8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017
Local
Citizens talk about B2H,
taxes, more during First Friday
BY TODD ARRIOLA
ToddTheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker County Commis-
sion Chair Bill Harvey
held the last First Friday
With The Commissioner
of the year on Friday,
December 1, 2017, 9 a.m.,
in the Commission Cham-
bers of the Baker County
Courthouse, an informal
monthly discussion which
included a variety of topics
from attendees Tork and
Wanda Ballard, Tom Van
Diepen, John Creighton,
Marshall McComb, and
Chuck Chase.
Harvey opened the
discussion, and Creighton
asked about the status of
the Idaho Power Board-
man to Hemingway (B2H)
Transmission Line Project,
the route of which is
expected to run through the
County.
The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM)
released its Record of
Decision (ROD) on Friday,
November 17, 2017, which
will allow the BLM to
grant right-of-way to Idaho
Power, for the construc-
tion, operation, and
maintenance of the line on
BLM-managed land.
The approved route
is the Agency Preferred
Alternative, from the Final
Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS), and the
Proposed Land-Use Plan
Amendments.
Harvey said, “We pushed
real hard a year-and-a-half
ago...” to try to locate the
line behind a mountain
range in the Durkee area,
and to avoid fields, private
lands, etc., an idea that he
thought was well received
at the time, but, “I think
they’ve reneged on that.”
Harvey said that he needs
to find out how, exactly,
the route is proposed to
run, and to discuss dif-
ferent options with the
entities involved, and that,
“It’s just a long, convolut-
ed, drawn-out process.”
Among other topics,
Harvey began a discus-
sion about the issues with
feeding deer and elk in
the winter, specifically the
problems faced and the
losses incurred during the
season of 2016-2017, not-
ing that he attended what
he called a good meeting
in Richland on Thursday,
November 30, with various
interested parties, includ-
ing the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW).
He talked about the traf-
fic safety issue last season,
with deer being fed along
the highway, and that the
County is helping ODFW
to establish feeding sites at
a higher elevation this win-
ter (though he understands
that people wanted to help
feed the deer).
Van Diepen asked, “So,
it’s a traffic issue ... you’re
not trying to save deer
On December 15, 2017 at about 9:18 p.m. at the Motel
6 located at 275 Campbell Street, Room 211, Baker City,
Jamie Weiss strangled Valerie Heffernan by placing his
hands around her neck and throat restricting her breath-
ing and causing pain to her neck. Weiss was arrested on
charges of strangulation and lodged in the Baker County
Jail. Baker City Police Officers Durr, Weaver and Wood
responded to the call.
‘Romeo and
Juliet’ at BHS
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
L-R: Tork Ballard, Wanda Ballard, John Creighton and Bill Harvey.
from starving to death?”
Harvey said they were
fed the wrong hay last
year to begin with, and if
they’re fed from the start,
you have to keep feeding
them, and with the proper
feed. He said that a form
of pellets would be used
this year, and Van Diepen
added, “They can’t survive
on hay...Deer were dying
(he referenced two dif-
ferent hay feedings in the
past) with big, huge full
bellies of hay, because they
couldn’t get the bacteria
that they get from brush...
If you’re doing it (the feed-
ing up higher) for traffic
safety, that makes sense,
but, if you’re going to try
to save them, hay isn’t go-
ing to do it.”
Harvey emphasized that
he discourages people from
feeding the deer down low,
and along the highway this
year, and that the County
is going to help remedy the
situation.
Harvey said that, in
reference to discussions
regarding sidewalk issues
around the City, the Coun-
ty’s proposal, with State
funding, is to construct
sidewalks on both sides of
10th Street, from H Street,
north to the Hughes Lane/
Pocahontas Road intersec-
tion, a project Harvey’s
worked on for two years
already.
The proposal also
includes relocating power
lines underground.
“We have a lot of traffic
out there...The business
owners are helping the
County and the State to de-
sign what we would like to
see out there ... People are
walking on 10th Street, on
the road, because there are
no sidewalks...” he said.
Another future proj-
ect would cover from H
Street south, to Broadway
Avenue.
Van Diepen said, “I wish
Cliff (Bentz, State Rep-
resentative) would have
known about that money
set aside, instead of taxing
the piss out of us ... with
the transportation bill...”
