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MAY 2 8 2015
BAKER COUNTY LIBRARY
2400 RESORT ST
BAKER CITY OR 97814-2721
Exp 05/07/2015
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Est. Haines 1901 ~ Haines, Baker County, Oregon
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Thursday, May 28, 2015
Volume 114, Number 22 *10 Pages • 75 cents
Special Memorial Day
Service Held at Mt. Hope
Commissioner Bill Harvey was the guest
speaker at the special service held on Me­
morial Day at Mt. Hope Cemetery to
Honor veterans and military, especially
those who paid the ultimate price.
"We thank them with all of our hearts.
Our freedom must not be taken for
granted," Harvey said in speech to the
crowd.
Kathleen Cathey from Senator Wyden's
office, was present at the ceremony and
read a letter from the Senator who stated
that we honor the service of Oregon vet­
erans everyday, not only on Memorial Day.
Eight new flags were dedicated in honor
of the following who had served and
passed away: Dr. Menzie McKim, Melvin
Cox, Melvin E. Hauser, Marshal Cornett,
James McClellan Wright, Kenneth W.
Sturgill, Raymond Radabaugh and Gerald
Gene Hesseltine. Following the dedica­
tion, Taps was played by Duncan Pierce,
Ret. 1st Sgt. of the Army.
Shortly after the closing prayer by Austin
Coates, Chaplain, a National Guard F16
flew over the crowd.
Photos by
Gina Perkins
Above, Commissioner
Bill Harvey was the
guest speaker at Mon­
day's event
At far left, “Taps” being
played
by
Duncan
Pierce
At left, the flag being
unfurled in preparation
for dedication
Host Families
Needed for
Three Week
Summer
Chinese
Exchange
Program
Baker High School is very
proud and excited to welcome
11 Chinese Students in 11th
grade and two Chinese Teachers
from Xian China to Baker City
for three weeks this summer
from July 19- Aug 8. There will
be activities for the students to
do during the weekdays Mon­
day through Thursday. Baker
High School is looking for host
families who would consider a
three week placement for a for­
eign exchange student. Families
would immerse the students in
their family as one of their own.
"We are trying to place Chi­
nese students in pairs but if you
can only host one, contact me.
The goal is to eventually send a
group of Baker students back to
Xian in the following year to es­
tablish an ongoing cultural ex­
change," said Ben Merrill, BHS
Principal.
Host families can earn $150
to donate towards a club or ac­
tivity of their choice.
All interested families will be
invited for a parent information
meeting to learn more.
If you are interested, please
contact Ben Merrill at Baker
High School by calling 541-
524-2600.
Discovered in Oregon’s John Day Dasin
Kimberly, Ore. - Paleontologists are
pleased to announce the discovery of 10
new prehistoric rodent species found at
the National Park Service (NPS) John Day
Fossil Beds National Monument and
nearby public land administered by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
As reported in the current issue of the
Annals of Carnegie Museum, Dr. Joshua
Samuels (John Day Fossil Beds National
Monument) and Dr. William Korth
(Carnegie Museum of Natural History,
Rochester Institute of Vertebrate Paleon­
tology) examined newly discovered and
previously undocumented fossil speci­
mens from the John Day Formation. Their
study describes 21 species of rodents in
all. The new species include: an early
beaver, Microtheriomys brevirhinus, which
may be the distant ancestor of living
beavers; a dwarf tree squirrel, Miosciurus
covensis, smaller than any living in North
America today; a primitive pocket mouse,
Bursagnathus aterosseus, a possible an­
cestor of these abundant desert rodents;
and a birch mouse, Plesiosminthus fremdi,
named for retired John Day Fossil Beds
paleontologist Ted Fremd.
‘This study fills some substantial gaps in
our knowledge of past faunas, specifically
smaller mammals. Some of the new
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species are really interesting in their own
right, and will ultimately help improve our
understanding of the evolution of beavers
and pocket mice,” said Dr. Joshua
Samuels. ‘These finds show that despite
this area being studied for well over 100
years, new discoveries continue to be
made. Each new discovery helps to give
us a fuller picture of Oregon's past.”
This study allows better reconstruction of
Oregon’s past ecosystems and improves
understanding of how faunas in the region
have changed through time. Some of the
new rodents are closely related to species
from the fossil record of Asia, and help
document the dispersal of species across
the Bering Land Bridge in the Oligocene.
Several of the new species, like the
beaver Microtheriomys and pocket mouse
Bursagnathus, will help inform studies of
how living rodents have evolved.
Oregon’s John Day Basin contains one
of the most complete and well-known fos­
sil records on Earth, with nearly 50 million
years of time preserved. These fossil beds
record the history of ancient ecosystems,
changing climate, and plant and animal
evolution during the ‘Age of Mammals.’
For 150 years, paleontologists have been
visiting the area to collect fossils and study
geology. As a result of this research, the
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brevirhinus
John Day Formation boasts an incredibly
diverse fauna with over 100 recognized
species of mammals, including saber-
toothed nimravids, early dogs, three-toed
horses, and giant ‘hell pigs.’
These new rodents were collected
through decades of collaborative work
throughout the John Day Basin by paleon­
tologists from John Day Fossil Beds Na­
tional Monument, the BLM in Oregon, the
University of California - Berkeley, and the
University of Washington. While the John
Day Fossil Beds National Monument in­
cludes many of the important and best
studied sites, the majority of fossil locali­
ties in the region were found on BLM man­
aged public lands.
"The National Park Service and BLM
have worked together to manage fossil re­
sources in Oregon under an agreement for
nearly 30 years," said Shelley Hall, John
Day Fossil Beds National Monument Su­
perintendent. "The collaboration between
federal agencies has allowed each agency
to fulfill their mission of preserving re­
sources for future generations while facil­
itating important scientific research."
The new study can be found in the cur­
rent issue of the Annals of Carnegie Mu­
seum:
www.carnegiemnh.org/science
/defau|t.aspx?id=9998
Additional information about John Day
Fossil Beds National Monument is avail­
able online at: www.nps.gov/joda
Additional information about the BLM’s
paleontology program is available online
at www.blm.gov/or/resources/heritage
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Baker City, OR 97814
(541) 523-3616