TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2021
TRAFFIC
The Oregon Department
of Transportation counts traf-
fi c accidents only on sections
Continued from A1
of streets, such as 10th, and
sections of Broadway, Main
She said cars parked at
and Campbell, that are also
the curb, on the blocks of
Cherry Street between Camp- state highways.
Harff contends that city
bell and Washington, can
make it diffi cult for drivers to offi cials should consider how
people are driving, and not
see other traffi c.
just statistics.
“I’ve heard from so many
“Somebody said they have
people who have lived here
some kind of traffi c engineer
their whole lives that it’s get-
ting worse and I don’t know if that has all these things that
it’s because people are moving they fi gure out, statistics or
something, and that doesn’t
here from some of the bigger
do any good,” she said. “Why
cities or if it’s just because
don’t you come out and sit and
nobody’s getting stopped,”
watch it? And nobody wants to
Harff said.
do that. They just are sitting
Owen said she is ponder-
there going, ‘oh, well we can’t
ing the possibility of making
the intersection of Cherry and stop the traffi c.’ It takes fi ve
Church streets — about mid- to 10 seconds to stop at a stop
sign. That’s not much to pos-
way between Campbell and
Washington — a four-way stop. sibly save somebody’s life.”
Harff said she is concerned
The reason, Owen said, is
not because traffi c volumes or about the kids going to and
from Brooklyn Primary School,
speeds justify the stop signs,
but because of “sight distance on Washington between Clark
issues.” These can include the and Oak streets. She said there
parked cars Harff mentioned, are two day cares on her block
as well as mature trees, fences as well.
“All it takes is somebody
and other structures that
could impede drivers’ views at throwing a ball and a kid fl ying
out in front of it,” Harff said.
intersections.
“The city needs to actu-
Owen said a Baker City
Police offi cer watched that in- ally stop and think,” she said.
tersection for a brief time this “What I hear from so many
summer. The average speed of people is, Baker City, they
the 15 cars that passed was 22 don’t want to do anything or
change anything in the city.
mph, Owen said. The offi cer
Everything stays the same
stopped one driver for exces-
for eternity here. I still think
sive speed, she said.
Neither statistic justifi es the biggest thing is there’s not
a stop sign, even a two-way, enough traffi c to affect the fl ow
of traffi c on these side streets.
at the intersection by traf-
So there’s no reason not to put
fi c engineering standards,
some stop signs up. I’d rather
Owen said.
save a person’s life than care
But the sight distance is-
sue might warrant stop signs about a car having to stop at a
stop sign.”
on both Cherry and Church
Owen said she understands
streets at that intersection,
why residents believe stop
she said.
The city doesn’t have crash signs would reduce the likeli-
hood of crashes.
data for Cherry Street or for
Although the city doesn’t
other residential areas.
have detailed statistics, Owen
said that based on police
reports historically, crashes are
more common at controlled
intersections — those with
stop signs or signals — than at
uncontrolled intersections.
She said that’s to be
expected, considering traffi c
volumes are lower, and often
much lower, at uncontrolled
intersections — one of the
main reasons they lack stop
signs. But Owen said another
factor contributing to the
relatively low crash rate is
that some drivers — though
unfortunately not all, she con-
cedes — drive more cautiously
on streets with uncontrolled
intersections because they
recognize there are no stop
signs and they must yield to
traffi c on the right.
Installing stop signs at
intersections with relatively
low traffi c volumes can poten-
tially have the opposite of the
intended effect, Owen said, as
some drivers might go faster,
between stop signs, than they
would if they were driving
through a series of uncon-
trolled intersections.
She agrees with Harff
that drivers need to drive
cautiously on streets with
uncontrolled intersections.
“This is a good opportu-
nity, I would think, to remind
people to yield,” Owen said.
She said she’s looking at
making the intersection of
Washington and Clark, just
west of Brooklyn Primary, a
four-way stop rather than the
current two-way, with stop
signs on Clark but not on
Washington.
The goal there is to poten-
tially reduce the risk to stu-
dents and other pedestrians
at the school, Owen said.
NURSERY
Lew Brothers Les Schwab
Tire Center in Baker City
will have a diaper and baby
wipe collection drive during
October.
“Les Schwab is known for
its commitment to the commu-
nities in which they operate,”
Diana Brown of Lew Brothers
said in a press release. “We are
proud to help with this effort,
knowing that taking one big
stress off a family’s plate —
even if for a short time — can
make a big difference.”
Donations can be made at
Lew Brothers, 210 Bridge St.,
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Friday, and from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
Continued from A1
Their goal was to fi gure
out the causes for the abuse,
and come up with new ways to
avoid it.
Collins said the Re-
lief Nursery program has
identifi ed 47 “signifi cant risk
factors” or “stressors” that
increase the likelihood that
an adult will abuse or neglect
a child.
“We’re talking about
(things) like a spouse walk-
ing out on you, or died, or was
incarcerated, the death of a
child, drug abuse or recovery
from drug abuse,” Collins said.
