Affinity Ohio - Building Relationships

Published: Aug. 10, 2008 at 3:47 PM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to hold a vote on allowing new domestic oil drilling could result in a shutdown of the U.S. government, observers said.

House Republicans could refuse to support a temporary budget measure to keep the government funded beyond Sept. 30 if Democrats include in the legislation an extension of the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Republicans have said they will block the spending bill or urge President George W. Bush to veto it.

A federal shutdown could lead to thousands of federal workers being furloughed, national parks being closed and benefits checks to veterans being delayed, the report said.

"So Republicans are going to tell seniors, 'You're being squeezed by high gas prices and high grocery prices and now we're going to cut off your Social Security checks?'" said Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Democrats should drop the drilling bans.

"As far as I'm concerned, those bans end Sept. 30. And if they end on Sept. 30, fuel prices will head back down on Oct. 1," he said.

By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com

POSTED: August 7, 2008

The number of rigs actively drilling in the North Dakota oil fields has reached 80. That's 30 more actively drilling rigs than the state's previous high, set in September 1984.

The North Dakota Oil and Gas Divison, with headquarters in Bismarck, reported that number on its Web site as of late Tuesday.

This past fall, when the number of drilling rigs reached 50, it was the state's highest number since September 1984.

Production is also increasing. The figure for January 2007 was 137,638 average barrels of production per day, which climbed to 156,356 barrels when the last production per day figure was listed in the Oil and Gas Division's monthly statistical update.

The amount in October 2007 was 125,000 barrels of production, which was the highest since July 1986.

According to the most recent monthly statistical update, in May, 4,026 wells were producing in North Dakota compared to 3,880 wells in January.

The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division, a division of the N.D. Industrial Commission Department of Mineral Resources, regulates the drilling and production of oil and gas in North Dakota.

Because of the shortage of pipeline capacity in North Dakota and so much crude oil to get to market, some oil companies are finding an answer to the shipping problem the railroad.

Believed to be the first rail-loading facility in North Dakota is one now in operation at Stampede, a town near Columbus, built by Pioneer Oil. The Stampede facility has been operating for about a month, loading North Dakota crude.

Kurt Koppelsloen, Columbus, who manages the facility, said they've been increasing capacity.

"We did 2,000 barrels a day in July, we'll try to do 4,000 now," he said Wednesday.

Establishing a rail-loading facility at Stampede was a plan made by Pioneer Oil and Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western Railroad, Koppelsloen said.

Trucks bring in the oil from the oil field to the rail-loading facility and then the rail cars are loaded. A rail tank car holds 660 barrels of oil. Koppelsloen said most of the crude brought to the facility is coming from the Stanley and Van Hook areas.

Koppelsloen said the filled cars go to Flaxton. From there, other railroads are involved in getting the crude oil to the refineries.

The oil is being shipped mainly to two refineries, one in Texas and the other in Oklahoma, Koppelsloen said.

Koppelsloen is familiar with the oil field he worked in the oil field in the '80s. Besides Koppelsloen, the rail-loading facility has four employees for the seven-day-a-week operation.

No one lives at Stampede, which is only two miles east of Columbus. Koppelsloen said the rail-loading facility activity is good for Columbus and has brought some business there while the facility was being built and now the truckers who are bringing in the crude.

Another rail-loading facility for shipping crude oil, mostly Bakken crude, is under construction in Ryder in southwest Ward County. Eighty-Eight Oil, of Casper, Wyo., is building that facility. Ryder is served by the Canadian-Pacific Railway.

As I drive across Canada and down into North Dakota, I’m seeing energy everywhere.

The farms are well tended, and the agricultural productivity is awe-inspiring. There are wind farms up, and going up, on many a hillside. Power lines crisscross the landscape. There are dams and impoundments on many of the rivers. And the trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway are rolling in both directions, hauling grain, ag products, coal, phosphate and so much else.

In Saskatchewan and North Dakota, the big story is the Bakken Shale formation. I’ve seen over a dozen working rigs and dozens of brand-new oil wells. The pump jacks are still in the break-in period. Heck, the paint on some of them is still drying.

It’s a mixture of old and new. There are old farm buildings, and all of the traditional agricultural effort of the region. Right next to the buildings, you might see a new oil well. And in the distance, there might be a wind farm going up.

