20150728AVU to Staff 11 Attachment.pdf

Click the image above to view the Kettle
Falls Safety video.
July 8, 2015 Vol. 16, Issue 37
In this issue:
•Video: The power of safety in our everyday lives
•City of Spokane workers learn how to use the Compressed Natural Gas fueling station
•Customer service excellence recognized
•Unity in the Community – Call for volunteers
•Thank you to our team members like you
•July Service Anniversaries
•Welcome New Hires
•June Value Lines
•Poll Results, What's Happening & Diversity Calendar
Video: The power of safety in our everyday lives
KETTLE FALLS GENERATING STATION EMPLOYEES HONOR MEMORY OF DEPARTED TRUCKER
Two years ago on April 22, Carl Barnfield, an employee of DCT Chambers was involved in a fatal accident at
the Kettle Falls Generating Station. Barnfield made regular visits to the biomass plant and the accident that
caused his death struck a chord in the hearts and minds of Avista’s employees.
“I’ll never forget getting the phone call about Carl’s accident at the
plant,” said Greg Wiggins, plant manager. “I was at my son’s
t-ball game when I found out that a Chambers driver had been
accidentally run over by another Chambers driver. The phone call
was a numbing experience and the weeks that followed were very
challenging for me and my crew. To this day, I keep a photo of
Carl near my phone to remind me about just how quickly things
can change and how precious life is.”
Even though Barnfield was not an employee of Avista, it was a
person they saw daily and if you’ve ever had the opportunity to
visit the plant, you’ll understand right away that they operate as a
close-knit group; a family of sorts.
“We all understand that without the truck drivers and haulers, we
would not be able to do what we do and enjoy our careers,” Wiggins said. “I wanted to do something positive in
memory of Carl so I pitched the idea of a dedicated safety day to the crew at the plant. The thought was met
with complete support and the ideas came pouring in.”
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City of Spokane crew members learning
how to use Avista's Compressed
Natural Gas fueling station at our Dollar
Road facility.
Pictured here are two of the Medallion recipients
and their managers (left to right): Steve
Plewman, Dave Clark, Gabe Sather, Mike
Diedesch, Heather Rosentrater. Jim Sanchez
also received a Customer Service Medallion but
is not pictured. He was in the field working the
Colville storm repairs.
The video punctuates how important safety is and highlights what teams can do when they pull together. Check
out the before and after photos of their safety improvements by clicking here. It is remarkable what a team can
accomplish in just one day.
(Back to top)
City of Spokane workers learn how to use the Compressed Natural Gas
fueling station
On Thursday, July 2, Avista helped train City of Spokane
employees on how to use the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
fueling station near Avista’s Jimmy Dean facility. The City of
Spokane is purchasing 20 CNG fleet vehicles in 2015 and will
continue to grow their CNG fleet to 100 by 2023. The city is
focusing on replacing older refuse trucks with dedicated CNG
units. The fueling station, built by Avista, will serve as the City’s
supplemental and backup fueling station for their CNG fleet.
Kudos to Fleet Manager, Greg Loew, Strategic Initiatives
Manager, Marc Schaffner and the rates team for working
together to create a positive customer touch point for the City of
Spokane.
(Back to top)
Customer service excellence recognized
David Clark, Construction Project Coordinator, relayed a
big "Thank you!" from a customer in Spokane. The
customer was stunned that an Avista line crew and
meterman were on site to install his 600amp commercial
service less than 24 hours after his Labor and Industries
(L&I) inspection.
The customer’s new business is in an area where copper
theft is an hourly occurrence. Line Foreman, Jim
Sanchez’s willingness to shuffle his schedule and do the
job the next day saved the customer from having to
spend another night on-site, guarding his expensive
wiring and meter equipment from additional vandalism
(he’d already had to repair vandalism damage prior to
receiving his L&I inspection). Thank you also to Gabe
Sather in the meter shop for putting the install at the top
of his list.
In this particular example of outstanding service, Avista
demonstrated that we listen and genuinely care about
our customers and this customer will never forget it.
