THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
Intern joins Herald for summer
■ Sam Anthony, 21, has finished his junior year studying journalism at the U of O
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
University of Oregon junior
Sam Anthony started his fi rst
real job at the Baker City
Herald on Monday.
Anthony, 21, arrived just in
time to report on the Mon-
day evening vigil for George
Floyd, the
man who died
May 25 in the
custody of Min-
neapolis police.
Anthony’s story
about the Baker Anthony
City event starts
on Page 1A of today’s issue of
the Herald.
Anthony said he turned
down invitations to join
friends for similar events last
week in the Salem area, some
of which turned violent, to
spend time at his Aumsville
home with his parents, his
10-year-old sister and his
grandmother before heading
to his summer job.
Anthony is a 2017 gradu-
ate of Cascade High School,
a 4A school like Baker High,
which serves the towns of
Aumsville and Turner and
the rural communities in
between.
He will be spending the
next 10 weeks in Northeast-
ern Oregon as an intern at
the Herald through the Uni-
versity of Oregon’s Charles
Snowden Program for Excel-
lence in Journalism. Anthony
is one of 17 students chosen
for the prestigious internship,
which is a partnership with
newspapers and radio sta-
tions throughout the state.
As this year’s Baker City
Herald Snowden intern —
the 17th to spend a summer
working in the community
— Anthony no doubt will fi nd
the experience different than
that of the other aspiring
“I’m excited for the opportunity and the chance to
check out a new place.”
— Sam Anthony, who’s working as an intern this summer
at the Baker City Herald
journalists who’ve traveled
across the state for the job.
Because of the coronavirus
pandemic, Baker County
summer events, many of
which are typically assigned
to interns, either already
have been canceled or will be
substantially altered from the
usual extravagant produc-
tions geared to bringing visi-
tors to the region.
Anthony said his grandpa
was hoping to ride through on
his motorcycle for a visit dur-
ing the annual Hells Canyon
Motorcycle Rally in July.
Although his grandpa might
still drive through, it won’t
be to ride in this year’s rally,
because it was canceled in
early May.
There will be no Baker
City Cycling Classic later this
month, and the East-West
Shrine Football Game and
the hoopla that goes with
it each August have been
canceled.
All hope is not lost for
Anthony to get a taste of two
of Baker County’s headliner
summertime attractions,
however. Plans are still in
the works for scaled-back
versions of the Miners Jubilee
and the Bronc and Bull Rid-
ing competitions. And there
will be some semblance of
the Haines Fourth of July
fi reworks and rodeo and the
Baker County Fair.
As Anthony approaches his
senior year of college, he says
he is leaving his options open
as to his future career. At
this point, as a student in the
Journalism School’s Honors
program, he is pursuing
journalism and media studies
degrees, and might add ad-
vertising to his credentials.
He says he was eager to ap-
ply for the Snowden Intern-
ship to help him get a better
understanding of what the
work entails.
“I wanted to check it out
and see if it is something I
want to do for the rest of my
life,” he said.
And if not, he hasn’t ruled
out continuing his education
in law school or through pur-
suit of a Master of Business
Administration degree.
Anthony says he sees him-
self as a kind of jack-of- all-
trades and he’s been told you
can do just about anything
with either a law degree or
an MBA.
“I want to keep my options
open,” he said.
Looking ahead, he thinks
a law degree with an under-
graduate degree in journal-
ism could be the perfect
blend.
Anthony says he was par-
ticularly drawn to journalism
because of his interest in a
wide range of other occupa-
tions.
“I’d like to know how it
feels to be a plumber or an
electrician, or a judge or the
president,” he said. “Journal-
ism lets you see what it’s like
to do all of those things.”
As he began his summer
internship this week, for ex-
ample, he learned about what
it takes to sell goods from a
roadside stand. That story
also is included in today’s
issue, on Page 3A.
Anthony is not sure how
his fi nal year of undergradu-
ate study will start in the fall.
His junior year ended, as it
did for most students, with an
extended spring break that
turned into online classes.
At fi rst he remained at his
home in Aumsville and later
returned to Eugene to fi nish
out the year.
While the online classes
seemed easier, it was harder
to stay motivated to do what
Anthony said seemed to be
“busy work” for most classes.
He also is on the staff of the
Daily Emerald, the Uni-
versity of Oregon’s student
newspaper.
