FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
K9 fundraiser
Solar eclipse
Photo courtesy of the Office of Emergency Management.
Kailyn McQuisten / The Baker County Press
Chief Wyn Lohner and Reserve Officer Zach
Thatcher hanging the thin blue line flag during
pre-event decorating.
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Capa’s care and training
fall under a grant line in
the budget, meaning that
“every dollar that goes in
for the program goes out
for it,” said Lohner.
Dog food, he said, is pri-
marily donated. Funds are
needed to cover things like
veterinary bills, training,
conferences, and special
equipment necessary to
handle and transport Capa.
Handler Chastain’s salary
as an officer is paid by the
City as outlined in the Po-
lice Department’s budget.
Lohner said his goal is
to eventually build a large
enough fund that it will
cover replacement of Capa
years down the road, when
the time comes.
The event began with a
social hour from 4-5 p.m.,
moving into a prime rib
or chicken dinner at 5:30
p.m., cooked and served by
the Oregon Trail Restau-
rant. Silent auction items
lined the room, and a live
auction began after dinner.
Lohner served as emcee
with City Manager Fred
Warner, Jr. as auctioneer.
Live auction items
consisted of donated items
from local businesses and
individuals, but also of
firearms seized during lo-
cal drug raids, including a
meth lab on 2nd Street in
Baker City.
Due to a friendship with
Carl and Shawna Patton of
Sumpter’s Patton Excava-
tion, special guest Stan
Brock of the New Orleans
Saints attended with a pre-
game ball, which would be
signed by the winning bid-
der’s player(s) of choice.
According to the BCPD,
“Brock played 16 seasons
in the NFL after being the
12th player drafted in the
1980 draft. Brock played
for the New Orleans Saints
from 1980 to 1992. He
finished his career with the
San Diego Chargers from
1993 to 1995. He played
in Super Bowl XXIX for
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
City Manager Fred Warner, Jr. acted as auctioneer
for the event. Special guest Stan Brock from the
New Orleans Saints donated a sign pre-game ball.
the Chargers. Stan’s older
brothers Pete played in the
NFL for the Patriots, and
Willie for the Detroit Lions
and his younger brother,
Ray played for the Kansas
City Chiefs.
“After his playing career,
he became a coach in the
Arena Football League
(AFL), where he served
as the head coach of the
Portland Forest Dragons
(1997–1999) and the Los
Angeles Avengers (2000–
2001). In 2004, Bobby
Ross picked Brock to
coach the offensive line for
the United States Military
academy.
“After four years as the
line coach, on January 29,
2007, he was named the
head coach at Army after
the resignation of Bobby
Ross.
“Following his time as
a football coach, Brock
became a coach in the
business world working
for Benchmade in Oregon
City, Oregon and Benelli
USA in Maryland. Brock
is very proud of his time
spent as a Project Man-
ager for Patton Ex out of
Sumpter.”
Stan Brock is currently
the Sports Anchor for
KOIN 6 television in Port-
land. Brock and his wife,
Lori, have four daughters
and 11 grandchildren.
In a moment that Lohner
said was perhaps one of
the most heartfelt of the
night, Patti Vanderwiele
of Triple C Redi-Mix, bid
on the thin blue line flag
hanging over the stage.
Vanderwiele took the
flag for $700, which held
special meaning for her as
her father served in law
enforcement for about 40
years, including time as the
Police Chief for the City of
Athena.
“It was a humbling expe-
rience,” Lohner said. “The
amount of support the
community demonstrated
was overwhelming.”
All in all, over 200 people
attended the event and
$27,833 was raised.
Huntington prepares for eclipse
BY EILEEN DRIVER
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
August 21, 2017 is the
day Huntington is both
looking forward to and
dreading.
For over a year now solar
eclipse websites have been
telling everyone who reads
them that the place to be in
Oregon for the longest
time of totality for viewing
the Solar Eclipse of 2017,
two minutes and nine
seconds, is the Huntington/
Lime area.
