THURSDAY
JOE BIDEN PICKS SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS AS RUNNING MATE: PAGE 5A
In SPORTS, 6A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
August 13, 2020
IN THIS EDITION:
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine $1.50
BAKER SCHOOLS WILL STILL OPEN SEPT. 8 WITH ONLINE CLASSES ONLY
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Eric
Colton of Baker City.
Local, 3A
Baker City Police Chief
Ray Duman and Amanda
Baker, the city’s commu-
nity service offi cer, really
weren’t looking for activity
that would cause them to
step out into the record-
breaking heat on July 31.
State eases school
reopening standards
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
Although Oregon offi cials have
loosened the requirements for some
rural schools to have students return
to classrooms, Baker School District
students still will begin the year on
Sept. 8 with all classes online.
The Oregon Department of Educa-
tion and Oregon Health Authority
announced revised standards Tues-
day related to COVID-19 cases.
Baker Schools Superintendent
Mark Witty led the cause of seven
Eastern Oregon districts, along with
county and state representatives
and other school and health offi cials,
asking for changes to the original
metrics that Gov. Kate Brown an-
nounced July 28.
See Schools/Page 5A
BRIEFING
A-Diva Salon Reopens After Two Employees Tested Positive For COVID-19
Sumpter Valley
Railroad plans
Gold Rush Bandits
weekend runs
SUMPTER — Riders on
the historic narrow-gauge
Sumpter Valley Railroad
will be “held up” by
horse-riding “bandits” on
Saturday and Sunday.
The annual event, in
which volunteers act as
train robbers during the
run from the McEwen
Depot to Sumpter, is set
for Saturday and Sunday,
Aug. 15 and 16. Trains
leave the McEwen Depot,
just south of Highway 7
between Mileposts 28 and
27, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
both days.
Tickets are $24 for
adults, $20 for military
members and seniors, and
$14 for kids ages 3-17.
Pac-12
cancels
football
County’s
COVID
total up
by 5, to 45
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County tallied three
new cases of COVID-19 on
Wednesday, after reporting
two new cases on Tuesday.
The county’s total rose to
45, said Holly Kerns, a public
information offi cer for Baker
County.
The county’s seven cases
since Sunday ties for the
third-most in any week
since the pandemic started,
according to statistics from
the Oregon Health Authority
(OHA).
The OHA compiles weekly
county totals from Sunday
through Saturday. Baker
County’s highest weekly total
was nine cases from July 26
through Aug. 1.
See Virus/Page 2A
Baker has
2nd-lowest
COVID-19
testing rate
WEATHER
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County has the
second-lowest per capita
testing rate for COVID-19
among Oregon’s 36 counties.
According to a report from
the Oregon Health Authority
(OHA) issued Wednesday,
1,115 county residents had
been tested for the virus.
Today
82 / 40
Sunny
Friday
85 / 42
Sunny
See Testing/Page 5A
Correction: A story on
Page 5A of Tuesday’s issue
about a fatal car crash on
Interstate 84 misidentifi ed
the victim, Heydi Yajaira
Sandoval. Sandoval is a
woman.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Photo courtesy of Shannon Lang-Maxwell
Candi Lay wears a full face shield while blow-drying a client’s hair at A-Diva Salon & Day Spa in Baker City.
City Council
appoints
committee
for COVID
financial aid
By Samantha O’Conner
Back In Style
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
After being forced to close her Bak-
er City salon for most of the spring
due to state restrictions prompted by
the coronavirus pandemic, Shannon
Lang-Maxwell had just returned to
something like a normal schedule
when a co-worker brought her the
troubling news on the evening of July
29.
The worker, one of fi ve who leases
space at A-Diva Salon & Day Spa at
2030 Resort St., had lost her sense of
taste and smell.
Lang-Maxwell, who opened the
salon about 16 years ago, knew that
TODAY
Issue 40, 18 pages
was a symptom strongly associated
with COVID-19 infection.
Not long after, she learned that
a second co-worker had the same
symptom.
All six employees were tested for
the virus.
Four, including Lang-Maxwell,
were negative.
The two who had lost their sense of
taste and smell both tested positive.
(Lang-Maxwell declined to name
the two, saying they didn’t want to be
interviewed for this story.)
Lang-Maxwell again closed her
salon.
She also posted on her business’
Business ...........1B & 2B
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 3B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........4B & 6B
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Facebook page about the situation,
notifying customers of the days that
one employee had worked — at that
time she only knew of the one worker
having symptoms.
Lang-Maxwell said that since then
she has been in frequent contact with
the Baker County Health Depart-
ment to ensure that she and her
fi ve employees are monitored for
symptoms.
She said the Health Department
advised her that the workers who
tested negative could return to the
salon on Monday.
The Baker City Council
on Tuesday appointed three
members to a committee
that will help distribute the
$292,929 the city has received
in federal aid for the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
Mayor Loran Joseph will
appoint two additional mem-
bers later to the Coronavirus
Relief Fund (CRF) committee.
Membership will include
one city councilor, a city
employee, a Baker County of-
fi cial, and two local residents.
On Tuesday the Council
appointed Councilor Doni
Bruland, Robin Nudd, the
city’s human resources and
community development
director, and Chris Knoll,
manager of Umpqua Bank’s
Baker City branch.
See Salon/Page 3A
See Council/Page 7A
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Horoscope ........4B & 6B
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................6A
Weather ..................... 8B
SATURDAY — THE LURE OF A LONELY LOG CABIN IN THE WILDERNESS