He has worked as an as-
sociate editor on the opinion
desk and has been a writer
for the newspaper’s Arts &
Culture section. Anthony
also has participated in
the University of Oregon’s
Catalyst Journalism Project,
which combines investigative
reporting and a search for
solutions to important issues
throughout the state. The
stories produced through the
project are then pitched to the
Eugene Weekly for possible
publication, Anthony said.
After completing his intern-
ship with the Herald, he will
return home to spend time
with his family and friends.
He hopes to be returning to
Eugene for in-person classes
in the fall. If the university
campus remains closed, he
will stay at home and attend
classes online.
Anthony said that while he
was hoping to spend the sum-
mer closer to his family, he is
happy to be working for the
Herald in Baker City.
“I’m excited for the op-
portunity and the chance to
check out a new place,” he
said. “It feels like a chance to
grow up a little bit.”
Oregon prepares for phase 2
By Sara Cline
Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon’s phase 2 coronavi-
rus reopening plan will begin Friday and
includes opening pools, zoos, museums
and movie theaters, allowing recreation-
al sports, loosening current restaurant
restrictions and expanding outdoor
gatherings to 100 people.
Gov. Kate Brown held a news confer-
ence late Wednesday morning with
state health leaders to discuss the next
steps to ease restrictions from her stay-
at-home directives.
“This cautious approach is keeping
many vulnerable Oregonians safe dur-
ing the pandemic,” Brown said. “I know
it is frustrating that reopening has to
move slowly. I know our economy has
taken an extraordinary blow. But, let
me be clear, this cautious approach is
saving lives all across the entire state
of Oregon.”
Thirty-one counties are eligible to
apply for phase 2, including Baker, De-
schutes, Jackson and Lane, according
to the state’s reopening dashboard.
The governor’s offi ce is reviewing
the applications and will announce to-
day which counties can move forward
to phase 2.
Currently, gathering limits are set at
25 people. Under phase 2, gatherings
will be increased to 50 people indoors
and 100 people outdoors, said Gina
Zejdlik, Brown’s deputy chief of staff.
Larger indoor gatherings with up
to 250 people are allowed in other set-
tings, including churches, if the space
is big enough to allow attendees to
social distance.
allowed to open statewide.
Recreational noncontact sports, such
as pickleball and tennis, will begin
Continued from Page 1A
again. In addition, collegiate athletes
Bennett said Baker County
will return to training by mid-June,
exceeds the state’s criteria for
said Gov. Brown.
moving from phase 1, which
Restaurants, which are currently
started May 15, to phase 2. These
required to close at 10 p.m., will be
include the ability to do contact
allowed to stay open until midnight in
tracing in the case of positive tests,
counties approved for phase 2.
and suffi cient health care capacity
The governor is also shifting from
to accommodate a 20% increase in
requiring people to work remotely to
suspected or confi rmed COVID-19
“strongly recommending” it. In order
hospitalizations.
to enter phase 2, counties must meet
As of Wednesday, Baker County
Oregon’s safety and preparedness pre-
had had a single confi rmed case. It
requisites for reopening and have been
was reported on May 6.
in phase 1 for at least 21 days.
Bennett said although he is
State epidemiologist Dean Side-
pleased that the governor’s phase
linger said during Wednesday’s press
2 guidelines are almost identical
conference that phase 2 is likely to be
to what the county requested in
in effect “for several months.”
a proposal last month, county of-
As of Wednesday, at least 159 people
fi cials are still waiting for detailed
in Oregon have died from the coronavi-
guidelines for festivals and similar
rus and 4,399 people in the state have
events.
tested positive for the disease. Pat Al-
Those are crucial, he said, be-
len, the director of the Oregon Health
cause organizers of Miners Jubilee
Authority, said the state currently has
and other events are waiting to
the fourth-lowest COVID-19 infection
decide whether to go ahead with
rate in the nation.
those events.
“I think it is safe to say our situation
is stable,” Allen said. “Oregonians have
been doing what they need to do, to
“We are also opening up more
keep themselves, their loved ones and
sectors in a limited way, like movie
their neighbors safe.”
theaters and churches can open and
For most, the coronavirus causes
expand their occupancy as long as they mild or moderate symptoms, such as
are in strict compliance with physical fever and cough that clear up in two to
distancing, sanitation and occupancy
three weeks. For some, especially older
limitation,” Zejdlik said.
adults and people with existing health
Following updated guidance, zoos,
problems, it can cause more severe ill-
museums and outdoor gardens, will be ness, including pneumonia and death.
