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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 10, 2021
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Byron
Henry of Baker City.
Community, 3A
Oregon’s Government
Ethics Commission is
scheduled to determine
Friday, June 11 whether
Bill Harvey, chairman of
the Baker County Board of
Commissioners, violated
state ethics laws last year.
Local • Business & AgLife • Go! magazine $1.50
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, Baker City Fire Department Teach South Baker
Intermediate Sixth-Graders About Electrical Safety, Career Opportunities
Outdoor Education
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Possible candidate
for governor to
visit Baker June 11
Stan Pulliam, mayor of
Sandy, a city east of Port-
land, will visit Baker City
on Friday, June 11 as part
of a statewide “listening
tour.”
Pulliam announced
earlier this spring that he
is exploring a possible run
for Oregon governor in
2022.
Pulliam invites residents
to meet with him from
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in
the Lions Club Pavilion at
Geiser-Pollman Park.
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Melvin Sorensen will
celebrate his 90th birthday
on Saturday, June 12.
Friends are invited to join
him for cake and visiting
at 6 p.m. at the Baker Elks
Lodge, 1896 Second St.
Frank Carlson will be play-
ing music from 7 p.m. to
10 p.m.
WEATHER
Today
64 / 41
Showers early
Friday
70 / 42
Mostly cloudy
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
City
talks
trains
By Samantha O’Conner
BRIEFING
Melvin Sorensen
to celebrate 90th
birthday June 12
Baker
takes on
La Grande
Baker City fi refi ghters helped South Baker Intermediate students operate a fi re hose on Friday, June 4.
Students, from left, are Karleigh Endersby, Maddy Taylor, Adysen Boehm and Kloe Cribbs.
Samantha O’Conner, Baker City Herald
See Council/Page 3A
A powerful spray of water shot into the blue sky in a Baker City fi eld,
followed by cheers of excitement.
Sixth-graders from South Baker
Intermediate School tried their
hand at corralling a fi re hose from
the Baker City Fire Department on
Friday, June 4.
The station was one of several that
students went through during a ca-
reer and safety day put on by Oregon
Trail Electric Cooperative and the
fi re department at the Baker City
Christian Church, near the school.
“We held an event in April in La
Grande and it went off great and so
we wanted to try to do another one
here,” said Joe Hathaway, OTEC’s
communications manager.
Hathaway said the cooperative
tries to have similar events in each
of its four counties — Baker, Union,
Grant and Harney — each year.
The June 4 event in Baker City
also helped bring a sense of normalcy
to students after a challenging 15
months due to the pandemic.
Hathaway said the April event in
La Grande was OTEC’s fi rst in more
than a year.
“We’re just delighted to do this and
anything we can do to give back to
the community, we’ll jump at the fi rst
opportunity,” Hathaway said.
Jeremy Michael Clawson
pleaded guilty to one count
A 32-year-old Baker
of theft of public money,
City man pleaded guilty
according to a press release
Tuesday, June 8, to receiving from the U.S. Attorney’s Of-
a $145,200 federal CO-
fi ce in Portland.
VID-19 relief loan on behalf
Theft of public money is
of a fi ctitious company and punishable by up to 10 years
then using the money for
in prison, a $250,000 fi ne,
personal purposes, including and three years’ supervised
buying a $49,000 car, federal release. With Clawson’s
offi cials said.
continued acceptance of
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Haines
woman
charged
in robbery
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
See Students/Page 3A
Baker man pleads guilty to using
COVID biz loan to buy $49,000 car
By Jayson Jacoby
Baker City voters will
get a chance to say whether
or not they support the
possibility of creating a
“quiet zone” for freight trains
within the city limits.
But probably not for
almost a year.
The Baker City Council
discussed the topic, which
has a history dating back
close to two decades, during
its regular meeting Tuesday,
June 8.
Councilors didn’t make
any motions about a quiet
zone.
But Mayor Kerry Mc-
Quisten said her preference
is to put the issue on the
May 2022 ballot to gauge
the level of residents’ inter-
est.
The ballot measure,
regardless of the result,
wouldn’t commit the city to
applying with the Federal
Railroad Administration for
a quiet zone.
responsibility, the U.S. At-
torney’s Offi ce will recom-
mend a 24-month prison
sentence followed by three
years’ supervised release, ac-
cording to the press release.
Clawson will be sentenced
on Sept. 13, 2021.
As part of the plea agree-
ment, Clawson agreed to
pay $125,200 in restitution
to the U.S. Treasury.
Clawson is serving a
19-month sentence at the
Snake River Correctional
Institution in Ontario after
pleading guilty Sept. 29,
2020, in Baker County
Circuit Court to attempting
to elude a police offi cer and
driving under the infl uence
of intoxicants.
See Guilty/Page 5A
A Haines woman was
arrested Monday after-
noon, June 7,
after police
deployed spike
strips to stop
her car during
a pursuit on
Kirby
Highway 30
after she al-
legedly stole items from the
Haines Sell-Rite store and
pushed a cashier there.
Kimberly Ann Kirby,
23, is in the Baker County
Jail on multiple charges,
including third-degree rob-
bery, reckless driving and
attempting to elude.
See Charged/Page 5A
Families and farms
■ Participants in the WIC program can use food
vouchers to buy produce at farmers markets
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Local families are connecting
with farmers again this summer to
buy fruit and vegetables through
the Farm Direct Nutrition Program
available to WIC participants.
WIC stands for Women, Infants
and Children. The program serves
lower-income pregnant, postpar-
tum and breastfeeding women,
infants, or children under age 5.
To be eligible, household income
TODAY
Issue 13, 22 pages
must be less than 185% of the
federal poverty limit (for example,
an annual income of $49,025 for a
family of four).
The Farm Direct Nutrition Pro-
gram provides coupons to spend at
farmers markets and farm stands.
Each WIC participant receives
$28 in vouchers for the season.
These are in the form of $4 cou-
pons.
Business .............. 1B-3B
Classified ............. 4B-6B
Comics ....................... 7B
Timothy Bishop, Travel Baker County/Contributed Photo
Residents who qualify for the Women, Infants and Children program
See Fruits/Page 3A can use vouchers to buy fruits and vegetables at farmers markets.
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........4B & 6B
Dear Abby ................. 8B
Horoscope ........4B & 5B
Letters ........................4A
Lottery Results ..........2A
News of Record ........3A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Sports ........................6A
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SATURDAY — BAKER CITY LUTHERAN CHURCH CELEBRATES A CENTURY