FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
5J honors local police partners Valley Street
dog deemed
dangerous
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
August 18, the Baker
School District Board met
and presented a Certificate
of Outstanding Recogni-
tion to the Baker City
Police Department (BCPD)
as the Business Partner of
the Quarter.
The BCPD was represent-
ed by Chief Wyn Lohner
and School Resource Of-
ficer Lance Woodward.
“This is a Certificate of
Outstanding Recognition
for your contributions to
our school district,” said
Betty Palmer, the Assistant
Superintendent.
“Both for Lance, our
partner for being there, but
also in recognition of Chief
Lohner of the dedication
you have to serve our
students and to keep our
buildings safe,” she added.
High School senior
Koby Hansen represented
himself and Blake Stone,
who was out of town, for
winning a trophy at the
Future Business Leaders of
America (FBLA) National
Championships and both
received certificates of
recognition. Hansen and
Stone placed first at the
national competition in
Atlanta, Georgia, in the
Global Business category.
South Baker students
Campbell Vanderwiele and
Anthony Christopher, who
was in Chicago at the time
of the meeting, received
certificates of recognition
for their show of leader-
ship in working to get a
basketball court for South
Baker Elementary.
Palmer reported the
Newport High School
Principal, Jon Zagel, would
be in Baker August 23 as
a keynote speaker for their
in-service week at school.
Palmer said Zegal would
talk about his experiences
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
L-R: School Resource Officer Lance Woodward, Assistant Superintendant of 5J
Betty Palmer, and Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner.
as a student, a principal,
and what he is doing to
give back to students.
Palmer explained that
the meeting was to be a
discussion of what every-
one in education can do
to give their best to their
schools.
Palmer is giving substi-
tute training for the year
and she will continue until
the school year, training
substitute teachers. They
are still recruiting more
people for the training
program.
5J’s Chief Financial
Officer and Business
Manager Doug Dalton
reported summer courses
are ending and they are
offering course develop-
ment classes, including a
welding class September
6, which has been ex-
panded to twelve potential
candidates. They will be
offering another course
for twelve other students
in November. They have
courses in Bend in Octo-
ber and in La Grande in
November. They will be
discussing the courses,
who will be in them, and
what it means for Baker
Technical Institute (BTI)
and the school district.
Dalton explained at
South Baker they installed
a new gym floor, fixed a
water leak, and widened
the sidewalk to increase
safety at the bus lanes.
At the Middle School
they have the dog court
ready and Brooklyn now
has the underground water
system they had been
working on.
Board Chair Kevin
Cassidy discussed the
Oregon School Board
Association—OSBA. He
and Andrew Bryan have a
legislative policy call in to
finalize their priorities for
OSBA. He also has a board
meeting with OSBA in
September.
Cassidy gave a report on
the Facility Master Plan-
ning (FMP) Committee,
which will be meeting in
September to finalize op-
tions of expanding a group
of community, staff, and
stakeholders.
“The FMP is a founda-
tion, a piece of work that
we’re doing to understand
what we are. All of us have
a desire of what we want to
be but we’re trying to not
go there in this particular
piece. We’re really trying
to understand what we are
so it’s not anecdotal for me
to say, ‘Location, South
Baker.’ I say that, but what
does that mean?” said
Cassidy. “Having a third
party lens that understands
those things, to be able to
actually give us that data
and understand what that is
and what we could be and
then develop a few options
from that.”
Chamber has soapbox derby
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker City Cham-
ber of Commerce held the
first annual Baker County
Downhill Derby August
20.
The Derby had two races,
the first for youth and the
second for adults.
The Chamber Executive
Directory, Shelly Cutler,
organized the event. She
first thought of the derby in
March, wanting to orga-
nize an event to wrap up
summer vacation and have
something families could
participate in.
Cutler had researched
other derbies, consulting
with Ron Osterloh, who or-
ganizes the Union County
and Wallowa County
derbies, to find what to do
and what would or would
not work.
The derby was held on
Windmill Road and three
youths participated with
their families.
Robbe Abell and his son
Rowan, Larry Parker and
his son Gabriel Simmons,
and Conner Niday raced in
the youths with his grand-
father Gary Nelson racing
in the adults.
Robbe Abell’s family
is from Baker, while he,
his fiancée and son live in
Portland.
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
Receiving trophies. L-R: Greg Nelson with his grandson Conner Niday, Larry
Parker with his son Gabriel Simmons, and Robbe Abell with his son Rowan
Abell.
Niday and his family are
from Union and Simmons’
family is local.
“For the first year, I’m
glad we got the partici-
pants we had,” said Cutler.
The event began with
Abell, Simmons, and Ni-
day timing how fast their
soapbox cars would go
downhill.
Due to there being only
three participants, Cutler
had the boys go downhill
three times and the winner
would be the one with the
best average time.
