A2 — BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021
TRAILS
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
September 11, 1971
“It has been three years since we twisted that Tiger’s
tail,” a delighted coach Joe Miller said following Baker’s
24-0 win Friday night over the visiting La Grande squad.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
September 11, 1996
The Baker City Council learned Tuesday night that
Behlen Mfg. Co. plans a grand opening at its livestock
equipment factory in late October.
Roger Lee, Baker City/County economic developer, told
councilors that the company expects to begin some pro-
duction at the plant, which is south of Pocahontas Road,
later this month.
Approximately 315 people have applied for approxi-
mately 50 jobs at Behlen, Lee said.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
September 12, 2011
Frugal.
That’s the best way to describe Baker’s play against
Grant Union Friday in a nonleague football game at Bull-
dog Memorial Stadium.
Baker (1-1) ran just 45 offensive plays, including just
20 in the second half, but still rolled over the Prospectors
(0-1) 48-0.
The Bulldogs tallied 35 points in the fourth quarter, us-
ing two interception returns for touchdowns, and a punt
return for another score.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
September 12, 2020
While the most destructive wildfi res in Oregon history
are ravaging much of the state west of the Cascades,
the northeast corner, where blazes are more common,
remains relatively calm.
But local offi cials say that tranquility could become il-
lusory, and that the wildfi re danger is high or extreme.
And unlike the situation earlier this summer, when
few fi res were burning, fi re managers won’t be able to
summon help from outside the area should a major blaze
break out.
“Trying to get any kind of resources would be really
hard,” said Steve Meyer, wildland fi re supervisor at the
Oregon Department of Forestry’s Baker City offi ce.
Lightning, which in most summers sparks a majority of
the wildfi res in the Blue Mountains, isn’t in the forecast for
at least the next few days.
But with another warm and dry weekend, and the pros-
pect for hordes of people getting outdoors as has been
the case throughout this summer, the specter of human-
caused fi res leaves fi re offi cials anxious.
High temperatures will approach record levels on
Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather
Service, and no rain is likely until early next week.
“What we worry about most this time of year is human-
caused fi res,” Meyer said.
Blazes started by people are especially troubling be-
cause they can’t be predicted, he said.
“We can track lightning and have some idea of where to
worry about for fi res,” Meyer said. “With human-caused
fi res you just have no idea. You can’t plan for it.”
OREGON LOTTERY
MEGABUCKS, Sept. 8
MEGA MILLIONS, Sept. 7
WIN FOR LIFE, Sept. 8
16 — 17 — 18 — 42
PICK 4, Sept. 9
• 1 p.m.: 1 — 6 — 4 — 7
• 4 p.m.: 3 — 8 — 1 — 8
• 7 p.m.: 6 — 9 — 2 — 3
• 10 p.m.: 7 — 6 — 5 — 8
LUCKY LINES, Sept. 9
15 — 17 — 25 — 32 — 53
3-8-11-15-17-22-27-32
19 – 22 — 23 — 29 — 42 — 44
Next jackpot: $2.9 million
POWERBALL, Sept. 8
9 — 22 — 41 — 47 — 61 PB 21
Next jackpot: $409 million
Mega 12
Next jackpot: $368 million
Next jackpot: $16,000
SENIOR MENUS
MONDAY: Chicken cordon bleu, rice pilaf, mixed
vegetables, rolls, fruit cup, sherbet
TUESDAY: Baked ziti, garlic rolls, vegetables, broccoli-
and-bacon salad, cookies
WEDNESDAY: Barbecued ribs, baked beans, corn,
cornbread, potato salad, apple crisp
THURSDAY: Breaded pork loin, baked potatoes, peas,
rolls, coleslaw, cheesecake
FRIDAY: Roasted turkey, stuffi ng with gravy, broccoli rolls,
pasta salad, lemon squares
Public luncheon at the Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St., from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $5 donation (60 and older), $7.50
for those under 60.
CONTACT THE HERALD
2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101
Open Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Telephone: 541-523-3673
Fax: 541-833-6414
Publisher
Karrine Brogoitti
kbrogoitti@lagrandeobserver.
com
Jayson Jacoby, editor
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Advertising email
ads@bakercityherald.com
Classifi ed email
classified@bakercityherald.com
Circulation email
circ@bakercityherald.com
ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays except Christmas Day by the
Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media
Group, at 1668 Resort St. (P.O. Box 807),
Baker City, OR 97814.