(Back to top)
Unity in the Community – Call for volunteers
The 21st Annual Unity in the Community event is taking place on Saturday,
August 15, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Riverfront Park. This is the largest
multicultural celebration in the Inland Northwest. The event features a Cultural
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Click the photo above to
view a larger version of the
poster for this fun cultural
event.
Village and a stage consisting of a diverse group of performers and acts to
keep you entertained all day. Additionally, there are four key vendor areas:
Youth Fair, Career and Education Fair, Health Fair and General Vendors. This
is a great family event because whatever your age, you will find something to
do at Unity in the Community.
As we do annually, Avista is hosting a Career Fair booth featuring information
about career opportunities at Avista. We need at least six more volunteers to
manage the booth for the day. This is a great opportunity to earn some
volunteer hours while listening to good music and spending a couple of hours
in the park.
Shifts Available
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
We would really appreciate your help with this event. The shifts listed below
are available and we need two people per shift. Please check your calendar
and consider signing up for one of these shifts. Contact Jen Boettcher at 509-
495-2440 and let her know which shift will work best for you. There will be a
short one hour orientation to get you ready for the day. Don’t worry it isn’t hard
– mostly handing out candy to kids.
(Back to top)
Thank you to our team members like you
Customers across our service territory (Lewiston, Liberty Lake, Spokane Valley, Colville) experienced outages
last week as a result of the weather. Power outages due to extreme heat, windstorms and thunderstorms seem
commonplace this time of year. While we are unable to prevent them, we do our best to be prepared.
Through internal communications, our Avista team is kept informed about current outages and steps we are
taking to restore power to our customers. Regardless of the cause, these outages inconvenience our
customers and can be exhausting for our frontline employees including field crews and customer service. As a
testament to how well our teams handle these outages, we’d like to share the following customer compliment:
“We had a power outage in our area for approximately 24 hours yesterday, but I just wanted to write in to say
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that everyone we talked with during this time was extremely helpful and understanding. My wife and I called in
several times to get status updates, and we even talked with some of the crew working in our neighborhood
and each individual gave us all the information they knew and they were very apologetic and understanding of
the situation. In this scenario they easily could have provided us with sub-par customer service, but the Avista
teams did an outstanding job. Kudos to you all. Thank you very much.”
The customer compliment above came from one of our customers in Liberty Lake. Thank you to our
AskAvista.com team for sharing.
Another customer compliment came in last week, addressed to Scott Morris, regarding one of our tree
removal crews’ work in Spokane:
“On Friday, June 5, an Asplundh Crew of Tree experts came to my home and removed trees that were getting
into the power lines.
I wanted to thank Avista and Asplundh for a very professional crew that were pleasant and did a wonderful and
expert job.”
It isn’t often that someone takes the time to express appreciation so we like to share these stories whenever
possible. If you receive kudos from a customer, please share it with us at
[e-mail].
Keep up the great work!
(Back to top)
July Service Anniversaries
The following individuals will be celebrating a milestone work anniversary this month:
Diane Kaufman, Real Time Scheduler Assistant, 35
Tim Bradeen, Lead Fuel Equipment Operator PE, 30
Jenny Bushnell, Tech Compliance, 30
Peggy George, Customer Project Coordinator, 30
Clint Hodgson, Control Operator (Kettle Falls), 30
Douglas Kelley, Account Executive, 30
Pete Richardson, General Foreman, 30
Nancy Carroll, Permit Coordinator, 25
Hassel Dotson, Line Foreman, 25
Jim Kane, Operations Manager (Sandpoint), 25
Mark Magers, Journeyman Meterman, 25
Monte Slinkard, Foreman Gas, 25
Eric Harris, Journeyman Meterman, 25
Greg Mattison, Foreman Gas, 25
Randy Shillam, Journeyman Garage, 20
Catherine Cooper, Accounting Analyst, 15
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Jeff Smit , Strategy Analyst, 15
Doran Garber, Journeyman Operator, 5
(Back to top)
Welcome New Hires
The following individuals were hired in the later part of June. Please take a moment to welcome them to Avista.
