SATURDAY
BAKER COUNTY COULD RETURN TO ‘EXTREME’ RISK LEVEL APRIL 30: PG. 5A
In OUTDOORS, 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
April 24, 2021
Local • Outdoors • Sports • TV
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Deborah
Penning of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Kindergarten
registration set
Registration for in-
coming kindergarten
students will be held in
small groups this year
due to COVID-19 restric-
tions. Reservations for a
specifi c time are required.
Face coverings are also
required.
Registration includes an
opportunity to meet the
kindergarten teachers, an
informational session for
parents, and a classroom
visit for the child. Please
bring your child’s birth
certifi cate, immunization
record, and information
about custody issues.
Available dates and
times:
• Friday, May 14: 7:30
a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.,
1 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 18: 4
p.m.
• Thursday, May 20: 5
p.m.
All sessions are at the
Baker Early Learning Cen-
ter, 2725 7th St. in Baker
City. To reserve a time, call
541-524-2310. For more
information, email angela.
lattin@bakersd.org.
WEATHER
Today
54 / 34
Rain showers
Sunday
52 / 28
Cloudy
$1.50
COVID ages trend younger
■ About one-third of
cases over past month
in Baker County are
people younger than 40
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Almost half of Baker County’s CO-
VID-19 cases during the past month,
when the case rate more than tripled,
are people younger than 50, the age
range with much lower vaccination
rates compared with older residents.
Meanwhile the rate of infections
among people 70 and older, the age
group with the highest vaccination
rate, has been declining, according
to statistics from the Baker County
Health Department.
Nancy Staten, the department’s
director, said the latter trend shows
that vaccines are effective at protect-
ing older residents, who are most
likely to die or have severe health
effects.
54 / 25
Cloudy
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
See COVID/Page 5A
Wolf
numbers
rose 10%
in 2020
The Main Frontier Restaurant Is Open In Haines
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Owner Kari Raffety and employee Amanda Daugherty check the computer system during a recent lunch at
the Main Frontier restaurant in Haines.
Two Towns,
Two Restaurants
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Monday
Spring
snowpack
pilgrimage
HAINES — When state COV-
ID-19 mandates forced Kari Raffety
to temporarily close The Main Event
Sports Bar and Eatery in Baker
City, she set to work on a pandemic
project.
Raffety opened another restaurant
in another town.
But at least there’s only 10 miles
between the two.
Raffety owns The Main Event
with her dad, Jay Raffety.
In the midst of the pandemic, they
decided to buy the former Frontier
Restaurant in downtown Haines.
“It’s such a huge space with so
much potential,” Kari said. “We
spent all Christmas (break) and
January in here.”
The space is divided in half with
the restaurant on one side and the
bar on the other with a pool table
and a shuffl eboard game.
The Raffetys installed new fl oor-
ing and lighting, painted the ceiling,
replaced tables and chairs, remod-
eled the bathrooms and added an
ATM machine and lottery machines.
Jay also created a door in the
north wall that will lead to a future
outdoor seating area.
The Main Frontier opened Feb. 19
at 920 Front St. in Haines.
The Main Event, 1929 Main St. in
Baker City, is open, too.
“They’re like sisters,” Kari said of
the two restaurants.
Oregon’s wolf population
grew by almost 10% during
2020, and 20 of the state’s 22
wolf packs live in the north-
east corner of the state.
Wolves from six of those
packs include parts of Baker
County in their range.
Those are among the
statistics included in the
annual wolf report released
Wednesday, April 21 by the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW).
The report is based on wolf
statistics at the end of 2020.
ODFW offi cials confi rmed
that at least 173 wolves were
in the state at that time, an
increase of 9.5% from the
158 wolves tallied at the end
of 2019. Those numbers are
based on sightings, tracks
and photographs from remote
cameras, according to ODFW.
ODFW acknowledges that
there are likely more than
173 wolves living in the state,
as not all wolves are seen, or
their presence confi rmed by
other evidence, during the
annual winter census.
Although two wolf packs
and two other groups of
wolves are living in the Cas-
cade Mountains or in Central
Oregon, a large majority of
the state’s wolves inhabit the
northeast corner.
See Wolves/Page 6A
Drilling
done on
city’s well
By Jayson Jacoby and
Samantha O’Conner
Baker City Herald
Baker City’s new drinking
water well is fi nished, but
considerably more work is
needed before it starts put-
ting water into pipes.
The city’s contract, Schnei-
der Water Services of St.
Paul, near Salem, fi nished
drilling the well last week,
said Michelle Owen, the city’s
public works director.
The company drilled down
654 feet at the site on the
east side of the parking lot at
the city-owned Quail Ridge
Golf Course at 2801 Indiana
Ave., Owen said.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
See Frontier/Page 2A
TODAY
Issue 148, 12 pages
Austin Villalobos prepares a takeout order at the Main Frontier.
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........2B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
Horoscope ........2B & 4B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ..........1B & 6B
Senior Menus ...........2A
See Well/Page 3A
Sports ........................6A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — RESULTS FROM DRIVE-THRU COVID-19 VACCINE CLINIC