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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2016)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016 Local Warm comfort foods 3 tablespoons butter ¼ cup fl our 1 cup heavy cream Place tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, cream and broth in crockpot. Cover and cook 2 hours on high or 48 hours Homemade Goodness on low. 30- 40 minutes By Eileen Driver before serving use hand blender You have probably no- to puree till smooth. ticed but it is really, really Prepare roux in medium cold outside! This of course means that sauce pan by melting but- ter over medium high heat. we need warm comfort Whisk fl our into melted foods to counteract that butter until clumps. cold. One of my favorite Slowly whisk in heavy comfort food meals as a cream until mixture is kid was tomato soup and thickened and smooth. grilled cheese sandwiches. Add roux and parmesan I still love it today, but as cheese to crockpot, stir an adult I need just a little together. Cook another more zing. 20-30 minutes till cheese is This version of tomato melted, give it a good stir soup is creamier and and serve. zingier than that stuff you It takes a little more get out of a can and is work to make this from loaded with comfort and scratch but it is well worth homemade goodness. Parmesan Basil Tomato it and you won’t want to open cans of tomato soup Soup ever again. You can either 3 pounds ripe red toma- have a regular grilled toes chopped (can substi- tute 2, 15-ounce cans diced cheese sandwich with the soup, which is good, or tomatoes and 1, 10- you can have this kicked ounce can tomato sauce) up version. Since you have ¼ cup fresh basil, fi nely time to make this while the chopped soup is cooking you might 3 teaspoons minced as well give it a try. garlic Spinach and Artichoke 1 tablespoon salt Melts 1 teaspoon pepper Makes 4+ sandwiches 1 medium white onion 1 tablespoon butter diced 1 clove garlic minced 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon fl our 4 cups vegetable or ½ cup milk chicken broth 1 ounce cream cheese 2 cups fresh shredded ½ cup shredded moz- parmesan cheese zarella Roux ½ cup grated parmesan ½ cup greek yogurt ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper fl akes (optional) ½ teaspoon pepper ½ cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out 1, 6.7 ounce jar marinat- ed artichokes chopped 8 slices sourdough bread butter for grilling Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat Add garlic and cook a few minutes. Whisk in fl our until it makes a paste. Cook over medium low heat a minute or two, whisk in milk, stir and cook 1 minute. Add cheeses and stir till melted. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir till smooth. (Will be thick so use those muscles) Heat a griddle or skillet over medium low heat. Butter the outside of each bread slice then spread a good amount of fi lling to the inside of half of them and top with second slice. Cook on each side, fl ip- ping gently, until golden and crisp and cheese is melted. I love dipping my grilled sandwich in my soup and enjoying the two together. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. And for my vegetarian friends who have been requesting recipes to spice up their meal times, these would be perfect for you. If you are a meat lover you can add chopped grilled chicken to the sandwich spread and be in heaven. For those of you who haven’t escaped the cold and fl u season this year, this next recipe is for your comfort and hopefully will speed you on the way to good health. It tastes great too. Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup 3 tablespoons butter 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced 4 celery stalks, diced 1 small onion fi nely diced 1 pound raw chicken cut into bite size pieces ½ teaspoon salt black pepper 4 cups chicken broth 1 cup wild rice or rice blend, uncooked 3 tablespoons fl our 2 cups milk Melt butter in large stock pot over medium heat. Add carrot, celery and onion. Stir, cover and saute. Add chicken and spices and stir fry 35 minutes till outside of chicken is mostly cooked. Sprinkle with fl our and stir to coat. Slowly stir in broth ½ cup at a time until smooth. Bring to a boil and stir in rice. Reduce heat to me- dium low, cover and cook for about 30-40 minutes. When rice is done (taste to make sure) stir in milk and return heat to medium. Bring to a low boil and cook a few more minutes till heated through. Tips: if you like a thicker soup reduce broth to 3 cups. If you like a clear soup, omit fl our and milk and add more broth This soup is wonderful with crackers or a crusty bread. It will make you feel better in no time. Hammonds Imprisoned CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 The congressman contin- ued quoting the judge, who said, “‘When you ask, you know, what if you burn sagebrush in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and there are homes up the ravines, it might apply. Out in the wilderness here, I don’t think that is what the Con- gress intended. In addition, it just would not meet any idea I have of justice proportionality. It would be a sentence which would shock the conscience, to me.’’’ Walden added, “Senior Judge Mike Hogan, when he did the original sentenc- ing. But, you see, under this 1996 law under which they were charged and convicted, it turns out he had no judicial leeway. He could not mete out a sen- tence that was proportion- ate to what the crime was. “So yesterday, Dwight and Steve went to prison again. Dwight will be 79 when he gets out. Steve will be about 50. “Meanwhile, in Harney County, on the ranch, Susie will continue to try and survive; 6,000-acre ranch, she needs grazing permits to make this hap- pen. It would be a cruel and unjust act, by the way, if access to those grazing permits that allow that ranch to work were not extended. What possible good could come out of bankrupting a grandmother that was trying to keep a ranch together, while the husband sits in prison, her son sits in prison? What possible good? “They will serve their sentences. There is noth- ing, short of clemency that only the President can of- fer, that we can do. But we can change that law, and we should, so that nobody ever is locked in like that for a situation like this, where a senior judge, liter- ally, on his fi nal day on the bench, says this goes too far, it goes too far. They appealed that, by the way, and lost. But I believe that the judge was right. “We have to listen to the people. We have to understand why events like this are taking place in our communities. They are taking place in cities. We have witnessed that, and we try and get our heads around it. “There are more people from the cities, so there are more Members from the cities. There aren’t many of us that represent these vast, wide-open, incredibly beautiful, harsh districts- like the