THURSDAY
FUNDRAISER PLANNED APRIL 17 FOR CARMELITA HOLLAND: SEE PAGE 3A
In SPORTS, 5A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
April 8, 2021
IN THIS EDITION:
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Oregon, 6A
Facing a “fourth wave”
of COVID-19, Oregon will
drop eligibility restrictions
for COVID-19 vaccinations
April 19, up to two weeks
earlier than planned.
Oregon had previously
planned to drop all eligibil-
ity restrictions by May 1,
with some counties possi-
bly offering appointments
as early as April 26.
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine $1.50
Baker County Commissioners Agree To Send Declaration To State
County Declares
Drought Disaster
BRIEFING
Online auction
raising money for
BHS Class of 2021
graduation party
Today
48 / 22
Partly sunny
Friday
64 / 31
Partly sunny
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
■ Andrew Lane
Peterman, 36, of
Boise, is accused of
punching Officer
Mark Powell and a
hospital security
guard on Tuesday
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
drought in the county since February
second,” Yencopal said. “So we’re a
little over eight weeks now.”
Until Feb. 2, the U.S. Drought
Monitor Index rated the central part
of the county, including Baker Valley,
as being in severe drought on a fi ve-
level scale that starts at abnormally
dry and moves into moderate, severe,
extreme and exceptional drought.
But on Feb. 2 the index, which is
updated weekly, added a circular
area, including Baker Valley, that’s
rated as extreme drought.
A Boise man is in the
Baker County Jail on mul-
tiple charges, including as-
saulting a peace offi cer, after
he twice punched a Baker
City Police offi cer in the face
while resisting arrest early
Tuesday, April 6 at Saint
Alphonsus Medical Center-
Baker City.
Andrew Lane Peter-
man, 36, is also charged
with fourth-degree assault,
second-degree criminal
mischief and second-degree
disorderly conduct.
Peterman, who was
released from an Idaho
prison last week after serv-
ing a sentence for aggra-
vated assault, was arraigned
Tuesday afternoon in Baker
County Circuit Court, par-
ticipating in the proceeding
by phone from the jail.
Judge Matt Shirtcliff set
Peterman’s bail at $100,000.
A preliminary hearing is
scheduled for April 13 at
1:15 p.m.
Peterman is accused of
hitting both Offi cer Mark
Powell and Dalton Baker, a
security guard at the hos-
pital, according to a report
written by Baker City Police
Sgt. Wayne Chastain.
See Drought/Page 3A
See Arrest/Page 3A
Baker County
Garden Club to
meet April 14
WEATHER
Man
hits
police
officer
By Jayson Jacoby
An online auction will
raise money for the drug-
and alcohol-free gradua-
tion party for Baker High
School’s Class of 2021. The
auction includes a variety
of items donated by local
businesses and parents.
Access the auction online
at https://www.32auctions.
com/BHSClassof21
The Baker County
Garden Club will have its
fi rst meeting of 2021 on
Wednesday, April 14 at
10:30 a.m. at the home of
Ken and Mary Hutton, 975
Petry Lane in Baker City.
Speaker David Cowan will
talk about raised garden
beds. Please bring a sack
lunch and chair. Everyone
is welcome.
Clippers
top Blazers
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
This photo from a drone, taken in late November 2020, shows Phillips Reservoir in the Sumpter Valley
between Baker City and Sumpter. The reservoir, which supplies irrigation water to Baker Valley farms and
ranches, was holding about 5,500 acre-feet of water when the photo was taken. Today the reservoir is im-
pounding about 14,500 acre-feet — approximately 19% of its capacity.
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Last year Baker County declared a
drought disaster when summer was
on the wane.
In 2021 the drought situation is
dire while spring has barely begun.
On Wednesday morning, April 7,
the Baker County Board of Commis-
sioners unanimously approved a reso-
lution declaring a drought disaster in
the county and asking both Gov. Kate
Brown and U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack to follow suit.
State and federal drought declara-
tions could make county property
owners eligible for fi nancial aid and
other assistance, and give state water
regulators more fl exibility in allocat-
ing water.
Baker County could become the
second of Oregon’s 36 counties to
have a state drought declaration.
Brown on March 31 declared a
drought in Klamath County, the fi rst
such declaration of 2021.
Jason Yencopal, the county’s
emergency management director, told
commissioners during their regular
meeting Wednesday that the drought
has been worsening.
“Baker County’s had extreme
Ceremony Scheduled For June 6 at Bulldog Memorial Stadium
Baker High School plans
‘normal’ commencement
Baker High School
administrators and senior
class offi cers are planning a
traditional commencement
for Sunday, June 6 at 2 p.m.
at Baker Bulldog Memorial
Stadium.
The 2020 ceremony was
quite different due to COV-
ID-19 pandemic precautions.
Rather than walk across
the football fi eld to receive
their diplomas, with family
and friends gathered in the
grandstand, graduates rode
in vehicles. After collecting
their diplomas at BHS, stu-
dents paraded through town
as residents watched and
applauded from sidewalks.
The goal this year, accord-
ing to an announcement from
the high school on Tuesday,
TODAY
Issue 141, 22 pages
April 6, is to have a com-
mencement that’s much like
graduation ceremonies prior
to 2020.
All plans are contingent,
however, on the county’s
COVID-19 risk level, and
associated state-imposed
restrictions.
Among the differences
from the school’s traditional
commencement:
• Each student will receive
six tickets for family and
friends.
• Spectators will be seated
on both sides of the fi eld,
rather than in the covered
grandstand on the west side
of the stadium as usual.
• Spectators will have to
wear facial coverings and
physically distance from
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groups that aren’t from their
household.
As was the case with
Baker’s two home football
games in March, there will be
four entrances for spectators.
After the ceremony, school
offi cials hope to replicate the
2020 vehicle parade through
town, but that plan has not
been fi nalized with Baker
City offi cials.
The high school will re-
lease more details later this
spring.
According to Tuesday’s an-
nouncement, school offi cials
wanted to give family and
friends advance notice in
case they will have to travel
to attend the commence-
ment. Graduation will also be
livestreamed.
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Baker schools
make state tests
optional this year
Students in the Baker School District won’t have
to take annual state tests this spring unless their
parents want them to.
In past years, parents could choose to not have
their children take the annual tests, but they had to
fi ll out a form.
See Testing/Page 3A
Local temperature
roller coaster rolls on
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Spring is suffering from an identity crisis in Baker
County.
The season, which to be fair isn’t known for its
consistency, has careened between days bearing
summer’s warmth and ones that wouldn’t feel ab-
normal in February.
See Weather/Page 2A
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SATURDAY — PREPARING FOR THE WILD TURKEY HUNTING SEASON