LOCAL A2
SPORTS A6
$16,500 reward off ered for information in wolf killing
Oregon beats UCLA 84-81
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Bonnie
Paullus of Sumpter.
BRIEFING
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Drive-thru COVID-19
testing Jan. 16
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
Air quality advisory in effect through Monday
BAKER CITY HERALD
Baker County will be in an
air quality advisory at least
through Monday morning, Jan.
17, due to widespread tempera-
ture inversions that trap cooler
air, along with smoke and other
air pollutants, near the ground.
The Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) issued the advisory
for Baker and several other
counties in Eastern and
Southern Oregon: Douglas,
Harney, Jackson, Josephine,
Klamath, Lake and Malheur.
DEQ recommends resi-
dents in the affected counties
take precautions including:
• Avoid strenuous outdoor
activity and recreation.
• People with heart or lung
problems, and young children,
are especially vulnerable, and
should stay indoors if smoke
concentrations are high.
• Use high-efficiency par-
ticular air (HEPA) filters for
indoor ventilation, or porta-
ble air purifiers.
• Avoid using wood stoves
if possible.
Richard Erwin was among about 85 peo-
ple who turned out on a chilly day to get
a COVID-19 vaccination during a drive-
thru clinic at the Baker County Fairgrounds
Thursday, Jan. 13.
“I just figured I needed to get my booster,”
Erwin said. “I had the two regular shots. I just
needed to get my booster shot. A little more
precaution, I think.”
Daniel Turk received his second
COVID-19 vaccination.
“I feel fine,” Turk said. “I don’t like needles.
I’m not really a fan of doing this but I feel like
it’s necessary. But physically I feel great.”
The Friends of Baker
County Library will have the
Winter Book Sale from Fri-
day, Jan. 28, to Sunday, Feb.
6, in the Riverside Meeting
Room during library hours.
A bag sale will take place
Sunday, Feb. 6. Proceeds
support the Friends, which in
turn support the library.
WEATHER
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Today
35/20
Partly cloudy
Sunday
33/20
Mostly cloudy
Monday
35/22
Cloudy
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
See, Advisory/Page A3
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER AND
JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Library book sale
starts Jan. 28
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College will have an
open house at its Baker City
campus on Friday, Jan. 21,
from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The campus is at 3275
Baker St., between Broad-
way and Campbell streets.
More information about
BMCC is available by calling
541-523-9127 or online at
www.bluecc.edu.
Air stagnation tends to be a
problem during temperature
inversions, a situation when
warmer air higher in the atmo-
sphere traps colder air, which is
more dense, in valleys.
Vaccination
clinic draws
85 patients
Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center-Baker City is ask-
ing residents who need a
COVID-19 test to use the
hospital’s drive-thru testing
clinic on Sunday, Jan. 16
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the hospital. Follow signs to
the back parking lot of the
physicians’ clinic, and call
541-524-8000.
Open house Jan. 21 at
Blue Mountain CC
JANUARY 15, 2022 • $1.50
See, Clinic/Page A3
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Matt Diaz sells barbecued smoked brisket and more from his food truck on Broadway Street in Baker City.
Bitter weather can’t
block barbecue
Matt Diaz sells
smoked brisket
from his food truck
He decided to make it official
in the spring of 2021.
“I think God wanted me to step
out and do this as a business,” he
said.
He switched to barbecue full
time in September. Prior to that,
BY LISA BRITTON
he was the youth pastor at Har-
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
vest Christian Church.
hen Matt Diaz lifts the
Diaz grew up in Massachusetts,
metal lid, smoke swirls
around him and wafts across the and served in the U.S. Navy in
San Diego. His wife, Mandy, was
parking lot toward Broadway
also in the Navy.
Street.
They moved to Baker City four
A barbecue place, he says,
years ago.
should smell like barbecue.
His barbecue business is
Diaz owns Get Smoked BBQ,
housed inside a trailer that was
a food truck he’s parked at 2715
Broadway St., near 10th Street, in originally used by the Baker
County Sheriff ’s Posse.
Baker City.
“It was stolen from them and
He officially opened at this
set on fire,” Diaz said.
spot a month ago. Although the
He has worked as an aircraft
business venture is new, this ap-
mechanic, so he set to work re-
proach to food is not.
pairing the trailer and transform-
“I’ve been doing barbecue for
ing it into a kitchen.
