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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2021)
TUESDAY BAKER VOLLEYBALL (PAGE A5), FOOTBALL (PAGE A6) HAVE TOUGH OUTINGS In SPORTS, A5 Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com October 12, 2021 Local • Home & Living • Sports IN THIS EDITION: $1.50 QUICK HITS A special good day to Herald subscriber John Woodard of Baker City. Weekly COVID case total lowest since July T R A DI T ION A L Good Day Wish To A Subscriber TRICK OR TREAT BRIEFING RETURNS Baker City Herald Northern Baker Transportation Plan virtual meet set for Wednesday Baker City’s project to address transportation needs on 10th Street, Hughes Lane and Cedar Street in north Baker City to improve safety and encourage economic growth continues with a live, virtual public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 13 start- ing at 5:45 p.m. To access the meeting, use the link at the project website: www.bakercity. com/2289/NBTIP. Residents can also submit comments on the website through Oct. 22. OTEC warns about scam phone calls Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative is warning its members about an increase in the number of phone calls purporting to be from OTEC demand- ing immediate payment to avoid having power cut off. These are scam calls. OTEC does not demand immediate payment, al- though it does sometimes call members. OTEC encourages mem- bers to call 541-523-3616 if they’re not sure about a call they’ve received. Members should never give credit card numbers or other personal informa- tion over the phone, by internet or by mail. WEATHER Today 52 / 26 Sunny Wednesday 48 / 28 Rain showers The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. Kathy Orr/Baker City Herald, File All decked out with scary laughing witches, skeletons and ghoulish sounds, Cadell Mills, 11, and sister Cadence, 8, venture into a haunted room to receive their treats during the 2019 Halloween trick-or-treat event in downtown Baker City. Event set downtown on Saturday, Oct. 30 All businesses, groups and agencies are invited to participate. “We welcome all busi- nesses, agencies and groups that do not reside on Main By LISA BRITTON Street to participate as this lbritton@bakercityherald.com Baker City’s downtown is a community event,” said David Cowan, a member of trick-or-treat event is returning this year to Main Kiwanis. In 2020, the Kiwanis Street on Saturday, Oct. 30, partnered with the Sunridge from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It is again organized by Inn and Baker County Chamber of Commerce to the Baker City Kiwanis put on a three-hour trick-or- Club. treat event in the parking lot between the Chamber and the Sunridge restau- rant. The crowd followed a one-way path to visit tables spaced about nine feet apart. This year, the city approved returning the traditional event to Main Street, said Debbie Poe of the Kiwanis. “So we can bring it back downtown,” she said. For this year’s down- town event, Main Street will be closed to traffi c between Valley Avenue and Church Street to make it easier and safer for cos- tumed kids and parents to make their rounds. All vendors must wear a mask and gloves, which will be available at the Kiwanis table in front of Bisnett Insurance at the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue. See, Treat/Page A3 Baker rider ready for Vegas Brown, 29, had his best professional season, rank- A year ago, Jesse Brown ing second in earnings with $92,358.49. was nervous. Only Jacob Talley His future depended on what showed up on the of Keatchie, Louisiana, has won more, with screen of his cellphone. $117,256.41. Today he’s just excited. Since the top 15 steer Brown, a professional wrestlers qualify for the steer wrestler and Baker National Finals, set for City native, didn’t have to endure any hours of anxiety Dec. 2-11 at the Thomas & to fi nd out if he qualifi ed for Mach Center in Las Vegas, the National Finals Rodeo, Brown, who was second in the Super Bowl for profes- earnings for much of the season that started in the sional cowboys. By JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Baker runners take 2nd spring, was confi dent that he would advance to the National Finals for the second straight year. “I was able to be consis- tent this year,” Brown said on Monday, Oct. 11. “I’m happy with how it went.” How it went was quite different from the 2020 season, which was, like so much else, interrupted at times by the pandemic. In late September of 2020, after competing in his fi nal rodeo of the sea- son at Stephenville, Texas, Brown did not yet know whether he had fulfi lled his goal of qualifying for the National Finals. He had been in 16th place — $500 short of clinching the fi nal spot in the National Finals. Brown, a 2011 Baker High School graduate, had to wait for hours, check- ing on results from other rodeos. See, Rodeo/Page A3 The number of COVID-19 cases in Baker County has dropped for the third straight week, and reached the lowest weekly total since late July. The county’s total of 48 cases from Oct. 3-9 is