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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2017)
BUSINESS: Classy Lass opens on Washington. PAGE 3 The LOCAL: Vocational rehab a success for artist Patty Bradford. PAGE 7 Baker County Press TheBakerCountyPress.com 75¢ All local. All relevant. Every Friday. Friday, September 29, 2017 • Volume 4, Issue 39 Shawna Cox speaks locally BY KERRY McQUISTEN News@TheBakerCountyPress.com Last Saturday afternoon, the historic Geiser Grand on Main Street in Baker City was jam-packed with individuals gathered to hear guest speaker, Shawna Cox, from Utah. On January 26, 2016, Cox was one of two females inside the pickup truck in which Robert “LaVoy” Finicum spent his fi nal mo- ments. Finicum was shot and killed at a roadblock staged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP), as he, Cox and other occupiers from the Malheur Wildlife Ref- uge made their way along Highway 395, 53 miles from John Day en route to local law enforcement. The shooting and the oc- cupation itself each ignited a fi restorm of controversy nationwide, depending on the point of view. Media editorializing ran rampant. Without the fi lter of mainstream media or other third parties in either direction, the tone of the onlookers interested in hearing her, and that of Cox herself, appeared vastly different. Prior to the event, individuals from a local liberal political group at- tempted to press the venue and organizers to cancel the event because they disagreed with it—even threatening a protest out- side, which didn’t materi- alize. Instead, a gathering of farmers, ranchers, min- ers, business owners and others from all corners of the County (and adjoin- ing counties) fi led into the room and calmly sat, and the streets outside remained quiet. Some ar- rived in support of Cox. A few didn’t. Most were sim- ply curious. Cox herself blended with the crowd, a petite blonde fi gure. Hosted by the Baker County Republicans, Cox took the microphone and began simply sharing her experiences at the refuge and tying in the history of the individuals there together. Cox, a devout Mormon and 60-year-old mother of a dozen grown children, is focused primarily on exposing corruption within the Federal Court system, and government overreach at a Federal level regard- ing agencies such as the Bureau of Land Manage- ment (BLM). A friend and employee of Cliven Bundy, she gave her account of the 2014 BLM raid on the Bundy Ranch. SEE SHAWNA COX PAGE 5 Dolly Parton’s ‘Imagination Library’ Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press Shawn Cox speaks to a packed room at the Geiser Grand. Multiple vehicle crash on Campbell Photo courtesy of Sara Rudolph. Rudolph’s car was totalled at the scene. Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press BY KERRY McQUISTEN News@TheBakerCountyPress.com L-R: Pat Duke, Jan Rippey, a Dolly Parton standee, and Pam Hunsaker. BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com On Tuesday, September 26, the Baker County Library welcomed Pam Hunsaker, Jan Rippey, and Pat Duke to speak with community members about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) According to a handout given at the event, “Each month, from the day the child is born until his/her 5th birthday, a carefully selected book arrives in the mail. Kids across the country have shared the excitement of running to the mailbox to retrieve their book. More often than not, the child wants the book read to them now—not tonight, not tomorrow, not later … right now!” Hunsaker is the Regional Director of the DPIL in Co- lombia, Missouri, Duke is the Director of the Wilsonville Public Library, and Rippey is the executive director of the Wilsonville DPIL. They have been traveling around Oregon for a week, introducing and educating people to DPIL. They have traveled to eleven different areas, including Baker County, with less than 100,000 people, such as Willamette Valley, Newport, Hood River, and others. Hunsaker has been a part of the DPIL for sixteen years and she travels when people want to learn more about the program. She travels at least a week every month. According to the handout, “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Friday Mostly to partly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for showers. Chance for precipitation is 40%. Lows near 50. Saturday Partly sunny with a chance for showers. Chance for precipitation is 40%. Highs near 60. Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for showers. Chance for precipitation is 40%. Lows near 40. Sunday Partly sunny with a chance for showers. Chance for precipitation is 40%. Highs in the mid 50s. Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for showers. Lows in the upper 30s. Library is all about inspiration and imagination. In 1995 Dolly developed the program so that every preschool child in her home of Sevier County, Tennessee, would have their own library of books that would encourage in them a love of reading and learning.” There are 26 states that have counties participating in DPIL. Duke explained that in Wilsonville they have had the program for fi ve years and value it. Duke explained to those attending, “The way it works is, the community defi nes some kind of geography—it can be a zip code, it can be city limits, it can be the school district, it could be something that makes sense— and then all of the children under the age of fi ve within that geography are eligible for the program. And, once children are signed up for the program, those children will receive a well-selected, age-appropriate book once a month until they turn fi ve years old. It will be mailed directly to their house in their name. And the very core that’s the program. Now, one of the things that happens when that three year old get a piece of mail, they get their book, they say ‘Read my book to me!’ and that’s the power of the program because this program is shown to increase the percentage of children and the number of times that children ask to be read to and it has shown to dramatically increase the number of times parents read to their children.” SEE DOLLY PARTON PAGE 3 The Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center forecast: Our forecast made possible by this generous sponsor: An unexpected medical condition was the cause of an accident last Wednesday, which eventually involved six vehicles, said Baker City Police Sgt. Wayne Chastain. James Young, age 85, was driving his white 2012 Dodge Ram pickup southbound on 10th Street, near A Street, when he lost consciousness. Young’s pickup crossed over into the northbound lanes of traffi c and struck a parked greenish 2005 Nissan Altima belonging to Baker City Auto Ranch. The pickup continued south down the sidewalk where it then struck the fronts of three brand new Dodge pickups in the lot at Baker City Auto Ranch before coming to rest. The green Altima, when hit, travelled backward unoccu- pied about 120 feet into the intersection of Campbell and 10th Street where it struck a 1994 Honda Civic driven by Sara Rudolph as she traveled eastbound through the intersection, said Chastain. Young was transported to St. Alphonsus Medical Center by the Baker City Fire Department. There were no other reported injuries in the crash. Rudolph’s car and the unoccupied Nissan Altima were totaled. All the Dodge pickups sustained over $1,500 in damage but look to be repairable. No citations were issued in this crash. Rudolph said she’d had the opportunity to visit Young last Friday and that he was doing very well. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Ash Grove to be sold “So I was thinking...” by Jimmy Ingram Offi cial weather provider for The Baker County Press. Fire on Ash Street Help sought in poaching cases City vacates Allen St. in ordinance OR Supreme Court comes to BHS Page Page Page Page Page Page 3 4 5 7 8 8