The Bellingham Herald

• Renovation under way at WWU's Miller Hall
  A major renovation of Western Washington University's Miller Hall has begun to revitalize the aging building.
  The $60.4 million project, funded by the state Legislature, will have at least 50 construction workers on the project for the next two years. Additional employment will be created by the project among suppliers of equipment and materials.
  

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• Shoe store gets anonymous gift
  When Michelle Millar was told over the phone that her business was being given $5,000 with no strings attached, she hung up, figuring she was being scammed.
  It turns it wasn't a con game, but instead generosity in its purest form.
  In Millar's case, her business had been struggling as many others have during this recession. She was thinking about seeking an outside investor and told a few people. But earlier this month, she got that phone call from Lionel Thompson, who founded Giving Anonymously with his wife, Misha.
  While Giving Anonymously charges a 3 percent fee on gifts over $500 to help pay for overhead costs, much of the work is done on a volunteer basis. Thompson said he puts in about 24 hours a week on the site and gets help from local volunteers, including other companies such as Bellingham-based Big Fresh Media, which manages the site. He's in the Master of Business Administration program at Western Washington University and also works in the financial industry.

Puget Sound Business Journal

• WWU professor gets $250k to study disaster recovery
  Scott Miles, an assistant professor of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University, has received a $250,000 grant to study how the local economy can recover from a disaster.
  The grant is from the National Science Foundation Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation Program. Miles will spend the next four years developing a tool that “can help decision makers in restoring services to best facilitate recovery of local economies,” the Bellingham school said in a statement.

Issaquah Press

• WWU rowing champ maps her future
  “Once a rower, always a rower,” NCAA Division II champion Hilary Gastwirth says when asked about her future.
  At 22, Gastwirth possesses more experience than most of her peers, taking pride and ownership in winning three individual NCAA titles and was a member of the four-time NCAA II championship team.

Seattle Times

• UW math professor vanishes in China
  Paul Tseng, a noted University of Washington mathematician and advanced math instructor, traveled to Southern China a couple of weeks ago to give a talk at an international conference. But conference organizers say he never showed up for his presentation.