BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
Plowing through the darkness
BY ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
UNION COUNTY — Tes-
mond Hurd likens the view he
sees plowing the roads at night
to that of Star Wars.
Hurd is part of the mainte-
nance crew with the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion in La Grande. In summer
months, he works on road im-
provement and repair projects
such as chip seals.
In winter, he commands a
nearly 30-ton piece of machin-
ery down Interstate 84.
It’s not hard to understand
the comparisons between
spaceships and the industrial-
ized behemoths ODOT uses
to clear roads.
At highway speeds, snow re-
sembles trailing stars after the
Millennium Falcon engages
hyperdrive. The plow even has
wings — blades attached to the
side of the vehicle that extend
just shy of 24 feet for clearing
snow. As it’s pushed away, the
snow forms wakes like those of
a naval ship pulling into port.
A pair of bright green laser
pointers — which keep track of
where the wings are — pierce
through the blanket of night.
Hurd said his job is to drive
in the worst weather conditions
every night.
On nights when the snow
falls unrelentingly, Hurd spends
the entire shift behind the
wheel. His only communica-
tion once his shift starts might
be through the CB radio, which
has a local channel for ODOT
operators in the field and a
channel for relaying informa-
tion to dispatch about road
conditions.
The snow was falling fast —
though milder than previous
nights — as he worked to clear
I-84 on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
“When it’s snowing like this,
there will be lots of calls for
crashes or disabled vehicles,”
Hurd said.
He passed a semi that ap-
peared to be disabled and
alerted dispatch.
Snowplows are sentries for
ODOT capable of calling in
stuck or stranded vehicles — or
unchained semis.
Unchained
According to Oregon State
Police Capt. Stephanie Bigman,
troopers issued 32 violations
and warnings between Jan. 1
and Jan. 6 for commercial ve-
hicles that did not carry or use
chains when required. A num-
ber of those violations occurred
along I-84 in Northeastern Or-
egon, which had been closed
on Jan. 5 at one point due to
unchained semis blocking the
route at Cabbage Hill near
milepost 224.
The fine for unchained
commercial vehicles is $880
per occurrence, up from $440.
The change occurred in Sep-
tember 2021.
“Commercial trucks not
chaining up when required is
a major contributing factor for
freeway closure that occur in
the mountain passes of East-
ern Oregon,” Tom Strandberg,
public information officer for
ODOT, said. “Once a truck
starts sliding or jackknifes it
can quickly block lanes and
close down the freeway. It can
then take several hours to get
the proper tow service provid-
ers to respond to the scene and
move the disabled vehicle. De-
pending on the location and
duration of the closure, it can
impact hundreds or thousands
of motorists.”
According to an ODOT press
release, the estimated cost of
delays caused by trucks failing
to follow Oregon chain laws is
more than $8 million a year —
to the motor carrier industry
and other highway users.
“When it comes to chaining,
I don’t chain — I don’t want to
hurt anybody — I park it,” Sa-
muri Schaffer, a truck driver of
more than 15 years, said on Jan.
5 at the Flying J Travel Center
outside La Grande when he was
waiting out the snowstorm that
had closed Interstate 84. “I don’t
deal with it until they take off
the chain laws. There’s so much
liability on us.”
Schaffer stated the liabilities
for truck drivers can be severe
if they are involved in any acci-
dent, so he avoids the issue en-
tirely by keeping off the road.
If a truck is involved in a
crash where failure to use
chains is a factor, there could be
additional costs for the motor
Reading
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Makayla Hobbs reads with her
daughter, Claire, during storytime
at the Baker County Public Library.
American Library Associa-
tion, early literacy refers to
Continued from A1
“the natural development
of skills through the enjoy-
Each sheet contains 100
ment of books, the impor-
circles. Once filled, it can be tance of positive interac-
returned to the library for a tions between babies and
reward.
parents, and the critical role
When a child reaches the of literacy-rich experiences.”
goal of 1,000 books, he or
The association explains
she will receive a diploma to that literacy development
recognize the milestone.
begins at birth, and that
babies “learn language
Early literacy
through social literacy expe-
According to United for riences of parents interact-
Libraries, a division of the
ing with them using books.”
carrier, according to a press re-
lease from ODOT.
A Sisyphean task
Inside, the cockpit of the
snowplow is kept blisteringly
warm. It isn’t for comfort —
Hurd said he sheds jackets
and layers and opens the win-
dows even when it is below
freezing outside, and getting
colder. If it weren’t for the
heat, he wouldn’t be able to
see out of the windshield.
