2A — BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
OREGON TRAIL
B AKER C OUNTY C ALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
■ Baker County Board of Commissioners: 9 a.m. at the
Courthouse, 1995 Third St. To comply with the Governor’s
order for social distancing during the COVID-19
pandemic, meetings will be streamed live. Due to
occupancy limitations, the public is encouraged to
attend the meetings by using the Zoom link provided
on the County’s website https://www.bakercounty.org/
online/meetings.html.
T URNING B ACK THE P AGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
May 3, 1971
The Baker Bulldog track team travelled to Pendleton
Friday and whipped the Buckaroos in a dual meet, 79-57,
grabbing fi rsts in nine of 16 events and breaking one
school record in the process.
Mike Bennett ran the high hurdles in 14.8 seconds for
the new school record and picked up fi rst places in the
high jump and low hurdles.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 3, 1996
Not long after the third anniversary of their August 1993
purchase of the Geiser Grand Hotel, Dwight and Barbara
Sidway plan to open the renovated three-story structure to
overnight visitors.
The Sidways’ schedule calls for an opening in late
summer or early fall, said July Daly, director of sales and
purchasing for Sidway Investment Corp.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 4, 2011
The deep snow lingering in the mountains of Eastern
Oregon and Western Idaho is the reason Brownlee Reser-
voir, which divides the two states, looks so shrunken these
days.
The reservoir, about 40 miles east of Baker City, is 60
feet below full.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 5, 2020
A bacterial illness has spread through Baker County’s
biggest herd of bighorn sheep, but a state wildlife biolo-
gist said it won’t be clear until later this year how severe
the death toll is likely to be.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) em-
ployees continue to monitor sheep in the Lookout Moun-
tain unit in eastern Baker County, said Brian Ratliff, district
wildlife biologist at the agency’s Baker City offi ce.
Ratliff said he and other biologists have seen bighorns
coughing — something the sheep rarely do unless they’re
suffering from pneumonia — throughout the range of the
Lookout Mountain herd.
With close to 400 sheep, it’s the largest herd of Rocky
Mountain bighorns in Oregon.
The state also is home to California bighorns, mostly in
the central and southeast parts of the state. Baker County
has a herd of California bighorns in the Burnt River Can-
yon between Durkee and Bridgeport.
Until this winter the Lookout Mountain herd had appar-
ently been healthy.
O REGON L OTTERY
MEGABUCKS, May 1
27 — 34 — 35 — 39 — 40 — 42
Next jackpot: $2.2 million
POWERBALL, May 1
35 — 36 — 47 — 61 — 63 PB 3
Next jackpot: $142 million
MEGA MILLIONS, April 30
8 — 19 — 26 — 48 — 49
Mega
5
Next jackpot: $345 million
WIN FOR LIFE, May 1
8 — 28 — 33 — 54
PICK 4, May 2
• 1 p.m.: 8 — 5 — 2 — 0
• 4 p.m.: 3 — 6 — 8 — 6
• 7 p.m.: 4 — 1 — 0 — 1
• 10 p.m.: 1 — 4 — 2 — 5
LUCKY LINES, May 2
3-6-10-15-19-21-25-29
Next jackpot: $19,000
S ENIOR M ENUS
■ WEDNESDAY: Salisbury steak, au gratin potatoes, mixed
vegetables, rolls, coleslaw, pudding
■ THURSDAY: Liver and onions, baked potatoes, corn, beet-
and-onion salad, rolls, tapioca pudding
■ FRIDAY: Baked ham, candied yams, mixed vegetables,
green salad, rolls, tapioca pudding
■ MONDAY (May 10): Meatloaf, red potatoes, mixed
vegetables, coleslaw, rolls, apple crisp
■ TUESDAY (May 11): Chicken strips, mashed potatoes
with country gravy, corn, biscuits, Jell-O and cottage cheese
salad, cookies
Public luncheon at the Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St., from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $4.50 donation (60 and older),
$6.75 for those under 60. Meals must be picked up; no
dining on site.
C ONTACT THE H ERALD
1668 Resort St.
Open Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Telephone: 541-523-3673
Fax: 541-833-6414
Publisher
Karrine Brogoitti
kbrogoitti@lagrandeobserver.
com
Jayson Jacoby, editor
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Advertising email
ads@bakercityherald.com
Classifi ed email
classified@bakercityherald.com
Circulation email
circ@bakercityherald.com
among other things.”
“We see this as an op-
Continued from Page 1A
portunity to revitalize our
If an agreement is reached,
relationship with NHOTIC and
the BLM would lease 2,500
promote Eastern Oregon’s rich
square feet at the Baker Heri-
heritage together,” said Cammy
tage Museum, 2480 Grove St.
Warner, Baker Heritage Mu-
in Baker City. The leased area
seum Commission Chair.
would include the Adler Room,
Center staff would offer a
located just inside the entrance,
regular schedule of interpretive
as well as the south end of the
presentations at the museum,
second-floor ballroom.
and Baker City has agreed to
The temporary Oregon Trail
allow NHOTIC to offer pro-
exhibit would focus on the sec-
grams and Saturday evening
tion of trail between Farewell
performances at Geiser-Poll-
Bend and the Blue Mountain
man Park.
Pass.
The Saturday performances
“It will be a smaller
will begin this summer with
footprint, but the quality of
a complete schedule to be
exhibits will be equal to what
announced soon. The press
Baker County Heritage Museum/Contributed Photo releases states that the
we have at the center,” said
Wayne Monger, incoming Vale Some exhibits from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Cen-
concerts will be “a permanent
ter could be moved temporarily to the Baker Heritage
BLM district manager.
summer program no matter
The trail center is scheduled Museum next year when the Center is closed for a major the outcome of the co-location
renovation project that will take more than two years.
to close in the spring of 2022
negotiations.”
for a “sustainability retrofi t”
Summer 2021
that includes new energy-effi -
Center hours this summer
cient siding, roofi ng, insulation
“We see this as an opportunity to revitalize our
will
depend on the current
and HVAC. Construction is
relationship with NHOTIC and promote Eastern
health guidelines.
slated to start March 1, 2022,
Oregon’s rich heritage together.”
The annual Memorial Day
and the center will be closed a
wagon encampment is still
month or more before that to
— Cammy Warner, Baker Heritage Museum Commission
planned for May 29 and May
accommodate the move.
30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both
The center will be closed
to the public for about two
will be accessible from High-
BLM’s national leasing offi ce days. Hank Cramer will be per-
forming live music throughout
years during the construction. way 86.
in Denver.”
Although the driveways and
As for the agreement,
The next steps, according to the weekend, and be featured
trail loop around the center
Oregon-Washington BLM
the press release, are “an anal- at the Saturday evening con-
will be restricted to construc- State Director Barry Bushue ysis of the proposal, including cert at the park.
For updates, visit the website
tion traffi c, the lower trails
has “authorized the submit-
a local market assessment and
www.oregontrail.blm.gov.
and Oregon Trail Ruts Access tal of a formal proposal to the potential improvement costs,
O BITUARY
Walter Wood Jr.
met Christina Crawford of Fort Jones,
California. The two shared interests in
Walter Ottis Wood Jr., 74, of Baker
astronomy, natural history and sciences,
City, lost his long battle against cancer
politics, history, travel and especially
on April 28, 2021, at St. Luke’s Medical their shared sense of humor. They mar-
Center in Boise.
ried in Reno, Nevada, on June 23, 1973,
Interment will be at
and shared their lives together for the
the Shipman Cemetery in
next 48 years. The couple lived briefl y
Illinois next to his parents
in Fredonia, Arizona, Kanab, Utah, and
with a graveside service.
Middletown, Pennsylvania, before set-
A memorial celebration of
tling in Oregon. In Pennsylvania, Walt
his life will take place in
supervised the tree nursery program for
Walter
Baker County at a location
the state’s Bureau of State Parks and
and time to be determined, Wood Jr. its gypsy moth spray program. Because
and anyone who wishes to
of the diffi culty of reaching some areas,
attend will be welcomed.
he began his interests in helicopters and
Walt was born on Jan. 9, 1947, at
whitewater rafting, using both modes of
Alton, Illinois, the only child of Walter
travel to inspect and treat barely acces-
and Stella Wood of Shipman, Illinois. He sible areas of the state.
attended local grade school and South-
In 1974, the couple transferred to
western High School making many
Roseburg and Walt began his career for
lifelong friends. He delighted in working the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bu-
on local farms, mowing and cleaning
reau of Land Management for the next
in the town cemetery (his father was
32 years as a forester covering nearly
the town’s mayor), hunting raccoons at
every aspect of timber and forestry
night and squirrels during the days in
management. In 1993 he transferred to
the woods and growing up in a caring,
the Baker City offi ce of BLM until his
Christian community of family and
retirement. During his years in service
friends.