After averaging out the
times, the boys raced two
at a time for a fun competi-
tion before trophies were
handed out.
Abell won first place
with an average time of
32.76 seconds.
Niday won second place
with an average of 35.45/
Simmons won third place
with an average time of
38.96.
In the adult race, the
three cars went together
downhill.
Robbe Abell won first
place, Greg Nelson second
and Larry Parker third.
Cutler plans to make this
an annual event in Baker
the Chamber will put on
for families to participate
in.
Subscribe today! See how on Page 7.
On Monday, the results of three dangerous dog hearings
held last Thursday were announced with two dogs named
not dangerous per the City’s Dangerous Dog Ordinance
90.39.
A third dog, Oreo, was declared dangerous, however.
The border collie mix resides with owners Toby and Hill-
ary Jones at 1627 Valley Street in Baker City.
Oreo reportedly had a history of aggressive behavior
with neighbors, which culminated in a recent attack. A
teenage girl on her newspaper route had experienced prior
behavior with the dog, which lives on the south side of
the street. She attempted to avoid the home by crossing to
the north side of the street during her route when the dog
bolted off the property, crossed the street, circled the girl
repeatedly, and bit her on the thigh.
According to code enforcement officer Mark Powell
Tuesday morning, the owners have two weeks to neuter
the animal and construct either a six-foot fence or place
the dog in a confined area such as a kennel—if they want
to keep the dog within the City limits. The area must be
clearly marked with signage indicating a dangerous dog
resides there. The dog must also be microchipped and
covered by liability insurance of no less than $150,000.
The owners, per ordinance, have 180 days to have the dog
evaluated by a certified applied behaviorist, a board-cer-
tified veterinary behaviorist, or another recognized expert
in the field. Obedience training is also a requirement.
The owners could also, of course, choose to relocate
Oreo outside City Limits—and outside the reach of the
ordinance.
Noncompliance can result in a hefty fine of $1,000
depending on the subsection of the ordinance violated,
said Powell.
HB 5815
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The bill, if enacted, would prevent prosecution under
the following conditions:
“(i) the damage or destruction, or attempt to damage or
destroy, is by means of a fire that—
“(I) is set by a person to property owned by the per-
son— (aa)to prevent an imminent threat of damage
to that property; or (bb)as part of any other generally
accepted practice for managing vegetation on timber,
grazing, or farm land;
“(II)does not pose a serious threat of injury to any indi-
vidual or damage to any building, dwelling, or vehicle of
the United States; and
“(III)does not result in death or serious bodily injury to
any individual; and
“ (ii)an individual who has not attained 16 years of age
is not used in setting the fire.”
The Hammonds, father and son aged 73 and 46 at the
time, turned themselves in to Federal authorities back in
January to begin their sentence, after the U.S. Department
of Justice appealed the original sentence they had already
served. That first conviction came in 2012 for arson
charges, which fell under the Federal Antiterrorism
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, after the Hammonds
burned approximately 130 acres of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM)-managed grazing land adjoining
their own property, in what the defense said was an ef-
fort to protect the family ranch from a wildfire that had
ignited on public lands and was headed toward the Ham-
mond ranch. The prosecution argued that the Hammonds
had started the blaze to cover up the carcasses of deer
killed during poaching; however, no physical evidence of
poaching or of deer incinerated in the fire existed.
The 9th Circuit Court granted the appeal in October
2015, and ordered the Hammonds to fulfill a five-year
minimum sentence, which had been waived by the previ-
ous judge.
The penalties didn’t just come with what most believed
was an excessive sentence. The Hammonds, during the
course of their legal battles, were also given a $400,000
fine—and were ordered to give the BLM the right of first
refusal should their financial situation force them to sell
their family ranch. To date, the family has incurred over
a million dollars in legal bills, and now, after the incar-
ceration of their husbands, the Hammond wives carry
the day-to-day operations of the family ranch in spite of
newly diagnosed health issues.
To date, President Obama has declined to issue a par-
don.
HB 5815 is co-sponsored by Congressmen Labrador,
Newhouse and Gosar. Contacting the Judiciary Commit-
tee members individually would prove time-consuming.
Walden’s Communications Director Andrew Malcolm
in D.C. said, “As far as support, it is probably easiest
for people to send their support to our office and we can
share that with the House Judiciary Committee mem-
bers.”
To contact Rep. Greg Walden:
Email (through website): http://walden.house.gov/
contact-greg/email-me
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/repgregwalden
Phone: 202-225-6730 or 800-533-3303 (toll free from
the 541 area code)
Postal mail: Office of U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, 1211
Washington Avenue, La Grande, OR 97850.
Without an influx of constituent support, the bill is cur-
rently rated at having a slim 1% chance of making it into
law.