NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Baker County locals want ‘constitutional county’
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER COUNTY —
Several Baker County resi-
dents attended a work session
Wednesday, Jan. 12, to again
urge county commission-
ers to approve a resolution
declaring that Baker County
is a “constitutional county”
where state and federal
governments must comply
with the U.S. Constitution.
The work session was
scheduled after the commis-
sioners’ Dec. 15 meeting.
During the earlier meet-
ing, Jake Brown of Half-
way, a representative from
Baker County United, asked
commissioners to approve
the resolution.
Commissioners moved
the Jan. 12 work session
from the usual meeting
room at the Courthouse to the
much larger Baker County
Events Center, in the former
National Guard armory at
2600 East St.
During the Dec. 15 meet-
ing, with about 30 people
in the audience, commis-
sioners didn’t comply with
Gov. Kate Brown’s exec-
utive order requiring the
wearing of masks in indoor
public spaces. That includes
the courthouse, where signs
are posted outside citing the
mask requirement.
The county’s notice for
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Baker County Board of Commissioners during a work session Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, at
the Baker County Events Center heard from residents who urged them to declare the county
is a “constitutional county.”
when in an indoor space. All
individuals in attendance at
meetings under the control of
Baker County are expected to
comply with this rule, unless
actively eating, drinking,
speaking or presenting in the
meeting.”
Most audience members
during the Jan. 12 did not
wear a mask.
Commission Chairman
Bill Harvey and Commis-
the Jan. 12 meeting stated:
“Baker County must comply
with all federal, state and
local laws, or face penalties
and fines. Oregon Adminis-
trative Rule (OAR 333-019-
1025, Masking requirements
for indoor spaces) states
that individuals five years
of age and older, regardless
of vaccination status, are
required to wear a mask,
face covering or face shield
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
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sioner Mark Bennett attended
the work session in person.
Commissioner Bruce Nichols
attended remotely.
In a comment Nichols
posted online for the work
session and that was read
aloud during the session, he
wrote: “We commissioners
have no legal means to over-
ride the Governor’s executive
orders. As a commissioner I
swore an oath for about the
Mostly cloudy and
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HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
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OREGON FORECAST
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Kennewick Walla Walla
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Lewiston
49/36
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Astoria
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Pullman
Yakima 37/30
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Portland
Hermiston
48/36
The Dalles 43/30
Salem
Corvallis
46/35
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La Grande
38/25
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
47/36
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Ontario
38/29
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46/35
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37/20
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through 3 p.m. yest.
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Pendleton 38/22
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
42/29
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PRECIPITATION
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Lake
47/35
Aberdeen
36/30
34/27
Tacoma
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Wenatchee
48/38
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
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WALLOWA COUNTY
— Conservation groups
announced Thursday, Jan.
13, that they are offering a
$16,500 reward for informa-
tion that leads to an arrest
and conviction in an ille-
gal wolf killing last week in
Wallowa County.
A 2-year-old collared
female wolf was found dead
southeast of Wallowa and
reported just after 10:30 a.m.
on Jan. 8. Oregon State
Police reported the killing
on Jan. 11. The wolf, desig-
nated OR-106, was found on
Parsnip Creek Road in the
Sled Springs game manage-
ment unit. OSP said the
wolf had dispersed from the
Chesnimnus Pack in north-
ern Wallowa County.
“Illegally killing Oregon’s
few wolves out of hatred or
spite must stop,” Kelly Peter-
son, Oregon senior state
director at the Humane Soci-
ety of the United States, said
in a press release. “The death
of OR-106 at the hands of a
poacher is heartbreaking and
infuriating, especially after
eight of Oregon’s wolves
were illegally poisoned and
killed just last year. While
this reward cannot bring
back these iconic animals,
we hope it brings these cruel
actors to justice and helps
to put an end to the illegal
slaughter of our wolves once
and for all.”
In addition to the Humane
Society, the Center for
Biological Diversity, Preda-
tor Defense, Western Water-
sheds Project, Cascadia
Wildlands, Oregon Wild,
Speak for Wolves and North-
east Oregon Ecosystems
are pledging funding to the
reward.
The killing is among more
than 30 poaching incidents
in Oregon since wolves were
reintroduced, according to
Stephanie Taylor, president
of Speak for Wolves.
“When poachers get away
with breaking the law, it
only leads to more poaching
and lawlessness,” Danielle
Moser, of Oregon Wild,
45/21
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Sunrise today
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4:37 p.m.
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
High 85° in Laredo, Texas Low -17° in Boulder, Wyo.
