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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2015)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 Business & Ag Haggen’s Baker City store to close in November BY KERRY McQUISTEN News@TheBakerCountyPress.com Haggen, on September 24, announced its plan to “exit from the Pacific Southwest market and realign its operations around 37 core stores and one stand-alone pharmacy in the Pacific Northwest as part of the Chapter 11 process.” The news comes with the announcement that Baker City’s own Haggen store, which replaced the local Albertsons just this May in order to break up a potential monopoly with Safeway, will now be one of the 100 stores slated for closure. The change ironically leaves only one major gro- cery store in Baker City— and consumers with fears of instantly rising prices. According to the com- pany web site, “Haggen is asking the Bankruptcy Court for approval to conduct Store Closing Sales. All employees of the non-core stores and the Pacific Southwest support office will receive 60 day notice of the pending store and office closures. During this process, all stores will remain open. Employees will continue to receive their pay and benefits through the normal course of business as previously approved by the court. “Haggen is supportive of Friday, September 25, 2015 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady compared to week ago prices. Export sales continue to be slow. Re- tail/Stable demand for all types of hay from Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Wasco counties continues to be good. Many producers have decided to hold on to their hay for now, in hopes for higher prices. Some producers are having their water rights cut off due to the drought. Tons Price Range Wtd Avg Alfalfa / Orchard Mix — Small Square, Good 10 190.00-190.00 190.00 Barley Straw — Small Square, Utility 15 75.00-75.00 75.00 Oats — Large Square, Premium 15 130.00-130.00 130.00 USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press This was the scene as Haggen’s Baker City store prepared to open back in May. employees securing work elsewhere and is continu- ing to work with Albert- sons in its request for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to waive the restric- tion in the FTC Order which restricts the hiring of Haggen employees. Because this is a modific - tion of an order entered by the FTC, the waiver will require Commission approval, which the FTC staff is seeking to obtain on an expedited basis. This has been a priority for Haggen management to ensure its employees can take advantage of every opportunity available to them.” In a letter to employees, however, Haggen stated that its Baker City doors will close “shortly after” November 24, and that all employees will be laid off on or before December 8 of this year. At present, those Baker City Haggen employees who are union-represented may receive “bumping rights,” although where has not been specifically stated. Some local staff have already been informed that they have less than two weeks left on the job. Despite business devel- opment rumors that a new store is being courted and may directly transition to the Haggen store once it is vacated, a letter from Hag- gen’s Corporate Headquar- ters states otherwise. “The closing of the store is expected to be perma- nent, and the entire store will be closed regardless if a buyer is secured or not.” Haggen has stated in its bankruptcy filings that since the buyout of Albert- sons, it has hemorrhaged- hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. Critics cite failure to lower local prices to meet consumer demand as one key reason for the lack of popularity of the Baker City store. Fall prescribed burning to begin BAKER CITY, OR – The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will begin implementing prescribed burning program following rain and cooler weather. Prescribed fire managers are planning to implement hazardous fuel reduction burns beginning at many project sights. Prescribed fire is a major component of the Cohe- sive Wildfire Strategy to meet the goals of restoring and maintaining resilient landscapes and creating fire adapted commun - ties. Prescribed burning is done to reduce dead and down fuels, selectively thin understory trees in dense forested stands, stimulate fire tolerant plant sp - cies, enhance forage and browse, reduce the risk of large stand-replacement fires, create strategic fuels breaks in the urban inter- face, and restore fire under controlled conditions as a disturbance factor in these landscapes. Prescribed burns can range from tens acres to thousands of acres in size. Prescribed burns often are accomplished with combined resources of local rural fire depar - ments, contractors, and State and other federal fire agencies. Fire history studies have shown that fire was a dominant natural process in the Blue Mountains, maintaining a more open and park-like condition throughout the low- to mid-elevation forests. Low-intensity surface- fires burned throughout these drier forests and grasslands perpetuating open, park-like stands of fire tolerant tree species such as ponderosa pine, Douglas-fi , and larch. — Weekly Hay Report — Hazardous fuel reduc- tion is not without impacts. Smoke associated with pre- scribed burning is a major concern and the hardest to forecast in the implemen- tation planning process. Prescribed fire managers work closely with the Or- egon State Smoke Forecast Center in accordance with the Oregon Smoke Man- agement Plan to determine when, where, and how much is burned on a daily basis. Smoke dispersion