Bakken Oil Formation: The Biggest Oil Discovery in U.S. History
Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:20am EDT

BALTIMORE, MD, Apr 15 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Bakken oil formation, which stretches across North Dakota, Montana and
southeastern Saskatchewan, is suddenly drawing worldwide attention.

On Thursday, April 10, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published an
official study on the massive Bakken reserve.

* Up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken
shaleformation -- a 25-fold increase compared to its initial assessment in
1995.

* The Bakken is the largest "continuous" oil accumulation ever assessed by
the USGS.

This comes after a 2006 report by the Energy Information Administration
(EIA), which
stated, "A study provides estimates ranging up to 503 billion barrels of
potential resources in place."

According to the EIA, the success of horizontal drilling and fracturing
efforts in Montana is the reason a decision was made to re-evaluate the 1995 USGS
Assessment of Resources, which put estimates of technically recoverable oil
from the Bakken Formation at only 151 million barrels.

The Bakken oil formation lies in the "Williston Basin," a geological
formation in the north central U.S., underlying much of North Dakota, eastern
Montana, northwestern South Dakota, and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba,
Canada.

According to Brian Hicks, Energy and Capital publisher and author of the
soon-to-be released book, "Profit from the Peak," "The Bakken oil
formation represents an unprecedented opportunity to get in on the ground-floor
of a bona-fide oil boom."

To learn more about the oil rush occurring in Montana and North Dakota,
click here or visit: here

Activists have renewed efforts to stop the carryout sale of beer, wine and liquor in Columbus' Ward 7, a Near East Side neighborhood.

"We're trying to eliminate the activities that erode the fabric and quality of life of our neighborhood," said Kelton Waller, 34, who lives in the ward and plans to help circulate petitions.

The activists will kick off their efforts by targeting Ward 7 residents at the African-American Male Wellness Walk, which begins at 9 a.m. today at the Neighborhood House, 1000 Atcheson St.

A group calling itself the Black Political Party circulated petitions last year but, because of problems, did not file them with the Franklin County Board of Elections.

For example, signers were not shown a list of businesses that would be affected, and some petitions were not signed by the people who had circulated them.

The group says that carryouts selling beer and wine are causing loitering, fostering crime and deterring other businesses from coming into the neighborhood.

"We're tired of our kids seeking the 40-ounce bottles," said Erika Conner, an organizer of the effort. "We don't want our children to grow up and become future addicts."

Last year's effort would have affected both restaurants and carryouts that sell beer and wine; this year, only carryouts are the target, Conner said . The neighborhood has at least 11 of them.

It's a "disproportionate number of beer and wine outlets" for an area this size, Columbus City Councilwoman Charleta B. Tavares said.

"If businesses would be responsible, they would be welcome in the community," Tavares told 22 people who attended a meeting held by organizers Thursday night.

The group also wants to ban the sale of liquor. A convenience-store owner had applied for a permit to sell hard liquor in the neighborhood but took back his application last year after churches opposed it.

Organizers accuse the stores of selling alcohol and cigarettes to minors and turning a blind eye to drug traffickers outside their doors. Aside from setting a bad example for youth, loiterers often urinate or even defecate around the stores because they aren't permitted to use bathrooms inside, said Phil Locke, one of the organizers.

But not everyone agrees. Store owners who are members of the Mount Vernon Avenue District Improvement Association distributed fliers last weekend urging residents not to let others decide what they can buy.

"It may be a low-income neighborhood, but people do have a right to think for themselves. After this time, they will get beat and won't try it again," Melvin Steward, president of the association, said of the petition circulators.

One of the problem stores operates on property owned by Steward, at the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and N. 20th Street, Locke said.

Prohibiting beer and wine sales will force stores to close, said Fayez Rawahneh, co-owner of Five Brothers Market at 1230 E. Long St. Half his profits are from beer and wine, he said.

"The money from the community will be drawn out of the community instead of going back to the people that live in the community," said Rawahneh, who lives in the neighborhood.

Beer and wine buyers aren't causing problems in the neighborhood, said William Matthews, 67, who has lived in the area for 11 years.

"The people who buy beer and wine buy it and move on. The people who loiter are the ones who are going to loiter anyway.

"Beer and wine is not the problem. Drugs is the problem."

