FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
Fuji TV in Baker City
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
In fact, the star of the
show will be allowed only
a one-night stay before
being hurried back to the
airport—only then learn-
ing the true premise of the
show.
While many details of
the production were top
secret, the show will most
certainly involve hidden
cameras, a few tricks, and
a hopefully a ghost sight-
ing or two.
Nakajima said this trip
was his first to Oregon and
Baker City. “Gorgeous,” he
said. “I can feel the history
and a magic in the city.”
Meanwhile, as crews
worked to wire the suite in
which the infamous spirit
of the “Lady in Blue” has
been reported, Sidway
sat with Rich Newman,
a multi-published author
with the Llewellyn pub-
lishing house.
From Memphis, Ten-
nessee, but with plans to
move to Oregon, Newman
has been investigating
the paranormal for over a
decade, he said, and has
published multiple books,
including one featuring the
Geiser Grand. He is also a
filmmaker whose first f -
ture film, a documentary
called “Ghosts of War,”
was released in 2011.
“I love history,” said
Newman with a slight
southern accent. Newman
had recently been involved
in a production for the
Discovery Channel at the
famous Orpheum Theater.
“I’ve found that at these
haunted locations, about 30
percent of the people are
comfortable with calling
them haunted, and 70%
aren’t. Not officiall . I’ve
most recently been at some
haunted Civil War sites—
including a 1834 home.
It seems to me that the
history and the stories of
the hauntings so often go
together,” Newman said.
“I agree,” Sidway said.
“The two are so related.”
From there, Los An-
geles-based production
coordinator, Yudai Ishihara
entered the room and pro-
vided translation services
for director Yosuke Na-
kashima and Sidway.
Ishihara has lived in the
U.S. for 10 years, he said,
though originally from To-
kyo. This production, his
45th, also marked his first
trip to Oregon and definit -
ly his first adventure inside
the hotel.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
L-R: Production coordinator Yudai Ishihara stands next to director Yosuke
Nakashima after establishing the backdrop for one of the filming sites inside the
hotel.
“The goal,” said Lorrie Harvey, “is to tell the story of
how decisions have affected people, property, animals,
trees and air quality in a catastrophic way with regard to
wildfires and public land management.
The production was paid for by undisclosed private
funding, she added, not through any organized group.
In addition to standard camera equipment, Hart also
utilizes a drone to capture aerial views of burn areas.
Said Bennett, “My wife and I work diligently to be good
stewards of the land that we have been entrusted with, yet
across the fence our neighbor (the federal government)
because of national policy, has land that is covered with
Juniper, invasive weeds, ladder fuels, dead trees and is
a risk to our efforts to have a healthy vibrant landscape.
Since the lands are public lands we should stress that all
citizens should insist that the same level of stewardship
be applied to all our lands.”
After gathering initial footage, Hart plans to return from
his home base in Utah to Baker City to finalize the doc -
mentary and fill in any holes
The final product will be roughly 15 minutes long and
the audience is meant to be far-reaching—including
legislators of all levels along with Federal, State and local
government staff, and environmental groups.
Bennett concluded, “As to the documentary—what a
great opportunity to tell our message to those who really
need to hear it. Chicago, New York, the metro areas, etc.
Otherwise we are preaching to the choir.”
More information on the final video and how it can be
viewed will be made available at a later date.
NRAC plan
approved
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
L-R: Paranormal author Rich Newman and Barbara Sidway, Geiser Grand
owner, discuss the rich history of the hotel.
“So far it looks beauti-
ful,” he commented. “Now
hopefully we can see some
ghosts.”
Standing beneath one of
the Geiser Grand’s crystal
chandeliers, Ishihara said
he was usually on the other
side of interviews, and then
he and the director had
an entertaining discus-
sion in Japanese regarding
answering questions and
appearing in photos.
“I’m not used to this,”
Ishihara said with a laugh,
before advising the director
to tuck away his cell phone
for a photo.
Fuji Television is a major
client for Ishihara’s Los
Angeles-based employer.
When asked about his de-
cision to reside in the U.S.,
he said, “I thought if I
wanted to know how mov-
ies are made, I would go to
the place—Hollywood.”
Early Tuesday evening,
the camera crew inter-
viewed a segment with
Sidway, then awaited the
arrival of their actor, whom
they would monitor and
film that night and the fo -
lowing day.
With almost 1,500
employees and a valuation
in the billions of dollars,
Fuji Television is based
in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The
company was founded in
1959, and has 13 offices
around the globe, includ-
ing three within the United
States.
Located on Main Street
in Baker City, the Geiser
Grand Hotel has been fea-
tured on the hit SyFy show
“Ghost Mine” as well as in
various print media such
as “Sunset Magazine,”
“The New York Times,”
and “Newsweek.” More
information can be found
at www.geisergrand.com.
“Mysteries of the World”
is set to air sometime in
January 2016.
