Federal Credit Union.

For more information, click on www.kucu.org, stop by the office at 3400 W. Sixth St. or call 749-2224.

¢ Baker University recognized 37 employees during a reception Jan. 13 at Collins House for their years of service.

The honorees: Walt Bailey, 40 years; Phyllis Nelson, 35 years; Virginia Fambrough, John Forbes and Fleetta Higgins, 25 years; Penny Anderson, Mike Barbush, Darrell Bowersox, Johnnie Jardon, Merrie Skaggs and Rick Weaver, 20 years; Tony Brown, Don Clardy, Brenda Day and Debra Guenther, 15 years; Rose Broers, Rob Flaherty, Joyce Moulis, Bill Neuenswander, Judy Smrha, Grace Vaughn and Fred Wilhite, 10 years; and Marsha Alexander, Ryan Beasley, Barbara Coffey, Jackie Craig, Susan Decker, Tracy Floreani, John Gerstner, Claudia Gillentine, Steve Groninga, Sarah Hastings, Charmaine Henry, Freida Martin, Cindy Novelo, Bonnie Postlethwaite and Sandra Schumm, five years.

Honors and awards

Harriett Olson, Lawrence, is CornerBank’s Community Cornerstone Award recipient for January. She was honored for her volunteer work in the community.

Among her services: providing transportation for those in need, teaching quilting classes at the Lawrence Senior Center, and helping at-risk children and others with disabilities.

In recognition of her service, CornerBank will donate money on Olson’s behalf to Van Go Mobile Arts. A public reception to honor Olson will be at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the lobby at CornerBank, 4621 W. Sixth St.

¢ Dan Cary, a financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial in Lawrence, has been included in the 2005 “Guide to America’s Best Financial Planners,” published by Consumers’ Research Council of America, an independent research company that evaluates professional services.

Coming events

John Clinger, Lawrence, will present a free seminar, “Common Sense Strategies for Successful Equity Management,” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Holiday Inn Express, 3411 Iowa St.

The seminar aims to help individuals understand the most valuable assets in their estates, including their home and retirement plans, and how taxation affects them.

The deadline for reservations is 5 p.m. Monday. To save a seat, call (888) 239-3229 or e-mail johnclinger@sunflower.com.

¢ The Lawrence Express Network of the American Business Women’s Assn. will meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Lawrence Country Club. Pam Grout, a local author, will talk about “changing paradigms.”

Anyone interested in attending may contact Connie Warkins for more information at 832-1020.