SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
Invasive weed of the week
By Jeffrey Pettingill
The Enemy
Salt cedar (Tamarix ramo-
sissima).
The Strategy
This deciduous tree inhabits
waterways and small reser-
voirs. It has small scale-like
leaves and pink to white
fl owers, giving the tree a very
beautiful appearance. This
tree continues to be introduced
through the nursery industry
but is now listed as a noxious
weed. This tree can be shrub
like or if old enough can look
like other cedar trees. Unfortu-
nately it has been seen along
the Snake River and in resi-
dential yards. It is the worse
Salt cedar trees have a voracious thirst for water.
invader along the Colorado
River.
Using herbicides such as
Attack
Garlon, Arsenal, and in some
Salt cedar develops roots
cases Roundup are best, but
very quickly and once estab-
watch for off-target drift of the
lished has the ability to drain herbicide. These same herbi-
the water out of small water
cides can be used to spray the
systems. One single tree can
foliage, but not as effective as
use up to 200 gallons of pre-
cutting the trees down. There
cious water each day. I have
are a few insects available to
seen ponds that are dry and
control the tree, but the birds
once the trees are removed
love to eat them. Most impor-
they fi ll up with water. It
tantly, watch for this plant in
drips a “salty” residue which
your nursery magazines as it
prevents other plants from
is the wrong plant to plant in
growing around it, even after our area.
the tree has been removed.
Jeffrey Pettingill/Contributed Photo
Methodist churches
resume in-person
worship services
The Baker and Haines United Methodist churches
have resumed in-person worship services after a
16-month closure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virtual worship services will continue, according to a
press release from the churches.
Both churches will continue to ask worshippers to
wear masks to protect those who haven’t been, or can’t
be, vaccinated.
Rev. Michele Holloway, who serves both churches, has
offered weekly services on Zoom since August 2020.
“While Zoom isn’t the ideal way of doing worship, it
has provided me the opportunity to see and interact
with people from these churches during a very diffi cult
time,” Holloway said. “We did our best to maintain a
sense of community online but I am excited to have the
churches open again. I want to thank the congregations
for their patience and faith as we worked through the
processes we have been given by the Greater North-
west COVID team and our bishop. I hope to see you in
church on Sunday.”
The Baker United Methodist Church, 1919 Second
St., has Sunday worship service at 10 a.m., both in-
person and via Zoom. To receive a Zoom link, call 541-
523-4201. In-person worshippers are asked to reserve
their seats in advance to ensure that proper physical
distancing is maintained. To reserve seats, call 541-523-
4201. You can reserve seats for multiple weeks.
The Haines United Methodist Church, 721 Roberts
St., will reopen with an outdoor service Sunday, July
4 at 8:30 a.m. The congregation will continue to meet
outdoors during the summer. Reservations are not
necessary, but worshippers are asked to bring their own
chairs.
New At The Library
Patrons can reserve materials in advance online or by
calling 541-523-6419. Drive-in hours at 2400 Resort St. are
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
Baker County Library’s new additions this week include
3 new bestsellers, 22 new movies, 51 new audiobooks,
fi ve new music CDs, 25 new children’s books, and 84 other
new books, including 70 that are available online. See
everything new this week to Baker County Library District
at wowbrary.org.
Jeffrey Pettingill is the weed
Defense
control supervisor for Baker
DO NOT PLANT ONE.
County. He encourages people
As this is a noxious weed it is
with noxious weed questions to
illegal to plant. Cutting down call him at 541-523-0618 or 541-
the tree (even if it was planted
519-0204. He also encourages
years ago by grandma) is most people to like the Baker County
Weed District’s Facebook page.
effective, but it will be neces-
sary to “paint” herbicide on the
Rich Old/Contributed Photo
fresh cut surface immediately
Salt cedar has distinctive
after cutting to kill the stump.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION
• “Ace of Spades,” Faridah Ábiké-Íyímídé
• “The Box in the Woods,” Maureen Johnson
• “Cinderella is Dead,” Kalynn Bayron
• “Daughter of Sparta,” Claire M. Andrews
• “Dragon Hoops,” Gene Luen Yang
pink fl owers.