The deadline to get on the November ballot is 4 p.m. Aug. 23, said Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the elections board.

HDR Inc. Engineering sponsors Inner-City Soccer

Program offers exercise, mentoring, hope
Monday, August 6, 2007 3:25 AM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
By Sherri Williams

<p>Merv Brereton shares some soccer fundamentals on the Near East Side.</p> RENEE SAUER | Dispatch

Merv Brereton shares some soccer fundamentals on the Near East Side.

RENEE SAUER | Dispatch

Thirteen-year-old Jesse Smith, right, juggles the ball during a practice.

The rusting goal posts with chipped paint -- frayed threads blowing where a soccer net once hung -- reveal how much time has passed since the game was last played there.

Merv Brereton, 60, wants to transform a patch of sun-drenched grass into a field of dreams where the goals that players set in life upstage those scored during competition.

The game he played in Trinidad as a child in the 1950s and '60s -- when he used a grapefruit for a ball because he couldn't afford the real thing -- carried him to a career in professional soccer.

Through the Near East Inner-City Youth Soccer Program, he is introducing the world's No. 1 sport to Columbus youngsters in a historically black neighborhood that has experienced blight and flight.

"I'm opening up a door for the inner-city children so they know that somebody cares for them," said Brereton, who has coached a West Side team for about seven years.

He hopes to kick off a passion for soccer at the field behind Monroe Alternative Middle School.

Residents need such a program -- designed for boys and girls ages 5 to 17 -- as a way to exercise and to connect with male mentors, said Melvin Steward, a community activist and the president of the Mount Vernon Avenue District Improvement Association, which supports the effort.

Interest in the game is there, said Brereton, who sees black youngsters kicking stones and tennis balls instead of soccer balls.

This summer, he said, his players are competing against one another as well as other teams throughout the city; come fall, they'll move indoors.

"We're hoping someone from the inner city in the next four to five years will be playing on the Columbus Crew," he said.

With so many children in the area battling asthma and diabetes because of a lack of sports, education and healthful food, Steward said, soccer helps combat such problems.

Most important: The efforts of Brereton will provide the influence of a man, said the 73-year-old Steward, a resident for 50 years.

"Most neighborhoods have that complete family and that male figure in the house. The father teaches the child sports. We don't have that out here."

Almost two-thirds of the young people in the neighborhood surrounding the school live in female-headed households, the 2000 U.S. census showed.

Some of the recruits -- Brereton has formed three teams -- are playing soccer for the first time.

During the first official practice in mid-June, 27 showed up. Some wore jeans and flip-flops; and others, shorts, cleats and shinguards.

The crash course in soccer focused on the fundamentals of the game: passing, dribbling, scoring.

Teryn Scott, 5, heeded instructions from Brereton to give the ball a toe punch -- a forceful kick with the tip of the shoe. She got to take a ball home for further practice.

Having seen soccer on television, she is excited to play.

"It's fun," she said.

After her daughter expressed an interest, Ruth McNeil signed her up with Brereton.

"This is my family's way of investing in the central city," said McNeil, who lives in the neighborhood.

Olivia, 9, wanted just to get some exercise outside this summer.

She has discovered more.

"The best thing about playing soccer is making new friends," she said.

The Crew has supplied portable goals for the teams, said Dave Stephany, executive director of the Crew Soccer Foundation.

"Part of our mission is to provide opportunities to the entire community," he said. "The inner city is an important part. Opportunities maybe don't always reach there."

In addition, the young players attend Columbus Crew games through its Kicks for Kids program.

Alex Wiltron has played on the Brereton-coached West Side team for five years.

For the 15-year-old, the sport has become a constructive outlet.

"Before, I used to fight a lot with my sisters, and now, when I want to fight with them, I just go outside and play soccer," he said.

"I don't fight with them as much anymore."

sherri.williams@dispatch.com

Dennis A. Lindahl: Lobbying for Ohioans

By - Hailey Irminger
Campaigns & Elections Magazine
1655 North Fort Myer Dr. Suite 825 Arlington, VA 22209

Awards Urban Community Awards Community Service recipient

(August 9, 2007) Dennis A. Lindahl is a registered local and state lobbyist with Columbus-based AffinityOhio, representing several corporations and non-profit groups throughout Ohio. He worked as a Campaign Manager for public relations firm The Craig Group Inc., which is Ohio's third largest political firm. Lindahl has worked on close to 200 political campaigns in the state of Ohio, as well as a number of Fortune 500 companies.

