FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
L OCAL B RIEFING
Two local offi cers will graduate from
Basic Police Class on September 6
New Arrivals
At The Baker
County Library
• 2400 Resort St.
FICTION
• “Vendetta in Death,”
J.D. Robb
• “Nothing Ventured,”
Jeffrey Archer
• “Conversations with
Friends,” Sally Rooney
• “The Girl Who Lived
Twice,” David Lagercrantz
• “The Dark Side,”
Danielle Steel
NONFICTION
• “Midnight in Cher-
nobyl,” Adam Higginbo-
tham
• “Sacred Duty,” Tom
Cotton
• “No Crumbs Left,” Teri
Turner
• “Every Tool’s a Ham-
mer,” Adam Savage
• “Power Grab,” Jason
Chaffetz
DVDS
• “Avengers, Endgame”
(Sci-Fi)
• “The curse of La
Llorona” (Horror)
• “Godzilla, King of the
Monsters” (Sci-Fi)
• “Rocketman” (Musical)
• “The Secret Life of Pets
2” (Family)
HOURS
• Monday through
Thursday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Saturday,
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Sunday, noon-4 p.m.
PROBATION
Continued from Page 1A
Shirtcliff said Liam was
playing with the gun on the
fl oor of his father’s bedroom
while his father slept when he
accidentally fi red the gun.
Peter Mankins, 33, pleaded
guilty on Aug. 9 in Baker
County Circuit Court to one
count of criminally negligent
homicide, a Class B felony,
in connection with his son’s
death. He also pleaded guilty
to one count each of posses-
sion of methamphetamine
and recklessly endangering
another person, both Class A
misdemeanors.
Visiting Umatilla County
Circuit Court Judge Jon
Lieuallen sentenced Mankins
to 34 months in prison after
a settlement conference with
the District Attorney’s Offi ce.
On Aug. 23, Baker County
Circuit Court Judge Greg
Baxter sentenced Goodman
to six months in jail and
placed her on three years’
probation after she pleaded
guilty to one count of pos-
sessing methamphetamine
and one count of recklessly
endangering another person
in a plea agreement with the
District Attorney’s Offi ce. She
also pleaded guilty to crimi-
nally negligent homicide, but
prosecution on that crime was
deferred, Shirtcliff said.
Goodman, who had been
held at the Baker County Jail
since Dec. 29, 2018, already
had served eight months at
the time of sentencing and
was given credit for time
served.
Baxter deferred judgment
on the criminally negligent
homicide charge during Good-
man’s 36-month probationary
term. She must successfully
complete formal probation
and drug treatment during
that time to avoid a prison
sentence.
If her probation is revoked
during the three-year period,
Goodman will be sentenced
to an 18-month prison term,
with no credit for the 180 days
served in the Baker County
Jail while awaiting resolution
of the charges, Shirtcliff said.
If she is successful, how-
ever, the felony charge will be
removed from her record, he
said.
Contact with her children
will be determined by the
Baker County Probation
Department and possibly
the Department of Human
Services during the three-year
probation term, Shirtcliff said.
Mankins and Goodman
were charged with criminally
negligent homicide for allow-
ing 2-year-old Liam access
to a loaded gun. Mankins
received the harsher sentence
because “more culpability
rested with him,” Shirtcliff
said.
“He was directly respon-
sible for the fi rearms in the
home,” he said. “They were his
guns and he was in control of
them.”
Goodman also had some
degree of responsibility for the
guns being accessible to the
child, however, Shirtcliff said.
“She knew there were guns
there,” he said.
Both parents were at the
home at the time Liam was
shot, Shirtcliff said.
Investigators found meth-
amphetamine in the home
and both Peter Mankins and
Goodman tested positive for
methamphetamine at the
time the crimes took place,
based on toxicology reports,
Shirtcliff said.
The crime of recklessly en-
dangering another person, a
Class A misdemeanor, charged
the two with making the drug
readily accessible to Liam.
A grand jury also had
charged Mankins and Good-
man with second-degree man-
slaughter, a Class B felony;
and two counts of endangering
the welfare of a minor, a Class
A misdemeanor, for allowing
drug activity to take place in
the presence of Liam and his
younger brother, who was 4
months old at the time. Those
charges were dismissed as
part of the couple’s plea agree-
ments.
Had they been convicted of
second-degree manslaughter
for their son’s death, they
would have faced mandatory
minimum 75-month prison
sentences.
Shirtcliff said at the time
of Mankins’ sentencing that
while he believed Mankins
needed to serve prison time,
the prosecutor also wanted
him to receive drug treatment
while in prison.