Harvey said that there
isn’t a major amount of
funding at one time, but
rather, certain amounts for
projects over time.
Tork said there’s a need
for some type of grocery
store in the 10th Street
area, and Harvey said he
tried to persuade Grocery
Outlet to locate there,
but the company chose a
spot just east of the I-84
freeway instead, which, on
the positive side, will help
promote expansion in that
area, and keep more people
shopping locally.
Harvey voiced praise
for what he called “great
success stories,” includ-
ing, among others, Behlen
Manufacturing, Natural
Structures, and Ash Grove
Cement.
McComb said he ap-
preciates the monthly
meeting, and of the details
discussed, “I wouldn’t
have known about it if I
hadn’t been here.” He said
that, in regards to the eco-
nomic issues members of
the community and other
Americans are facing, a
much-overlooked issue
is “...a structural problem
in the country, having to
do with wages...People,
who are still hard-working
people, still can’t make
ends meet...”
He said he thinks the
main reason is the automa-
tion of jobs, which results
in less available work, and
less bargaining power.
Harvey said that’s been
the pattern for some time,
and that some businesses
necessarily have to go
the route of automation.
He said that minimum
wage jobs are just an “...
introduction to what we’re
doing...” and that the busi-
ness decision to use people
versus machines depends
partly on cost and safety
concerns.
Harvey said that, unfor-
tunately, part of the prob-
lem is that people are paid
too much not to work.
He said while there are
85 jobs available here in
Baker City (an Oregon
Employment Department
listing reference), “We
can’t get people off the
couch ...” since significant
monetary assistance while
unemployed can lead to a
longer and more appealing
period of unemployment.
McComb said he sees
self-esteem issues, as well
as drug problems in the
County and elsewhere,
sometimes because of the
lack of work, and he noted
the “... inequality in wealth
in this country ... It’s out of
balance. The money’s go-
ing to top people, and the
people down below aren’t
getting a shot at it.”
Harvey and McComb
discussed the differences in
opportunities and attitudes
between their generations,
and the newer genera-
tions, and Harvey said he’s
always encouraging people
to start a new business.
In conclusion, McComb
said, “I’m really concerned
about what’s going on in
the (U.S.) Senate today,
where the Senate is trying
to pass a tax cut, which is
mainly going to favor the
wealthy.”
Harvey said that, among
other details, businesses
need tax cuts.
McComb said, “I’m just
saying, corporations have
plenty of money now, to
do whatever they want to.”
Harvey said, “I don’t—I
have corporations,” which
prompted laughter from
the two.
The monthly discussion,
held as an informal round-
table, is open to all mem-
bers of the public. The
next one is scheduled for
Friday, January 5, 2018, 9
a.m., in the Commission
Chambers of the Baker
County Courthouse.
Lansford seeks to subdivide land
The Baker County Plan-
ning Commission will hold
a public hearing at 5:00
p.m. on Tuesday, January
9th, in the Commissioner’s
Chambers located in the
Baker County Courthouse,
1995 Third Street.
The applicant Mitch
Grove (Grove Real Estate),
on behalf of property own-
ers, Carney and Deborah
Lansford, propose an 11-
Man strangles
woman in motel
lot subdivision within the
Rural Residential (RR-5)
Zone. The proposed sub-
division would be created
from Tax Lots 1500 and
1502 in Section 30A, of
Township 08 South, Range
39 East, W.M., Baker
County, Oregon (Refs#
8660 and 16879).
A copy of the applica-
tions, all documents and
evidence submitted by or
on behalf of the applicants,
and the applicable criteria
are available for inspec-
tion. The staff report the
Planning Commission
will use in its decision
making process for this
request will be available
at the Baker City-County
Planning Department by
December 29th, 2017. A
digital copy of the docu-
ments can be emailed to
you at no cost, or a hard
copy can be provided for a
reasonable cost.
If you have questions
regarding either matter,
please contact the Planning
Department at (541) 523-
8219 or planning@baker-
county.org. The Planning
Department is located in
the basement of the Baker
County Courthouse, 1995
Third Street, Suite 131.
In April 2018, the Baker High School Theatre Drama
Club will be putting on a version of Shakespeare’s “Ro-
meo and Juliet.” There will be 26 students involved with
the play.
