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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2022)
BAKER CITY HERALD • THuRsDAY, FEBRuARY 10, 2022 A3 LOCAL Baker students excel at FBLA competition Survey Schools combined had 19 regional champions Commissioner Bruce Nichols is a member of the task force. “And based off of the findings they will prioritize what the housing needs are for people that have behavior health issues, and that is what goes for- ward to OHA, what their recommen- dations are for the county,” Walsh said. New Directions is required to file a report to OHA by August 2022, with a summary of the county’s priorities and recommendations for meeting housing needs. That report will help determine how the state allocates money for housing projects, said Sara Haynes of Farallon Consulting, co-coordinator on the project with New Directions. “And the task force will actually pri- oritize what those needs are. So the data goes back to the task force,” Walsh said. During Walsh’s presentation to com- missioners, Commission Chairman Bill Harvey urged New Directions to consult with the Baker City-County Planning Department regarding the possible zon- ing conflicts if new housing is proposed. “OHA may say put it anywhere you want but our codes don’t allow that as of yet,” Harvey said. Walsh emphasized that the survey is the initial step, and that New Directions will present its findings from the survey to commissioners and to city councils in the county before any actual housing construction projects are proposed. Harvey said he will ask the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority, which op- erates many subsidized housing projects in the region, to communicate with the Baker County Housing Task Force. “They are requesting funding for all of these levels of housing and they can’t get the contractors in the area be- cause these projects that they have de- signed are so large,” Harvey said. Harvey said he is concerned about having the right contractors available. “The contractors are out of Portland, the drywallers and framers are out of Bend, other entities are out of other ar- eas. I’d prefer to try and use local help as much as possible. And even local con- tractors to run the project,” said Harvey, who is himself a building contractor. 22 students out of a total of 35 from three schools. The regional competi- tion was organized by Baker High School and Imbler High School FBLA. Judges included Bryan Tweit of HatchLab in Baker City, who judged the intro- duction to event planning, marketing and network de- sign event, and BHS prin- cipal Skye Flanagan, who judged the elevator speech event in the middle school competition. In addition to compet- ing in events, students at- tended workshops, watched a performance by the EOU Choir and listened to ad- dresses from EOU Presi- dent Tom Insko and Ed- ward Heddinger, dean of the EOU Business College. The top 10 finishers at the regional competition quali- fied for the state FBLA busi- ness leadership conference April 7-9 in Portland. The top four in each event at state will qualify for the National Timm, 1st; Grayson Hawkins, • Human resource man- 2nd; Madeline Hassmiller, 3rd agement: Taylor Gyllen- • Learning strategies: Jaxyn berg, 1st; Daniel Brown, 3rd; Abigail Benson, 5th; Baker Middle School results Ramos, 1st Maria Guadalupe Rodri- • Business ethics: Cadell guez Sanchez, 6th; Meadoh Mills, Adelaid Walden and Baker High School results Waldrop, 10th Lilly Wilson, 1st; Alexzan- • Accounting II: Taylor • Intro to business com- dria Honsvick, Connor Ni- Dalton, 1st munication: Daniel Brown, day and Adeline Shaw, 2nd • Advertising: Campbell 1st • Career exploration: Ade- Vanderwiele, 4th • Intro to financial math: line Shaw, 1st; Nolan Briels, • Business communica- Ashlyn Dalton, 1st; Alex 2nd; Cadell Mills, 3rd; Alex- tion: Savannah Brown, 1st; Wise, 2nd andria Honsvick, 4th; Taylor Tristen Tritt, 4th • Intro to public speak- Lee, 5th; Connor Niday, 6th • Business ethics: Owen ing: Ashlyn Dalton, 4th • Critical thinking: Colbi Higdon and Abbey Ben- • Marketing: Savannah Bachman, Jaxyn Ramos and son, 1st Brown, Caitlin Lien and Elizabeth Timm, 1st; Isaac • Business law: Owen Phoebe Wise; 1st Berry and Ashlyn Child, 2nd Higdon, 1st; Salissa Ches- • Personal finance: Macey • Digital citizenship: terman, 4th Moore, 2nd; Teygan Coley, Gwendolyn Rasmussen, 1st; • Client service: Maria Colbi Bachman, 2nd Guadalupe Rodriguez San- 6th; Brooklyn Jaca, 8th • Political science: • Elevator speech: Gwen- chez, 2nd dolyn Rasmussen, 5th; Tay- • Entrepreneurship: Salissa Phoebe Wise, 4th • Securities and invest- lor Lee, 9th; Madeline Hass- Chesterman, Teygan Coley ments: Sarah Plummer, 1st; miller, 10th and Taylor Gyllenberg, 3rd • Exploring technology: • Health care administra- Caitlin Lien, 4th • Sports and entertain- Harris Gaslin, 1st tion: Tristen Tritt, 3rd; Jozie ment management: Taylor • Exploring economics: Ramos, 5th Dalton and Macey Moore, Harris Gaslin, 1st • Hospitality and event 2nd • Financial literacy: Nolan management: Brook- • Supply chain manage- Briels, 1st; Isaac Berry, 2nd lyn Jaca, Jozie Ramos and • Leadership: Elizabeth Campbell Vanderwiele, 2nd ment: Sarah Plummer, 1st Anyone who would like to donate to the event can Continued from Page A1 contact Keister at 541-523- 5839 or drop off items at The next big fundraiser The Windshield Doctor, is Saturday, Feb. 19, at the 2975 