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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2015)
A10 News Blue Mountain Eagle MILL terials, from large timber to small wood and biomass – each type suited to specific mill operations. Continued from Page A1 The process has provid- Last month the compa- ed timber for the Malheur ny had 132 employees in Lumber log decks. Beverlin John Day. That’s up from said 90 percent of the large about 90 last May, before sawlogs in the first task or- the swing shift was added. der went to the John Day Daucsavage said he’s mill. working to confirm avail- “That’s a direct benefit ability of additional timber to the community,” he said. the company has under con- The addition of a second tract. shift – the first such expan- He said supply issues sion at Malheur Lumber have been building over the since 1998 – was a success past five months, as antici- story for a mill that was on pated log deliveries didn’t the verge of closure in 2012 PDWHULDOL]H +H GHFOLQHG WR but rebounded. specify what contracts were Last year’s expansion involved. came as a sign of confi- News of the layoffs trig- dence that the stewardship gered ripples of concern contract and accelerated about the status of the Mal- restoration would provide heur National Forest’s 10- more certainty for the lo- year stewardship contract, cal timber industry. For but forest officials and in- the company, the new hires dustry observers told the would help with the volume Eagle the program is sound expected from fire salvage and operating as intended. out of the area and cross Forest Supervisor Steve train for jobs elsewhere on- Beverlin said the contrac- site, including a new small- tor, Iron Triangle, is “per- log plant planned for the forming exceptionally well mill. The new plant would under the contract” and has allow the mill to process met all the timelines and re- some of the huge volume quirements to date. of smaller wood produced Beverlin also clarified by forest restoration work that the stewardship work – wood not suited for the was never intended to ful- existing sawmill. ly supply the decks of any The company said at the one mill, but to provide a time the small-log opera- predictable base operators tion would be up and run- could count on and bolster ning this winter, perhaps by with additional timber buys. the end of 2014. “We can’t promise a spe- However, Daucsavage cific amount, a volume or confirmed this week that type of timber to a specific the small-log plant is on mill,” he said. hold as the company deals With forest health as the with permitting issues with goal, the contract is rolling the state Department of En- out a series of “task orders” vironmental Quality. or landscape-scale projects He said the company still that produce a range of ma- plans to take on small wood DON MOLES APPLIANCE & REFRIGERATION In-HomeService ( Formerly D2 Appliance) washers dryers ranges refrigerators dishwashers microwaves freezers hoods 541-792-1188 John Day, OR 1 Nominate Your Educational Hero Educators play an extremely important role in our community and are often underappreciated. This year, Doug’s Motor Vehicle Repair is saying “Thank you, educators” by honoring an “Educator of the Month.” Each month one local educator will be highlighted in the Blue Mountain Eagle and will receive a $50 gift certificate from Doug’s Repair. Educator of the Year will receive $1,000 to be donated to school of their choice. Nominate your Local Hero by picking up a nomination form at the Blue Mountain Eagle or Doug’s Repair, or download a copy from the Blue Mountain Eagle’s website –www.bluemountaineagle.com. 47 but also needs an ample supply of large timber for the sawmill. He noted the company has invested $1 million in the plant this year, mak- ing improvements in the biomass plant, addressing DEQ issues, and upgrading equipment. Beverlin said news of the layoffs was disappointing for the community and for the Forest Service, which wants to support local jobs and economic growth. He said he wasn’t famil- iar with the issues regarding the small-log mill, but he’s hopeful that Malheur Lum- ber will resolve them and start up the plant. He said the local infra- structure is a critical need. “We need the local in- frastructure here,” he said. “We need them here to pro- cess a wide variety of ma- terials that are coming from the forest.” Beverlin said the avail- able volume, especially for the smaller materials, is abundant. He said the forest has been meeting its targets for harvest, which includes everything from biomass to large timber. The forest hit 55 million board feet in 2013, more than 65 million board feet in 2014, and is on pace to exceed that in 2015. “And we continue to work with our partners to investigate ways to local- ly process biomass and small-diameter sawlogs, as this remains the critical is- sue for ecological and eco- nomical forest restoration activities on the Malheur and Eastern Oregon as a whole,” he said. Parenting classes on tap Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – A free six- week “Active Parenting” se- ries is slated to begin Mon- day, Jan. 12, at Families First Parent Resource Center. Sessions will be 5 p.m. on Mondays, Jan. 12, 19 and 26, and Feb. 2, 9 and 16. A free dinner will be offered from 5-5:30 p.m., followed by the class from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free childcare is includ- ed. Parents will learn skills in opening up lines of com- munication, using nonvio- lent discipline, encouraging school success, defusing power struggles and more. To register, call Families First at 541-575-1006. Go to a Game! Hear a Concert! SEE A PLAY! Wednesday, January 7, 