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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
July 22, 2021
IN THIS EDITION:
Business & Ag Life • Local • Sports
$1.50
DROUGHT
Dry conditions bring hardship to Eastern Oregon farms and ranches
New brochures guide visitors to
fresh produce and more
Lair family purchases 45-acre
cherry orchard near Cove
Smutz family well into its second
century on Foothill Road farm
Ranchers optimistic about meat
packing antitrust probe
10
12
16
22
SUMMER EDITION, JULY 2021
An EO Media Group Publication
INCLUDED WITH
TODAY’S ISSUE
Senior Center Reopens For In-Person Lunches After 16-Month Closure
Lunch Bunch
24-page special section
examines the effects of
severe drought on farming
and ranching in Northeast-
ern Oregon, and other top-
ics related to agriculture.
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Chris
Draper of Baker City.
Local, A3
Two Baker City men rid-
ing motorcycles were criti-
cally injured in separate
crashes over a one-hour
period Tuesday afternoon,
July 20.
The fi rst was reported at
3:13 p.m. on Old Trail Road
near Lake Bob, about two
miles north of the Baker
City limits.
Sports, A6
WEATHER
Today
84 / 42
Smoke likely
Friday
87 / 44
Smoke likely
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
Bulls,
broncs
founder
dies
■ Ken McPheron,
who died Tuesday
at 82, started one of
Baker City’s
signature events
QUICK HITS
TOKYO — Sweden
didn’t have to bunker
down on defense against
the Americans this time.
Stina Blackstenius
scored a pair of goals
and the Swedes stunned
the United States at the
Olympics with a 3-0 victory
Wednesday in the wom-
en’s soccer tournament.
GO! Magazine:
Your guide to
arts and
entertainment
events around
Northeastern
Oregon
Joanna Mann/Baker City Herald
From left, Ludy Busciglio, David Bowers, Barbara Burton, Tami Ritter and John Sutton gathered at the Baker
City Senior Center for lunch on Tuesday, July 20. It was the fi rst time the Center had an in-person lunch since
March 17, 2020. During the pandemic the Center has offered takeout lunches and Meals on Wheels.
By Joanna Mann
jmann@bakercityherald.com
Seniors streamed into the Baker
City Senior Center on Tuesday, July
20, eager to reconnect with old friends
over spaghetti, garlic bread, vegeta-
bles and tapioca pudding.
It was the fi rst on-site lunch at the
Center since March 17, 2020.
The next day the facility, operated
by Community Connection of Baker
County at 2810 Cedar St., was closed
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then Community Connection
has served takeout meals on week-
days, and seen a major increase in
Meals on Wheels requests.
But on Tuesday the doors reopened
for lunch, which is served from 11:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said Col-
leen Anderson, who has been meeting
her friend Connie for lunch every
Tuesday at the Center for years.
“We’ve been waiting for this a long
time.”
Colleen and Connie kept up their
“I think it’s wonderful. We’ve been
waiting for this a long time.”
— Colleen Anderson, who had lunch
on Tuesday, July 20 at the Baker CIty
Senior Center
weekly lunch date even when the
Center was closed for 16 months. Col-
leen would pick up the takeout meals
and the two would meet at her house.
“Doesn’t this just raise your spir-
its?” Nadine Guymon said Tues-
day, gesturing to the balloons and
streamers draped across the ceiling.
A “Welcome Back” banner greeted
lunch-goers in the dining room, and
there were door prizes to celebrate
the occasion as well. The winners
would receive a collapsible garden
bag, candles, locally grown honey jars,
an umbrella light and a wind chime.
Albertsons donated several boxes of
vanilla and chocolate cupcakes to go
with the meal.
The chef made enough meals to
feed 100 people, and there were coffee
and tea stations where people could
catch up before lunch. One group of
friends joyfully greeted each other at
the table they’ve been sitting at for
decades, before COVID-19 broke up
the daily lunch date.
“We all love it,” Barbara Burton
said. “We used to come here every
day.”
Burton and her fi ve friends were
busy chatting after nearly a year and
a half of separation. One absence was
particularly felt at the table, as one of
the group’s regulars has since passed
away. While his friends wish he were
still there to enjoy the reunion, the
rest of the group was overjoyed to be
back together again.
