News Blue Mountain Eagle FIRE RESORT Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 out on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, Detweiler had gained access to the Shelton family’s apart- ment where he encountered thick black smoke. According to apartment man- ager Carl Stinnett, Detweiler got on his hands and knees and began to crawl around beneath the smoke. He heard a groan, saw a foot and dragged a child out of the burning apartment, Stinnett said. “He rescued the 4-year-old boy,” Stinnett said. Detweiler and Steven Shelton, the eldest son, tried to get to the second floor but were turned back by the blaze. “Allen said he couldn’t get up the stairs,” Rynearson said. “I respect him for what he did.” Instead, they moved away, and Campbell purchased a veterinary hospital in Portland in 1987. He grew the business into Banfield Pet Hospitals, which leased space from PetSmart, with 750 hospi- tals in 42 states, the United King- dom and Mexico. Campbell sold the business and retired a decade ago, about the time he purchased the Silvies Valley Ranch as a real estate in- vestment. During his time away, howev- er, the counties’ economies fell from the best to the worst in the state with the implosion of the lumber industry. He said Oregon State University’s dean of forest- ry told him, even with a virgin forest that had never been har- vested, newer technology would allow sustainable logging in the area to be completed by only a few hundred people — not near- ly enough to bring back the eco- nomic prosperity of his youth. “You really just need to create a stronger economy,” Campbell said. “What’s going to be the economy here?” Battling the blaze The fire department received an alarm at 2:43 a.m., Rynearson said. The Prairie City firefighters arrived on the scene at 2:50 a.m., he said. That was a good response time, he noted, adding that he called for backup from John Day as soon as he realized where the fire was. Two Prairie City engines were joined by two engines from the John Day Volunteer Fire Department, along with ambulances from Prairie City and John Day, several fire department com- mand vehicles and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and John Day Police Department. The Sheltons’ apartment was en- gulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived, Rynearson said, with flames visible through the first floor windows and thick black smoke coming out of the second floor. The firefighters were unable to gain access to the second floor of the Shel- tons’ apartment because of the burning stairway and turned instead to going through Tirico’s bedroom wall next door. But it was too late for the two lit- tle girls. Rynearson said only Building B in the four-building apartment complex sustained significant interior fire dam- age. Firefighters were able to protect the other buildings from the fire. John Day firefighters returned to the John Day fire hall around 8:30 a.m. No firefighters were injured as they fought the blaze, Rynearson said. The investigation is ongoing. Dep- uty State Fire Marshal Dave Fields was at the site Thursday morning. The cause of the fire has not been released. The aftermath The Strawberry Village apartment complex is owned by the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority, based in La Grande. Dale Inslee, director of asset management, and Greg Givens, asset manager, immediately drove to Prairie City when they learned about the fire. “This is a tragic incident,” Inslee said. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to help the families.” The Northeast Oregon Housing PHONY Continued from Page A1 “It’s a relatively difficult scam because you need to be referred by a Realtor,” The Eagle/Richard Hanners Firefighters cut a hole in the wall of a unit at the Strawberry Village apartment complex in Prairie City Thursday morning. An overnight fire killed two members of a family residing in a unit in Building B. Authority is a nonprofit entity that op- erates subsidized housing for federal or state agencies, Inslee said. He said the Strawberry Village complex was inspected Oct. 12, including testing smoke alarms. “The state inspects these units regu- larly, and they meet all requirements,” Inslee said. The apartment complex was insured for replacement costs, and the damaged building will be rebuilt if necessary, In- slee said. Stinnett said the complex was remodeled in 2013. Tirico will be put up in a motel while she finds a place to live. She was allowed to return to her apartment to retrieve things, and she said she had renters insurance. Two of Shelton’s boys will be staying with a host family while their mother and brother remain hospital- ized. Blue Mountain Hospital and Blue Mountain Home Health & Hospice are collecting items to make the boys more comfortable, hospital district employee Krista Qual said. Items sought include clothes, Play- station 3 games, hygiene products and snack foods, such as pizza, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks and cookies. The children wear XXL and medium shirts, size 40-42 and 34 pants and adult size 13-14 and 10 shoes. Qual said people can also bring fro- zen dinners or foods that can be refrig- erated. Items should be dropped off at the home health and hospice office, 422 W. Main St., across from the Squeeze- In Restaurant in John Day. For more information about what the children may need, people can con- tact Qual at 541-620-8127, but she said personal and medical information will not be provided. She requested people Jessup said. “If a house in- spector misses bad plumbing or bad electrical work or dry rot, then the homeowner will be stuck with a lot of repair work.” Jessup said it was typ- CHRISTMAS SALE on SONY Electronics TV’s, Bluray Players, Sound Systems, Soundbars, Bluetooth Speakers and Cameras Community focus On 90,000 acres of private land with an additional 50,000 acres of federal grazing allot- ments, Silvies Valley Ranch is a working operation with 2,700- 3,500 head of cattle and 1,700 meat goats — all certified organ- ic, Vice President Colby Marshall said. Marshall, also originally from Burns, formerly served as dep- uty chief of staff for Rep. Greg Walden but said, after spending time with the Silvies team, he and his wife knew they wanted to raise their children here. “This is a hometown project, so there’s a passion to help those communities we come from,” Marshall said. Campbell said local contrac- tors and materials were used to construct and make upgrades for the resort and golf course. It took six years — instead of one or two with help from outside contrac- tors — but the goal was to