“You can see the snow on the
windshield,” he said. “It will just
freeze there, and it will keep
building and building until you
have to get out and clear the
windshield every few miles.”
Already an hour into his
shift, ice had begun to amass
on the corners of the wind-
shield. The windshield wipers
squeaked incessantly as they
battled the accumulating snow.
If not addressed, the windshield
would freeze over until just
a small circle of visibility re-
mained. At least one secondary
headlight was completely en-
cased in ice; the other was en-
cased in snow.
Hurd resigned to leav-
ing the wipers on despite the
noise — a chirping metro-
nome for a long night.
It’s a Sisyphean task to keep
the roads clear during heavy
snowfall.
ODOT plow operators are
assigned sections of the inter-
state and state roads to keep
clear. Mostly, they handle
Storytime
Grammon has storytime
at the library every Tuesday
at 10 a.m.
She also offers storytime
via Zoom on the second
and fourth Wednesdays,
also at 10 a.m. Find a link
on the library’s Facebook
page.
On Fridays, Grammon
leads StoryArt with a story
and art project at 10 a.m.
Space is limited, so inquire
by calling the library at 541-
523-6419.
COVID
The percentage of posi-
tive tests for the week Jan.
Continued from A1
9-15 was 26.4%, slightly be-
low the delta peak of 26.5%
But of the first 16 days of for the week Sept. 5-11.
The recent rise in cases
January, there were more
than 20 cases on seven days, has led to the postponement
including six straight from of many high school sport-
ing events in Northeast-
Jan. 10-15.
ern Oregon, including the
With two weeks left in
January, its tally of 289 cases La Grande-Baker girls and
is the third-highest monthly boys basketball games set
for Jan. 11 (rescheduled for
figure, behind September
Feb. 8) and the Baker boys
(465) and August (300).
game at Mac-Hi on Friday,
Jan. 14 (rescheduled for Sat-
urday, Jan. 22).
The North Powder School
District canceled classes for
Tuesday, Jan. 18.
A post on the district’s
Facebook page stated: “This
week has been a crazy week
with contact tracing. Al-
though we have only had a
few positive cases at school,
after visiting with our
school nurse and the local
health authorities, we are
choosing to close school for
Tuesday, January 18th. This
has been a difficult decision,
but for the safety of our stu-
dents and staff, we feel this
is the best decision. School
will resume on Wednes-
day, January 19th. The high
school basketball game that
was scheduled for Tuesday
will be rescheduled and we
will announce that as soon
as we have it confirmed.”
Hoops
cheerleaders, three of whom
live in Baker City, will also
be invited to the ceremony.
“It’s surprising how many
people from the team still
live here,” he said. “We
should have a big represen-
tation (at the ceremony).”
Baker entered the 1972
tournament with a 16-6 re-
cord. At the time Oregon
had just four classifications
for high school sports — B,
A, AA and AAA — and the
Bulldogs were a AAA school,
meaning they competed
against the largest schools.
In the tournament opener
on March 22, 1972, Baker
beat Corvallis 51-45.
The Bulldogs then beat
Newberg 64-44 on March
23 — setting a tournament
record with 65% field goal
shooting — and nipped
Sunset 50-49 on Ross’ buzz-
er-beater in a semifinal
game on March 24 to set
up the championship game
against Jefferson.
and Davis, included Craig Er-
ickson, Rick Scrivner, Mark
Johnson, Dick Sheehy, Wes
Continued from A1
Morgan, Fred Warner Jr.,
No Baker team has played Tim Wood and Greg Sackos.
before a larger crowd.
Daugherty said Greg
“That was a big game,”
Hammond, the son of the
Daugherty said.
late Gary Hammond, the
Daugherty said two
head coach who guided
members of the 1972 team
Baker to the runner-up fin-
— Daryl Ross, the leading
ish in 1972, also lives in
scorer, and Mike Davis —
Baker City, as does assistant
have passed away.
coach John Heriza.
But most of the other play-
The team’s statistician,
ers still live in Baker City, he Gerry Steele, and manager,
Verl Cote, also live in Baker
said.
City.
The complete roster, in
Daugherty said the five
addition to Daugherty, Ross
The Baker City Herald is
planning a story about the
1972 team, including inter-
views with team members, for
later this winter.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Tesmond Hurd readies a toarch to remove a stuck bolt on a snow plow
that had its blade damaged plowing Interstate 84 on Wednesday, Jan.
