BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019
L OCAL B RIEFING
Kids Club, for ages K through 6th grade,
starts Friday at First Lutheran Church
Mental competency in question for
murder suspect arrested near Baker
Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Morales.
If he still doesn’t appear competent,
WALLA WALLA — The arraignment she said another hearing may be sched-
for a man accused of murdering a Whit- uled for the same purpose, after which
man College employee was continued
he could be deemed competent to stand
Monday afternoon, as his competency
trial. If he is deemed competent, he will
was in question.
be scheduled for arraignment.
Colby J. Hedman, 23, whose last
Hedman’s fi rst appearance in Walla
known address was in
Walla was last week, with bail contin-
Heppner, appeared in Wal-
ued at $1 million. He had been returned
la Walla County Superior
from Baker County, after he stopped
Court to make a plea, but
fi ghting extradition.
defense and prosecuting
He has been charged with fi rst-degree
attorneys said they were
murder and theft of a motor vehicle
Hedman
awaiting a competency
in connection with the killing of Kyle
evaluation from Eastern
Martz, 35, of Walla Walla, in July.
State Hospital, which likely will take
Martz was a Whitman graduate
weeks.
and international student and scholar
After the fi rst evaluation is made, a
adviser at the college. Police suspect the
restoration hearing will be scheduled
two didn’t know each other.
to see if he is able to become mentally
Martz worked at Whitman for seven
stable with medication or other means, years and graduated with a gender and
according to Walla Walla County Deputy German studies degree in 2007.
By Emily Thornton
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Hedman admitted to police he struck
Martz with an ax multiple times before
stealing his car and fl eeing to Oregon,
where he was arrested near Baker City
after trying to elude police the same day.
Hedman is accused of breaking into
the home of Bob and Robbie Borders,
just north of Baker City. According to
police reports, when Hedman went to
the Borders’ property he initially moved
items from a Toyota pickup truck he is
accused of stealing from Martz into the
Borders’ Ford pickup truck.
Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce depu-
ties Gabe Maldonado and Craig Rilee
confronted Hedman, who fl ed on foot.
He later returned to the Borders’
property and drove away in the couple’s
2000 Jeep Wrangler.
Hedman was arrested later after lead-
ing police on a chase during which the
Borders’ Jeep, valued at about $10,000,
was totaled, according to Bob Borders.
Governor Brown’s top lawyer turns
down appointment to appeals court
By Claire Withycombe
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown’s top lawyer said
Tuesday he is turning down
a plum judicial post after an
outgoing state advocate for
government transparency
said he tried to exert undue
infl uence over her work.
Public Records Advocate
Ginger McCall’s resignation
last week turned the spotlight
on Misha Isaak, whom Brown
had just appointed to the
Oregon Court of Appeals.
Isaak is declining the ap-
pointment, Brown announced
Tuesday.
“I have worked hard to
earn a professional reputa-
tion beyond ethical reproach,”
Isaak wrote in a letter to
Brown dated Tuesday, Sept.
17. “I am not willing to ac-
cept further damage to my
reputation that could arise
from joining the bench under
a cloud of controversy. I have
therefore decided to decline
the appointment to the Court
of Appeals.”
Brown didn’t ask him to
withdraw, according to her
offi ce.
His decision comes after
public criticism of his role in
the public records controversy
and his path to the court ap-
pointment.
“My understanding is
because it creates a cloud
over his appointment,” Brown
said in an interview with the
Oregon Capital Bureau, as
to the reasons for the decline.
“And he values the integrity
of the court, as do I.”
Last year, Brown appointed
McCall to be the state’s fi rst
public records advocate,
charged with resolving dis-
putes between those seeking
government documents and
public offi cials. The advocate
also trains public offi cials on
TOWER
Continued from Page 1A
The Lansfords’ property is zoned
general-industrial.
According to the conditional use per-
mit application, Verizon wants to build
a 70-foot-tall “monopole style tower...
with new panel antennas, mw dishes,
and tower & grand mounted associated
equipment cabinets and diesel genera-
tor.”
The ground equipment would be
within a fence, according to the applica-
tion.
