TUESDAY
BAKER WRESTLING (PAGE 5A), GIRLS BASKETBALL (PAGE 6A) IN ACTION
In SPORTS, 6A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 1, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Christina
Smith of Baker City.
Region, 3A
COLLEGE PLACE, Wash-
ington — A wanted man
from Baker County who
was reportedly driving a
car stolen in Missoula, Mon-
tana, was arrested Thurs-
day, May 28, in College
Place after a brief pursuit by
local police.
$1.50
Memorial Day Ceremony At Mount Hope Cemetery
Never Forgotten
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County had
another relatively quiet
weekend on the COVID-19
front, with one new case on
Saturday and no cases on
Friday or Sunday.
For the fi rst 30 days of
May, the county had an
average of 1.7 cases per day,
the lowest rate since Oc-
tober 2020. Most of May’s
cases — 27 of 51 — were
reported in the fi rst seven
days. Since then the county
has had zero cases on 10
days, and one case on seven
days.
Siddoway, Hunt
win scholarships
from Soroptimists
of Baker County
WEATHER
Today
87 / 50
Sunny
Wednesday
93 / 56
See COVID/Page 3A
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Ralph Cole speaks during the Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 31 at Mount Hope Cemetery. Cole
was born in Baker City and served for 26 1/2 years in the U.S. military.
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
On a tranquil and sunny morning, with only the
soft rustle of a warm May wind fl uttering the hun-
dreds of American fl ags at Mount Hope Cemetery,
Ralph Cole asked those attending a Memorial Day
ceremony to imagine other circumstances, ones that
could scarcely be more different.
He asked the crowd of more than 200 people to
think of a December day in Vietnam, more than half
a century ago.
He asked them to remember John Noble Holcomb,
the Baker County boy who grew up in Richland
and died on Dec. 3, 1968, at age 22, after showing
“indomitable will and courage after his unit was at-
tacked from three sides.”
That description is part of the citation that accom-
panied the Medal of Honor bestowed, posthumously,
on Holcomb. He is one of just 13 Oregonians, and
the only Baker County resident, to receive the U.S.
military’s highest decoration.
Holcomb carried several of his wounded fellow sol-
diers to a safer position, exposing himself to machine
gun and artillery fi re.
Sunny
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Case
rate
stays
low
By Jayson Jacoby
BRIEFING
Soroptimist Interna-
tional of Baker County has
awarded $1,000 scholar-
ships to two local students,
Kylie Siddoway and Abagail
Hunt.
Scholarships are award-
ed annually to a woman
who is a current graduate
of a high school in Baker
County or Powder Valley
High School, or who has
graduated within the past
fi ve years and is attended
or has been accepted to a
higher education institution.
Siddoway plans to earn a
bachelor’s degree in animal
science and a minor in
agribusiness, and then to
continue at Mays Business
School to obtain a master’s
degree in marketing. Her
career goal is to work as an
agricultural marketer for a
cattle company.
Hunt plans to attend
Montana State University
and earn a nursing degree,
then earn her master’s
degree and become a nurse
practitioner.
Baker
routs
Nyssa
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A Condon woman sus-
tained a fractured femur,
and her husband had a leg
fracture and a torn knee
ligament, but their young
grandson was not hurt
Sunday morning, May 30,
when their four-wheeler
rolled about 50 feet down a
steep slope in the mountains
above Sumpter.
Betty Jo Reed, 60, was
rescued by members of the
Baker County Sheriff’s
Offi ce’s search and rescue
team, and taken by Life-
Flight helicopter to Saint
Alphonsus Hospital in Boise.
Reed had surgery on her
injured leg Sunday night,
according to the couple’s
daughter, Melissa Reed.
See Memorial Day/Page 3A
See Accident/Page 3A
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Paula Benintendi places an American fl ag at
Mount Hope Cemetery on Monday, May 31.
Missoula Children’s Theater Plans Two Performances During July
Young actors will return to stage
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
After skipping 2020 due to the
coronavirus pandemic, Missoula
Children’s Theater is returning to
Baker City.
The experience will look a little dif-
ferent than past years, however.
The cast will be limited to 30
students, from kindergarten up to
12th grade.
Cast members and directors will
wear masks.
At this point, no audience will be
allowed at the shows, which will be
in the Baker High School audito-
rium.
Ginger Savage, executive director
of Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, is
TODAY
Issue 9, 14 pages
working on two different scenarios.
One is that she asks the state for
permission to have an audience that
is well spaced in the auditorium.
If that’s not possible, the Baker
School District has volunteered to
livestream each performance.
Participants are encouraged to
register early by going online to
www.crossroads-arts.org or calling
541-523-5369.
“We’re already halfway booked,”
Addie Voss, education coordinator for
Crossroads.
Johnny Appleseed
The fi rst production is “Johnny
Appleseed.” Auditions will be held
Monday, July 5, followed by a week
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 3B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........5B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Couple
hurt when
ATV rolls
of rehearsals. Performances will be
at 6 p.m. Friday, July 9, and 3 p.m.
Saturday, July 10.
Cost to participate in MCT is $40
for Crossroads members or $60 for
nonmembers. Scholarships are avail-
able.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
The second production, “The Em-
peror’s New Clothes,” will begin with
auditions on Monday, July 26.
The cast rehearses throughout the
week, which concludes with perfor-
mances at 6 p.m. Friday, July 30, and
3 p.m. Saturday, July 31.
Cost to participate is $40 for
Crossroads members or $60 for non-
members. Scholarships are available.
Home ................... 1B-3B
Horoscope ........5B & 6B
Letters ........................4A
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Record
heat likely
this week
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
June’s sizzling debut is
likely to become a record-
breaker.
The National Weather
Service is forecasting high
temperatures of 93 on
Wednesday, June 2 and 95
on Thursday.
Both temperatures
would set new records.
The current record high
at the Baker City Airport
for June 2 is 90 degrees,
and the record for June 3 is
92. Both were set in 2007.
See Heat/Page 3A
Opinion ......................4A
Sports .............. 5A & 6A
Weather ..................... 8B
THURSDAY — GO! MAGAZINE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE