A18
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
RANDLEAS
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Contributed photo
Clark’s Transfer Station in John Day is among many
outlets no longer taking plastic for recycling after
China’s ban on importing 24 types of solid waste
took effect Jan. 1.
PLASTICS
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Concerns about plastic
pollution around the world
have increased in recent
years. An estimated 8 mil-
lion tons of waste plastic
ends up in the oceans every
year, according to a 2015
report by Jenna Jambeck in
Science, but the majority of
plastic in everyday use is
not biodegradable.
Plastic recycling has
taken place since the 1970s
and has become an effi-
cient closed-loop system,
but compared to metal and
glass, plastic recycling is
more difficult because of its
low density, low value and
technical hurdles.
Mixing different kinds of
plastics — such as polypro-
pylene with polyethylene,
the most widely manufac-
tured plastics — is like mix-
ing oil and water. The com-
mon use of dyes, fillers and
other additives also makes
plastic recycling more dif-
ficult.
Steve Frank, president
of Pioneer Recycling in
Clackamas, said he was try-
ing to line up companies in
Indonesia, India, Vietnam
or Malaysia to handle their
materials, but those coun-
tries cannot make up the
difference.
“The U.S. exports 1 1/2
million tons of paper and
plastic per month, and 1
million went to China,” he
said.
The No. 1 thing that
American consumers can
do is improve the quality of
recycling in order to meet
China’s higher standards.
“They need to adhere
to the recycling program’s
standards — the instruc-
tions you see on the blue
bin,” Frank said.
Food containers need to
be rinsed thoroughly, pop
and juice bottles need to be
rinsed and the lids thrown
away and square milk car-
tons need to be thrown
away. Plastic grocery bags
get entangled in sorting
equipment and should be
thrown away. Used cloth-
ing, containers with medi-
cal residue and especially
soiled disposable diapers
should all be thrown away.
“If in doubt, throw it
out,” Frank said.
Frank said a new mate-
rials recovery facility like
he runs can cost $20 mil-
lion – “and that’s just for the
equipment.” For right now,
his company is “slowing
down, hiring more sorters
and getting the message
out through talks and in-
terviews.” European Union
officials meanwhile are
considering a tax on plastic
bags and packaging.
“We don’t know when
the situation will change for
the better,” Clark said.
The model for “Between
Two Worlds” is John Day res-
ident Natalia Yazzie.
“She’s a loving, caring
nurse in the community,”
Randleas said. “She’s a mod-
ern woman, but I’ve interpret-
ed her as being someone from
a different time.”
The painting also features
contrast between light and
dark, warm and cold.
“I love the drama of how
the light plays on the skin,
creating that feeling of the
time of day,” Randleas said.
“As soon as that light hits just
right, it warms everything
up.”
Art provides a way to
bypass all social barriers,
Randleas said, allowing her
to “connect right with their
heart.”
“When someone is view-
ing that painting for the first
time, and they’re feeling and
seeing for the first time what
my original intention was, or
they might be feeling their
own emotions, it comes full
circle,” she said.
Honoring heritage is an-
other important part of Rand-
leas’ work.
Her ancestors homestead-
ed in the Kimberly area, and
she has some relatives of Na-
tive American descent.
She brought the city of
John Day’s namesake, a fur
trapper and explorer in the
1800s, to life through a paint-
ing featuring Prairie City resi-
dent Mike Springer.
Springer, a land surveyor
who enjoys hunting and his-
tory, grew out his hair and a
beard to pose in a photo for
the painting.
No photos or paintings of
the man John Day are known
to exist, but through research
Randleas discovered his
height and build and his Ger-
man ethnicity.
Springer wore period
clothing while holding a black
powder rifle, all owned by
Walt Gentis of Canyon City
who also made the rifle.
Randleas said when she
was about 13, her father, Bill
Robertson, was painting wa-
tercolors and encouraged her.
“I was always drawn to
it,” she said. “My dad was al-
ways a big influence on me.
I think very, very young he
would give me little lessons
on how to create depth or see
depth.”
