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PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS LOSE FIFTH GAME IN A ROW: SPORTS, PAGE 6A
In LOCAL, 3A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
April 27, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
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A special good day to
Herald subscriber Linda
Thomas of Baker City.
Oregon, 5A
KLAMATH FALLS (AP)
— A Klamath Falls restau-
rant landed a hefty fi ne
Friday from state work-
place safety offi cials amid
COVID-19 for continuing
to offer indoor dining after
it was similarly fi ned last
December for the same
thing.
Casey’s Restaurant
was fi ned $27,660 by the
Oregon Health and Safety
Administration for four
violations, the agency said.
The restaurant was
fi ned $8,900 over alleged
violations in December.
Casey’s Restaurant has
appealed that fi ne. Em-
ployers have 30 days to
appeal citations. It wasn’t
immediately known if the
owners plan to appeal the
latest fi ne.
$1.50
County has ‘slim’ chance
to avoid extreme risk level
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County has a “slim”
chance to avoid moving into the ex-
treme risk level this Friday, April
30, but County Commissioner
Mark Bennett doesn’t yet know
how small that opportunity will be.
Gov. Kate Brown announced on
April 23 that at least 12 of Ore-
gon’s 36 counties, including Baker,
could go to extreme risk, which
brings the most severe restrictions
including a ban on indoor dining
in restaurants and bars, due to a
surge in virus cases over the past
couple weeks.
Baker County hasn’t been in the
extreme category since Feb. 4.
In late March the governor said
that no county, regardless of its
case counts, would move to the
extreme level so long as the state-
wide total of people being treated
in hospitals for COVID-19 didn’t
exceed 300.
See Extreme/Page 2A
Baker City Parks
Board meets May 3
WEATHER
Today
63 / 31
Sunny
Wednesday
73 / 37
Partly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Bennett
Council
to mull
fee hike
proposal
County’s Drive-Thru Vaccination Clinic Has Meager Turnout
BRIEFING
Baker City’s Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board
will meet on Monday,
May 3 at 5:30 p.m. at City
Hall, 1655 First St. Agenda
items include the new
security cameras in Geiser-
Pollman and Central parks,
and the ongoing online
parks survey, results of
which will help the city
update its parks master
plan. To participate in the
survey, go to www.survey-
monkey.com/r/CQ2KNDC
Bracing
for the
campers
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
County employees and volunteers were ready to inoculate more than 1,100 people against COVID-19 on
Saturday, April 24 at the Fairgrounds, but just 62 people showed up for the drive-through clinic.
The Baker City Council is
scheduled to decide Tuesday
evening, April 27, whether to
approve a resolution raising
fees for water and wastewa-
ter services.
Both would rise by 1.9%,
equivalent to the federal
Consumer Price Index in-
crease from February 2020
to February 2021.
The Council will meet at
7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655
First St.
If councilors approve the
proposed resolution Tuesday,
the changes would take ef-
fect July 1.
The base water rate for
residential customers would
rise by 85 cents, from $45.15
per month to $46.
See City Council/Page 3A
Lots of Doses,
But Little Interest
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A group of Baker County
employees and volunteers were
prepared to help more than 1,100
people get their fi rst dose of the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Sat-
urday, April 24 at the Fairgrounds.
The workers ended up spending
far more time waiting than they
did inoculating.
A total of 62 people showed up
for the free, drive-thru vaccination
clinic, which was scheduled from 8
a.m. to 1 p.m., said Mark Bennett,
a county commissioner and the
county’s incident commander dur-
ing the pandemic.
“It was extremely disappoint-
ing,” Bennett said on Monday
morning, April 26, after the county
inoculated just one-half of one
percent of the residents who could
have received their fi rst of two
doses.
Nancy Staten, director of the
Baker County Health Depart-
ment, said last week that the
county had 1,160 doses available
for Saturday’s clinic, the fi rst
drive-thru event of its kind in the
county.
Comments from people who received their
fi rst dose of COVID-19 vaccine Saturday
• Jesse Christensen: “I feel all right so far. I needed to get it. I’m going to be
going on a vacation soon and I decided, I saw the clinic, and I should probably
come down here and get the fi rst shot at least and get on the road to get the
second one just so I don’t have to worry about that.”
• Natalia Turner: “I feel OK. I don’t like needles but I’m good. I think that I’ll
be able to travel more just at ease knowing that I won’t get sick from it. Just
preventing the spread is a lot better because I think that defi nitely the pros
outweigh the cons; getting the vaccine versus not getting it. I think it’s just better
for everyone.”
• Madi Turner (who was in a car with Natalia): “And she’s (Natalia) been stay-
ing away from our grandparents just out of a precaution so she’s really happy
now. She was saying she feels better being around our older family members.
And going back to school.”
• Mark Smith: “Well, I’m doing it for my daughter, she’s hammering on me. I
don’t really even pay attention to it. I’m not concerned, I’ve never had the fl u or
a cold. Basically, yeah, for the daughter. She’s worried about me but other than
that I’m not concerned one way or the other.”
• Nora Badger: “I was nervous and I thought, ‘I’ve got to get in here. Every-
body else is doing it, I’ve got to grow up a little bit.’ I just feel guilty; I just keep
putting it off then I hear these stories of people that do really get it and I thought I
don’t want that. So I thought, ‘well, I’ll just get my butt over here.’ ”
• Tracie Oliver: “I’m a little nervous. But I’m glad I’m getting it done. I didn’t
know anything about it, I just was shopping here. I’m from Unity, and just hap-
pened to see the sign driving by.”
• Rhonda Wickam: “I got a text this morning from somebody saying the clinic
was on and I knew about it on Facebook. I just hadn’t made up my mind.”
• David Kraft: “I’m glad to get it over with. It’s been such a nightmare. And
these people that don’t believe in it. I’m glad I got it done.”
Issue 149, 14 pages
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 4B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County had its fi rst
rainy day in more than a
month, and its dampest day
in more than eight months.
And it all happened on
the same weekend.
After an abnormally dry
March and April, which put
Baker Valley into extreme
drought and prompted coun-
ty commissioners to declare
a drought emergency on
April 7, the weather pattern
fi nally shifted.
A Pacifi c storm that
arrived Saturday, April 24
brought the fi rst measurable
rainfall to the Baker City
Airport since March 22.
Saturday’s total was 0.19
of an inch.
Sunday was even wetter,
with 0.25 splashing into the
rain gauge at the airport.
That’s the most in a single
day there since Aug. 18,
2020, when rainfall amount-
ed to 0.29 of an inch.
— Samantha O’Conner, Baker City Herald
See Vaccinations/Page 3A
TODAY
Storm
snaps
rainless
streak
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........4B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Home ................... 1B-3B
Horoscope ........4B & 6B
Letters ........................4A
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........2A
Opinion ......................4A
See Rain/Page 2A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................6A
Weather ..................... 8B
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