TUESDAY
HOT DOG EATING CONTEST, AND A PREFERENCE FOR BURGERS: PAGE A6
In HOME, B1
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
July 6, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Mitch
Thomas of Baker City.
State, A3
Summer is normally
a relatively quiet time in
Oregon politics.
But 2021 has been about
as abnormal as a year
can be. The Legislature
adjourned June 26.
$1.50
Independence Day In Haines: Parade, Arts, Rodeo & Fireworks
Back In The Saddle
Imagine Bend being
Oregon’s eastern most
city, a short drive from
Redmond, Idaho.
“Greater Idaho,” the
concept of transferring
parts of southern and
eastern Oregon to Idaho —
making Redmond, Idaho,
a reality — is gaining trac-
tion in some rural areas.
According to Mike Mc-
Carter, the chief petitioner
of Move Oregon’s Border,
a nonprofi t advocating for
Greater Idaho, the change
would give rural Oregon
counties a longed-for Re-
publican-led legislature by
leaving liberal strongholds
like Portland and Eugene
behind in Oregon.
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
BRIEFING
Baker County
Garden Club to
visit lavender farm
Travel Baker County/Contributed Photo
After a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fourth of July parade returned to Haines
on Sunday, July 4. The Haines Stampede Rodeo, which wasn’t canceled last year, had a good turnout.
By Joanna Mann and
Jayson Jacoby
Baker City Herald
WEATHER
Today
97 / 57
Sunny
Wednesday
92 / 51
Sunny
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Fireworks
calls kept
police
busy
■ Baker City
Police, Baker
County Sheriff’s
responded to 26
complaints during
holiday weekend
The West, A5
The Baker County Gar-
den Club will meet July 7
at Curtis Lavender Farm,
44368 Pocahontas Road.
Everyone is welcome to
meet at 10 a.m. at Ace
Nursery to carpool to the
farm. Bring a sack lunch
and chair. Some shade will
be provided.
A bounty
of flaky
biscuits
Haines was its usual bustling
self on Independence Day, a distinct
change from the relatively placid
2020 version of the holiday.
A year ago, with the COVID-19
pandemic well underway, some of the
traditional events in the community,
population about 415, were canceled.
The list included the parade, cow-
boy breakfast and arts festival.
In 2020 two other cornerstones of
the holiday — the two-day Haines
Stampede Rodeo and a fi reworks
display after dark on the Fourth —
did happen.
This year, on a sizzling Sunday, the
regular roster of Haines festivities
was on display.
Garla Rowe, of Friends of Haines,
the volunteer group that organizes
the events with the exception of the
Haines Stampede, said this spring
that she was excited about the return
of the favorite events after the one-
year hiatus.
“I’m really excited for the Fourth
this year,” Rowe said in May. “I think
the community needs to have some-
thing positive to celebrate.”
The Haines Stampede had a large
turnout of spectators on both days,
July 3 and 4, despite the persistent
heat wave that pushed temperatures
to near triple digits.
See Haines/Page A5
Baker City Police and
deputies from the Baker
County Sheriff’s Offi ce
responded to more than two
dozen calls about fi reworks
during the Independence
Day weekend, most of those
on Sunday, July 4.
Most of the complaints
were in Baker City, but
there were also calls from
Haines, Halfway, Hunting-
ton and Unity Lake State
Park.
Detective Mike Regan of
the Baker City Police said
the volume of fi reworks
complaints was comparable
to recent years when the
holiday also coincided with a
weekend.
In 2020, when Indepen-
dence Day was on Saturday,
there were 25 complaints,
and in 2015, when it was
also on Saturday, there were
30 calls, Regan said.
In 2018, by contrast, when
Independence Day was
on Wednesday, the Baker
County Dispatch Center re-
corded just eight complaints
about potential fi reworks
offenses.
Regan said that as in
previous years, calls ranged
from people who were an-
noyed by loud fi reworks late
at night, some who reported
illegal fi reworks, and others
concerned about fi reworks
potentially sparking blazes.
See Fireworks/Page A3
Brian And Corrine Vegter Receive State Grant
Churchill renovation
project gets a boost
■ Couple will use money for roof and window repairs
gatherings, and we see ourselves as a key
part of the arts and culture community
Turning a 95-year-old schoolhouse into for the county and Eastern Oregon in
a modern venue for music, art and hos-
general.”
pitality is no easy task, especially when
The state grant program is for historic
virtually every part of the building needs property preservation and archaeology
renovation.
projects across the state. Brian Vegter
That’s why it meant so much for
said he had applied for the grant four
Brian and Corrine Vegter, the Baker
times, but this is the fi rst year he has
City couple who bought Churchill School been successful.
in May 2018, to receive a Preserving
The application process is intense, he
Oregon grant from the Oregon Parks and said, with no communication between
Recreation Department.
the applicant and the reviewers during
The $4,607 grant, which the Vegters
the judgment-making period. The ap-
will match with $4,645, will help the
plication has to explain in detail every-
couple as they continue work on the
thing the grant money would be used
project of a lifetime.
for, and Vegter believes he didn’t receive
“Corrine and I both look at what we’re the grant the fi rst three times because
doing as preserving a piece of shared
of miscommunication in the application
history for the entire community,” Brian process.
Vegter said. “What we do with the space
See Churchill/Page A3
is provide opportunities for community
By Joanna Mann
jmann@bakercityherald.com
TODAY
Issue 24, 14 pages
Classified ............. B4-B6
Comics ....................... B7
Community News ....A3
Crossword ........B4 & B6
Dear Abby ................. B8
Home ....................B1-B3
Joanna Mann/Baker City Herald
Brian Vegter shows some of the windows in the Churchill
School that he and his wife, Corrine, plan to repair with help
from a state historic preservation grant.
Horoscope ........B4 & B6
Letters ........................A4
Lottery Results ..........A2
News of Record ........A2
Obituaries ..................A2
Opinion ......................A4
Senior Menus ...........A2
Sports ........................A6
Weather ..................... B8
THURSDAY — THE NEW, EXPANDED GO! MAGAZINE MAKES ITS DEBUT