SATURDAY
BUGS AND BUTTERCUPS — SPRING HIKING IN THE SAGELANDS: PAGE 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
March 27, 2021
Local • Outdoors • Sports • TV
IN THIS EDITION:
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Robert
Collins of Baker City.
Local, 3A
Two new members
will join the Baker School
Board when it convenes in
July as the next fi scal year
begins.
Kevin Cassidy, who
will end an eight-year
stint on the Board, and
Katie Lamb, who will have
completed her fi rst four-
year term, did not fi le for
reelection in May.
$1.50
Easter
egg
hunt
won’t
happen
Baker County Library Improves Air Ventilation, Purifi cation Systems
Breathing Easier
For the second straight
spring, the COVID-19
pandemic has prompted the
cancellation of the Easter
egg hunt in Geiser-Pollman
Park.
Easter Sunday is April 4,
and the egg hunt normally
happens the day before, on
Saturday morning.
Ken Krohn, president of
the Baker City Rotary Club,
which helped with the hunt
in 2019 and was prepared
to take over coordinating
the event in 2020, wrote in
an email to the Herald that
“unfortunately after much
deliberation we made the
decision that we would not
be holding one this year.”
“It takes months of
preparation and with rules
changing every two weeks
it’s very diffi cult to plan any
large events,” Krohn wrote.
“It was a diffi cult decision
to make and we are looking
forward to resuming this
event in the future.”
The Shriners Kids Rodeo,
which usually takes place
the same day as the egg
hunt, won’t happen on April
3, but Shriner Randy Guyer
said organizers hope to
reschedule the event.
“We may have it later on
in the year,” Guyer said. “So,
that’s kind of our plan right
now. We haven’t set a date.
We kind of have to see what
happens with the virus and
what the restrictions are
and so forth. But it’s just the
number of people we have
there, it would be almost
impossible to have it the
way we used to have it right
now.”
Local, 5A
Three passengers were
hurt, one seriously, in a
one-vehicle crash on Inter-
state 84 Sunday, March 21.
Oregon State Police Sr.
Trooper Nicholas Hagedo-
rn responded to the crash
at 4:52 p.m. It happened in
the westbound lanes of In-
terstate 84 about 30 miles
south of Baker City near
the Weatherby Rest Area.
BRIEFING
Virtual workshop
on North Baker
street work plan
Baker City is inviting the
public to comment on pro-
posed street work on 10th
Street, Pocahontas Road,
Hughes Lane and Cedar
Street during a virtual
workshop on Thursday,
April 1, at 6 p.m. To access
the workshop go to www.
bakercity.com/2289/NBTIP.
WEATHER
Today
61 / 33
Sunny
Sunday
69 / 34
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Ed Adamson, facilities specialist for the Baker County Library District, examines the new computer controls
for the heating, air-conditioning and ventilation system at the Baker City branch.
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The air inside the Baker County
Library District’s main branch in
Baker City has never been cleaner,
Ed Adamson says, his pride palpable
even though most of the particles
that are no longer wafting about were
never visible to the naked eye.
“We want the public to come in
here and feel comfortable,” Adamson,
the district’s facilities specialist, said
on Thursday morning, March 25, as
he stood near the front desk.
Visitor numbers have been severely
reduced during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, but attendance has increased
recently.
Sunny
See Library/Page 3A
Monday
47 / 25
Snow showers
Man gets prison term for thefts from church
By Chris Collins
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
A wall-mounted air purifi er at the library in Baker City.
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
A Baker City man will spend the
next 28 months in prison for taking
liturgical objects valued at nearly
$11,000 from the Catholic Church
and for stealing miscellaneous items
during car prowls in the Kirkway
Drive area last month.
Judge Matt Shirtcliff sentenced
Joshua Milton Thomas,
31, on March 9 in Baker
County Circuit Court.
Thomas was charged
with one count of aggra-
vated fi rst-degree theft,
Thomas
a Class B felony; six
counts of unauthorized
entry into a motor vehicle, a Class
A misdemeanor; and 13 counts of
attempted unauthorized entry into a
motor vehicle, a Class B misdemean-
or. He also was cited on a charge of
unlawful possession of heroin when
he was taken into custody the night
of Feb. 18.
At the March sentencing hear-
ing, Thomas pleaded guilty to the
fi rst-degree aggravated theft charge
involving the Catholic Church at
2235 First St., and to two counts of
entering motor vehicles on Kirkway
Drive and taking items from the
vehicles as well.
Thomas will serve the 28-month
prison term for taking two chalices,
three gold plates and a silver and
gold crucifi x from the church.
See Thefts/Page 5A
Baker’s backhoe
goes on the block
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker City’s most famous backhoe is fi nally on the auction
block.
And it’s there with the approval of city voters, an endorse-
ment not typically afforded to pieces of heavy equipment.
Future sales of such machinery however, will not be subject
to the whims of the electorate.
The story dates to 1952.
That’s when Baker City voters approved a city charter.
Tom Fisk/Contributed Photo
Baker City is selling this 1995 backhoe through an online auction.
TODAY
Issue 136, 12 pages
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........2B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
Horoscope ................. 4B
See Backhoe/Page 2A
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ..........1B & 8B
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................6A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — BAKER BULLDOGS’ FINAL HOME FOOTBALL GAME