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In SPORTS, 5A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
March 30, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
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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
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