Other factors include social
isolation, children with special
needs, mental or physical
health challenges, or recovery
from domestic violence.
Identifying the stress fac-
tors, and helping parents deal
with them, can reduce rates of
abuse and neglect, she said.
“The model really works,”
Collins said. “How we fi nd
those families is word of
mouth. When people fi nd that
our model works, they recom-
mend us to their other friends
and family.”
Collins said parents often
are surprised at how quickly
multiple stress factors can
pile up.
Some factors that can
contribute to abuse, such
as parents who themselves
were abused as a child, can
be diffi cult to deal with. And
although the Relief Nursery
doesn’t handle those situa-
tions directly, it can help par-
ents who struggle with their
own history of abuse.
“Our staff can make refer-
rals and make sure they can
fi nd resources to help with
that,” Collins said.
She said the Relief Nurs-
ery model is two genera-
tional, which means the staff
works with children as well
as parents, through regular
home visits.
“We’d like to be able to
serve more families,” Collins
said. “We’re fairly new but we
want to be able to serve more
families and their precious
little ones.”
Collins said the Relief
Nursery works not only to
protect children from abuse
and neglect, but to help them
avoid turning to drugs or
alcohol to cope with trau-
matic experiences.
Collins said community
support will be vital to the
success of the Baker Relief
Nursery.
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
COMMUNITY
Jayson Jacoby contributed
to this story.
Truck rolls,
spills plastic
bottles into
Burnt River
New At The
Library
Patrons can reserve materi-
als in advance online or by
calling 541-523-6419. Baker
County Library’s new additions
include 16 new bestsellers,
18 new audiobooks, six new
movies, and 106 other new
books, including 82 that are
available online. See every-
thing new this week to Baker
County Library District at
wowbrary.org. Materials fea-
tured, and in library collection,
does not indicate endorse-
ment or approval of contents
by the library. Selections are
based on factors such as
demand, public interest, diver-
sity of viewpoint, community
relevance, and others.
FICTION
• “Daughter of the Morning
Star (Longmire Mystery, Book
17),” Craig Johnson.
• “Matrix, “ Lauren Groff.
• “Falling, “ T. J. Newman.
• “The Seed Keeper,” Diane
Wilson.
• “The Thousand Crimes of
Ming Tsu,” Tom Lin.
Oregon State Police/Contributed photo
Plastic bottles slated to be recycled were strewn
across the bank of the Burnt River southeast
of Baker City after a truck crashed and rolled
Saturday morning, Sept. 25.
Baker City Herald
A commercial truck
hauling bales of recy-
clable plastic bottles
crashed through a
guardrail on a bridge
along Interstate 84
southeast of Baker City
on Saturday morning,
spilling part of its load
into the Burnt River.
An exacavator was
called in to remove some
of the crushed bottles
from the river, according
to Oregon State Police.
The crash happened
about 10 a.m. on the
eastbound freeway near
Milepost 339, between
the Lookout Mountain
and Rye Valley exits.
A truck driven by
Dakota D. Grey, 27, of
Muskegon, Michigan,
went off the freeway on a
curve, crashing through
the guardrail and dam-
aging a fence and the
edge of the bridge before
overturning and spilling
its load, according to an
OSP report.
Grey was not hurt.
NONFICTION
• “The Cause: The American
Revolution and its Discontents,
1773-1783,” Joseph J. Ellis.
• “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks
the Law,” Mary Roach.
• “How Stella Learned to
Talk: The Groundbreaking
Story of the World’s First Talk-
ing Dog,” Christina Hunger.
• “The Reckoning,” Mary L.
Trump.
• “The Ultimate Retirement
Guide for 50+: Winning Strate-
gies to Make Your Money Last
a Lifetime,” Suze Orman.
MOVIES
• “The Boss Baby (2): Family
Business” (Family)
• “The Gateway” (Drama)
• “The Misfi ts” (Action)
• “Together Together”
(Comedy)
• “Zack Snyder’s Justice
League” (Sci-Fi)
PICK’N
PATCH
We will be OPENING
on October 1st!
Where: Corner of Booth Lane and
Lower Cove Road
When: Friday and Saturday:
9am-6pm
Sunday: 10am-4pm
Monday-Thursday: By appointment
What you will find:
Small corn maze, several
varieties of pumpkins and gourds,
straw bales, corn stalks.
If you would like to schedule a
school field trip or other event,
please call the number listed below.
Like us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/
PickNPatchFarm
farmkidsatoregonwireless.net
Please call
541-786-2421
SERVING ALL OF EASTERN OREGON FOR OVER 100 YEARS
We’ve got what you need to track
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210 Bridge St.
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aker of
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BAKER GARAGE INC.
Sales and Service 800-399-3912
1740-80 WASHINGTON ST., BAKER CITY, OREGON
LEW BROTHERS LES SCHWAB
210 Bridge Street, Baker City
541-523-3679
Walk-ins Welcome