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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2017)
LOCAL: Council changes as Andersen sworn in and Ostrander resigns. PAGE 8 LOCAL: Fire destroys Huntington home. PAGE 7 The Baker County Press TheBakerCountyPress.com 75¢ All local. All relevant. Every Friday. Friday, January 27, 2017 • Volume 4, Issue 4 Chamber awards given BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Saturday, January 21, the Baker County Chamber of Commerce held its 87th Annual Awards Banquet, beginning the New Year with a silent auction, an outstanding awards cer- emony, and a live auction. The banquet was held in the Baker County Event Center with several tables decorated by local busi- nesses such as John J. Howard and Associates Real Estate, D&B Sup- ply, Commercial Tire, US Bank, and many others. The banquet dinner was catered by the Baker Truck Corral. “We are here to recog- nize and honor some of our best and brightest citizens in Baker County,” Cham- ber Board of Directors President Cheryl Martin stated. “These are the folks who have given selfl essly of their time and resources to help make our county the beautiful Camelot, or snowy Camelot, that we are able love and enjoy.” Board member Cindy Endicott presented the 2016 Legacy Woman of the Year award to Lynette Perry. Hal Huntington present- ed the 2016 Legacy Man of the Year award to John Hardwick. Amy Hughes and Jane Barrett presented the 2016 Woman of the Year award to Susan Castles and Car- men Ott. Lenny Spooner presented the 2016 Man of the Year award to Cliff Cole. Chamber Vice President Jeff Nelson presented the Organization of the Year award to Soroptimist Inter- national of Baker County. Cheryl Martin presented the 2016 Excellence in Agriculture award to Deryl Legget. Jo Hinrichsen and Michelle Paoletti presented the 2016 Business of the Year award to Oregon Trail Restaurant. This year, Crossroads Carnegie Art Center Executive Director Ginger Savage presented a video made by the school district staff called Celebrate Baker. SEE CHAMBER AWARDS PAGE 5 Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press L-R: Cindy Endicott and Lynette Perry, Legacy Woman of the Year. Local, ORP chair attend Deer feeding Trump inauguration, ball creates Hwy. 86 hazard BY KERRY McQUISTEN News@TheBakerCountyPress.com Former Baker 5J School Board member Kyle Knight traveled quite literally through snow, ice and dark of night in order to make it from Idaho back through Oregon to Portland to catch his fl ight to Washington D.C. In the end, Knight suc- ceeded in attending the Presidential Inauguration and the subsequent ball last Friday—and even came face to face with hostile protestors. “I had to reschedule the fl ight three times,” Knight said, due to weather. Also attending, Oregon Republican Party (ORP) Chair Bill Currier had left a couple days earlier than Knight and had an easier time traveling, not having to pass through the ice storm that shut freeways, highways and back roads. All in all, about 200 Or- egonians traveled to attend the inauguration. Currier was there early to take care of business fi rst. He said, “I arrived on Tuesday and attended several receptions to honor Reince Priebus, Sharon Day, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence before attending the RNC meeting on Thurs- day to elect the new RNC chair and co-chair, Ronna McDaniel and Bob Padu- chik. I had spoken with them prior to their election about Oregon and they were both very positive about Oregon following in the footsteps of Michigan in turning red. After their election I spoke with them again and they committed to supporting Oregon in the 2018 election cycle. They promised to help us fi nancially with our operations and by sending speakers for fundraisers. I BY TODD ARRIOLA Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Assistant District Wildlife Biologist Justin Primus and Wildlife Technician Phillip Perrine, of the Baker District offi ce, recently elaborated on their message, regarding the feeding of hay to deer along Highway 86 by members of the public: as well-intentioned as it is, it may be doing more harm than good. Primus said that he, Perrine, and others have seen alfalfa hay sporadically along both sides of Highway 86, from around the area of Sparta, clear to Oxbow, a dis- tance of over 40 miles. “There are a lot of deer down in the Powder River drainage, so, they’re down low to start with. They’re feeding, in some cases, from me to you (he was sitting less than fi ve feet away from this reporter during the interview) off the traffi c lane. So you’ve got deer standing in knee-deep to belly-deep snow with cars coming by.” Both said that there have been vehicle collisions with deer, but Perrine said they couldn’t determine accurately the number of feeding-related collisions. Some carcasses were seen off the side of the road, but they couldn’t always tell what the causes were. SEE DEER FEEDING PAGE 7 Doe poached in City Limits BY SUNNY WERNER Submitted Photo. Kyle Knight traveled through a blizzard to get to Washington D.C. in time to witness President Donald Trump take the Oath of Offi ce. was impressed with their keen interest in the states that are not yet red, like Oregon. I foresee big gains in 2018 for Republicans across the country.” Knight said due to weather and rerouting of fl ights, he “barely made it.” The staff for Congress- man Greg Walden (R) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D) had inauguration tickets available for constituents Friday Patchy fog, otherwise partly sunny skies. Highs near 20.Friday Night: Widespread foggy condi- tions, fog will freeze on surfaces. Lows in the mid single digits. Saturday Patchy fog, otherwise mostly sunny. Highs in the upper teens. Saturday Night: Widespread foggy conditions, fog will freeze on surfaces. Lows near 0. Sunday Patchy fog, otherwise mostly sunny and cold. Highs in the mid teens. Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy and cold. Lows in the mid single digits. that were required to be picked up by Thursday— the day before the cer- emony. Knight guessed that Republicans would swarm Walden’s offi ce for tickets due to Trump’s party af- fi liation, so he targeted the Merkley tickets fi rst— which paid off. In section 9, Knight’s ticket was “probably 25 feet from the podium—one section away from the VIP section,” he said. Meanwhile, Currier and wife, Becky, ORP staff, and some friends attended the welcome concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Currier said, “There were a variety of perform- ers, including Lee Green- wood and Toby Keith. I was especially moved by Greenwood’s singing of ‘God Bless the USA.’” SEE INAUGURATION PAGE 5 Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County. Our forecast made possible by this generous sponsor: Offi cial weather provider for The Baker County Press. Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com At 11:30 p.m. on Thursday evening, January 19th, Christina Witham, of South Bridge Street, was woken by Baker City Police offi cers knocking on her door asking permission to enter her property. Witham is the owner of The Oregon Sign Company. The offi cers were on the trail of a badly wounded deer, and witnesses had seen the deer run into her backyard. Witham gave permission to the offi cers. Witnesses, who had contacted Baker City Police earlier about seeing an injured doe, also informed the offi cers that they had seen a blue van driving very slowly with two individuals inside. When the offi cers arrived on scene they found a heavy blood trail leading through Witham’s yard. They tracked the deer, and fi nally found a fatally injured doe. The deer had been shot with an arrow. SEE POACHING PAGE 10 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Cattlemen discuss BMFPR Two promoted on SWAT team Woman arrested in biting incident Fire destroys Huntington home Huntington declares state of emergency Powder River Rural FPD gets grant Page Page Page Page Page Page 3 5 5 7 7 10
