A2 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022
Local
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
January 24, 1972
Volunteers yesterday afternooon began clearing away
rubble from the Church of God building under construction
near Highway Seven south of Baker. A wind gust yesterday
morning collapsed the partially completed high pitched
roof, which fell into the sanctuary. No injuries were
reported.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
January 25, 1997
Baker City has received a $68,873 grant from the state
to continue its downtown building rehabilitation project.
Bill Scott, director of the Oregon Economic
Development Department, announced the grant earlier
this week.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
January 25, 2012
The U.S. District Court in Pendleton issued a decision
last week resolving the fi nal sticking point between
Baker City and the federal government about the city’s
easements along its water pipeline running through the
Elkhorn Mountains.
“Now everybody’s in agreement of what we can and
can’t do,” said City Manager Mike Kee.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
January 23, 2021
Baker Technical Institute is starting a Truck Driving and
Logistics School that will help students prepare to obtain a
commercial driver’s license (CDL).
The fi rst four-week course starts March 8 at BTI’s main
campus in Baker City.
“Having your CDL is key when you’re working in the
construction trade, running heavy equipment, but you have
to haul the heavy equipment there,” said Sandy Mitchell,
BTI’s marketing and program coordinator. “It could do a
number of different jobs, it is not tailored only for long
haul trucking. There can be so many things done in our
agriculture communities that you would need a CDL for.”
The impetus for starting the truck driving school was
interest expressed by offi cials from the trucking industry
seeking trained and competent drivers, BTI president Doug
Dalton said in a press release.
Over the past two years, BTI worked with an advisory
board of industry leaders from Oregon, and the
Professional Truck Driving Institute, to understand the
need.
“They are the experts, and we wanted to listen to
industry and build a school that refl ects what they need,”
Dalton said. “One of the biggest things that came from
these listening sessions was their focus on producing
higher quality drivers than they have traditionally seen
from schools, and we’ll do this by giving them a more
diverse experience.”
The course, which costs $5,900 per student, will
include a driving simulator that allows students to practice
a variety of scenarios.
“It trains people in effi ciency with shifting, we can
change the climate, we can put the driver in this virtual
reality simulator in a windstorm or we can put them on
snowy or icy roads,” Mitchell said.
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SENIOR MENUS
WEDNESDAY (Jan. 26): Hot turkey sandwich, mashed
potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetables, macaroni salad,
birthday cake
THURSDAY (Jan. 27): Pork roast, baby red potatoes, carrots,
rolls, cottage cheese with fruit, brownies
FRIDAY (Jan. 28): Spaghetti, garlic bread, broccoli, green
salad, apple crisp
MONDAY (Jan. 31): Chicken strips, mashed potatoes with
gravy, corn, biscuits, pudding, fruit cup
MONDAY (Feb. 1): Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes with
gravy, corn, rolls, green salad, pudding
Public luncheon at the Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St., from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $5 donation (60 and older), $7.50
for those under 60.
CONTACT THE HERALD
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Open Monday through Friday
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Telephone: 541-523-3673
Fax: 541-833-6414
Publisher
Karrine Brogoitti
kbrogoitti@lagrandeobserver.com
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jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
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ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
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Periodicals Postage Paid
at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Copyright © 2022
Bentz: ‘The election was
not stolen, it was bought’
BY DICK MASON
The (La Grande) Observer
LA GRANDE — Oregon U.S. Rep. Cliff
Bentz, R-Ontario, does not believe former
President Donald Trump’s claim that Pres-
ident Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential
election because of voter fraud.
“The election was not stolen, it was
bought,” Bentz, a first-term congressman,
said during a meet-and-greet Thursday,
Jan. 6, in La Grande.
Bentz said Democrats had an enormous
edge in funding donors with deep pockets,
including one who donated $400 million
to Biden’s campaign. Bentz said the Dem-
ocrats spent several times more money per
vote than the Republicans did.
Bentz referenced a large donation
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
made and suggested it benefited Biden
and Democrats.
According to a 2020 article from the
news website Vox, Zuckerberg and his
wife, Priscilla Chan, personally made a
$300 million donation to two groups:
Center for Tech and Civic Life and the
Center for Election Innovation & Re-
search. The money was specifically des-
ignated to recruit poll workers, supply
them with personal protection equip-
ment and set up drive-thru voting. The
rest was distributed to state election offi-
cials throughout the country.
