BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
5J district hires
communications
coordinator
Federal Reserve Bank of
San Francisco, where she
A new face has joined
worked closely with the
the Baker School District’s public information team.
administrative team in
“We were impressed
the newly created position with how well Ms.
of public information and McDowell’s background
communications coordina- matches our current dis-
tor.
trict profi le,” he said. “Her
“I am excited about the experience spans grant
scope of this job,” Mc-
writing, project develop-
Dowell stated in a press
ment, fi nance, commu-
release. “Including the
nity involvement, security,
ability to connect with
international business and
staff, school families and
public health.”
the broader community.”
Originally from Oregon’s
McDowell, 40, will work Rogue Valley, McDowell
full time on a 260-day
holds a Bachelor of Science
annual contract and earn degree in international
$65,763 per year.
business and economics
As part of her introduc- from George Fox Univer-
tion to the community, Su- sity at Newberg and a
perintendent Mark Witty Master of Arts degree in
noted in the press release diplomacy from Norwich
that McDowell spent more University at Northfi eld,
than a decade on the Com- Vermont.
munity Perspective team
See Schools/Page 6A
as part of her job with the
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald
Tying fi shing fl ies requires dexterity and precision.
TYING
Continued from Page 1A
“We had all the stuff in stor-
age,” Jocelyn said.
Now all those supplies,
plus more donated by others,
is organized in the room Ty
shares with his little brother,
Case (who, at 5, likes to try his
own hand at making fl ies like
his brother).
The boys now have cases
full of fl ies. They use a variety
of synthetic materials as well
as natural supplies such as
deer and elk hair, peacock herl,
pheasant tail feathers, turkey
feathers, and rabbit hair.
They all have books with fl y
designs. Chase’s volume of the
“Fly Tying Encyclopedia” has
1,000 patterns featuring the
fl y and necessary materials.
Tyler said he’s mastered
eight designs.
“But I’m trying to expand to
learn more,” he said.
Each of the three has a
favorite fl y: humpy (Chase);
pheasant tail midge (Tyler);
Royal Coachman bucktail (Ty).
None of them has a defi nite
answer for how long a fl y will
last.
COUNCIL
Continued from Page 1A
Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald
Eagle Creek Custom offers 73 types of fi shing fl ies.
“Depends on how many fi sh
you catch,” Chase said with a
grin.
“Every time they hit, they do
a bit of damage,” Ty added.
When asked if they save the
damaged fl ies, Tyler smiled.
“Chase makes me,” he said.
“Those hooks are ten cents!”
comes the reply from the older
brother.
As for what happens after
they land a fi sh, Chase and
Ty both like to eat their catch.
Tyler does not.
“He catches them, we eat
them,” Chase said, again with
a smile toward his brother.
The time it takes these
boys to tie a fl y varies from as
quick as a minute or two to
more than seven minutes.
Their website was built
with the help of Ty’s dad, Wes.
It features 73 different fl ies
— both dry (they fl oat on the
water surface) and wet (these
sink).
Customers can even get in
touch with the young entre-
preneurs to request a custom
order.
To check out Eagle Creek
Custom offerings, visit ea-
glecreekcustom.com or email
eaglecreekcustom@gmail.com
Spriet describes the harmful effects the pandemic and
its restrictions have had on Baker City’s small business-
es, writing that they “have been forced to weather this
monumental obstacle with very little assistance from the
state or federal government. Regardless, our community
has adapted a great deal to business and life with every
changing restrictions, closures, and uncertainty.”
Spriet noted that business owners in rural areas are
not as capable of withstanding the sorts of restrictions
that the state has imposed during the pandemic.
“As a result, they do not have the capital to survive
long periods of shutdowns that keep their doors closed
to their valuable customers,” Spriet wrote. “While some
have been able to take advantage of the small amounts
of state and federal assistance, it is not nearly enough to
survive and keep workers employed. The unfortunate
result for many of our local family owned businesses has
been permanently shutting the doors, and service work-
ers turning to state assistance or being forced to leave to
fi nd work.”
