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Doctors James Joye and Patrik Zetterlund, members of the medical staff at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, have been cited in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology for their breakthrough work in cryoplasty, a technique for restoring normal blood flow to blocked leg arteries.

The hospital will host a physician training course today and Thursday on peripheral vascular procedures such as Joye's cryoplasty technique approved by the FDA and first tested in clinical trials on a patient in the Salinas area.

Hannah Strauss has joined Prudential California Realty. Strauss will be involved in home sales, primarily in Salinas and surrounding areas.

Strauss, a 20-year resident of the Central Coast, has worked for Bank of America as a financial adviser and at Old Republic Title Company as an escrow assistant, and has volunteered as a coach and as a Cub Scout leader. She can be reached at 775-2211.

Marina's My Private Liaison, which offers event management, marketing, public relations and photographic services, has been named Washington Mutual Bank, Monterey Branch's Business of the Month.

The business, which just moved into a new facility in Marina, is owned and operated by Todd and LuAnne Hutchings.

The editors at Progressive Grocer Magazine, a monthly publication for the supermarket industry, named Mann Packing Co.'s Sugar Snap Pea Snack 'n Pack as one of this year's best new products.

The snack pack was picked out of 300 entries, making a list of the top 62 new products on supermarket shelves. Criteria for selection included a product's overall usefulness, innovative or appealing packaging, responsiveness to trends and merchandising programs.

Andrew Butler has opened a clinical psychology practice at 2100 Garden Road in Monterey. Butler has 15 years of experience treating problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, marital problems and eating disorders.

He recently moved to Monterey from Philadelphia, where he was a faculty member at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the psychiatry department.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.