They are also touting the
fact that Huntington also
has the best chance of clear
skies for the event.
Both circumstances are
what everyone is looking
for in viewing this once-in-
a-lifetime event.
The Huntington Cham-
ber of Commerce has been
meeting with Solar Eclipse
and event planners from
all over Baker County to
coordinate and plan for
the enormous amount of
people expected to descend
on Eastern Oregon.
The State of Oregon is
expecting approximately
one million people to
attend the event along
the entire line of totality
in Oregon with 20 to 50
thousand or more people
expected to come to Baker
County.
With hotels, motels and
campgrounds being sold
out from Boise to Baker
and beyond the total num-
ber of expected visitors is
becoming more believable
by the minute.
Huntington Chamber
members attended a meet-
ing in Baker City at the
Baker City Hall on
Thursday, December 8th
organized and chaired by
Scott Fairley of Governor
Kate Brown’s Regional
Solutions Office.
There were 38 people
present with 20 more on
phone conference rep-
resenting Baker County
Tourism, ODOT, Travel
Oregon, Eastern Oregon
Visitors Association, Office
of Emergency Manage-
ment, Life Flight, Baker
County Sheriff’s Office,
Baker City Police Depart-
ment and BLM and more,
all gathering information
on what needs to be done
to plan for and keep safe
the citizens of the area as
well as the influx of visi-
tors.
Huntington’s main con-
cern is the traffic problems
that will be faced when
20,000-plus cars try to find
places to park in a town
meant to hold maybe a
thousand.
Other concerns are sani-
tation issues, which neces-
sitate the need to bring in
hundreds of port-a-potties
and dumpsters to service
the large crowds expected,
keeping enough fuel in the
gas tanks at our one ser-
vice station to keep people
on the road, keeping our
grocery store stocked with
food as well as having
enough room and sup-
plies in our restaurants to
feed them. On top of these
concerns is the knowledge
that this is all happening
at the height of fire season
and the need to be prepared
for any eventuality in that
regard.
Although this is a
daunting task the City of
Huntington and its civic
organizations and nonprof-
its are working diligently
to find solutions and work-
able plans to make this an
event that will make the
visitors to the Solar Eclipse
of 2017 want to come back
again and again. Hunting-
ton’s Pioneer Days celebra-
tion is being expanded
and moved from the 2nd
weekend to the third week-
end of August 2017 to give
the eclipsers something to
do while waiting for the
eclipse to happen.
Tent and RV camping
spaces are being made
available inside the City to
better accommodate travel-
ers, as well as telescope
sites.
Vendors and bands are
being sought by the
Huntington Chamber of
Commerce to help feed
and entertain the visitors.
If you are interested in
being a part of the excite-
ment please send an email
to huntingtonchamber@
gmail.com.
Grant County deputy arrested,
transported to Baker County jail
Joseph A. Hutchison
(25) was arrested by Ore-
gon State Police detectives
on November 11, 2016, at
approximately 11:35 p.m.
following an incident at his
home.
Hutchison has formally
been charged in the Grant
County Circuit Court
with unlawful use of a
firearm, pointing a firearm
at another, assault 4 and
menacing.
Hutchison, a correc-
tions deputy for the Grant
County Jail, was transport-
ed to the Baker County Jail
pending arraignment.
After being arraigned,
Hutchison was released
with the conditions that
he not have contact with
the alleged victim, not use
intoxicants in any form and
not possess firearms.
A status hearing will be
held in the Grant County
Circuit Court on January
12, 2016 at 1:15 p.m.
While venue of Hutchi-
son’s case will remain
in Grant County, further
prosecution will be through
the Baker County District
Attorney’s Office.
Any further infor-
mation will be from the
District Attorney’s Office.
