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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2020)
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 School board to hear reports on sports facilities, Early Learning Center progress By Chris Collins ccollins@bakercityherald.com The Baker School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday for its second Zoom video conference in compliance with Gov. Kate Brown’s social distanc- ing order during the coronavirus pandemic. More information about how to join the Zoom session will be posted on the Baker School District website at baker5j.org Traditionally, the Board has begun its meetings with recognition of Prom- ise Students of the Month from the various school buildings in the com- munity. The tradition has been known to sometimes double the audience gathered for the meeting as extended family members congregate to witness the honor bestowed on their child. That portion of the session will be postponed until further notice, accord- ing to Thursday’s meeting agenda. Presentations scheduled Thursday include a report from Buell Gonzales Jr., the District’s athletic director. He will speak about the work he has done to expand the use of the Sports Complex and other District facili- ties for future use in bringing more tournaments and organized sporting events to Baker City as part of the community’s economic development strategy. Superintendent Mark Witty will CLAIMS BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A COMMUNITY speak about maintenance priorities. And Cassie Hibbert and Witty will update the Board on work being done to establish the Baker Early Learning Center. The tentative time set for the Board to receive public comment during the session is 6:50 p.m. Other items on the agenda include: • The intent to award an audit services contract for the 2020-21 year. • Approval of the Student Invest- ment Account Plan and Agreement for Baker Charter Schools. • Approval of annual extension agreements for Baker Early College and Baker Web Academy with the Baker School District. • Adoption of a resolution designat- ing May 4-8 as Teacher Appreciation Week. • Hearing an update from Baker High School Student Body President Laura Illingsworth. • Hearing Witty’s report on listen- ing sessions via Zoom to be scheduled, plans for a Board retreat at which visions and goals for 2020-2021 will be set, an update on the District’s eco- nomic state and a budget update, and information about meals and child care provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiations with the clas- sifi ed staff, which include secretaries, paraprofessional classroom assistants, custodians and other nonlicensed peaked during the week ending March 28, at 47 claims. The num- Continued from Page 1A ber dropped to 32 claims the week The most recent weekly increase ending April 4, and to 31 the week was driven not by job losses in the ending April 11. accommodations and food services Claims increased, however, in the sector, as was the case in past weeks. health care and social assistance Jobless claims in that sector category — to 24 the most recent workers, the Baker Web Academy service agreement and Wi-Fi access for distance learning. The Board also is expected to ap- prove these personnel actions: • Certifi ed staff resignations — Jeana Phillips, Baker Middle School counselor; Allison Duman, Baker High School head cheer coach. • Certifi ed transfer/hire — Emmy Clausnitzer, from Brooklyn second- grade teacher to Haines third-grade teacher; Johnathan Baer, from South Baker sixth-grade teacher to BMS social studies teacher. • Certifi ed new hires — Ali Abrego, BMS special education teacher; Teagan Wick, Haines sixth-grade teacher; Dylan Francesconi, BHS band teacher; Jacob Bokar, BHS math teacher. • Extra-duty new hire — Ali Abrego, BHS head volleyball coach. • Classifi ed retirements — Tally Newman, BHS secretary; Ramona Helgerson, Haines librarian/parapro- fessional; Connie Robinson, Brooklyn paraprofessional. • Classifi ed resignation — Katelyn Kercheski, Eagle Cap Innovative High School secretary. • Classifi ed new hire — Shayln Woodward, BHS secretary. • Classifi ed seasonal new hire — Debbie Wilde, pre-kindergarten screening assistant. week, up from 13 the previous week — and in manufacturing, from 11 claims to 20 claims. New claims in the retail trade sector have been relatively steady over the past four weeks, at 11, 15, 13 and, for the week ending April 11, 14 claims. SERVICE Continued from Page 1A Some of those who attended Sunday’s service watched from the lawn in front of Cockram Arena, while others sat in their cars. For those who could not at- tend, Neff’s sermon was also available on Facebook Live. “Everybody that is interested and hungry and searching, I wanted to present an opportu- nity,” Neff said.“It may not be their church but we’re having church and that’s what they’re looking for. Basically, there’s no name over the door, so people are able to just come and have a great time, touching God, being touched by the presence of God, and the word of God.” The Apostolic Lighthouse Church had its fi rst outdoor service on Easter Sunday. About 20 cars parked, and Neff said people told him they could hear him well despite some technical glitches with the sound system. “It was awesome,” Neff said. “It felt good, it felt like we were just able to worship God outside.” Angela Light, who attended the April 19 service, said it was a great experience. “I love it. I would do this every day if I could,” Light said. In addition to the outdoor ser- vices and online options, the Ap- ostolic Lighthouse Church has maintained its Sunday School and youth group programs. Neff’s wife, Kristin, is the Sun- day School teacher. She has been meeting with students through Zoom, playing games, having their lessons, and interacting as best they could outside the classroom. “It may not be their church but we’re having church and that’s what they’re looking for.” — Nathan Neff, pastor, Apostolic Lighthouse Church, Baker City “Right now our young people in Baker are desperate for some- thing to do and a way to connect to God and so we felt like that was an important piece for us to be able to focus