• Shane M. Jones, L.S.C.S.W., completed Trust-Based Relational Intervention this fall at Texas Christian University’s Institute of Child Development in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Ashley Alterations, 3010 Fourwheel Drive, Suite 4, is now open for business from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The store is owned by Suzanne Ashley.

• Central National Bank is hosting a retirement celebration for Betty Markley from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Lawrence Wakarusa Branch, 711 Wakarusa Drive. Markley has served Central National Bank for the past 10 years in business development and marketing. The public is invited.

• Gina Halsey, local acupuncturist, attended a seminar Nov. 19-20 in Los Angeles led by Professor Shi Xue Min, chief physician of First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. There she learned “Xing Nao Kai Qiao Therapy” (XNKQ: activating the brain and opening the orifices).

• During its annual conference, the Kansas Association of City/County Management honored Ottawa City Manager Richard Nienstedt as the 2011 recipient of the Buford Watson Jr. Award. The award, established in 1980, is given each year by KACM to a local government manager who has displayed the attributes of the late Buford M. Watson Jr. (former city manager of Lawrence).

• Erin Laing Mehojah, McGrew Real Estate, recently completed the Kansas Graduate REALTOR Institute Program, earning the nationally recognized real estate designation GRI. The GRI designation is awarded only to real estate professionals who are members of the National, State, and their Local Board/Association of REALTORS, and who successfully complete at least 90 hours of specific advanced coursework.