4C — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019
YEAR IN REVIEW
MARCH
■ High Temperature: 65, on the 21st
• Low Temperature: 11, on the 4th •
Total Precipitation: 1.17 (avg.: .81)
T HE H ISTORY M AKERS
By Mike Weber
For the Baker City Herald
Mike Weber / For the Baker City Herald
The Baker girls basketball team, including Sydney Keller, center, and Jayme Ramos, holding ball, celebrate their state
championship Saturday at Forest Grove High School. The Bulldogs beat Marist 51-48.
Council OKs
property rules
By Casey Crowley
ccrowley@bakercityherald.com
MARCH 13 — The Baker
City Council on Tuesday voted
5-0 to approve the fi nal reading
of a revised property mainte-
nance ordinance that gives the
Baker Justice Court judge the
authority to block residents,
and others, from properties the
judge deems “chronic neigh-
borhood nuisances” based on
criteria in the ordinance.
The city would have to ask
the judge to make such a deter-
mination.
The ordinance also includes
a section under which the judge
can allow property owners who
make an effort to clean up their
property to continue to have
access to it.
MARCH 11 — The Baker girls basketball team did
something Saturday night that no previous Bulldogs girls
squad had done.
Baker outlasted Marist 51-48 to claim the Class 4A state
championship.
The historic achievement added to the team’s list of
accomplishments in a season that was one blemish from
perfection.
Baker fi nished with a 25-1 record, winning the fi nal 19
games after its lone loss, 61-46 at Burns on Dec. 15.
“We’re just like one big family and I knew this team was
capable of winning the title,” said Mat Sand, who fi nished
his fourth season as Baker’s coach.
“We set goals and we set some other things that we
wanted to achieve as the season went on. I just knew at the
beginning of the season that this team was very special. As
a coach, you just try to get the players to believe in you and
buy into what we’re (assistant coaches Shawn Berry, Amy
Younger) teaching the team and they did that. They be-
lieved in themselves throughout the season and it showed
with our record.”
After Sydney Younger’s two free throws gave Baker a 39-
37 lead with 6:28 left in the game, Marist’s Madison Ficek,
who led all scorers with 17 points, scored four straight
points to give the Spartans a 41-39 lead with 5:21 left.
It was Marist’s fi nal lead.
Demonstration Outside Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s Public Event
Governor Greeting
Baker wins contest for
all-abilities playground
MARCH 22 — In the end, it wasn’t even close.
Baker City dominated a month-long online voting contest
sponsored by Moda Health and the Portland Trail Blazers and
will win a grant of about $35,000 to buy equipment for an all-
abilities playground at Geiser-Pollman Park.
Baker City received about 63,600 votes, more than 24,000
more than second-place Prineville. Blazers’ star Damian Lillard
congratulated Baker City in a video message posted Thursday
on Moda Health’s Facebook page.
Casey Crowley / Baker City Herald
About 30 people gathered Friday at Geiser-Pollman Park to express their opposition to some policies of
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who spoke at the Baker Heritage Museum.
group of about 30 people con-
gregated across Grove Street
MARCH 4 — Oregon Gov- at the northeast corner of
ernor Kate Brown visited
Geiser-Pollman Park to
Baker City on Friday after- display signs expressing sup-
noon to discuss her goals for port for President Donald
the state for the upcoming
Trump and the 2nd Amend-
year.
ment, and opposing some of
More than 70 people gath- Brown’s policies.
ered at the Baker Heritage
Inside the Museum,
Museum to hear Brown talk Brown said that although
for about 15 minutes. She
job growth has been high
then answered questions
and unemployment rates
from audience members for low in most of the state,
about 45 minutes.
economic prosperity hasn’t
The question-and-answer reached all Oregon commu-
part of the event was moder- nities.
ated by Baker City Mayor
“My role as governor is to
Loran Joseph.
fi gure out how we provide
Before Brown’s arrival, a
all of our communities with
By Casey Crowley
ccrowley@bakercityherald.com
Keeping you connected with friends & family.
“That’s what we do best.”
Eagle Telephone • 47 Years
Snake River PCS • 17 Years
349 First • Richland, OR • 541-893-6115
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the tools you need to thrive,”
said Brown, a Democrat who
was elected to a four-year
term in November 2018.
She took over the gover-
norship in February 2015 af-
ter John Kitzhaber resigned.
Brown said access to
health care and housing will
be her two top priorities for
2019.
Brown said while about
94 percent of adults have
access to health care cover-
age the state is working to
increase that to 100 percent.
As for housing, that’s
an issue “impacting every
single community around
the state,” the governor said.
Man gets prison for threat
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MARCH 15 — A former Baker City man who has twice
been convicted of making bomb threats here was sentenced to
two years in prison Wednesday for the more recent conviction,
for making an anonymous phone call in March 2016 claiming
to have placed a bomb behind Baker County Sheriff Travis
Ash’s home.
Freddie Armando Butler, 31, of Des Moines, Iowa, was sen-
tenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose in Iowa.
Butler admitted using a cellphone to leave the anonymous
message for Ash.
Ash and Baker County Sheriff’s deputies searched the area
around the sheriff’s home but found no bomb.
In January 2011 Butler, then 23 and living in Boise, was sen-
tenced to one year in jail for calling in a bomb threat to Baker
High School in December 2009.