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DUCKS, BEAVERS, BLAZERS WIN: PG. 7A HEALTH, 2B
SEASONAL MOLD?
In OUTDOORS, 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
December 20, 2019
IN THIS EDITION:
Local • Health & Fitness • Outdoors • TV
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Baker City Mother Sought Help After Losing Her Home
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Edward
Davidson of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Putting Pride Aside
Prime rib lunch
at Senior Center
The Senior Center will
be serving a special prime
rib luncheon on Friday,
Dec. 27.
The meal, sponsored
by Paul Bennett, will be
served at the regular
lunchtime of 11:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m., but the sug-
gested donation will be
increased and tickets must
be purchased in advance.
Seniors will be asked to
make a suggested dona-
tion of $8 each and the
cost for nonseniors will
be $10. Tickets must be
purchased from the offi ce
because of limited avail-
ability, a fl ier advertising
the special meal states.
The luncheon will
include prime rib, baked
potatoes, green beans, a
roll, green salad and carrot
cake.
The center and bus ser-
vice will be closed for the
holidays on Christmas Eve
(Dec. 24) and on Christmas
Day (Dec. 25).
More information is
available by calling Com-
munity Connection at
541-523-6591.
WEATHER
Today
41 / 34
Mostly cloudy
Saturday
43 / 28
Mostly cloudy
Sunday
43 / 25
Mostly cloudy
The space below will be
blank on issues delivered
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mailed.
Tying flies
for past
76 years
County
to seek
help
with
parks
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Through the help of a housing assistance program at Community Connection, Katelyn Kercheski and her
twin boys have a place to call home.
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
Katelyn Kercheski
says it was “unforeseen
life changes” that sent
her looking for help after
marital issues ended in
divorce in October.
Because of fi nancial
problems associated
with the divorce, she
and her twin toddlers
found themselves hav-
ing to move out of their
six-bedroom home in
south Baker City.
She and her former
husband had moved
into the house just two
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
weeks before bringing
the boys, who they were An October divorce and fi nancial problems left Katelyn Kercheski homeless until
she asked for help.
in the process of adopt-
ing, from San Diego
to their new Baker City home in
February.
The couple had planned to con-
tinue in their work as foster parents,
By Chris Collins
which they had been doing for about
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
four years, and needed extra room
In addition to help with housing, Community Connection also pro-
after the twins joined the family.
vides other assistance ranging from help with paying the winter heat
But before the year was out,
bill to transportation, meals and special activities.
those “unforeseen life changes” left
Kercheski and the boys without a
Heating assistance
place of their own to call home.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (also known
The now-single mother and
as LIHEAP) opened to the general public on Dec. 1, said Joe Hayes,
her two sons bunked with family
Community Connection’s Baker County manager, for the past year.
members for a short time before they
This year, the program has $201,733 available for distribution to Baker
were helped through programs avail-
County residents who qualify by income. The qualifying mark for one
able at Community Connection for
person is a gross monthly income of $2,165, Hayes said.
families who are homeless or at-risk
The one-time payment of up to $550, depending on income level, pays
of being homeless.
for gas, electric, oil or wood heat.
“We stayed with my mom or
Prior to Dec. 1, seniors older than 60 and disabled residents were
my cousin for about a month,” the
given fi rst chance to sign up for the funding, he said.
27-year-old Kercheski said. “If it
“It enables families to have a Christmas,” Hayes said of the one-time
weren’t for Community Connection
heating payment.
it probably would have been a lot
See Assistance/Page 3A
longer.”
She and her boys, who turned 2 on
Dec. 15, have settled into a three-
bedroom double-wide mobile home
qualifi cation as HUD housing is
for water service, she said.
in east Baker City thanks to funding fi nalized.
Kercheski says asking for as-
streams that help pay for move-in
The U.S. Department of Hous-
sistance was the fi rst, most diffi cult
expenses.
ing and Urban Development helps
step for her.
The money covered the required
property owners offer reduced rents
“I needed to do whatever I needed
$1,200 housing deposit and the fi rst to low-income tenants.
to do for the boys and myself,” she
month’s rent check of $820. And
The Community Connection
said. “I needed to put my pride aside
Kercheski said the assistance she’s
funding sources also paid the $200
and ask for help.”
receiving will continue to pay a large deposit and $30 hookup fee for elec-
See Pride/Page 3A
portion of the rent until the home’s
trical service, and the $100 deposit
Several types of aid available
TODAY
Issue 106, 16 pages
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 2B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........5B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Horoscope ........5B & 6B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........5A
Obituaries ........ 2A & 5A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ................... 1B
Baker County commis-
sioners decided Wednesday
to send a letter to Idaho
Power Company broaching
the possibility of the Boise
fi rm taking over manage-
ment, but not ownership,
of the county’s Hewitt
and Holcomb parks near
Richland.
The letter will include
a request for a meeting
between county and Idaho
Power offi cials.
The issue arose due to
declining revenue at the
two parks, which are on the
north shore of the Powder
River arm of Brownlee Res-
ervoir just east of Richland.
Commission Chairman
Bill Harvey said he has
already sent two letters to
Idaho Power, and spoken
with company representa-
tives about the county’s
struggles to pay to operate
the two parks.
See Parks/Page 5A
Changes
coming
to BHS
sports
league?
■ Four-team
league could add
Nyssa, Vale and
Burns next year
By Ronald Bond
The (La Grande) Observer
The Greater Oregon
League could see a revival
in 2020.
Or, at least, become a hy-
brid of greatness in football.
And Baker High School
buses might put on fewer
miles besides.
The Oregon School Ac-
tivities Association’s football
ad hoc committee has been
looking to realign some
leagues for the fi nal two
years of the 2018-22 block,
and its latest proposal, an-
nounced this week, would
create a league in Eastern
Oregon similar to the GOL
of the early 2000s.
Under the proposal, GOL
members Baker, La Grande
and Ontario, all 4A schools,
would join a 4A/3A hybrid
special district for football
with Class 3A Eastern Or-
egon League teams Nyssa,
Vale and Burns.
See Sports/Page 8A
Sports .............. 7A & 8A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Weather ..................... 8B
MONDAY — VOLUNTEERS RESCUE 19 FERAL CATS NEAR NORTH POWDER