Heath M. Anderson, formerly of Plainville, has been promoted from associate to shareholder at the law firm of Polsinelli Shughart in Kansas City, Mo. Anderson has a trial practice with a focus in business and construction litigation and received his law degree from the University of Missouri in 2001.

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Bobb A. Meckenstock, president of Main Street Securities, recently attended the 33rd annual MDRT-Top of the Table meeting in Kauai, Hawaii. Leading-edge economic discussions and practice management ideas were shared. The Top of the Table is the premier association of financial professionals and has a worldwide membership of 1,200.

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Justin Randa of Insurance Planning has completed the Certified Insurance Counselors' Commercial Property Insurance Institute, which was held Sept. 16 to 18 in Topeka. The institute included three days of instruction followed by a rigorous written examination and is sponsored by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research in Austin, Texas and the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents. Connie Forssberg, Mary Ann Randa, John Scheck and Dawn Schmidt also attended this seminar in order to update and retain their Certificated Insurance Counselor designation. Insurance Planning has offices in Hays, Russell and Great Bend.

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Sherry Werth has been named October employee of the month at Stromgren Athletics. Werth is a sewer and has been with the company since April 2008.

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Kansas Municipal Utilities hosted its sixth annual lineman rodeo Oct. 15 in McPherson. Twenty-six lineman from municipal electric systems competed in six events. The lineman rodeo provides the opportunity for municipal lineman to showcase their professional skills and abilities in a competitive environment. Eric Reddig and Bill Miller, both of the city of Russell, won the Digger Derrick Operation team event.

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Chris Crawford, professor of leadership studies and assistant provost for quality management at Fort Hays State University, recently was awarded the Jonathan Bacon Outstanding Leadership Award for the 10th annual Summer Institute of Distance Learning and Instructional Technology. Crawford was recognized for his work in FHSU's leadership programs; the Master of Liberal Studies program and FHSU's China initiatives; his service as the interim dean of the university's College of Business and Leadership; and for promoting distance education.

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Dennis Taylor, Marietta, Ga., has joined the staff of Main Street Securities as chief compliance officer. Taylor has more than 30 years of experience in compliance and 10 years as a chief compliance officer. He has held the positions of supervisor of examiners, special investigator, chief of compliance and director of internal audit and is licensed as both a FIN-OP and CCO.

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Katie Degenhardt and Victoria Portz, McDonald's of North Hays crew trainers, have been promoted to the position of swing manager. Degenhardt joined McDonald's of NorthHays in August 2006 and was promoted to crew trainer on June 1. Portz joined the restaurant in November 2005 and was prompted to crew trainer in January 2008.

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Equity Bank recently announced that Kansas City, Mo.-based Kuhn and Wittenborn has been named the banks's advertising agency of record. Kuhn & Wittenborn will develop advertising, marketing and public relations strategies to effectively communicate the bank's commitment to combining everything that's good about community banks with all the products and services offered by "big" banks. Equity Bank, headquartered in Wichita and with assets totaling $440 million, operates 10 retail facilities in three markets (Wichita, Ellis County and Kansas City).

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Janette Meis, state director of Kansas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) has been named one of 15 in the 2010 class for Advocacy Fellows for Sunflower Foundation: Health Care of Kansas. This year's class of nonprofit leaders from across the state will learn how to become effective public policy advocates for their organizations and the people they serve. The Advocacy Fellowship class is part of the foundation's nonpartisan advocacy initiative, which is designed to provide education and training opportunities for nonprofit leaders. The goal is to bring the perspective of the nonprofit world to public policy. The fellowship program includes six sessions over the course of a year, including one visit to Washington. Topics include how to develop advocacy strategies, build coalitions and grassroots efforts, navigate the political process and work with the media.

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