Around and about in local business

• The grand opening of Lawrence Laundromat, 711 W. 23rd St., Suite 11, runs through today. Free laundry will be offered from 6 a.m. to midnight. Lawrence Laundromat, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is Lawrence’s newest laundromat with 40 brand-new Maytag high-efficiency washers and dryers, including large industrial size machines for comforters and other big items. Credit cards or coins are accepted.

• Ashlee Myria Harrison, owner of Sweet Thyme Massage & Bodywork, 1017 Ky., attended and successfully completed a DONA International Postpartum Doula Training Dec. 2-4 in Shawnee.

• Diane Fishburn, Douglas County, was elected vice chairwoman of Kansas Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers state committee during Kansas Farm Bureau’s 93rd annual meeting in Manhattan last month.

Fishburn and her husband, Bryan, operate Fishburn Farms south of Lawrence. The farm consists of 140 row crop acres that rotate between corn and soybeans. Fishburn works for Great American Insurance’s crop division and is completing a master’s degree in business administration from Baker University.

• Greg Akagi, Lawrence, was named the 2011 Farm Broadcaster of the Year at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting held Nov. 11 at Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Akagi is an 18-year farm broadcast veteran at WIBW Radio and the Kansas Agriculture Network in Topeka. He covers commodity markets and mainstream production agriculture in Kansas.

• Local attorney Sarah Warner was elected to the board of directors of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel on Dec. 2 at the group’s annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Warner, an attorney at Thompson Ramsdell & Qualseth, P.A., 333 W. Ninth St., Lawrence, is admitted to practice in Kansas and Missouri state courts, as well as the Federal District Courts of Kansas.

• Local attorneys Todd Thompson, Shon Qualseth and Sarah Warner of Thompson Ramsdell & Qualseth, P.A., each taught continuing legal education sessions at the annual conference of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel on Dec. 1-3 in Kansas City, Mo.

Thompson instructed the membership on trial techniques. Qualseth taught a special trial skills seminar for younger lawyers. Warner presented the membership with an update on noteworthy cases and civil law developments during the past year.

Thompson Ramsdell & Qualseth, P.A. is located at 333 W. Ninth St., Lawrence.

• At Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas’ annual Celebrating the Harvest, new community leaders were welcomed onto the Catholic Charities and Catholic Charities Foundation Boards. The board of directors serves Catholic Charities while the board of trustees serves Catholic Charities Foundation.

Michael Easterday, Lawrence, has joined the board of directors. Easterday contributes more than 26 years of experience in private investment banking. Easterday, previously a certified public accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., is active within the church community, including within the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center and more.

• At the board of directors meeting for the Printing & Imaging Association of MidAmerica on Nov. 13 in Dallas, Deanna Bisel, owner of Minuteman Press in Lawrence, was selected to serve as an officer of the association. Bisel will hold the position of secretary and serve on the organizations executive committee.