2A — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021
County vaccination rate falls short of
new threshold governor announced
By Jayson Jacoby
T URNING B ACK THE P AGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
May 13, 1971
A Baker businessman whose daily business depends
on prompt, effi cient mail delivery said today the post
offi ce will suffer a tremendous loss of business after the
increased postal rates take effect Sunday.
Leo Adler says publishers and reshippers are dissatis-
fi ed at the way the post offi ce has increased rates without
conducting hearings where they would be able to testify in
their behalf.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 13, 1996
Baker tuned up for the District 7-3A track meet by plac-
ing fi rst and second at the Baker Invitational Friday at
Baker High School.
Baker won the girls’ meet and placed second in the
boys’ meet. The other teams at the invitational were La
Grande, Ontario and Pendleton.
The Bulldogs earned six fi rst place fi nishes in the girls’
meet.
Angie Henes was a double winner in the two hurdle
events. Sarah Cotton was also a double winner, in the shot
and discus.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 13, 2011
Ever wish, when you look at a photograph of Baker
City’s Main Street in the 1930s, that you could step into that
scene and truly understand what life was like?
Or you could just ask Chet Smith.
He can tell you the names of the businesses, who ran
them and what they sold.
He’ll even rattle off the addresses.
He was there, and in his 100 years he’s witnessed a lot in
Baker City.
Smith was born May 10, 1911, in a house on 10th Street.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
May 14, 2020
Annie Franks had a tree problem.
Actually she had 30,000 tree problems.
The trouble wasn’t the trees themselves.
The 30,000 tamarack (western larch) seedlings arrived
at the BLM’s Baker Field Offi ce as scheduled on April 8,
packed in a refrigerated truck to protect their delicate bare
roots.
Franks’ dilemma was that she didn’t have anybody
to plant the trees on about 600 acres burned during the
Cornet-Windy Ridge fi re south of Baker City in August
2015.
The coronavirus pandemic was at the root of the situa-
tion.
Just a few hours after the truck delivered the tamarack
seedlings, Franks, a forestry technician, learned that the
BLM, which had planned to award a contract to a tree-
planting contractor later that day, would not be doing so.
The BLM couldn’t guarantee housing, meals and other
accommodations for the crew of 10 to 15 planters, said
Larisa Bogardus, public affairs offi cer for the BLM’s Vale
District.
In addition, Baker County offi cials had asked agencies
to avoid bringing in large groups of contractors from out-
side the county during the pandemic, Bogardus said.
O REGON L OTTERY
MEGABUCKS, May 10
23 — 35 — 40 — 44 — 46 — 47
Next jackpot: $2.6 million
POWERBALL, May 8
12 — 17 — 20 — 21 — 26 PB 8
Next jackpot: $168 million
MEGA MILLIONS, May 10
7 — 8 — 20 — 36 — 39
Mega
22
Next jackpot: $430 million
WIN FOR LIFE, May 10
18 — 24 — 53 — 54
PICK 4, May 11
• 1 p.m.: 3 — 1 — 7 — 1
• 4 p.m.: 2 — 7 — 0 — 3
• 7 p.m.: 6 — 7 — 3 — 3
• 10 p.m.: 6 — 8 — 8 — 4
LUCKY LINES, May 11
1-7-11-13-20-21-25-30
Next jackpot: $28,000
S ENIOR M ENUS
■ FRIDAY: Barbecued pork ribs, scalloped potatoes, peas and
carrots, rolls, green salad, cherry cheesecake
■ MONDAY (May 17): Pork roast, red potatoes, mixed
vegetables, rolls, fruit, cookies
■ TUESDAY (May 18): Chicken ala king over a biscuit,
carrots, broccoli-bacon salad, lemon squares
■ WEDNESDAY (May 19): Baked ziti, zucchini, breadsticks,
Italian pasta, cinnamon rolls
■ THURSDAY (May 20): Chicken cordon bleu, rice pilaf,
broccoli, rolls, potato salad, ice cream
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
ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays except Christmas Day by the
Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media
Group, at 1668 Resort St. (P.O. Box 807),
Baker City, OR 97814.
Subscription rates per month are
$10.75 for print only. Digital-only rates
are $8.25.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
the Baker City Herald, P.O. Box 807, Baker
City, OR 97814.
Periodicals Postage Paid
at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Copyright © 2021
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Gov. Kate Brown said Tues-
day, May 11 that counties can
qualify to ease COVID-19
restrictions on businesses
starting next week if they
vaccinate enough residents,
but Baker County is far short
of the threshold.
