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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2016)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 Local Safe Routes to School event CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 According to the history, around the globe Inter- national Walk to School Month brings together more than 40 countries in recognition of the com- mon interest in walking to school. The first-ever Bike to School Day took place May 9, 2012, as part of National Bike Month. 950 local events in 49 states across the U.S. encouraged children to safely bicycle or walk to school. In 2014, more than 2,200 schools participated in National Bike to School Day on May 7. Jodi Tool, the Transpor- tation Options Coordinator for the Baker, Wallowa, and Union area, explained that schools that are in- volved do not have specific protocol for what they do while involved with the event. Some schools have students walk around the school and others have dif- ferent places to meet and a group will walk safely to school. This year, the schools involved are walking from the Geiser Pollman Park to Brooklyn Elementary. “A lot of kids don’t walk to school, either that it’s not safe, they haven’t been properly trained how to walk to school, it might be too far, and so it’s just to encourage safer routes to school,” said Tool. “There are grants that are available from time to time where maybe they put in a side- walk where there wasn’t a sidewalk or maybe there’s no wheelchair ramps in that area where people would be going. Or they have places where a lot of kids will ride that way but it’s just a dirt path, so they’ll bring in money to fix those roads or maybe it’s to put flashing beacons like on Campbell Street so that it just alerts people that kids are there.” This year, the Baker City Police Department is helping Safe Kids World Wide, who is also in- volved. Tool explained that the Sheriff’s Department is going to have people there and Tool plans on having the Baker Bulldog at the event and the mayor has said that she is interested in being there. Tool also said thirteen students from the National Honor Society from the High School will help with the event. “We’re hoping to make it a safe event and maybe next year coordinate it so that more kids can get involved,” said Tool. “This year the school bus kids aren’t going to be involved unless their parents bring them to the event. So maybe next year we can look at getting more people involved, look at more schools in the county, and make it a bigger, safer event.” Union County, Island City, Bend and other urban areas have participated in this event. Tool explained part of her job is pedestrian safety, bike safety, van- pooling, and coordinating different ways for using less single occupancy vehicles. Tool has been with Community Connections for a year and a half and this is the first year she has done this event. She has done other safe kids events, including a bike event at Brooklyn two springs ago that she helped with. The event begins Oc- tober 5 at 7:30, no earlier than 7:20, and participants will meet at the Geiser- Pollman Park on the Grove Street side toward the Museum. They will walk down Grove Street to Washing- ton then to Brooklyn. New Brooklyn Principal profiled BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Brooklyn Elementary has begun a new year with a new principal, Phil An- derson. This is Anderson’s first year as a principal and his first year in Baker City. Anderson is a native Oregonian born and raised in the Portland area. His wife is from Pendle- ton and her father grew up in Baker. Her great-uncle was a principal in Baker, her grandfather was the as- sistant superintendent and her grandmother taught in the Baker school district. Anderson taught a fourth and fifth blend class for six years in the West Linn Wilsonville School district and then he was the Instructional Coordinator at Stafford Primary School in the same school district for a few years—it was a similar job to being an as- sistant principal. The school he came from had about 500 stu- dents, similar to Brooklyn. Anderson explained that there was a Principal, an Instructional Coordinator, and a Counselor that made a type of leadership team for the school. While there, he gained administrative experience, worked with data, curricu- lum, and students as well as facilitating professional development with staff and working at the district level as well. While he was doing that, he received his license in administration to be a principal, a goal of his. He was at Stafford for a few years before they moved to Baker in late June. “Right now, my plan is to just learn about Brooklyn, to learn about the community, find out what’s in place and what’s working well and to make sure they continue to work well,” explained Anderson. “I think as I learn more about the school and the community, the teachers here, as a team continue to develop a plan and a vision for Brooklyn. One thing we’ve done right away is to develop a vision for the Salt Lick winners announced The 10th Annual Great Salt Lick Auction would like to congratulate the winners of the Salt Lick Contest held on Saturday September 17th at Crossroads Art Center. Winners: Best Poetry and Block and People’s Choice Winner- “Perspective” by Paulette Romtvedt Second Place: “Cooperation of Block Coordination” by John Heriza Tie for Third and Fourth: “The Summer Meeting of the Cows” by Mary Lou Wirth; “The Sacred Cow” by Mary Lou Wirth; “Cow Elk Lick” by Orrin Lay Most Artistic Block Tie for 1st: “Monty Rabbit” by Jessica Daugherty and “Fusion” by Kim Jacobs 3rd Place: “Dooley” by Beth Philips 4th Place: “I’m a Little Blue” by Wyatt Lee and Christa Sits Block that looks the most like Michael J Fox: “MJF Looking Good” by Buck and Hope Buckner Best Forgery- “Blue Trillum” by Kathy Pennington Best General Blocks: Tie for 1st Place: “Herefords Revenge” by Mike Hut- ton and “The Mouse House” by Mib Dailey 3rd Place: “Salt Bird” by Winton Ranches 4th Place: “Holy Moly” by Ted Brown Best Poem (with no Block): “Sacred Cow” by Nancy Coffelt Prizes will be mailed to the winners and those wishing to donate their prizes back so the prize