“The fact that he took
responsibility for negligently
causing the death of his son
was also a factor in allowing
him to plead guilty to the
criminally negligent homicide
charge and not face a longer
prison sentence,” Shirtcliff
stated.
As part of her probation,
Goodman also was ordered
not to use or possess con-
trolled substances and to par-
ticipate in a substance abuse
evaluation and to follow any
recommended treatment.
Rain helps quiet Granite Gulch fire
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Wind-blown embers from the Gran-
ite Gulch fi re started several spot fi res
Wednesday, prompting fi re offi cials to
call in a helicopter and two airplanes to
prevent fl ames from spreading south
of the Minam River in the Eagle Cap
Wilderness.
BOND
Continued from Page 1A
The group will meet three
to four times in September
and October and is scheduled
to report back to the Board by
Nov. 1.
The group’s charge, as
approved by the Board at its
July 9 meeting will be to:
• Review the facilities
needs identifi ed by the Long
Range Facilities Planning
Committee.
• Review the draft proposal
being developed based on
public feedback, and make
recommendations about what
should be addressed in a
potential bond measure.
• Consider the different op-
tions for fi nancing a potential
bond, including amount of
bond and length of payback
period.
• Develop a timeline and
long-term plan for addressing
capital improvement projects
relating to facilities needs.
• Recommend to the School
Board a potential bond pack-
age that could be submitted
to voters.
Witty said the new com-
mittee will not redo work
performed by former commit-
tees, which gathered informa-
tion leading to the earlier $48
million bond measure.
As with the past groups,
the new committee’s only
authority will be to recom-
mend a course of action to
the School Board and District
administrators, Witty said.
In reviewing community
comments made after the
2018 bond measure’s failure
in November and in speak-
ing directly with critics of the
plan, Witty said he believes
Light rain on Wednesday and Thurs-
day, along with higher humidities, slowed
the fi re’s spread and allowed workers to
concentrate on those spot blazes.
“The spots showed very little growth
(Thursday) afternoon and are being held
in the riparian area,” Incident Com-
mander Adam Wing said.
None of the spot fi res spread more
the District could succeed in
the next election if certain
changes were made.
He says patrons have
spoken in support of a less
expensive bond funded over
a shorter period of time that
would pay to remodel existing
buildings rather than to build
a new school.
The $48 million plan
proposed in November 2018
included construction of a
new elementary school and
would have been paid for over
a 30-year period.
The bond measure, which
would have cost property
owners $1.97 per $1,000 of as-
sessed value. Voters rejected
the measure, 68% to 32%.
In May, the Board consid-
ered a new plan presented
by representatives of the
Boise LKV Architects fi rm
and the Wenaha Group, a
project management group
and consulting fi rm, that also
worked with the District on
last year’s bond measure.
The new plan has proposed
asking voters in May 2020 to
approve a $10 million bond to
be paid over a 10-year term.
A $4 million matching state
grant and $2 million to be
contributed by the School Dis-
trict would bring the total to
$16 million.
The tentative proposal calls
for the funding to be used to
reconfi gure existing build-
ings to make better use of
available space. That would
include placing K-2 students
at Brooklyn Primary School;
Grades 3-4 at South Baker;
and moving Grades 5-6 to
the current middle school
building. Seventh- and
eighth-graders would move
to Baker High School with
than 75 feet from river’s edge, he said.
Offi cials had expected the lightning-
sparked fi re would be more active
Wednesday due to hot, dry weather and
gust winds. The temperature reached a
record of 100 degrees at the Baker City
Airport.
See Granite Gulch/Page 5A
remodeling to separate the
younger students from those
in Grades 9-12.
The proposed improve-
ments under the new plan
also would include district-
wide safety and security up-
grades and energy effi ciency
improvements. Money also is
included to pay for unan-
ticipated expenses during
construction.
There are no plans to
upgrade the former North
Baker Elementary School
building, which would con-
tinue to be used by the Baker
Web Academy and Early Col-
lege, Eagle Cap High School
and early learning programs.
Another group of com-
munity representatives is
meeting to consider alterna-
tive uses for the Central
School Building, which was
closed by the School District
in 2009.
Witty told the Board dur-
ing its August meeting that
the District expects to turn
the building over to the BHS/
Baker Technical Institute’s
Brownfi eld environmental
science class. The class could
qualify for a $200,000 grant
to begin the project and
possibly acquire more grant
funding to complete the work
needed to revitalize the his-
toric building and transform
it into a community asset, he
said.