Sherry Bentley, Operations Technician
Matthew Brown, System Engineer
Greg Hesler, Counsel
Bob Marshall, Manager IS IT Vendor Contract
(Back to top)
June Value Lines
Each month, a random drawing takes place with all of the month’s value line recipients. Congratulations to
Kenny Dillon and Tony Klutz for being the June Value Line Winners. The chosen winners receive a gift from
External Communications.
Listed below are all the employees who received "Thank You's" from fellow employees during the month of
June:
Candace Baker Yelena Goloborodko Wendy Krasselt Greg Sarber
Randy Bareither Missy Gores (2) Karissa Lehn Gary Schmitz
Debbie Berger Jen Hansen (2) Catherine Mair Raymond Schumacher
Barbara Bouma Doug Hawkins Judy Mason Cassandra Seubert (2)
Nancy Carroll Adela Henninger Lamont Miles Sarah Sutherland
Bill Choma Katie Hess Emily Morrow Erin Taft
Jason Dalton Susan Hess Karla Muniz (2) AnnaMarie Tomlinson
Kenny Dillon Nicola Hostetler Linda Myers Kimberly Vollan
Jeri Di Gregorio Trevin Irby Lance ODell Samantha Waddell (2)
David Eckhardt Shannon Jones Bill Ozminkowski Jessie Wuerst
Chris Elam Brandon Kafflen Jessica Paul Kenneth Wuesthoff
Cindy Foulk Tony Klutz Natalie Romano Rosalynd Wurmlinger
Amanda Ghering Rich Koker Anna Roop Liaj Xiong
Paul Good Jillene Kolbet Stephanie Sanders Charlie Zumwalt
(Back to top)
AVAnet Poll and Calendars
We asked . . . You answered
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Answer: Legend says that John Hancock signed his name large and legibly so that
King George could read it clearly without his glasses. For more information on John
Hancock and this legend, see the following websites:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hancock.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/john-hancock
Have a poll question idea? Email your ideas to e.view editors Brandi Smith and
April Roesler at [e-mail].
What's Happening at Avista?
July
10: Tech Talk – The future of city streets. Mission Campus Auditorium from 12 to 1 p.m. Every day
we hear about smart cities, smart cars, smart grids, and even smart people; what about smart streets?
Please welcome City of Spokane utility planners Katherine Miller and Brandon Blankenagel. They’ll
provide a glimpse into the future of our City Streets.
15: Healthy Directions Wednesday Walk. Meet the group in the Mission Campus lobby at 11:30 a.m.
Walks occur from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every other Wednesday through August 12. There will be a
drawing for a prize, so plan on joining us for each walk.
17: Deadline to order tickets for the Company Picnic. A total of five tickets are available to each
employee or retiree with additional tickets to the game (no picnic) for $5 each. This event is for Avista
employees, retirees and their families only. To order your tickets, click here, or to view the poster, click
here.
17: Deadline for enrollment to the Community Solar Program. Remember to email Rachelle
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Humphre your referrals by July 24 to be entered into the drawing for the iPad mini.
21: Sky Talk – Courage in the face of adversity. Mission Campus Auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. Back by popular demand - Join your peers in learning about Troy Dehnel's climbing
experiences including his recent summit of Mount McKinley (a.k.a. Denali) in Alaska.
27: Register your team for the Avista 7th Annual Charity Golf Scramble and Silent Auction. For
registration instructions, click here. Register by this date to receive a complimentary commemorative
t-shirt. The tournament will be held on Saturday, August 15. For more information, please click here for
the poster.
29: Healthy Directions Wednesday Walk. Meet the group in the Mission Campus lobby at 11:30 a.m.
Walks occur from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every other Wednesday through August 12. There will be a
drawing for a prize, so plan on joining us for each walk.
If you have an event that you would like to add to the "What's Happening at Avista" calendar, contact
editors Brandi Smith or April Roesler.
