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Friday, May 27, 2016 • Volume 3, Issue 22
Two local teens save
truck driver’s life
• GIRLS HAD
RECENTLY TAKEN
CPR CLASSES
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
When they completed a
CPR class to supplement
their babysitting skills
at the end of January,
little did Sydney Slobig,
a sophomore from Baker
City, and Sydney Palmer, a
junior from Haines, know
they’d soon be using their
newfound knowledge to
save a man’s life.
“We were just out driv-
ing around,” Slobig said.
The incident started
when Slobig and Palmer
were parked at O’Reilly
Auto Parts and saw a truck
go by on Campbell last
Saturday. Slobig said she
noticed a Jeep being car-
ried on that semi’s trailer—
the kind of Jeep she’d like
to one day own. Not far
behind the semi, the two
saw another of their friends
drive by east toward Mc-
Donald’s, so they left the
parking lot and headed in
that direction. They never
found their friend, but not
long after, they noticed
that same semi pulled off
onto the side of the street
and what appeared to be an
argument between a group
of men unfolding.
As the girls watched,
one man left and another
dropped to the ground.
SEE TEENS SAVE LIFE
PAGE 5
Submitted Photo.
L-R: Hubert Wayne Simmons, Jerry Jewell, Syndey Palmer, and Sydney Slobig.
Local veteran travels to
Washington D.C.
Reserve
officers
graduate
• CEREMONY FOR LARGE CLASS
FILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The fourth graduating class from the Eastern Oregon
Regional Reserve Offi cers Training Academy gathered
at 10 a.m. last Saturday in the Baker City Hall Council
Chambers to accept their certifi cates of completion—a
proud moment for the new reserves who began their
training all the way back on January 9.
Reserve Commander Jerry Boyd led the ceremony,
which as he noted, fell on the last day of National Police
Week. Boyd paused in a moment of silence commemo-
rating the thousands of fallen law enforcement offi cers
throughout history.
SEE RESERVE OFFICERS PAGE 5
After voter
rejection,
nonpartisan
issue is back
Submitted Photo.
WWII veteran Robert Bennett talks about his victories, losses and experiences having just returned from an
adventure in Washington D.C. Above he poses with a fl ag fl own over the U.S. Capitol Building.
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
“It’s just something that I like to do... It just gives the
kids an insight of what it was like, back in 1941 ...” said
local World War II Marine Corps veteran Robert Bennett
this week when he spoke about sharing his wartime expe-
riences with school students who visit the Warhawk Air
Museum, located in Nampa, Idaho. Robert shares these
details, along with more than a dozen other veterans who
volunteer their time.
Robert volunteers also for Heart ‘n Home Hospice &
Palliative Care,= to visit and assist veterans—something
he said he’s been doing since his wife of 72 years, Jean,
passed away on April 16, 2015, of congestive heart
failure.
Friday
Mostly sunny and mild, highs near 60. Mostly
cloudy and cool at night with lows in the mid
30s.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with highs in the lower 60s. Partly
cloudy and cool at night with lows in the mid
30s.
Sunday
Partly sunny with the threat of showers and
storms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 60s.
Lows in the lower 40s.
“When she passed away, I felt strongly that the Hospice
was a great organization, and really did well for her...”
Heart ‘n Home in Idaho helped care for Jean, along with
Robert’s daughter, Lori Brock, a Nampa resident, who’s
a hospice nurse for Heart ‘n Home. He said he wished
to keep busy after his wife had passed away, so he will
continue with the volunteer work, which he said is a great
comfort and worthwhile.
Robert, who turns 93 in June, said that the Museum
volunteers range from World War II to other eras, but,
“There are getting less and less of us that are capable...”
The experiences he communicates to students and
others includes an emphasis on the contribution to the
wartime effort by the wives, daughters, girlfriends, and
others, of the service personnel including his wife, Jean.
SEE BENNETT PAGE 9
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
• SAME SUPPORTERS HOPE TO GET SAME
IDEA BACK ON BALLOT FOR 2ND YEAR
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
“Voters already educated themselves and rejected
this idea in Baker County last year,” said Baker County
Republican Chair Suzan Ellis Jones. “Voters saw the false
narrative for what it was, but here it comes again.”
Last year, Democrat co-petitioners succeeded in plac-
ing an initiative on the ballot that would have removed
the Republican, Democrat and Independent designa-
tions from Baker County Commissioner seats, changing
them to nonpartisan. Voters put down the idea, but now
those affi liated with that movement are trying it again.
First, they’ll need to gather about 430 valid signatures by
August.
SEE NONPARTISAN PAGE 5
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Forest Access for All banquet
City budget hearings held
Locked & Loaded cleans up
League of Oregon Cities meets
Burnt River Student wins art contest
Halfway man arrested for sex abuse
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