Jan 17
Jan 25
IN BRIEF
First
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
Jan 31
Feb 8
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
DEQ issues air quality
advisory for Southern,
Eastern Oregon
PORTLAND — The Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality on Thursday, Jan.
13, issued an air quality advisory for Southern
and Eastern Oregon, including Baker County,
according to a press release.
The advisory is due to stagnant air condi-
tions trapping smoke and other air pollutants
near the ground where people breathe, the
release said.
Also affected are Douglas, Harney, Jack-
son, Josephine, Klamath, Lake and Malheur
counties.
The advisory is in place at least until Jan.
17, the release said.
Fugitive in jail in Pendleton
also faces Walla Walla case
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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said in the release. “This
is a result of wolves losing
their endangered species
protections coupled with a
culture of poaching permis-
siveness. For far too long,
poachers have been embold-
ened by those who excuse
and celebrate their criminal
acts without fear of conse-
quences.”
The shooting comes on
the heels of the poisoning
of wolves in Northeastern
Oregon in 2021, the release
noted.
In addition to the amount
offered by the conservation
groups, The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife’s
Turn in Poachers division
is offering a potential $300
reward for information
regarding illegal wolf killings.
Those with information
may contact Oregon State
Police Sgt. Isaac Cyr through
ODFW’s Turn in Poachers
(TIP) hotline at 800-452-
7888, *OSP via mobile, or
via email to TIP@state.or.us
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Monday to Friday.
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
-10s
Curtis Martin of North
Powder called the mandates
“totally unconstitutional”
and urged commissioners to
approve the resolution.
Doing so, Martin said,
would “make a bold state-
ment” that the county will
“not be silent” and will
not comply with the state
mandates.
Ha r vey c a l le d t he
mandates “stupid” and said
the county is not complying
with all of them, including
requiring audience members
to wear masks.
Penny Rienks of Baker
City said that if commission-
ers don’t approve the “consti-
tutional county” ordinance,
“obviously you guys are not
standing up for the constitu-
tion of Oregon or the consti-
tution of the United States.”
Bennett said he has
worked as a public servant
for 50 years and he takes his
oath of office, to uphold both
the state and federal constitu-
tions, seriously.
“I promise you that I will
uphold the constitution and I
will uphold my oath office,”
Bennett said. “We can’t have
all of us randomly interpret-
ing the constitution. We’re a
legislative body, we’re not a
judicial body. If you feel that
your constitutional rights
are being violated, there is a
path, and that’s the Supreme
Court.”
Reward of $16,500 in killing of wolf
Wallowa County Chieftain
Mostly cloudy
third or fourth time in my life
to support the constitution
and to follow the laws of the
state of Oregon. To choose to
openly defy the Governor’s
executive orders is a viola-
tion of the oath that I swore
I would comply with. I too
do not like mandates, forced
vaccinations, and the ongo-
ing never-ending rules. Yet
I represent all of the people
in the county so my personal
feelings are secondary to
those that do not agree with
me.
“Civil disobedience is
sometimes necessary to
make a point yet with COVID
cases continuing to rise now
is not the time in my view,”
Nichols wrote. “I value all
points of view and even those
that disagree with me. Yet in
protecting our rights we all
must be careful to not tram-
ple on the rights of others.
It is our duty to protect our
own rights but also the rights
of others as well.”
Although the work session
was scheduled to continue
the discussion, and to take
public comments about, the
proposed “constitutional
county” resolution, several
residents who spoke refer-
enced both the mask and
vaccine mandates, as well
as how the pandemic has
harmed the local economy
and had effects on local resi-
dents, including students.
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WALLA WALLA — A Walla Walla man
accused of stealing two credit cards from a
mailbox and using them to make more than
$1,000 in purchases at Home Depot has been
released to Oregon law enforcement on a
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Dylan L. Cantrell, 19, is now being held
at the Umatilla County Jail under investi-
gation of two counts of probation violation
and failure to appear. His Oregon bail is set
at $120,000.
Meanwhile in Walla Walla County, he
faces charges of second-degree burglary,
second-degree theft and two counts of
second-degree stolen property possession.
A trial date for his Walla Walla County
charges is set for Feb. 23.
According to the Oregon warrant,
Cant rell’s probation violations are
connected with charges of stolen vehicle
possession, unauthorized use of a vehicle
and second-degree criminal mischief.
Cantrell’s girlfriend, 19-year-old
Yasmeen Dalan, also was arrested in the
investigation and faces the same charges
in Washington as Cantrell. She was due in
court Thursday, Jan. 13, for arraignment.
The two were arrested Dec. 24 after a
man who lives on York Street just outside
Walla Walla contacted the Walla Walla
County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 18 report-
ing he found his mailbox open and all the
mail missing.
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