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■ Joshua Dean Baker was
convicted in 2018 by a 10-2 jury
vote, but the U.S. Supreme Court
recently ruled that nonunanimous
verdicts are unconstitutional
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
A Halfway man who has spent the past two years
in prison is back in the Baker County Jail awaiting a
new trial on charges of sexually abusing his daughter.
Joshua Dean Baker, 43, was found guilty by a 10-2
jury vote in February 2018 of three counts of fi rst-
degree sexual abuse.
Baker County Circuit Court Judge Greg Baxter,
who has since retired, sentenced Baker to three con-
secutive 75-month prison terms on each of the counts,
for a total mandatory minimum sentence of 18 years
and nine months.
Because of the nonunanimous jury verdict, which
the U.S. Supreme Court banned as unconstitutional
in an April decision, Baker’s case was returned to
the lower court for retrial. (Oregon was the last state
to use the nonunanimous verdict system when the
Supreme Court ruled.)
On May 22 the Oregon Court of Appeals issued an
order reversing Baker’s conviction and remanded the
case back to Baker County Circuit Court.
As part of the order, Baker agreed to withdraw his
appeal of other issues that came up during his trial.
Baker’s attorney, Rob Raschio of Canyon City, fi led an
appeal of his client’s conviction on April 10, 2018.
Throughout Baker’s February 2018 trial, Raschio
repeatedly asked Baxter to require a unanimous
verdict, as Raschio maintained was Baker’s constitu-
tional right.
Baxter continually denied Raschio’s request,
agreeing with then-District Attorney Matt Shirt-
cliff’s argument that “Under current Oregon law (in
February 2018) as well as United States Supreme
Court precedent, the Defendant is not entitled to the
unanimity requirement.”
Shirtcliff maintained at trial, and Baxter agreed,
that at the time in Oregon, a 10-2 verdict was allowed
to convict on a charge of fi rst-degree sexual abuse, a
Class B felony.
That all changed this April.
And last week, the Oregon Supreme Court and the
Oregon Court of Appeals began sending nonunani-
mous jury verdicts on 10-2 or 11-1 decisions back to
the lower courts for retrial.
District Attorney Greg Baxter, the retired judge’s
son, said Baker’s case was one of two convictions with
nonunanimous jury votes that have been returned to
Baker County. The other is a drug case.
“For those cases, they will just go back to day one
as far as negotiations or a trial,” Baxter said. “It’s as
though the fi rst one never happened.”
On May 28, Joshua Baker was transferred from
the Snake River Correctional Institution at Ontario
to the Baker County Jail. Baker made his fi rst court
appearance before now-Judge Shirtcliff on Monday.
Gov. Kate Brown appointed Shirtcliff as Baker
County Circuit Court judge on Nov. 1, 2019, to replace
the retiring Judge Baxter. (The governor then ap-
pointed the retired judge’s son, Greg Baxter, to fi ll
Shirtcliff’s vacant role as district attorney).
On Tuesday, Shirtcliff recused himself from serv-
ing as judge in further proceedings in Baker’s case
because of his confl ict.
Baker appeared in court Wednesday morning
before Judge Lung S. Hung of Malheur County. Hung
denied Raschio’s motion on Baker’s behalf that his
client be released on his own recognizance. Hung set
bail at $150,000, court records state. Baker may be
released after posting 10% of that amount, $15,000.
Baker is scheduled to appear in court next at 8
a.m. Wednesday, July 1, before Judge Erin Landis of
Union County.
State plans more virus
tests in care homes
By Fedor Zarkhin
The Oregonian/OregonLive
The state apparently
has a plan in the works
to test broad swaths of
residents and staff in
senior care homes and
expects to release more
information on it this
week.
Yet details remain
elusive.
Oregon will be “ex-
panding” its existing
guidelines for senior care
home testing, state of-
fi cials said in a statement
Monday, but declined to
say more other than they
will provide “updates as
soon as they are avail-
able.”
In contrast, Washing-
ton state health leaders
last week mandated that
all consenting residents
and all nursing home
staff get tested by June
12 and promised to
provide them with the
necessary tests free of
charge.
See Tests/Page 6A
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