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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2020)
COMMUNITY SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2020 BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT MAKING MATERIALS AVAILABLE THROUGH JULY 2 Parents invited to review language arts curriculum material is published by Houghton Miffl in Harcourt, The Baker School District and was recommended by has invited parents and members of the K-6 English guardians of Baker students, Language Arts Curriculum and other community mem- Cadre, Assistant Superinten- bers, to take a look at English/ dent Betty Palmer told the Language Arts core curricu- Board at its June 18 meeting. lum materials for kindergart- “The team wanted a pro- ners through sixth graders gram that would align schools recommended for adoption by and grade levels,” Palmer the Baker School Board. stated in a press release an- The materials will be on nouncing the public opportu- display at the District Offi ce nity to review the material. at 2090 Fourth St., through “‘Into Reading’ fi ts the criteria Thursday, July 2. The offi ce’s they were looking for. summer hours are 7:30 a.m. “The District welcomes to 4:30 p.m. Monday through community input in this Thursday. process” Palmer said. “We are Titled “Into Reading,” the grateful for the time and effort By Chris Collins ccollins@bakercityherald.com individuals have committed to help make this important decision.” Parents and community members are asked to sign in at the front desk in the Dis- trict Offi ce, wear a face cover- ing and follow proper hygiene protocol, the press release stated. A comment sheet will be provided to gather input, which will then be presented to the School Board along with the team’s recommendation. District policy requires that any materials considered for use as core curriculum fi rst be approved by the Baker School Board. The Board will convene a work session June 30 to consider the team’s proposal. The Board will vote to accept or deny the recommendation during a public board meeting at which more community input will be accepted. The team, which spent six months working to choose the curriculum, included teachers, administrators and special- ists. Beginning in December, they reviewed state stan- dards, weighed strengths and weaknesses of the present curriculum and prioritized the most important components needed to develop strong reading, writing, speaking and listening skills across the K-6 spectrum. Free lunch program continues Just as it did this spring, the Baker School District will continue to provide drive- thru service for free lunches and a free breakfast for the next morning for those 18 and younger throughout the summer. The meals will be served CASTLE from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at two locations: Brooklyn Primary School, 1350 Wash- ington Ave.; and Baker High School, 2500 E St. Participants in the summer meal programs are asked to use the bus lanes at both locations to pick up meals. The program, which began June 11, will continue through Aug. 20. No application is needed to take part in the meal program. Participants need just show up, including out-of- town visitors, a fl ier announc- ing the program states. same stairs,” she said. Dalton said she bought the Pythian Continued from Page 1A Castle from a bank for $400,000, and While Dalton wants to modernize the she hopes to have the renovations done Castle a bit, she also intends to retain by the end of summer. She sees the its original charm. building as both an investment — with “Almost everything is being reused,” the downstairs offi ces and an apart- Dalton said. “Most of the pieces of trim ment bringing in revenue — and a are being reused and the original hard- home for her and her two daughters. wood fl oors are being refi nished.” Dalton is a designer, as well as Dalton said that the history behind the former executive director of the the Castle was one of the biggest rea- Baker County YMCA. She has restored sons why she bought it. homes in the past, but she said this is “I think it’s amazing to think of all “defi nitely the biggest project I’ve ever the people who have walked on these tackled.” Parents may join their chil- dren for $3.50 per meal. Adult meal tickets must be pur- chased in advance from the District Offi ce, 2090 Fourth St. More information is avail- able by calling Jessica Dalton, the district’s Food Services director, at 541-524-2260. When fi nished, the Castle’s 17,000 square feet will include The Hen House Cafe on the fi rst fl oor, an architectural design studio, six offi ces for businesses to lease, a basement apartment, a full housing area on the second fl oor where Dalton plans to live with her daugh- ters, and a ballroom with stained glass windows. Dalton said that she plans to turn the ballroom, once the site of parties, into an event center that could be rented for weddings, parties and fund- raisers when restrictions on the size of gatherings are eased. LODGING will be down by about 75%. continue through the fall as “I’m happy that, while well. Continued from Page 1A we are certainly not back to In looking at 2021, Bishop The ordinance requires normal, things are beginning said he expects January and that 70% of the tax revenue to look a little more familiar,” February will still have lower be spent for tourism promo- Bishop said. than usual occupancies, down tion, 25% for economic devel- With most of Baker City’s by 20% to 25% for the fi rst opment and 5% for adminis- major summer events half of the year. trative expenses the county canceled, including the Hells He’s optimistic that visitor incurs in collecting the tax. Canyon Motorcycle Rally, numbers, and thus lodging The 7-member Lodging Tax Miners Jubilee and the East- tax revenue, will return to a Committee recommends how West Shrine All-Star Football more normal range starting to spend the 70% of the tax Game, Bishop expects lodging in the summer of 2021. revenue for tourism promo- tax revenue will continue Bishop told committee tion. to fall far behind last year’s members that Travel Oregon “The good news is, our fi gures. has put together a coopera- initial projections were pretty He estimates about a 50% tive marketing program with dire and I think really clearly decline for July, August and Expedia.com and its online in early April particularly we September, based