he was trained as a fi rst responder
Walt’s dearest wish was to be a
medical technician, helicopter foreman,
farmer, but when his grandmother sold explosives handler, truck driver, wild-
the family farm, he turned to forestry
land fi refi ghter, ATV safety offi cer and
as the closest substitute and attended
trainer, surveyor, and investigator. He
Southern Illinois University in Car-
was very proud of his work in timber ge-
bondale, earning a bachelor’s degree in
netics and tree stand improvement and
forestry and a master’s in Silviculture
his work with experimental compressed
in 1972. He worked his way through
air foam systems used in wildlands
college as a teaching assistant, working fi re control. During his career he used
in the janitorial service, cutting cord-
horses, trucks, all-terrain vehicles,
wood for charcoal kilns, tree climbing
helicopters, airplanes, skis, snowshoes,
for Davey Tree Service in the St. Louis
snowmobiles, boats, rafts and especially
area and as a wildland fi refi ghter for the shank’s mare to cover thousands of
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest
miles in the outdoors in pursuit of his
Service in Arizona and California.
calling. It was in nature he in found his
It was that fi rst summer, while work- love and life’s work.
ing for the Klamath National Forest
In 1993 and 2002, Walt and Christina
Siskiyou County, California, that he
together traveled to the People’s Re-
Baker City, 1947-2021
public of China to adopt two little girls,
Lillian (Tagg) Wood Holmes and Anna
(Mei). Along the way Walt often men-
tored other young people in the com-
munities in which he lived. He was also
very interested in working with animals
and enjoyed the rescue and care of dogs.
After his retirement, Walt worked
briefl y as a fence builder and renewed
his interest in the shooting sports. For
all his hunting and fi shing time, he only
harvested one deer in his life, shooting
it off the back porch of his home in the
Roseburg area. He often returned from
hunting and fi shing trips with excuses
like too far away, poor visibility, unsure
of the target and the fi sh just weren’t
biting, when family and friends knew
the real reason was he enjoyed the
outdoors so much more than the taking
of his limit.
Walt and Christina planned to move
into a new phase of their lives together
this year with selling their longtime
home in Baker City and moving to
property in Alton, Missouri. But his
health failing, he contracted pneumonia
and passed away within 24 hours of his
admission to the hospital with Christina
at his side.
Walt is survived by his wife and
daughters, Tagg and her husband,
Shane, and Mei.
He was preceded in death by his
parents; all of his aunts and uncles; and
some of his cousins.
In lieu of fl owers please make a dona-
tion to the Baker High School Trap Club
through the Powder River Sportsmen’s
Club to encourage the safe training
and education of the new generation
of shooters, both male and female. Any
contributions may be sent to or hand
delivered to Coles Tribute Center, 1950
Place Street, Baker City, OR 97814.
To offer online condolences to Walter’s
family, go to www.colestributecenter.com.
N EWS OF R ECORD
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
COMPUTER CRIME, FRAUDU-
LENT USE OF A CREDIT CARD:
James Dewayne Reedy, 54, Baker
City, 2:01 p.m. Sunday, May 2 at 1
Sunridge Lane; jailed.
SECOND-DEGREE DISORDER-
LY CONDUCT: Adrienna Dione
Spring is here
for ranchers...
Please watch
for animals!
Morris, 23, Baker City, 2:25 p.m.
Saturday, May 1 at Ash Street and
Valley Avenue; cited and released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR, PROBA-
TION VIOLATION (Umatilla
County warrants): Jessica Diane
Stricker, 43, Pendleton, 5:33
a.m. Saturday, May 1 in the 500
block of Church Street; cited and
released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Baker
County Circuit Court warrant):
Brandon Douglas Culbertson, 33,
2:26 p.m. Friday, April 30 at 10th
and C streets; cited and released.
Baker County Sheriff’s
Offi ce
DRIVING UNDER THE IN-
FLUENCE OF INTOXICANTS,
RECKLESS DRIVING, MINOR
IN POSSESSION OF ALCOHOL:
Zachary John Thomas Christman,
18, Baker City, 7:16 p.m. Sunday,
May 2 at Highway 30 and Imnaha
Road; cited and released.
DRIVING UNDER THE IN-
FLUENCE OF INTOXICANTS,
SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL
MISCHIEF: Brian Scott Griffi n, 37,
Baker City, 2:19 p.m. Saturday,
May 1 at Broadway and 10th
streets; cited and released.
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
225 H Street • East of I-84 • 541-523-3200 • grumpysrepair.com
Serving Baker and Surrounging Counties
We offer landscape curbing and full service specialty
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ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and
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