For the second year in a row,...

For the second year in a row, Jimmy Quiroz, assistant professor of music at Rio Hondo College, and his Rio Hondo College Dixieland Jazz Band were selected as one of three finalists in the National Assn. of Jazz Educators’ Dixieland Band Competition. Other finalists are from the University of Arizona and Central State College of Oklahoma. They will compete at the association’s national convention in Anaheim in January.

Don E. Hoover, a transportation safety specialist for more than 25 years, has been named the new risk manager and director of safety and insurance at Translabor Leasing Corp. of Pico Rivera. Before joining Translabor, Hoover worked for Western Waste Industries Co. in Carson.

Michael D. Hall has been appointed general manager of the Long Beach Ramada Renaissance hotel. Hall will be responsible for all planning requirements for the $40-million project. The 380-room hotel is due to open in August, 1986.

Certified Escrow Officer Judy Cusack of Long Beach has been elected 1986 secretary of the 3,000-member California Escrow Assn., which is headquartered in Los Angeles. Cusack works for Colony Pacific Escrows in Long Beach. She was elected to the state board in 1983 while president of the Long Beach Escrow Assn., chaired the seminar-workshop committee in 1984 and 1985 and has been active in the bylaws and standing rules committee. The association is composed of 32 regional associations throughout the state, all affiliated with the American Escrow Assn.

Patricia Silva has been named Coast Plaza Medical Center’s chief operating officer. Silva, a Whittier resident, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Norwalk hospital. She formerly was associate administrator at the Medical Center of La Mirada.

Wayne Kennedy of Norwalk and Pat O’Brien of South Gate were among those recently honored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross. They are members of the local Disaster Action Team, which received the Candlelight Award during volunteer recognition ceremonies. The award is for outstanding volunteer service to the Red Cross.

Long Beach psychologists Richard Cantey and John Tholen have been named chairman and treasurer, respectively, of the Long Beach Psychological Assn.’s Information and Referral Service. The service is beginning its fifth year of round-the-clock operation. A licensed psychologist responds within minutes to phone calls, answering questions about available psychological services in the community and making referrals.

The Desk and Derrick Club of Long Beach has chosen Pamela Mikkelsen as its 1985 Oil Woman of the Year during its annual installation meeting. Mikkelsen works for Huntway Refining Co. and has been a club member since 1981. The award is based on service to the club in 1985. She has chaired several committees of the organization, has served as recording secretary and will be installed as the club’s second vice president for 1986.

Students of Whittier Union High School District Adult School have raised $312 for Mexican earthquake relief. The money will be donated to the American Red Cross. The contribution will be added to about $2,000 raised earlier this year by students in the district’s five regular schools. The largest adult-school donations came from three classes on English as a Second Language: $47 from Vivian Harrison’s class, $46.25 from Mari Hudson’s class, $43.17 from Rose Marie Staylon’s class and $38 from Sister Colette Greek’s class.

Rio Hondo College alumnus Danny Grimes of Whittier recently donated a $5,000 Nagra III tape recorder to the college’s mass communications department. Grimes, a sales manager for Nagra Magnetic Recorders in Hollywood, made the donation after visiting Prof. Jerry E. Lenington and his film students at the Rio Hondo campus.

Pearl Berzansky has been appointed director of education for 1985-86 at the Sisterhood of Beth Shalom in Whittier. Berzansky, a graduate of Antioch University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, came to the United States eight years ago from South Africa and has been teaching at Beth Shalom ever since. In 1984 she received the Teachers Award Prize of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles.