TUESDAY
TERRY STOTTS OUT AFTER NINE YEARS AS BLAZERS’ HEAD COACH: PG. 6A
In LOCAL, 2A
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 8, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Ryan
Chaves of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Library plans two
summer book clubs
The Baker County Public
Library is running two
book clubs this summer.
One is for children enter-
ing grades 4-6; the other is
for teens in grades 7-9.
For information about
the clubs, or to sign up, go
to www.bakerlib.org, check
the library’s Facebook
page, or inquire at the
library, 2400 Resort St.
$1.50
BAKER CITY COUNCIL
MEETS THIS EVENING
Baker High School Graduation Ceremony
Progress In Spite
Of The Pandemic
Red Cross plans
blood drive in
Baker on June 14
The American Red Cross
has scheduled a blood
drive for Monday, June
14, from noon to 6 p.m. at
the Nazarene Church, 1250
Hughes Lane in Baker
City. Call Myrna Evans at
541-523-5368, or go online
to redcrossblood.org, to
schedule an appointment.
Blood donors will not be
required to wear a mask if
they are fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, but
they will need to bring an
immunization card if they
want to go without a mask.
Haines Fire District
meeting set June 14
HAINES — The Haines
Fire Protection District’s
monthly board meeting
will be Monday, June 14 at
6 p.m. at the main station,
816 Cole St. The board will
fi nalize next year’s budget.
COVID-19 safety protocols
will be in effect.
WEATHER
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Baker High School’s Class of 2021 had its graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 6.
Samantha O’Conner, Baker City Herald
Grey skies, sprinkles of rain and chilly winds had no effect on the cheers that
erupted at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium Sunday afternoon, June 6.
Baker High School’s class of 2021 was joined by friends and family to
celebrate what they achieved despite having their fi nal two years of high school
greatly affected by the pandemic.
Commencement speaker Nicole
(Butler) Sullivan, a science teacher at
BHS, recalled how she taught many
of the graduates when they were
fi rst-graders, then later while teach-
ing at Baker Middle School and to
her current position.
“I’m so thrilled I get to see your
faces without masks on one last time
before you guys go out there,” Sul-
livan said.
She offered the graduates sev-
eral points of advice, including the
importance of traveling. She encour-
aged students to go places, learn,
and experience new things, and to be
excited in the moment during “these
precious times.”
“If you can’t travel, experience
culture from people that you come
across from other walks of life, states,
countries,” Sullivan said.
See Class of 2021/Page 3A
Today
Baker City Cycling Classic is back
71 / 44
By Lisa Britton
Mostly sunny
Wednesday
67 / 43
Cloudy
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Highway 203 around Cath-
erine Creek and Medical
The 2021 Baker City
Springs. The fi nish is about
Cycling Classic returns
a half mile before Highway
this month after a one-year 203 crosses Interstate 84.
hiatus.
That event concludes
This year’s event will be
around 4:30 p.m.
June 25-27.
There are two races on
The various stages take
Saturday, June 26.
place on public roads, so
The fi rst begins at 8:30
motorists can expect some
a.m. It starts at the Baker
delays throughout the
City Church of the Naza-
weekend.
rene on Hughes Lane and
The road race on June 25 heads out to Highway 30,
begins at 10 a.m. and will
where racers will turn
use Highway 30 from Baker right and follow the road
City to North Powder, High- to Davenport Road then to
way 237 into Union, and
Chandler Lane with a fi nal
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
right turn onto Old Oregon
Trail Road fi nishing about a
mile from Highway 86.
There will be a detour of
northbound traffi c on High-
way 30 at Hughes Lane
onto Pocahontas and then
to Chico Street where it
will rejoin Highway 30. The
detour will be in effect from
8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The second events of the
day will be the Tour d’Town
Criterium and kids races
held in Historic Baker City
from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be parking
restrictions on Main Street,
Valley Avenue, First Street,
Second Street, Broadway
Street, Court Avenue, and
Washington Avenue.
The Baker County YMCA
will be hosting the Y’s Kids
Races on Saturday, June 26.
A bike rodeo (bike safety
check) starts at 11 a.m., fol-
lowed by the races at 11:30
a.m. It’s free and open to
ages 4 through 15 — hel-
mets and registration are
required. For more informa-
tion visit bakerymca.org or
bakercitycyclingclassic.com.
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker County Commissioners
on June 2 approved an applicant’s
request to build a home farther from
a public road than is usually allowed
in the county’s zoning ordinance.
The county planning commission
on April 5 approved Eric Bork’s
request to build the home near
Highway 7 about 12 miles south-
west of Baker City, but denied his
application for a variance from the
TODAY
Issue 12, 14 pages
requirement that nonfarm dwellings
be built within 200 feet of a public
road.
Bork appealed that denial to
county commissioners.
Bork, who lives in Turner, near
Salem, applied for the variance. The
25.65-acre property, which is just
north of Highway 7 and just west
of the Denny Creek Road intersec-
tion, is owned by Phil and Darlene
Scheler of Baker City, according to
documents from the Baker City/
Classified ............. 3B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........5B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Home ................... 1B-3B
Council
to look
at police
survey
The Baker City Council
will review results from an
online survey that asked
residents their impressions
of the Baker City Police
Department.
The 23-question survey
was open during March.
Councilors will look
at survey results during
their regular meeting this
evening, June 8, at 7 p.m. at
City Hall, 1655 First St.
Almost 600 people re-
sponded to the survey, more
than half of whom — 349
— said they have lived in
Baker City for at least 15
years.
Among the results:
How satisfi ed are you
with the Baker City
Police Department
• Satisfi ed, 203 respon-
dents
• Somewhat satisfi ed, 123
• Very satisfi ed, 105
• Somewhat unsatisfied, 53
• Very unsatisfi ed, 37
• Not sure/no opinion, 30
• Unsatisfi ed, 22
Over the last 12 to 18
months, or within the
time you have lived in
Baker City, do you feel
the level of crime has:
• Increased, 474
• Stayed the same, 63
• Not sure/no opinion, 31
• Decreased, 6
See Council/Page 3A
Sizzle to
shiver:
June’s
fickle
start
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
County Planning Department.
The property is in the exclusive
farm use zone and within the
county’s big game overlay.
In a letter to the Planning Depart-
ment, Bork and Karilea Landholt
wrote that they requested the
variance because the only “suitable
and buildable area of the property”
is more than 200 feet from the
highway.
The fi rst week of June has
given thermostats in Baker
City hardly a moment’s rest.
First, air-conditioners
were toiling earlier than
usual.
And now furnaces,
scarcely having started their
customary summer break,
are back at work.
Just fi ve days after an
early heat wave broke one
high-temperature record
at the Baker City Airport
and near snapped another,
record-setting chill descend-
ed in the wake of a cold
front that also brought snow
showers to the mountains
on Sunday, June 6.
The temperature slunk to
29 degrees Monday morn-
ing, June 7 at the airport.
See Variance/Page 3A
See Weather/Page 2A
See Cycling/Page 2A
County commissioners grant
variance for rural home site
By Samantha O’Conner
Crews
slow fire
Horoscope ........5B & 6B
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................6A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 8B
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