a decline of 65% from the record-setting total of 139 cases from Sept. 12-18. Weekly totals, measured from Sunday through Saturday, then dipped to 86 from Sept. 19-25 and to 69 from Sept. 26-Oct. 2. The tally of 48 cases from Oct. 3-9 was the county’s lowest weekly total in more than two months. There were six cases from July 18-24. But in the last week of July, as the much more contagious delta variant began to spread, the county had 68 new cases. The trend continued during August, with a then-record 300 new cases during the month. September eclipsed that, with 465 new cases, an average of 15.5 cases per day. For the fi rst 10 days of October, the county has had 59 total cases, a daily average of 5.9. Fewer COVID-19 tests have been given in Baker County over the past few weeks, which has kept the county’s test positivity rate from declining as much as the case totals. The number of weekly tests has dropped from 580 from Sept. 12-18 to 360 from Sept. 25-Oct. 2. The total for the most recent week, Oct. 3-9, is 261 tests, but that is a preliminary number that’s likely to increase slightly, as there tends to be a lag of several days for some test results. The county’s test positivity rate has dropped from 26.5% from Sept. 5-11, to 19.2% from Sept. 26-Oct. 2. The preliminary rate for Oct. 3-9 is 19.9%. Vaccination rate Baker County’s vaccination rate is the sixth-lowest among Oregon’s 36 counties, with 52.1% of residents 18 and older vaccinated. The statewide average is 76%. Baker County’s seven-day running average of vaccine doses administered per day has dropped from 29 on Sept. 29 to 18 as of Oct. 10. Between hospital and home By LISA BRITTON lbritton@bakercityherald.com Dennis Axness didn’t know what ailed him, but he knew it didn’t feel good. “I thought I had a backache,” he said. It turned out that Axness, 78, had an infected kidney this spring. He was admitted to the hospital, given fl uids, and taken by ambu- lance to Boise where four specialists reviewed his condition. “They fi gured out what I needed,” he said. What he needed, it turned out, was infusions six times a day. “Every four hours throughout the day and night,” he said. He went into the hospital on May 14, and was discharged June 30. “A day short of seven weeks,” Ax- ness said. And the majority of that time was spent at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City. TODAY Issue 66, 12 pages After his condition stabilized — he said he was “delirious” the fi rst few days — Axness was moved into the swing bed program, which is a reha- bilitation transition between hospital and home. Axness, who taught science at Baker High School and served as prin- cipal at several local schools, became somewhat of a fi xture at the hospital. “I got to know all these people,” he said. He would ask if a nurse’s child had won his baseball game, or inquire how a race turned out for one who is an avid runner. Although he still required six infusions each day, Axness was able to leave the hospital for short rides, or to visit the home he shares in Baker Valley with his wife, Terri. “It’s nice,” he said of the swing bed program. “You’re home — you don’t have to go to Boise for rehab.” In swing bed, patients have some comforts of home, such as their own Calendar ....................A2 Classified ............. B2-B4 Comics ....................... B5 Community News ....A3 Crossword ........B2 & B4 Home ................B1 & B2 clothes. But it also provides assess to physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy and meals. His care at the hospital prompted Axness to write a letter praising the program and the hospital employees. “They work hard. There needs to be some recognition,” he said. “The beauty of the swing bed program is you stay close to home, you get lots of care, and Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald the doctors are a block away. It’s a good Dennis Axness at his Baker Valley thing, a really good thing.” home. Axness, who spent nearly About swing bed The swing bed program, also known as transitional care, is for patients recovering from an acute illness or surgery who no longer need acute hospital care but aren’t ready to go home. Patient care can include respiratory needs, wound care, I.V. antibiotics, and specialized therapy. Each patient has a personalized plan, bedside rounds, and hospital level nursing staff. Horoscope ........B3 & B4 Lottery Results ..........A2 News of Record ........A3 seven weeks in the hospital this spring with a kidney infection, said the “swing bed” program, which is a rehabilitation program for patients as they transition between the hospital and home, was a great option. The program promotes a “home like environment” along with space for rehab and respiratory therapy. For more information about tran- sitional care, call Saint Alphonsus at 541-523-6461. Obituaries ..................A2 Opinion ......................A4 Senior Menus ...........A2 THURSDAY — GO! MAGAZINE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sports .............. A5 & A6 Turning Back .............A2 Weather ..................... B6