The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
ANNUAL HOLIDAY
SHOWCASE DRAWS
LARGE CROWD PAGE B1
Grant County’s
newspaper
since 1868
W edNesday , d ecember 6, 2017
• N o . 49
• 20 P ages
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
CREATING A
DESTINATION
Eagle photos/Sean Hart
Dan Hixson, who
designed The Links
at Silvies Valley
Ranch, tees off on
the 16th hole of the
Hankins course.
Ranch resort aims to attract visitors, improve economy
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
M
ost business owners want to
make money.
Dr. Scott Campbell al-
ready did that.
In his latest venture, The
Retreat and Links at Silvies Valley Ranch, the
retired veterinarian hopes only to break even.
His goal: Improve the local economy by
bringing in outside money.
His method: Invest his own money to
make Grant and Harney counties a destina-
tion for tourists.
After six years of building on the ranch
in the secluded Silvies Valley between John
Day and Burns, Eastern Oregon is now home
to a high-end reversible golf course, luxuri-
ous lodging and a ranch-to-table restaurant.
The resort recently wrapped up its first
season, and plans are underway to begin sell-
LEFT: The Links at Silvies Valley Ranch opened for a trial year in 2017. Dr. Scott Campbell, an owner who attended high school
in Burns, hopes the resort will bring destination tourism to Grant and Harney counties. CENTER: Jeff Wallach, left, and Renee
Renfrow enjoy a round of golf at The Links at Silvies Valley Ranch. RIGHT: The John Hopper Homestead, built in the late 1800s,
is one of six homesteads preserved on the Silvies Valley Ranch.
ing vacation homes on the serene country
property.
“What we’re trying to do here is give
back to our community in a way that’s sus-
tainable,” Campbell said. “One little thing
like this is not going to change the world, but
you’ve got to start someplace.”
Recognizing the need
When Campbell graduated from Burns
High School in 1975, he said, Harney and
Grant counties often boasted the highest
per-capita state income with high-paying
jobs from lumber and support industries.
Growing up on a ranch, the son of a rural
doctor, Campbell said he intended to return
to the area after college, but few opportuni-
ties existed for him and his wife, Sandy, a
registered nurse.
See RESORT, Page A12
Phony contractor hits at least 19 in Grant County
Bend man admits to using another man’s name
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
District Attorney
Jim Carpenter
The Grant County District
Attorney’s Office is seeking
information about any house
inspections handled in Grant
County by a person claiming to
be Gregory M. Miller.
According to a press release
from Grant County District At-
torney Jim Carpenter, a man
named Gregory Mason Mill-
er, 47, of Bend has admitted to
stealing the name and Oregon
Construction Contractors Board
license number of Gregory M.
Miller, a contractor in Coos Bay.
To date, Gregory Mason
Miller has admitted to using the
stolen identity at 58 different lo-
cations, resulting in 58 separate
violations of working without
a license. Carpenter said Miller
currently owes $298,236 in fines
to the state of Oregon. Mill-
er also admitted to performing
hundreds of jobs under the Coos
Bay man’s name, but he would
not disclose the locations, Car-
penter said.
Stan Jessup at the Ore-
gon Construction Contractors
Board said Gregory Mason
Miller performed house inspec-
tions without a state license
in six counties, mostly in the
Bend area. The board learned
about his activity in April when
a complaint was made to the
board and the scam unraveled.
The board’s press release was
carried in many newspapers at
the time.
See PHONY, Page A12
Two young girls die in Prairie City fire
Neighbor pulls
4-year-old boy
from blaze
the mother was transported by
air ambulance to another hos-
pital, Rynearson said.
Escaping
the inferno
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
A neighbor pulled a boy
from an apartment fire in
Prairie City early Thursday
morning, but two girls died in
the blaze.
Kimberley Shelton lived in
the Strawberry Village apart-
ment complex with her five
children, three boys ages 17,
12 and 4 and two girls ages
3 and 1, according to Prairie
City Volunteer Fire Depart-
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Two members of a family staying at the Strawberry Village
apartment complex in Prairie City died in a fire Nov. 30.
ment Chief Marvin Rynear-
son. The mother and three
boys survived, and the two
girls perished in the fire, he
said.
The surviving family
members were transported to
Blue Mountain Hospital, and
According to next-door
neighbor Gloria Tirico, Shel-
ton managed to get out of her
burning apartment and go to
Unit 4 in another building
for help. Tirico’s niece Livy
Atchley and Allen Detweiler
live in Unit 4.
“Livy said she didn’t
know how Kimberley made
it to their apartment, she was
so badly burned,” Tirico said.
Tirico said she heard
some pounding on the walls
of her apartment about 2:40
a.m. while she lay in bed but
didn’t consider it unusual.
Then she heard a very loud
bang.
“I later learned that was
Allen breaking down the
back door to Kimberley’s
apartment,” Tirico said.
Tirico then said she
heard some pounding on her
apartment door. It was her
niece banging on the door to
wake her up. Tirico said she
smelled smoke when she got
downstairs but never heard
a smoke alarm. She left her
apartment in her nightgown
and saw Kimberley Shelton
See FIRE, Page A12