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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2017)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 Local ‘Souper Spring Swing Fling’ ‘Carry the Fallen’ march held at Crossroads CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Saturday, April 1st, Crossroads Carnegie Art Center held its fourth soup feed fundraiser, the “Souper Spring Swing Fling.” The first Feed the Arts event was held in 2012 and all proceeds go to the Crossroads Hand to Heart Scholarship Fund. This year, they made $4,170 from the feed for the schol- arship. The evening included the Blue Yesterdays, a band of individuals from the Northeast Oregon area, performing the greatest in Big Band Classics. Guests were invited to select a bowl donated by local pottery artists to keep and had the choice of soup or a baked potato for din- ner. They were also able to participate in the Extreme Easter Basket Silent Auc- tion. “It’s a very common fundraiser to do in the arts community,” said Ginger Savage, the Executive Di- rector of Crossroads Carn- egie Art Center. “Whether it be bowls, whether it be plates, whether it be whatever. Potters have this amazing talent to make dishware and so many of these potters have given to Shelter From the Storm Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press On display, a wide range of bowls from which to choose. in La Grande, they have a soup dinner where you come in and fill a bowl. It’s just a very big thing in the potter’s world that they do. So, we also do this for our scholarship fund. It’s something warm, fills your heart, it’s soup it makes you feel good. “And the scholarship fund is something that makes you feel good too, so they’re a perfect match, and that was kind of where the inspiration came from. And then it just gives us a small fundraiser dedicated just to the scholarship fund.” Savage explained that next year they will be look- ing into doing plates and a salad event and that will challenge the potters as plates are harder to make. The potters who donat- ed their bowls for the event ranged from intermediate to professional and artists from Boise brought their bowls as well. This year’s feed was the first they had baskets and they collected 20 for the auction. Some baskets were do- nated by organizations, and some were combinations of organizations donating some items and the staff at Crossroads supplied the rest. Lone Pine Café do- nated all of the food for the evening and Sorbenots provided the coffee served. Rancher testifies CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 It was updated as re- cently as 2007. This plan is to identify significant points of diversion. That technical plan identi- fied 2,385 diversions of significance, of which only 1,005 have been equipped with measuring devices. Continuing this strate- gic plan would identify and install measurement protocols that would mean better management of this resource. “Another problematic point of this idea is that it segregates and regulates only out-of-stream uses, as opposed to in-stream rights. In the spirit of equality under the law, it should absolutely require the same treatment to the in-stream water right, as to the beneficial, out-of- stream economic use. In short, it is discriminatory, and that definitely is not right. Now, on to address House Bill 2706. “In reality, this classi- fies as a tax, not merely a fee, reasoning that a fee can be appropriated only when a service is being rendered. In its current language, there are no additional services being delivered to the user of the resource. Therefore, House Bill 2706, being a tax, should enjoin the exempted uses, mainly, domestic and municipal water users, into participat- ing in financing the effort, and not discriminating against the out-of-stream agricultural uses. “Also, this fact is financially hostile to many individual, legally adjudicated water rights holders. Multiple genera- tional ranching operations possess numerous points of diversion to distribute their water, and the imposition of this monetary burden would severely impact their financial viability, from continuing on to the next generation of agricul- turalists. These are but a few of the real errors these two bills contain. “In closing my remarks, and on a more concilia- tory, solution-oriented tone, I sincerely want to express my personal desire for us to leave the posi- tions of conflict behind us, and move toward a collaborative, coordinated, outcome-based discussion of improved management of this most vital resource. Very honestly, I person- ally would like to engage with you as legislators and policy makers, in coming to eastern Oregon, and in conjunction with our local and regional water masters, examine and learn the in- tricate methods employed in allocating the multiple, beneficial uses of water, because it is complex. “In exploring the many needs around water, it does not have to be a zero-sum game, in which to benefit one entity, we have to take away from another. A current example, but at an- other forum, I would like to elaborate on how we, in the Powder/Brownlee wa- tershed, are engaging with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with other state and federal agencies, in addressing in-stream, aquatic habitat needs, and water for rural communities’ economics. “We can come together, because what we all want is a vibrant Oregon, with rural and urban under- standing, and respecting each other’s culture, heri- tage, and values. Again, thanks for your time, and attention.” O’Keefe testified next,followed by Camp- bell, both also in opposi- tion of House Bills 2705 and 2706. Helm thanked the group for traveling a significant distance and testifying, and O’Keefe for providing attorney and OCA Political Advocate Rocky Dallum to the com- mittee’s work group. OTEC’s annual meeting ahead Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative announces that ballots for its Board of Directors elections were mailed Friday, March 31, 2017. Three positions on the OTEC Board are up for election at the 29th Annual Membership Meeting set to take place on Saturday, April 