SATURDAY
BENTZ: INVESTIGATING CAPITOL RIOT A CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY: PAGE 2A
In OUTDOORS, 1B
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 12, 2021
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IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Patti Hall
of Baker City.
BRIEFING
Keegan Masterson
wins scholarship
Keegan Masterson, a
2020 Baker High School
graduate, received a $7,000
Oregon State chapter P.E.O
Sisterhood Cottey College
scholarship. Keegan was
nominated by the Baker
City P.E.O. Chapter CJ. She
is a freshman at Cottey
College in Missouri, where
she is pursuing a career in
diplomacy and consider-
ing attending law school.
$1.50
State
board
hears
Harvey’s
case
Baker City’s First Lutheran Church Founded 100 Years Ago
Church Celebrates
Its First Century
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
WEATHER
Today
78 / 52
Mostly sunny
Sunday
89 / 53
Mostly sunny
Monday
88 / 52
Mostly sunny
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Corrections: A story
in the Thursday, June 10
issue identifi ed Oregon
Trail Electric Cooperative
employees Mark Dyer
and Myles Schwebke
as linemen. Both are
metermen.
A caption for a photo on
Page 6A showing BHS
basketball player Gabe
Gambleton listed his fi rst
name as Grant, who is
Gabe’s younger brother.
Clarifi cation: A story in
Thursday’s issue about the
Baker City Council didn’t
make clear that councilors
have not decided whether
to ask voters if they
support the city pursuing
a “quiet zone” for freight
trains in the city.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Fly-fishing
advice
A total of 1,200 white paper doves decorate the interior of First Lutheran Church in Baker City. Each dove
represents a person who was baptized at the church since it opened in 1921.
The Oregon
Government
Ethics Com-
mission voted
unanimously
Friday, June
Harvey
11 to make a
preliminary
fi nding that Bill Harvey,
chairman of the Baker
County Board of Commis-
sioners, violated state ethics
laws last year.
A member of the Ethics
Commission, Sean O’Day,
told Harvey, who participat-
ed in the meeting by phone,
as did Ethics Commission
members, that he hopes the
Commission will “emphasize
education” rather than tak-
ing punitive action against
Harvey.
“I have a great apprecia-
tion for rural Oregon, and
the job of a county commis-
sioner is a diffi cult one,”
O’Day said. “You’re out there
hauling equipment and
taking care of the county’s
business as well.”
See Harvey/Page 2A
Lisa Britton, Baker City Herald
Woman
accused
of assault
J
udy Chinn smiles as she looks at the white paper doves — 1,200 in all —
streaming down the walls of the sanctuary.
“I thought it was just so beautiful,” Chinn, 83, says of when she fi rst saw the
decorations in place. “Each one of these doves represents a soul.”
By Jayson Jacoby
The doves, each labeled with a
name and date, signify every person
baptized at First Lutheran Church in
Baker City since 1921.
The church, 1734 Third St.,
celebrates its 100th year with an
anniversary divine liturgy on Sunday,
June 13, at 10 a.m. A reception will
follow in the fellowship hall, where
visitors can see historical documents
and photos on display.
More summer events include:
• Ice Cream Social, 5 p.m. July 10,
at First Lutheran Church
• Service at Crossroads Carnegie
Art Center, 11 a.m. July 11
• Annual worship and picnic in
Geiser-Pollman Park, 10 a.m. Aug. 22
in the building. When he left seven
years later, there were 250 people.”
Sig well remembers the growing
irst Lutheran Church in
church.
Baker City was organized
“Dad had confi rmation classes
and incorporated in 1921.
that were huge, and we had Sunday
It was built on the corner of Third
school classes all over the place, there
Street and Valley Avenue.
were so many kids,” he said. “He had
Prior to the building construction, an amazing ministry here.”
the congregation met in the base-
Soon after arriving, Pastor Siefkes
ment of the Carnegie Library.
orchestrated the purchase of a Kim-
Sig Siefkes, 92, remembers the
ball pipe organ.
original church. His father, Siegfried
A shipping delay caused a bit of
Siefkes, was pastor at First Lutheran panic in the congregation.
from 1936 to 1943.
“It came the Saturday before it was
“We drove out here from Rocky
to be dedicated,” Sig said.
Ridge, Ohio,” Sig said. “When Dad
See Church/Page 5A
was installed, there were 19 people
Updates will be posted on the
church’s Facebook page.
F
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A Baker City woman is
accused of throwing broken
glass at Baker City Police
offi cers, kicking
two of them,
and assaulting
a corrections
deputy during
her arrest on
Brinton
domestic as-
sault charges
Wednesday afternoon, June 9.
Valerie Jean Brinton, 53,
was arrested and taken to the
Baker County Jail.
See Arrest/Page 3A
High-level position
■ Forest Service officials have had to scramble to find
a fire lookout to work this summer on Mount Ireland
the Elkhorn Mountains and forms the
divide between the Powder River and
Joel McCraw needed to fi nd someone North Fork John Day River basins as
willing to spend the summer atop a
well as the boundary between Baker
mountain that has a three-state view
and Grant counties.
but is far out of sight of any coffee shop
Mount Ireland is one of more than
or grocery store.
a dozen prominences in Northeastern
His task wasn’t as daunting as it
Oregon where the traditional method
might sound, thanks in part to Face-
of fi nding wildfi res — a person work-
book.
ing inside a tiny building on a high
The job is fi re lookout on Mount
point, looking for the telltale tendril of
Ireland. The 8,346-foot peak is the apex smoke — persists.
of a granitic shoulder that extends
See Lookout/Page 3A
several miles west from the spine of
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
TODAY
Issue 14, 12 pages
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........2B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
Horoscope ........2B & 4B
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest/Contributed Photo
The fi re lookout on the summit of Mount Ireland, 8,346 feet, is
staffed each summer. The lookout has a view that extends over
parts of three national forests — Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and
Malheur. The metal building replaced a wooden structure in 1957.
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
Letters ........................4A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ..........1B & 6B
Sports ........................6A
Senior Menus ...........2A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — BAKER SENIOR CENTER OFFICIALS EAGER TO REOPEN