Joe Hayes, manager of Community
Connection of Baker County, is also
glad to be up and running with the
in-person lunches.
“We’re ready to go,” he said.
Lunches are served at the Center
every weekday from 11:30 to 12:30
p.m. The meals cost $5 for those 60
and older, and $7.50 for everyone else.
ATTORNEY SAYS POLICE LISTENED TO PRIVILEGED PHONE CALLS WITH HIS CLIENT
Man accused of murder in Baker
City seeks dismissal of charges
Schaef-
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
fer writes in
The attorney for Shawn the motion
Quentin Greenwood, the
that crimi-
Vale man accused of mur-
nal charges
dering a woman in Baker
against
City in January 2020, has
Greenwood,
fi led a motion seeking to
including fi rst- Greenwood
dismiss criminal charges
degree mur-
because several phone calls der, should be dismissed
from the Baker County Jail “due to the serious and
between Greenwood and
egregious constitutional
the attorney in 2020 were
violation of law enforce-
allegedly recorded, and
ment listening to commu-
law enforcement offi cers
nications protected by the
listened to the recordings.
attorney/client privilege.”
James A. Schaeffer, a La
Greg Baxter, Baker
Grande attorney, fi led the
County district attorney,
motion June 25, 2021.
declined to comment.
By Jayson Jacoby
TODAY
Issue 31, 32 pages
Business ...............B1-B2
Classified ............. B2-B4
Comics ....................... B5
A hearing on Schaeffer’s
motion has been scheduled
for Aug. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
in Baker County Circuit
Court.
Greenwood, 50, is
accused of fatally shoot-
ing his former girlfriend,
Angela Michelle Parrish,
30, of Vale, on Jan. 13, 2020.
Police found Parrish’s body
in a building just north of
H Street in Baker City, on
property that previously
was owned by the New
Tribes Mission, south of the
Powder River Correctional
Facility.
Greenwood is also ac-
Community News ....A3
Crossword ........B2 & B4
Dear Abby ................. B6
cused of shooting, in the
hand, Nathaniel Leeland
Brown, also on Jan. 13.
2020. Brown was treated
and released at Saint
Alphonsus Medical Center
in Baker City.
Greenwood was initially
charged with second-degree
assault for allegedly shoot-
ing Brown, but that charge
was changed to fi rst-degree
assault in September 2020
after a grand jury heard
evidence that Brown’s in-
jury was more serious than
fi rst thought.
See Charges/Page A3
Horoscope ........B3 & B4
Lottery Results ..........A2
News of Record ........A2
Obituaries ..................A2
Opinion ......................A4
Senior Menus ...........A2
Ken McPheron was best
known in Baker City for
starting its signature rodeo
event in 1995,
but the indel-
ible memory for
Shane Pierce is
how Ken made
his mom, Shir-
ley, smile.
McPheron
Ken was
Shane’s step-
father, but such distinctions
meant nothing for the blend-
ed family of fi ve children that
Ken and Shirley forged when
they were married in 1992.
“They made each other’s
world go around, and you
could see it,” Shane said
on Wednesday, July 21, the
day after Ken died at age
82. “When you saw them
together you could tell they
were each other’s person.”
Shane worked with his
mom and stepfather begin-
ning with the inaugural bull
riding competition at the
Baker County Fairgrounds
in Baker City in 1995, add-
ing the bronc riding event
in 1997, and continuing
for almost another quarter
century.
During that time the
two-night event — broncs
on Friday, bulls on Saturday,
both coinciding with Miners
Jubilee — became a popular
draw for rodeo fans across
the West.
See McPheron/Page A3
City’s
water
use down
slightly
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker City residents have
cut back on their water use
since city offi cials asked them
to do so, but the daily demand
remains high enough to cause
concern in City Hall.
“I thought I might see a
little bit more of a reduction
but I am encouraged to see
the numbers coming down,”
Michelle Owen, the city’s
public works director, said on
Monday, July 19.
That was one week after
the city enacted Phase 2 of its
water curtailment ordinance.
See Water/Page A3
Sports ........................A6
Turning Backs ...........A2
Weather ..................... B6
SATURDAY — BAKER SANITARY SERVICE OPENS COMPOSTING FACILITY