THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021
The Wards
Ralph and Alice Ward of
Baker City recently celebrated
their 70th wedding anniversa-
ry. The couple were married on
Aug. 26, 1951, at the Presby-
terian Church in Baker. They
took vows to forever honor
and cherish each other. They
have been true to their words
Contributed Photo
and inspiration to us all as we Ralph and Alice Ward.
seek a true loving partnership,
their family said.
The Wards celebrated this
special anniversary with a
family dinner at home with
their children and spouses —
Kathy and Harold, Mark and
Lisa, and Craig and Cherie,
and four grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren —
Morgan, Alyssa and Jordan,
Calli, Matt, Chloe and Lauren.
Ralph is a partner in
Ward Ranches and served
Contributed Photo one term as Baker County
Judge. Alice was a bookkeep-
Alice and Ralph Ward on
er for Ward Ranches and
their wedding day, Aug.
Guyer and Associates.
26, 1951.
VACCINES
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
LOCAL
she opposes a state vaccination
mandate for school workers,
she’s glad the state is allow-
Continued from A1
ing individual school districts
for one of the exceptions rather to decide the mitigation
than potentially lose their jobs measures for workers who
opt for an exception in lieu of
or resign.
vaccination.
Myers said she and Lem-
“I am a complete supporter
mon, representing the classi-
fi ed workers, have been meet- of local control,” Myers said.
Lemmon agreed.
ing with district management
“The last thing anybody
to discuss “mitigations” that
wants is to be told what to do,”
will be required for unvacci-
nated workers who choose the she said. “We live in America.
medical or religious exception. This is a country of freedom.”
Myers said the announce-
Although the specifi c
ment that the governor’s
requirements haven’t been
mandate is not absolute, and
agreed to, Myers said one
possibility is that unvaccinated that employees can seek medi-
cal or religious exceptions, had
employees will have to be
tested regularly for COVID-19. a signifi cant effect on many
“We’re working together to members’ attitudes.
After the governor’s initial
do what’s best for our district
and our students,” Myers said. announcement of the vaccine
mandate on Thursday, Aug. 19,
“Our members want to be in
person with our students. We Myers said her phone “didn’t
all recognize that’s what’s best stop ringing until the next
Monday” as teachers called,
for our students.”
worried that they would have
Myers said that although
COVID
the county’s population, and
14% of COVID-19 cases.
People younger than 12
aren’t eligible to be vac-
cinated. Baker County’s
vaccination rate for people
ages 12 to 19 is 25.7%. The
statewide rate for that age
range is 56.7%.
Baker County’s oldest
residents, meanwhile —
those 70 and older — have
accounted for a dispropor-
tionately small percentage
of the county’s virus cases.
Continued from A1
Ages 60 to 69
This is the largest age
group in the county, with
about 3,080 residents,
roughly 18.5% of the
population. The age group
has accounted for 12.1% of
COVID-19 cases.
In Baker County, the
vaccination rate for people
in their 60s is 54.6%. The
statewide rate is 77.3%.
Ages 10 to 19
This age group account-
ed for 9.5% of the county’s
COVID-19 cases.
Portland State Univer-
sity’s Population Research
Center doesn’t list the
number of Baker County
residents in this age range.
There are about 1,270 resi-
dents ages 12 to 19, which
is 7.6% of the county’s popu-
lation.
Residents 17 and young-
er constitute about 18.2% of
to choose between their job
and being vaccinated.
“People were crying, not
knowing what to do,” Myers
said. “It was heartbreaking.
We want to be here for our
students. We love them.”
Ages 70 to 79
This age group, with
about 2,200 members in
the county, accounts for
about 13.2% of the popula-
tion. But residents in their
70s have had 7.3% of the
county’s COVID-19 cases.
Baker County’s vac-
cination rate for residents
in their 70s is 67%. The
statewide rate is 86%.
Ages 80 and older
With about 1,100
residents, this age group
“We have people on both
sides of this topic, which
makes it really diffi cult,”
Myers said. “We want to sup-
port our members as to what
they’re comfortable with, and
to listen to both sides.”
“I am a complete supporter of local control.”
— Toni Myers, president, Baker Education Association
When teachers learned a
few days later about the excep-
tions, it was “very reassuring”
to many, Myers said.
“That made the day for a
lot of people,” she said.
Lemmon said she believes
some classifi ed workers are
“relieved because they do have
that option.”
Myers said she doesn’t
know how many Baker Educa-
tion Association members are
vaccinated. She said she has
not posed that question to
members, and does not intend
to do so.
WOLVES
hide was intact, according to
two pups killed Aug. 1.
an ODFW report.
As of Wednesday morn-
Biologists found a
ing, Sept. 1, no wolves had
Continued from A1
been killed since the two on struggle scene with broken
ODFW depredation investi- Aug. 1, according to ODFW. vegetation and a blood trail
ODFW biologists believe leading about 25 yards to
gations.
the carcass, along with wolf
Those attacks prompted the pack consists of the
breeding pair, two yearlings tracks.
ODFW Director Curt
Biologists examined the
born in the spring of 2020,
Melcher to issue a permit
and the fi ve remaining pups calf and found numerous
on July 31 allowing the
pre-morten tooth scrapes
from this spring’s litter.
livestock owners, their
The most recent depreda- on both rear legs above the
designated agents or ODFW
employees to kill up to four tion was reported the morn- hock, and on the left front
ing of Aug. 30, when a ranch- leg near the elbow, with
subadult wolves from the
pack, not including its breed- er checking cattle found the tissue damage up to 1 1/2
inches deep.
carcass of a 600-pound calf
ing pair.