“Having been a classically trained thespian,” explained
Theatre Coach Scot Violette. “I absolutely adore Shake-
speare and typically high schools do ‘A Midsummer
Night’s Dream,’ which is way over done and plus I heard
Baker did it not too long ago and I thought we need to do
a classical theme to get these kids kinda hooked on clas-
sical Shakespeare.”
Violette explained that he decided to do “Romeo and
Juliet” as it has a lot of action and it is fun to learn to do.
He also explained that if people listen to the dialogue and
understand what is going on, it is a very timeless story
and has a great message.
“What I want to do is, it took us almost three weeks
to do the read through and it’s a cut down version,” said
Violette. “We are only doing like an hour and a half
show. But it took us three weeks to do the read through
because I stopped every line and explained everything
that is going on. I asked the kids, ‘Why do you think
Romeo said that?’ or ‘Why do you think Juliet said that?’
and ‘why are the Capulets so upset about this?’ and we
actually learned the story in depth.”
Violette explained that he is letting the students make
a lot of decisions with the show and they are going to
modernize it where they are wearing today’s clothing.
“We’re going to keep the original dialogue,” explained
Violette. “They’re still going to use swords, and we’re
going to modernize the set a little bit. Like dingy apart-
ments in New York and the dance, we may use modern
music for the party scene.”
Tickets will cost $5 a person. Violette plans to have a
spaghetti feed in March to raise funds for the play per-
formance. It will be at the High School commons and the
funds will go to building the set for the play. They will
also have a one act play production of “Super Freaks”
held on the commons stage.
“Super Freaks” is a play about a reporter who is doing
a story on the state of mental institutions in America. In
one institution, all of the patients think they are super
heroes and each has a super power. According to Violette,
there is one character called Speed Freak, who can run
really fast like DC’s the Flash, but he can only do that
when he is running backward.
Violette explained that there are now twice as many
students participating in the theatre club as in prior years.
Leo Adler grants
The Leo Adler Selection Committee announces the
non-profit and governmental organizations that have been
selected to receive 2017 Community Grants. The total
amount of grants awarded is $540,500.
2017 Grant Recipients:
Baker City Downtown, Baker City First Presbyterian
Church, Baker City Golf Club, Baker Community Choir,
Baker Community Sports Complex, Baker County
CASA, Inc., Baker County Community Literacy Coali-
tion Inc., Baker County Development Corporation,
Baker County Senior Citizens, Baker County YMCA,
Baker High School, Baker Little League Baseball Inc.,
Baker Loves Bikes, Baker Swim Team, Baker Techni-
cal Institute, Baker Valley Education Foundation, Best
Friends of Baker Inc., Brooklyn PTO, Burnt River School
District, City of Baker City – Central Park Amphitheatre,
City of Baker City – Quail Ridge Golf Course, Cornu-
copia Arts Council, Crossroads Creative and Performing
Arts Center Inc., Eagle Valley Rural Fire District, Eastern
Oregon Headstart, Eastern Oregon Museum, Eastern
Oregon Regional Theater Inc., Friends of Soccer, Grande
Ronde Symphony Association, Mayday, Inc., Music
Camps at Wallowa Lake, New Hope for Eastern Oregon
Animals, North Powder City Library, Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry, Oregon State Grange Patrons of
Husbandry, Pine Eagle Health Planning Committee,Pine
Eagle School District, Pine Valley Cross-Country Ski
Club, Presbyterian Church USA, Rachel Pregnancy
Center, Special Olympics,St. Luke’s Regional Medical
Center, The Adler House Museum, The Salvation Army
In addition, the following organizations favored by Leo
Adler during his lifetime received a total of $22,050.00 in
annual Leo Adler Grants:
4-H Youth Animal Auction, Baker City Fireman's Fund
Calvary Baptist Church, Church of Nazarene, First
Christian Church, First Lutheran Church, First Presbyte-
rian Church, First Ward LDSs, Oregon Historical Society,
Robison Jewish Society, Second Ward LDS, Shriner's
Hospital Food Drive, Shriner's Hospital for Children-
Football, St. Francis Catholic Church, St. Stephens
Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church.
Additional information can be found on the following
website: www.leoadler.org.