2A — THE OBSERVER
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
LOCAL
D AILY
P LANNER
TODAY
Today is Friday, Sept. 27,
the 270th day of 2019. There
are 95 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Sept. 27, 1964, the
government publicly
released the report of the
Warren Commission, which
concluded that Lee Harvey
Oswald had acted alone
in assassinating President
John F. Kennedy.
ON THIS DATE
In 1854, the fi rst great
disaster involving an
Atlantic Ocean passenger
vessel occurred when the
steamship SS Arctic sank off
Newfoundland; of the more
than 400 people on board,
only 86 survived.
In 1979, Congress gave
its fi nal approval to forming
the U.S. Department of
Education.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $2.6 million
4-8-12-19-38-40
Mega Millions: $40 million
6-14-24-42-46-9-x4
Powerball: $50 million
Joseph
Company wants to replace Baker
Truck Corral with Pilot Travel Center center
gets
facelift
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — America’s larg-
est truck stop company has applied
for a permit to demolish the Baker
Truck Corral and build a travel center
on the nearly 9-acre property on the
south side of Campbell Street beside
Interstate 84.
Pilot Flying J of Knoxville, Tennes-
see, is the applicant.
The company owns more than 750
travel centers in 44 states and six
Canadian provinces, according to its
website. Its Northeastern Oregon loca-
tions are at Stanfi eld, La Grande and
Ontario.
According to the application the
company fi led with the Baker City-
County Planning Department, the new
travel center would include an Arby’s
restaurant with a drive-through, a
convenience store, drivers’ lounge and
public laundry, 10 fuel stations for
passenger vehicles and seven diesel
stations for trucks.
The restaurant, store and other ser-
vices would be in a one-story structure
covering 10,688 square feet, according
to the application.
Because the proposed structure is
smaller than 15,000 square feet, and
because a travel center is an allowed
use in the general-commercial zone,
the Planning Department can approve
the application and the matter, known
as a Type II review, does not go before
the city Planning Commission, said
Eva Henes, a senior planner at the
planning department.
A notice was sent about two weeks
By Steve Tool
EO Media Group
S. John Collins/EO Media Group
Pilot Flying J of Knoxville, Tennessee, has applied for a permit to demolish
the Baker Truck Corral and build a travel center on the nearly 9-acre prop-
erty on the south side of Campbell Street.
ago to property owners in the area,
and the department didn’t receive any
public comments, Henes said.
Planning department offi cials are
working on a staff report, and Plan-
ning Director Holly Kerns will decide
whether to approve the application.
That could happen by early October,
and the decision would be subject to
appeal for 14 days, Henes said.
Projects that involve a subjective
decision, such as a conditional-use
permit, go to the planning commission,
Henes said.
But Type II projects are more
straightforward, with the main issue
being whether the project complies
with zoning rules and other regula-
tions.
Ryan Robinson of Pilot Flying J
said Tuesday that the company has
not bought the Baker Truck Corral
property. Robinson said the company is
looking at options for the property but
does not have a signed agreement.
The application lists Kurt Miller as
the property owner.
He is the registered agent for DC
& KM LLC, the Oregon company
listed as the property owner on Baker
County Assessor’s Offi ce records.
According to those records the
current truck stop building is 10,314
square feet — slightly smaller than
Pilot Flying J’s proposed structure.
The Truck Corral was built in 1975,
according to the Assessor’s Offi ce.
The market value of the property,
including land and buildings, is listed
on tax records as $2,188,770.
37-43-44-45-53-25-x3
Second death related to vaping
Win for Life: Sept. 25
12-32-42-58
Pick 4: Sept. 26
• 1 p.m.: 1-3-6-0
• 4 p.m.: 8-3-6-5
• 7 p.m.: 9-3-4-5
• 10 p.m.: 7-3-0-1
Pick 4: Sept. 25
• 1 p.m.: 0-4-3-2
• 4 p.m.: 7-0-2-1
• 7 p.m.: 1-2-5-9
• 10 p.m.: 1-3-8-6
The Associated Press
NEWSPAPER LATE?
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I have lived in this world
just long enough to look
carefully the second time
into things that I am most
certain of the fi rst time.”
— “Josh Billings” (Henry
Wheeler Shaw), American
humorist (1818-1885)
SALEM — A second Or-
egonian has died from a lung
illness after vaping cannabis
products, and state health au-
thorities on Thursday urged
people to immediately stop
using all vaping products.
“People should stop vaping
immediately,” said Dean Side-
linger, Oregon’s state health
offi cer. “If you vape, whether
it’s cannabis, nicotine or other
products, please quit.”