Vandals harm plants along
river for second time
Last week The Baker
Count Press ran a story
about the volunteer effort
along the river, which
included trash pickup and
the replacement of shrubs
and plants that had been
previously vandalized.
Over the course of the
past week, the new plants
have also been vandalized.
The following is a state-
ment from Anna Morgan,
Outreach Coordinator
for the Powder Basin Wa-
tershed Council:
"In an effort to serve the
community and enhance
the region’s water quality,
the Powder Basin Wa-
tershed Council holds an
annual fall-time cleanup
Documentary
filmed
event.
“This year’s event took
place along the Leo Adler
Memorial Pathway and
focused on two areas of
community interest: clean-
ing up the Powder River
and restoring riparian areas
and bank stabilization by
planting native plants.
“The day turned out to
be a huge success! In fact
the volunteer base was
seven times its historical
size and included commu-
nity groups like the Baker
City Girl Scouts, Cove Girl
Scouts, La Grande Girl
Scouts, Baker Technical
Institute and Wells Fargo
Volunteers! Students rang-
ing from four years old to
eighteen years old donated
their enthusiasm and hard
work and in three hours ac-
complished pulling out 650
pounds of garbage from
the Powder River!
“In addition to the
forty plus bags of garbage,
students planted 32 native
plants including mock
orange, red osier dogwood,
and golden wax currents
intended to provide shade
for the river, bank stabili-
zation, habitat for riparian
critters, and reduce runoff
into the Powder.
“Unfortunately over the
course of the week the
Powder Basin Watershed
Council was notified that
these plants were vandal-
ized.
“ It is unfortunate, not
only because of all the hard
work and time volunteered
by community members
has been degraded, but also
because this is the second
incident of vandalism to
native plantings along the
pathway. The authorities
have been notified and
the incident is being
investigated, however, the
Powder Basin Watershed
Council would like to ac-
knowledge the effort of the
community and thank them
for their stewardship.
“The next river cleanup
will take place in Spring
2016."
Subscribe today! Visit www.TheBakerCountyPress.com and sign up now!
Harvey replied, “Yes, Ma’am, they did.”
Braswell felt that element had not been explained to the
committee. She also indicated that all members are not
“up to par” in the committee and added, “Quite frankly, I
think many are confused.”
Braswell also told the Commissioners that the Natural
Resources Plan in front of them was not sent out to all
the committee members, including her. Although she had
obtained a copy, she claimed she requested the document
be sent again and her “request was ignored.”
She felt elements of the plan were not clear or hadn’t
been discussed thoroughly enough. She also questioned
how revisions and additions to the plan discussed at the
last meeting could have possibly been updated in a copy
of the plan that was sent out only minutes after that meet-
ing.
When asked if she had any specific issues to point out
Braswell said, “Just that we have not seen a copy of this
as a group and we have not been able to vote on it as a
final draft as a group.” She went on to sa , “The Natu-
ral Resources Plan, as it sits, in my opinion and in the
opinion of several others, is not a document that would be
worthy of using in front of a Federal agency or any other
government agency for that matter.”
Harvey asked Braswell if she fully understood what a
Natural Resource Plan was.
She stated in substance that she indeed did.
Harvey went on to explain, “It is not a document; it’s a
guiding principal laid out in a format to follow in discus-
sions that are decided upon by the Commissions. It’s not
something that has to be decided on ahead of time; it’s an
ongoing process.”
Braswell advised that the Committee was led to believe
that this was a document that needed to be done and done
correctly as fast as possible. Being correct was of utmost
importance because it would difficult to amend late .
Harvey said that in the beginning, the Commission-
ers suggested there be a comprehensive plan. Since then
it was discovered that it is very difficult to put it into a
comprehensive plan and not necessary. Harvey told Bras-
well he had explained that at a meeting but was unsure
of whether or not she was at that meeting. The purpose
of the plan is to have a working document to work with
Federal and State agencies ongoing to formulate deci-
sions and move forward with plans.
He likened the plan to a set of blue prints. Harvey said,
“I can guarantee you after 35 years in construction the set
of plans you start with are not what you end up with.”
Braswell acknowledged that point of view with Harvey
stating he appreciated that.
Braswell again reiterated that if the document was taken
to a State agency with the grammatical errors and such it
would not be taken seriously as submitted by profession-
als.
Chuck Chase spoke next. He said, “This is an ongoing
document. It can be changed and modified along the wa .
I urge the Commissioners to accept this as a whole and
not be too picky. We, the NRAC committee, can delve
into it more and will probably start at our next meeting.”
Numerous others in the room spoke in regard to the
document most in agreement to support the document.
Ramona Creighton told the commission that everyone
needed to start working together more, and that she felt it
had become an “embarrassing thing” and it was dysfunc-
tional, citing political views as a possible reason. “This
needs to stop. Get this going. Change what you need to
change and quit this nonsense. Thank you.”
SEE NRAC PAGE 7