10th St. Elks Lodge, 1896 Second St. An account for the foun- It begins at 5 p.m., and the dation has been set up at public is welcome. Banner Bank, or mon- etary donations can be Attendees can purchase commemorative pint glasses sent through Venmo (@ WadeWilliams2021) or Pay- for $25 (there are only 72 Pal (email wadewilliams- available), and participate in raffles, silent and live auctions, foundation@gmail.com). Updates to the event are and baseball-themed games. “We’ll see how fast you can posted on the Foundation’s put on a set of catcher’s gear,” Facebook page. Keister said. “We’re trying to make a fun night out of it.” Future plans Ballpark food will be Keister has two imme- available to purchase. diate goals: bring back the parade to kick off baseball season, and create blue- prints for new bleachers at Wade Williams. The field also needs a new irrigation system, fresh dirt for the infield, more sets of bases, fencing, bat- ting cages, gravel, grass, and weed removal. “Everything has aged,” he said. So far, he said RD Mac has helped a lot with the gravel — the company’s logo is fea- tured on the commemorative pint glasses. And the community, he Kenny Keister/Contributed image said, is stepping up. This image shows Wade Williams Field before work began in “I’ve had a ton of help,” he 2021. A fundraiser for the new Wade Williams Foundation is said. set for Feb. 19 to raise money for upkeep at the field. BAKER CITY HERALD LA GRANDE — Baker High School had 10 regional champions, and Baker Mid- dle School had nine, at the FBLA regional skills con- ference on Feb. 3, at Eastern Oregon University. Four high schools that normally attend the confer- ence were absent this year, as those schools joined a virtual conference rather than the in-person event at La Grande, said Toni Zik- mund, Baker High School FBLA advisor. Dawna Blincoe is the Baker Middle School advisor, and last year’s BMS advisor, Nicole Miller, helped chaper- one the Baker students. A total of 188 students from 11 high schools com- peted. Baker High School had 20 students attend. Baker Middle School had Field Leadership Conference in June in Chicago. All students had online classes during the spring of Continued from Page A1 2020. The district’s elementary stu- Baker Superintendent Mark dents returned to in-person Witty said on Tuesday, Feb. 8, classes on Oct. 14, 2020. that although district officials Middle school and high will be discussing the issue with school students began attend- the Baker County Health De- ing classes one day per week partment and with the school on Nov. 9, 2020, moving to two board, he believes, based on the days per week on Jan. 25, 2021, downward trend in COVID-19 and to a full four-day schedule cases, that the district on April 12, 2021. will drop the mask re- All students have quirement on the first had a full in-person day possible. class schedule for the “I fully anticipate current school year that come March 31 starting in August we won’t be wearing 2021. masks,” Witty said. Hawkins said he Witty “We’ve been seeing expects widespread a dip in cases, and I enthusiasm about the think there’s every end of the mask re- chance by the time quirement. we get to March 31 “I think the major- that the risk goes ity of people are go- way, way down.” ing to be very happy Witty noted that in and feeling that it’s addition to the drop been a long time Hawkins in new cases — down coming,” he said. 37% in Baker County Some might have over the past two weeks — concerns about the removal of the level of protection in the masks, Hawkins said. community from vaccinations Witty said he understands and natural infections is also that some parents and other higher than at any previous district residents think the point in the pandemic. mask mandate should end Chris Hawkins, chairman of immediately, not seven weeks the Baker School Board, agrees from now. with Witty that the situation by But Witty said he appreci- the end of March will warrant ates that state officials gave ending the mask requirement school districts time to assess that’s been in place since stu- their individual situations and dents returned to in-person have discussions with health classes either in 2020 or 2021. officials and others. Masks Theft Continued from Page A1 Williams’ bail was set at $65,000. He could be released by posting 10% of that amount. The investigation started with a call to the Baker County Dispatch Center at about 7 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, about what was initially reported as an at- tempted car theft at the Super 8 Motel on Campbell Street just east of Interstate 84. Baker City Police Sgt. Mike Regan and officer Koby Essex went to the motel and found one man, Robert Hartley, chas- ing another man. Hartley told police that the other man had taken his room key card. The other man gave police two different names, both of which were false, according to Regan’s report. Regan referred to the suspect as John Doe, but he was later identified as Williams from fingerprints, Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby said. While Essex was investigat- ing the alleged robbery of Hart- ley, Regan had information from dispatch about a separate incident in which a Honda ve- hicle had been reported stolen from The Sunridge Inn, on the other side of the freeway. The car’s owner, Erickson Blair, reported that between 11 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, and 