TUESDAY
BAKER FOOTBALL TOPS RIVAL LA GRANDE IN SEASON’S FINAL GAME: PG. 6A
In SPORTS, 5A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
April 13, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Robert
McKim of Baker City.
Oregon, 3A
Family
Dash For Dollars rescued
Pine Eagle High School Senior Wants To Resurface Running Track
PENDLETON — Gordon
Smith is returning home.
Following 24 years in
Washington, D.C., fi rst as
a U.S. senator then as the
chief executive offi cer of
the National Association
of Broadcasters, Smith is
stepping down to an advi-
sory role with the lobbying
group and returning to his
birthplace: Pendleton.
■ Beaverton couple and their
son got stuck in the snow
while trying to drive to the
Hells Canyon Overlook
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
BRIEFING
Virtual book fair
benefi ts Baker
Early Learning Ctr.
Baker Early Learning
Center is holding a virtual
Scholastic Book Fair from
April 8 through April 20.
BELC earns 25% of the
book sales. All proceeds
will be added to the
school’s playground fund.
To purchase books, fol-
low these steps:
Through Google, search
for Scholastic Book Fairs.
Click on: Find a Fair. Search
for Baker Early Lrng
Center.
Purchase books from the
online store or the virtual
fair. For quicker access, go
to https://bookfairs.scholas-
tic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/
homepage.do?method=ho
mepage&url=bakerearlylr
ngcenter
Information is also
posted on the Baker Early
Learning Center’s Face-
book page.
WEATHER
Today
56 / 26
Contributed Photo
Grace Davis, a senior at Pine Eagle High School in Halfway, started a GoFundMe account and
has done other fundraisers for her project to resurface the track at the school.
Mostly sunny
Wednesday
56 / 27
Mostly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
$1.50
Baker at
state
meet
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Grace Davis wants future
Pine Eagle High School
students to have a real track,
and she’s dedicated her senior
project to raising the necessary
money.
Davis lives in Oxbow, along
the Snake River at the Oregon/
Idaho border, and is a senior at
Pine Eagle in Halfway, about
17 miles west of Oxbow.
“I chose this as my senior
project because I’ve been a
track and fi eld athlete ever
since my freshman year and I
know how much it would mean
to have an offi cial track to fu-
ture generations of Pine Eagle
athletes,” she said.
She has younger siblings fol-
lowing in her track footsteps.
“I would love to see them
run on a completed track in
their high school years,” she
said.
Davis launched her project
in January 2020 by writing a
paper on her goal. She started
fundraising in May 2020 with
a raffl e for fl ights at the an-
nual fl y-in held in Richland.
Her goal is to raise $50,000
for a “good quality surface on
the track.” All donations will be
used for the upgrade.
Davis also set up a GoFund-
Me account. As of Monday,
TODAY
Issue 143, 14 pages
“I know how much it would
mean to have an offi cial
track to future generations
of Pine Eagle athletes.”
— Grace Davis
April 12, the account had
raised $2,035.
“If we end up getting more
money than needed, the excess
will be put toward making
our fi eld events qualifi ed for
competitions,” she said.
She must present her senior
project by the end of April.
“If people cannot donate by
that time, Caleb Brown is a
senior next year and will be
continuing the project so people
will have another chance to
donate next year,” she said.
Davis’ family moved to
Oxbow when she was 6. She
was homeschooled until her
sophomore year of high school,
but started participating in
sports as a freshman.
That’s when she discovered
the state of the track.
“I didn’t even realize that
our track wasn’t fi nished until
we went to our fi rst track meet
and I felt the difference in the
track surfaces,” she said. “As
the year went I could see there
were many ways that having a
better track surface would help
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 4B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
with our track team.”
She said the asphalt base of
the Pine Eagle track gave her,
and others, shin splits.
“We also couldn’t practice
with our spikes because the
asphalt would destroy them,”
she said.
She said starting blocks don’t
work with the existing surface,
and there are no painted lines
for lanes or distances.
“Telling how far we’ve run is
just by approximations based
off of where the corners are,” she
said.
She decided to help remedy
the situation.
“My sophomore year I de-
cided that it would be my senior
project to help solve all of these
problems for future athletes at
our school,” she said.
She has set up a GoFundMe
page to gather online donations.
Go to www.gofundme.com and
search for “Help surface Pine
Eagle’s track.”
The direct link is https://www.
gofundme.com/f/help-surface-
pine-eagles-track?qid=b38f3180
9da3d1474f9ee337d8ce34c0.
People can also donate direct-
ly to the school. Checks can be
made to Pine Eagle Track and
dropped off at the front desk
of the high school or mailed to
375 N Main St., Halfway, OR
97834.
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........4B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Home ................... 1B-3B
Horoscope ........4B & 6B
Letters ........................4A
Three members of the Baker County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce’s search and rescue team brought
to safety a Beaverton couple and their son
early Monday, April 12, after their car became
stuck in the snow Sunday afternoon on an
unplowed Forest Service road in eastern
Baker County.
No one was hurt in the incident, said Ash-
ley McClay, public information offi cer for the
Sheriff’s Offi ce.
The Baker County 911 Dispatch Offi ce
received a call about 2:26 a.m. Monday from
Jason Brunson, 52, McClay said.
Brunson told a dispatcher that his 2016
Ford Fusion sedan was stuck in snow along
the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road, also
known as Forest Road 39, about 8.9 miles
north of Highway 86. Road 39 branches off
Highway 86 about nine miles northeast of
Halfway.
Brunson was accompanied by his wife, Jen-
nifer, 49, and their seven-year-old son, George,
McClay said.
The three search and rescue team mem-
bers traveled to the site in two side-by-side
all-terrain vehicles, equipped with tires rather
than tracks. They arrived at 5:38 a.m., and
brought the Brunsons back to the highway.
McClay said Sgt. Eric Colton helped the
Brunsons arrange to have their car towed. It
apparently sustained damage when they were
trying to free it from the snow, McClay said.
McClay said the Brunson family was trying
to reach the Hells Canyon Overlook. The
turnoff to that site, which is along a side road,
is about 10 miles farther along Road 39 from
where the car became stuck.
Brunson said the car get mired in snow
between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday.
Brunson told rescuers that the family tried
through the evening to extricate the car, with-
out success. Around 2 a.m. Monday he walked
about a quarter mile to a point where he had
cell service to call 911.
See Rescued/Page 3A
City Council
to review fee
resolutions
The Baker City Council will consider
a fee resolution when it meets Tuesday
evening that includes modest increases in
water and sewer rates.
The 1.9% increases are based on the
federal Consumer Price Index increase from
February 2020 to February 2021.
Councilors will meet at 7 p.m. at City
Hall, 1655 First St. Council chambers will
be open for limited attendance by the public.
Councilors review all city fees each year,
usually in the spring.
If councilors approve the proposed resolu-
tion Tuesday, the changes would take effect
July 1.
Water
• The base monthly charge for residential
customers increases from $45.15 to $46.
This amount includes three units of water;
one unit is about 750 gallons.
• The cost for additional units beyond
the fi rst three increases from 95 cents to 97
cents.
See Council/Page 2A
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Sports .............. 5A & 6A
Weather ..................... 8B
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