15 years,” Diaz said.
W
When it’s time to smoke meat,
Diaz pulls the mobile restaurant to
his home, where it’s easier to check
on the meat throughout the night.
He offers smoked brisket and
pulled pork, as well as smoked
macaroni and cheese and slaw.
He offers a discount for veter-
ans and first responders.
For now, he’s open Wednes-
day through Saturday, from noon
to 3 p.m. (unless he sells out, in
which case he closes early).
He said the winter weather has
not deterred customers.
“It’s been great,” he said. “East-
ern Oregon people are hardy —
they don’t mind cold and snow.”
He plans to expand his hours
this summer. Someday, he’d like
to see an expansion of food truck
offerings, as well.
For updates and specials, check
the “Get Smoked BBQ” pages on
Facebook and Instagram.
CANDIDATE FOR REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION
Pierce says 2022
promising for GOP
Events Center. It was his
third campaign event of
Bud Pierce figures 2022 the day, following ap-
is the best time in the past pearances in Ontario and
four decades for a Repub- John Day.
lican to run for
An airplane
Oregon gover-
made the hectic
nor in the gen-
day possible, said
eral election.
Pierce, an oncol-
And he’d like
ogist who started
to be that Re-
the day at his
publican.
home in Salem.
Pierce, one of
Pierce knows
a dozen Repub-
firsthand how
Pierce
licans seeking
challenging it is
his party’s nomination
for a Republican seeking
in the May 17 primary,
to become Oregon gov-
visited Baker City on
ernor.
Wednesday, Jan. 12.
He was the party’s nom-
Pierce hosted a meet-
inee in the 2016 election,
and-greet event that eve- losing to incumbent Kate
ning at the Baker County Brown, who had almost
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
TODAY
Issue 104
12 pages
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A3
51% of the vote compared
with Pierce’s 43.5%.
Pierce, 65, was the latest
in a series of eight Repub-
licans who tried to break a
string of Democratic vic-
tories dating to 1986.
Vic Atiyeh, who was
elected to his second four-
year term in 1982, is the
last Republican to hold
that office.
Brown can’t run this
year due to the state’s term
limits law.
The absence of an in-
cumbent is one of the fac-
tors Pierce believes makes
2022 such an auspicious
year for Republicans.
Speakers urge
commissioners
to protect rights
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker County Commissioners heard from
several local residents on Wednesday, Jan. 12,
who urged commissioners to defend the state
and federal constitutions
and help businesses being
harmed by pandemic-re-
lated mandates from Ore-
gon Gov. Kate Brown.
The work session at the
Baker County Events Center
was a continuation of a dis-
cussion that started Dec. 15.
Harvey
Baker County United, a
county group formed last fall, is urging com-
missioners to adopt a resolution designating
Baker as a “constitutional county.”
Proponents say that would help protect
the county and its residents against what
they consider unconstitutional mandates,
including Brown’s executive orders requir-
ing people to wear masks in some indoor
public spaces, and, for employees in some
See, County/Page A3
Welcome: Dominic James Buddy Hillman
Baker City’s first baby of 2022
Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City/Contributed Photo
The first baby born at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City in
2022 waited quite a bit longer than his predecessor. Dominic James
Buddy Hillman was born Jan. 10, 2022, at 7:42 p.m. to Natawani and
Dustin Hillman. The first baby from 2021, Paycen Reese Preston, arrived
at 8:19 p.m. on the first day of the year. Dominic, who weighed 8 pounds,
2 ounces and was 21 inches long, was welcomed by a brother, Mason,
and a sister, Arorah. Both mother and baby are doing well, according to a
press release from Saint Alphonsus. To commemorate the hospital’s first
birth of 2022, Saint Alphonsus presented Dominic and his parents with a
gift basket containing several newborn necessities, including a little Al-
phonso Bear wearing an “I’m a Saint Al’s kid” shirt, baby blanket, teeth-
ing rings, diapers, wipes, a musical animal rattle, onesies and an outfit.
See, Pierce/Page A3
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Dear Abby .........................B6
Horoscope ..............B3 & B4
Jayson Jacoby ..................A4
News of Record ................A2
Obituaries .........................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Outdoors .................B1 & B2
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ..................... A5 & A6
Turning Backs ..................A2
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