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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2021)
TUESDAY BAKER VOLLEYBALL, FOOTBALL PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-STATE TEAM: A5 In SPORTS, A6 Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com December 28, 2021 Local • Home & Living • Sports IN THIS EDITION: $1.50 QUICK HITS Council to discuss homeless issue Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Doreen Riggs of Baker City. Publication schedule for New Year’s week The Baker City Herald will publish issues on Tuesday, Dec. 28, Thursday, Dec. 30 and Friday, Dec. 31. There will not be an issue on Saturday, Jan. 1. Baker City Herald Bighorns and bacteria Oregon, A3 Oregon’s COVID-19 omi- cron hospitalization peak won’t be nearly as bad as forecasters predicted a week ago but could still overwhelm the health care system within weeks with about as many people needing hospital beds as did during the delta wave. BRIEFING Baker County GOP hosting forum for gubernatorial candidates Jan. 4 The Baker County Republican Party will host a gubernatorial forum on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Baker Elks Lodge, 1896 Second St. All 11 Republican candi- dates who have fi led have been invited, as of last week, eight of the 11 have responded to the invita- tion, and six have con- fi rmed. State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, whose district includes Baker County, will moderate the event. For more informa- tion, call Suzan Ellis Jones at 541-519-5035. WEATHER Today 19 / 13 Mostly cloudy Wednesday 20 / 5 Morning snow The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. Wrestlers win title at tourney Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald, File A group of bighorn sheep, including a lamb, in the Lookout Mountain unit in eastern Baker County on June 20, 2020. Illness continues to threaten future of Baker County’s two bighorn sheep herds By JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com As the helicopter fl ew over the ridges and canyons of eastern Baker County recently, Brian Ratliff was seeing more bighorn sheep than he expected. But the news wasn’t exclusive- ly of the good variety. It was the sheep Ratliff didn’t see during the fl ight over the Lookout Mountain unit — lambs — that defi ne the continuing threat to the future of Oregon’s biggest herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns. Ratliff, the district wildlife bi- ologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Baker City offi ce, counted just four lambs during the aerial census. All of those lambs, born in 2021, were in small groups of sheep in the northern part of the unit, which is bordered on the north by Highway 86 and on the south by Interstate 84. The scarcity of lambs shows that a bacterial infection remains widespread in the Lookout Moun- tain unit and puts the long-term health of the herd in peril. ODFW biologists believe all of the 65 to 70 lambs born in the unit in the spring of 2020 died due to the same strain of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae bacteria. It was fi rst detected in the Lookout Mountain herd, which included about 400 bighorns, in February 2020 when dead sheep were found near the Snake River Road above Brownlee Reservoir. Lab tests of tissue samples from dead sheep confi rmed the strain of bacteria, the fi rst time it had been found in bighorn sheep in Oregon. During an aerial count in late 2018, biologists counted 403 bighorns in the Lookout Mountain unit. A survey in late 2020 showed about 250 sheep. Ratliff said he expected about 225 in this year’s count, so he was somewhat pleased by the total of 274 animals. About 62% of the bighorns, however, were distributed among several large groups in one canyon in the south part of the unit. Ratliff didn’t see any lambs in that area. See, Herds/Page A3 Locals rescue snowmobile riders lost in snowstorm back to a parking area about four hours after the rescue operation started. A group of Baker County The episode showed the value snowmobile riders rapidly shifted both of the GPS-equipped emer- from recreationists to rescuers gency transmitter the Washing- the day after Christmas when a group of riders from Washington ton snowmobilers carried, and of having a local cadre of riders got lost during a blizzard in the who are familiar with the terrain Wallowa Mountains north of and willing to help others, Baker Halfway. County Sheriff Travis Ash said on The locals, members of the Monday, Dec. 27. Panhandle Snowmobile Club in “They made a pretty seamless eastern Baker County, found the fi ve snowmobilers, none of whom transition from enjoying their day to a rescue mission,” Ash said of was injured, and escorted them By JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com the Panhandle Snowmobile Club members. The incident started about 5:28 p.m. Sunday when Ash received a phone call from Bran- don Christensen, a Washington man who is friends with the fi ve snowmobilers. Christensen told the sheriff that his friends, who had limited cell service, had called to tell him they were lost in the Fish Lake area, about 14 miles north of Halfway. See, Rescue/Page A3 COVID cases stay low Health Dept. director awaiting omicron variant variant. That information is broken infectious, also causes generally down by region, and Baker County milder symptoms. And although omicron is part of a region that has proved more resistant also includes