MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
L OCAL B RIEFING
Sage grouse recovery discussion set
What’s New
At The Library
• 2400 Resort St.
FICTION
• “Spy,” Danielle Steel
• “Criss Cross,” James
Patterson
• “The Rise of
Magicks,” Nora Roberts
• “Beating about the
Bush,” M. C. Beaton
• “Scarlet Fever,” Rita
Mae Brown
NONFICTION
• “A Warning,” Anony-
mous
• “With All Due Re-
spect,” Nikki Haley
• “Me,” Elton John
• “The Way I Heard It,”
Mike Rowe
• “Three Days At The
Brink,” Bret Baier
DVDS
• “Angel Has Fallen”
(Action)
• “Masterpiece: The
Chaperone” (Drama)
• “Offi cial Secrets”
(Drama)
• “Papi Chulo” (Com-
edy”
• “Where’d You Go,
Bernadette” (Comedy)
TRAIN
Continued from Page 1A
The potato trailer
collided with the pickup,
and the two became en-
tangled, according to the
Sheriff’s Offi ce.
Richardson, the potato
truck driver, didn’t realize
this had happened and
continued driving across
the railroad tracks, which
are just west of Highway
30.
At that point the
pickup dislodged from the
trailer on the tracks, but
the pickup couldn’t move.
Furtney said they ini-
tially saw the lights from
the oncoming train, and
Baker City forestry
consultant in new video
A Baker City forestry consultant who
helped landowners deal with the aftermath of
the 2015 Cornet/Windy Ridge fi re, the largest
blaze in Baker County history, is featured in
a new video produced by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Forestry.
Lane Parry, who won an
award in 2017 for his work with
private landowners after the
104,000-acre fi re, appears in the
7-minute video along with Jana
Peterson, stewardship forester at
Parry
the Forestry Department’s Baker
City offi ce.
You can watch the video at https://www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=CT0qoYmBdK0&t=139s
The Oregon Board of Forestry named Parry
its Eastern Oregon Operator of the Year for
2017 for his work with landowners after the
Cornet/Windy Ridge fi re.
The video is designed to help property own-
ers get ideas about restoring land burned in a
wildfi re.
Since 2013, blazes have burned almost
34,000 acres of private, non-industrial timber
ground in Oregon, according to the Forestry
Department.
“A wildfi re can be devastating to landown-
ers both emotionally and economically,” said
Ryan Gordon, family forestland coordinator
for the agency. “When trees burn, beloved for-
est scenery around a home can turn to charred
snags. Typically, those burned trees also
later heard its horn. They
jumped from the pickup
what he estimated was
10 to 15 seconds before
the train hit the pickup.
Baker County Sheriff’s
deputies investigated
the incident. No citations
have been issued.
The Sheriff’s Offi ce
was assisted by Oregon
State Police, Baker City
Fire Department, Haines
Fire Protection District,
Baker Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, and Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation.
No one on the train
crew was injured, said
Tim McMahan, a spokes-
man for Union Pacifi c.
Slowdowns planned
Wednesday on I-84
west of La Grande
MEACHAM — The Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation will stage rolling slowdowns for eastbound and
westbound traffi c on Interstate 84 near Meacham on
Wednesday to accommodate the removal of hazard trees
near milepost 242, 20 miles west of La Grande, plus two
or three nearby locations.
Up to three separate slowdowns operations are sched-
uled to take place Wednesday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
that will affect traffi c for about 15 minutes in each case.
Slowdowns begin at milepost 256 near Perry for
westbound traffi c and milepost 224 near Poverty Flats
for eastbound traffi c, with pilot cars slowing motorists to
about 35 mph. Once traffi c has passed the work site the
pilot cars will exit the freeway and drivers can return to
posted speeds. Please plan extra travel time in this area
at this time.
Freeway onramps in the slowdown zones will also be
temporarily closed during the operations until the pilot
cars and traffi c have passed. Travelers will be able to
exit the freeway at affected interchanges, but they might
experience delays in getting on the freeway towards the
direction of the work zones.
The rolling slowdown will create a window of time
when no vehicles will be at the work sites for approxi-
mately 10 minutes. This will allow workers to safely fell
the hazard trees without traffi c in the area.
