8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015
Local
American Legion sees more changes Prescribed
burns begin
• New leadership,
more membership
participation sought
at local post
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Despite a few recent
changes at the Baker City
American Legion Post
41, the Post is still active
assured Commander Bill
Bishop. To help pay ex-
penses, the Post is renting
out half of their building
to the new Gamer Haven
game store. The store
lease is month to month
with a 60-day notice pe-
riod, in case the Post again
needs use of the space in
the future.
Bishop explained the
Post was in trouble about
a year and a half ago and
he was asked to step in
as Commander. The Post
was in danger of losing
its charter and was placed
on probation. Bishop said
that danger is still there,
due to the low member
participation.
Constitution and bylaws
allow for American Legion
posts to have a bar for the
enjoyment of members and
the Baker City Post did op-
erate a bar for the purpose
of income. However, the
enterprise began to cost
more money than it was
making, so the Executive
Board closed it down.
Bishop explained that they
may open the bar again
in the future, but it would
depend on member support
to keep it open.
Meanwhile, the Post
continues to hold regular
meetings. Sons of the Le-
gion meet the first Wednes-
day of the month and the
Post meeting is the first
Thursday of the month.
Bishop explained that there
has been very little mem-
ber participation.
He said the Post cannot
fully function without
members taking part as
there are things that need
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
Post Commander Bill Bishop and Sons of the Legion Commander Curtis Calder
standing at the front of the meeting room.
membership approval in
order to happen. Sons of
the Legion Commander
Curtis Calder added, “We
have members. I’m disap-
pointed that they don’t
come and help us so that
we can help them. It’s
about the Post and the
good we can do for the
community.”
Calder said with the lack
of manpower and commit-
ment, the Post can’t run its
programs and could lose
its charter.
Bishop has received sev-
eral calls asking about sell-
ing items in the Post, such
as the pool table lights, but
assured nothing is for sale.
He explained that permis-
sion to sell items must
come from members and
be voted upon.
The Executive Board
was able to approve
disposal of some old duct
work, getting it hauled
away by the junk man, but
that was not sold.
There is still assistance
available for veterans.
Bishop spoke of funds at
the national level to assist
veterans and their families
who are facing homeless-
ness or medical emergen-
cies. The need is verified
at the local level and an
application for assistance
sent in to the national of-
fice. There is also assis-
tance provided at the State
level for veterans needing
help with the VA process
or claims.
Calder and Bishop said
there are other programs
they can do or have been
involved in, and would
like to be again, but they
do not have sufficient
member involvement.
For example, the annual
veterans’ picnic that was
alternately hosted by the
American Legion and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars
is now mainly being done
just by the VFW. Bishop
said it is the same with the
Memorial Day service at
the cemetery.
Calder said last year
they had a free Thanks-
giving dinner, which was
quite successful and fed
60-65 people. He said
luckily a few of the mem-
bers in attendance saw that
he was overwhelmed with
the work and jumped in to
help.
The Post does offer
overflow seating on Friday
nights for the Gamer
Haven Friday Night Magic
events. Calder explained
the store gets pretty
busy so he opens up the
American Legion side of
the building so the kids
can come in and sit at the
tables or play pool. Some
concessions are available
as well.
Bishop said the future
of the Post is up to the
members and this is a club
for them. He explained
that he would like to hand
off the responsibility of
being Commander to
someone, but there is not
anyone for him to hand it
off to at the present.
He explained that he
was asked to step in due to
his experience at the local
and district level, and only
did so because he did not
want to see the Post lose
its charter.
Bishop added, “We live
in a democratic society,
and if you don’t want Bill
Bishop as commander,
come and vote me out in
June!”
Accident stalls I-84 traffic for hours
BAKER CITY, OR – The Whitman Ranger District
in cooperation with the Vale District BLM will begin
implementing prescribed burning program following
warmer and drier conditions. Prescribed fire managers
are planning to implement hazardous fuel reduction burns
beginning at many project sights.
Prescribed fire is a major component of the Coh -
sive Wildfire Strategy to meet the goals of restoring and
maintaining resilient landscapes and creating fire adapted
communities.
Prescribed burning is done to reduce dead and down
fuels, selectively thin understory trees in dense forested
stands, stimulate fire tolerant plant species, enhance
forage and browse, reduce the risk of large stand-re-
placement fires, create strategic fuels breaks in the urban
interface, and restore fire under controlled conditions as a
disturbance factor in these landscapes.
Prescribed burns can range from tens to thousands of
acres in size. Prescribed burns often are accomplished
with combined resources of local rural fire departments,
contractors, and State and other federal fire agencies.
The Whitman District plans to burn approximately
1500 in the Dooley Mt. Area and South Fork of the Burnt
River over the next 7 days. Forest Service and coopera-
tor personnel will do the burning. For more information
about the Whitman prescribed burning program, you may
contact Willy Crippen at 541-523-1306 or Steve Hawkins
at 541-523-1262, or visit the forest web site at http://
www.fs.usda.gov/goto/Fire-Aviation to view the spring
2015, burn unit maps.
Whitman Ranger District (WRD) – 541-523-4476
(Baker, Halfway, and Unity). The WRD plans to conduct
prescribed burning on 1,500 acres this week, which may
include:
• Mile 9 (320 acres) – 5 miles west of Unity, OR
• Moonshine (295 acres) – Trail Cr. And Denny Cr.-12
miles south of Baker City, OR
• Sundry (950) – Dark Canyon/ Pine Cr.-16 miles
south of Baker City.
Ladies bridge
winners
Ladies Day at the Quail Ridge is every Wednesday,
April though mid-October.
Ladies play golf, have lunch, then there is party bridge
for ladies. This month’s winners are:
April 1, 2015 Bridge winners: 1st Carmen Ott; 2nd
Judy Karstens; 3rd Della Steele.
April 8, 2015 Bridge winners: 1st Joan Colton; 2nd
Jean Heizer; 3rd Glenda Cole.
Baker City
man arrested
in Boise
22-year-old Devin Pow-
sey of Baker City man was
arrested Tuesday after, ac-
cording to the Ada County
Sheriff’s Office in Idaho,
he wrecked his vehicle and
then elbowed an officer in
the face in the middle of a
foot chase.
The Boise Police De-
partment says the incident
started at 3:12 a.m. Tues-
day when witnesses saw a
driver speeding and run-
Photo courtesy of The
ning multiple red lights—
Ada County Sheriff’s Department
eight or nine of them in
a row—heading west on
Devin Prowsey.
Main Street in Boise. He
soon lost control of the
vehicle and crashed near Whitewater Boulevard.
When officers checked on Powse , they say he bolted.
Officers caught up to the man in short orde , but he al-
legedly elbowed one of them in the face in an attempt to
escape.
A passenger, a 15-year-old boy in the vehicle, was taken
to the hospital with serious, but non-life threatening
injuries.
Powsey has been charged with felony aggravated DUII
and battery on an office , resisting officers, and providing
alcohol to a minor.
Width restrictions
announced
Photos courtesy of Shiela Dolby. Bottom right photo courtesy of Carmen Nelson.
An semi accident on I-84 eastbound 13 miles west of Huntington may have occurred around 9 a.m. but
traffic remained snarled until well into the afternoon. Several Baker County residents reported being stuck
between two and three hours. No fatalities were reported.
Beginning April 27, 2015, I-84 eastbound and west-
bound between MP 330 and MP 343 will be restricted to
12 feet 00 in. in width between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7
a.m.
The width restriction is necessary to facilitate a paving
project on this section of I-84.
The estimated date of completion is July 31, 2015.