LOCAL: Council changes as Andersen sworn
in and Ostrander resigns. PAGE 8
LOCAL: Fire destroys Huntington home.
PAGE 7
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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
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