OUTDOORS: Ducks Unlimited banquet
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LOCAL (SUMPTER): Neal Bork Trail named
in his memory . PAGE 5
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Friday, November 27, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 48
VFW Youth Shoot
nearly doubles in size
• 4TH ANNUAL
EVENT GROWS
SIGNIFICANTLY
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Saturday, the
Veterans Memorial Club
in Baker City was host to
the fourth annual Veterans
of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Youth Shoot, with a signif-
icant increase in participa-
tion, up from last year’s 43
youths, to 70 this year.
The age groups repre-
sented were 10-11, 12-13,
and 14-15.
Most of the volunteers
returned once again for a
successful shoot this year,
including Danny Sword, of
Sword’s Lawn Care, VFW
Memorial Club bartender
Karen Wilson, Alan Els-
berry, who emceed along
with Wilson, Ray Berry-
man, Chad Williams, Joe
Brooks, Wayne Bloom,
Duncan Pierce, and Alita
Arendell.
This year’s event had a
more streamlined ap-
proach, said Berryman,
who volunteered as one of
the basement range coach-
es, because there were so
many participants.
He said that each
participant was granted
three initial practice shots
at a target, with either a
range-supplied, open sight
.22 caliber rifl e, or one the
participant supplied.
After that, each par-
ticipant fi red 10 shots
from the prone position, in
contrast to last year, when
each participant fi red from
the prone, kneeling, and
off-hand positions.
Major sponsors for the
event included the VFW,
Steve Ritch Environmental
and Construction, Inc.,
Sword’s Lawn Care, the
Sword family, Rusty Little,
and Kevin Logsdon of
York’s Covered Wagon
Grocery & Sporting
Goods.
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Top shooter Ethan Jensen holds his prize, a .17
Super Mag.
SEE VFW YOUTH SHOOT
PAGE 12
Pot odor
Christmas tree team
makes Main Street merry issue on hold,
Augenfeld
resigns
• CITY COUNCIL ALSO ADDRESSES
DOUBLE SEWER/WATER ISSUE FOR
LANGRELL’S NEIGHBOR VANDENBOS
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
A beautiful and much-needed blanket of fresh snow cov-
ered the rooftops visible from City Hall Tuesday as the
regularly scheduled City Council meeting convened.
Mayor Mosier called the meeting to order and conduct-
ed the Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. All council-
ors were present with the exception of Mack Augenfeld.
Mosier said, “I should note that Councilor Augenfeld
called me today, and unfortunately because of health rea-
sons, he will have to step down from Council.” She gave
the Council a moment to digest what she had said.
SEE CITY COUNCIL PAGE 10
Photo courtesy of Jeff Nelson, HBC, Inc.
Baker City’s Main Street Christmas tree was loaded onto a truck provided by Superior Towing. The process
involved volunteers and staff from OTEC and multiple City departments.
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Jeff Nelson of Historic
Baker City, Inc. (HBC)
said that last Saturday
morning’s cutting of the
Main Street Christmas tree
happened on “a perfect
day.”
With crisp air and bright
blue skies, Nelson gave
praise and “many thanks
for all of the coordination”
to The Baker City Police
Department (BCPD), Or-
egon Trail Electric Co-Op
(OTEC) and the Public
Works crew from The City
of Baker City.
The volunteers from
OTEC included Jeff An-
derson, Anthony Bailey,
Gene Nelson, Don Olson,
and Ned Ratterman. Lara
Petitclerc-Stokes, OTEC
Communications Direc-
tor, helped coordinate the
effort.
Helping with the trans-
portation route were Sgt.
Mike Regan, Lt. Dustin
Newman, Offi cer Rand
Weaver and Reserve Com-
mander Jerry Boyd.
Donn Christy, owner,
and Sean Conley, from
Superior Towing also
helped. Christy said, “We
basically assisted with the
loading, unloading, and
transporting of the tree.
Sean also helped during
the transportation across
town by guiding me under
power lines with our pilot
car. I can’t say enough
about Baker City Police for
their escort to downtown.
I really appreciated their
help as well.”
SEE CHRISTMAS TREE
PAGE 8
Friday
Mostly sunny and cool, highs in the upper 20s.
Lows at 10 degrees or below at night.
Saturday
Mostly sunny and cool. Highs in the upper 20s.
Partly cloudy and a little warmer at night. Lows
in the lower to mid teens.
Sunday
Mostly sunny with continued cool. Highs near
30. Partly cloudy at night. Lows in the mid
teens.
City, Police
Chief file suit
response
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Photo courtesy of Jeff Nelson, HBC, Inc.
Above, crews begin the process of cutting the tree
from its former location on Lund Lane.
On November 21, attorney Robert E. Franz, Jr. out of
Springfi eld fi led the initial legal response on behalf of the
City of Baker City, ten “Doe Offi cers,” and Baker City
Police Chief Wyn Lohner. The response addresses the
federal lawsuit fi led last month by reporter Brian Addi-
son, formerly of Baker City.
Addison’s suit centers around three claims: (1) Retali-
ation for First Amendment Conduct (42 U.S.C. § 1983);
(2) Tortious Interference with Economic Relations; and
(3) Defamation, stemming back to an opinion piece he
authored, which ran in The Record-Courier newspaper in
2008. Addison states the piece, which was critical of local
police, triggered retaliatory actions that violated his civil
rights over the course of several years.
The defense’s response agrees with only the basic facts
outlined in Addison’s suit, such as the employment dates
and job titles, etc. Past that, the document states, “... at
this time, defendants deny each and every allegation.”
The response goes on to address each claim separately,
and asks for a full dismissal of the suit against all indi-
viduals listed, yet not the City, due to a provision of the
Oregon Tort Claims Act.
SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 8
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
County meets with ODF
Walmart donates to food bank
Interim 9-1-1 director appointed
5J: ‘The Promise of Oregon’
Huntington’s medical pot dispensary
Crossroads fi nal outreach meeting
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