GRANT UNION TEAMS WIN THREE LEAGUE TITLES The PAGE B1 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , F ebruary 7, 2018 • N o . 6 • 24 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com A CHANGING ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE “ Finally, we had to make a decision. At some point, you have to stop the bleeding.” Nathan Gordanier, Manager of Muzzy’s 123 Dollar Store Main Street stores adapt, close By Richard Hanners F Blue Mountain Eagle our storefronts on Main Street in John Day will be chang- ing, but it’s not all bad news for the lo- cal economy. Some owners are closing their stores for good, while oth- ers are changing how they’ll continue to do business during the tough economic times fac- ing Grant County. Naturally Yours Sherry Dress, the owner of the Naturally Yours Health and Wellness Center on Main Street, plans to move most of the store’s business to her home while the city of John Day completes a major upgrade project to the Weaver Building Judy Chapman, left, LeAnne Gast and Miranda Hoodenpyl at the Eastern Oregon Cosmetology Industry Associates. at 131 W. Main St. Through Naturally Yours, established in 1992, Dress pro- motes homeopathic medicine and makes various teas and tinctures for about 500 regular customers. She plans to set up her alternative health business in the front room of her home, 26984 Day Spring Road in John Day, with regular business hours of 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The health food cooperative at the store will not be moved to her home, Dress said. Volun- teers are organizing a way for locals to order products online from Azure Standard, a region- al organic food distributor with truck deliveries to John Day. Dress said she’ll help people who want to continue to buy Azure Standard products. A Prime Time Video After 30 years in business, Dave Barntish is closing Prime Time Video. After 19 years in the John Day Plaza, Barntish moved Prime Time Video to Main Street five and a half years ago. See CLOSED, Page A12 Silvies Valley Ranch hiring Eagle photos/Richard Hanners Dave Barntish closed his Prime Time Video store on Main Street in John Day Jan. 27. TOP IMAGE: Muzzy’s 123 Dollar Store in John Day. Blue Mountain Eagle mid the economic difficulties, one new business, The Retreat and Links at Silvies Valley Ranch, is expanding its personnel to accommodate the first full season at the resort and golf course between John Day and Burns. Owner Dr. Scott Campbell, a Harney County native, invested in the resort at the cattle ranch as a way to boost the lo- cal economy. After a preview season last year, The Retreat and Links with luxury lodg- ing, dining and golfing plans to hire 60 workers to fill a variety of positions by the official opening in April. A job fair is planned from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 16 at The Outpost Restaurant in John Day. With a unique reversible golf course, as well as a par-3 course, ranch-to-table See HIRING, Page A12 Funding source could assist Weaver Building project Goal to create workforce housing By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle file photo A new grant opportunity could help pay for renovations of the Weaver Building at 131 W. Main St., which was purchased by the city of John Day. A pilot program from the Governor’s Regional Solutions office with up to $1 million in grant funding could be an im- portant source of funding for the city’s Weaver Building project, John Day City Manager Nick Green told the city council Jan. 23. According to information submitted to the office by local governments and businesses across Oregon, workforce housing shortages are constraining eco- nomic growth and job creation in many of the state’s communities. Green recommended that the city ap- ply for a $181,252 site-readiness grant under the new Workforce Housing Ini- tiative. Under the program, workforce housing is defined as homes owned or rented by Oregonians with incomes be- tween 60 percent and 120 percent of the area’s median income, which in John Day this fiscal year is between $30,600 and $61,200. “The goal is to provide homes for For- est Service or hospital workers,” Green said. “People with more money would likely want to build a house.” The council unanimously approved submitting an application for the grant and using the funds for architectural planning, interior demolition and debris removal and asbestos abatement at the Weaver Building. “If the city applies for and receives the grant, we will have sufficient funding to do site readiness and will not have to include these costs in a future loan for the building renovation,” Green said. The city has already spent $121,486 to See PROJECT, Page A12 Adoption journey: Couple takes leap of faith to Africa Family’s timeline to return unknown By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle When James and Kaylee Wilson flew to Ghana, Africa, in November of 2016 to adopt their 2-year-old daughter Em- manuella they didn’t expect to stay long. “We were going to be there for six weeks, not 435 days,” said Kaylee, who grew up in John Day. While waiting for doc- uments from the Ghanaian government approving her immigration, the Wilsons said they are staying positive Contributed photo James and Kaylee Wilson say their newly adopted daughter Wella, 3, is loving and affectionate and grew to love them within their first week together. and enjoying their daughter “Wella,” who is now 3. The Wilsons say their jour- ney, which began long before their flight to Ghana, has in- cluded setbacks and miracles. “There is no way we could have made it without strength from God,” Kaylee said. Kaylee, daughter of Kirk and Kim Ausland of John Day, said she’d wanted to adopt since she was young. Although James wasn’t sure about the idea of adopting when he married Kaylee in spring 2013, he said he would keep an open mind. A year later, living in Portland, the Wilsons lost a baby to miscar- riage. Making a fresh start in Te- mecula, California, that fall, they joined a church project to build a school for orphaned children in Kenya, Africa. Af- ter returning from Kenya in June of 2016, the Wilsons be- gan the adoption process. “We didn’t know if it was the right time, since we had also dreamed of opening our coffee company that same year,” Kaylee said. One month later, the cou- ple saw Wella’s picture for the first time. The Wilsons researched and spoke to fam- ilies with HIV-positive chil- dren. “We felt called to this spe- cific ‘special need,’” Kaylee said. On Nov. 9, 2016, Kaylee and James met their daughter for the first time. “We still owed $10,000 to the adoption agency, and See JOURNEY, Page A12