SATURDAY
WILDFLOWERS BRIGHTEN HIKE NEAR DURKEE: PAGE 1B
In SPORTS, 5A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
April 17, 2021
Local • Outdoors • Sports • TV
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Alisa
Anderson of Baker City.
Sports, 5A
Baker used a furious
last-inning rally to beat
Grant Union/Prairie City
14-10 in the Bulldogs’
season-opening baseball
game Wednesday, April 14
at John Day.
Baker, trailing 10-6 en-
tering the seventh inning,
scored eight runs to take
the lead.
County
Friendly Flames reports
COVID
death
Forest Service Lights Prescribed Fire At Phillips Reservoir
■ Thursday’s controlled blaze designed to reduce risk of future fires
■ 71-year-old woman who
died on April 14 is the 14th
county resident to die after
testing positive for the virus
BRIEFING
Baker City working
on housing needs
analysis
Baker City residents
are invited to share their
thoughts about the city’s
housing needs for the next
20 years as part of a needs
analysis.
The Baker City Planning
Department has scheduled
an open house on the
topic for Monday, April 19.
Residents have two op-
tions for participating:
• Zoom meeting, 3:30
p.m. To access the meet-
ing, go to https://us02web.
zoom.us/81819675944. Or
call 1-253-215-8782 and
use meeting ID 818 1967
5944.
• Attend an open house
at 5:30 p.m. in council
chambers at City Hall, 1655
First St.
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A 71-year-old Baker County woman who
died on Wednesday, April 14 at a Boise hos-
pital is the 14th county resident to die after
testing positive for COVID-19, the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA) reported.
The woman, who tested positive on April
7, died at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical
Center. She had underlying conditions, ac-
cording to OHA.
“This loss weighs heavy on all of us,”
Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County
Health Department, said in a press release.
“The Health Department staff all sends our
condolences to those who knew her.”
See COVID/Page 6A
City removes
trash from
property
WEATHER
Today
68 / 31
Sunny
By Jayson Jacoby
and Samantha O’Conner
Sunday
Baker City Herald
75 / 40
Sunny
Monday
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Alex McDonald, left, and Nick Schramm, both members of the La Grande Hot Shots fi refi ght-
ing crew, talk tactics during a prescribed fi re at Phillips Reservoir on Thursday, April 15.
61 / 27
Sunny
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
$1.50
Track/field
season
begins
They wind their way between
the pines like wraiths, dripping
dollops of fi re with each stride.
Smoke, and the blurring
effect of rising waves of heat,
combine to obscure the fi gures.
But their bright yellow shirts,
made of fi re-resistant cloth, are
visible as they bob along, rather
like nightfl ies fl itting among
the ponderosas and the sage
and the occasional clump of
bitterbrush.
The fi refi ghters are here on
the north side of Phillips Res-
ervoir on the blue-sky morn-
ing of Thursday, April 15 with
multiple goals to accomplish
with their fl aming torches and
their fl at-bladed tools designed
to scrape away the forest duff to
mineral soil.
One reason they’re here,
while a few scraps of snow
still shelter in the north-facing
gullies, is to reduce the chances
that they’ll have to come back
on a scorching day in July or
August.
See Fire/Page 3A
For the fourth time in four years, Baker
City has removed trash and other debris
from a property on the east side of town.
The city also cited the resident, Lucas
Gwin, for violating the city’s property main-
tenance ordinance, said Lt. Ty Duby of the
Baker City Police.
The latest incident happened on Wednes-
day, April 14.
See Trash/Page 6A
North Powder
students back
home for now
■ Students taking online
classes until April 26 due to
COVID cases, exposure
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Students in the North Powder School Dis-
trict will take classes online through April
22 because as many as 30 students were
potentially exposed to COVID-19.
The school district announced on Wednes-
day, April 14 that students would return to
distance learning on Thursday, April 15.
North Powder students, who have a four-
day school week, will continue to take online
classes next week, April 19-22.
They are slated to return to in-person
classes on Monday, April 26. The district has
about 280 students.
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
A La Grande Hot Shot fi refi ghter uses a drip torch to ignite dry grass on Thursday, April 15.
TODAY
Issue 145, 14 pages
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........2B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
Horoscope ........3B & 4B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
See Students/Page 2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ...1B, 2B & 6B
Sports ........................5A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — LODGING TAX WORK GROUP CONTINUES TO MEET