PERSONNEL

Cathy Blattel of Crowe and Rediger Orthodontics has been promoted to senior orthodontic assistant.

Blattel, who recently completed requirements to receive designation as a certified orthodontic assistant from the Dental Assisting National Board, is only one of 44 certified orthodontic assistants in Missouri.

Blattel is the fourth staff member at Crowe and Rediger with COA certification. Only 950 assistants have the certification nationally.

Marilyn Spurlock of Sikeston, a travel counselor at the AAA Travel Agency, 1903 Broadway, in Cape Girardeau, recently earned the professional designation of certified travel counselor (CTC).

The designation is awarded by the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, and requires five years travel industry experience, 200 hours of course work, four examinations and a professional paper.

Rocky D. Hayes of Cape Girardeau has been named urban forester with the Missouri Department of Conservation regional office at Cape Girardeau.

Hayes, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, with a bachelor's degree in forest management, has 14 years of forestry experience. He is pursuing a master's degree in public administration from Southeast Missouri State University.

Tracy Russell and Sharon Brown have joined Hairport, 2033 Independence.

Brown, a graduate of the Evans Academy Beauty School at Sikeston, has been in the beauty business more than five years.

Russell, who has been in the business more than three years, is a graduate of Stage One The Hair School in Cape Girardeau.

Both previously worked at Eugene's Hair Salon.,

Jon Rust has been named publisher of the Community Media Publishing Co., which publishes the Dyersburg (Tenn.) News and the Pemiscot County Argus-Beacon.

Rust, who is treasurer of Rust Communications (parent company of the Dyersburg News), has been serving as managing editor and management consultant for the Dyersburg News since it was launched May 24.

Rust, who has served as assistant to the publisher at the daily Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau, most recently served as Washington-based correspondent and columnist for the Rust Communications network that serves newspapers throughout Southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas. He won numerous state and national awards while serving as Perspective Page editor of the Southeast Missourian.

He is a 1991 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with degrees in English Literature and Russian Language and Literature. He was Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma and was recipient of the Morehead Scholarship.

In addition to working with Rust Communications, he has worked for Harper & Row Publishers in New York, and conducted research for California police departments in Fremont and Oakland.

He has also worked with a number of volunteer and UNESCO groups in the Soviet Union, including Volunteers for Peace and People to People Exchange programs.

Rust has also received specialized degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, the Pushkin Institute in Moscow, Russia, and Odessa State University in Odessa, Ukraine.

He was named "Youth Volunteer of the Year" by the Cape Girardeau Area Wide United Way for his volunteer work in Cape Girardeau, which included service as a board member for the Cape Girardeau Civic Center Board.

Lenn J. Schiebal has been elected president of Lignetics Inc., LaCanada, Calif., a manufacturer of wood pellet fuel used in pellet appliances.

Schiebal is also chief operating officer for the company, which has three plant facilities, including one at Doniphan.

The company's products also include fire logs, fire starters and a new line of hickory-flavored pellets for barbecue grills.

Jim Lawrence of Cape Girardeau, a registered nurse at St. Francis Medical Center, has received the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association (MEMSA) Presidential Leadership award.

The award is presented to people who have provided substantial contributions to the development of emergency medical services in Missouri.

Lawrence started his emergency medical services career in 1978. He worked at Southeast Missouri Hospital and Cape County Private Ambulance before becoming regional EMS training officer with the state Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. He started the SEMO EMS Managers Network, a group of EMS supervisors who meet monthly to share ideas on EMS operations and conduct formal training for EMS providers.

Lawrence, who is currently serving as chairman of committees on ambulance driving and disaster management, has a consulting and education company for emergency medical services -- Information Plus -- and is secretary-treasurer for Rescue Technologies Inc., which specializes in health, medical and safety services for commercial business and industry.

Sheryl Williamson of Perryville, owner of The Golden Needle in Perryville and the Golden Needle II in Cape Girardeau, and Jane Koch, Cape Girardeau, manager trainee of Golden Needle II, recently attended a five-day training session at Viking Sewing Machine Co. headquarters in Cleveland.

Williamson and Koch received hands-on product training on unique sewing techniques.

The local stores carry Viking sewing machines, along with other brands, White, New Home, Elna and Brother. The stores also offer sewing classes.

Gregory M. Smith has joined the staff of Ford & Sons Funeral Homes in Cape Girardeau as an embalmer and funeral director.

Smith, a 1979 graduate of Caruthersville High School and 1983 graduate of Mid-America College of Funeral Service, Jeffersonville, Ind., has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer since 1984.

He was employed at the Rainey Funeral Home in Dexter for eight years before joining Ford & Sons.

Gary S. Lynch of Cape Girardeau has joined Keith L. Monia Insurance and Realtors, 40 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, as a full-time associate.

Lynch is a retired educator.

He is a past teacher, athletic director and football coach at Cape Central, where he worked 25 years. He also served as a coach at Southeast Missouri State University three years and Northeast Missouri State University at Kirksville two years.

Dr. Kimberly A. Coolidge will open a new practice at the Kessinger Clinic of Specific Chiropractic, 1423 Kurre Lane in Cape Girardeau.

Coolidge is one of only 500 doctors trained in specific chiropractic care. She received her training in the specific (brain stem procedure) from Dr. Micheal Kale, of Spartanburg, S.C.

Coolidge, a native of the New England area, is a military veteran. She served in the Navy and was stationed at KeFlavic, Iceland, and Holy Loch, Scotland.

Matthew Brauss of Jackson, director of Providence Hospice Group Inc., Sikeston, has been appointed to the Missouri State Hospice Advisory Council.

Brauss, a registered nurse, has worked in hospice about 15 years.

The hospice council advises and consults with the Department of Health in carrying out administration of the State Hospice Certification and Licensure Program.