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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2016)
10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2016 Local Huntington holds town hall OTEC plays for commissioner candidate part in drill BY EILEEN DRIVER Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com In a special town hall meeting held Monday night April 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the VFW Hall, the citizens of Huntington got the chance to meet and talk with one of the candidates for Baker County Commis- sioner, Kody Justus. Justus wanted to talk with the people to find out what their concerns are and to let them know what goals he hopes to work toward for the betterment of Baker County should he be elected. Kody Justus and past generations of his family have resided in and around Baker County since 1891 and are currently cattle ranchers with strong ties to the community. He was accompanied by his wife Heidi and his young daughter Zoey. Rather than stand up and give a speech Justus sat among the people pres- ent and encouraged them to ask the questions that concerned them. When asked what he sees as his goal for Baker County he told the as- sembly that he wants to work to ensure that Baker County gets to keep what it has and that control of Submitted Photo. Lara Petitclerc-Stokes/Haines and Medical Springs fire crews direct mock crash victim, Anderson, to stay in the vehicle and maintain a safe distance from the simulated accident. Demonstrating an awareness of the dangers of “step potential” in power pole accidents. Submitted Photo. A small group gathered to meet Justus during a Huntington visit. local lands and resources stays in local hands. He believes that gov- ernment needs to work together with each other and especially with the people and not arbitrarily on their own. Justus stated, “When people get to the point they are not being listened to and think they have nothing left to lose is when trouble starts.” He wants the people to know that he is listening. The Huntington citizens present talked with him about their concerns about bringing jobs to the area, their feelings of loss of control to BLM and Idaho Power over their main resource, the Snake River and that they feel they are often left out the loop when it comes to what’s happening in the rest of the county. For more information on Kody Justus you can go to JustusForBakerCounty. com, Justus For Baker County on facebook or call him personally at 541-519- 4061. Snake River open for spring chinook Spring Chinook fishing in northeast Oregon kicks off on Saturday, April 23 with the opening of the up- per Snake River to salmon fishing. The Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife will open the upper Snake River for spring chinook fishing under the following regulations: Open to sport fishing seven-days-a-week from Dug Bar Boat Ramp to the deadline below Hells Can- yon Dam. The fishery will remain open until a notice of closure is announced. The daily bag limit is four hatchery spring Chinook salmon (adult and jacks) per day, no more than two can be an adult salmon more than 24-inches long. Anglers must stop fishing for salmon for the day when they have kept four jack salmon (equal to or less than 24-inches long) or two adult salmon, whichever comes first. Only barbless hooks may be used. Anglers are reminded to review the 2016 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations for other ap- plicable regulations. ODFW and Idaho Fish and Game fishery managers, who co-manage the upper Snake River sport fish- ery, anticipate over 2,700 hatchery adult salmon will return to the base of Hell’s Canyon Dam. “Currently, the run is coming in later than expected but we’re optimistic we will have a good Snake River fishery this year” said Jeff Yanke, ODFW district fish bi- ologist in Enterprise. “We expect the catch rates to pick up in the upper Snake around mid-May,” he said. Managers are also monitoring detections of Chinook salmon stocks that support fisheries in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha Rivers. Spring Chinook returns to these basins are much lower than previous years “Our pre-season pro- jections suggest there may be enough fish in both the Imnaha and Grande Ronde basins to have limited op- portunity”, Yanke said. Season changes and clo- sures announcements will be posted on the ODFW website and released through local news outlets. Local police target distracted drivers On April 22, 2016 the Baker City Police Depart- ment and the Oregon State Police will conduct a “Dis- tracted Driving Awareness Campaign” in Baker City. Officers and Troopers will primarily be looking for motor vehicle operators who are using their cell phones while driving their vehicles. Law Enforcement of- ficers will be on foot in the downtown area, primar- ily near the Main and Broadway intersection and the Main and Campbell intersection, looking for violators. If a violation is observed, they will radio vehicle and driver information to police units staged in the area, which will then con- duct the traffic stop. The State of Oregon has seen a rise in traffic fatali- ties recently and it is our goal to remind motorists of the need to remove