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
said the Oregon Health
Authority informed her of the
death and that she is request-
ing the Oregon Department
of Justice to advise what
legal options are available
to the state, including the
temporary ban of all vaping
products.
The most recent death was
an individual who had been
hospitalized with respiratory
symptoms after vaping can-
nabis products, the Oregon
Health Authority said in a
statement. The other Oregon
fatality, whose death was an-
nounced on Sept. 3, had used
e-cigarettes, or vape pens,
with THC, the psychoactive
chemical in marijuana.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said
805 confi rmed and prob-
able cases of vaping-related
breathing illness have been
reported nationally, up 52%
from the 530 reported a week
ago. At this point, illnesses
have occurred in almost every
state. Confi rmed deaths
include two in California, two
in Kansas, two in Oregon and
one each in Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota,
Mississippi, and Missouri.
The Mississippi death was
announced by offi cials in that
state Thursday.
Those who have fallen
ill in Oregon have been
hospitalized after experienc-
ing worsening symptoms,
including shortness of breath,
cough or chest pain. All cases
have reported e-cigarette use
or vaping, the OHA said.
Oregon marijuana retailers
on Sept. 12 began removing
vaping products from their
shelves and offering returns
on previously purchased vape
Johnson Family Fruit’s
Pumpkin Patch
pens.
People who have recently
vaped and are having dif-
fi culty breathing should seek
medical attention immediate-
ly, Oregon’s health authority
said.
State Rep. Cheri Helt,
a Republican from Bend,
announced earlier Thursday
that she would introduce
legislation during the Febru-
ary 2020 legislative session to
ban retail and online sales of
all fl avored e-cigarettes and
vaping products.
JOSEPH — The Joseph
Community Center is getting
a facelift. And it’s being done
by volunteers with donated
materials. Raider Heck
and two friends completely
re-sided the North East
Street facility with more than
4,500-square foot of siding
in just fi ve days. Thanks to
Jim Russell of 1917 Lumber
in Joseph, Boise Cascade is
footing half the bill for the
siding and James Hardie, the
company that manufactures
the cement panels, is contrib-
uting the other half. Joseph
Hardware lent the use of their
boom truck to help install the
panels on the upper reaches of
the facility. And an individual
anonymously donated a 30-
foot fl ag pole to stand in the
front of the facility.
Heck, the project leader,
said it was about time some-
thing was done.
“This building has needed
a coat of paint for years,” he
said. “The siding was not
worth putting paint on be-
cause it’s been neglected too
long. If you let it go, you can’t
get ahead of it.”
The new siding is J. Hardie
cement siding, which is a 5/16-
inch siding actually made of
concrete with a wood look and
outside texture. Heck said the
siding is the best choice for
the climate. When completed,
the siding will have a “board
and batten” fi nish in order to
comply with local ordinances
requiring the building have a
“western” appearance.
The city had budgeted to
repair the siding on the facil-
ity. “We expected to take a
pretty good hit (on the money
budgeted), but it would have
been worth it because this
siding will last 50 years,”
Heck said. “It’ll last even
longer if it’s taken care of.”
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Sheriff Boyd
n
e
s
s
u
m
s
a
R
Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce:
Protecting and serving families,
It has been an honor to
schools, and communities serve as your Sheriff the
past 14 years and to guide
the good men and women
of the Sheriff’s Offi ce in
their service to you.
“I support Sheriff Rasmussen because he has established
Earning and keeping your
a team oriented office that works hard to support and
protect the youth and families of Union County.”
trust is important to me.
I look forward to standing
Greg M. Baxter
before you for re-election.
“We stand by our Sheriff in protecting
our County and citizens’ rights.”
“Sheriff Rasmussen has worked hard for the citizens of Elgin to en-
sure they have the law enforcement they need. He has often went
above and beyond the contract with the City of Elgin to do this!”
Brock Eckstein
Elgin City Administrator
Union County
Commissioners:
Oregon
State Representative
Elgin Mayor
Island City Mayor
Imbler Mayor
North Powder Mayor
Donna Beverage
Matt Scarfo
Paul Anderes
Greg Barretto
Allan Duffy
Robb Rea
Mike McLean
Mike Wisdom
To support the Rasmussen Re-Election Campaign contact Rita McMahan at ritamc@eoni.com.
Paid for by the Committee to Re-Elect Sheriff Boyd Rasmussen, Rita Mc Mahan Treasurer 1801 Highland, La Grande