JANUARY 13–19, 2022
SPORTS A5
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Judy
Karstens of Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Deadline nears for
OTEC scholarships,
D.C. Youth Tour
Jan. 31 is the deadline
to apply for an Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative Scholar-
ship or the annual Washing-
ton, D.C., Youth Tour.
Through the OTEC Mem-
ber Foundation, $5,000
scholarships are available
to graduating high school
students, returning col-
lege students and adults
entering educational and
technical programs.
Four scholarships will be
allocated to the OTEC-EOU
Rural Scholarship Program.
For the third year, four
incoming EOU freshman
will have the opportunity to
have their entire four years
of tuition and fees paid for,
if they commit to attend
and graduate from Eastern
Oregon University and com-
plete a summer internship
with OTEC.
The other academic
scholarships are for gradu-
ating high school students,
returning college students
or adults looking to begin
college.
Applications and specif-
ic criteria for all the OTEC
scholarships are available
at otec.coop/scholarships.
Students can apply for the
Youth Tour at otec.coop/dc-
youth-tour.
WEATHER
—————
Today
Elk hunter
grateful for help
given by Cpl.
Dennis Lefever of
the Baker County
Sheriff’s Office
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Steve McKibben was frus-
trated and angry and sad, and
then Dennis and Maja Lefever
appeared suddenly out of the
dark, bearing a steak dinner.
McKibben accepted the
plate, marveling that it was
still hot despite the Novem-
ber chill and the early snow
mantling the ground in the
remote woods near Granite.
As he looked at the steam-
ing steak and the mound of
fried potatoes and the green
beans, McKibben was about
as surprised as he would
have been had a pizza de-
livery car pulled into his elk
hunting camp and disgorged
a large double pepperoni.
McKibben hadn’t even
felt especially hungry as he
sat there, despondent, in the
cab of his Ford pickup truck,
formerly reliable but now
come up lame.
But the savory smell got
his mouth watering.
“I wolfed that meal down
pretty quick,” McKibben
said. “It was unbelievably
delicious.”
The space below is for a postage label
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PAGE 4
PAGE 12
Go! Magazine
Arts and entertainment guide
Chelsea Judy/Contributed image
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
JANUARY 11, 2022 • $1.50
metronomic regularity, McK-
ibben found a spot to camp
near Corrigal Springs, a few
miles southwest of Granite.
On the morning of Nov.
10 he awoke to three or four
inches of snow and a tem-
perature of 19.
He hiked around, look-
ing for elk tracks in the fresh
snow, but to no avail.
McKibben decided to
go for a drive, but when he
turned the key his trust-
worthy Ford wouldn’t fire.
At all.
A warning light indicated
there was water in the diesel.
McKibben said he had
filled up in Ukiah, about 50
miles from Granite.
He let the glow plugs get
fully hot and tried again.
The engine wouldn’t start.
He connected jumper ca-
Contributed Photo bles from his secondary bat-
Steve McKibben with his 1999 Ford pickup truck. McKibben, who
tery to the primary.
Again, nothing but the
lives in Mosier, near The Dalles, is grateful for the help that Den-
nis Lefever, a corporal with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, gave straining whine of the starter.
“I was definitely
him when his truck broke down during an elk hunting trip near
stranded,” McKibben said.
Granite in November 2021.
He started walking toward
His new friendship was
elk in the lodgepole forests
the highway, a few miles away.
even more satisfying.
near Granite.
He hoped to come across
He said he has hunted
another hunter who could
and fished and whitewater
A chance meeting in
give him a ride back to his
rafted all over Oregon, but
camp and possibly jump-
the woods
It had all started just that had only briefly explored the start his truck.
morning, Nov. 10, 2021.
country around Granite, in
He had run the batteries
A day earlier, McKibben, Grant County just beyond
down trying to get the diesel
53, had driven four hours or the Baker County border.
to run.
so from his home in Mosier,
Driving his 1999 Ford F-250
near The Dalles, to look for diesel, a rig he maintains with
See, Deputy/Page A3
Handling the dirty details
Nicolas
Luna’s car
detailing shop
has been busy
Nicolas Luna is ready to
help local residents deal with
the snow, slush and mud that
can find their way into the
nooks and crannies of any
sort of vehicle.
Luna opened RM Detail
and Car Wash in July.
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
See
Prairie City
murals
Vaccine clinic
set for Jan. 13
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker County had its high-
est weekly COVID-19 case
count in almost four months,
with 91 cases reported from
Jan. 2-8.
That was the most in a week
since Sept. 12-18, when there
were 139 cases, according to
the Baker County Health De-
partment.
The total of 91 was the
third-most in any week during
the pandemic.
The second-highest weekly
total was 128 cases from Sept.