Subscription rates per month are
$10.75 for print only. Digital-only rates
are $8.25.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
the Baker City Herald, P.O. Box 807, Baker
City, OR 97814.
Periodicals Postage Paid
at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Copyright © 2021
that action was needed.
Mitts cut more than 70
logs that spanned the Cun-
Continued from A1
ningham Cove trail. She also
northwest of Baker City, has trimmed the snowbrush, a
been expanding its operations chaparral-like shrub, that
beyond the winter season in had crowded, and in some
places spanned, the narrow
the past several years.
trail tread.
The corporation has
Snowbrush has grown
contracts with the Forest
in profusion since the 1996
Service to operate the three
campgrounds in the Anthony Sloans Ridge fi re burned
Lakes recreation area, as well much of the land that the
as Union Creek campground trail traverses.
Keating said The Trail-
on Phillips Reservoir and
head has received reports of
three other campgrounds in
a few big trees falling across
the Sumpter Valley.
the Cunningham Cove trail
Anthony Lakes has also
recently, and the goal is to cut
opened its day lodge for
those trees before winter.
lunches and dinners dur-
In addition to cutting
ing the summer, and built a
downhill mountain bike trail. logs and doing other annual
maintenance tasks that the
Peter Johnson, Anthony
Forest Service used to handle
Lakes general manager,
before its recreation budgets
conceived the Trailhead
dwindled, the Trailhead
Stewardship Project after a
frustrating experience hiking Stewardship Project has a
the overgrown Cunningham website — www.thetrailhead-
bakercity.com — where hik-
Cove trail, on the west side
of the Elkhorns southwest of ers and other trail users can
report problems on trails.
Anthony Lakes.
That information will help
Or, rather, trying to hike
Mitts and volunteers focus on
the trail.
The combination of brush trails that most need atten-
and downed logs and erosion tion, Johnson said.
The Trailhead Steward-
made it all but impossible to
fi nd the trail in places, John- ship Project’s other major
efforts this summer included:
son said.
The Trailhead Steward-
ship Project got started this
Dutch Flat trail, Elkhorns
summer with Victoria Mitts
Workers cut logs on the
as the paid employee.
entire 10-mile trail, which
Four volunteers also
starts near the Anthony
helped improve sections of
Lakes Highway and ascends
several trails, said Megan Ke- the glacier-carved Dutch Flat
ating, operations coordinator valley to Dutch Flat, one of
at The Trailhead. The crew
the larger alpine meadows in
put in a total of 251.25 hours the Elkhorns, and Dutch Flat
of trail work this summer,
Lake. The trail connects with
Keating said.
the Elkhorn Crest National
Mitts’ fi rst task, appropri- Recreation Trail at Dutch
ately enough, was the very
Flat Saddle, about 3½ miles
trail that convinced Johnson south of Anthony Lakes. In
COVID
Continued from A1
Baker County has not
recorded a COVID-19-related
death since Aug. 17.
Breakthrough cases
A breakthrough case is a
person who tests positive after
being fully vaccinated.
Baker County’s rate of
breakthrough cases has been
lower than the Oregon average
during the surge in cases that
started in late July.
From Aug. 1 through Sept.
5, breakthrough cases ac-
counted for 17.9% of Oregon’s
total cases.
In Baker County the break-
through case rate for that
period was 11.1% — 40 of the
362 cases were breakthrough.
Baker County’s break-
through case rates:
• Aug. 1-15 — 8.2% (12 of
147 cases)
• Aug. 16-22 — 12.7%
(nine of 71 cases)
• Aug. 23-29 — 17.5% (10
of 57 cases)
• Aug. 30-Sept. 5 — 10.3%
(nine of 87 cases)
Vaccinations
Baker County’s vaccination
rate remains the seventh-
lowest among Oregon’s 36
counties, as it has been for
more than a month.
As of Thursday, Sept. 9,
the county’s vaccination rate,
among people 18 and older,
was 49.6%. That includes
6,361 people who are fully
vaccinated, and 503 who are
partially vaccinated. The
statewide average is 73.2%.
