Everybody’s business

A new Thai
For those who dare not venture to the downtown area, there’s a new Thai restaurant on the outskirts of town.

Terawat and Julie Kulimakin opened Cocodine Thai Cuisine last week in the Raley’s shopping center on the Skyway, in the site where Dragon Phoenix resided for a decade.

Terawat, or Terry as he prefers to be called, said he and his wife want to emphasize customer service, something he said is lacking in some Asian restaurants.

The couple has also brought in Chef Linda, who Terry said is widely known in Chico and used to co-own Grayatip Thai Cuisine on the Esplanade.

The Buck starts here
Julie Buck is stepping in as the new executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butte County, replacing JoAna Brooks, who founded the local chapter seven years ago.

Buck, who will go through a two-week training period with Brooks, said she is excited to get settled in and get to work.

“Once I get through the 30 manuals, I’ll feel like I know what I’m doing,” she said.

Buck was the program coordinator of the Adult Literacy Program at Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE) at Chico State from 1999 to 2002 before moving to the Butte County Library Literacy Program, where she worked in the ESL program.

She said that because of Brooks’ role in getting the local chapter up and going, following in her footsteps is very important. Buck said she has already set a goal for herself and plans to match up 500 “Littles” and “Bigs” by the end of 2005.

PR for HR
In the hot-off-the-press-release news, Enloe Medical Center has appointed Carol Linscheid as vice president of Human Resources.

“Carol brings a genuine passion to support the needs of our employees along with critically important experience necessary to manage the complexities of the health care workplace,” said Enloe’s chief operating officer, Dan Neumeister, in the aforementioned press release.

Linscheid, who will begin her new position Dec. 6, is a part-time lecturer at Chico State and has also worked as the HR director for Blue Shield of California. She also owns The Linscheid Company with her husband Bob and serves as a member of the CUSD Board of Trustees-appointed Campus Consolidation Committee.

Ring my bell
Last week I received a call from Cheryl Tuck-Smith, who told me that Target was banning the Salvation Army from its storefronts.

Target, the No. 2 discount retailer behind Wal-Mart, has indeed cut off the annual red-kettle program from all of its 1,300-plus stores nationwide. The reason, according to a Boston Globe article, is that the retail chain was finding it difficult to make an exception to its no-soliciting policy.

So Tuck-Smith, whose family has been ringing the familiar bell for the past five years, moved the clan to the median at the entrance to the shopping center off 20th Street. And from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. last Friday, the family was received with positive feedback and probably more donations than usual.

I think the decision benefits everyone, really. Not only does the Salvation Army reel in more money, but those who don’t care for the perpetual ringing of the bell can now enjoy the silence—that is, until they get hit by the Christmas Muzak inside the store.