29, 2017. Candidates on the ballot this year are: • Union County can- didate for position #1 is incumbent George Gal- loway • Baker County candi- dates running for positon #2 are Aletha Bonebrake and James Grove • Harney County can- didate for position #3 is incumbent Robert Cargill All candidates are run- ning to serve a three-year term. OTEC’s Annual Membership Meeting will be celebrated in La Grande at the Blue Mountain Conference Center (404 12th Street, La Grande, OR). The election results will be announced during that time. OTEC voting members will be able to cast their ballots by mail or may hand deliver their ballot to the Annual Member- ship Meeting. To vote by mail, the signed and sealed ballots must be received by Friday, April 28th or delivered in-person to the Annual Meeting on Satur- day, April 29th in order to be counted. Included with the bal- lot is a voter’s guide and biographies of each of the candidates. Members vot- ing by mail may also enter a contest to win a $500 en- ergy credit to be awarded at the Annual Membership Meeting (members need not be present to win). Registration for the 2017 Annual Membership Meeting begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 29th followed by a business meeting at 11 a.m. A catered lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. and live entertainment will be provided by Frank Carlson. There will be raffles and prize drawings throughout the event and all members are invited to attend. To register to vote in OTEC elections or to find out if you are an OTEC registered voter, contact your local OTEC office. For additional informa- tion about OTEC, the candidates and the Annual Meeting visit: www.otecc. com under the “About” tab. More than 20 veterans a day commit suicide in the U.S. Active Heroes, a 501(c)3 organization whose goal is to raise awareness and funding to help end veteran suicide are the creators of the Carry the Fallen events. Their goal is “Aiming for Zero,” in the belief that even one veteran suicide is too many. They are committed to providing support for veterans and their families, from building retreats where the vets and their families can spend time getting help and healing to local support and assistance. In August 2016, the U.S. Department of Veterans Af- fairs released a new report, which was the nation’s largest analysis of veteran suicide. The report reviewed more than 55 million veterans’ records from 1979 to 2014 from every state in the nation. Broken down, the statistics are below: Suicide rate by year since discharge by deployment status of Veterans (Rate calculated per 100,000 person years at risk): Within three years since discharge, 33.1 suicide rate by non-deployed Veterans, 29.7 suicide rate by deployed Veterans. Within six years since discharge, 27.3 suicide rate by non-deployed Veterans, 24.7 suicide rate by deployed Veterans. Within nine years since discharge, 25.6 suicide rate by non-deployed Veterans, 26.1 suicide rate by deployed Veterans. The rate of suicide was greatest within 3 years after leav- ing service. According to Andy Springer, a veteran who served with Kyle Colnot and now helps organize the Carry the Fallen events, “Returned veterans can face up to six months wait before obtaining an appointment at a Veteran’s Adminis- tration hospital. Some give up hope during this time.” River Colnot is excited about his project, and the fact that “a whole bunch of veterans are supporting this march, it’s a real honor to work with them to make this happen.” Colnot has been working closely with Springer, and Springer will fly out west to attend the event. Colnot said, “As a Senior Project this has been a great learning experience. I have gained so much in so many areas, from getting help from Active Heroes to actually finding out how to set all this up. So many local people have been helpful, from donating supplies, helping get the flyers printed, advice—it’s been great.” He goes on to explain, “I have talked to so many people, people who have lost service members both in action and to suicide. It’s made me even more sure that this is the right project. My goal is to raise the money and the awareness to help prevent any vet or their family from having to go through this, and to leave a memory for everyone who participates in Kyle’s March.” Colnot has enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and will enter service in November. Veterans Crisis Line Website can be reached at 1-800- 273-8255, or text to 838255 for a Confidential Veterans Chat. The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs responders. Veterans and their loved ones can call, chat online, or send a text message to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hear- ing individuals is available. BCPD helps in Enterprise drug bust On Thursday, March 30, 201,7 at about 4:17 p.m., Enterprise Police Officers, Wallowa County Deputies and Probation and Parole Officer, and Baker City Police Sergeant Chastain and his canine partner “Capa” executed a drug search warrant at 600 W. Greenwood Street, Lot 2, in Enterprise. Baker City Canine “Capa” was deployed and alerted on multiple locations in the home. Officers seized approxi- mately 9.8 grams of methamphetamine, scales, packaging materials, drug records, and $347. Officers also found and seized a butane honey oil lab and components, honey oil product and ten adult mari- juana plants. Steven Dale Strong, age 46, was subsequently charged with Unlawful Manufacture of Marijuana, Unlawful Man- ufacture of a Cannabinoid Extract, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine, Unlawful Delivery of Methamphet- amine, and Commercial Drug Offense Methamphetamine. Strong is being held in the Wallowa County Detention Center pending arraignment. Library to hold free children’s event Baker County Public Library will host a special event for children and families on Thursday, April 20 at 4:00 p.m. Storyteller and musician Rick Huddle will perform “Don’t Let Pigeon Take Over the Library,” a comedic presentation of silly stories, songs, and skits inspired by Mo Willems’ books. The event is free and open to all ages.