Both groups are 501(c)(3) nonprofits,
which are legally prohibited from political
campaign activity.
Alex Wittwer/The (La Grande) Observer
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., speaks to a group
of residents during a meet-and-greet
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, at Brother Bear Cafe
in La Grande.
Bentz is hopeful Republicans can win
control of the House of Representatives
in mid term elections in November. He
noted, though, that that is when heavy
lifting will begin for Republicans. He
said House minority leader Kevin Mc-
Carthy, R-California, issued this warn-
ing earlier when speaking at a gather-
ing of about 40 Republican freshmen
in Congress.
McCarthy said members of the mi-
nority party have it easier because they
often find themselves just voting no.
McCarthy said, however, they will find
when they are in the majority party the
situation can be more challenging.
“He told us, ‘When you are in power
you have to make things happen, it is
hard,’” Bentz said.
Bentz spoke in La Grande on the one-
year anniversary of the day Trump sup-
porters rioted at the Capitol Building in an
attempt to reverse the results of the 2020
presidential election. Bentz said he believes
Democrats are blowing the Jan. 6 riot out
of proportion in an attempt to divert atten-
tion from the issues people really are con-
cerned about.
“It is a huge opportunity for them to dis-
tract the nation from inflation,’’ Bentz said.
Bentz also said United States Attorney
General Merrick Garland is asking the
FBI to investigate a rise in harassment and
threats of violence against school board
members nationwide. Bentz said it is not
the FBI’s place to do this.
“This is what communities should be
looking into,” he said.
On Oct. 4, Garland released a memo
directing the FBI to meet with federal,
state, local and tribal law enforcement
to develop strategies to address “harass-
ment, intimidation and threats of vio-
lence” against school board members
and school employees.
Later that month, Garland defended
the memo at a Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee meeting after Republicans accused
the attorney general of overreach, ac-
cording to The Associated Press.
“The obligation of the Justice Depart-
ment is to protect the American people
against violence and threats of violence
and that particularly includes public offi-
cials,” Garland said.
New law automatically expunges youth arrest records
tion process, only around 4%
of eligible youth successfully
Starting this month, Ore-
received an expungement.
gon teenagers who have been
Arrests create a paper trial,
in trouble with the law will
and expunction is the process
receive notices on their 18th
of destroying or sealing evi-
birthday.
dence of a person’s involve-
“You are now able to say that ment with law enforcement
no juvenile record ever existed and the court. It’s expected that
and no (police) contact ... ever each year the new law will au-
occurred,” the notices read.
tomatically clear the records of
Deschutes County justice
more than 5,000 people who
officials expect around 20-30
have records with law enforce-
people each month will receive ment but weren’t convicted in
the notice that explains how
juvenile court.
their juvenile arrest records
will be expunged under a new Arrested but not convicted
The new law applies only
process enacted by another
new law aimed at criminal jus- to people who were arrested
as youths but not convicted.
tice reform in Oregon.
The law does not apply retro-
But the law, the Youth Ex-
actively to people whose 18th
punction Reform Act, also
deepens a dilemma for young birthday took place prior to
2022, though those people
people.
Despite the fact an expunged may still submit an application
for their arrest records to be
arrest never happened in the
legal sense, it still shows up on expunged. People convicted as
youths may still apply for ex-
federal criminal background
checks. So young adults start- pungement under the existing
application process.
ing out in the world have to
Supporters say Youth Ex-
consider voices telling them to
disclose everything, and voices punction Reform Act is a
telling them they don’t have to. long-overdue attempt to sim-
“It definitely puts people in plify the expunction process.
a difficult situation,” said Aliza People unable to clear their re-
Kaplan, director of the Crim- cords face challenges acquiring
employment, housing, occupa-
inal Justice Reform Clinic at
tional licenses and entry into
Lewis and Clark Law School.
“I have advised youth clients to the military and college.
The youth reform act is one
be open about it. But there isn’t
of many Legislative bills devel-
one right way to handle it.”
oped by the CJRC at Lewis &
Under Senate Bill 575,
which passed the Oregon Leg- Clark Law School.
