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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5 Local Behind the scenes at casino night BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com On February 25, the Bak- er Heritage Museum held its eighth annual Night at Old Auburn fundraiser. The museum held its first event in 2010. In 2009, Nova Sue Har- rison came up with the idea for the event. The original planning committee for the event was Harrison, Julianne Williams, Liz Starkey, and Mindy Sher- rieb. “Just like with any event, it takes a lot of preplan- ning,” explained Sher- rieb. “Some of it’s easy, because we’ve done it so many years, but it still takes that preplanning. It takes the meeting in June or July, deciding who is going to be in charge of what section. Who will be in charge of decoration, who’s in charge of the caterer, who’s in charge of the ticket sales, who’s in charge of distributing posters and signs, you know, that type of thing, and then who’s going to be in charge of volunteers and getting them here and training them.” This year, the co-co- ordinators were Sherrieb and Chris Cantrell and the museum had about 25-30 volunteers who helped at some point with the event. Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Man arrested on meth charges On February 23, 2017 at approximately 5:45 p.m. the Baker City Police Department (BCPD) conducted a search warrant at 980 Resort Street in Baker City. During the search, K9 Capa was deployed and was observed making multiple alerts. Subsequently, BCPD officers located methamphetamine and other drug para- phernalia. The search warrant was based on information obtained during an investigation into Alex Adams for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine. Adams was arrested at the scene and lodged at the Baker County Jail. Alex Adams, born 2/27/96, resided at 980 Resort Street and was arrested on four counts of Conspiracy to Deliver Methamphetamine and one count of Unlawful Possession of Controlled Substance (methamphetamine). Staff and volunteers begin setting up tables for the event. When they do volunteers for the event, it is not just friends of the museum, anyone who wants to vol- unteer to help are accepted. Sherrieb has been a co- ordinator for the fundraiser for the eight years it has been put on and Cantrell has been a coordinator for two or three years and helped with previous years. Sherrieb explained that the event requires a lot of com- munication and coordina- tion. They have one commit- tee that does sponsorships, who goes out to get money to sponsor the casino. They have Team Casino, who has Oregon and Idaho, and the museum works with their office in Boise. Sherrieb explained that the sponsorships pay for the gambling tables and the prizes they had for the raf- fles and the silent auction. McDonalds and Taco Time are two of the contributors for the BINGO prizes. At the event, the museum gives “funny money,” fake money that those attending are able to gamble with for fun. Sherrieb explained that if someone gave $200 in do- nations, they will receive $400 in funny money. Nobody walks out of the event with actual money. “We have people that, maybe, spend $20 to $200,” explained Sher- rieb. “And the $20 person is valued as much as the $200 person because they are giving what they can. It’s that span of people that are just donating for funny money to have fun playing games, and the only thing people get out of it is the chance to win raffle prizes. They cash in their funny money and chips at the end of the night and they get so many raffle tickets.” The set amount of raffle tickets people could get is up to 100 tickets. The event is the largest fundraiser the museum puts on and the money donated goes to the opera- tions of the museum. Funds can be used for personnel, replacing lights, purchasing supplies to maintain the exhibits, and it also goes to operations for the Leo Adler House. NJ man arrested for sex abuse of local boy On February 14, School Resource Officer (SRO) Lance Woodward received a call from school officials reporting online sexual abuse of a 12 year-old boy. Officer Woodward worked with Detective Jay Lohner, who determined a New Jersey man was involved in the online abuse. Information was forwarded from Baker City to authori- ties in New Jersey and an arrest was made on February 24, 2017. Zachary Motta, 22, of the Iselin section of the township, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and possession of child pornography. Motta was employed as an emergency medical technician at a hospital in New Brunswick and served with the Iselin Volunteer Fire Company. He was arrested at his home this morning during an investigation by Detective Anna Radowski of the Wood- bridge Police Department and Detective Christopher Pen- nisi and Detective Joseph Chesseri, both of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. During the investigation, it was determined that between October 2016 and February 2017, Motta had sexually explicit conversations on the internet with the boy. The boy and the defendant also traded lewd photos of themselves. The investigation began after the boy’s mother con- tacted authorities. Haines man fails to register as sex offender On February 26, 2017, the Baker County Sheriff’s Of- fice checked on a disabled motorist in the area of High- way 30 near mile post 37 and made contact with Nathan Jones. Jones’ vehicle had broken down, and he requested a courtesy ride to his residence in Haines. During the contact it was discovered that Jones is a Registered Sex Offender with an address listed in Lexing- ton, Oregon. Jones claimed to be in Baker County temporarily while still residing in Morrow County. During the contact, Jones was also found to be in possession of a pill that is believed to be a prescription narcotic. Jones was given a ride to his residence in Haines and charged with the following crimes: Fail to Register as a Sex Offender and Unlawful Possession of Hydrocodone. The investigation is ongoing. St. Al’s Auxiliary scholarship open Saint Alphonsus Auxiliary- Baker City is once again offering a $1,500.00 scholarship. To be eligible you must be a graduate of a Baker County High School or a current resident of Baker County, who will be at least a sopho- more in college by September, 2017. The Scholarship will be awarded to a student who is enrolled in a health care profession. The application for the scholarship can be obtained from the Auxiliary Gift Shop in the front lobby of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Baker City at 3325 Poca- hontas Rd or from a member of the Auxiliary Scholarship Committee, Peggy Payton, Chairperson 541-519-8118 or Marilyn Bloom at 541-523-2750. The applications must be returned to the committee by April 15th, 2017. The recipient will be notified by May 20th, 2017. The scholarship check will be sent to the recipient’s college where it will be credited to the students account. The Auxiliary Members assist at the Annual Blood Draw, various other hospital events and attending the Saint Alphonsus- Baker City Gift Shop. New members are always welcome. For further information about the Auxiliary contact President Peggy Payton 541-519-8118, Jeanne Schroder 541-403-0054 or Laura Huggins 541- 523-8102.