Malheur, By JAYSON JACOBY to vaccines, there’s evidence Morrow, Umatilla, Union jjacoby@bakercityherald.com that a booster dose affords Baker County had another quiet and Wallowa counties. greater protection against Another method of de- week on the COVID-19 front, but an omicron breakthrough tecting variants is testing Nancy Staten continues to wait, case, and reduces the with some trepidation, for omicron. samples of wastewater chances that an infected from communities, includ- The new variant, which is sig- person will need hospital nifi cantly more easily spread than ing Baker City. Staten treatment. But the most recent the delta variant, already likely For that reason, Staten said, the sample from Baker City was col- is the dominant strain in Oregon, Health Department continues to lected Dec. 1, before omicron had according to the Oregon Health been confi rmed in Oregon. The Dec. urge residents to get a booster shot Authority (OHA). 1 sample from Baker City detected or start their vaccination series. Staten, director of the Baker A drive-thru vaccination clinic only the delta variant. County Health Department, said “I’m curious to see what’s going is possible in January, and in the on Monday morning, Dec. 27, that meantime residents can call the to happen,” Staten said, referring the county has had no confi rmed Health Department at 541-523- to the effects of omicron replac- omicron infections. 8211 to schedule an appointment, ing delta as the main source of But Staten noted that there’s or check with their health care COVID-19 cases. likely a testing backlog due to the provider. She said she’s encouraged by holidays. Also, OHA doesn’t have county- data from other countries that sug- gest omicron, though much more level data, in terms of cases, by See, COVID/Page A3 TODAY Issue 96, 14 pages Classified ............. B2-B4 Comics ....................... B5 Community News ....A3 Crossword ........B2 & B4 Dear Abby ................. B6 Home ................B1 & B2 Horoscope ........B3 & B4 Letters ........................A4 Lottery Results ..........A2 Baker City Council members will have a public work session Wednesday, Dec. 29 to discuss the homeless situa- tion, and the recent conversation among Baker County Commissioners about potentially opening a temporary warm- ing shelter in the city. Wednesday’s work session will start at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St. Work sessions are open to the public but the purpose is for discussion McQuisten only, and councilors will not make any decisions. Mayor Kerry McQuisten suggested during the Council’s Dec. 14 meeting that councilors schedule the work session for Dec. 29. The work session was prompted by the county commissioners’ Dec. 1 meeting, when the three commissioners concluded that Baker City needs a tem- porary shelter, which would be open from the evening through the morning. Commissioners did not discuss a specifi c site for a shelter. Commission Chairman Bill Harvey, who spearheaded the discussion, proposed a two-pronged strategy — fi rst, fi nd a temporary site for a shelter for this winter, then look into a longer term facility. Commissioners also mentioned the need to coordinate with the city and other local agencies. In a message to the Baker City Herald on Monday morning, Dec. 27, McQuisten wrote, in response to a question about Wednesday’s work session: “We hope to learn what the commissioners are thinking regarding warming stations and shelters. The City hasn’t been part of that communication, and we need to be.” Wednesday’s work session will happen during what’s likely to be the coldest week of 2021. The temperature dipped to 6 degrees on Monday at the Baker City Airport; the coldest temperature so far in 2021 was 5 degrees, in February. The National Weather Service is fore- casting temperatures to dip to near zero later this week. Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby said in November that the city’s homeless population has grown over the past few years. He cited his own observations, as well as reports from police offi cers and from the public. Duby also said he plans to ask the City Council to approve an ordinance lim- iting where, and when, people can camp on public property within the city limits. Duby said he was prompted to act by a bill that the Oregon Legislature passed earlier this year and that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed into law on June 23. The law — introduced as House Bill 3115 and passed by the Democratic majorities in both the state House and Senate — is based on a 2019 federal court ruling in a Boise case that in effect prohibited cities and counties from mak- ing it illegal for people to sleep outdoors in public spaces if the jurisdiction doesn’t provide indoor alternatives. Baker County’s two state legisla- tors, Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, both voted against the bill. The new Oregon law states that cities or counties which have ordinances that regulate “the acts of sitting, lying, sleep- ing or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to the public must be objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner with regards to persons experiencing homelessness.” News of Record ........A2 Obituaries ..................A2 Opinion ......................A4 THURSDAY — GO! MAGAZINE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Senior Menus ...........A2 Sports .............. A5 & A6 Weather ..................... B6