Local briefs Ogden Standard Examiner 8/24/89 Nakatani appointed to governor's council Nakatani OGDEN — Roy Naka¬tani, who was honored last year by the Emperor of Japan for his contributions to interna¬tional under¬standing, has been appoint¬ed to the Governor's Advisory Council on Asian American Affairs. Nakatani, 72, of Ogden, has been an active leader of the com¬munity in the Ogden area for sev¬eral decades. He has served on a variety of boards and fraternal or¬ganizations, including the Ameri¬can Red Cross, the United Way and the Union Station Museum development board. In 1983, he organized and was the first president of the Northern Utah Japanese Community Ser¬vice League. In 1986, he received the Silver Hawk Award from the Boy Scouts of Japan in recogni¬tion of his three decades of activi¬ty in that program. The award he received last year was the "Order of Sacred Trea¬sure," awarded annually to Japa¬nese citizens or descendants around the world who have worked to improve understanding between Japan and their own countries. Panhandle Red Cross director has quit 12/15/02 The Associated Press COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -The executive director of the Panhandle Chapter of the American Red Cross has re¬signed after becoming frus¬trated with recent fund-rais¬ing efforts. Edie Brooks headed the lo¬cal Red Cross for 22 months but declined to discuss the details of her resignation, which was accepted last Mon¬day. "I felt my time was up," she said. Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson, a member of the board of directors for the American Red Cross of Greater Idaho, said Brooks was unhappy about poor turn¬out for a fund-raising event at the Coeur d'Alene Inn. "She was very down about it," Watson said. Brooks' resignation comes in the wake of statewide cuts to Red Cross announced earlier this month. The organization announced last month that it is laying off staff and cutting back operations to deal with increased demand for emergency services and a dramatic decline in support. Salaries of all 30 remain¬ing Red Cross employees statewide were reduced. Ad¬ditionally, offices in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and Pocatello reduced hours. Since June, Idaho's Red Cross chapters have helped nearly 600 people affected by 126 home fires, up from just over 400 people affected by 97 disasters a year earlier. Officials said it appears the cost of dealing with disasters through next June will ex¬ceed the previous year's $1 million. Red Cross Assistance To Be Cut Short 3/26/89 The American Red Cross Utility Assistance Program will partially close April 1 because it is running out of money. Senior citizens and people on life support systems will continue to be eligible but other low-income people will lose assistance in April rather than on the usual May 1 date, accord¬ing to Jerrianne Kolby, a Red Cross spokeswoman. The extra cold weather in January and February drained the program's resources, Ms. Kolby said. And the Red Cross also got less money from the state's federally funded HEAT (Home Energy Assistance Target) program than they did last year, re¬ceiving $200,000, compared to $600,000 one year ago. Since the fiscal year began last July 1, the assistance program has spent $620,000 helping about 4,600 individuals in 1,440 homes pay their utility bills. "We've seen more new applica¬tions because the coldness this year caused more medical problems for people," Ms. Kolby said. Donations for the utility assistance program can be sent through the check-off system major utility com¬panies have or directly to the Ameri¬can Red Cross, P.O. Box 8687, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108.