help the local community, he said. In August, the business em- ployed 93 people: about half for the resort and golf course, a quar- ter for construction and a quar- ter for the ranch, Campbell said. Next year, when the resort is fully operational, another 30-40 em- ployees will be needed, he said. With the increase in prop- erty value, Campbell said the construction already completed would add significantly to Grant County’s tax base, even before building any of the 500 vacation homes approved by the legis- ically up to each county’s district attorney to prosecute the case, but if necessary the board could refer the matter to the state attorney general. “He called our office and asked me to offer a deal,” Jessup said. “I made an offer that he couldn’t accept. With 58 misdemeanor charges, he could go to jail.” According to Patrick Rectenwald at the Oregon Construction Contractors Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Eagle photos/Sean Hart Silvies Valley Ranch Vice President Colby Marshall sends a target down the line at one of the shooting ranges at The Retreat at Silvies Valley Ranch. The Retreat features three shooting ranges: rifleman, sharpshooter and pistolero. Guests and staff enjoy a cocktail before dinner in the bar at The Retreat at Silvies Valley Ranch. lature for the property. He said the goal is to sell 5-10 per year, which would be needed for the resort to “break even on a cash- flow basis.” Marshall said they plan to market what the property has in abundance: beautiful vistas, rec- reational opportunities and quiet. “It’s a new frontier for recre- ation. It’s a new frontier for tour- ism. It’s a new frontier for golf,” Marshall said. “If we can attract people here, we can maybe start changing the economy in a pos- itive way.” Economic opportunities For The Links, course design- er Dan Hixson created a revers- ible course — the first to be start- ed in 500 years, Campbell said, though a course in Michigan was completed before it and several others are now under construc- tion. The two 18-hole courses share some fairways and greens, and staff alternate between them dai- ly to offer golfers a more diverse experience. Hixson designed the “big, wide course with lots of architectural challenges” to be enjoyable for different levels of golfers. “We knew we had to have a quality that would draw people from markets all over,” Hixson said. “It’s really cool to think about people coming to Eastern Oregon who have lived in Or- egon their whole life and have Board, confirmed illegal house inspections performed by Gregory Mason Miller included 21 in Deschutes County, 19 in Grant Coun- ty, 13 in Harney County and one each in Malheur, Wheeler and Jefferson counties. “Miller admitted his guilt in these cases,” Rectenwald said, adding that he hasn’t admitted his guilt in other cases. I OFFER THE SAME PRICES AS THE INTERNET! Also check out the selection of Toys, Movies And Games for Sale! JOHN DAY VIDEO & ELECTRONICS In the West Main Plaza Open 11 am to 9pm - Tuesday thru Saturday 1188 Brewing Company is OPEN Our renovation is complete! We will be open for regular business again starting Thursday, Dec. 7 th. 11 a.m. - Close Thank you to our friends, family and business associates for helping us get this far and supporting 1188. 28701 417 W. Main, John Day (541) 575 1387 A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710 never been here.” The Links also features a nine- hole, par-3 course, and a sev- en-hole challenge course is under construction. To avoid competing with courses in Burns and John Day, the course is not priced for local customers — $290 with a re- quired cart — but residents who are members of the local clubs can golf for $110. The course can also accommodate more than 80 rounds per day, Camp- bell said, but the resort only has 34 rooms, potentially boosting the demand for lodging locally and encouraging local economic activity. “There’s a lot of opportunity for people to piggyback on this,” Campbell said. “The commu- nities are going to have to learn how to cater to everyone.” The resort features shooting ranges, but not a trap range be- cause Seneca already has one. Local art is displayed, but guests who want to see more will have to travel to local galleries. Tours of the ranch will be offered, but it’s not a dude ranch, Campbell said, so others could provide a more hands-on ranch experience for visitors. “There’s a lot of places that certainly aren’t as pretty as Grant County that have thriving econo- mies from destination tourism,” Campbell said. “If we can bring in people from outside the state — or the country — that’s new money.” Rectenwald said several people in Grant County de- scribed the difficulty in find- ing a house inspector who would travel to their area, but Gregory Mason Miller was quick to respond to a request. Sarah Johnson of Kim- berly said Gregory Mason Miller inspected her home after the Realtor involved in the sale “recommended this guy and said she’s been us- ing him for inspections out in this area for years.” Johnson said the Realtor was present during the in- spection, which cost about $350. When the Realtor was notified of the scam, she passed the information on to Johnson, who notified the state board. Johnson said the Realtor “claimed no respon- sibility because we hired him” and because she had left the real estate company that handled the sale. The real estate office also claimed no responsi- bility, Johnson said. When she called the office, she said, she was told that house inspections “really were pointless and it’s the ap- praiser that influences your purchase.” She also said she was told “we shouldn’t real- ly worry about it (because) he probably knew his stuff.” “This was in response to me saying that we bought the home based off a clean inspection report,” Johnson said. Johnson said she’s hoping her home really is in good shape. “Lesson learned,” she said. “Do your homework.” Rectenwald said he has received hundreds of emails from real estate offices pro- viding information about Gregory Mason Miller and jobs he performed. “They’re very upset,” he said. Anyone who has infor- mation about a man doing construction work under the name Gregory M. Miller and Oregon Construction Con- tractors Board No. 110411 is asked to contact the Grant County District Attorney’s Office at 541-575-0146. Make Christmas a Merry Surprise with a one-of-a-kind gift. At this tiny shop on Hwy 26 you can find a gift that you’ll love and love to give. • Vintage • Collectibles • Christmas Gifts & Decorations Tossed & Found 59980 Hwy 26, John Day, OR 97845 Look for the tiny house. 541-815-0076 28698 A12