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