If weather conditions are not favorable on December
11, we will postpone the operation till the following
Wednesday, said Randy Randolph of ODOT.
represent a loss of income a landowner was
depending on for retirement or to send kids or
grandkids to college.”
Gordon said the video explains how local
ODF stewardship foresters can help landown-
ers fi nd the resources and answers about what
to do after a wildfi re.
He gives these tips to forest landowners
looking to recover after a wildfi re.
• Assess damage. Smaller fi res, burning
only brush and small trees, may not require
restoration. More intense fi res that consume
larger trees and underbrush, and damage soil
may require restoring soil, grass, and trees.
• Create a restoration plan. Determine
short-term and long-term goals for restor-
ing your property and make plans to achieve
them. A local ODF stewardship forester can
provide information about salvage harvesting
and clean-up, timber production, grazing land,
stream health, soil productivity and fi sh and
wildlife habitat.
• Look into assistance grants. Find out if
your planned timber salvage is eligible for
fi nancial assistance before starting work.
Financial assistance is limited and not all
salvage operations are eligible. The process is
often time consuming, so don’t delay.
• Act quickly on your plan. Action right
after a fi re can help you better achieve your
goals. For example, quickly establishing
grasses and trees will help prevent unwanted
weeds and brush.
A discussion about efforts to restore sage grouse
populations is set for Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Baker County Library, 2400 Resort St.
The event is part of the Powder Basin Watershed
Council’s speaker series.
Dallas Hall Defrees, a Baker County native,will talk
about the coalition of private landowners and gov-
ernment offi cials who were awarded $6 million from
the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to try to
increase sage grouse populations in Baker County and
southern Union County.
Merkley opens fi eld offi ce in Baker City
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., has opened an
Eastern Oregon fi eld offi ce in Suite 504 at the Baker
Tower, 1705 Main St. in Baker City.
The move from Pendleton to the Baker Tower comes
after Merkley had a new staffer, Jessica
Keys, join his team as Eastern Oregon
fi eld representative. The Baker City of-
fi ce will serve as the local point of contact
for Oregonians in Morrow, Umatilla,
Union, Wallowa, Grant, Malheur and
Merkley
Baker counties, according to a press
release from Merkley.
“It is important to me that every region in our state
has a local offi ce to fi eld questions and information,
and local staff to be out and available in our communi-
ties,” Merkley said. “I’m glad we’re opening our doors
to this new, centrally located offi ce.”
The phone number for the senator’s new fi eld offi ce
is 541-278-1129.
Ladies Golf & Bridge Christmas party set
The Baker Ladies Golf and Bridge Association will
have its annual Christmas Party on Wednesday, Dec.
11 at Quail Ridge Golf Course, 2801 Indiana Avenue.
The party will start at 11:30 a.m., and there might be
bridge games afterward.
This will be a potluck, so please bring a salad or
dessert. There will also be a gift exchange, so please
bring a gift worth less than $15. More information is
available by calling Nancy at 541-519-6774.
City Council might ask voters to end
councilors’ $10 per meeting salary
Baker City Council mem-
bers might give up their paltry
paychecks.
But only if city voters agree
to do away with councilors’ pay.
Councilors will discuss
during their regular meeting
Tuesday whether to ask vot-
ers, in the May 2020 election,
to delete a section of the city
charter that pays councilors
$10 for every meeting they
attend, to a yearly maximum
of $150.
That charter clause dates to
the 1950s.
Tuesday’s meeting starts at
7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First
St.
Councilors will discuss
asking voters to make another
change to the charter — delet-
ing the requirement that the
city get voter approval before
selling any city property with
a market value of more than
$10,000.
That section of the charter
would be revised to read that
the city, with a majority vote
of the Council, could sell any
surplus equipment, regardless
of value, with the proceeds
going to the city’s equipment
replacement fund.
The city has a surplus
backhoe it wants to sell, and of-
fi cials believe its value exceeds
$10,000.
In case voters rejected the
proposal to eliminate the
$10,000 threshold, the May
2020 ballot could also include
a separate item asking voters
to authorize the sale of the
backhoe.
In other business Tuesday
the Council will:
• Consider approving a new
three-year contract with Grass
Master Inc. for maintenance
of city parks, Mount Hope
Cemetery and the landscaping
at Sam-O Swim Center, City
Hall and Crossroads Carnegie
Art Center.
