LOCAL: Sumpter has outhouse races and
poker run despite soggy weather. PAGE 5
LOCAL: Cattlemen meet to discuss USDA
programs and more. PAGE 3
The
Baker County Press
TheBakerCountyPress.com
75¢
All local. All relevant. Every Friday.
Friday, February 24, 2017 • Volume 4, Issue 8
OR46 gets collared
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
In late January of this
year, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW) placed a VHF
collar on what is believed
to be the alpha male, desig-
nated OR46, of the Minam
Wolf Pack, giving the
agency the ability to once
again monitor the pack
via radio for the fi rst time
since August 2015, said
Wolf Biologist and Acting
Wolf Program Coordinator
Roblyn Brown.
The Minam Pack, dis-
covered in 2012, included
a breeding pair, with the
81-pound female, designat-
ed OR20, monitored with
a GPS (Global Positioning
System) collar that was
placed on May 16, 2013,
the fi rst radio-collared wolf
of the pack, according to
ODFW.
At the time, the pack in-
cluded at least fi ve wolves,
and, in following the se-
quential order of collaring,
OR20 was the 20th radio-
collared wolf in Oregon
(ODFW is monitoring 48
wolves currently).
In May 2015, accord-
ing to Brown and the 2015
Wolf Conservation and
Management Annual Re-
port, OR20’s collar failed,
and another radio-collared
female from the Minam
Pack, OR35, dispersed in
late August, leaving the
Minam Pack, now at 11
members, without a radio-
collared wolf, until this
January. OR35 relocated
to the Sled Springs Unit in
early May 2016.
Brown said, “I’m not
sure what happened to
OR20. She hasn’t shown
up on any of our trail
cameras, but, we do a lot
of monitoring with trail
cameras (which she said
continued, even without
radio-collar monitoring);
not just radio collars,
airplanes, and helicopters.
We haven’t got a picture of
her this year (yet).”
Brown said that the
decision to go with a VHF
(very high frequency, 30
megahertz, MHz, to 300
MHZ) collar for OR46,
instead of a GPS (ultra
high frequency, UHF,
300 MHz to 30 gigahertz,
GHz) collar, was prompted
by the difference in life
expectancy of the collars-
-on average, six-and-a-half
years for a VHF collar,
compared to two weeks
to three years for a GPS
collar—and the signifi cant
difference in price.
SEE OR46 PAGE 5
Photo courtesy of ODFW.
OR-27, another wolf in the Minam Pack, collared
previously.
Firemen raise
over $2K for local
Special Olympics
5J gets check for ‘Promise of
Oregon’ scholarship program
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
Fire Chief Tom Wills and Stephanie Tweit of the
local Special Olympics.
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
L-R: Kevin Cassidy, Chris Hawkins, Dave Krumbein, Andrew Bryan, and Melissa Irvine.
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Thursday, February 16, the Baker School District 5J
Board met for their work session and board meeting. The
work session featured an Audit Report by Mitch Saul.
The Audit Report explained:
“The purpose of our audit is to issue an opinion as to
whether or not the fi nancial statements of the district are
presented fairly in conformity with the accounting princi-
ples generally accepted in the United States of America.”
The Audit Report ‘provides accountability to district
taxpayers’ and ‘satisfi es the requirements set forth in state
statutes.’”
Beginning the board meeting, Kristen Miles and Dave
Krumbein from the Oregon School Boards Associa-
tion presented the board with a check for $5,000 to give
students in scholarships for the Promise Scholarship
Program. Other schools awarded are Athena-Weston,
Jefferson 14J, Multnomah Education Service District,
Nyssa, and North Santiam School Board.
In a press release given, OSBA’s Director Steve Kelley
stated; “This program helps students both by providing
scholarship funds and investing in board member train-
ing. Stronger boards are better prepared to face today’s
education challenges.”
Tracy Smith presented Hunter Clucas the “Promise of
Baker Student of the Month” from Eagle Cap. Amanda
Wilde presented Kodi Bates the “Promise of Baker Stu-
dent of the Month” from Keating.
Friday
Partly sunny with highs in the mid 30s.
Friday Night: Increasing clouds and cool. Lows
in the upper teens.
Saturday
Partly sunny and not as cool. Highs in the upper
30s.Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. Low in the
upper 18.
Sunday
Scattered snow showers. Highs in the mid 30s.
Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little to no ac-
cumulation expected. Sunday Night: Scattered
snow showers. Lows near 20.
Doug Dalton began the discussion with the CFO/Busi-
ness Manager’s Report.
He explained that the high school boiler is running
well, and they are fi xing smaller kinks.
Dalton also explained that the school board received a
$5 million grant for the high school seismic retrofi t. The
Seismic Retrofi t Grant is where they assess the seismic
strength of each separate building and the high school
gym had the highest score for how it would do during an
earthquake.
They have engaged an architect fi rm and they are half-
way through the process of the design for the gym. They
are planning to talk as a group about the next step of the
process to engage a construction manager and general
contractor to talk about that process.
They are trying to determine if construction fi rms will
be able to get the job in this summer or next summer.
Dalton suspects they will know more by the next board
meeting.
Superintendent Mark Witty gave a presentation on the
Facilities Planning. In his presentation, Witty gave an
overview for the Facilities Master Planning. He explained
the goals for the FMP Committee were to become famil-
iar with appropriate legal requirements and guidelines,
create a process for the FMP, request supporting data for
process, and provide technical input to district leadership
utilizing data from process.
SEE 5J PAGE 2
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Barley Brown’s was swarmed with Baker City Fire-
fi ghters on Thursday, February 9, 2017. It was however,
for a good cause; the local chapter of the Special Olym-
pics.
Serve It Up Hot is a local fundraising event that raises
money for the local chapter with local fi refi ghters waiting
tables, then donating all the tips earned.
The event, which was scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.
was already drawing patrons as early as 4:30 p.m.
“People know it gets packed,” said Stephanie Tweit
who serves as treasurer, fundraising coordinator and a ski
coach for the local Special Olympics. “It was a busy night
and a lot of fun.”
After the busy week the fi re department had prior to the
fundraiser, on the scene of a roof collapse of a building
downtown and a house fi re across the street from South
Baker Elementary the day before, the event seemed to
serve as a stress reliever for some of the fi refi ghters
“We’ve been busy lately,” fi refi ghter Jason Bybee said.
“We brought stickers and some fi re hats for the kids.”
In reference to the Department’s recent workload, Tweit
said, “Let’s just hope nothing happens to pull them away
tonight.”
The night went off without a hitch and the fi refi ghters
raised $2,090. All monies raised and/or donated stay local
and will be used in part to assist in funding local athlete
Mandi Durfee as she travels to Austria to compete in the
Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Those games begin March 18th and close March 25th.
The groundwork was set over 10 months ago to take
Durfee to the games.
SEE SPECIAL OLYMPICS PAGE 2
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Guest Opinion: Dennis Richardson
2 phone scams in Baker County
Classifi eds
The Outdoor Column by Todd Arriola
Halfway woman auditions on ‘Voice’
Rewards & Reminders outing
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
4
5
6
7
8
9