According to the application, Verizon
wants to build the tower “to remedy
capacity and coverage challenges in city
ROUND UP
But those are also among
the idiosyncrasies that help
Continued from Page 1A
make the Round Up such an
It’s one of the few rodeos
iconic event on the annual
where steer wrestling, also
rodeo calendar.
known as bulldogging, takes
Although Brown was
place on grass, he said.
comfortable competing on
Grass is more slippery than the big stage — especially
the usual dirt, Brown said,
after fi nishing second in steer
and it’s harder for the cow-
wrestling last year — he said
boys to dig their bootheels in. it’s still a special feeling sit-
This is no small matter
ting on his horse and waiting
when the cowboy leaps off a
for the steer to take off.
horse galloping at around 25
“I still get jitters — I think
mph and tries to wrestle a
everybody does for Pendle-
steer running about as fast.
ton,” he said. “It’s a pretty big
The route the competitors rush.”
and steers take is also down-
And a pretty big payday.
hill at Pendleton, another
Brown said he brought
unusual aspect, Brown said. home about $10,000 for his
The alleys the animals run win, along with a bunch of
through are also different
hardware including a saddle,
than at most other events, he buckle, wool blankets (Pend-
said.
leton, of course), a knife, hat,
W EEKLY S PECIALS
S EPTEMBER 18-22
Wednesday
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the state’s complex public
records law.
The post was created by
state law in 2017 through
legislation Brown proposed.
McCall resigned after 18
months on the job, blaming
unacceptable infl uence from
the governor’s offi ce, and spe-
cifi cally identifi ed Isaak.
“I have received mean-
ingful pressure from the
governor’s general counsel to
represent the Governor’s Of-
fi ce’s interests on the Public
Records Advisory Council,
even when those interests
confl ict with the will of the
council and the mandate
of the Offi ce of the Public
Records Advocate,” McCall
wrote in her resignation
letter to Brown. “I have not
only been pressured in this
direction but I have been told
that I should represent these
interests while not telling
anyone that I am doing so. I
Sunday 8 AM - 11 AM
Sunday Buffet includes Chocolate Fountain
believe these actions consti-
tuted an abuse of authority
on the part of the general
counsel, and are counter to
the transparency and ac-
countability mission that I
was hired to advance.”
McCall then released
detailed memos of her meet-
ings with Isaak and Brown’s
government accountability
attorney, Emily Matasar.
The governor said Tues-
day that members of her
executive team had spoken
to Isaak about his conversa-
tions with McCall, but said
she didn’t know if Isaak faced
discipline.
Brown said she is changing
how she handles appoint-
ments to judgeships in the fu-
ture. She has so far appointed
two of her gubernatorial staff
to court positions and Isaak
would have been the third.
See Lawyer/Page 6A
of Baker City. The (tower) will improve
coverage to the city of Baker City. This
site will add needed capacity to this
area so that customers will receive
better service and faster data speeds.
The proposed antenna tip height of 70
(feet) is the minimum height needed for
the effective functioning of the proposed
antennas.”
boots and a pocket watch and
wristwatch.
Steer wrestling is both the
quickest event in rodeo and
among the more violent.
The competitor, after giving
the steer a headstart (the
distance depends on the size
of the arena), takes off on
horseback in pursuit.
(A second cowboy, the
hazer, rides on the opposite
side of the steer to prevent
the animal from veering
away.)
As the cowboy pulls even
with the steer he slides off
the right side of the horse,
hooks his right arm around
the steer’s right horn and
grabs the left horn with his
left hand.
To stop the clock the cow-
boy has to wrestle the steer
onto its side with all four feet
pointing in the same direc-
tion.
The steer, suffi ce it to say,
does not go gently. And at
more than 450 pounds, they
are quite capable of resisting
even the strongest cowboy.
Brown, who is accustomed
to wrestling heavy but inani-
mate tires and wheels at Lew
Brothers Les Schwab Tires,
the Baker City business his
dad, Jim, co-owns, said steer
wrestlers are prone to shoul-
der, knee and ankle injuries,
among others.
Rips of the pectoral mus-
cles (the ones that connect the
chest to the upper arm and
shoulder) are possible, too.
“It’s a younger man’s event
for sure,” Brown said. “If you
can stay healthy you can keep
doing it though.”
He certainly plans to.
“I love it — I want to do
it every day,” Brown said. “I
practice almost every day.”
Brown said he competed
in about 85 rodeos this year,
ranging from Florida to
Canada.
“You live in a horse trailer
and drive a lot,” he said with
a smile.
Baker & Union Counties
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Kids Club will begin Friday at First Lutheran
Church at 1734 Third St.
