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THURSDAY EDITION
2022
A FIDD P
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WA UNES CAM
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BUSINESS, B1
HERMISTON CAR CLUB HEATS UP WITH COOL RIDES — IN
PA GE 8
What to keep in mind as fi re season begins
PA GE 3
Officials say common
sense goes a long way
in preventing blazes
By JACK PARRY
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Oregon Department of Forestry
announced that fi re season began
Friday, July 1, in the Northeast
PA GE 22
PA GE 4
Oregon District as the vegetation
is drying after a rainy last few
months.
The Willowcreek Fire spanning
over 42,000 acres northeast of
Vale began before the season offi -
cially started.
Matt Howard, the district for-
ester for the Northeast Oregon dis-
trict, remembers the extremely
hot and dry conditions during
fi re season last year, and doesn’t
believe the period will be as long
this year.
“Last summer we were in a
severe drought, it quit raining in
March,” Howard said. “With the
rainfall we’ve received in April
and May and the fi rst half of June,
it’s really moistened up our fuels.”
This amount of precipitation
wasn’t just unexpected for the
spring, it was record breaking,
helping to provide fi rmer snow-
caps on the mountains to melt
down.
“For May, and the fi rst half of
June, it was the wettest six weeks
for Northeast Oregon,” Howard
said.
However, the Willowcreek
Fire is burning. Even though the
fi re is technically out of the Wal-
lowa County District and has been
over 75% contained, according to
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Vale District, fi re safety is always
relevant as fi re season begins
throughout the state.
During the season, debris pile
burning and barrel burning can
only be done by permit, which is
a fairly simple process. Call the
local Oregon Department of For-
estry offi ce and request a permit.
A fi re warden will come out and
virtually inspect the burn site, and
if the site is up to standard, issue a
permit.
The use of exploding bullets is
See, Fire/Page A7
Group
seeks
fairness
in schools
Drive for Oregon
school choice, open
enrollment initiative
petitions starting
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A drive
is being launched to get a
pair of initiative petitions on
Oregon’s November 2024
election ballot designed to
make it easier for parents to
send their children to any
public or private school in
the state.
The eff ort is being orga-
nized with help from Edu-
cation Freedom for Oregon,
a Tualatin-based group
working to boost school
choice and fairness in edu-
cation within Oregon.
One initiative petition
would call for an Open
Enrollment constitutional
amendment and another
would call for a School
Choice constitutional
amendment.
Open enrollment
The Open Enrollment
amendment would put a
ballot measure before voters
which, if passed, will give
parents the right to send
their children to any public
school in Oregon. The pro-
posed ballot measure would
amend the Oregon Consti-
tution so that a child could
attend any public school in
See, Initiatives/Page A7
Photos by
ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
UNION — The Fourth
of July was celebrated
with a bang during
Thunder at the Peak —
a fi reworks show held
at Buff alo Peak Golf
Course in Union.
The celebration was well
attended by residents and
people from surrounding
areas. Some families laid
out blankets and folding
chairs in the fi eld, while
others popped their car
trunks and watched
from the parking lot.
Lucky locals gathered
for the fi reworks in their
backyards.
Thunder at the Peak is
organized by the city of
Union Chamber of Com-
merce. This was the
second year the fi reworks
were held at Buff alo
Peak. Before moving the
show to the golf course
in 2021, the fi reworks
were held in the vicinity
of Union High School’s
sports complex.
Baker City bear released in Wallowas
Black bear wanders into neighborhood, ends up in a tree
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Baker City’s
most famous black bear — or at
least the most photographed — is
likely roaming somewhere in the
southern Wallowa Mountains.
Which is better bear habitat than
a birch tree between two apartment
buildings.
The bear, which ran through
part of Quail Ridge Golf Course on
Sunday, July 3, then crossed Foot-
hill Drive and climbed a tree, ended
up tranquilized and in a cage later
that morning.
Brian Ratliff , district wildlife
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ........B1
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B4
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Oregon ..........A8
Opinion .........A4
Spiritual ........A6
Sudoku ..........B5
biologist at the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife’s Baker City
offi ce, fi red the tranquilizer dart
that gave the yearling male bear a
temporary nap.
The sleeping bear got stuck,
however, in the tree about 25 feet
above the ground.
He estimated the bear weighed
See, Bears/Page A7
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
56 LOW
81/54
Mainly clear
Sunshine and
nice
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
A yearling male black bear rests in a birch
tree on the east side of Foothill Drive in
Baker City on Sunday morning, July 3, 2022.
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Issue 81
3 sections, 38 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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