Diversity Calendar
Provided by the Avista Diversity Ambassadors
The United States is rich with diversity, which is reflected in the observances celebrated by its various
cultures and populations. Knowledge of the following diversity holidays and celebrations can enhance
Avista's workplace diversity and inclusion effort. If you are interested in being a Diversity Ambassador
at Avista, please contact HR Recruiter, Jen Boettcher.
January February March April May June
July August September October November December
Local Diversity Events
Corrections Section
We are indeed a human powered company. Thank you for calling the following error(s) to our attention.
While it is always our aim to have a publication free from factual, spelling or grammatical errors, they
sometimes happen. Thanks for your eagle eyes. You can report any corrections you happen upon to
e.view editors Brandi Smith or April Roesler.
(Back to top)
e.view and e.view EXTRA
Click here for other e.view archives
(If you have difficulty viewing graphics or attachments, go to Archives and click on the issue date.)
You are encouraged to submit items of interest to Avista employees for publication in The Avista
e.view. Send your news to Brandi Smith or April Roesler, editors, or call extension 2611 or 4923.
© Avista Corp. 2015 All rights reserved
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VIEW
Avista Employee News and Info
Avista Safety Improvement Project
in Electric Operations makes it
all about ‘A Call to Action’
Safety Team meeting with Coeur d’Alene Dock
5 years of electric operations accident
reports categorized by cause
Safety is a part
of Avista’s core
operations and it
is integral to every
activity we undertake
at the company. In
the fall of 2014, the
Electric Operations
Department set out to find ways to improve safety
in their area of the company. “Safety is about our
people and what they need to do their work, help
our customers and return home safely to the people
that depend on them and
care about them,” said
Director of Operations
West, Bryan Cox. A team
of employees representing
different areas of electric
operations have been assigned to evaluate and identify
areas for improvement and then inspire action.
According to the team’s goal statement, our safety
system is a comprehensive structure, that outlines
and defines the tools available for our employees to
remain focused, engaged and intense about safety for
ourselves, our peers and the communities we serve.
Although we have a continued focus on safety, Avista
ranks in the lower 25 percent of our peer utilities
when it comes to safety performance – with a higher
rate of accidents within line operations. Additionally
according to the National Sisterhood United for
Journeyman Lineman (N.S.U.J.L.), in the last 15 months
within our industry there were 20 union and 26 non-
union apprentice/journeymen linemen fatalities across
the United States.
Anniversaries
Congratulations to these Avista
employees who are celebrating this
month’s service anniversaries:
Tom Stewart 35
Senior System Operations Reliability
Don Wells 35
Ch Operator
Clint Poling 30
Journeyman Lineserviceman
Don Schrader 30
Lead Foreman Cableman
Rosalynd Wurmlinger 30
Team Leader
Julie Herro 25
Customer Service Representative
Tami Judge 25Manager Revenue Requirements
John McClain 25
Manager District Engineer
Marc Schaffner 25
Strategic Initiatives Manager
John Schmidt 25
Local Rep Electric
Tom Jenkins 15
Risk Analyst
Randel Mann Jr. 15
Journeyman Lineman
Kristine Meyer 15
Community Investment & Foundation Manager
Chris Prumers 15
Specialist GIS II
Ryan Weltz 15
Journeyman Operator
Robert Cloward 10
Senior GIS Analyst
Shawn Bonfield 5
Customer Service Manager
Stephen Carrozzo 5
Operations Analyst II
David Goodwin 5
Assistant Design Drafter
Ken Humphries 5
Applications Operations Analyst
Eva Hunt 5
Trans Services Specialist
Linda Kiefer 5
Environmental Resources Coordinator
Jennifer Smith 5
Senior Regulatory Analyst
Floyd Taylor Jr. 5
Journeyman Electric
Jason Yoha 5
Senior System Operator
Editors: Brandi Smith & Dan Kolbet
Contact Us/Comments
509.495.2874 or 509.495.2611 MSC-39
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Inside this Issue
s.ATIONAL%NGINEERING7EEKCELEBRATIONS
COMINGTO-ISSION#AMPUSIN&EBRUARY
s4RAILBLAZER"ANQUETDATEANNOUNCED
s0ROJECT#OMPASSCUTOVERTOTHESYSTEMSHASBEGUN
*ANUARY6OLUME)SSUE
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Performance
...Continues on page 4.
