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SEARCHING HIGH AND LOW: GEOCACHING ADDS EXCITEMENT TO HIKES: 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
May 23, 2020
IN THIS EDITION:
Local Health & Fitness Outdoors TV
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Exploring a
geocache
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Doris
Hutton of Baker City.
Jayson Jacoby / Baker City Herald
BRIEFING
F-15 Flyover
Rotary Club
putting up fl ags
for Memorial Day
The Baker City Ro-
tary Club will be placing
American fl ags in front
of many businesses and
residences for Memorial
Day, Monday, May 25. You
can sign up to be included
for future holidays by
calling 541-377-5795.
Rotarians will be setting
out fl ags along the route
of the Baker High School
graduation on June 7, as
well as on Flag Day, June
14, Independence Day and
other federal holidays later
in the year.
A pair of F-15 Eagle jets
fl ew over Saint Alphonsus
Medical Center-Baker City
Friday morning to honor
health care workers. The
aircraft are from the Oregon
Air National Guard’s 142nd
Wing based in Portland.
Wednesday Rain Too Little, Too Late To Have Major Benefi t For Phillips Reservoir
Failing To Refill
Baker County Fair
Board to meet
Wednesday
By Jayson Jacoby
The Baker County Fair
Board will meet Wednes-
day, May 27, at 6 p.m. at
the Baker Community
Events Center, 2600 East
St., to discuss plans for the
Fair in August. Social dis-
tancing will be observed
and seating will be limited.
The meeting will also be
streamed via Zoom. For
a link, send an email to
mkaseberg@gmail.com
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
When Jimm Mooney
heard there might not be a
ceremony in the veterans
section at Mount Hope
Cemetery on Memorial Day
due to the pandemic, his
reaction was immediate.
“Something has to hap-
pen,” said Mooney, senior
pastor and founder with
Veterans Hope Ministries
in Baker City.
And something has.
Or, rather, something
will.
Mooney, whose organiza-
tion is dedicated to helping
Baker County veterans
and their families, has put
together a brief program
starting at 11 a.m. Monday
at the cemetery.
WEATHER
Today
61 / 34
Mostly sunny
Sunday
Memorial
Day event
planned
at the
cemetery
Lisa Britton / For the Baker City Herald
Phillips Reservoir between Baker City and Sumpter is slightly less than half full.
See Memorial/Page 6A
69 / 42
Cloudy
Planners
approve
housing
complex
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Monday
73 / 46
Afternoon showers
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Jeff Colton was sorry about the rain
Wednesday.
Sorry that it eventually stopped
falling in Baker County.
The rain that sluiced down most of
the day — a daily record of 0.54 of an
inch fell at the Baker City Airport —
didn’t cause any fl ooding here as it did
in neighboring counties.
But the storm did give Colton some
optimism about this summer’s water
supply in the midst of a spring that’s
mainly been disappointing.
“It’s been a tough spring,” said
Colton, who manages the Baker Val-
ley Irrigation District.
Tough, in Colton’s view, being a
synonym of sorts for “dry.”
Every month in 2020 has been drier
than average at the airport.
Phillips Reservoir, the Powder River
impoundment between Baker City
and Sumpter that stores water to irri-
gate more than 30,000 acres in Baker
Valley, refl ects the arid trend.
The reservoir is holding about 45%
of its capacity.
The biggest problem, Colton said,
isn’t that there hasn’t been enough
rain to replenish the reservoir.
Rather, he’s had to release more wa-
ter through Mason Dam than usual to
meet irrigation demand.
During a more damp spring, by
contrast, Colton can reduce the water
fl ow through the dam to a mere
trickle because rain keeps fi elds and
pastures moist and there’s no need
for supplemental irrigation. That
TODAY
Issue 6, 14 pages
Jayson Jacoby / Baker City Herald
After rising Wednesday during a prolonged rainstorm, the Powder
River through Baker City had receded signifi cantly by Friday.
means most of the snowmelt from the
The more water Colton can store in
Elkhorn Mountains and other ranges the reservoir, the more he can dole out
stays in the reservoir — ideally rais-
to farmers and ranchers through the
ing its level to full, or nearly so, by late summer.
See Irrigation/Page 3A
spring.
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 3B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........5B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Horoscope ........5B & 6B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........3A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ................... 1B
The Baker City Planning
Commission on Wednes-
day approved a proposed
16-unit housing complex
with one- and two-bedroom
units that the developer
plans to rent to people 55
and older.
Planners OK’d The
Carriage Homes complex,
which would consist of
three duplexes, two tri-
plexes and one quadplex on
1.27 acres south of D Street
and east of Clark street.
The property is about 2
blocks north of D Street.
David Hays, owner of Big
Creek Rentals LLC and
Big Creek Builders Inc.,
applied for approval for the
development on behalf of
property owner Russ Hune-
miller of Meridian, Idaho.
In the application, Hays
wrote that the development
is intended to “address the
rental shortages in Baker
City.”
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................5A
Weather ..................... 8B
INSIDE — POLICE SAY ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING DIDN’T HAPPEN: PG. 3A