SATURDAY
ANTHONY LAKES MOUNTAIN RESORT OPENS TO PASS HOLDERS: PAGE 2A
In OUTDOORS, 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
November 28, 2020
Local • Sports • Outdoors • TV
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Gretchen
Stadler of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Angel Tree with
gift tags for local
children available
at Baker City
Police Department
A Salvation Army Angel
Tree decorated with gift
tags waiting to be fi lled
will be available again
this year at the Baker City
Police Department.
The police department
is hosting the tree in part-
nership with The Salvation
Army. The tree will be
placed in the front en-
trance of the department’s
offi ce at 1768 Auburn Ave.
Angel Tree gift tags are
special wished-for items
given during the holiday
season to children in need
in the community, Phoebe
Wachtel, police depart-
ment spokeswoman,
stated in a press release.
Those who would like
to help fi ll requests on
the police department’s
tree may pick up an Angel
Tree gift tag, purchase the
wished-for gift and return
it unwrapped to the Police
Department.
The last day to turn in
gifts will be Friday, Dec. 18.
$1.50
COVID-19 limits extended
■ Baker is one of 21 counties that could be deemed at ‘extreme risk’ for virus spread
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County restaurants and bars
could be confi ned to takeout service
and limited outdoor dining, and gyms
and fi tness centers could remain
closed through at least the middle of
December based on new COVID-19
restrictions that Gov. Kate Brown an-
nounced Wednesday, Nov. 25.
The governor outlined the guide-
lines that will replace the two-week
statewide “freeze” that ends Dec. 2.
The new system will place each of
Oregon’s 36 counties into one of four
risk levels, each with specifi c restric-
tions — lower, moderate, high and
extreme.
As of Monday, Nov. 23, Baker
County was in the extreme risk cat-
egory, and unless that changes next
week the county would be subject
to the most severe restrictions from
Dec. 3 through at least Dec. 17.
Those guidelines include limit-
ing restaurants and bars to takeout
meals and outdoor dining with a
maximum capacity of 50 and a maxi-
mum of six people, from no more
than two households, per outdoor
table.
In addition, grocery stores, now
limited to 75% of capacity, would be
restricted to 50%.
Seventh-Day Adventist Church Distributes Food Despite Pandemic Diffi culties
Today
42 / 20
Partly sunny
Sunday
40 / 25
Partly sunny
Monday
42 / 22
Afternoon rain
showers possible
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
City
picks
new
manager
Baker City Herald
Bags fi lled with food for Thanksgiving meals lined up at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Baker City.
No food drive?
No problem
■ COVID-19 prevented the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s door-to-door food
drive, but abundant donations ensured that Thanksgiving boxes were filled
— the fi rst time it hasn’t happened in
more than 70 years.
Valerie Tachenko uses one word
And they had no reserves.
to describe this year’s Thanksgiving
“We started at zero this year,”
boxes:
Tachenko said.
“Phenomenal.”
But on Tuesday afternoon she looked
Tachenko helps organize food boxes over tables full of bright bags and
distributed by the Seventh-day Adven- wooden boxes fi lled with canned goods,
tist Church and Baker Adventist Chris- sparkling cider, rolls, local potatoes,
tian School every year. Normally, a
fresh fruit, desserts, and more. Each
food drive in early November provides also received a turkey or turkey breast,
enough to fi ll the boxes.
depending on the size of the family.
This year the coronavirus pandemic
“It’s a breath of hope, of cheer. It’s so
prevented a door-to-door food drive
festive,” Tachenko said.
By Lisa Britton
For the Baker City Herald
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
See COVID-19/Page 3A
By Samantha O’Conner
and Jayson Jacoby
Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald
WEATHER
Exploring
reservoir’s
exposed
shore
“A big thank you to the
community for their support. It
was huge. Every year it inspires
me. This year it blew me out of
the water.”
— Valerie Tachenko, who organizes
the fi lling of Thanksgiving food
boxes distributed by the Seventh-
day Adventist Church and School
Without the food drive, the church
needed to buy items for the boxes. A
GoFundMe drive brought in funds, and
local community members sent dona-
tions directly to the church.
The turkeys caused a bit of a head-
ache. Tachenko called store after store
to fi nd enough — many places had just
a few, and others were priced higher
than she expected.
See Food/Page 3A
Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald
Local residents received a bag
and a wooden box loaded with
Thanksgiving favorites includ-
ed a turkey or turkey breast,
rolls, Baker Valley potatoes and
sparkling cider.
TODAY
Issue 86, 12 pages
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........2B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
Horoscope ........2B & 4B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ................... 1B
Jonathan
Cannon of
North Carolina
is the Baker
City Council’s
choice to replace
Cannon
the retiring
Fred Warner Jr.
as city manager.
In a Wednesday, Nov. 25,
press release, the city an-
nounced that “we have hired
Jonathan Cannon from Sa-
luda, North Carolina, as our
new City Manager beginning
January 1st.”
“Hire” might have been
a slightly premature term,
Mayor Loran Joseph said on
Wednesday.
Technically, Cannon won’t
have the job until the City
Council ratifi es a contract
with him.
Joseph said councilors will
consider the contract at their
next meeting, set for Dec. 8.
See Manager/Page 3A
Sheriff
frees stuck
driver
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
For Baker County Sheriff
Travis Ash, this Thanksgiv-
ing held a striking resem-
blance to another turkey day
he and his family experi-
enced in the past.
On both of those days
— 20 years
apart — Ash
responded to
a call for help
from stranded
holiday travel-
Ash
ers. And in
both cases, the
stories had happy endings,
despite a later than planned
Thanksgiving celebration.
Granted, many things
have changed over the years.
Ash was elected in Novem-
ber to his second four-year
term as sheriff, with another
20 years of law enforcement
experience under his belt.
See Sheriff/Page 3A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................5A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — BAKER’S 2 BIGHORN HERDS INFECTED WITH BACTERIA