In the Media

William Dietrich, a former Seattle Times reporter and Western Washington University professor, loves to let real events spark his imagination. His compulsively readable "Blood of the Reich" (Harper, 416 pp., $25.99) takes off from a real (and really bizarre) event — a Nazi expedition to Tibet that hoped to discover the Aryan race's origins.

As a member of the astronaut corps, George "Pinky" Nelson made three trips into space aboard three different crafts in the space shuttle fleet in the 1980s.
The Harvey Mudd College graduate who is now the director of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. was among the first astronauts to walk in space.
On Friday, Nelson was among those who gathered at Cape Canaveral, Fla. to watch the launch of space shuttle Atlantis for what is the 135th and final mission of NASA's space shuttle program.
Nelson was in Florida with two of his grandsons, ages 10 and 14, "hoping they'll get to see what their grandpa did."
During the trip, Nelson said he saw others who have been part of the space shuttle program.
"It's a fun, happy reunion. But it's also bittersweet," he said.

The Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington will be hosting a presentation about the latest cyber security threats to corporate computer networks.
The event will take place at noon on Friday, July 15 in the DIS building at 1315 Cornwall Ave.
Students and faculty from Whatcom Community College and Western Washington University will be speaking at the event. It will be moderated by computer network professional Mark Knittel.

chool District 48 is saying goodbye to Superintendent Dr. Rick Erickson, and Dr. Erickson is saying goodbye to a great career in education.

As of July 31, Erickson will no longer be part of District 48 (Sea to Sky) as he retires from a successful 41 years in the field.

Erickson started his career as an elementary teacher September 1969 in New Westminster. He then worked as a teacher and assistant principal there until his career brought him to Trail. He worked there for 12 years as an elementary school principal, secondary school principal and assistant superintendant.

For a quarter-century the North Cascades Institute has been working in partnership with the National Park Service to educate the public on the wonders of North Cascades National Park and its surrounding ecosystem. Those 25 years haven't been overlooked by the Park Service, which recently honored the institute for its work.

Alexandr Baronov, a junior at Western Washington University and the son of Tatiana Baronova and Serge Smirnov of Bellingham, received a $3,000 Oscar Edwin Olson Sciences Scholarship Endowment for the 2010-2011 school year.

The tradition started in 1973 when Tacoma, Wash., resident Ruggles Larson called his four daughters together to tell them about a new race called the Sound to Narrows.
If they'd train and run with him, Larson told them, he'd buy them new running shoes.
"He bribed us with cool shoes," said Samantha Larson, who was 7 at the time and the youngest participant in the race. "... During the race I was just hoping my laces would come undone so I could stop and rest."

Sun streams through the window of Revive Therapeutics. The small waiting room, mildly Asian-inspired and adorned with a vase of orange flowers and neat stacks of books, emits a feeling of calm. Like it should. 
Revive, which houses and co-operates with Hillside Acupuncture, opened in Seward Park in early June. 
Hillside Acupuncture is the creation of Keith Judelman, 29, who opened his own acupuncture practice in 2009 after graduating from the Wu Hsing Tao School.
“I kind of just went for it,” Keith says. “I have these skills, I wanted to share them. The more and more I learn, the more I can see what is going on in people around me.”
Keith, who grew up in Seattle and went to Seattle Hebrew Academy and Garfield High before getting a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Western Washington University, became interested in Chinese medicine as part of a natural progression from an interest in Chinese martial arts and natural medicine.

Joy Olney, a longtime Bellingham artist and member of Allied Arts, is participating in the organization's annual membership show, "Wild About Whatcom," with one of her landscape paintings.
As part of the organization's traveling show, she'll offer a free demonstration of a portrait sketch and a painting of a still-life on Thursday, July 7, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Pioneer Pavilion, in Ferndale's Pioneer Park.

The Lake Washington School District has selected new principals for the 2011-12 school year at three of Redmond's public schools: Dickinson Elementary, Rockwell Elementary and Explorer Community School. In addition, Tina Livingston, the current principal at Rockwell Elementary, will move to Rosa Parks Elementary.

A new principal has also been named for Kirkland's International Community School, which also draws students from Redmond.