one I do. “The people there love the land. It was the ranch- ers who came up with the concept of the coopera- tive management. It was the ranchers who loved Steens Mountain that know that for them to survive they have to take care of the range. They are good people. Their sons and daughters, by a higher proportion, fi ght in our wars and die, and I have been to their funerals. So to my friends across east- ern Oregon, I will always fi ght for you. But we have to understand there is a time and a way. Hopefully the country through this understands we have a real problem in America: how we manage our lands and how we are losing them.” Walden concluded, “There is a better solution here. The President needs to back off on the monu- ment. The BLM needs to make sure Susie Hammond isn’t pushed into bank- ruptcy and has her ranch taken by the government and added to those that “It is not too late. We can do this. It is a great coun- try. We have the processes to do it right.” Rep. Greg Barreto of Cove responded, “I want to thank Congressman Greg Walden for his forthright message on the tyranny of the current agencies. “I agree with Rep. Walden that in no way do I agree with the armed protest that is going on, but do understand the anger toward the federal government. We in Oregon have witnessed this time and again with the BLM, the ESA, the EPA and the USFS. The recent ‘Town Hall Meetings for citizens participation’ were no more than lip service. The 1,296 miles of roads scheduled for destruction, roads built with taxpayer dollars and now taxpayer dollars will be used to destroy them, was decided before any meetings took place. “Rep. Walden is right, enough is enough! We need to be better at hearing people from all walks of life and all regions of our country and understanding this anger that is out there and what we can do to bring about correct change and peaceful resolution. at the monument should go home, and Congress needs to enact laws to prevent this abuse of power. “The BLM and USFS have destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of land through reckless man- agement and there have been no consequences. “Five years for 129 acres is unbelievable and cruel and unusual punish- ment. To me, this is an ob- vious attempt to grab land through bankrupting and incarcerating hard work- ing citizens to promote an agenda. Our federal gov- ernment is bankrupting our Country in more ways than one. They are bankrupting the peoples’ trust.” Status of the Refuge. At the time of print, Am- mon Bundy has spoken to multiple media sources and posted video online. Since holing up in the refuge, no shots have been fi red either by the group, now known as Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, or law enforcement. Bundy says the group is prepared to stay put in the Wildlife Refuge for an indefi nite length of time. One of their goals is to draw attention to federal agency overreach, another is to see the transfer of federally-managed lands back to local control to al- low local use of resources existing in those lands. Volunteers needed for book sale Friends of the Baker County Library are looking for volunteers to help sort books on Thursday, January 21st, to work as cashiers during the fi rst weekend of the Winter Book Sale, January 22-24th, to neaten and re-stock dur- ing the week of January 25-31st, and to pack up books on February 1st. New volunteers will be paired with an experienced volunteer on each shift. Volunteers can sign up at the circulation desk at the library, 2400 Resort Street, or by calling 541-523-6419. Shots fired at patrol car in Umatilla On January 2, 2016 at approximately 1:17 a.m. an Or- egon State Trooper attempted to stop a 1992 Honda Ac- cord on Fulton Road near milepost 2 in Umatilla County for speeding. The vehicle attempted to elude troopers at a high rate of speed. The pursuit continued on rural roads where a trooper successfully deployed spike strips fl attening at least one tire. The vehicle continued to elude and entered the Uma- tilla Indian Reservation. Once on the reservation, the vehicle came to a stop and a female passenger got out of the vehicle. The driver drove off at a high rate of speed, continuing to elude troopers. While eluding, it is believed the suspect fi red a fi rearm at a pursuing patrol car striking it twice. Near the intersection of South Market and Tutuilla Church Road both the suspect and his vehicle were intentionally struck by two Oregon State Police patrol vehicles. The adult male suspect was seriously injured and was transported to St. Anthony's Hospital in Pendleton, then transported by air ambulance to a Portland Area Hospital. The troopers were uninjured. This incident is being investigated as a Deadly Physical Force incident. As per protocol of Deadly Physical Force Incidents and Senate Bill 111, the Oregon State Police has requested the Pendleton Police Department lead the investigation. Three Oregon State Police Troopers have been placed on paid administrative leave which is standard practice in deadly physical force incidents. This is an ongoing investigation and no further infor- mation will be released at this time. Agencies assisting in the investigation and at the scene include the Oregon State Police Criminal Services Divi- sion, Pendleton Police Department, Umatilla Tribal Police Department, Umatilla County Sheriff's Offi ce and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Names released in train / Jeep collision Oregon State Police (OSP) is continuing the investi- gation into a fatal collision involving a train and SUV south of Union in Union County. The names of the three occupant were released following confi rmation of family notifi cations. Preliminary information indicates that on December 29, 2015 at approximately 2:54 p.m., a Union Pacifi c Railroad train was traveling eastbound and approach- ing the Curtis Road and Miller Lane crossing when for unknown reasons, a blue Jeep Cherokee was traveling east on Curtis Road and turned left onto Miller Lane, in the path of the train. The train struck the Cherokee and all three occupants, as well as a dog, were ejected and pronounced deceased at the scene. The occupants of the blue 1998 Jeep Cherokee were Clayton Forrest Colpitts, age 43, Penny Jo Colpitts, age 40, from Union, and James Austin Johnston, age 20, from Chiloquin. It is still undetermined who was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. The rural area train crossing displayed crossing signs with a stop sign but did not have crossing gate arms. The train did not derail and no injuries were reported aboard the train. OSP was assisted by Union County Sheriff's Offi ce, Union Fire and Ambulance, La Grande Ambulance, and Union Pacifi c Railroad representatives. Subscriptions make great gifts! If you’re a current subscriber and you take out a gift subscription for someone else, we’ll add a month to your own subscription!