SATURDAY
BAKER, CASCADE RENEW FOOTBALL RIVALRY THIS AFTERNOON: SPORTS, A6
In OUTDOORS, B1
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
September 4, 2021
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IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day
to Herald subscriber Irv
Townsend of Baker City.
BRIEFING
County seeking
volunteers for
committees
Baker County is seeking
volunteers for the follow-
ing boards/committees:
• Baker County Cultural
Coalition
• Baker County Planning
Commission
• Fair Board Advisory
Committee
• Early Learning Re-
gional Council
• Transportation/Traffi c
Safety Committee
• Baker County Mental
Health Advisory Commit-
tee
• NEOEDD Budget Board
• Local Public Safety
Coordinating Council
Volunteers must submit
a form, which can be
found at www.bakercoun-
ty.org/commissioners.
Haines Fire District
board to meet
The Haines Fire Protec-
tion District board will
meet Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
at the main station, 616
Cole St. All residents of
the district are welcome
to attend. COVID-19 safety
protocols will be in effect.
Greenwood pleads, avoids murder trial
None of the three
District Attorney
charges for which
Greg Baxter said.
Greenwood was
Judge Matt
Shawn Quentin Green-
convicted carries a
Shirtcliff of Baker
wood, the Vale man accused
mandatory minimum
of fi rst-degree murder in the County Circuit
sentence, so he will be
January 2020 fatal shooting Court sentenced
eligible for a reduction
Greenwood to a
of Angela Parrish in Baker
Greenwood in sentence based on
total of 90 months
City, pleaded no contest to
good behavior and
three lesser counts on Friday, in prison on the
other factors.
three convictions, which
Sept. 3 in Baker County
Baxter issued a press re-
include criminally negligent
Circuit Court.
lease early Friday afternoon.
Five other counts, includ- homicide, a Class B felony,
ing fi rst-degree murder, were fi rst-degree burglary, a Class It reads:
“The Baker County Dis-
dismissed, and Greenwood’s A felony, and attempting to
trict Attorney’s Offi ce offered
trial, scheduled to start Sept. elude law enforcement, a
the plea agreement in this
Class C felony.
8, was canceled.
case after it was apparent
Greenwood will be cred-
Although Greenwood, 50,
ited for time already served. that many important pieces
pleaded no contest rather
of evidence would not be
He has been in the Baker
than guilty, the no contest
available at trial due to the
County Jail since his arrest
plea has the same effect as
lead police investigator listen-
on Jan. 13, 2020.
a conviction, Baker County
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com

WEATHER
Today
86 / 41
Sunny
Sunday
90 / 45
Mostly sunny
Monday
90 / 48
Sunny
Full forecast on the
back of the B section.
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
$1.50
Finding
the way
in the fog
ing to privileged telephone
conversations between the
defendant and his attorney.
The Parrish family members
and the other victim, Nathan-
iel Brown, supported this
decision given that this was
the best possible sentence
under the circumstances and
that Greenwood was willing
to accept some responsibility
for the crimes he committed.”
“The state believed that
at trial, that the defense
would have focused on the
actions of Baker City Police
Detective Shannon Regan
thereby clouding the evi-
dence concerning the crimes
committed by Greenwood. A
forensic investigation by the
Department of Justice caused
the state to determine that it
could not ethically call the de-
tective to testify at trial. Key
evidence that she touched
was either suppressed or
would not have been able to
be presented since she could
not testify.”
Basically, the prosecution
was in a position of potential-
ly taking to a jury a murder
case without being able to
call as a witness the lead
detective, or show the jurors
key pieces of evidence, or,
potentially, calling witnesses
who could testify about the
collection of that evidence.
 New owner
renovating
former
Baker House
into condos
Health
offi cials
answer
COVID
questions
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
The former Baker
House building at 2330
Fifth St., near St. Elizabeth
Towers, is getting a make-
over, inside and out.
Gordon Holman, who
bought the three-story
building three months ago,
plans to turn the structure
into six condominiums.
“When I had an oppor-
tunity to see the building
for the fi rst time, I liked
the way the building felt
when I walked into the
entry way,” Holman said. “I
thought there were great
opportunities despite the
fact that we were looking
at so much debris, so much
clutter.”