The Baker City company
was the only one to respond to
a request for proposals for the
work.
Grass Master Inc., which
has had the contract for
almost nine years, is proposing
a contract of $171,210 per year,
an increase of 8.48% over the
current contract.
• Consider approving a
contract with the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
Library adds digital news archive
Patrons of the Baker
County Library District can
now peruse digital versions of
several newspapers, includ-
ing the Baker City Herald, as
well as magazines.
Titled America’s News,
digital collection is updated
daily. America’s News pro-
vides online access to the text
of current and archived issues
of more than 2,800 sources
including 48 national maga-
zines, and 42 full-text Oregon
newspapers, including:
• (Ontario) Argus Observer
(1998 – current)
• Army Times (1999 – cur-
rent)
• Baker City Herald
(2001– current)
• Bend Bulletin (2005 –
current)
• Blue Mountain Eagle
(John Day) (2002 – current)
• Christian Science Moni-
tor (1980 – current)
• Dalles Chronicle (2005 –
current)
• East Oregonian (Pendle-
FIRE
ton) (2002 – current)
• Oregonian (1987 – cur-
rent)
• USA Today (1987 – cur-
rent)
• Wallowa County Chief-
tain (2002 – current)
Patrons can access the col-
lection by logging in at www.
bakerlib.org/online-library.
For more information
contact the Baker County
Library District by calling
541-523-6419 or emailing
info@bakerlib.org
The Baker City Fire
employees also assisted.
Department received mutual
No other details were
Continued from Page 1A
aid from Baker Rural, Haines available in time for this
The property is owned
and Bowen Valley fi re protec- report.
by Mitchelle D. Segerdahl,
tion districts. Offi cers from
according to Baker County
the Baker City Police Depart-
Assessor’s Offi ce records.
ment, the Baker County
Segerdahl, who died in
Sheriff’s Offi ce, the Baker
September 2018, is still listed County Dispatch Center and
as the offi cial owner.
Baker City Public Works
Weekly Specials December 9-15
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Meatloaf.............................................................$8.95
All You Can Eat Spaghetti....................................$8.95
Liver & Onions....................................................$8.95
Chicken Fried Steak............................................$9.95
All You Can Eat Mini Shrimp...............................$9.95
Steak & Shrimp................................................$10.95
Pan Fried Oysters ............................................$10.50
Prime Rib...............$14.95 / NY Steak..............$13.95
Stuffed Pork Loin...............................$10.50 sr/10.95
BUFFETS
Monday - Friday 11 AM - 2 PM
Lunch includes Salad Bar, Entree,
Grilled Bread, Baked Bean & Vegetable
221 Bridge Street • 541-523-5844
Open Daily 6 AM - 8 PM
Sunday 8 AM - 11 AM
Sunday Buffet includes Chocolate Fountain
tion (ODOT) to have vinyl
art wraps placed on a traffi c
signal control cabinet, owned
by ODOT, at Main Street and
Washington Avenue.
The city has set aside money
for the public art project, which
will cost an estimated $600.
The city’s Public Arts Com-
mission has been working on
the vinyl art wrap concept for
the past four years.
• Consider the fi nal reading
of an ordinance allowing the
Baker County Justice Court
judge to issue a monetary fi ne
to a juvenile cited for violat-
ing the city’s curfew/truancy
ordinance.
The current ordinance only
allows for fi nes to be imposed
on a juvenile’s parent or guard-
ian.
DEC 6-12
ELTRYM
HISTORIC THEATER
1809 1st Street, Baker City
www.eltrym.com
FORD V
FERRARI
PG-13
FRI: (3:50) 7:00
SAT & SUN: (12:45) (3:50) 7:00
MON-THURS: 7:00
KNIVES OUT
PG-13
FRI: (4:10) 7:10
SAT & SUN: (1:10) (4:10) 7:10
MON-THURS: 7:10
FROZEN
2
FRI: (4:20) 7:20
PG
SAT & SUN: (1:20) (4:20) 7:20
MON-THURS: 7:20
( )Bargain Matinee
Show Times: 541-523-2522
Offi ce: 541-523-5439