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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 19, 2021
Local • Outdoors • Sports • TV
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Bill Lee of
Baker City.
Oregon, 3A
State Sen. Lynn Findley,
R-Vale, faces a potential
recall effort.
Chief petitioner Patrick
A. Kopke-Hales of Mt.
Vernon fi led a prospec-
tive recall petition with
the Oregon Secretary of
State’s Offi ce on Monday,
June 14.
$1.50
Miners Jubilee, Bull And Bronc Riding Will Return In July
Back In The Saddle
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald File
Leo Adler
Leo’s
day
BRIEFING
Lloyd Nelson
named Rotarian
of the Year
Lloyd Nelson, who
joined the
Rotary Club
on May 1,
1986, was
named Ro-
tarian of the
Nelson
Year for the
Baker City Rotary Club.
Nelson, who was also
recognized for his 35 years
of membership, served
as the Baker City Rotary
Club’s president in 1991-
92, 2017-18 and 2018-19,
making him the longest-
serving president since the
local cub was chartered
on July 1, 1956. Nelson
has served as chairman of
the Rotary Club’s Miners
Jubilee buffalo burger
committee since 2018.
WEATHER
Today
84 / 52
Sunny
Sunday
84 / 51
Sunny
Monday
92 / 58
■ Monday, June
21 is the birthday
of Leo Adler,
Baker City’s
beloved benefactor
who died in 1993
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald File
The Pendleton Mounted Band entertained spectators during the 2019 Miners Jubilee parade.
comfortable returning just yet, so there
are a few spots still available. Cutler
Plans are in high gear for the 2021
said she has received several calls from
Miners Jubilee weekend July 16, 17
people asking if the Jubilee is happen-
and 18. The annual event, which was
ing, leading her to believe that there
canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, will be a big boost in attendance this
is expected to draw record crowds.
year.
Shelly Cutler, executive director of
Miners Jubilee celebrates Baker
the Baker County Chamber of Com-
City’s gold mining heritage with music,
merce, said the level of interest in this food and entertainment. The infl ux of
year’s Jubilee seems to be “extremely
tourists, including former residents
high.”
returning to attend high school class
“I didn’t know for sure if folks would reunions, benefi ts motels, restaurants
feel comfortable coming out, but the
and other local businesses, which is
park is almost full with vendors,” Cut- why the cancellation of last year’s event
ler said, referring to the food and craft was especially detrimental.
vendors who will offer their wares at
This year’s event will run similarly to
Geiser-Pollman Park. “I’m just so happy how it has in the past, with activities in
with the numbers that we have.”
the park from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. on Friday
Some vendors, however, do not feel
and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
By Joanna Mann
jmann@bakercityherald.com
on Sunday. The theme is “Friends in
Gold Places,” which both recognizes the
area’s gold mining history and plays
on the words of the Garth Brooks song,
“Friends in Low Places.”
There will be music all three days,
entertainment for kids, the Lions
Club annual breakfast on Friday and
Saturday, the downtown parade on
Saturday at 11 a.m., and the bronc rid-
ing competition Friday evening at the
Fairgrounds, and bull riding Saturday
evening.
“We’re going to try to continue with
the same routine we had in the past
and look to do some extended events
next year when we really have no
guidelines,” Cutler said.
See Jubilee/Page 3A
Sunny
Drought keeping mosquitoes at bay
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
■ Populations of the pests are below average in part due to a scarcity of water
The pesky bugs spend
their pre-fl ying days in
Drought causes all sorts water, so drought tends to
of problems, but at least
limit their numbers, said
one affected group isn’t
Matt Hutchinson, manager
likely to engender any sym- of the Baker Valley Vector
pathy for its plight.
Control District.
Mosquitoes.
Hutchinson is respon-
By Jayson Jacoby
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Baker boys
win season
finale
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
sible for controlling mos-
quitoes in a 200,000-acre,
property tax-funded district
that includes Baker City
as well as much of Baker,
Bowen and Keating valleys.
Hutchinson said the
unusually dry spring —
rainfall since March 1 is
about 37% of average at the
Baker City Airport — has
had a noticeable effect on
mosquito populations in the
district.
See Mosquitoes/Page 3A
Eagle Cap Innovative High School
Graduates grateful for option
By Lisa Britton
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Caleb Hawkins and Evelyn
Bedolla found their
preferred type of edu-
cational experience at
Eagle Cap Innovative
High School.
Both graduated in
Bedolla
early June — Bedolla
with valedictorian
honors, and Hawkins receiving the
Award of Merit.
“It was kinda surprised I got it,”
Hawkins said. “It encourages me to
TODAY
Issue 17, 12 pages
try new things.”
Part of the Baker
School District, Eagle
Cap is designed so
students work through
core subjects with
Hawkins
the fl exibility to work
on their own sched-
ule. Some students choose to take
courses entirely online, while others
pair online courses with classes on
campus at Baker High School or
Baker Middle School.
Bedolla liked the smaller class
sizes.
Calendar ....................2A
Classified ............. 2B-4B
Comics ....................... 5B
Community News ....3A
Crossword ........3B & 4B
Dear Abby ................. 6B
“It was better for my mental
health to be in a smaller classroom,”
she said. “And you can go through at
your own pace. Eagle Cap made it
easy for me to do that.”
Hawkins liked the fl exibility of
completing schoolwork when it fi t
his life.
“I’d often do math the second half
of the day,” he said. “I didn’t want to
start my day off with math.”
Bedolla preferred studying at
night.
See Graduates/Page 2A
Horoscope ........3B & 4B
Jayson Jacoby ..........4A
News of Record ........2A
Obituaries ..................2A
Opinion ......................4A
Outdoors ..........1B & 6B
The Baker Heritage
Museum is honoring Baker
City’s most famous philan-
thropist with a celebration
on his birthday.
Monday, June 21, is
designated as Leo Adler
Day in honor of Adler, who
left $20 million to benefi t
Baker County in the form
of community grants and
college scholarships.
See Leo/Page 2A
Witty to
retire, but
stay with
5J district
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Mark Witty, superin-
tendent of the Baker 5J
School District since 2015,
will offi cially retire on July
1 but he plans
to continue to
lead the dis-
trict for two
more years.
The school
Witty
board — with
two of its
fi ve members absent and
a third recusing himself
from voting — approved
Witty’s proposal Thursday
evening, June 17.
This arrangement —
continuing to work for a
public agency after retir-
ing — is possible for mem-
bers of the Oregon Public
Employees Retirement
System (PERS). They
can begin to receive their
pension benefi ts while still
receiving a salary from a
public employer.
Witty told the board that
he plans to retire from PERS
on July 1, but that he’s will-
ing to work as superinten-
dent under contract for two
more years.
See Witty/Page 2A
Sports .............. 5A & 6A
Turning Backs ...........2A
Weather ..................... 6B
TUESDAY — CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM FOR AILING LOCAL BIGHORN SHEEP