The free program runs from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
most Fridays when Baker School District classes are
not in session. The Kids Club schedule follows the
school calendar through April with time off for Thanks-
giving, Christmas and spring breaks. All children in
kindergarten through sixth grade are welcome.
Children will participate in singing, games, crafts
and Bible lessons each week. A snack also will be
served.
Baker County Democrats have guest
speaker for Thursday meeting
Eileen Kiely, secretary of the Democratic Party of
Oregon and former candidate for the state legislature,
will be the guest speaker at the Baker County Demo-
crats’ monthly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 19 at Roger
Fellowship Hall, 1995 Fourth St., between the Court-
house and Baker Middle School.
Pizza, coffee and tea will be served at 5:30 p.m., with
the meeting starting at 6 p.m. All are welcome.
Powder River clean up planned for
Saturday starting at Geiser-Pollman Park
The Powder Basin Watershed Council is planning a
clean up of the Powder River in Baker City for Satur-
day, Sept. 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers should
meet at Geiser-Pollman Park. Snacks and water will be
provided. To pre-register, call 541-523-7288.
Traffi c delays crossing Hells Canyon Dam
this week, road work starting Sept. 23
Travel across Hells Canyon Dam will be restricted
through Thursday as crews replace spillgate cables, a
task that requires a large crane. Drivers planning to
cross the dam should expect delays of up to two hours
each day between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. PDT. In addi-
tion, work on the road between Oxbow and the dam
will cause traffi c delays from Sept. 23 through Dec. 1.
Traffi c will be restricted to a single lane on a half-mile
section near Oxbow. Work will take place between 6
a.m. and 5 p.m. PDT weekdays. Delays of 30 minutes,
and up to 2 hours, are expected.
Tiny Byrne poker tournament set for
Saturday evening at the Elks Lodge
The sixth-annual Tiny Byrne poker tournament
is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Baker Elks Lodge,
1896 Second St. Sign ups are from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.,
with the tournament starting at 6 p.m. Buy-in is $30,
with rebuys for 1 to 2 hours.
Dinner will be provided by Alfredo of El Erradero.
More information is available by calling Al at 541-403-
0166.
Blue Mountain Community College
planning workshops in Baker City
The Blue Mountain Community College Small
Business Development Center is planning a pair of
workshops in October at the Baker City campus, 3275
Baker St.
The fi rst workshop, set for Oct. 10 from 9 a.m. to
noon, will be led by Michael Mettler of MCM Strate-
gic + Communications and will focus on integrating
Google Business into your communications arsenal.
The second workshop, Oct. 24 from 9 a.m. to noon,
will also be led by Mettler and will focus on promoting
and growing your business digitally, creating a voice for
your business, creating two-way communication chan-
nels and calendaring your content.
Cost for each session is $39, and includes light re-
freshments and a follow-up session several weeks later
to evaluate progress.
Candidates can start fi ling for local offi ces
on primary election ballot in May 2020
The candidate fi ling period for the May 19, 2020,
primary election is now open, Baker County Clerk
Stefanie Kirby said.
People who wish to fi le for open offi ces have until
March 10, 2020, to do so.
Local offi ces set to be on the primary election ballot,
and for which candidates will fi le with the Baker Coun-
ty Clerk’s Offi ce, are County Assessor, County Surveyor,
County Sheriff and County Commissioner, Position 1.
Candidates for Precinct Committee Person for both
the Republican and Democratic parties will be able to
fi le with the Baker County Clerk’s Offi ce starting Sept.
30 due to a new law going into effect. More information
is available by calling the Clerk’s Offi ce at 541-523-
8207.
Unity planning annual fall harvest bazaar
Oct. 5 at Community Center
UNITY — Unity’s fall harvest bazaar is set for Satur-
day, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Community Hall
in Unity, the Baker County town along Highway 26
about 50 miles south of Baker City.
Vendors will be offering artisan crafts, new clothing
and jewelry. Door prizes will be awarded at 2 p.m. (must
be present to win).
The Burnt River 4-H Club will be serving coffee, muf-
fi ns, and biscuits and gravy in the morning while sup-
plies last. Starting at 11 a.m. the Club will serve lunch
for $8 per person, with a menu including spaghetti
with homemade sauce, a bowl of salad, a slice of garlic
bread and a drink. Cookies and pies will also be for
sale, by the whole pie or by the slice with ice cream. All
proceeds will go to the 4-H Club.
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