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Baker County Press
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Friday, August 7, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 32
East side takes the win!
• BRIDGER COOK
SHINES AT 63rd
ANNUAL EAST-
WEST SHRINE ALL-
STAR GAME
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker Bulldog football
fans have reason to be
proud after local standout
Bridger Cook played the
entire game at the Center
position and anchored a
dominant offensive line
leading the East team to
victory by a score of 25-0
in Oregon’s 63rd Annual
East West Shrine All-Star
Football Game, August 1.
Cook, at 5’9” tall and
weighing in at 195-pounds,
used his quickness and
overall football savvy to
turn in a nearly fl awless
performance.
The play of Cook and his
fellow O-linemen pro-
tected the two East team
quarterbacks allowing a
potent passing attack, and
continually blew open
holes in the West team
defensive line providing
open ground for East team
running backs.
On the other side of the
ball, the East team defense
proved equally as affec-
tive shutting down the
West team offensive and
entertaining football fans
delivering several bone-
jarring hits against oppos-
ing running backs.
“One more game on
the home fi eld was really
nice,” said Cook several
days after the game. “The
home fi eld advantage was
a topic of conversation
and I had teammates from
Mac-High and Ontario
who said this was the only
time they ever looked for-
ward to playing on Baker’s
fi eld.”
Cook attributed much of
the East team’s success to
team camaraderie.
Both East and West
teams spent a week of
practice in La Grande and
during that time the East
team all purchased Razor
scooters and together
bonded as they scooted
through the streets of La
Grande. “I want to give
special thanks to the Razor
scooter company,” Cook
joked. “There wasn’t
one Razor scooter left at
Wal-Mart after we left. We
cleaned them out.”
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
SEE SHRINE GAME PAGE 7
Baker Bulldog Bridger Cook anchored the East team
offensive line playing at Center position for the entire
game Saturday.
Eastern Oregon
counties enact
plan to protect
local interests
• FRED KELLY GRANT BRINGING 3-DAY
COORDINATION WORKSHOP TO TOWN
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian @TheBakerCountyPress.com
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
Jason Jordan Smith played the bagpipes for his seventh year in a row, the notes of ‘Amazing Grace’ fi lling
the air as the luminarias were lighted.
SEE EASTERN OREGON COUNTIES PAGE 9
Local youth
score high in
recent NRA
competition
Luminaria lighting set to music
BY KERRY MCQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The local Relay for Life luminaria-lighting ceremony
was held Friday night under both a Blue Moon and the
shine of the International Space Station. While the event
showed noticeably less attendance this year, some things
remained unchanged.
For the seventh year in a row, Baker City’s Jason
Jordan Smith volunteered to play the bagpipes, walking
around the Baker High School track as the luminarias
were set aglow. The event is always solemn, made more
so by the haunting notes of “Amazing Grace” as attend-
ees stood with lowered heads remembering loved ones
who had passed from cancer.
“I’m not quite sure who it was that originally con-
tacted me, but I remember it being 2009,” said Smith.
“I’ve played every year since. I don’t charge anything for
playing at Relay for Life. It’s a good cause and walking
around the track once playing ‘Amazing Grace’ is the least
I could do. We’ve all been aff ected by cancer in one way
or another. I just consider it my turn to give back. I can’t
tell you how many times I’ve had people approach me and
say, ‘Th ank you so much. You made us cry.’ When I hear
that, that in and of itself is a reward on its own. It’s great to
know that you’re able to bless people’s lives in some way.”
SEE LUMINARIA PAGE 5
Friday
Mostly sunny with highs in the mid 80s. East
winds around 3-8 mph. Lows in the upper 40s.
Saturday
Partly sunny with highs in the mid 80s with a
slight chance of thunderstorms. North winds
around 5-10 mph. Lows in the upper 40s.
Sunday
Partly cloudy with highs in the upper 80s with
a slight chance of thunderstorms. South winds
around 5-10 mph. Lows in the upper 40s.
There is a policy change sweeping across three county
governments in rural eastern Oregon as county commis-
sioners look to protect local interests from federal agency
projects.
The concept of local government forming a partner-
ship with federal land management agencies through a
legal process known as “coordination” has caught on and
now spreads like wild fi re across several eastern Oregon
counties.
“This is huge,’ says chairperson of the Baker County
Commissioners Bill Harvey as he explains that Harney
County and Wallowa County, like Baker County, have
begun the process of coordination with the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest
Service (USFS).
• THREE FROM BAKER CITY TRAVEL TO
NEW MEXICO COMPETITION
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
Luminarias surrounded the BHS track Friday night in
memory of those who were lost to cancer.
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
Each year at the end of July the Youth Hunter Education
Challenge (YHEC) is held. This year the event was held
at the NRA’s Wittington Center in Raton, New Mexico.
Local competitors Gauge Bloomer, Braden Staebler-
Siewell and Ben Spaugh scored high in the event.
Wittington is a 36,000 acre facility about 30 miles from
the Colorado boarder and is an international level shoot-
ing range where wildlife is extremely abundant. Many
national championship shooting events are held there.
Buck Buckner, Oregon Director for YHEC said, “They
(the wildlife) are used to being around people and hearing
gunfi re. I shot there in the National Silhouette Champion-
ship one time and we had to stop the shooting to let an elk
cross the fi ring range.”
SEE NRA COMPETITION PAGE 7
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Eastern Oregon fruits bulk orders
Bentz speaks to group at Sunridge
Wildfi res ignite near I-84
Turbo replacement funds raised
Gridiron grill-off held before game
County Commissioners coverage
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