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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2015)
Business Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 15, 2015 A9 B USINESS B EAT Board to discuss hiring new GU principal Watt lights up off-road paths Light bar accessories touted as tough By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – Nate Watt of John Day is lighting up the way to a brighter off- road experience for his customers. He opened Kilowatt Lighting last 2FWREHU DQG KDV RXW¿WWHG PDQ\ YHKL cles since then with lighting he says is 40 percent brighter, and more durable, than other brands. He said stock lighting reaches 50-75 feet of usable light, while his light bars reach 250 yards or more. His products range from 10-watt pods The Eagle/Angel Carpenter to 52-inch light bars with single- or du- Nate Watt is owner of Kilowatt al-row lights, and are for off-road use. Lighting in John Day, installing Everything from 9-36-volt sys- off-road lighting for vehicles for tems can be fitted onto trucks, cars, a brighter night view. ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles and agri- By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle CANYON CITY – The consent agenda for this month’s Grant School Dis- trict No. 3 school board meeting includes an item to recommend hiring a new Grant Union Junior-Senior High School principal. The meeting, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, will be held at Seneca School. Superintendent Mark Witty said Monday that three applicants had met with an interview team, and one more was scheduled to be interviewed before Wednesday’s meeting. All the job candidates are from Oregon, but the names were not released. School board presi- dent Chris Cronin said, “If all goes well, we hope to have a recommendation for the board to consider on Wednesday.” cultural and logging equipment. Watt said the idea for the business began when he looked into purchasing a light bar two years ago. “The competitor’s price was a little over $2,000, and I wanted to buy one cheaper,” he said. “We now sell the same style for about $550.” The Kilowatt light bars he sells are his own design and are manufactured in Japan. “We always have new products coming in,” he said. “They’re half the price of other competitors, and a third to a quarter of some competitors.” A lifetime warranty on Kilowatt Lighting products covers deer collisions, wrecks and water damage; he added the products are durable, water tight and sub- PHUJDEOH+HVDLGWKDWLIDFXVWRPHU¿QGV water behind the lens, it will be repaired or replaced. To test the strength, “We parked a diesel pickup on a light bar,” he said. A video showing this test is at the business Forestry consultant honored Blue Mountain Eagle RENO, Nev. – Local for- estry consultant Irene Jerome UHFHLYHG D :LOG¿UH 0LWL gation Award at the Internation- al Association of Fire Chiefs Wildland Urban Interface Con- ference held in Reno, Nev. on March 25. Jerome was recognized for her efforts to raise awareness of ¿UHSURWHFWLRQVWUDWHJLHVDQGLV sues, and her success in organiz- LQJWKH¿UVW)LUHZLVH&RPPXQL ty in Eastern Oregon, in the Pine Creek area east of John Day. Jerome said, “I am thrilled about the award – it means that we are beginning to make a dif- ference.” She was one of 21 people or groups receiving the awards, and the only one from Oregon. Contributed photo This Polaris RZR sports a light bar from Nate Watt’s Kilowatt Lighting business. website, www.kilowattlighting.com. He runs his business at JD Rents, where he is head of maintenance at the saw shop. JD Rents is at 727 West Main in John Day, and is owned by his parents Robert and Bonnie Watt. For more information, call Nate at 541-575-1156. Rick Price Ministries is pleased to present... The Blackwood Legacy Q uartet B USINESS B EAT Ochoco wins grant for wood innovation Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – Ochoco Lumber Co. will receive a $25,000 Cohesive Wildfire Strategy grant to explore a new biomass development. The company is one of four operations chosen for a total of $110,000 in grants targeted at biomass use, ac- cording to the Oregon De- partment of Forestry. The funding comes from the U.S. Forest Service. Ochoco, which operates its sawmill and pellet-bio- mass operation in John Day, received the grant to explore the commercial viability of a torrefied wood facility in Grant County. According to ODF, tor- refaction is a thermal pro- cess used to produce high- grade solid biofuels from wood biomass. If the process is viable, Ochoco could sell torrefied wood to coal-fired power plants, helping to re- duce their carbon emissions. The other businesses cho- sen for the grants are: • Wallowa Resource Community Solutions Inc. of Enterprise, $30,000, to design and engineer con- version of three public buildings in downtown Enterprise from costly oil heating to regionally pro- duced biomass fuel. • Heritage Sustainable Resources, $25,000, to de- sign and engineer a kiln- dried commercial firewood operation in North Powder. • North Slope Resources Co., $30,000, for a project to use local low-value biomass to diversify its agricultural operation in North Powder. In all, there were six ap- plicants for the funding. “The grant funding by our federal partners is aimed at forging solutions to forest health and community vital- ity,” said Marcus Kauffman, ODF’s biomass resource specialist. “The grants are designed to provide business the resources to jump-start new ventures that will uti- lize the low-value material resulting from forest health treatments.” Kauffman said that creat- ing demand for the by-prod- ucts of restoration – small trees and brush – enables agencies to accelerate the pace of restoration, and also puts people to work. Long Creek Community Church 269 Hardisty st (on Hwy 395) Long Creek Info: 541-421-3016 blackwoodlegacy.com Admission is free and so is the blessing! Love Offering will be received. Michael B. DesJardin Dentistry, PC New Patients Welcome! Preventive, Restorative, & Endodontics 208 NW Canton, John Day Don’t Forget to Floss 541-575-2725 mbddental@live.com & michaelbdesjardindmd.com 01652 Project eyes torrefaction for energy plants FRI-APR 17-7 PM Debbie Ausmus 245 South Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845 OPEN WED. & THUR. 9 am - 5 pm 541-575-1113 24 hrs/7 days wk debbie.ausmus@ countryfinancial.com G.R.E.A.T., CORP . invites you to celebrate the Grand Opening of... EASTERN OREGON COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIES & ARTS, LLC College of Cosmetology April 16 at 5:30 EOCIA • 743 W Main St • John Day Meet the Faculty & Staff Tour the Facilities Refreshments will be Served G.R.E.A.T., CORP . Encouraging Economic Growth in Grant County.