money can go to OHSU Parkinson’s Research should mail the check back or contact Crossroads at 541-523-5369. The boxes to display Salt Licks made by Powder River Correctional Facility are available at Crossroads for sale at $20 a box and all proceeds go to Parkinson’s Research. It is expected that The Great Salt Lick will donate $1,200 to the Baker County YMCA with a matching grant by Modern Woodsmen Financial and Baker County YMCA to provide services for people with neuromus- cular disorders. Currently the expected check to OHSU Parkinson’s Research should be over $17,000. Immediately following this year’s Salt Lick Auction, founder Whit Deschner headed to the 2016 World Parkin- son’s Congress in Portland to speak about the success of the Great Salt Lick Event in raising awareness about Par- kinson’s. Baker High School graduate Tanya Denne will also be presenting her research on the Mucuna Pruriens a plant which grows wild in India and has potential to help with Parkinson’s. Tanya research trip to India was funded with proceeds from the Great Salt Lick and a crowd sourcing campaign. Funny money passed in Baker City Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Phil Anderson is the new Principal at Brooklyn School. school, something we have created as a staff and what we feel is important. So part of my job is to make sure that I help support us as we work towards our school vision. A lot of it is not only my goals, but goals we have as a school and working together towards those goals.” Unity residents learn about drugs CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Spencer noted that there are seven key types of drugs with which law enforcement also deal, consumed individually and in various combinations referred to as a “polydrug” situation. Marijuana falls under the Cannabis category along with Hash/Hashish, Mari- nol/Sativex, and Synthetic Cannabanoids. Ash stated that there has been some debate over whether or not people could overdose on marijua- na, and said they typically see the most damage “from behaviors after” taking the drug. The introduction of edibles such as gummy bears (which have alleged- ly been seen in Baker City) and fruity drinks laced with marijuana, as well as chocolate bars, raise the risk of a person consuming an amount that may land them in the hospital. Ash said that while using marijuana may make a per- son appear calmer on the outside, “It’s a party on the inside,” with vitals raised. Indications of marijuana use may include change in personal hygiene, reddened eyes, dilated eyes, changed sleep habits, impaired memory, drowsiness, trem- ors, disorientation, relaxed inhibition and possible paranoia. The audience showed a minor interest learning more about meth, a stimu- lant, but not about other classes of drugs such as alcohol and other depres- sants. One lady asked Ash if he considered meth or pot to be more detrimental to users. “I think meth is worse,” he responded. Symptoms of advanced meth use can include tooth loss, open sores and considerable weight loss, as well as a number of behavioral indicators. According to Ash outside the meeting, in 2016 there were approximately seven meth arrests in the County outside the Baker City Limits. In 2015 there were eight, nine in 2014 and six in 2013. (A margin of error applies.) Meth-related arrests within Baker City are nearly a weekly occur- rence. However, members of the audience quickly steered the discussion back toward marijuana and the Sheriff’s department’s involvement in outlying areas. A discussion followed regarding response time in the outlying areas, considering many of them require an hour’s drive for a deputy coming from Baker City. Some citizens were concerned that mari- juana grows would create a temptation for plant theft—and Ash said there had been two such thefts in Huntington this month. He also pointed out that the crops are typically insured, and he hopes growers would not try to protect their crops with force. Baker County Com- missioner and Unity area rancher Mark Bennett was present, and reminded that the law permits lethal force to protect one’s self or the life of another, but probably wouldn’t apply in protecting one’s marijuana plants. Jay Greenwood was per- haps the most outspoken at this point, saying, “The only time we see a lawman out here is at a meeting or something.” He claimed there had been no deputy response to a recent call he’d place to the Sheriff’s Office during which he and his wife had been threat- ened. Ash promised to look into the incident. A few minor comments were made in the audience, but with no direct ques- tions remaining, the meet- ing wrapped up around 8 p.m. In a followup email, Ash said another marijuana dis- cussion will be scheduled for a later date in Halfway, but it will be primarily District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff’s presentation. Photo Courtesy of The Baker City Police Department. The bill above was seized as evidence. Over the last couple of weeks, several businesses in town have been victim of fake $100 bills. The bill pic- tured above was seized as evidence in this case, and oth- ers like it have been passed in Baker City recently. One bill has been recovered from Sunset Lounge, and another from Rite Aid. The Baker City Police Department urges and cautions businesses and their employees to pay close attention to and look for authentic bills. A counterfeit pen was used on the seized bill, and was still accepted. There are marked differences between movie picture bills and real bills—they come in all denominations, but will have “Motion Picture Use Only” printed all over the bill, both front and back.” If you find someone attempting to pass this type of bill as real money, please notify the Baker City Police Depart- ment at (541) 523-3644. Two injured in I-84 accident Two Baker City residents, Mae Corwin, 57, and Robert Lusk, 19, were involved in a rollover crash last Saturday on I- 84 near the Sand Hollow exit outside Caldwell, say Idaho State Police. Corwin swerved her Toyota Corolla to avoid road debris, overcorrected, and rolled her car across the median into westbound traffic. Both individu- als were hospitalized in the Boise area.
