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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2020)
SATURDAY PAC-12, MOUNTAIN WEST ANNOUNCE THEY’LL PLAY FALL FOOTBALL: PG. 6A In OUTDOORS, 1B Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com September 26, 2020 Local • Sports • Outdoors • TV IN THIS EDITION: QUICK HITS Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Francis Mohr of Baker City. BRIEFING State proposes to allow ATVs in part of Sumpter SUMPTER — A state ATV committee is accept- ing comments about a proposal to allow ATVs on a 1.25-mile section of Highway 410 in Sumpter. The committee will have a public conference call Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to explain the proposal. If the plan is approved, ATVs would be allowed to legally ride on the highway from Sawmill Gulch Road, near the south- ern Sumpter city limits, through town to Cracker Creek Road, where the highway leaves Sumpter en route to Granite. The highway is the main route through Sumpter, which is about 28 miles northwest of Baker City. A network of forest roads popular with ATV riders starts near Sumpter. To listen to Tuesday’s conference, dial 213-929-4212 and enter ac- cess code 737-001-453. To view the event, go to https://attendee. gotowebinar.com/regis- ter/130487151101232395 The ID code is 541-091- 211. $1.50 Some Baker students could return on Oct. 12 By Chris Collins ccollins@bakercityherald.com If Baker County residents can continue to avoid the coronavirus for the next couple of weeks, younger Baker School District students might be able to return to their classrooms by Oct. 12. The Baker School Board agreed to proceed with that plan for preschool through sixth-grade students after discussing the situation during a work session Thursday night. Director Katie Lamb, whose husband, Dr. Eric Lamb, is the Baker County public health offi cer and thus involved in determin- ing whether the school district is meeting state requirements for in- person classes, recused herself from commenting on the issue during Thursday’s session. 62 / 39 Showers possible Sunday 64 / 32 Partly sunny Monday 70 / 36 Mostly sunny The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. See Schools/Page 5A County will discuss gated road Neighbors Form Baker County’s First ‘Firewise Community’ By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group A sign at the intersection of Pocahontas Road and Pine Creek Lane, about 10 miles northwest of Baker City, marks the boundary of the Spring Creek Firewise Community, the fi rst to be designated in Baker County. The area includes about 125 properties in the forested area at the base of the Elkhorn Mountains. Many residents have taken steps to reduce the risk of fi res on their properties. WEATHER Today The ‘other’ side of the mountain Bracing For Blazes By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Gayle Combs can see the danger simply by looking out her windows. Trees. Towering ponderosa pines, some of them. Fields of grass and clumps of shrubs desiccated by a summer of drought. And only a bit farther away the Elkhorn Mountains loom 5,000 feet above the western edge of Baker Valley, covered with a dense conifer forest. The dead trees stand out, rusty red among the dark green back- ground. Combs and her husband, Bret, have lived along Pine Creek Lane for 11 years. The attributes that brought the couple to this corner of the valley, and that prompted the construction of many dozens of homes nearby in the past few decades, are obvious. The views could grace the glossy cover of a real estate guide. To the northwest, across the green and tawny patchwork of fecund fi elds, the Wallowas, snowy for more than half the year, dominate the skyline. At night the lights of Baker City twinkle, a comfortably distant but still convenient 10 miles away. White-tailed and mule deer, elk and other wildlife range the pine woods that extend more than a mile into the valley, following the courses of Pine, Spring, Goodrich and Gee creeks. But this idyllic scene is not with- out potential problems. See Firewise/Page 3A The Baker County Board of Commissioners will dis- cuss a mountain road blocked recently by a locked gate when they meet Wednesday morning, Sept. 30. A property owner installed the gate across the Pine Creek Road about 2 miles west of Pocahontas Road. The road passes through pri- vate property for more than 2 miles and is an access route to public land, as well as to Pine Creek Reservoir. Commission Chairman Bill Harvey and Commis- sioner Mark Bennett said earlier this week that Pine Creek Road is a county road that must stay open to the public. Both said the county had asked its attorney to look into the matter. Commissioners will meet in an executive ses- sion, closed to the public, Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Courthouse, 1995 Third St. After that executive session commissioners will convene in an open session that the public can attend. Residents are encouraged to attend remotely, via a link available at www.bakercounty.org/ webexmeetings.html. See County/Page 3A Drive-thru flu shots starting By Lisa Britton For the Baker City Herald Getting your fl u shot is easy this year — you don’t even have to get out of your car. Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City will start a drive-thru fl u clinic on Monday, Sept. 28. It will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The location is behind the physician clinic, just off Midway Drive. It is the same area where the hospital has offered respiratory evaluations since March. If no one is outside, call the number on the banner (541-524-7961). “Patients can come up and get their fl u shot,” said Tonya Roth, the hospital’s executive director of operations. “In this pandemic, we’ve learned how to meet patients where they need care. We’re making it easy.” Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group Chelsea Graves, left, sits in her pickup truck and receives a fl u shot from Dailon Sher- man at a drive-thru clinic at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City. The clinic will See Flu Shots/Page 3A run Monday through Friday starting Sept. 28. TODAY Issue 59, 12 pages Classified ............. 2B-4B Comics ....................... 5B Community News ....3A Crossword ........3B & 4B Dear Abby ................. 6B Horoscope ........3B & 4B Jayson Jacoby ..........4A News of Record ........2A Obituaries ..................2A Opinion ......................4A Outdoors ................... 1B Senior Menus ...........2A Sports ........................6A Turning Backs ...........2A Weather ..................... 6B TUESDAY — COFFEE CORRAL OPENS NEW LOCATION IN BAKER CITY