Brown said counties that
have vaccinated at least 65%
of their residents 16 and older
can move to the lowest of the
four risk levels May 21.
But as of Wednesday,
May 12, just 40.9% of Baker
County residents in that
age range had been fully or
partially vaccinated.
To reach the 65% level,
another 3,425 Baker County
residents would need to be
vaccinated.
During the past week, how-
ever, the county has averaged
just 63 doses administered
per day, and some of those
were second doses (those
people, who have already had
their fi rst dose, have already
been counted toward the 65%
threshold).
Brown also said she would
lift nearly all COVID-19
restrictions statewide when
more than 70% of residents
aged 16 and older have
received at least a fi rst dose of
vaccine. As of Wednesday the
statewide vaccination rate
among those 16 and older
was 56.6%.
Nancy Staten, director of
the Baker County Health
Department, said the depart-
ment has ample vaccine
doses available — 1,200 fi rst
doses and 500 second doses
of the Moderna vaccine as of
Wednesday.
What the department
doesn’t have is much demand
for those doses, Staten said.
“If we need to do large
vaccine clinics again, we’ll do
that,” she said.
Baker County Commis-
sioner Mark Bennett said
that although the vaccina-
tion rate doesn’t appear to
offer the county a path to the
lowest risk level, the county
can also move to that level if
its case totals dip. The county
will remain at the current
high risk level for at least one
more week, through May 20.
Staten said she’s “cau-
tiously optimistic” about
the county’s trend. During
the fi rst 11 days of May the
county had 30 new cases,
compared with 60 cases for
the fi nal 11 days of April.
If that trend continues for
the next several days, the
county could potentially drop
to the moderate or lowest risk
level on May 21.
VACCINE
Continued from Page 1A
She had her fi rst shot on April 23.
But it wasn’t quite the simple process
Sarah had expected.
It turned out that Idaho wasn’t inocu-
lating people from out of state.
Sarah said offi cials at the vaccination
site allowed her to use a relative’s Idaho
address on her form.
She’ll return to Meridian this Satur-
day, May 15, for her second dose.
Sarah said it will be a “huge relief” to
be fully vaccinated.
“It is nice that I have much less chance
of getting (COVID-19),” she said.
Oregon approved the use of the Pfi zer
vaccine for 16- and 17-year-olds starting
April 19.
But because the vaccine must be
stored at much colder temperatures than
the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson
vaccines, Pfi zer doses aren’t as readily
available in Baker County and much of
rural Oregon, where health departments
generally lack freezers that can reach the
required temperature.
Of the 10,242 vaccine doses adminis-
tered in Baker City, less than 1% — 902
— were Pfi zer, according to the Oregon
Health Authority.
Sarah said she started reading about
COVID-19 vaccines long before she
became eligible.
She said she quickly became convinced
that the vaccines, though they were
developed more rapidly than previous
types, were “well-researched” and were
both safe and effective.
“I was sure I was going to get (the vac-
cine),” Sarah said. “It wasn’t something I
was afraid to do.”
She said her arm was a bit sore after
her fi rst dose, and she was slightly fa-
tigued, but she had no other side effects.
Although under Oregon law minors
as young as 15 can have certain medical
procedures — including vaccinations
— without parental approval, Sarah
discussed the COVID-19 vaccine with
her parents.
“Sarah took it upon herself,” Faith
Plummer said. “We really support her
decision. It’s important.”
In common with her BHS classmates,
Sarah had online classes for the spring
2020 semester and for the early part of
the current school year.
BHS students returned to classes for
one day per week on Nov. 9, 2020, and
for two days per week starting Jan. 25,
2020. High schoolers have had the op-
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Sarah Plummer, a junior at Baker High School, is a varsity tennis player.
She’s playing here against a La Grande opponent on April 19.
tion of in-person classes on their regular
four-day weekly schedule since April 12.
“School has been very diffi cult this
year,” Sarah said.
Although Baker County Health
Department offi cials have said there’s no
evidence that COVID-19 has spread in
any schools, more than 50 students and
staff across the district have tested posi-
tive, requiring that they quarantine at
home for around two weeks. Some other
students, who didn’t test positive but
were close contacts with a classmate who
did, also have had to take online classes
from home temporarily.
Sarah said it has been “stressful” to
wonder whether she would have to quar-
antine due to being a close contact.
She worried about losing not only time
in classrooms, but also varsity tennis
matches she’s enjoyed this spring.
