THURSDAY
IDAHO VENDOR SELLING TRUMP MERCHANDISE IN BAKER CITY: PAGE 3A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 4, 2020
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Plaintiffs respond in suit
■ In briefs to Oregon Supreme Court, attorneys say governor’s COVID-19 restrictions have expired
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
BRIEFING
Rotary Club will
place American
fl ags on Main
Street to honor
BHS graduates
Members of the Baker
City Rotary Club will place
American fl ags along Main
Street to honor Baker High
School graduates as they
parade in vehicles after
receiving their diplomas at
the high school on Sunday
afternoon, June 7.
Graduates will gather at
the Baker Sports Complex
at 2 p.m. Each gradu-
ate will ride in a vehicle
with immediate family
members. They will drive
through the bus lane in
front of the school, 2500 E
St., to receive their diplo-
mas. Graduates will then
proceed in vehicles, start-
ing around 3 p.m. Their
route will be west on E
Street to 10th Street, south
on 10th Street to Broad-
way, east on Broadway to
Main, then south on Main
Street to Auburn Avenue.
Residents are asked to
avoid parking on Main and
Broadway streets during
the event. Streets will
remain open to regular
traffi c.
“This has been a
challenging year for the
seniors and we want to
celebrate them,” Baker
School District Superinten-
dent Mark Witty said.
WEATHER
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that are mailed.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in
a lawsuit fi led May 6 in Baker
County challenging Gov. Kate
Brown’s executive orders during the
coronavirus pandemic reiterated
their claims, in separate briefs fi led
Tuesday with the Oregon Supreme
Court, that the governor’s orders
have legally expired.
Ray Hacke, an attorney with the
Pacifi c Justice Institute in Salem
who represents the plaintiffs,
including Elkhorn Baptist Church
in Baker City, argues that because
Brown invoked the state’s public
health emergency law, she is bound
by its 28-day limit on such emergen-
cies.
Hacke fi led a 29-page brief in
response to the brief Oregon Solici-
tor General Benjamin Gutman fi led
May 28 on behalf of the governor.
The Supreme Court had set a
Tuesday deadline for Hacke and
another Salem attorney, Kevin
Mannix, who represents a group of
intervenor-plaintiffs in the lawsuit,
to fi le briefs in response.
See Lawsuit/Page 3A
County
expects
to start
Phase 2
Families Adjust To Visitor Restrictions At Care Facilities
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Kitch said.
Mary Lou Lake has lived at
Memory Lane since 2019, having
moving here from Seattle.
Kitch said she wasn’t satisfi ed with
the level of care at a facility in Seattle
where her mom had been living.
“We needed to fi nd a place that
had a different attitude and so we
came here and I found this place and
we are just so thrilled,” Kitch said.
“They have done such a good job with
her. They feed them well, they take
care of them, they sit and they talk to
them, they are really good here. I just
can’t say enough about them.”
Baker County Commis-
sioner Mark Bennett is
confi dent that state offi cials
will allow
the county to
move into the
second phase
of the state’s
reopening
Bennett
plan Friday.
That would
allow theaters and bowl-
ing alleys to reopen, and
it would also increase the
number of people allowed
to attend church services
to 250 so long as the venue
can comply with social
distancing.
The current limit is 25
people.
“I don’t see any reason
we wouldn’t be approved,”
Bennett said Wednesday.
Gov. Kate Brown was
scheduled to announce
today which counties can
move into phase 2.
During a press confer-
ence Wednesday morning,
Brown specifi cally men-
tioned the increase in the
number of people allowed
to attend church services
during phase 2.
Brown said that would
“allow more Oregonians in
the appropriate counties
to participate in a showing
of faith with their fellow
Oregonians.”
Brown said she under-
stands that attending
church is “a source of com-
fort” for many people.
See Missing/Page 6A
See Phase 2/Page 5A
Samantha O’Conner / Baker City Herald
Carol Kitch stands outside her mother’s window at Memory Lane Homes residential care facility in Baker
City. Her mother, Mary Lou Lake, is 92.
Missing The Touch
care facilities during the coronavirus
pandemic.
Carol Kitch stands outside
The mandate is intended to protect
Memory Lane Homes, peering into
residents in those facilities, several
the window of the residential care
of which have been the location of
facility to speak with her mother,
outbreaks.
Mary Lou Lake.
Kitch said it is diffi cult not being
Kitch, 64, visits Memory Lane in
able to hug or touch her mom. Touch-
Baker City almost every day to see
ing, she said, is an integral part of
her 92-year-old mother, who has
family and love.
Alzheimer’s disease.
“And so to not be able to touch or
“I just fi gure even if it’s outside the hug is hard. Really hard,” Kitch said.
window, if she can see me every day
Despite the diffi culties, Kitch
or almost every day, it just keeps the said she rests easy knowing Nicole
connection,” Kitch said.
Howerton, administrator at Memory
In common with people across
Lane Homes, and her staff are caring
the state and nation, Kitch has had
for her mother.
to adjust to restrictions on visits to
“They really do an excellent job,”
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Vigil honors
George Floyd
By Sam Anthony
santhony@bakercityherald.com
About 115 people attended a Monday night
vigil in Baker City for George Floyd, the man
killed by a Minneapolis police offi cer during a
May 25 arrest.
Many of those who attended the peaceful
event brought fl owers and candles to place on
a memorial at Central Park, beside the Powder
River between Washington and Valley avenues.
The event was intended to be a peaceful
memorial, not a protest, said Boston Colton of
Baker City, who organized the vigil.
See Vigil/Page 2A
TODAY
Issue 11, 24 pages
Business ...........1B & 2B
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 3B-8B
Sam Anthony / Baker City Herald
Residents gathered at Baker City’s Central Park Monday evening for a vigil honoring George
Floyd, who was killed May 25 during an arrest by a Minneapolis police offi cer. About 115 at-
tended the event.
Comics ....................... 9B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........6B & 7B
Dear Abby ............... 10B
Horoscope ........6B & 7B
Lottery Results ..........2A
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Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Senior Menus ...........2A
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