5-11.
From late September
through the first week of Jan-
uary, the county averaged 38
cases per week, with as few as
20 cases (from Oct. 31-Nov. 6).
The September surge — a
record monthly total of 465
cases — was spurred by the
spread of the delta variant.
See, COVID/Page A2
Mostly cloudy
Mostly cloudy
PAGE 3
Listen
First Draft
Writers’ Series
A busted truck, a steak Weekly
dinner and a lifelong bond case
count
third-
highest
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
32/16
Watch
Eagle Cap
Extreme
THURSDAY
COVID-19
30/21
Wednesday
Take a turn
at Anthony
Lakes
PAGE 8
Baker boys sweep, girls split two
games on Central Oregon road trip
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
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BAKER CITY HERALD
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
See, Shop/Page A3
Nicolas Luna offers interior and exterior car detailing at his shop in Baker City.
Commissioners to discuss
‘constitutional county’ resolution
BAKER CITY HERALD
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners will meet
in a work session Wednes-
day, Jan. 12, to continue a
discussion about a proposed
“constitutional county” res-
olution that a local group
is urging commissioners to
approve.
That discussion is sched-
uled for noon at the Baker
County Events Center, 2600
East St. This is the former
armory at the fairgrounds
north of Campbell Street.
Commissioners sched-
uled the session after hear-
ing from proponents of the
constitutional county res-
olution during a Dec. 15
meeting.
The work session will also
include a discussion about
a request from a resident in
the Pine Creek area north-
TODAY
Issue 102
12 pages
Baker City
Council to
discuss
pharmacy
issue
west of Baker City to en-
act a no-shooting zone in
that area after his home was
twice hit by stray bullets.
Ted Davis made the re-
quest during commission-
ers’ Nov. 3, 2021, meeting.
Prior to the work ses-
sion, commissioners will
convene at 11:30 a.m. at the
Events Center for a special
session with two items on
the agenda — approving an
application for a grant to
support transportation for
veterans to health care ap-
pointments, and a review of
the county’s nuisance ordi-
nance.
among other things, that “all
actions by the federal gov-
ernment and its agents will
conform strictly and implic-
itly with the principles ex-
pressed within the United
States Constitution, Decla-
ration of Independence, and
the Bill of Rights.”
Jake Brown of Halfway,
representing Baker County
United, told commissioners
Dec. 15 that “we are merely
asking you commissioners to
double down on the liberty
that we already are afforded
in the Constitution and Bill
of Rights.”
About 30 people attended
the Dec. 15 meeting, some
‘Constitutional county’
of them standing in the rel-
atively small room at the
resolution
A group called Baker
Courthouse where commis-
County United is promoting sioners usually meet.
the “constitutional county”
Only a couple of those at-
resolution, which states,
tending were wearing masks.
Calendar ...........................A2
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A3
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
Baker City resident Gary
Dielman, who was wearing
a mask, complained that
the county was violating
Gov. Kate Brown’s executive
order requiring people to
wear masks in public indoor
spaces, including the Court-
house.
Signs referencing that re-
quirement are posted out-
side the Courthouse.
The public notice for the
Jan. 12 meeting at the Event
Center, which is a much
larger space, notes that:
“Oregon Administrative
Rule (OAR 333-019-1025,
Masking requirements for
indoor spaces) states that
individuals five years of
age and older, regardless of
vaccination status, are re-
quired to wear a mask, face
Home & Living ........B1 & B2
Horoscope ..............B3 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
See, County/Page A3
News of Record ................A2
Obituaries .........................A2
Opinion .............................A4
The Baker City Council
will discuss the crisis with
long lines at local pharmacies
during its regular meeting
Tuesday evening, Jan. 11.
The meeting will start
at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655
First St.
Councilors talked about the
situation during their Dec. 14
meeting.
Dean Guyer, who was ap-
pointed during that meeting to
fill the one vacancy on the sev-
en-member Council, volun-
teered to gather information to
bring back to his colleagues.
“The information that I did
gather is going to be generic,”
Guyer said on Monday morn-
ing, Jan. 10. “The reason it is
going to be generic is because
I was asked that I not quote
anybody.”
Also on the Council’s
agenda is the issue of Door-
Dash, a food delivery service,
operating in Baker City and its
potential effect on the city’s li-
censed taxi company.
According to the packet for
councilors for the meeting, the
city’s attorney “indicated he
does not believe state statute
nor city code regulate Door-
Dash services.”
During the Dec. 15 meeting,
David Sanders, owner of Elk-
horn Taxi, expressed his con-
cern about DoorDash hurting
his and other small businesses.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten
asked to add the matter to the
agenda for the Jan. 11 meeting.
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ..................... A5 & A6
Weather ............................B6