Hazardous materials
cleanup would include the
removal of lead paint and
asbestos, Witty said.
Another group is form-
ing to work toward securing
grants to fund improvements
at the Baker High School
auditorium, he said.
The Board also agreed
to authorize Witty to hire a
head grounds keeper, a posi-
tion that was cut from the
District budget in years past.
“I’ve been here four years
and this has been a chal-
lenge point for me,” Witty
said of the school grounds.
“I think the grounds look
better, but I’m not person-
ally satisfi ed. When you own
something you need to do
your very best to keep it up.”
Witty said he would like to
hire the new grounds keeper
this fall and to provide train-
SALEM — Deputy Talon Colton of the Baker
County Sheriff’s Offi ce and Offi cer Mark Powell of
the Baker City Police Department are members of
the 391st Basic Police graduating class at the Oregon
Public Safety Academy in Salem.
The class will graduate Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. at the
Academy, 4190 Aumsville Highway SE.
Women’s empowerment and training
event, ‘Compel,’ set for September 21
Stonecroft will hold a one-day women’s empower-
ment and training event titled “Compel” on Sept. 21.
The program, aimed at training Christian women
to reach others with the Gospel, will be from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. at Community Connection, 2810 Cedar Street.
The cost of lunch will be $10. To RSVP, contact Jerri
Wickert at jerrijohn2@gmail.com or call 541-519-4708.
Soil and water conservation districts
schedule meetings for September
Baker County’s four soil and water conservation
districts have scheduled meetings during September.
Agendas for any of the meetings are available by call-
ing Tara at 541-532-7121, extension 100.
• Burnt River, Sept. 10, 5:30 p.m. at the USDA Ser-
vice Center, 3990 Midway Drive in Baker City.
• Baker Valley, Sept. 12, noon at the USDA Service
Center.
• Eagle Valley, Sept. 23, noon, location to be deter-
mined.
• Keating, Sept. 24, noon at the USDA Service
Center.
Baker City, Baker County planning
commissions set work sessions
The Baker County Planning Commission has sched-
uled a work session for Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. at the Court-
house, 1995 Third St. Planners will discuss potential
revisions to the county’s zoning ordinance.
The Baker City Planning Commission will have a
work session Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First
St. Commissioners will discuss possible updates to the
city’s development code and to the economic section of
the city’s comprehensive land-use plan.
More information about either meeting is available
by calling the city/county planning department at
541-523-8219 or by emailing Eva Henes at ehenes@
bakercounty.org.
TRAFFIC
section, and adding a turn
lane to make it easier for
Continued from Page 1A
trucks and larger vehicles
Offi cials have also
to turn there.
discussed changes to the
“It would be a com-
intersection of Hughes
bined effort between city,
Lane and Cedar Street,
county, and state because
and widening the bike
they are city, county,
lane along both routes
and state facilities,” said
to improve access to the
Owen.
center of town.
10th Street is a state
The Leo Adler Memo-
highway but jurisdiction-
rial Parkway now leads
ally the city has control
from the Baker Sports
over access.
Complex to Hughes Lane.
The boundary between
Owen said one possibil- the city and the county is
ity is restriping lanes at
the center of Pocahontas
the Hughes/Cedar inter- Road and Hughes Lane.
ing in the various aspects of
the job, including pesticide
and herbicide use and irriga-
tion systems to prepare for
next spring and summer.
Witty said he had been
particularly frustrated
with work this summer on
the Baker Middle School
fi eld on the west side of the
school. The installation of
underground sprinklers
was delayed by a mix-up in
scheduling. The work has
been completed and the fi eld
will be reseeded shortly,
Witty said this week.
The long-term goal is to
install underground sprin-
klers on fi elds throughout
the District over a period of
time, he said.
“It saves on the water bill
and allows you to do a much
better job,” Witty said.
The superintendent also
has proposed adding a full-
time assistant to the busi-
ness offi ce staff to help ease
that workload.
The full-time position
would replace Vickie Chris-
tensen, who has resigned ef-
fective Sept. 30. Christensen
had transitioned recently
from her longtime role as
full-time payroll/ benefi ts
coordinator to a part-time
position. The new full-time
assistant would provide help
to the accounts payable and
payroll departments to take
pressure off other employees
in those roles.
“As we grow our systems
it puts more pressure on
(them),” he said. “We’re get-
ting to the point of pushing
to where we’re going to lose
people.
“You shouldn’t lose good
people over not supporting
them to get their jobs done,”
Witty told the Board.
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