CAREER COLUMN: What it’s like to be a ...
Baker City Fire Chief. PAGE 8
OPINION: Kevin Starrett of Oregon Firearms
Federation discusses SB941. PAGE 4
The
Baker County Press
TheBakerCountyPress.com
75¢
All local. All relevant. Every Friday.
Friday, August 14, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 33
Inside the first GOP
presidential debate
• A VIEW BEHIND
THE SCENES
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The GOP’s fi rst presi-
dential debate was held
August 6 at Cavaliers Sta-
dium in Cleveland, Ohio.
With ten top-polling
candidates on stage, the
gathering was not without
controversy—and also not
without eastern Oregon
representation.
Cove’s Rep. Greg Bar-
reto and wife, Chris, who
also serves as his legisla-
tive assistant, fl ew from
Oregon to attend, as did
Oregon Republican Party
(ORP) Chair Bill Currier
and ORP’s National Com-
mitteeman Solomon Yue,
all of whom have spent
time in Baker City on mul-
tiple occasions. Rounding
out the group from Oregon
was ORP’s National Com-
mitee woman, Donna Cain.
“It was loud and noisy,
but great!” said Chris Bar-
reto. “We couldn’t ask for
better seats. We had a great
view of the candidates,
Fox News, and the audi-
ence.”
Yue is a member of the
RNC Primary Presidential
Debates committee.
“My committee suc-
ceeded in two ways,” said
Yue. “First, we limited
total debates to 11—fi ve
in 2015 and six in 2016—
and second, we increased
the fi rst debate audience
size to 24 million for the
fi rst time in both parties’
primary debate history.”
Yue added, “However,
we couldn’t reduce the
number of total debate par-
ticipants (on the stage).”
The candidates in the
5 p.m. primetime debate
were: Donald Trump, Jeb
Bush, Scott Walker, Mike
Huckabee, Ben Carson,
Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio,
Rand Paul, Chris Christie,
and John Kasich. The mod-
erators were Bret Baier,
Megyn Kelly, and Chris
Wallace.
SEE DEBATE PAGE 8
Submitted Photo.
Cove’s Rep. Greg Barreto (right) meets candidate
John Kasich before the debate aired.
How
Portland’s
Metro affects
eastern
Oregon
• POTENTIAL BALLOT INITIATIVE
ADVOCATES FOR LOCAL CONTROL OF
LAND PLANNING ISSUES
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
The Cornet Fire, visible from Hwy. 7, created a level-three evacuation for Stices Gulch and other areas of
the county, sending residents out of their homes.
Baker County burns
SEE METRO PAGE 5
Sumpter
shakeup
• TWO LARGE FIRES IGNITE ON DOOLEY,
DOWN BURNT RIVER CANYON
BY BRIAN ADDISON and KERRY McQUISTEN
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
A fast-moving thunderstorm moved through Baker
County August 10th, and left in its wake several pre-
sumed lightning-sparked fi res, two of which grew into
large fi res in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in-
cluding the Cornet Fire initially 19 miles south of Baker
City and about seven miles east of Hereford.
The Cornet Fire was fi rst listed as a fairly small affair,
charring about 243 acres on August 10th, but exploded
over the next 24 hours reaching around 15,000 acres by
Thursday and fi lling Baker Valley with dark smoke and
threatening structures.
At the same time, the Windy Ridge fi re down Burnt
River Canyon fl ared to over 10,000 acres, sandwiching
Bridgeport Valley between the two fi res.
By 1 p.m. Wednesday, residents of Stices Gulch on
Dooley Mountain were evacuated, their homes and safety
in immediate danger. This was the fi rst of many county
evacuations to come—more than two dozen homes early
on.
The Cornet Fire was considered “extreme fi re behavior
with uphill runs and group torching,” according to the
Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center.
SEE BAKER COUNTY BURNS PAGE 12
Friday
Smoky. Sunny and not as hot as the rest of the
week. Highs in the upper 80s. Lows in the upper
40s.
Saturday
Sunny and cooler still. Highs near 80. Mostly
clear at night with lows in the upper 40s.
Sunday
Sunny and warming up again. Highs in the mid
80s. Mostly clear with lows in the mid 40s.
Les Poole, a planning commissioner from Gladstone, is
on a tour of his old stomping grounds in eastern Oregon.
His purpose? To collect signatures on a petition for a
statewide ballot initiative in 2016, which will focus on
local control of land use and transportation planning.
Poole, along with chief petitioner, Eugene Schoen-
heit, and others, hopes to combat former governor John
Kitzhaber’s “Regional Solutions,” a concept now picked
up by current Governor Kate Brown, which would mirror
Portland Metro’s controversial model across other areas
of Oregon—including eastern Oregon.
• RECALL PETITIONS MOVE FORWARD IN
PROCESS, ONE COUNCIL MEMBER
RESIGNS DURING MEETING
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Submitted by Suzan Ellis Jones
The Cornet Fire crests with fl ames visible from
Bridgeport at the foot of Dooley Mountain at the
home of Ann Racey, burning down to Hwy. 245.
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
More recall elections will proceed in the City of
Sumpter, as recall petitions on Council members Toni
Thompson, Ada Oakley, and G. LeAnne Woolf were
turned in and signatures verifi ed by County Clerk Cindy
Carpenter this week. Ballots will be mailed August 26th
and are due back by 8 p.m. on September 15th.
The Chief Petitioner on the petition to recall Oakley
is Sumpter Mayor Melissa Findley. Her statement in
demand of recall states that Oakley has contributed virtu-
ally nothing to City Council, voted blindly for sewer and
water rate increases, opposed recording City meetings,
and changed the nature and size of her residence without
the proper building permits.
SEE SUMPTER SHAKEUP PAGE 5
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Marijuana business delays plans
Blue Mountain Oil upgrades
Family dives into 4H fair
Sumpter City Council coverage
Pot ordinance read, kennel denied
Heisler locomotive turns 100
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
3
3
7
9
10
12