Safety Improvement Project – cont’d from pg 1
Currently, Avista craft accidents average
12.5 percent per year coupled with a
lost time rate of 5.5 percent using OSHA
reporting metrics. Many of these injuries
are due to slips, trips, falls and lifting
strain. Another unfortunate statistic to
note is that “one in five line operations
workers has a recordable injury every
year and there is only a 38 percent
chance of line operations workers not
being injured over a five year period”.
As an answer to these looming statistics,
an Avista Safety Improvement Project
is currently underway to increase safety
awareness and practices within our
line operations and is geared towards
minimizing serious close calls. On the
week of December 15, the team traveled
to our electric docks with the purpose
of increasing awareness and to gather
input. The input, coupled with the team’s
research and
findings will be
translated into
real world safety
solutions at Avista.
The team
continues to
seek input from
our front line
employees who
know and face
these safety
issues every day.
Line operations
personnel are
urged to contact the team leader,
Jim Kane, Sandpoint’s Operations
Manager, with their ideas, concerns and
suggestions. The team is committed
and open to all ideas and making a
difference for our employees who risk
their lives day in and day out to keep
the power on for our customers.
Team members include: Chris
Schlothauer – Manager Operations
Coeur d’Alene, Kermit Olson –
Manager Colville Operations, Kelly
Hendry – General Foreman, Kingsley
Steinbruecker – Line Foreman,
Hassel Dotson – Line Foreman, Jim
Sanchez – Line Foreman and Dan
Hyde – Line Foreman and Alicia
Gibbs, Manager Process Improvement.
The project sponsors are Bryan Cox,
Director of Operations West and Greg
Gfeller, Director of Operations East.
Avista’s Mission Campus displays 12th Man
flag - Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday
!TH-ANFLAGISHOWYOUDISPLAYYOURPRIDEINAND
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Go Hawks!
Avista participates in annual Unity March in Spokane
%MPLOYEESFROMACROSSTHECOMPANYGATHEREDWITHCOMMUNITYMEMBERSTOSUPPORT
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Avista reaches settlement in Oregon
natural gas rate request
if approved, rate adjustments would be effective March 1
On Jan. 21, Avista announced that a full
settlement agreement has been reached
in Oregon in our general rate case.
You may recall we filed a general rate
request in Oregon on Sept. 2, 2014 to
increase natural gas base rates in Oregon to recover costs
related to replacing certain natural gas service pipe and updated
technology that is the backbone of Avista’s customer information
system. This settlement agreement would conclude the rate case
if approved by the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC).
This agreement has the full support of all parties involved
in the rate case and is the result of these parties working
together to agree on
regulatory
%FFECTIVE
OUTCOMES
...Continues on page 3.
Vitality
COMMUNITY
Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 8 of 9
2015 Trailblazer Banquet date announced
Event will be held on Friday, April 17, 2015
The 77th Annual Trailblazer
Banquet will be held on Friday,
April 17, 2015 starting at 5:00
p.m. at the Davenport Hotel
in the Pennington Ballroom.
The Trailblazer banquet is held
to honor employees, both active
and retired, that have at least 20
years of service with the Company.
New 20-year Trailblazers and 50-
year Trailblazers will be honored
at the banquet. The attendees are
determined based on anniversary
dates from April 1, 2014 through
March 31, 2015. Invitations will
be mailed around March 13.
The Davenport Hotel is
offering a group rate if you are
interested in spending the night
(expenses are on your own). Be
sure to mention that you are
attending the Avista Trailblazers
Banquet. Discount rates are
$129. Contact the reservation
line at [phone].
Questions regarding Trailblazers
can be directed to Sue Fleming
on extension 4140 or Linda
Williams on extension 4340.
Acts of safety excellence recognized at
Avista’s Central Safety Committee meeting
The road to a safer workplace is paved by the employees of
Avista. Recently, nine employees were recognized for going
above and beyond to ensure Avista is a safe place to work.