on what market platforms. Travel did see our numbers plum- he’s hearing from lodging Oregon is investing $175,000 met,” Bishop said Thursday. operators. in the campaign. Bishop said “Those numbers are starting “We’ve been happy to hear he felt there was a huge op- to creep up and inch forward. from a lot of our lodging part- portunity for the county. We are still down signifi - ners, even with cancellations “This is a six-month cantly, both in occupancy and of events like Miners Jubilee, campaign that will run on Ex- in average daily rate, both of the Sumpter fl ea markets, pedia and all of their online which will impact our TLT the Hells Canyon Motorcycle platforms featuring basically revenue but we are seeing Rally, a lot of folks are just a landing page with Travel more travelers starting to holding those reservations, Oregon’s Landing page, which travel.” they are still going to try to will include all of the six par- “We have had some good come,” Bishop said. ticipating regions, and then in news there in terms of the He expects the 50% drop, lieu of Eastern Oregon, Baker bottom not being quite as low compared to last year, will County would be featured as we perhaps thought it was going to be,” Bishop said. The Bishop said lodging tax collections for January and will not be publishing a newspaper on February numbers were simi- lar to the previous year. Saturday, July 4th. Baker City Mayor Loran Joseph, who is a member of Our office will be closed on Friday, July 3rd the committee, said January’s in observance of Independence Day. revenue was up by about $2,500 over the same month in 2019, while February was down about $2,500 and March down about $4,500 — a drop of about 20% from the previous March. Lodging businesses turn over tax collections quarterly, and Bishop told the commit- tee he had only projections for the spring. He said he expected col- lections for April and May to both be down about 90% from the previous year, but he now he expects a drop of between 70% and 80%. He initially estimated an 80% decline for June, but he believes the actual revenue then on that landing page,” Bishop said. He said it is one of the fi rst opportunities for the county to partner with Travel Or- egon in a way that is “really linked directly to that booking engagement with Travelocity (part of Expedia).” Bishop said the county’s proposed share of $25,000 for the campaign, slated to run from July 15 to Dec. 31, would allow the county to target specifi c areas. He recom- mended the Boise and Seattle areas. Bishop said that based on concerns from lodging businesses, the marketing would emphasize safe travel, asking people to follow social distancing. “A lot of our focus again is focusing on those low group activity kind of events. A lot more on outdoor recreation,” Bishop said. The Committee voted to recommend the Baker County Board of Commis- sioners approve the $25,000 in lodging tax revenue. Photo by Jesse Soliz Main Street was blocked for about 30 minutes Thursday night after a motorcycle collided with a pickup truck at Washington Avenue. Motorcyclist not seriously hurt in collision with truck By Chris Collins ccollins@bakercityherald.com Main Street traffi c was stalled for about a half-hour Thursday night after a pickup truck and a motorcycle collided at Main and Washington. No one was seriously injured in the crash, which happened about 4 p.m., said Police Chief Ray Duman. Duman said the two vehicles collided as they both were traveling north on Main Street. Shane Boylan, 27, of 3670 Ninth Drive, attempted to make a left turn into the westbound lane of Washington Avenue in his 1990 Dodge pickup truck when the pickup struck a 1988 motorcycle driven by Kaiden Williams, 28, of 1235 Valley Ave. Duman said Boylan, who was not hurt, was cited on charges of driving while his operator’s license was suspended and driving uninsured. Williams was cited on a charge of not wearing an Oregon Department of Transportation approved mo- torcycle helmet. A Baker City ambulance crew responded to the crash, but Williams, who was not seriously injured, refused transport. Duman said Williams later was checked out by emergency room staff at the hospital. L OCAL B RIEFING Baker School Board to discuss fall schedule, language arts materials The Baker School Board will meet for a work session beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The video Zoom meeting is expected to last until about 4:45 p.m. A special Board meeting at which discussion topics may be adopted and approved is tentatively scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. These topics will be considered during the work ses- sion, according to an agenda distributed Tuesday: • Oregon Department of Education guidance for reopening schools • Training and potential calendar shifts • K-6 English/Language Arts curriculum material • Plans for a new soccer complex When the Board meets at 5 p.m. it will further con- sider the English/Language Arts Materials discussed during the work session. A District organizational chart also will be discussed and considered for possible adoption along with the soccer facility plans. The meeting is tentatively sched- uled to adjourn at 5:40 p.m. Baker County Garden Club to meet July 1 The Baker County Garden Club will have a brunch and meeting July 1 at 10:30 a.m. at the Loennig home, 1638 Broadway St. in Baker City. Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative awards scholarships for lineman, trade schools Two Baker City residents have received $5,000 scholarships from Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative to attend lineman school and pursue a career as an electrical worker. Luke Barnes and Tristain Pogue are the recipients. OTEC also awarded $2,500 scholarships to Cole Furtney and Tayler Wood of Baker City, and Opie McDaniel of John Day, to attend a trade school. OTEC’s board of directors awards scholarships from a pool of candidates in the cooperative’s service terri- tory, which includes Baker, Grant, Harney and Union counties. Money for scholarships comes from unclaimed capi- tal credits of OTEC members. Applications for both trade and lineman school scholarships are open year- round. You can apply at www.otec.coop/scholarships. Baker City Herald Open for dining in 6 am to 12 am Daily Take out and Catering is Available. 515 Campbell Street Baker City 541-523-4318 Visit the store for Baker’s best Gifts
