ELECTION: Baker County Sheriff’s
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voters—in their own words. PAGE 5
The
LOCAL: Annual Harvest Bazaar
held in Unity. PAGE 9
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Friday, October 21, 2016 • Volume 3, Issue 43
MayDay holds vigil
against domestic violence
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Tuesday, October 18,
MayDay Inc. hosted their
annual celebration of the
human spirit and candle-
light vigil in observation of
Domestic Violence Aware-
ness Month.
MayDay is a nonprofi t
organization that helps vic-
tims of domestic violence,
abuse, sexual assault, and
elder abuse. They also pro-
vide services for traffi ck-
ing, bullying, and stalking.
The event provided an
opportunity for people to
tell their stories of do-
mestic violence, share in
their experiences, and to
remember silent victims,
those who had died due to
domestic violence.
This year, they recog-
nized three silent victims
with dark cutouts. The
names on the cutouts were
Sid Stratos, Karen Bass,
and Christina.
Between the poems and
stories, Rick Anderson
performed on drums and
guitar for listeners.
Due to the weather this
year, the luminarias they
planned to place for the
vigil were not displayed
to keep them from dam-
age—they were made by
students from MayDay
classes and past survivors.
“It’s good for them to
get their story out,” said
Cassie Martin, the Program
Coordinator and PRIA
Advocate. “It’s a growing
experience.”
Lynnette Perry, a survi-
vor of domestic violence,
shared her story for the
third time at this event.
“Don’t despair, you can
be your own person,”
Perry said to listeners.
Perry and Martin fo-
cused on reminding attend-
ing listeners to be hopeful
and strong.
Attending the event
were clients from the
Baker House, who shared
poems they had written de-
scribing their experiences
with domestic violence and
shared their stories.
Helping with the event
were Tammy Cornelius
and Heidi Stark, who are
Victim’s Advocates for
sexual assault, domestic
abuse, elder abuse, traf-
fi cking, and stalking.
“It’s nice, we don’t
usually get a huge crowd,
but it’s just kind of nice to
celebrate surviving,” said
Cornelius.
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
Rick Anderson (in the tent) with Lynette Perry in the
white scarf, Cassie Martin and others attended the
vigil.
Baker
County’s
‘Gold Rush’
season
debuts
Here kitty, kitty!
Submitted Photo
Submitted by Suzan Ellis Jones
Kristina Koontz poses with the cougar she downed with one shot as it stalked her during a hunting trip.
The camera crew fi lms a mid-season segment of
‘Gold Rush’ up Clark’s Creek.
BY TODD ARRIOLA
• SEASON FILMED IN HEREFORD AND
BRIDGEPORT AIRS AT LAST
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
“I’ll never forget it,” said local hunter Kristina Koontz,
as she spoke about the harrowing experience of being
surprised by a hovering, 150-pound male cougar in the
Ukiah Wildlife Management Unit—which she dropped,
with one shot from eight yards away using a Remington
Model 700 rifl e in .270 caliber.
Koontz, 40, from La Grande, actually began her solo
adventure on Tuesday, October 11, by looking to fi ll her
deer rifl e tag —she had a cougar tag, too—which she
thought she had accomplished, by shooting at a buck,
around 1 p.m., she said. The buck took off, and she
tracked it for about three and a half hours (and about
seven miles—there were tracks, but no blood), but she
couldn’t locate it ultimately. “I never drew blood on that
buck, so, I’m pretty sure I missed it,” she said.
She called her boyfriend, Chris Cannon, a couple of
times, when she had cell phone service, and said, “I think
I’m getting closer (getting back to her vehicle), but I
might be spending the night out here.”
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Submitted Photo..
SEE COUGAR PAGE 9
Friday
Partly sunny, seasonable. Highs in the lower
60s. Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with showers.
Chance of precipitation, lows in the high 30s.
Saturday
Partly sunny with a stray chance of showers.
Chance of precipitation is 20%, highs near 60.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy with a stray
chance for showers. Lows near 40.
Sunday
Partly sunny with a chance for showers. Highs
in the lower 60s. Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy
with a stray chance for showers. Lows near 40.
The cougar weighed in at a whopping 150 lbs.
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
The season debut of the Discovery Channel’s ‘Gold
Rush’ aired last Friday, October 14, featuring several
shots of southern Baker County where the Hoffman crew
arrived last summer for fi lming on the High Bar Mine,
owned by the Wirth family, in Hereford. The crew also
mined—utilizing the famed Monster Red wash plant—at
a separate location up Clark’s Creek near Bridgeport.
The fi rst episode of the season showed a caravan
including the stars of the show and a British camera crew
arriving at the Durkee end of Burnt River Canyon—and
due to the magic of television appearing rather quickly in
Hereford a half hour away. That segment was fi lmed in
May, and attended by County Commissioner Mark Ben-
nett.
The initial plot hints at a disappointing lack of gold,
resulting in production moving elsewhere for next season.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Taste of Baker held
OTEC gets new manager
Letters to the Editor, Editorial
Classifi ed
Fugitive’s twin brother arrested
Central Park’s new interactive art
Page 3
Page 3
Pages 4-5,7
Page 6
Page 9
Page 10