The path of totality.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Attendees included Shellie Nash, Eileen Driver and
Alan Driver representing Huntington; Deputy Warren
Thompson of the Baker County Sheriff’s office; Jason
Yencopal and Gary Timm of Baker County Emergency
Management; County Commissioner Bill Harvey; Alice
Trindle of the Eastern Oregon Visitors Association, Tim
Bishop of Basecamp Baker, Brian Wolf of the Baker
City Bureau of Land Managment (BLM) office, Shelly
Cutler of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, Hope
Lindsey of 911 Consolidated Dispatch, Randy Jones of
the Department of Environmental Quality, and Baker City
Police Chief Wyn Lohner, among others. More than 20
individuals from other counties and across the state also
attended via phone.
According to the Office of Emergency Management,
“The 2017 eclipse will be the first total solar eclipse in
the continental U.S. in 38 years. A partial eclipse can be
seen anywhere in the United States; however, the path of
totality (where the moon will block view of the sun com-
pletely) stretches across Oregon and will attract viewers
from around the globe due to typically optimal condi-
tions for viewing in August (e.g. dry weather, clear skies,
limited light pollution).
“The 60-mile wide eclipse path of totality will impact a
337.8 mile distance across the state of Oregon, and con-
tinue eastward along a path across the United States.
“The path of totality will cross the following counties:
Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Lin-
coln, Linn, Jefferson, Malheur, Marion, Polk, Tillamook,
Wasco, Wheeler, and Yamhill.
“The entirety of the eclipse is expected to last from 9
a.m. until 11:30 a.m. PDT.”
Totality will occur for about two minutes at 10:20 a.m.,
10:25 a.m. in Baker City.
Fairley and Gagliano expressed concerns, and passed
along concerns from smaller rural areas regarding ways
to welcome and sustain such a sudden influx of visitors.
Adequate supplies of basics such as food, water, gaso-
line—and also of prime importance, porta-potties and
garbage disposal—were on everyone’s minds.
Jones spoke up and explained what the event will
look like in the path of totality, and why it’s attracting so
much attention. He said if one stands in the right location,
the skies above will go black. Out on the outer edges of
the horizon, a yellow glow will be visible. If the day is
cloud-free and clear enough, stars may also be visible in
the middle of the morning. “It’s truly a celestial event,”
he said.
Concerns about the freeways and rural highways
handling traffic were also discussed. Highway 26, for
instance, runs parallel to the path of the eclipse, and may
be a temptation for large numbers of drivers to attempt
to take to that road from John Day to Unity and drive
quickly beneath the eclipse, which will take 90 minutes to
cross the state.
Eileen Driver said that from her position, the City of
Huntington is equipped to handle about 800 people.
Roughly 15,000 are expected to come into Huntington
that day. Driver hopes to coordinate with the Oregon
Department of Transportation (ODOT) to get permis-
sion to shuttle people in from parking lots on either end
of town—however, ODOT, not the City, controls that
highway.
Events to celebrate the eclipse are planned in the Ocho-
cos and in Madras, with 10,000 guests already confirmed
via reservations in Madras.
Scheduled events that are known in Baker County
include the City of Huntington, Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort, Unity Lake State Recreation Site, and Farewell
Bend State Recreation Area.
Motel and hotel rooms in Baker City are nearly full,
with most of those remaining going for $500 per night
with a three-night minimum stay. Bishop encouraged peo-
ple to encourage visitors to “come early and stay late.”
When State Park camp sites were opened for reserva-
tions across Oregon, every single slot was reserved within
one hour.
If Oregon coastal areas, for example, are predicted to
cloud over, even more visitors could shift their plans and
travel east.
Trindle said her organization is helping pull players
together to help take advantage of statewide marketing
efforts. Though most television broadcasts will be based
in Salem, she said, the hope is to get eastern Oregon in
the media spotlight. With the amount of international
interest in the eclipse, throughout Oregon, half a million
tourists is within the realm of possibility. Local individual
marketing opportunities could well occur.
Quite a number of future planning meetings are sched-
uled between now and the date of the actual event.