SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
COMMUNITY
Baker City author set to publish novel School registration
By Lisa Britton
For the Baker City Herald
Stephen Howard’s novel
was years in the making but it
only took him a month to get
into book form.
“I busted out 50,000 words
in 29 days,” he said.
That was
in January of
2019. All told, he
ended up with
about 56,000
words for his
Howard
fi rst draft.
He and his
family moved to Baker City
in May 2019 and he started
working on the second draft.
At the same time, he began
work as a freelance editor for
New Degree Press, a publish-
ing company that works on a
hybrid model where authors
use crowdsourcing to fund
publishing costs. The author
retains 100% of creative rights
to the book.
“The students I worked with
went on to get their books pub-
lished,” he said.
He also had a book.
On June 1, 2020, he submit-
ted his own manuscript to the
publisher.
It was accepted June 28.
Howard is nearing the end
of his crowdsourcing. His goal
is $5,000 which will result in
paperback copies, an ebook,
editing, cover design, layout,
format, and copy editing.
Every supporter receives a
signed copy of his book.
If he raises $6,000 he will
print hardcover books. Hitting
$8,000 will add an audiobook
that he will narrate.
He plans to release “The
City of Snow and Stars” in
December under his author
name S.D. Howard.
Here is the link to his pre-
order campaign: https://igg.
me/at/the-city-of-snow-and-
stars/x/24124975#/
About the book
“The City of Snow and
Stars” refl ects hardships How-
ard has faced himself.
The book addresses three
main challenges. The fi rst is
abuse.
“Abuse is prevalent in
today’s society and it’s not
talked about,” he said.
He is a survivor of abuse.
His book addresses various
forms, including physical,
mental, verbal, emotional and
sexual.
The second component of
the book is human traffi cking.
“No one talks about it be-
cause it makes them uncom-
fortable,” he said.
The third addresses this
question: Why does God let
bad things happen?
“That’s something that I’ve
struggled with,” he said.
Looking at his own life,
he said he would not change
what happened — if he hadn’t
endured those experiences,
he wouldn’t have made the
strong connections through
his recovery.
“The City of Snow and
Stars” is the fi rst book of 12.
He said the series will be
divided into several trilogies.
“This book was supposed to
be a stand-alone book,” How-
ard said. “I’ve been working
on this world since I was 16
— this one is an introduction.”
His main character is
Trinia.
“The fate of her people rests
in her hands,” he said. “Every-
one has access to a magical
ability, a gift from God, that
awakens when they turn 16.”
Her gift is to make perfect
duplicates of herself.
Except her father, the an-
tagonist, wants to exploit that
gift to create an army.
“He’s the worst,” Howard
said.
He describes the book like
this:
“I hope that in reading
this book you will discover
the pieces of the fl awed and
broken characters who are
looking for the answers in
yourself the same as I did.
Their story is our story in
so many ways because the
truth is this: We are all a little
broken.”
MOTHS
Forest Service sprayed the
naturally occurring virus on
about 40,000 acres in the Blue
Mountains.
But subsequent surveys
A periodic problem
in 2001, which turned up
Spiegel said entomologists
almost no tussock moths in
know far less about what
both sprayed and unsprayed
might trigger tussock moth
areas, was compelling evidence
outbreaks than about how to
that the outbreak had already
monitor for them.
peaked in 2000 and that the
There is no apparent cor-
spraying wasn’t necessary,
relation, for instance, between Spiegel said.
drought, which can stress trees
“In 2000 we were a year
and make them more suscep- late,” she said.
tible to insects and diseases,
One issue is that the Forest
and tussock moth populations, Service has to conduct an envi-
she said.
ronmental study before it does
Nor is it clear why tus-
widespread spraying to control
sock moth numbers seem
tussock moths, Spiegel said.
to increase in certain areas,
Those studies can take
the Halfway area of eastern
more than a year. And if the
Baker County being one such evidence of an outbreak ap-
example, Spiegel said.
pears only the year before the
Spiegel said it can be a
infestation peaks, the envi-
challenge to deal with large
ronmental study that makes
outbreaks in a timely way.
spraying possible tends to be
In 2000, for instance, the
fi nished too late, she said.
that the current population
expansion is reversing.
“I think this is the last year,”
she said.
Continued from Page 1A
U.S. Forest Service photos
Photos above and at upper right show tussock moth caterpillars. Photo at lower right
shows the allergic reaction, called tussockosis, that can result when people touch a
caterpillar. The reaction can affect skin, eyes and the respiratory tract.