What is the biggest concern of Ohioans in this election?

"The war in Iraq. I just think that is everybody's concern right now."

What was the most competitive race you have ever worked on?

"The one I am working on currently. Right now, I am working to keep alcohol sales in Ward 7 in Columbus. I am working with the Mount Vernon Avenue District Improvement Association on this project. It is really challenging because we are working against a political party that wants to make Ward 7 dry. We'd like markets to sell what they want."

What is the most important thing you've learned about dealing with lawmakers?

"They have challenges too. I think it is important to remember that they are under the same basic constraints as you and me-they have families and personal lives too. I don't think that we as constituents take their obstacles into account."

What's the biggest crisis you've ever been called in to address?

"A re-zoning issue I worked on in Cleveland was tough. A box store wanted to build in a neighborhood where the residents didn't want it. It was difficult to fight for such an enormous company in a community that didn't want it."

Can you make as much money lobbying as you can working for Fortune 500 companies?

"Absolutely. It does depend on what you charge and what you do for the client."

What advice would you give someone starting out in Ohio politics?

"The most important thing to do for a client is to help him communicate with [his] target audience. This job is all about communication and encouraging people to communicate with one another.'

What is different about Ohio politics from national politics?

"Ohio is certainly unique. The people are mostly conservative, but along with that they are very tolerant - [it] makes the political horizon very hazy. It is difficult to represent the people through polls. You have to understand Ohioans."

Who are the five most important people to know in Ohio?

"This isn't in any particular order-firstly, Phil Craig with the CraigGroup. Don McTigue, who is an election law attorney. Also, Les Wexner who is the owner of a lot of industry. He owns Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, and a bunch of other companies. Dick Weiland is good to know too. He is a juggernaut in Cincinnati for fundraising. He is the largest charity fundraiser in the state of Ohio. And lastly, John Mahaney, who is the President and CEO of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants."

How has your corporate work helped your political work and vice versa?

"There are certain skills people pick up in the corporate world that helps in the political realm-especially communication skills. My corporate contacts help my political contacts, and my political contacts help my corporate contacts. It is just a big circle of life type of thing."

City takes another step toward Streetcars

press release from the Mayor's office
National Advisors Hired to Lead Streetcar Financing Plan

(Columbus) Mayor Michael B. Coleman and Columbus City Council members, took another step this week to bring a modern streetcar system to Columbus to reconnect neighborhoods and drive new development through and around downtown. On Monday, City Council approved the Mayor’s plan to hire recognized national streetcar advisors HDR Inc. and the local Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corporation to put together a specific financing plan for building and operating a Streetcar system.

“We’ve seen the evidence that streetcars can reconnect neighborhoods and downtown, that they will help attract jobs to the area and spur greater housing construction along the routes, and now we need a specific game plan on how to pay for the system without raising local income taxes,” said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “As gas prices soar, I believe we need to start investing in a modern, urban transit system so that people can afford to get to work, and streetcars can be the first step in that journey.”

HDR Inc. is a national architectural, engineering and consulting firm with local offices in Columbus, ranking 19th among Engineering News-Record’s 2007 “Top 500 design Firms.” HDR Inc. has worked on a variety of light rail and streetcar projects from Miami to Phoenix, Pittsburg and Winston-Salem, NC, more information is available at www.hdrinc.com.

In November 2006, Mayor Coleman appointed a 42-member Streetcar Working Group of transportation experts, downtown stakeholders and neighborhood representatives to study the feasibility of creating a downtown Streetcar system. The study showed that such a line in Columbus could lead to the creation of 3,000 new jobs, 1,500 new downtown housing units, 300 new hotel rooms and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development. Following this extensive research, Mayor Michael B. Coleman appointed a Streetcar Steering Committee to determine if a financing plan for constructing and operating streetcars in downtown Columbus is achievable given existing federal, state and local resources.

Based on the Steering Committee’s recommendation, the City is investing $150,000 to hire national streetcar expert HDR Inc. and Capitol South, who will produce a specific financing plan on how Streetcars can be built and operated using a mix of private sector funding with federal, state, and local investment. The plan expected to be completed in approximately six month. For more information on Downtown Streetcars, visit, www.downtowncolumbus.com and click on Streetcars.