models looking at volume of smoke, direction of spread and mixing heights are determined prior to each burn, smoke which may prove a significant i - pact to a sensitive area or community is rescheduled until the time of a more favorable forecast. Burning is part of the series of fuel reduction treatments intended to decrease the damage done by wildfires, including reducing the amount of smoke that typically im- pacts communities during the fire season. The intent is to keep smoke out of populated areas. Burning under controlled conditions reduces surface and ladder fuels setting the stage to limit future high intensity unplanned fires and smoke which they would produce. Many areas are burned on 10 to 15 year rotation to limit fuels accumula- tions and enhance forage and browse important to wildlife. Wallowa-Whitman forest managers have been suc- cessfully conducting pre- scribed burning operations for fuel reduction for over 20 years, and plan to con- tinue into the foreseeable future. The Forest com- pletes between 5,000 and 10,000 acres of prescribed burning in a year. Actual acres within a project area may vary dependent upon fuel condi- tions, smoke dispersion, wind patterns, and other variables. Acres may be higher or lower in some project areas than listed. Weather patterns, Fuel Conditions, and Smoke dispersion will determine exactly where and when units are ignited within the project areas. It is antici- pated that not all areas will be within prescription and will not be implemented this fall, while other proj- ect areas may have more acres within prescription that may be implemented. The Wallowa-Whitman plans to burn approxi- mately 4,000 acres across the forest during early October. Forest Service and cooperator personnel will do the burning. For more information about the Whitman prescribed burning program, you may contact Steve Hawkins at 541-523-1262, or visit the forest web site at http:// www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ Fire-Aviation to view the spring 2015, burn unit maps. The Wallowa Fire Zone (WFZ) - 541-426-4978 (Wallowa Valley Ranger District, Hells Canyon NRA and Eagle Cap Ranger District). The WFZ plans to conduct prescribed burning of up to 3,000 acres this fall, which may include: • Spooner (220 acres) - Harl Butte area east of Joseph, OR. • Green McCoy (195 acres) – Southwest of Wal- lowa, OR • Minam (1800 acres) - Southwest of Wallowa, OR •B-Vine (2300 acres) - North east of Enterprise near Billy Meadows •The Grande Ronde Fire Zone (GRFZ) – 541-963- 7186 (La Grande Ranger District). The GRFZ plans to conduct prescribed burning on up to 2000 acres this fall, which may include: • Bald Angel (1986) – 5 Miles northeast of Medical Springs, OR •Blue Fly (400 acres) – Tony Vey Meadows 10 miles south of Starkey, OR • Mc Meadow(780 acres) - 6 miles west of Starkey, OR • Bald Angel (98 acres)- 8 miles south east of Medi- cal Springs • Little Bear (58 acres)- 10-12 miles southeast of Union, OR Trail (109 acres)- 8 miles northwest of La Grande, OR Whitman Ranger District (WRD) – 541-523-4476 (Baker, Halfway, and Unity). The WRD plans to conduct prescribed burning on 1,500 acres this fall, which may include: • Mile 9 (320 acres) – 5 miles west of Unity, OR Foothills (250 acres) - in the Baker City Watershed 3 mile west of Baker City, OR • Deer and Union Min- ers (800 acres) - in the Sumpter Valley • Dry Creek and Barnard (800 acres) - in the Pine Valley near Halfway, OR • Mile 9(700 acres) – 5 miles west of Unity, OR • Goose (1200 acres) - 6 miles northwest of Sparta, OR • Pine Valley (500 acres) 7 miles northwest of Half- way, OR. Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 2,003 Steer Calves 300-400# Bulk 237.00 - 276.00 Top 291.00 400-500# Bulk 198.00 - 248.00 Top 251.50 500-600# Bulk 186.00 - 219.00 Top 221.00 Heifer Calves 300-400# Bulk 195.00 - 244.00 Top 255.00 400-500# Bulk 187.00 - 231.00 Top 238.00 500-600# Bulk 172.00 - 202.00 Top 204.50 Yearling Steers 600-700# Bulk 181.00 - 206.00 Top 207.00 700-800# Bulk 169.00 - 186.00 Top 189.50 800-900# Bulk 143.00 - 166.00 Top 168.00 900-1,000# Bulk 131.00 - 149.00 Top 151.00 600-700# 700-800# 800-900# 900-1,000# Yearling Heifers Bulk 168.00 - 184.00 Top 185.00 Bulk 146.00 - 167.00 Top 171.00 Bulk 141.00 - 153.00 Top 155.00 Bulk 136.00 - 148.00 Top 152.00 Thin Shelly Cows 69.00 - 85.00 Butcher Cows 87.00 - 99.00 Butcher Bulls 97.00 - 114.00 Stock Cows Yng. N/A Younger Hfrts. 112.00 - 137.00 Stock Cows - 1500.00 - 1800.00 ProducersLivestock.com 541-473-3136 — Log Price Report — Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf White fir is $365.00/mb Ponderosa Pine is brought sold on diameter splits 6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF 12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF 18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF 24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF DIB is diameter inside bark at small end of log. MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale. People interested in selling logs should call and get specific quotes from saw mills. Courtesy of Arvid Andersen, Andersen Forestry Consulting — Precious Metals Report — Price per ounce, USD Gold: $1115.60 Silver: $14.51 Platinum: $908.05 Palladium: $652.25 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $387.75/bu/USD Wheat: $512.75/bu/USD Soybeans: $892.00/bu/USD Oats: $226.75 bu/USD Rough Rice: $13.20/cwt/USD Canola: $476.00 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $130.60/lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $177.88/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $66.55//lb./USD Bloomberg.com