Spiegel’s belief that the
current population surge is
waning is based in part on
the condition of tussock moth
caterpillars she has examined
recently in the Halfway area.
Many caterpillars were
smaller than average.
Others showed more, well,
graphic evidence that insect
numbers are likely to be
declining, Spiegel said.
Caterpillars that explode
don’t exactly exude good
health.
The issue is a virus.
(No, not that virus.)
This virus is a naturally oc-
curring pathogen that affects
only tussock moths, Spiegel
said.
The virus, she said, is the
main reason that moth out-
breaks tend to peter out after a
few years.
When caterpillars are
infected they tend to swell, and
to hang from tree limbs in a
distinctive way, Spiegel said.
“When you touch them they
sort of explode,” she said.
Spiegel said she also has
examined fi r trees that were
defoliated last year but have
produced green needles this
year, another bit of evidence
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Spiegel, who has worked
as the federal entomologist
in the Blues since 2001, said
tussock moth population rises
are periodic, usually happen-
ing every seven to 13 years.
Most episodes last for two to
four years.
Not every such surge
results in what entomolo-
gists consider an outbreak, in
which the bugs kill a signifi -
cant number of trees, Spiegel
said.
The most recent population
surge on the Wallowa-Whit-
man, for instance, in 2010,
didn’t turn into an outbreak,
she said.
Forest managers monitor
tussock moth populations
with a network of traps set
out each year.
Spiegel said this “early
warning” system started
across the West after a major
tussock moth outbreak in the
early 1970s.
During that outbreak
tussock moths proliferated
on about 700,000 acres in
Oregon and Washington. On
about 17,000 acres the moths
killed almost every fi r tree.
Traps are baited with
pheromones — a scent that
attracts tussock moths.
Because the female moths
don’t fl y, the traps collect only
male moths, Spiegel said.
She fi rst noticed an uptick
in moth numbers in 2017, in
the Fish Lake area north of
Halfway, in eastern Baker
County. Spiegel monitors
eight trapping locations in
that area, each consisting of
fi ve traps.
Spiegel said that when
individual traps nab 25 or
more moths, there’s reason
to believe that a population
surge has started.
The moths fl y for only
about a month each year, usu-
ally during August and early
September, she said.
Surveys in 2018 showed
relatively little defoliation
— trees with red or brown
needles that have been
munched by tussock moth
caterpillars, Spiegel said.
Defoliation was more
widespread in 2019, affecting
trees on both sides of East
Eagle Creek, a total of about
3,000 acres.
This year the effects of the
moths are noticeable along
the Fish Lake Road, primar-
ily in Douglas-fi rs between
about 5,000 and 6,000 feet
elevation, Spiegel said.
She said she’s also heard
from forest visitors about de-
foliation in the Boulder Park
area along main Eagle Creek,
but she hasn’t inspected that
area yet this summer.
The defoliation can “make
the forest look really bad,” but
Spiegel said most trees likely
will recover. That’s not the
case with some other insects,
such as pine beetles, which
can kill a large percentage of
trees.
Baker School District students will register for
classes at their own schools this year rather than
gathering at Baker High School for a Parent Resource
Fair as has been done in the past.
Here is the schedule for individual schools:
• Baker High School, Brooklyn Primary and South
Baker Intermediate School students will register at
their schools Monday, Aug. 10, though Thursday, Aug.
13, from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. BHS
registration will be in the large gym, which should be
entered through the student parking lot on the build-
ing’s west end.
•Baker Middle School students will register from
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 10; from 8 a.m. to 1
p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11; and from 8 a.m. to noon and 1
p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12.
(School photos for BMS students only will be taken
during Monday and Tuesday registration times).
• Eagle Cap Innovative High School students will
register at BHS on Monday, Aug. 10, and Tuesday,
Aug. 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Wednesday, Aug.
12, and Thursday, Aug. 13, from 8 a.m. to noon.
• Haines Elementary students will register at their
school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, and
Tuesday, Aug. 11.
• Keating Elementary registration will be from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, Aug. 10, and from 8 a.m. to
noon, Tuesday, Aug. 11, at Keating School.
Immunizations will be available at the Baker
County Health Department, 3330 Pocahontas Road.
Call 541-523-8211 to schedule an appointment.
Larry Downs
Downs Realty and Auctions
208-939-9456