BUSINESS: Classy Lass opens on
Washington. PAGE 3
The
LOCAL: Vocational rehab a success for artist
Patty Bradford. PAGE 7
Baker County Press
TheBakerCountyPress.com
75¢
All local. All relevant. Every Friday.
Friday, September 29, 2017 • Volume 4, Issue 39
Shawna Cox speaks locally
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Last Saturday afternoon,
the historic Geiser Grand
on Main Street in Baker
City was jam-packed with
individuals gathered to
hear guest speaker, Shawna
Cox, from Utah.
On January 26, 2016, Cox
was one of two females
inside the pickup truck in
which Robert “LaVoy”
Finicum spent his fi nal mo-
ments. Finicum was shot
and killed at a roadblock
staged by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and Oregon State
Police (OSP), as he, Cox
and other occupiers from
the Malheur Wildlife Ref-
uge made their way along
Highway 395, 53 miles
from John Day en route to
local law enforcement.
The shooting and the oc-
cupation itself each ignited
a fi restorm of controversy
nationwide, depending on
the point of view. Media
editorializing ran rampant.
Without the fi lter of
mainstream media or
other third parties in either
direction, the tone of the
onlookers interested in
hearing her, and that of
Cox herself, appeared
vastly different.
Prior to the event,
individuals from a local
liberal political group at-
tempted to press the venue
and organizers to cancel
the event because they
disagreed with it—even
threatening a protest out-
side, which didn’t materi-
alize.
Instead, a gathering of
farmers, ranchers, min-
ers, business owners and
others from all corners of
the County (and adjoin-
ing counties) fi led into
the room and calmly sat,
and the streets outside
remained quiet. Some ar-
rived in support of Cox. A
few didn’t. Most were sim-
ply curious. Cox herself
blended with the crowd, a
petite blonde fi gure.
Hosted by the Baker
County Republicans, Cox
took the microphone and
began simply sharing her
experiences at the refuge
and tying in the history
of the individuals there
together.
Cox, a devout Mormon
and 60-year-old mother of
a dozen grown children,
is focused primarily on
exposing corruption within
the Federal Court system,
and government overreach
at a Federal level regard-
ing agencies such as the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment (BLM).
A friend and employee
of Cliven Bundy, she gave
her account of the 2014
BLM raid on the Bundy
Ranch.
SEE SHAWNA COX
PAGE 5
Dolly Parton’s
‘Imagination Library’
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
Shawn Cox speaks to a packed room at the Geiser
Grand.
Multiple
vehicle
crash on
Campbell
Photo courtesy of Sara Rudolph.
Rudolph’s car was totalled at the scene.
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
L-R: Pat Duke, Jan Rippey, a Dolly Parton standee, and Pam Hunsaker.
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Tuesday, September 26, the Baker County Library
welcomed Pam Hunsaker, Jan Rippey, and Pat Duke to
speak with community members about Dolly Parton’s
Imagination Library (DPIL)
According to a handout given at the event, “Each
month, from the day the child is born until his/her 5th
birthday, a carefully selected book arrives in the mail.
Kids across the country have shared the excitement of
running to the mailbox to retrieve their book. More often
than not, the child wants the book read to them now—not
tonight, not tomorrow, not later … right now!”
Hunsaker is the Regional Director of the DPIL in Co-
lombia, Missouri, Duke is the Director of the Wilsonville
Public Library, and Rippey is the executive director of
the Wilsonville DPIL. They have been traveling around
Oregon for a week, introducing and educating people
to DPIL. They have traveled to eleven different areas,
including Baker County, with less than 100,000 people,
such as Willamette Valley, Newport, Hood River, and
others.
Hunsaker has been a part of the DPIL for sixteen years
and she travels when people want to learn more about the
program. She travels at least a week every month.
According to the handout, “Dolly Parton’s Imagination
Friday
Mostly to partly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for
showers. Chance for precipitation is 40%. Lows
near 50.
Saturday
Partly sunny with a chance for showers. Chance
for precipitation is 40%. Highs near 60. Saturday
Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for showers.
Chance for precipitation is 40%. Lows near 40.
Sunday
Partly sunny with a chance for showers. Chance
for precipitation is 40%. Highs in the mid 50s.
Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance for showers.
Lows in the upper 30s.
Library is all about inspiration and imagination. In 1995
Dolly developed the program so that every preschool
child in her home of Sevier County, Tennessee, would
have their own library of books that would encourage in
them a love of reading and learning.”
There are 26 states that have counties participating in
DPIL. Duke explained that in Wilsonville they have had
the program for fi ve years and value it.
Duke explained to those attending, “The way it works
is, the community defi nes some kind of geography—it
can be a zip code, it can be city limits, it can be the
school district, it could be something that makes sense—
and then all of the children under the age of fi ve within
that geography are eligible for the program. And, once
children are signed up for the program, those children
will receive a well-selected, age-appropriate book once
a month until they turn fi ve years old. It will be mailed
directly to their house in their name. And the very core
that’s the program. Now, one of the things that happens
when that three year old get a piece of mail, they get
their book, they say ‘Read my book to me!’ and that’s
the power of the program because this program is shown
to increase the percentage of children and the number of
times that children ask to be read to and it has shown to
dramatically increase the number of times parents read to
their children.”
SEE DOLLY PARTON PAGE 3
The Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center forecast:
Our forecast made possible by
this generous sponsor:
An unexpected medical condition was the cause of an
accident last Wednesday, which eventually involved six
vehicles, said Baker City Police Sgt. Wayne Chastain.
James Young, age 85, was driving his white 2012 Dodge
Ram pickup southbound on 10th Street, near A Street,
when he lost consciousness.
Young’s pickup crossed over into the northbound
lanes of traffi c and struck a parked greenish 2005 Nissan
Altima belonging to Baker City Auto Ranch. The pickup
continued south down the sidewalk where it then struck
the fronts of three brand new Dodge pickups in the lot at
Baker City Auto Ranch before coming to rest.
The green Altima, when hit, travelled backward unoccu-
pied about 120 feet into the intersection of Campbell and
10th Street where it struck a 1994 Honda Civic driven
by Sara Rudolph as she traveled eastbound through the
intersection, said Chastain.
Young was transported to St. Alphonsus Medical Center
by the Baker City Fire Department. There were no other
reported injuries in the crash.
Rudolph’s car and the unoccupied Nissan Altima were
totaled.
All the Dodge pickups sustained over $1,500 in damage
but look to be repairable.
No citations were issued in this crash.
Rudolph said she’d had the opportunity to visit Young
last Friday and that he was doing very well.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Ash Grove to be sold
“So I was thinking...” by Jimmy Ingram
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
Fire on Ash Street
Help sought in poaching cases
City vacates Allen St. in ordinance
OR Supreme Court comes to BHS
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
3
4
5
7
8
8