2015 The Eagle/Scotta Callister Ice flakes into crystals atop the frozen surface of a pond, as freezing temperatures persisted across the county last week. Warmer weather moved in this week, melting snow from roads and posing the possibility of ice jams on area creeks and rivers. ODOT: Slow down, chain up, think twice With the weather al- WHUQDWLQJ IURP IUHH]LQJ to melting, and highway snowpacks following suit, the Oregon Department of Transportation is offering 10 wintertime driving re- minders to help keep trav- elers safe in the Eastern Oregon region. Travelers are reminded that snow and ice persist on roads in the mountain pass- es and along Eastern Ore- gon highways this week. The 10 tips: • Drive for the condi- tions of the road: Adjust your speed to the road conditions. The operative phrase: Slow down! • Plan extra travel time: Give yourself plenty of time for winter travel to reduce stress and help keep you focused on safe driv- ing. • Turn off cruise control if snow or ice is present: You may lose control if cruise control is active in wet or slippery conditions. • Travel with warm clothes and emergency supplies: With tempera- tures in single digits and EHORZ ]HUR DW VRPH ORFD- tions, be prepared in case you become stuck in a traf- fic jam or road closure. Always carry food and wa- ter, a flashlight, extra cell phone batteries, blanket and other emergency sup- plies. • Use caution when tak- ing alternate routes: If the route you were planning to travel is closed (due to weather or a crash), think twice before taking an al- ternate route suggested by your GPS navigation sys- tem. These systems may not take into account winter road conditions on second- ary highways. • Use chains and trac- tion tires: When chains are required, use the next chain up area to put on your tire chains. Continuing to drive in the snowy conditions hoping the road will im- prove is not a safe idea. Nei- ther is stopping in the mid- dle of the highway to put on tire chains. • Chain up areas and highway shoulders are not playgrounds: Use designat- ed parking areas and never use chain up areas or high- way shoulders as a place to play in the snow. • Don’t park your vehicle along the highway: Parking in highway shoulders pre- vents plowing activities, limits access for emergen- cy responders and creates a VDIHW\KD]DUGIRURWKHUURDG users. Abandoned or parked vehicles along the highway will be towed. • Stay home if conditions are bad: Consider post- poning your trip if road or weather conditions are ex- treme. • Know Before You Go: Visit TripCheck.com or call 511. For more information about winter travel, includ- ing links to chain-up videos and more, visit: http://www. oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/ Pages/winterdriving.aspx The goal is to build an updated, accessible library which would then be given to the county as a replacement Continued from Page A1 for the county library on Can- has not selected the one for yon Boulevard. the project yet. She said the The Foundation plans to )RXQGDWLRQZLOOWU\WR¿QDOL]H build the library on the north- a hire by this spring. west portion of the old junior The architect will be high school property on Can- tasked to produce preliminary ton Street. drawings and schematics, The Foundation bought the which will be shared with the property from Grant School community. Unterwegner said District No. 3 in 2012. After the Foundation will seek input completing the required as- from the County Court, the bestos abatement, the group court-appointed Grant County sold the school building Library Advisory Board, and and the land on which it sits the public as work continues to Blue Mountain Custom WRZDUGD¿QDOGHVLJQ Homes, which has plans for RI¿FH DQG EXVLQHVV VSDFH there. The Library Foundation retained the vacant property where the new library will sit, as well as two buildings leased for the Kam Wah Chung Interpretative Center. Unterwegner said Blue Mountain has been great to work with, and the plans for community and business uses VKRXOGEHDJRRG¿WZLWKWKH new library complex. Once the library designs are in hand, the Foundation plans to move ahead with a capital campaign to raise grants and donations for the construction project. 2015 B REAKING N EWS A LERTS myeaglenews.com/breakingnews Local artist to be feted Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – All are wel- come to a reception spotlight- ing local artist Mytchell Mead and his works this Thursday. The event will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Corner Cup, located at the stoplight in John Day. One of the best tickets in town will always be activities at our local schools. Football & basketball games, concerts & plays. You can always count on an enjoyable time. Want to burn? Renew OUR CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE. Let’s give them all the encouragement that we can! At Bank of Eastern Oregon, we’re a proud supporter of school activities & we’re proud of our rural community schools! www.beobank.com Blue Mountain Eagle Supporting Grant County – the place we call home. Come see us today for all your financial banking needs. Prairie City Branch 541-820-3321 Member FDIC John Day Branch 541-575-1862 Hometown People Hometown Spirit Bob Quinton VP/Loan Officer Blue Mountain Hospital 170 Ford Road, John Day • (541) 575-1311 EVERY OTHER TUESDAY JOHN DAY – The City of John Day is reminding resi- dents that 2014 outdoor burn permits expired on Dec. 31. Residents can renew per- PLWV DW &LW\ +DOO RU ¿QG WKH form and more information online at www.cityofjohnday. com. Permits are free. People should check for air quality advisories before burning, and follow the tips on the per- mit for safe burning.