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4OMAYKOWITHA3AFETY
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Project Compass cutover to the systems has begun
On Friday, January 23, the official sign-
off took place to begin Go Live activities
for the February 2, 2015 Project Compass
software system implementation.
Over 1,800 individual tasks will be completed
this week as part of the
cutover process to the new
Customer Care and Billing
(CC&B) and Enterprise
Asset Management
(Maximo) systems. Final training is
being completed, and customer and
employee communications are in full
swing. Just like the Dress Rehearsals,
the Command Center for all Go
Live activities will be at the Mission
Campus, and over the weekend other
departments like Customer Service and
Operations will be entering manual
transactions into the new systems.
A few key things to note:
s#UTOVERACTIVITIESBEGAN*ANUARY
23, with the start of the
Maximo Data Conversion.
s##"DATACONVERSIONWILL
begin January 30th.
s6ALIDATIONTHATDATAMOVEDTOTHENEW
systems will continue through January 31.
s4HELEGACY7ORK0LACESYSTEM#USTOMER
Service System or CSS, and the Work
Management System or WMS) will be
shut down Thursday evening, along
with Web and Phone Self Service.
s'O.O'ODECISIONWILLTAKEPLACEONCE
all critical tasks are complete February 1.
s/NCE'O,IVEDECISIONISMADE
activities will continue in preparation
for production February 2.
All employees will receive an email update on
the Go Live decision Sunday, February 1, 2015.
In addition, employees who will be using CC&B
and Maximo starting February 2 will have an
email waiting for them Monday morning which
will include important log on instructions, and
how to get help while using the new systems.
4HANKSTO%6%29/.%WHOHASBEENINVOLVED
in Project Compass. It took a huge team effort
to get to this point, and it is full steam ahead!
a settlement that is beneficial for our customers and our company.
What Does This Mean?
If approved, the proposed settlement agreement
would increase natural gas rates.
Below is a summary of the agreement:
Item(s) Details and Results
Base revenues sIncrease natural gas by 6.1 percent or $6.1 million.
Offsets sOffset by $0.262 million that the company is already
receiving from customers through a separate rate
adjustment.
sOffset by a $0.85 million credit to customers related to having an early implementation date for the revenue
increase (prior to the full 10 months allowed in Oregon for
the PUC to make a decision on the case and new rates to
take effect).
Overall change sThe overall change in natural gas customer billing rates from the settlement agreement is 4.9 percent.
This is an increase of $5 million in billed revenues for
Avista.
The actual percentage increase will vary by customer class
and will depend on how much energy a customer uses.
Residential Customer Bills Based on Average Usage
Natural Gas s )NCREASEOFORPERCENT
s !REVISEDMONTHLYBILLFROMTO
s .OINCREASEINTHEBASICMONTHLYCHARGE
(remains at $8 per month)
(customer using
an average of 47 therms per month)
Customer
ENGAGEMENT
6ALUE
National Engineering Week
celebrations coming to
Mission Campus in February
Feb. 23-27 is National Engineering Week
To celebrate and acknowledge the
contributions that engineers have made
over the last 125 years at Avista there
will be a celebration at the Mission
Campus on Tuesday, February 24 from
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the auditorium.
You don’t have to be an engineer to join
the fun. It is a celebration for everyone
who has contributed to the success of
projects at Avista. At the event you will
hear engineering success stories that have
occurred over the years. All who plan on
attending are encouraged to dress alike by
wearing blue and tan. At the conclusion
of the celebration a group photo will
be taken to capture the engineering
pride at Avista with a photograph.
The Transmission Design Department
is getting geared up for Engineering
Week Celebrations by creating their
own humorous poster to engineer
excitement about the event.
“Many of us watch the show, “The Big
Bang Theory” and thought it would be fun
to have Assistant Design Drafter, Christian
Darnell, create a poster with characters
from the show to get people excited
about the auditorium event,” said Ken
Sweigart, transmission design manager.
Be sure to join-in on the fun on Feb.
24 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the
Mission Campus Auditorium.
Settlement in Orgeon – cont’d from pg 1
Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 9 of 9