In high school, she gave
her watercolor paintings to
friends. She also drew with
charcoal and later took two
college art classes. Her artistic
pursuits took a backseat when
her family started a restaurant
in John Day in 1999.
After years of long days of
work at the restaurant, it sold
in 2011, and her husband,
Matt, bought an auto repair
shop in John Day.
Randleas said there was a
HOUSING
Continued from Page A1
preliminary research and
public meetings in January,
meetings of the new Com-
munity Advisory Commit-
tee in January and March, a
draft urban renewal plan and
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Artist Kim Randleas, left, exhibits several oil paintings from her collection of western-style
work, and standing with her is Kerry Smith who custom builds each frame for her art.
Kim Randleas talks about the framework on her painting of a rodeo pickup man. To the
left is a rendition of the fur trapper and explorer named John Day.
creative energy the restaurant
provided, and she felt that
outlet was no longer there.
Her dad brought an easel
out of a barn in 2014 and sug-
gested she try painting again.
“I let it sit there for a couple
of weeks, then ordered acryl-
ics and canvases and put some
things together,” she said.
At first, she considered her
time devoted to art a “guilty
pleasure,” she said. Her studio
was tucked away in a small
room.
Her friend Kyle Cline ad-
vised her to give her art what
it deserves.
“He told me, ‘Your art
is nourishing your family,
just as much as your family
is nourishing your art,’” she
said. “I was doing OK in this
little corner then expanded
and gave it what it needed,
and it did develop. That was a
turning point from going from
hobby to professional — go-
ing from painting for myself
or guilty pleasure to some-
thing my family appreciates,
and people in the community
appreciate.”
report completed by April
and a meeting to review and
adopt the report in June.
“The target is to have the
housing district effective by
July 1,” Green told the coun-
cil.
One of the hurdles has
been a state law limiting the
size of housing renewal dis-
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Artist Kim Randleas, center, chats with visitors Jeff
Williams, left, and Dwaine Winchester about her painting
“Between Two Worlds” at an exhibit in John Day.
Oil paintings by Canyon City artist Kim Randleas on
display Dec. 16 at the Madden Business and Education
Center in John Day.
tricts to no more than 25 per-
cent of a city’s area. Green
said getting a waiver to that
rule would be too difficult,
so the city will go ahead
with the 25 percent limit in
place.
“It’s not the best solution,
but it’s workable,” Green
said.
As a result, the boundar-
ies for the district may re-
semble “doughnut holes and
cherry stems,” as the city
focuses on the best areas for
development, such as places
close to city utilities, Green
said. Some lots at the Straw-
berry View Estates subdivi-
sion east of John Day, which
was announced in July 2008
and never materialized,
could be considered, he
said.
The city will need to an-
ticipate future development
and will take input from the
Community Advisory Com-
mittee for assistance. Green
said the city also needs to
provide information about
building contractors and
community services to new-
comers who want to build
homes in the John Day area.
The council also unani-
mously approved a resolu-
tion to create the Main Street
Revitalization Department
within the general fund to
handle funds for remodel-
ing the Weaver Building on
Main Street and future revi-
talization projects in down-
town John Day.
The city was advised to
create the new department
so funding could be more
easily tracked, Green said.
No comments were made
during the public hearing
held for establishing the
department.
According to the sup-
plemental budget chang-
es provided by Green, the
department will see $1.5
million in revenues in the
current fiscal year from
an anticipated grant, debt
and rental payments by the
commercial businesses in
the Weaver Building. Green
noted that the grant was
renewable.
A project plan for the
complete renovation of the
Weaver Building will be
discussed at the Jan. 23 city
council meeting.
The council also unani-
mously approved a resolu-
tion to establish an IT Fund
to handle financing for the
city’s broadband project.
The city has received $1.8
million through House Bill
5006 for the project. There
were no comments during
the public hearing held for
establishing the fund.
Looking ahead, the city
will host the League of Ore-
gon Cities Region 8 meeting
on Thursday, Jan. 18. The city
council meets next Tuesday,
Jan. 23, and the Community
Advisory Committee’s first
meeting will be Monday,
Jan. 29.