The six counties with lower
vaccination rates, among
residents 18 and older, include
two that border Baker County
addition, the crew rebuilt
sections of trail on the steep,
rocky areas above the lake,
and in another stretch about
six miles from the lower trail-
head, Keating said.
Summit Lake trail,
Elkhorns
The workers cleared logs
and other debris on both sec-
tions of this trail — from the
North Powder River Road to
the lake itself, and from the
lake to the upper trailhead
at Cracker Saddle, above
Bourne.
Peavy Trail, Elkhorns
Workers cut trees and
trimmed encroaching brush
on the entire length of this
four-mile trail, which starts
at the same trailhead as Cun-
ningham Cove trail.
The Sloans Ridge fi re
burned across most of the
route of the Peavy trail, and
it, like the Cunningham Cove
trail, has been plagued by
falling trees.
The Trailhead Stew-
ardship Project crew also
installed garbage cans at the
trailhead and restained the
sign kiosk there and at the
Elkhorn Crest trailhead near
Anthony Lake. Dog waste
bags, and trash cans, are
also available at the Elkhorn
Crest trailhead.
The 23-mile Elkhorn Crest
trail, which runs from An-
thony Lake to Marble Creek
Pass west of Baker City, is
among the more popular
routes in the range.
Workers also cut trees
along the Hoffer Lakes trail,
a heavily used route that
climbs about half a mile from
Anthony Lakes to a pair of
smaller lakes.
(Grant and Malheur):
• Lake, 40.1%
• Malheur, 42.2%
• Grant, 45.5%
• Gilliam, 45.6%
• Harney, 47.9%
• Umatilla, 49.4%
The two other neighboring
counties are Union, with a
vaccination rate of 53.2%, and
Wallowa, at 63.1%.
Baker County’s vaccination
rate among residents ages
12-17 (people younger than 12
aren’t eligible to be vaccinated)
is 21.8%. The statewide aver-
age in that age range is 58.1%.
The number of vaccine
doses given in Baker County
increased in August compared
with July.
There were 633 doses
administered during August,
compared with 398 doses
during July. That’s an increase
of 59%.
For the fi rst eight days of
Another project was clear-
ing logs and brush from the
Two Dragon trail, a formerly
abandoned but reconstructed
trail, popular with mountain
bikers, near Grande Ronde
Lake.
Martin Bridge trail,
Wallowas
This project was as much
about reviving a trail as it
was about maintaining one.
This trail, in the south-
ern Wallowas, follows Eagle
Creek between Eagle Forks
campground, north of Rich-
land, and Martin Bridge.
Keating said the crew
started at the campground
and made it about fi ve miles
before the trail tread in
effect disappeared. Up to
that point, workers cleared
patches of brush that
obscured the trail and cut
many fallen trees.
Keating has asked the
Forest Service to survey the
rest of the route, and hang
fl agging to mark the tread,
so the Trailhead Steward-
ship Project can fi nish
clearing the trail to Mar-
tin Bridge.
“We have some great
momentum going and would
love to fi nish this project this
year if possible,” Keating
wrote in an email to Teresa
Fraser, recreation program
manager for the Wallowa-
Whitman.
For the rest of the sum-
mer and into the fall, Keat-
ing said Mitts and volunteers
will respond to trail problems
in the Elkhorns reported on
the website or elsewhere.
Another goal is to come
up with a plan for prior-
ity projects for the summer
of 2022.
September, 134 doses were
given in the county. That
included 39 doses on Sept. 3,
the highest one-day total since
June 10.
September’s daily average
of doses given is down from
August — 16.8 doses per day
so far in September, compared
with 20.5 per day during
August.
Outbreaks
The OHA’s weekly out-
break reported, released on
Thursday, Sept. 9, doesn’t list
any active outbreaks in senior
care facilities or other congre-
gate living settings in Baker
County.
The county’s lone active
outbreak in a workplace is
at Marvin Wood Products,
where seven cases have been
reported since July 23. The
most recent case there was
Aug. 21.