FIREWORKS
Continued from A1
Diaz’s stand, which opened the
evening of June 30, is a fundraiser for
Baker City Harvest Church. Neff said
the church serves as a Royal Rangers
outpost, mentoring young men and
women in the community to make
good choices.
While his stand has more product
than usual this year, he said he never
received the big packages he typically
gets to sell.
“We’ve had people come in, and
that’s what they were looking for,”
Diaz said. “I think that was part of the
shortage, is that the manufacturing of
those was not on the priority lists.”
Chief Sean Lee, but they decided a ban
wasn’t necessary.
“The reality is in the state of Oregon
most fi reworks are illegal and banned
already,” Cannon said. “Our feeling
was that we did not need to add onto
No local fi reworks ban
that ban, but to appeal to people to
Although many Oregon cities and
consider celebrating the Fourth of July
some counties have banned either the without fi reworks because of the risk
sale or use of fi reworks, or both, due to of fi re.”
high fi re danger, no such prohibition is
Oregon bans fi recrackers, bottle
in place in Baker City.
rockets, roman candles and many
City Manager Jonathan Cannon
other types of fi reworks that are popu-
said he discussed the issue with Fire
lar in other states.
Death toll from heat wave could
be in the hundreds, officials say
■ At least 79 people have died in Oregon, with most deaths in Multnomah County
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM — Many of the
dead were found alone, in
homes without air condition-
ing or fans. Some were elderly
— one as old as 97. The body
of an immigrant farm laborer
was found in an Oregon nurs-
ery.
As forecasters warned of
a record-breaking heat wave
in the Pacifi c Northwest and
western Canada last weekend,
offi cials set up cooling centers,
distributed water to the
homeless and took other steps.
Still, hundreds of people are
believed to have died between
June 25 and June 29.
An excessive heat warning
remained in effect for parts
of the interior Northwest and
western Canada.
The death toll in Oregon
alone reached 79, the Oregon
state medical examiner said
Thursday, July 1, with most
occurring in Multnomah
County, which encompasses
Portland.
In Canada, British Co-
lumbia’s chief coroner, Lisa
Lapointe, said her offi ce
received reports of at least
486 “sudden and unexpected
deaths” between June 25 and
June 30. Normally, she said
about 165 people would die in
the province over a fi ve-day
period.
She said it was too soon to
say with certainty how many
deaths were heat related, but
that it was likely the heat was
behind most of them.
Washington state authori-
ties have linked more than
20 deaths to the heat, but
authorities said that number
was likely to rise.
In Oregon’s Multnomah
County, the average victim’s
age was 67 and the oldest was
97, according to county Health
Offi cer Jennifer Vines.
In a telephone interview
Thursday, Vines said she had
been worried about fatalities
amid the weather forecasts.
Authorities tried to prepare as
best they could, turning nine
air-conditioned county librar-
ies into cooling centers.
Between Friday and
Monday, 7,600 people cooled
off amid the stacks of books.
Others went to three more
cooling centers. Nearly 60
teams sought out homeless
people, offering water and
electrolytes.
“We scoured the county
with outreach efforts, with
calls to building managers
of low-income housing to be
checking on their residents,”
Vines said.
But the efforts weren’t
enough, she said: “It’s been
really sobering to see these
initial (fatality) numbers come
out.”
Oregon Offi ce of Emergency
Management Director An-
drew Phelps agreed. “Learn-
ing of the tragic loss of life
as a result of the recent heat
wave is heartbreaking. As an
emergency manager – and
Oregonian – it is devastating
that people were unable to
access the help they needed
during an emergency,” he said.
See Heat/Page A5
Congratulations
baker high school
Girls Swim Team
& 3 time State Champion
Brianna Stadler
2021 Champion in
100 Butterfly & 200 IM
NONFICTION
• “Bungalow Style,” Treena Crochet
• “Girl in the Woods,” Aspen Matis
• “The Total Bowhunting Manual,” Scott Bestul & Dave
Hurteau
• “Weaving on a Little Loom,” Fiona Daly
• “Wisdom of the Native Americans,” Kent Nerburn
MOVIES
• “The Courier” (Drama)
• “Godzilla vs. Kong” (Sci-Fi)
• “Nobody” (Action)
• “MacGruber” (Comedy)
• “The United States Constitution & Bill of Rights”
(Documentary)