NORTHEAST OREGON
THURSDAY
MAY 21, 2020
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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
May 21, 2020
IN THIS EDITION:
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To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Leslie
Gecy of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Deadline nears for
Ostwald Business
Scholarship
The deadline for
students to apply for the
Ostwald Business Scholar-
ship is Friday, June 5.
This scholarship is
awarded to Baker High
graduates who have com-
pleted a minimum of two
academic terms of full-
time coursework at an ac-
credited college, university
or trade school in order
to help them further their
academic education in a
business-related fi eld. They
must also have attained a
minimum post-high school
grade-point average of 2.5.
Scholarships are
awarded annually based
on the earnings of the
Ostwald trust.
How to apply
Applicants can access
more information and the
application through this
Google form: https://forms.
gle/NNRCLqyzCeaJ1AYH6
The award will be paid
directly to the appropriate
institution upon receipt of
a letter from the institu-
tion confi rming that the
recipient is enrolled as a
full-time student at the
school.
WEATHER
Today
55 / 33
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine $1.50
Nichols wins; levies pass
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Bruce Nichols earned a second
4-year term on the Baker County
Board of Commissioners in Tues-
day’s election, and county voters ex-
tended a pair of property tax levies,
one to control noxious weeds and the
other to combat mosquitoes.
In unoffi cial results from the
County Clerk’s offi ce,
Nichols received 3,470
votes (62.2%) to Loran
Joseph’s 2,083 votes
(37.4%).
Joseph, who is Bak-
Nichols
er City’s mayor, was
the only candidate to
challenge Nichols, who was elected
to his current term in 2016.
Friday
54 / 29
Chance of morning
rain showers
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
“I am very apprecia-
tive of everybody who
supported me,” Nichols
said Wednesday morn-
ing.
Nichols said he was
Joseph
pleased with his mar-
gin of victory.
He said he was nervous as he
awaited election returns, wondering
if Joseph’s prominence as mayor
in Baker City, where 60% of the
county’s residents live, would give
Joseph an advantage.
Nichols said he believes he ben-
efi ted from his experience.
“I think that was a big deciding
factor,” said Nichols, 68, who’s a CPA.
See Election/Page 3A
Baker County Library’s Drive-Up Window Reopens
BAKER SCHOOLS
Witty
hopes for
‘in-person’
fall classes
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
Lisa Britton /For the Baker City Herald
Robert Bennett collects his reserved books from John Brockman at the Baker County Public Library Tues-
day. The library’s drive-up window reopened Monday.
long a virus can survive on a book
surface. They decided seven days for
Baker City missed books.
an extra precaution.
“We’ve had a steady stream of cars
Stokes said Monday also brought
coming through — very happy pa-
phone calls asking when the library
trons,” Perry Stokes, library director, would reopen its doors.
said on Monday.
He said the tentative date is June
That was the day Baker County
1 for limited use. This includes ap-
Public Library, 2400 Resort St.,
pointments to use the computers
opened its drive-up window after be- with only fi ve users at one time, and
ing closed since March 28. Services
limited browsing to fi ve small family
are limited to library inventory. In-
groups at a time.
terlibrary loans are not yet available.
“Not full services, but a step in the
To request books, patrons can
right direction,” he said.
either place a hold online at www.
Stokes said the library generally
bakerlib.org, or call the library at
has 10 employees on site. Add fi ve
541-523-6419.
patrons on computers and another
The drive-up hours are 9 a.m. to
10 browsing the stacks, and that
5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 gets to the limit of 25 people.
a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, and noon to 4
Patrons who come to search for
p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
books will need to sign in, receive
Book returns are quarantined for a time limit, then sign out before
seven days after receiving a strong
leaving.
UV light treatment.
In-person storytime is still on
Stokes said information varies
hold, but Missy Grammon has been
from three days to fi ve days for how livestreaming storytime on the
For the Baker City Herald
With an optimistic eye to
the future, Superintendent
Mark Witty told budget
committee members Tues-
day night that he thinks
the Baker School District
can expect classes to return
to “in-person school” in the
coming year.
But that doesn’t mean
it will be the same system
that was in place just two
months ago before Gov.
Kate Brown ordered schools
closed for the remainder of
the year and implemented
“distance learning for all.”
See Schools/Page 5A
Books Return
By Lisa Britton
Chance of showers
and thunderstorms
Your weekly guide
to events
happening around
Northeastern
Oregon
library’s Facebook page.
The summer reading program
planning is still in process, but will
likely combine outdoor and online
activities.
As he looks ahead, Stokes projects
the library’s cleaning budget will
increase.
“We’ll more than double the janito-
rial budget for next year,” he said.
Although not set, he said the
hours for the limited reopening in
June will probably be the same as
the current drive-up hours.
The branch libraries will have
different schedules and services. For
details, here are the numbers for
each branch:
• Haines Library: 541-856-3309
• Halfway Library: 541-742-5279
• Huntington Library: 541-869-
2440
• Richland Library: 541-893-6088
• Sumpter Library: 541-894-2253
Each branch also has a Facebook
page.
Soggy
storm sets
a record
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Wednesday was the wet-
test day at the Baker City
Airport in almost 5 years.
But that’s not the only
way to gauge the signifi -
cance of the day’s sogginess.
Wednesday also crammed
more rainfall into its 24
hours than any of the previ-
ous 7 months managed.
Actually Wednesday
didn’t need even half those
hours to pull off the feat.
By 8 a.m. the day’s
total of 0.41 of an inch had
already surpassed the
monthly total for every
month since September
2019.
See Soggy/Page 3A
OTEC awards $5,000 scholarships to 6 locals
Four graduating Baker High School
seniors and two returning college
students are among the 22 to receive
$5,000 college scholarships from Or-
egon Trail Electric Cooperative.
Baker County recipients are 2020
BHS graduates Guadalupe Macias,
Sam McCauley, Isabelle Wachtel and
Naomi Woodward.
Koedi Birmingham, who attends
Eastern Oregon University in La
Grande, and Quinn Coomer, a student
at Corban University in Salem, were
TODAY
Issue 5, 18 pages
among returning college students to
receive the scholarships.
This year, four students were the
first to receive a new scholarship
through the OTEC-EOU Rural
Scholarship Program, an OTEC press
release stated.
The new scholarship pays all tuition
and fees at EOU if the student com-
mits to graduating from the La Grande
university.
The four recipients of that schol-
arship are La Grande High School
Business ...........1B & 2B
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 3B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........5B & 6B
graduates Josie Bornstedt and Nathan
Reed, Emily Inselman, a Burns High
School graduate, and Andrew Lusco, of
Grant Union High School at John Day.
“By allocating four of our scholar-
ships to this program and leveraging
a matched investment from EOU we
can invest into our local communities
directly,” Les Penning, OTEC’s CEO,
stated in the press release.
The scholarship also allows the
electric cooperative to support local
students and “return value to OTEC
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Horoscope ........5B & 6B
Letters ........................4A
member-owners through the intern-
ship projects that the students will
complete throughout their four years
at EOU,” Penning said.
Scholarship applicants must be ac-
tive OTEC members in good standing
with the co-op or a dependent of such
members to qualify. Scholarships are
funded by capital credits.
Recipients of the trade school and
lineman school scholarships will be
announced in June, the press release
stated.
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........3A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 8B
SATURDAY — SEARCHING HIGH AND LOW: GETTING INTO GEOCACHING