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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2021)
TUESDAY DUCK MEN, WOMEN BOTH OUT OF NCAA TOURNAMENT: SPORTS, PAGE 6A In SPORTS, 5A Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com March 30, 2021 Local • Home & Living • Sports IN THIS EDITION: QUICK HITS Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Greg Boruch of Baker City. $1.50 Bulldogs dominate Ontario From sizzle to shiver ■ After record-tying high of 75 on Sunday, a cold front brought chilly air and wind gusts up to 59 mph Local, 3A NORTH POWDER — The North Powder Rural Fire Protection District welcomed the fi rst day of spring, Saturday, March 20, with an open house of its new fi re station. Dozens of people attended the event — which included free hamburgers, sodas and desserts — and liked what they saw. Sports, 6A TAMPA, Fla. — Damian Lillard helped Portland surge ahead in the third quarter. CJ McCollum fi n- ished the job in the closing minutes as the Trail Blazers beat the Toronto Raptors 122-117 on Sunday night, March 28. By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com A powerful storm barged into Baker County Sunday night, March 28, rapidly replacing the summer preview that prevailed earlier in the day with chilly wind gusts more typical of winter. See Storm/Page 2A Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald Wind uprooted this fi r tree Sun- day night along Campbell Street between 11th and 12th streets. Virus case rate highest since January COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic At Baker High School BRIEFING Baker City Council, county commissioners to meet Wednesday The Baker City Council and the Baker County commissioners will have a joint meeting Wednes- day, March 31, at 6 p.m. at the Baker County Event Center, 2600 East St. The agenda includes updates on the 911 dispatch center, Economic Development Committee, lodging taxes and the city’s and county’s shares from the American Rescue Plan Act. Citizens are invited to attend the meeting. Masks and social distancing will be required. WEATHER By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald Lisa Weichbrodt receives her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic Friday, March 26, at Baker High School. About 450 people got their second shot during the clinic. Today 50 / 23 Sunny Wednesday 62 / 32 Sunny Second Shots By Samantha O’Conner soconner@bakercityherald.com The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. About 450 Baker County residents had their second dose of the Moder- na COVID-19 vaccine Friday during the Baker County Health Depart- ment’s third major clinic at Baker High School. Nancy Staten, the health depart- ment’s director, said another 108 peo- ple had their fi rst dose administered. Staten said 91 volunteers helped put on the clinic, which followed similar events on Feb. 26 and March 12. Mary Tomlinson, who was getting her second dose, said she doesn’t plan on making any immediate changes to her lifestyle. “I will wait for two weeks and then I will follow CDC guidelines and meet with those who’ve had two shots also and who I know are care- ful,” Tomlinson said. “We’re going to wait a while before doing things like indoor gatherings with people we don’t know. That still seems unsafe.” Judith Lutz, who also received her second dose at the clinic, said that although she spends much of her time at home, she feels relieved about being fully vaccinated. See Vaccine/Page 3A TODAY Issue 137, 14 pages Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald Mary Tomlinson, left, received her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, March 26 at Baker High School. Calendar ....................2A Classified ............. 4B-6B Comics ....................... 7B Community News ....3A Crossword ........4B & 6B Dear Abby ................. 8B Home ................... 1B-3B Horoscope ........4B & 6B Letters ........................4A Lottery Results ..........2A News of Record ........2A Obituaries ..................2A Baker County’s rate of new COVID-19 cases has risen over the past week or so to the highest level in more than two months. For the seven-day period, March 22-28, the county recorded 33 new cases. That’s the most in a week since the county had 55 new cases from Jan. 9-15. Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County Health Department, said the trend isn’t connected to any large outbreaks. “The county’s case numbers rose last week, mostly due to small groups of connected cases tied to social gather- ings,” Staten said. “I hope the community is not becoming complacent about spreading the virus. I encourage every- one to keep taking precautions to protect each other, and to get vaccinated as you become eligible. Anyone interested in a vaccination can call us or sign up on the County’s COVID-19 website. I really think that’s the way we’re fi nally going to move through this.” The county’s website is www.bakercountycovid19.com. The vaccine phone number is 541-523-0015. The past week’s trend was driven in part by 10 new cases reported on March 24. That’s the highest one-day total since 11 cases on Jan. 15. Baker County, which as of Monday, March 29, had recorded 731 cases since the pandemic started a little more than a year ago, had posted declining rates of infection since mid-January. The county’s daily average dropped from 6.3 per day in December to 3.4 in January and to 2.5 in February. March’s daily average had been running at about 1.9 new cases per day through March 22. See New Cases/Page 3A Opinion ......................4A Sports .............. 5A & 6A Weather ..................... 8B THURSDAY — GO! MAGAZINE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE