THURSDAY
LEGENDARY ROCK GUITARIST EDDIE VAN HALEN DIES AT AGE 65: PAGE 5A
NORTHEAST OREGON
OCTOBER 8, 2020
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GO! Magazine
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
October 8, 2020
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Nancy
Hutnak of Baker City.
BRIEFING
OTEC to auction
fi ve vehicles
Oregon Trail Electric Co-
operative is auctioning fi ve
surplus vehicles later this
month at the cooperative’s
headquarters in Baker City.
The vehicles can be
viewed on Thursday, Oct.
22, and Friday, Oct. 23,
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both
days at OTEC, 4005 23rd
St. Those attending are
asked to enter through the
gate on Pocahontas Road.
Members can also view
the vehicles and download
bid sheets at www.otec.
coop/annual-auction.
Bid sheets will also be
available at the viewing.
Social distancing and
mask wearing guidelines
will be required at the
viewings.
Bids can be submitted
at the time of the viewing
or dropped off in one of
OTEC’s secure drop-box
locations at each of OTEC’s
four district offi ces.
Sealed bids must be
received no later than 5
p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26.
Successful bidders will
be notifi ed no later than 5
p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Payment is due when the
buyer picks up the vehicle.
The vehicles on the auc-
tion block are a 2011 Ford
Escape, 2012 GMC Denali,
2011 bucket truck, 2006
Ford F-550 crane truck and
a 2008 Dodge megacab
pickup truck.
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine $1.50
Your guide to arts,
entertainment and
other events
happening around
Northeast Oregon
County
The Wait Is Over restarts
visitor
center
process
New Rapid Result COVID-19 Tests At Saint Alphonsus Hospital
■ People with possible symptoms may get results in less than 1 hour
■ Commissioners will hire a
consultant to write a new
request for proposals for the
contract to operate a visitor
center in Baker City
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker County commissioners decided
Wednesday to start over with the delayed
and controversial process of awarding a new
6-year contract for operating a visitor center
in Baker City.
Commissioners voted 3-0 to hire a consul-
tant to write a new request for proposals for
the contract.
Commissioner Bruce Nichols said the pro-
cess, which dates back to late 2019, has been
fl awed from the start.
“I’m glad we’re revisiting this,” Nichols said.
Commissioner Mark Bennett said the
county’s attorney, Drew Martin, recommend-
ed that commissioners send out a new request
for proposals.
See County/Page 3A
BAKER CITY MANAGER RECRUITING
WEATHER
Today
76 / 37
Mostly sunny
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Veronica Crowder, a physician assistant at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City,
oversees the COVID-19 assessment clinic outside the hospital. Residents can drive to the site
for an assessment and free COVID-19 test without leaving their car.
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Friday
79 / 41
Mostly sunny
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Perhaps the most stressful
waiting period for people in
2020 can be quite a bit shorter
for some Baker County resi-
dents.
Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center in Baker City, the coun-
ty’s only hospital, on Friday,
Oct. 2 debuted a COVID-19
test that can yield a result in
less than an hour.
The test itself actually takes
just 15 minutes, said Andy Mol-
lahan, lab manager for Saint
Alphonsus hospitals in Baker
City and Ontario.
But the time for any in-
dividual patient to receive
results, by phone, depends on
the workload at the hospital
lab, he said.
The nasal swab test, of-
fered at the hospital’s curbside
respiratory assessment and
COVID-19 testing clinic, is
for people who have symp-
toms consistent with possible
COVID-19 infection, Mollahan
said.
The clinic, which is on the
east side of the hospital, 3325
Pocahontas Road, off Midway
Drive near the emergency
entrance, is open Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to
noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
TODAY
Issue 64, 20 pages
“If anybody has any kind of
symptoms whatsoever, don’t
hesitate to come to the clinic.”
— Andy Mollahan,
lab manager, Saint Alphonsus
Medical Centers in Baker City
and Ontario
Veronica Crowder, a physician
assistant at Saint Alphonsus
who manages the curbside clinic,
said about 90% of people who use
the service have symptoms that
meet the criteria for the rapid
result test.
Those criteria have broadened
signifi cantly since this spring,
Mollahan said.
Early in the pandemic, people
were tested only if they had
multiple symptoms, from a list
of fi ve, including a fever, and the
symptoms had to be relatively
severe, he said.
But the criteria have gradu-
ally expanded over the months,
and Mollahan said pretty much
any patient who has at least one
possible symptom, including a
headache or a runny nose, will
have the rapid result test.
“If anybody has any kind of
symptoms whatsoever, don’t hesi-
tate to come to the clinic,” he said.
Business ...........1B & 2B
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Council to
name finalists
Test Options
By Samantha O’Conner
• For people who have
symptoms consistent
with COVID-19 infection,
as determined during an
assessment at the Saint
Alphonsus Medical Center
curbside clinic, the virus
test will yield a result
potentially in less than an
hour.
The Baker City Council will announce
Tuesday, Oct. 13, the names of fi nalists to
replace the retiring Fred Warner Jr. as city
manager.
Councilors interviewed fi ve candidates,
from an original list of 14 applicants, during
meetings this Monday and Tuesday.
• For people who don’t
have symptoms, the
COVID-19 test result will
arrive in 4 to 5 days.
Summer-like
weather to
end Saturday
• There is no cost to the
patient for either test.
Saint Alphonsus will bill
insurance, and federal
COVID-19 funds will pay
the amount insurance
doesn’t cover or, for those
without insurance, the
entire amount.
• The curbside assessment
and testing clinic is on
the east side of Saint
Alphonsus, off Midway
Drive. The clinic is open
Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to noon and
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
soconner@bakercityherald.com
See Manager/Page 3A
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Deer hunters will have a much different
experience the second weekend of the season
than they did the fi rst.
As will anyone else who plans to spend
time outdoors in the mountains.
The summer-like weather that has domi-
nated the fi rst 3 weeks of autumn, including
the opening weekend of the Oct. 3-14 rifl e
deer season, will take a dramatic turn this
upcoming weekend.
See Testing/Page 3A
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........3B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
See Weather/Page 3A
Horoscope ................. 3B
Letters ........................4A
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........3A
Obituaries ........ 2A & 3A
Opinion ......................4A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports .............. 5A & 6A
Weather ..................... 6B
SATURDAY — ANTHONY LAKES SKI AREA PREPARES FOR SEASON