Once Sarah has had her second shot
and is fully vaccinated, she wouldn’t
have to quarantine even if contact trac-
ing identifi es her as a close contact with
someone who tested positive.
Although people 60 and older are vast-
ly more likely to have severe symptoms
if they’re infected, Sarah said she knows
local teenagers who have had “serious
complications” after testing positive.
“I know there is a risk,” she said.
Sarah said she was eager to be vac-
cinated both to protect herself and to
potentially prevent herself from un-
knowingly spreading the virus if, as is
common with younger people, she was
infected but didn’t have any symptoms.
Sarah said she knows just a handful
of classmates who have been vacci-
nated.
“I think I’m kind of in a minority of
people in my age group who got it early,”
she said.
Sarah said she’s talked with other
teenagers who do plan to be vaccinated.
But many others said they defi nitely
won’t be inoculated.
“That’s frustrating to me,” Sarah said.
The Baker County Health Depart-
ment administered fi rst doses of the
Pfi zer vaccine to 27 BHS students at the
school-based health clinic last week.
As of Wednesday., a total of 88 Baker
County residents, ages 16 to 19, had been
partially or fully vaccinated.
N EWS OF R ECORD
DEATHS
Dick Harrington: 80, former-
ly of Halfway, died May 12, 2021,
at St. Charles Regional Medical
Center in Bend. Arrangements
are under the direction of Tami’s
Pine Valley Funeral Home &
Cremation Services. Online con-
dolences can be made at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.
com
Odett L. Patterson: 73,
of Baker City, died May 6, at
Settler’s Park. At her request,
cremation took place with intern-
ment at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Coles Tribute was in charge of
arrangements. To leave an online
condolence for Odett’s family, go
to www.colestributecenter.com.
FUNERALS PENDING
John Randall: Celebration of
his life will take place on Sunday,
May 30 at 1 p.m. at the Eagle Val-
ley Grange Park in Richland, with
food and beverages following.
Those who would like to make
a donation in John’s memory
may do so to the Hilary Bonn
Benevolence Fund, or the charity
of one’s choice, through Tami’s
Pine Valley Funeral Home, P.O.
Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834. On-
line condolences can be made
at www.tamispinevalleyfuneral-
home.com.
Johnnie Marvin Horn:
Celebration of his life will take
place Friday, May 14 at 2 p.m. at
the Harvest Church, 3720 Birch
St. in Baker City. A committal ser-
vice will follow at Mount Hope
Cemetery with military honors
provided by the U.S. Air Force
Funeral Honors Team. A potluck-
style reception will follow at the
Harvest Church. Memorial con-
tributions in Johnnie’s honor can
be made to Disabled American
Veterans, the American Diabetes
Association or the American
Heart Association through Gray’s
West & Co. Pioneer Chapel,
1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR
97814.
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
CONTEMPT OF COURT,
POSSESSION OF VIOLATION
AMOUNT OF METHAMPHET-
AMINE: Justin Michael Shelton,
31, Baker City, 1:47 p.m. Monday,
May 10 at Valley Avenue and
Resort Street; jailed.
SECOND-DEGREE ASSAULT:
Shawna Lynn Mathis, 38, Baker
City, 9:20 a.m. Monday, May 10
in the 2100 block of Fifth Street;
jailed.
Baker County Sheriff
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Two
Baker County Circuit Court
warrants): Jonathon Dwayne
Hughes, 32, Baker City, 4:05 p.m.
Tuesday, May 11 at the Sheriff’s
Offi ce; cited and released.
PAROLE VIOLATION: Logan
Gardner Nielson, 37, Baker City,
2:21 p.m. Tuesday, May 11 in the
2300 block of Fifth Street; jailed.
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker
County Circuit Court warrants):
Juan Pablo Burgos, 59, Baker
City, 10:54 a.m. Monday, May 10
at the Baker County Jail, where
he was already incarcerated on
other charges.
Rachel Pregnancy Center
2192 Court Avenue, Baker City • 541-523-5357
Services Provided:
Free Pregnancy Tests
A resource
center for
Referrals for Free Ultrasounds
families
Pregnancy Options Counseling
Adoption Referrals
Prenatal, Infant Care & Parenting Classes
Maternity & Baby Clothing
Post Abortion Recovery
Helping women & men in an
Open Tues -Thurs
unplanned pregnancy.
All services free & confidential.
10 am - 5 pm
(closed for lunch)
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
225 H Street • East of I-84 • 541-523-3200 • grumpysrepair.com