RED WHITE & BOOM

The Many Faces of Boom Town

Photo: Columbus Mayor Coleman & Dennis Lindahl
attended Mayor Coleman's 4th of July Celebration
at the Pavillion, Columbus City Hall.

Long before the fireworks, the people-watching was of top quality

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 3:40 AM

By David Conrad and Bryan Wroten

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

There might be weirder displays of humanity in Columbus, but there is no bigger one than at Red, White & Boom.

And so around 4 p.m. yesterday, as the Downtown workers vacated, the crowds thickened. It was picture-book weather.

So there were shirtless men whose bodies seemed to demand shirts. Women in low-cut tops showing off tattoos that typically go hidden. Teenage boys in fake mustaches.

There was an old guy in tie-dyed wear, and a girl dressed like Uncle Sam.

There were kids throwing a little football over the crowd as they walked up and down Civic Center Drive, and women at a booth yelling, "Enter to win!" And there was at least one person eating a gyro who would regret that a couple of hours later.

There was Jeff Woods, 36, of southwest Columbus, with the red, white and blue mohawk that he sports from Memorial Day through Independence Day. The first time he cut it that way was after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Photo: Dennis Lindahl

There were Johanna Cox, 46, and Alice Stricker, 60, in star-shaped sunglasses and American flags on everything else, at the corner of Long and Front streets. A long time ago, Cox was sick at Doctors Hospital and Stricker was her nurse. Cox invited her to Red, White & Boom, and they became friends. They've been coming to the celebration ever since, 20 years now.

There were Ashley Lantz and James Randolph, both 19 and of Elkhart, Ind., having their caricature drawn. They drove four hours just for the fireworks, because Elkhart doesn't have anything quite like Columbus' Independence Day display. This is their first caricature, but they have a lot of pictures together.

"It'll be a year and a month on July 12," Lantz said.

"I knew that," Randolph said."You'd better," she said back.

There were Angela Butt and Jazmine Caldwell, both 13, friends from the West Side, standing behind the WCMH–TV (Channel 4) setup, trying to get on air. Jazmine blew kisses at the camera.

"We want to be known," she said, and did a little pose.

There was Tim Stout, 29, of Marietta, who spent a year in Iraq with the Army in 2005. He sat on the City Hall lawn with his wife and daughters, 3 years old and 6 weeks old.

"We are starting the tradition today," he said of coming to the Downtown festivities.

There were the people in the 6 p.m. parade - the politicians, and the local plumbers and pipefitters, and some former prisoners of war, and some young beauty queens, and some people who practice Falun Gong and a whole lot of others. The people in military uniform, or who had once worn one, got applause. Not many others did.

Night fell. The crowd seemed to have doubled by 9 p.m. As the time for fireworks came closer, the elbow-to-elbow crowd got even closer. Mothers with babies in strollers tried to push through the crowd, but the crowd pushed back.

The number of people Dowtown looked to be about the same as last year's, said Amanda Ford, a Columbus police spokeswoman. Red, White & Boom organizers estimated that to be about 500,000 people.

As for problems, there were a few people who got into fights. Police on scanners reported a woman in a wheelchair who was knocked over and a girl who was punched. Ford said there were a few arrests by 10 p.m., mostly for fighting. And, of course, at 10 p.m., the sky lit up.

There were Alex Routman, 7, and Ben Routman, 3, of Westerville, who watched from Town Street with their parents. Alex said he had been waiting for the big booms, the designs and the blue ones.He got them. During the finale, he jumped up and down.

"I never knew they were going to be that great," he said when it was over. "Especially the end."

Lobbyists hit with reporting pressure

Friday, May 25, 2007 3:29 AM

By Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe is fining a record number of Ohio lobbyists and their employers today for failing to disclose what they spent trying to influence government officials.

In addition, Bledsoe next week will tell Attorney General Marc Dann why he should recommend that criminal charges be brought against six employers who filed no disclosure forms in 2006, missing all three reporting deadlines.

Bledsoe's office in the past has infrequently imposed fines or pursued criminal charges for failure to file. The new crackdown is an effort to tame the growing number of lobbyists and employers who are ignoring state disclosure laws.