AWARDS
Continued from Page 1A
ROCK QUARRY PROPOSED NEAR PERRY, WEST OF LA GRANDE
Rock Fight, Round 2: Ranch operator
counters arguments against quarry
By Phil Wright
The (La Grande) Observer
UNION COUNTY — Steve
West has a goal to own the
Ponderosa Ranch in the
Mount Emily area overlook-
ing the Grande Ronde Valley.
But to accomplish that, he
said, he needs to get the OK
from the Union County Plan-
ning Commission for a rock
quarry with railroad access
at the bottom of Robb’s Hill
Road near Perry and about
a couple of miles from La
Grande.
Plenty of locals, however,
don’t want the quarry, fearing
it will produce numerous
negative effects, from noise
and dust pollution to harm-
ing the nearby Grande Ronde
River. West, who produces the
TV series “Steve’s Outdoor
Adventures,” said he has
been working diligently the
past two years to ensure that
is not going to happen if the
quarry becomes reality.
“We’re going to have every-
thing there to not negatively
impact the valley,” West said.
“This has been blown way out
of proportion.”
West and others got to
make their cases on the
quarry project to the planning
commission during a public
hearing Monday, March 8.
Keeping the ranch intact
West explained he is
friends with Jim Smejkal
of Banks, who bought the
ranch in 1998. Smejkal
about 10 years ago decided
to sell the ranch, West said,
and he wanted to buy it. But
Smejkal, who is turning 83,
“doesn’t like to let anything
go,” West said, so they came
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
This scene is near the site of a proposed 250-acre quarry less than a mile from Perry
off Interstate 84 in Union County.
would allow him to buy the
ranch.
Not because he would
— Steve West, who has
be making money from the
proposed to start a rock
quarry that could cover the
quarry on his ranch property cost of the ranch but because
near La Grande
the quarry comes with a
conservation easement that
would devalue the Ponderosa.
up with a deal that he would If the quarry does not get
eventually buy the property
approval there is no conserva-
from Smejkal’s sons.
tion easement, West said, and
Except the ranch costs
the days of the Ponderosa are
more than West said he could numbered.
afford. The website Lands of
If he can’t buy the ranch, he
America, which lists farms and said, the owners will divide the
ranches for sale, shows a $3.7 property into 240-acre parcels
million price for the Ponderosa. that anyone can buy and
West also said the ranch
develop housing on.
is not a tourism hotspot, but
“That’s bad,” he said. “I’m do-
rather a special locale where
ing everything I can to prevent
he sometimes brings veterans that.”
or disabled youth to hunt.
The quarry and the ease-
Creating a 250-acre rock
ment, he said, are the “long-
quarry, though, where Robb’s term plan to protect this
Hill Road meets Interstate 84, mountain.”
“This has been blown way
out of proportion.”
Addressing quarry
concerns
West said he knows well
the concerns locals have
about the quarry, and the
project has taken those
seriously and studied the
right — and wrong — ways
to build and operate a rock
quarry. The 400-plus pages
of the project’s application
to the county, he said, goes
through the numerous is-
sues.
“We’ve addressed them
all,” he emphasized.
The company studied
berms at other quarries, for
example, to understand how
to dampen the noise at the
pit.
“If you hear it, it will be a
hum in the far distance,” he
said.
See Rock Fight/Page 6A
Ginger Savage, executive director at Crossroads, said
the award shows the value of the effort that went into
making the Oktoberfest safe but still successful.
“They honored us for the work that we did with that
project,” Savage said on Monday, March 8.
She said this is the fi rst award for Crossroads from
the Oregon Festival and Events Association.
“I’m just very thankful for my volunteers and to my
committee. I have a committee of three for Oktoberfest
and we’re just over the moon excited about it,” Savage
said.
CASA Director Mary Collard said the award is also
the fi rst for the organization, whose volunteers help
represent children in court hearings. CASA stands for
Court-Appointed Special Advocates.
“It was, at fi rst, such an honor that we would be nomi-
nated, but I am still in shock over hearing that we won,”
Collard said on Monday.
She said the gingerbread contest and tour could not
have happened without the time of those who created
the structures, the businesses, and her board members
and friends who helped.
“It was just everybody,” Collard said.
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