distrac- tions when operating motor vehicles. County has board vacancies open Baker County has vacancies on the following boards/committees: • Baker County Museum Commission • Baker County Cultural Coalition • Baker County Fair Board and Fair Advisory Board • Eastern Oregon Co- ordinated Care Advisory Committee • Transportation/Traffic Safety Committee • Early Learning Coun- cil • Parks Advisory Board Persons interested in volunteering to serve on the above boards are asked to fill out a volunteer form and return it to the Com- missioner’s office prior to April 30, 2016. The form is available at www.bakercounty.org or in the Commissioner’s Of- fice located at 1995 Third Street, Baker City, OR 97814. Questions may be referred to Heidi Martin at 541-523-8200. Hospital employees arraigned on drug-related charges Two former St. Alphon- sus Valley Medical Clinic employees were recently arraigned in Baker County Circuit Court. Sarah Marie Rea (DOB 6-19-1995) of 1717 Wash- ington Avenue, Baker City, Oregon, and Kara Joyce Delcurto (DOB 3-7-1984) of 42173 Moody Road, Richland, Oregon, were both indicted by a Baker County Grand Jury for two counts of Tampering with Drug Records, a Class C Felony, and two counts of Unlawful Possession of Oxycodone, also a Class C Felony. Both are alleged to have been involved in forging a prescription and unlaw- fully obtaining oxycodone at a local pharmacy. These cases are being handled by Erin Landis, Malheur County Deputy District Attorney, due to a conflict of interest as Baker County District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff is chairman for the St. Alphonsus commu- nity hospital board. Hearing pleas are sched- uled for Delcurto on May 5, 2016, and for Rea on April 25, 2016. Submitted Photo. Lara Petitclerc-Stokes/Mock crash victim, Jeff An- derson (OTEC’s Manager of Loss Control) debriefs with Baker County’s Emergency Management team and fire crews from Haines and Medical Springs on Saturday, April 16. There were more than a few concerned faces slowing down and taking a second look back on Saturday morn- ing as OTEC’s Manager of Loss Control Jeff Anderson began building what was to become a mock automobile accident. With his Chevy truck bumped up against a power pole and billowing smoke, Anderson gingerly draped what looked like an energized power line across the top of his rig and said, “maybe next year I’ll suggest we move this off of the main road so people don’t get too concerned as they drive past.” The finishing touch for Anderson’s crash scene was a red and white jar of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Blood that he strategically poured over his head and onto his crisp white t-shirt. “I wore this white shirt special so it would have maxi- mum impact,” Anderson added. And that is the whole point of this safety training – maximum impact. This is the twelfth year the Baker County Emergency Management team has been performing these exercises. For this training they had four scenarios set up across town with true-to-life, life threatening situations for emer- gency crews to train with. “All crews participating are going to receive a dispatch call today and, just as in a genuine emergency situation, they are not going to know what they will find until they arrive,” said Anderson. At the OTEC site, what crews found was an injured driver in a truck that had hit a power pole, appeared to be on fire, with a live power line draped across its top. “When current is flowing from a downed power line into the earth, a high-voltage condition is created,” explains Anderson. “When faced with this emergency scenario, it is important for crews to remain a safe dis- tance away until given the all-clear to move in. Voltage can be radiating from the downed line into the ground. If responders step too close, electrical voltage can come back up through the ground and electrify the emergency crews trying to save an accident victim. This is called ‘step potential.’” “We have been training with every one of these depart- ments this past year reviewing the dangers of voltage and ‘step potential’,” said Anderson. “This is a little ‘in the field’ test to see what happens.” Anderson advises, “If contact is made with an energized power line while you are in a vehicle, the best thing to do is to try and remain calm and not get out unless the vehicle is on fire. If you must exit because of fire or other safety reasons, try to jump completely clear, making sure that you do not touch the equipment and the ground at the same time. Land with both feet together, maintain balance and shuffle away in small steps to minimize the path of electric current and avoid electrical shock.” “Providing this opportunity for training was no small task and took the coordinated efforts of multiple emer- gency response departments across the county,” noted Anderson. “Crews will be scored on their response, reaction and resolution to each scenario and given profes- sional advice, where needed, to make the teams stronger when they truly get called out.” OTEC offers public safety training to schools, emer- gency response organizations and government agencies. For more information, contact your local OTEC office or email Jeff Anderson at: janderson@otecc.com