Efforts there have lately
islature on June 26 and was en-
acted this month, Oregonians shifted to getting the word out
who qualify to have a youthful about expunction. To reach
young people, Kaplan said
arrest expunged upon their
they’ve focused on schools.
18th birthday will have that
done automatically rather than The CJRC, in partnership with
the group Youth, Rights & Jus-
via a voluntary application
process. Under the old applica- tice, is now holding clinics to
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The (Bend) Bulletin
assist youth with expunging
their criminal records.
Prior to the new law, the
county would often receive
expunction applications from
youth also attempting to en-
ter the military, according to
Community Justice director
Deevy Holcomb.
“Sometimes, they’re ap-
plying simultaneously, and it
puts us in a really weird spot,
because once a record is ex-
punged, that youth may legally
assert it never occurred, and
we don’t have the right to say if
it did or didn’t,” Holcomb said.
Sgt. Kyle Conner of the
Bend Marine recruiting office
said he advises recruits to dis-
close everything. He tells them
it’s a lesson he had to learn per-
sonally when he joined.
“I had a thing and not being
very familiar with the mili-
tary at the time, I didn’t think
it’d pop up. And the recruiter
found it,” he said. “So that’s one
thing I tell everybody: even if
you got it expunged, it defi-
nitely will still show up.”
It’s not uncommon that a
recruit will have a blemish or
two on his record, Conner
said. Local Marine and Navy
recruiters estimate around half
the people they see have an ar-
rest in their past. The Marines
typically don’t take people
with felonies on their record,
though, ultimately, it comes
down to the individual, Con-
ner said.
Conner puts it to young peo-
ple in terms of green and red
weights. The green represents
all the good things a person
has done in their life — com-
munity service, good grades,
etc. — and the red stands in for
problems like arrests.
“We just want the green
weights to outweigh the red
weights,” he said.
In 2021, Oregon lawmakers
passed numerous laws aimed
at strengthening police over-
sight and rehabilitating offend-
ers. Since the pandemic began,
Gov. Kate Brown has released
more than 1,000 inmates prior
to their scheduled release date.
Former Clatsop County Dis-
trict Attorney Josh Marquis, an
outspoken supporter of law-
and-order, said he’s watched
state leaders pass sweeping
changes he says most people
are unaware of. He called the
Oregon District Attorney’s
Association, which declined
to take a position on SB 575,
“milquetoast,” and the law it-
self, a “catastrophe.” He thinks
many people identify with a
young person who slips up in
minor ways, like stealing, while
ignoring those who commit
heinous acts that permanently
injure others.
He expects Oregon-based
youth arrests will eventually
stop showing up on federal
background checks.
“There’s no accountability
anymore,” he said.
“What if there are numer-
ous allegations they’ve raped
somebody, or that they’ve
committed numerous acts of
domestic violence? Should that
really be hidden?”
Kaplan said these law
changes reflect changing pub-
lic opinion.
“They’re all indications that
our society gets it,” she said. “I
think there’s a much better un-
derstanding of how people can
transform and rehabilitate and
move on with their lives.”
News of Record
DEATHS
Pearl DuMars: 87, of Richland, died
Jan. 21, 2022, at St. Luke’s Hospital in
Nampa, Idaho. Per her request, there
will not be a service. Donations in
Pearl’s memory can be made to the
Eagle Valley Ambulance or a charity of
your choice through Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services,
P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834. Online
condolences can be made at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
FUNERAL PENDING
Dwight Brooks: Friends are invited to
join the family for a graveside service at
the Union Cemetery on Friday, Jan. 28, at
11 a.m. To make a donation in Dwight’s
memory, the family suggests the Union
Ambulance Service or a charity of
your choice through Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services,
P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834. Online
condolences can be madeat www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
PROBATION VIOLATION: Caleb Colton
Flint, 36, Baker City, 1:40 p.m. Saturday,
Jan. 22, on David Eccles Road; jailed.
Baker County Sheriff’s Office
Arrests, citations
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF INTOXICANTS: Craig Thomas
Youngblood, 47, North Powder,
12:49 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, on Neil Peck
Road north of Haines; jailed and later
released after posting bail.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Malheur County
warrant, Sherman County warrant):
Kathleen Lee Pickthorne, 63, Rufus,
Oregon, 8:27 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at the
Sheriff’s Office; cited and released.
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