Benjamin Brown

This is one thing our brokerage is doing to help others this year. The Pauni family had a house build for them by our community and ABC's extreem makeover team a couple of years ago and are always finding ways to give back. Please go to www.relieffortonga.com to donate to this great cause.

‘Makeover' winners giving back

A family poses in this photo submitted by Logan resident Roxanne Pauni, taken on her 2006 trip to Tonga to deliver donations. Pauni and her family will visit the nation again in January to deliver more donations.

By Devin Felix

Published: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 2:00 AM CST It's no small feat shipping several tons of donated clothing to an island nation halfway around the world, and it doesn't come cheap.

Just ask Roxanne Pauni.

When the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" treated her sister-in-law and her family to a new house two years ago, Roxanne and her family members traveled to Tonga to deliver donations for the poor people there.

She was struck by the beauty of the country, and moved by the people's need. Most are poor, few jobs are available, prices are high and large families share small and run-down houses.
"They don't have anything over there," she said. "I went over there and it was devastating to see."

Now Roxanne and her family are taking goods to the island nation again. When "Extreme Makeover" was in town, three Cache County high schools had a competition to see which could gather the most clothing, hygiene supplies and other goods to benefit people in the Pauni's home nation of Tonga.

The students came through big, and the Pauni family added to the pile with donations and purchases from yard and estate sales. Now the donations are finally being shipped - filling 11 wooden crates. The lightest of the crates weighed in at 1,500 pounds.

Roxanne and her mother spent hundreds of hours organizing and packing the goods. At one point, a storm blew the tarp off one of the crates and rain soaked the clothes inside. Roxanne and her mother washed the clothes in more than 30 loads of laundry.

Now, the crates have finally shipped out. They left Logan Nov. 21 on their way to California, where they'll stay until next week. They will then be put on a boat and will arrive in Tonga a month later. Roxanne and her family members will be there to take and distribute the clothes where needed, she said.

The cost of the shipment was higher than expected, however. Getting the crates to the island will cost about $7,000, and it will take about another $2,000 to get the goods through customs and distributed to the Tongan people, she said.

To help cover those costs, the family is holding a luau from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the conference room of the Comfort Inn, at 447 N. Main St., Logan. Tickets are available at the door, or at Lee's Marketplace, Albertsons and several other businesses.

Valley again ranked safest in U.S.

By Matthew K. Jensen

Published: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:45 AM CST A list of the country's city and metropolitan area crime rankings was released last week, and the Logan metro area is once again at the top for having the least reported crime.

The CQ Press, a publisher of research, U.S. government and world affairs information, released its 2008-09 "Crime in Metropolitan America" report last week and while the "Safest City" run is only for those cities with a population of 75,000 or more, the Logan, Utah, and Idaho "Metropolitan Area," ranks first out of 338 for having the least reported crime in any U.S. metro area.

The first-place ranking includes criminal data from all law enforcement agencies in Cache County and Franklin County in Idaho.

Smithfield Mayor Chad Downs said one reason for the continued success of valley law enforcement agencies, is cooperation.

I've had the opportunity a number of times over the past three years to see the cooperation and support the various agencies have for one another," Downs said.

Kim Hawkes, North Park Police Chief, said the credit goes both to proactive police officers and responsible citizens.

"We really have a philosophy of providing quality service in our community that goes beyond being in a patrol car and responding to calls," he said. "We want to be out there and try to resolve issues and problems that may contribute to crimes in the future."

Hawkes says the "proactive edge" of Cache County's law enforcement and a responsible citizenry are the two components that put the Logan metro area at the top of the list.

CQ Press indicates rankings are calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.

"These categories have been used for determining city crime rate ratings since 1999. The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in the categories noted for calendar year 2007," the report states.

The city topping the list for most crime reported is New Orleans. The report states 209 murders and more than 19,000 criminal incidents were reported in that city during 2007.

CQ Press urges readers to use caution when interpreting crime data for the city however, as Hurricane Katrina changed New Orleans's population dramatically during the past three years.

"Because of the year-to-year differences in New Orleans's population, "City Crime Rankings" reports the city's crime numbers and rates for 2007 but does not compare those rates to 2006 or 2003," the report reads. "It should be noted that New Orleans would have the highest city crime comparison even if the 2007 Census Bureau population estimates were the basis for the scoring."

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E-mail:

mjensen@hjnews.com

Historic Downtown Logan

Many beautiful turn-of-the-century homes, churches, and store buildings are located in downtown Logan and the surrounding area. Highlights include early Mormon pioneer architecture showcased in the Logan Tabernacle, the 1914 Bluebird Café, and the newly restored Cache County Courthouse. In addition, meander west down Center Street to view elegant nineteenth-century mansions. A downtown walking tour guide and a historic home guide are available at the Cache Valley Visitors Bureau, 199 North Main Street.

Check out more about cache Valley on my website www.liveinlogan.com

I ran into another person this weekend that gave me his condolences when he heard that I was in Real Estate let alone started a new Brokerage in the midst of this mess. I explained to him how OUR market is doing. Remember there is no such thing as a national real estate market. It is not our fault what is going on in our national market or our local market but it is our problem and we need to know how to respond. I told him that the summer months of 2008 were down from the summer months of 2007 but the last 3 months have been better than 2007, I also told him that buyers are getting off the fence and the outlook is good whether you like Obama or not that he will focus on the housing market and the media loves him and will help us out with consumer confidence. We need to find the positives in whatever market we are in and seek out the motivated sellers and buyers. Good luck on a great week.

I and a few of our agents went to a training session that centered around the new book SHIFT. It was a great time, it focused on you personally not on the market. If you work hard and do the basic things then the market won't control you. I am excited to help my agents in 2009 have their best year ever. We always feel like we are swimming upstream but we are making tons of progress in a down market. The speaker used alot of good examples and stories to get his message across. I would encourage all to get this book and most importantly use it.

I have read much of the book already and plan on getting copies for all agents in my office to help them refocus on the fundementals for 2009.