In Brief: March 1, 2023

Published 11:55 am Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Farm credit firm pays dividends

SPOKANE, Wash. — The agricultural lending cooperative AgWest Farm Credit is distributing cash dividends equal to 1.25% of customers’ eligible average daily loan balances in 2022, the co-op announced.

Eligible customers around the West will receive a total of $366.5 million in dividends.

AgWest Farm Credit was created on Jan. 1 of this year with the merger of Farm Credit West and Northwest Farm Credit Services. Both legacy associations shared a history of returning a portion of net earnings to customers in the form of patronage dividends, in effect reducing total borrowing costs.

AgWest is a financial cooperative with around $30 billion in total assets that provides financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishers, timber producers, rural homeowners and crop insurance customers in seven Western states.

The AgWest co-op is part of the 107-year-old Farm Credit System, the leading provider of credit to American agriculture, with 59 locations throughout the West.

Mt. Vernon scholarship available

MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon Scholarship Fund is accepting applications from students who will graduate high school in 2023 and will be attending an accredited vocational/technical school, college or university.

Applicants must currently live within the boundaries of the former Mt. Vernon School District. The boundaries are generally Laycock Creek and Fields Creek on the east and west, Malheur National Forest on the north, Harper Creek on the southwest and Ingall Creek on the southeast.

The scholarship was established in 2003 by the Mt. Vernon High School classes of 1955-1959. Information and applications are available from Grant County high school counselors or by writing to Rick Hehn, 7827 Mountain Aire Loop SE, Olympia, WA 98503. The deadline to apply is May 1.

Paleo Institute adds director

FOSSIL — Carol MacInnes has joined the board of the Paleo Lands Institute, the organization announced.

MacInnes, who recently completed eight years as mayor of Fossil, will guide the Oregon Paleo Lands Center as it works to revitalize its programs. The center was established to provide interpretation, education and promotion of the area’s rich fossil record and the natural and historical assets of the Lower John Day River Basin.

MacInnes said one of her top priorities will be to reopen the center, which closed to the public after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopened briefly and then closed again, mainly due to staffing issues.

The center is situated between the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and is just a few blocks away from the fossil deposits adjacent to Wheeler High School, one of the few places in the country where people can legally dig up fossils and keep what they find. The site is part of a 30-million-year-old fossil deposit that runs through the town of Fossil.

— Blue Mountain Eagle

Homeowner Assistance Fund reopens

SALEM — Starting Wednesday, March 8, Oregon Housing and Community Services will resume accepting applications for the Oregon Homeowner Assistance Fund, the agency announced.

The agency estimates the program has enough funds to support roughly 700 additional homeowners.

The program offers temporary COVID-19 mortgage relief intended to support low- to moderate-income homeowners who have suffered hardship due to the pandemic. Assistance has been paused since Nov. 30.

Application forms and more information about the program are available online at oregonhomeownerassistance.org.