"These statutes are in place for a reason, for public disclosure," Bledsoe said. "If we don't take whatever steps are available to us to ensure that disclosure, we're undermining the public confidence in the process."

In March, Bledsoe compiled a list of 660 lobbyists and employers who missed the last filing deadline of 2006. He sent certified letters warning they could be fined or criminally charged if they did not bring their filings up to date.

Most updated their records, but 41 employers and 20 lobbyists did not, prompting Bledsoe to assess fines of $100 to $600 each, depending on the number of filing deadlines missed and if they lobby both the executive and legislative branches.

Bledsoe is giving them two weeks to pay the fines and update their records. If not, he'll forward names to the attorney general, who can recommend that charges be filed.

Employers facing fines include the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio and the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Mike Toman, president of the Ohio Lobbying Association, said his group has worked well in the last several weeks with Bledsoe to improve deadline reminders and online explanations of exactly what must be filled out.

"I don't know what else he can do with the folks he has left," Toman said of Bledsoe's latest action. "I can't complain. If they got the certified letter, they've got no excuse."

Bledsoe also said he will pursue criminal charges against the most egregious employers. On Tuesday, he plans to send a letter to Dann explaining why Dann should recommend that the Franklin County prosecutor charge six employers with failure to file their disclosure statements, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.

"They've all been notified, via certified letter, via phone calls," Bledsoe said. "There's no reason to continue to have them holding out."

Five of the six employers lobby the executive branch, essentially trying to snag government contracts.

"At least at the Statehouse, everyone sees you over there," Bledsoe said. "But procurement is a whole different animal. We don't see who is meeting with who in those agencies to discuss contracts."

When one of the employers, Columbus-based Health Compliance Associates, was contacted for comment, its lobbyist, Michael Taylor, quickly called Bledsoe's office.

"I guaranteed (the filings) will be in the office by Wednesday at the latest, and hopefully tomorrow," Taylor said.

In March, Bledsoe said he planned to forward the names of two lobbyists, Palmer McNeal and Catherine Zwissler, to the attorney general. The letter was not sent, because soon after his decision was made public, the two completed all of their filings and, in a letter to Bledsoe, apologized and promised to keep their records updated.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

HDR Ranked No. 1 in Healthcare Design

(OMAHA, Neb. - March 26, 2007) - For an unprecedented fourth consecutive year, HDR Architecture, Inc., a leading architectural, engineering and consulting firm, has been ranked as the top architectural firm in healthcare design by Modern Healthcare magazine. Not only is this the eleventh time HDR has been ranked No. 1 since Modern Healthcare started its Annual Design and Construction Survey of Architects in 1978, but it has been ranked among the top four firms every year. These rankings, along with HDR's fourth successive year in the number one position, establishes a record no other architecture firm can match.

HDR reported $160 million in firm fees for healthcare in 2006, surpassing its nearest competitor by more than $35 million. These fees come from work in design and construction completed in calendar year 2006. The firm designed more than 8.6 million square feet of healthcare space with $2.6 billion in completed construction projects. The results of the magazine’s survey are published in the March 26, 2007 issue.

"I am proud of the outstanding reputation HDR has earned as the No. 1 healthcare design firm in the country," commented Merle Bachman, AIA, president of HDR Architecture, Inc. "Our employees have created tremendous momentum with their integrated Best Practices philosophy of design, successfully integrating design excellence and an environmental sensitivity to all of our projects. This quality is appealing to our clients, to firms with whom we partner and to professionals who want to work with us."

"Our employees are at the forefront of their business," Bachman added, "and this gives our clients an added confidence in our expertise. When they work with HDR, they know they are working with the best in the field."