OBITUARY
Martha Jane Spratling
and met her fi rst husband, Paul Jacobs,
while working there. After their marriage
they continued to work there and run
With profound
the family farm. They then moved to full
sadness the passing of
time ranching. After Paul’s death, Martha
Martha Jane Spratling,
continued to run the ranch until she met
91, on Sept. 3, 2021, was
announced.
Martha Jane Max Spratling. Martha and Max ran the
ranch until his death. She retired at the
As per her request
Spratling
age of 80 years. Martha remained on the
there will be no funeral,
family farm until her death.
with the interment being private.
Martha was very involved and
Martha was born on July 19, 1930, in
held many offi ces in the Chamber of
the Baker Valley to Harold and Jennie
Commerce, Cowbelles, and Oregon
Colvin. Martha grew up on the fam-
Cattlemen’s Association. She was also a
ily farm.
She attended Eastern Oregon College supporter of local youth participation in
1930-2021
livestock shows and rodeos.
Martha is survived by her nephews,
Robert, and Richard Knowles and his
wife, Siobhan; her great-niece, Brenna
Warburton and her husband, Bill, and
their children, Vivian and William.
She was preceded in death by her par-
ents; her sister, Lavelle; her fi rst husband,
Paul; and her second husband, Max.
Contributions in her name can be
made to a charity of your choice through
Coles Tribute Center, 1950 Place Street,
Baker City, OR 97814. To light a candle
in memory of Martha Jane, go to www.
colestributecenter.com.
NEWS OF RECORD
DEATHS
Perry Jacobs: 60, a longtime
Keating resident, died Sept. 10,
2021, at Saint Alphonsus Regional
Medical Center in Boise. Arrange-
ments are under the direction of
Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home
& Cremation Services. Online
condolences can be made at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
Cheryl ‘Sherry’ Worster: 71,
of Baker City, died Sept. 7, 2021, at
her home. To leave an online con-
dolence for her family, go to www.
grayswestco.com.
Vicki Sue Profi tt: 56, of Baker
City, died Sept. 5, 2021, at her home.
A celebration of her life will be
announced at a later date. To offer
online condolences to her family, or
to light a candle in her memory, go
to www.grayswestco.com.
Dale Gene Koontz: 81, of
Baker City, died Sept. 5, 2021, at his
home. A celebration of his life will
be planned for a later date. To offer
online condolences to his family, or
to light a candle in his memory, go
to www.grayswestco.com.
James Walter Green: 50,
of Caldwell, Idaho, died Sept. 6,
2021, near Huntington. To leave an
online condolence for his family,
go to www.grayswestco.com.
FUNERALS PENDING
David Coughlin: Celebration
of life, Sunday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m.
at the Quail Ridge Golf Course,
2801 Indiana Ave. in Baker City.
Donna Weir: Graveside ser-
vice will be Saturday, Sept. 25 at
11 a.m. at the Eagle Valley Ceme-
tery in Richland. Arrangements are
under the direction of Tami’s Pine
Valley Funeral Home & Cremation
Services. Online condolences can
be made at www.tamispinevalley-
funeralhome.com.
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
WARRANT: Alex Cooper Horn,
25, Baker City, 8:44 p.m. Thursday,
Sept. 9 in the 1200 block of Camp-
bell Street; cited and released.
HARASSMENT: Griffi th Carl
Jayden, 18, Baker City, 6:40 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 9 at 1640 Eldon
Ave.; cited and released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Baker
County Circuit Court warrant):
Christian R. Oliver, 21, Baker City,
10:25 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 9 at
Birch and Campbell streets; cited
and released.
WARRANT: Gage Michael
Niehaus, 21, Baker City, 7:04 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 8 in the 2700
block of Eighth Street; cited and
released.
PROBATION VIOLATION:
Loren Dean Alexander Prevo, 28,
Baker City, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday,
Sept. 8 in the 2200 block of Failing
Avenue; cited and released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Baker
County Circuit Court warrant):
Justin Shelton, 31, Baker City,
7:57 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8 at
Resort Street and Valley Avenue;
jailed.
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Two
Baker County Justice Court war-
rants): Michael Steven Myers-
Gabiola, 30, transient, 7:49 a.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 8 at Cedar and
H streets; cited and released.
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
225 H Street • East of I-84 • 541-523-3200 • grumpysrepair.com