5, 2022.
I-84, but they also are respon-
sible for plowing La Grande’s
Island Avenue. Sometimes,
they pair up when conditions
are poor, running tandem
down the freeway and clear-
ing it all in one fell swoop.
“You can only plow so
fast, so you just keep making
laps and keep plowing and
plowing,” Hurd said of plow-
ing during heavy snowfall.
“Hopefully you don’t have to
close the freeway down.”
If the road maintenance de-
partment was short-staffed,
the drivers might not be able to
keep up with the snow. EO Me-
dia Group recently reported on
a possible shortage of ODOT
snowplow operators. Craig
Slipp, the manager for ODOT
Region 5 — the area encom-
passing most of Eastern Ore-
gon — told The Observer there
were 12 open road maintenance
positions. Hurd said his depart-
ment in La Grande was fully
staffed, however.
Grouse
Continued from A1
A portion of the area, which is
managed by the Bureau of Land
Management, is closed yearly
from March 1 to June 30 to pro-
tect sage grouse during their
mating season.
Defrees said that although the
wash station will help curb one
potential source of noxious weed
spread, it’s only one strategy to
preserve sage grouse habitat.
The Baker County Sage
Grouse LIT has spent money
from the state grant to control
noxious weeds on almost 6,000
acres in the county, to plant na-
tive grasses on 850 acres and to
build 6.5 miles of fence to con-
trol livestock grazing.
“It is a multi-pronged ap-
proach that the Baker LIT is
taking in order to preserve and
improve our rangelands — striv-
ing to maintain the agricultural
backbone of Baker County,” De-
frees said. “The Baker LIT will
continue to work with private
and public landowners to pro-
mote a more resilient landscape
to wildfire and weed encroach-
ment, all while increasing forage
and habitat for sage grouse.”
Defrees asks people who use the
Virtue Flat OHV area to complete
an online survey about the wash
station at https://fs9.formsite.com/
v1Yjj4/6x8b5g0qpx/index.html.
The Baker LIT is working with
the Bureau of Land Management,
Baker County, Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
the wash station project.
Sage grouse in Baker County
Baker County’s sage grouse sit-
uation is unique in Oregon in that
the majority of the bird’s habitat
When it’s snowing, the plow
operators lay down sand for
traction; they use salt in drier
conditions. Hurd said he had
seen firsthand the immediate
impact sand can have when
freeing stuck motorists.
ODOT keeps barns full of
both materials for plows to re-
fill. The sand and salt also fulfill
a secondary purpose of increas-
ing the weight of the snowplow,
increasing its individual trac-
tion capabilities. It is difficult to
extricate a snowplow that has
been disabled by the snow.
Hurd said there were a num-
ber of reasons why ODOT
makes the decision to close the
interstate. Recently, unchained
semis had closed down the free-
way, as did snowdrifts formed
by heavy winds and fresh snow,
creating whiteout conditions on
the interstate — for motorists
and snowplow operators.
“If we can’t see and we’re run-
ning off the road,” Hurd said,
“we’ll make the call to close it.”
here is on private property. Baker
County is at the northern fringe
of the sage grouse’s range in East-
ern Oregon, and the county’s sage
grouse population accounts for
less than 10 percent of Oregon’s
total.
Most of the bird’s habitat and
population in the state are in the
southeastern counties of Lake,
Harney and Malheur, which are
predominantly public land.
Environmental groups have
repeatedly asked the federal gov-
ernment to classify the bird as a
threatened or endangered species,
a decision that could curtail activ-
ities, including cattle grazing and
motorized vehicle use on pub-
lic land, that could degrade sage
grouse habitat.
In September 2015 the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service decided
not to list the bird as threatened
or endangered.
A Baker County group has
been working for several years
to study why the county’s sage
grouse population declined by
about 70% over a decade ending
around 2019.
Baker County Commissioner
Mark Bennett, who has sought
to improve sage grouse habitat
on his cattle ranch near Unity,
said Marisa Meyer, a wildlife bi-
ologist with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in La Grande,
and Nick Myatt, who manages
the Grande Ronde Watershed
District for the Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW), were instrumental in
starting the Baker County Sage
Grouse Local Implementation
Team that applied for the Lot-
tery dollars through the Water-
shed Enhancement Board.
The team has used the state
grant not only for projects in the
county, but to leverage federal
dollars for other work.
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