Headquartered in Omaha, the firm also provides services to healthcare clients from offices across the United States, including Alexandria, Va.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona; Portland, Ore.; Tampa, Fla.; and Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego and Mountain View in California. Three of HDR's notable healthcare projects completed in the past year include:

Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, a distinctive, :state-of-the-future" hospital located on a recently-developed 120-acre wellness campus in Norfolk, VA. The 339,000-square-foot, 139-bed replacement hospital is an affiliate of The National Planetree Alliance. Thus, not only were fundamental design provisions made for future volume growth and physical expansion of the hospital, but careful consideration of the ten components of The Planetree Model was integral throughout the planning and design process as well.
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, ID, the fourth hospital in the nation to join the Pebble Project, a research partnership between the Center for Health Design and leading healthcare institutions that examines how facility design impacts the quality of care and financial performance. Working with an internal Healing Environment Team, HDR created a patient-centered care environment as a pilot project to precede a future tower expansion project. The fifth-floor remodel, the Family Maternity Center (FMC) and NICU serve as prototypes for all future patient care units and as testing grounds for new concepts and materials as the tower project moves forward. The completion of the fifth floor represents the first environment at the medical center that allows patients and family members to be partners in the care and healing process.
A $6 million, 245-seat clinical education auditorium and conference center for Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, IL, a 695-bed teaching, research and referral medical center, that has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation, and one of the top 15 teaching hospitals with residencies in family medicine, emergency medicine and pediatrics. The auditorium/conference center is part of a four-story, $30 million, 88,000-square-foot addition currently under development. The new clinical auditorium and conference facility will not only allow the medical center to continue to share expertise, but also provide the state-of-the-art facilities appropriate to Advocate Christ's presence as one of the premier teaching institutions in the region.

HDR is an employee-owned architectural, engineering and consulting firm with more than 5,800 professionals in 140 locations worldwide. All of them are committed to helping clients manage complex projects and make sound decisions. Architectural Record magazine ranked HDR Architecture seventh among the nation's 150 largest architecture practices in 2006, based on annual revenue from architectural services.

SCARLET AND GRAY DAY
Buckeye fever
Cheap seats, warm weather draw 60,000-plus
to intrasquad spring football game at Ohio State
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Mike Lafferty
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

BARTH FALKENBERG DISPATCH
Former OSU basketball star J.J. Sullinger signs Alison Underhillâ€™s cast. Alison, 12, of New Albany, broke her arm during a track meet. Sullinger helped lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship this past season.

Its the only big-time sports event in town where a front-row seat costs less than an order of super nachos. So the Ohio State spring football game is the place where the Williams brothers and their five sons can leave the girls at home and bond.

Desmond, 34, comes from Lima and P., 38, from Dayton every year for the game. They and their five sons, ranging in age from 5 to 8, occupied seven seats in Ohio Stadium yesterday for $35. That's about half what they would have to pay for one seat during the regular season if they could get one.

So for the Williamses and most of the 60,000-plus fans bedecked in scarlet, gray and, umm, white, adorned with buckeye necklaces with faces painted with block "Oâ€™s", yesterday was a family affair, thanks to the cheap seats.

"In a regular game you can't get this close and not pay $200," said Mike Woodling, who drove from Medina with friends. Woodling, 18, tries to make a couple of games a year.
"My parents are both OSU alumni and they had season tickets but they didn't like John Cooper and they canceled them. Now it's hard to get them back," he said.

Katie McElroy, 10, made the 5 1 /2-hour trip from Silverwood, Mich., with her parents and was immediately inspired by her first college game. "I want to be a football player or a cheerleader," she said. Katie was a team Scarlet fan, as was 12-year-old Alison Underhill, of New Albany, who won a bet on the game with her dad, Mike.

Alison also won in another way. OSU basketball standout J.J. Sullinger signed the cast on her broken left arm. Kenny Ward, 46, of Columbus, was going to pass up the game until Mark Watkins, 46, of Columbus, called him up with those five electrifying words:
"I got Ohio State tickets," said Watkins, a die-hard Michigan fan originally from Detroit.
The sentence remains magical for a game often short on scoring, even for Ward, who knew the Buckeyes weren't playing the Wolverines.

It was Ward's first spring game, and Kim Ingram's first game, too.
Ingram, 35, and her two children, plus her friend Jason Gregory, 26, and his child, knew it was the one chance for of all of them to see a game. Gregory wanted to analyze the Buckeyes. The perfect weather brought out Ingram. "I don't like cold and wet," she said, even for Ohio State.

The Shoe wasn't home to the only game in town, however.
Stephanie Berry, a 20-year-old Ohio State junior from Chillicothe, had left the team out of her Saturday plans. Co-workers at a local marketing firm had an extra ticket.
"She was going to go to a yoga convention," said Dennis Lindahl, 37, "until I told her I had a ticket."

mlafferty@dispatch.com

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