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.