The Lebanon Express from Lebanon, Oregon • 1

3-DIGIT 974 0126 370 37009 32 1 OF 0 LIBRARY 1299 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE OR 97403-1205 SERVING LEBANON AND EAST LINN COUNTY, OREGON, FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY. odd state llsK tor lindens raceiuiliBBinieimS A I 'I lb. 1 v'! -4 1 ment activity completed, the time from site selection to construction may take more than a year, said City Development Director Doug Parker. Certification indicates the property has been through an extensive process to make sure it can meet the shorter timeline. "The certification process provides developers with all the information they need to make a site decision," said Marty Brantley, Director for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

To successfully capture information, get permits and make improvements that will earn a site the "certi fied" stamp, OECDD development officers collaborate with landowners, local governments, regional development groups, and the state's seven economic revitalization agencies. A third-party, private sector verifier serves as the final independent review for the hundreds of documents submitted to the agency in just one application for certification. Site certification notebooks maintained by the agency contain documentation about watersewer, electricity and other utilities available at the site; local workforce availability; easements and liens; improvements made; and any state or local development incentives that are offered Two industrial sites in Lebanon, both of them north of Tangent Street and west of Hansard Avenue, are officially on the state's list of project ready land. The one designated NW Industrial Area is 203 acres in two ownerships. It was certified in September and, according to the state list, is a finalist for the location of a major distribution facility.

The land is northwest of Reeves Parkway and extends north to Gore Drive. Reeves Industrial Park, 51 acres near Reeves Parkway, all in one ownership, was certified in October. "Ifs a real plus," said Mayor Ken Toombs. "It really puts us in the cat bird seat. We've got the largest unencumbered site in the state right now.

We're seven miles from the freeway, there's a rail siding to the property, and two state highways serve the property. It really puts us in a great position." The Governor's Economic Development Revitalization Team has put Lebanon "at the head of the list for recruitment" he said. Project ready, also called shovel ready, means construction can begin within 180 days after the land is chosen for development. Without annexation, environmental assessments and clean-up, wetlands evaluation and mitigation planning, and other typical pre-develop- for the location. "Having this information on hand greatly shortens the time and money a company must invest in locating suitable land," he said.

The two Lebanon sites were on a list released Nov. 10 of 20 locations around the state from St. Helens to Central Point to LaGrande. Eight locations on the list, including both of those in Lebanon, are "opportunity sites" land areas identified by Oregon's Industrial Lands Advisory Committee in 2003 as having "statewide significance for job creation." Continued on page A8 Troop says thank you -ft. 3 J-J Toy, food donations sought Toy and food collection dates and times have been announced by the Lebanon Christmas Program.

Police officers and firefighters will accept toy donations at Wal-Mart from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 26, from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec.

10 and from 10 ajn. to 4 p.m. Dec. 11. Soldiers with Oregon National Guard Troop stationed in Lebanon, will accept donations for food baskets at Safeway from 11 a.m.

to 8 p.m. Nov. 26, at Shop'n'Kart from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec.

3, and at Roths from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 10 and 11. Members of the Guard are working with Lebanon Elks to put baskets together.

Bom organizations will beat the Holiday in the Park celebration from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 4. In addition, several businesses around town have barrels or giving trees.

For more information, call the Lebanon Christmas Program message line at We You're The Reason Do What We Do ri 4 i 1 Tanezia Fox, daughter of National Guard Troop soldier SSG Tim Fox, walks in front of members of Troop as they carry a thank you banner during the Veterans' Day parade in Albany on Nov. 11. About 50 members of the Lebanon National Guard unit were home on leave before heading to Iraq in a few weeks. Their families and the community raised enough money to pay for their flights home and back to Ft. Polk, La.

Interviewed at Green Acres School Nov. 10, Tanezia's father, SSG Tim Fox, said the hardest thing about leaving for any soldier is not knowing if their family will be taken care of. The greatest peace of mind comes of knowing they will be. His twin brother Kim Fox, 41, said the Lebanon solders are cavalry scouts, responsible for patrolling transportation routes. Sgt.

Phillip Barriclow, 37, was in charge of the Lebanon Armory before he was mobilized earlier this year. The soldiers have been training for support and stability operations. In addition to patrolling, they may help build schools and water systems, he said. (Photo by Bill Anderson) Ilii'lilllll 50 cents Bahrkes prepare to close Landstrom's County to fund summer youth work program 1 'utMi-t. BY SHARON ZWIERZYNA Lebanon Express Writer It took a bleeding ulcer to make the point, but Landstrom's Jewelers is going out of business.