The renovation will not
be an easy or quick process,
he emphasized.
The building was
constructed in 1939 and
has passed through many
hands, including being used
as a mental health center
focusing on addiction and
recovery, when it was
known as Baker House.
The former Baker House building, at 2330 Fifth St., is being renovated into
condominiums.
See, Condos/A5
West Nile virus found in more mosquitoes
Baker City Herald
Four more groups of mos-
quitoes trapped in the Keat-
ing Valley area, east of Baker
City, have tested positive for
West Nile virus, the Oregon
Health Authority announced
Friday morning, Sept. 3.
So far this summer, a
total of 19 “pools” of mosqui-
toes collected in the county
have been infected with the
virus.
Mosquitoes can transmit
the virus to people through
bites.
Most people infected with
the virus have no symptoms,
according to the state health
offi cials, but about 20% will
have symptoms such as a
fever, headache, body aches,
vomiting, diarrhea or a rash.
In rare cases the virus
TODAY
Issue 50, 12 pages
can be fatal.
Of the four most recent
pools of infected mosquitoes
— a pool usually consists of
10 to 50 insects — two were
collected in a trap in Keating
Valley on Aug. 25, and the
other two were taken from
traps near Keating Valley
on Aug. 25 and 26, said Matt
Hutchinson, manager of the
Baker Valley Vector Control
District.
Hutchinson is responsible
for controlling mosquitoes
in the 200,000-acre district,
which includes most of
Baker, Keating and Bowen
valleys. The district’s budget
comes from two property tax
levies.
The Vector Control
District maintains a network
of traps across the district.
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Comics ....................... B5
Community News ....A3
Mosquitoes from those traps
are mailed to a laboratory
at Oregon State University,
there they’re tested for West
Nile virus.
Another group of traps
is monitored by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
and Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, as part of
a campaign to protect sage
grouse, an upland bird that
can also be infected with the
virus through mosquito bites.
Hutchinson said mosquito
populations — including the
culex tarsalis species, which
is most likely to carry West
Nile virus — are dropping
in the area due to cooler
temperatures and a scarcity
of standing water.
But trapping will con-
tinue, along with measures
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Horoscope ........B2 & B4
to kill adult mosquitoes and
their larvae, as long as neces-
sary, Hutchinson said.
Most of the infected
mosquitoes this summer
have been trapped in or
near Keating Valley. The one
exception is a trap about four
miles north of Baker City,
which also collected infected
mosquitoes in early August.
So far this year there
have been no cases of people
being infected with West Nile
virus in Oregon.
The virus has been
detected in mosquitoes in
fi ve counties — Morrow (21
pools, also one bird); Baker
(19 pools); Jackson (three
pools); Malheur (two pools);
and Umatilla (one pool). The
virus also was found in one
horse in Klamath County.
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News of Record ........A3
Obituaries ..................A2
Opinion ......................A4
Outdoors ..........B1 & B2
Senior Menus ...........A2
INSIDE — MAGAZINE PROFILING THE PENDLETON ROUND-UP
See, Plea/A5
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker County offi cials had
a one-hour virtual town hall
Thursday evening, Sept. 2, to
discuss the current surge of
COVID-19 cases and concerns
regarding hospital capacity.
The panel consisted of:
• Dr. Eric Lamb, Baker
County public health offi cer
• Dr. Lily Wittich of St.
Luke’s Eastern Oregon Medi-
cal Associates
• Priscilla Lynn, president
and chief nursing offi cer for
Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center-Baker City
• Nancy Staten, director of
the Baker County Health De-
partment
• Mark Bennett, a Baker
County commissioner and the
county’s incident commander
during the pandemic.
The town hall followed a
question-and-answer format,
with many questions submitted
by email prior to the event.
See, Health/A5
Offi cial
implores
people to talk
with contact
tracers
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Nancy Staten is imploring
Baker County
residents who
test positive
for COVID-19
to help stem
the virus,
which spread
more rapidly
here during
Staten
August than
in any other month.
And all they have to do is
answer a few questions.
Unfortunately, in Staten’s
estimation, some people refuse
to do so.
And their reluctance to talk
to contact tracers is dulling
what should be one of the
See, Tracing/A3
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Turning Backs ...........A2
Weather ..................... B6