on helping them,” Nathan Neff said. The online programs have attracted kids from Halfway and Oxbow, and even some from California. “It’s open to anybody and any young person that wants to have fun, study the word of God,” Neff said. Traveling puppet shows Church members have sought other ways to stay engaged with the community during the pandemic. Kristin Neff said she, along with Light and other members of the congregation, built a mo- bile puppet stand. They’ve driven around town with music playing while she and her son dressed as clowns and Light and others acted as puppeteers. “The kids were so excited to see us come,” Kristin said. Nathan Neff grew up in Baker City, attended Bible college in California, and came back to Baker City, serving as assistant pastor for 13 years and as pastor for the past 6fi years. “I was in the military and wound up going to Iraq, and it was while I was in Iraq that God spoke to me and said you’re go- ing to pastor in Baker,” Neff said. SERIES FROM LOCAL HISTORIAN GARY DIELMAN EXAMINES 1864 LAND SURVEY OF THE AREA THAT WOULD INCLUDE BAKER CITY Baker City’s first map was drawn in 1864 By Gary Dielman The 1864 Baker City Township Map fascinates me. It’s the closest we can get to a “photograph” of what Baker City looked like before the town was platted in 1865. The oldest actual photograph we know of dates from about 1868. The 1864 Baker City Township Map has several remarkable fea- tures consider- ing the fact that in the spring of Dielman 1862 the only roads in Baker County were the Oregon Trail and a spur of that trail through Eagle Valley. What caught my attention upon fi rst seeing the 1864 map is the number of wagon roads traversing the mostly sage- brush terrain of the town- ship. Coming from all direc- tions the roads converged on the area where settlement of Baker City would begin just one year later. Also surpris- ing are two farm fi elds in the heart of the area that would become city. Once settlement began in 1865, the fi elds disappeared like an inch of snow on a warm spring day, leaving no trace that the fi elds ever existed. Another remarkable fea- ture of the 1864 Baker City Township Map is the course Powder River took through town in May of 1864, when the township was being surveyed. At Bridge Street the map shows the river taking a 90-degree turn to the east for almost a mile, then northwest to Main and D streets, where it again fl owed north. In a later installment in this series I’ll explore possible expla- nations for this surprising swing east. The fi nal features of the map are by far the tiniest but just as intriguing as any other features: four 1/32nd of an inch squares, each labeled “house” (see map at right, with red numerals). Plus there is an equally tiny mark labeled “bridge.” All fi ve features are located in the area that became present 1. The Hotel Baker corner. This is the southeast corner of the portion of Baker City that lawyer Royal Pierce platted for a town in 1865. 2. Charles E. Place’s cabin. It was located near his toll bridge over Powder River. It was about 10 feet south of the present BCH offi ce. Place is the great-great-grandfa- ther of retired Dr. Robert “Bob” McKim. 3. Charles B. Fisher’s cabin. Fisher’s Grove was named for him, present site of Geiser-Pollman Park. The site of his cabin was about in the middle of the Dollar Store parking lot. 4. The surveyor’s called it “Finlays House.” Probably refers to Thomas Finlayson. The 1870 census of Baker City lists him as a farmer (45) worth $10,000, with wife Margaret (46), and 4 children ages 7 to 15. 5. Surveyor’s put a symbol on their 1864 map with label “bridge” over Powder River. It was located a ways north of the present bridge over Powder River on Hughes Lane. The bridge may have been built by Finlayson to access a farm fi eld. 6. The surveyors show two roads intersecting in South Baker. Just above that intersection and between the two roads there is a symbol labeled simply “house” with no indication of who the owner is. The site of the cabin was about a third of a mile north of Colorado Street. Then in 1864 surveyors Da- Baker City. Surveyor fi eld notes tell us who owned three vid P. Thompson and Daniel Chaplin were awarded the of the four houses. contract to survey the interior The Surveying of Baker 36 sections of T9S R40E. In a City Township six-day period from May 13- In the spring of 1863, 18, 1864, surveyors Thomp- aware of settlement taking son and Chaplin and their place in Eastern Oregon, assistants, Z.S. Dotson, James the General Land Offi ce K. Stricklin, and A.J. Strick- in Eugene contracted with lin, surveyed all 36 square- surveyor Timothy Davenport mile sections in the 6-square- to survey the exterior borders mile Baker City Township. In of township T9S R40E, which accomplishing that task the I refer to as “Baker City crew logged almost 100 miles Township.” in less than a week. A map that includes the site of Baker City was drawn based on a survey that was done from May 13-18, 1864. To give you a sample of what the survey crew was doing, I’ve transcribed the survey fi eld notes as the crew surveyed north through the area that became Baker City. I fi nd it the most historically interesting. But fi rst some technical in- formation. The numbers that begin each fi eld note — for example, 80.00 — refer to the number of “chains” the crew has surveyed from the begin- ning of a section line. Two chainmen stretch out a metal chain that is 66 feet long and composed of 100 links. Each link is 7.92 inches long. Here’s the math: 100 links x 7.92 inches = 792 inches / 12 inches = 66 feet. When the chainmen have stretched out the chain 80 times, they have surveyed one mile: 80 chains x 66 feet = 5,280 feet = 1 mile. The abbreviation of “links” in the fi eld notes is “lks” and “chains” is “chs.” In writing about the fi eld notes, I make men- tion of what we see on the ground today as reference points for the reader. But Baker Valley Travel 541-523-9353 • 1-877-550-9353 we should keep in mind that the survey crew is on almost completely undeveloped land, where the only signifi - cant signs of civilization are some dusty roads, a couple of farm fi elds, and a scattering of squatters cabins. See Map/Page 5A