Linda and Carl Bahrke are winding down 26 years in the jewelry business after an ambulance ride to the hospital a few months ago convinced them it was time to slowdown. "It was kind of a wake-up call," Carl said, remembering his time in the Lebanon Hospital emergency room. "We just decided to close the store so we could enjoy ourselves before our health really did get bad. We've worked long enough." Everything on Landstrom's shelves has been Landstrom's Jewelry is preparing to close it's doors when stock is gone. (Photo by Bill Anderson) signed up for a class on pearls and another on jewelry sales.

"I knew absolutely zero about the business when I started," Linda admitted. "Now I can talk a couple of hours about the business." Eventually she went back to school, earning an associates degree in business administration the same year her son graduated from high school. In her "spare time," she also served on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and both were on die Central Valley School Board for a time. Since moving back home to Lebanon, Linda's been actively involved in several local organizations, including Altrusa, the Linn County Republican Party, hospital committees, and the library building project committee. She was named Lebanon's Woman of the Year in 1996.

"I've always been used to doing two or three projects at the same time," Linda laughed. "Tfs hard for me to say 'no' when I see something that needs to be done." She admitted she may eventually get involved again, but as soon as the store is finally dosed, Linda said she's just going to rest and have fun. "We've worked hard all these years," Linda said. "But now we're goirg to slow down Ccvt-vueJ en page A3 Nyquist, the leading proponent of the youth work program, said his biggest concern was increasing the number who take advantage of this opportunity. "We had 44 youth hired.

I'd like to put a 'zero' behind that number," Nyquist said. Even though the number of youth who completed the program this year was disappointing, the amount of work they accomplished was impressive. Nelson said the work crews built, reconstructed or maintained 30 miles of trails; built 60 feet of restraining walls; constructed a stream crossing, two drainage structures and a switchback; and put in 23 water diversion structures. Partiripant surveys showed that the young people who finished the program felt they learned a lot of leadership, work habits and job skills. The commissioners told Nelson that he should reapply for funding as soon as possible so that preparations can begin for summer 2005.

The county provides the funding through a portion of its annual federal forest payments. No general fund money is used to support the program. BY LES GEHRETT For the Lebanon Express The Linn County Board of Commissioners plans to fund a summer wilderness work program for teenagers again next year. Last week the commissioners reviewed the program led this summer by the Eugene-based Northwest Youth Corps. The board provided the organization with $106,000 in grants to fund 60 slots in the program for Linn County youth.

The youth paruripate voluntarily as an opportunity to earn money and gain work experience. Parents usually pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for their children to attend similar programs. It is not a community service program for offenders. Ethan Nelson, the program director for the Northwest Youth Corps, provided a summary of this year's campaign. He said 128 Linn County youth applied and 110 were accepted, but only 44 young people ended up joining the 10-week work program.

Of those, 31 completed the entire session, with seven getting sent home, five quitting and one leaving due to a health problem. Commissioner Roger When Landstrom died in March 1962, Vernon and his wife Ruth bought the business. Carl was still a boy then, but remembers helping out in the store after school nothing too creative, mostly sweeping the floors and cleaning up. Still, he picked up a little jewelry business knowledge that helped when he took over the business in 1979. At that time, Carl was a dietitian at Lorn a Linda University in California and Linda was teaching school.

When the elder Bahrkes decided it was time to retire, they asked Carl to return to Lebanon and take over the family business. "We agreed to come back to Lebanon for two Linda said. "One, our son was going to start first grade and we wanted him in a smaller school, and second, we thought Tektronix was coming to town." The Tektronix plan fell through and Lebanon didn't boom as the Bahrkes had hoped, but they were glad to be back dose to family in the smaller community where they had both been bom and raised. Linda and Carl focused all their energies on the jewelry store that first year, just barely taking time to move into a house and unpack. Carl had taken several jewelry classes before returning to Lebanon, and they both enrolled in a correspondence class on diamonds.

Linda sigmncanuy rcuuceu in price, the Bahrkes said. The closing sale will continue until at least 90 percent of the inventory and most of the store fixtures have been liquidated. The jewelry store has been a landmark in Lebanon since the turn of the last century. Originally on the other side of Main Street it was Kelley's Jewelers. Then, in 1906, Swedish immigrant Sigurd Landstrom bought the business and changed the name The store thrived in Lebanon's early timber days, and Carl's father Vernon Bahrke found work there rep ailing watches..