The location and size of
in a 2,800-acre pasture that
On Aug. 1, ODFW
includes a mixture of public the wounds are consistent
employees shot and killed
and private land. The site is with wolf attacks on cattle,
two wolf pups, part of the
litter of seven pups that the in the Lawrence Creek area according to the ODFW re-
port.
breeding pair produced this northeast of Durkee. All of
Biologists estimated
the wolf depredations have
spring.
been in that general vicinity. the calf was killed late on
The permit, the fi rst
The carcass was partially Sunday, Aug. 29, or early the
ODFW had issued since
following day.
2018, was set to expire Aug. consumed but most of the
21. But after ODFW biolo-
gists confi rmed that Lookout
Jay & Kristin Wilson, Owners
2036 Main Street, Baker City
Mountain wolves had killed
541-523-6284 • ccb#219615
a calf on Aug. 19, the agency
extended the permit through
Sept. 14. The permit does
not add to the number of
wolves that can be killed,
however — the limit is still
four, which means no more
than two additional sub-
adult wolves from the pack
can be killed, following the
Lemmon said she believes
it is a violation of employees’
privacy to ask their vaccina-
tion status. She said she
doesn’t know how many
classifi ed employees are vac-
cinated.
Myers said that although
union members’ feelings
about the vaccine vary, the
“overwhelming majority” of
teachers, including many of
those who are already vac-
cinated, oppose the governor’s
mandate.
“They think people should
be able to choose,” Myers said.
were residents 70 or older,
and 48.5% were 80 or older.
constitutes 6.6% of the
county’s population. About
5.3% of the county’s CO-
VID-19 cases have been in
residents 80 or older.
In Baker County, 69.4%
of residents 80 and older
are vaccinated, the highest
rate among age groups. The
statewide rate is 79.4%.
The statistics tell a
much different tale when it
comes to COVID-19-related
deaths in the county.
There have been 19
deaths during the pandem-
ic, and all but three of those
Baker County residents
were older than 70.
The exceptions are two
residents who were 59
when they died, and one
65-year-old.
The other ages: 82, 90,
83, 95, 85, 86, 88, 87, 85, 81,
75, 71, 74, 95, 93, 83.
The average age of
county residents who died
after testing positive for the
virus is 80.8 years.
Statewide, 72.5% of
COVID-19-related deaths
August sets record
for cases
The surge in COVID-19
infections driven by the
more contagious delta
variant set a new monthly
record for cases in Baker
County.
There were 13 cases
reported on the fi nal day
of the month, raising the
August total to 300. The
previous record was 196
cases in December 2020.
August’s total exceeded
the combined total for
July (91), June (70) and
May (51).
The case rate was con-
sistent, with 147 during the
fi rst 15 days of the month,
and 153 over the fi nal 16
days. There were 10 or more
cases on 11 of the month’s
31 days, the most days with
double-digit cases during
the pandemic. The previ-
ous record was six days, in
December 2020.
Lemmon said members of
her union generally feel the
same.
“As long as we have the
option, we’ll be OK,” she said.
“Forcing us to do something is
not OK.”
Lemmon said that al-
though it’s possible a “handful”
of classifi ed staff will choose to
resign due to the vaccine issue,
she believes most of those who
aren’t vaccinated want to keep
their jobs.
Lindsey McDowell, public
information and communi-
cations coordinator for the
Baker School District, wrote
in an email to the Herald on
Tuesday afternoon that “we
are in the process of planning
with staff and the local health
department for the October
18 deadline to have all those
working in our K-12 schools
vaccinated against COVID-19
(or with an approved medical
or religious exception by the
same deadline).”
McDowell wrote that
the Oregon Department of
Education (ODE) requires
that school districts “must
take reasonable steps to
ensure that unvaccinated
teachers, school staff and vol-
unteers are protected from
contracting and spreading
COVID-19.”
These steps could include
weekly testing, wearing an
N95 face mask, additional
physical distancing or an
isolated worksite, McDowell
wrote, citing ODE guidelines.
“We are still in the
research/discussion stage of
what the mitigations will be
for our school district,” she
wrote. “Fortunately, we have
the absolute best staff, who
love our students immensely
and want to do what is best
for them. We are a team in
keeping our schools safe and
open to both regular instruc-
tion and extra-curricular ac-
tivities.”
FIRE
which had a tranquil fi re
season compared with
other parts of Oregon and
Continued from A1
the West.
Prior to the Rock Creek
The Hot Shot crew was
fi re, there had 16 fi res on
joined by two other crews,
the Burnt-Powder Fire Zone,
one from the Wallowa-
which includes most of the
Whitman and one from the
Umatilla National Forest, as southern half of the Wallowa-
Whitman. Lighting sparked
well as other fi refi ghters.
The Rock Creek fi re posed 13 of the fi res, and three were
one of the bigger threats this human-caused (four now,
summer on the southern half with the Rock Creek fi re).
The 16 fi res burned a
of the Wallowa-Whitman,
total of 8.2 acres.
McCraw said fi re investi-
gators have not had a chance
to look at the site, although
the fi re defi nitely was
human-caused.
He reminded forest
visitors that the fi re dan-
ger remains high, and that
campfi res are allowed only in
designated campgrounds and
recreation sites. There are no
such sites in the upper Rock
Creek canyon.
Veteran's Appreciation Day!
VETERAN SERVICES & INFO WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE CLUBHOUSE.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
PARTICIPANTS ARE 9am
ENCOURAGED
TO CALL AHEAD FOR TEE
to 3pm
TIMES (9AM TO 2PM). PLEASE CALL 541-523-2358.
CURRENT STATE COVID GUIDELINES WILL BE FOLLOWED.
B
HUNTING PHOTO
CONTEST
Sunday,
September
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September 12,
12, 2021
2021
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RIGHTS
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