7:15 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, someone had entered his motel room, taking his vehi- cle keys and a backpack con- taining a laptop computer and headphones with a value of about $1,300. Blair told police that the theft might have happened while he and his girlfriend were having breakfast on Fri- day morning, Feb. 4. They were gone for about half an hour. The sliding glass door to their room was unlocked. They discovered that both the car, which had Utah li- cense plates, and the back- pack, were missing when they returned from breakfast. Regan, who was still at the Super 8, saw a Honda, which matched Blair’s description of his vehicle, including Utah plates, parked in the Super 8 lot. Blair arrived at the Su- per 8 and confirmed that the Honda was his. Regan wrote in his report He said he believes that the district’s precautions, in- cluding enforcing the mask requirement, have “helped us keep kids in school.” Witty said he doesn’t want to do away with masks prema- turely. “The last thing I want to do is take off masks and have to shut down a school (due to an outbreak of infections),” he said. “I get the impatience. But I think we’re really close to this being an endemic sit- uation.” County’s COVID-19 situation The Baker County Health Department reported 19 new cases on Tuesday, Feb. 8, fol- lowing three days with cases to- tals of three, three and six. That was the lowest three- day total since Dec. 29-31, when there were eight total cases. Statistics strongly sug- gests that the record-setting surge in cases driven by the omicron variant has peaked both statewide and in Baker County. Here, weekly cases have dropped 37% over the past two weeks. The Oregon Health Author- ity (OHA) has reported Baker County’s first COVID-19-re- lated death during February. A 78-year-old woman who tested positive on Jan. 20, died Feb. 4, at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. She had underlying medical con- ditions, according to OHA. that the Super 8 manager showed him video from a secu- rity camera that showed Wil- liams — identifed as John Doe in the report — getting out of the Honda at about 7:08 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 4. While arresting Williams, Essex had taken a black back- pack that matched Blair’s de- scription of his missing pack. Later on Friday, Feb. 4, po- lice examined the backpack at the police department and found a MacBook Air laptop computer and a pair of Sony headphones that matched Blair’s description of his miss- ing items. Police also have identified Williams as a suspect in the theft of a Jeep Renegade and cellphone belonging to Jason Brown. That vehicle was taken from the Maverik store in Baker City about 5 a.m. on Fri- day, Feb. 4, about 2 hours prior to the report from the Super 8. Duby said police, who were alerted to the theft of the Renegade, found that vehicle in the Sunridge parking lot while investigating the theft of Blair’s Honda. Both vehicles were returned to their owners. Continued from Page A1 ANNIVERSARY Youngs to celebrate 50th anniversary Gary and Pat (Barsotti) Young are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 12. All friends and family are invited to an open house to help them celebrate that day from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Club, 2005 Valley Ave. in Baker City. Gary served over five years in the U.S Army, with three years of active duty, before re- turning home and beginning his career in banking at Pio- neer Federal Savings & Loan. He began his education at Eastern Oregon College (now EOU). Because at that time EOC did not have a business program, Gary decided to move to Portland to pursue a degree in business. Lucky for him, (and all of us) Pat had also returned to college that term, after travel- ing and spending a few years working for the US Depart- ment of Commerce in Wash- ington, D.C. Gary and Pat met at Port- land State University on the first day of Spanish class in 1970, and that was it, they’ve been together ever since. Pat In 1994 Gary needed a change and took his talents a few blocks away to the Baker County Assessor’s office where he worked happily and with a much lower blood pressure for the remainder of his career. Pat worked as a full-time mom raising their three young children in the early years. In addition to main- taining her full-time job as the family chef and domestic Contributed Photo stewardess, she also picked Gary and Pat Young up side gigs as a bookkeeper for the law firm of Yturri, still tells stories about her in- Rose, Burnham, Ebertz and Bentz in Ontario, and then ability to speak Spanish due to the distraction of Gary in worked as bookkeeper for Ellison Motors, and then as a this class. receptionist/bookkeeper for Gary and Pat were mar- ried in Baker City on Feb. 12, Mike Garchar, CPA in Baker City until she retired from 1972. Gary worked for Pio- neer Federal Savings & Loan being paid for her labor. Gary and Pat have three as a loan officer. He quickly children — Anne (Barry) moved up the ranks and his Nemec of Baker City, Craig job took him and his grow- ing family to Burns, and then (Leslie) Young of Eugene, and Chris (Amy) Young a few years later to Ontario of Baker City. They have for Gary to manage those eight grandchildren — branches. In 1987 they re- Isaac, Isabella and Lincoln turned to Gary’s hometown Nemec; Jackson, Lauren and of Baker City as he joined Ben Young; and Otis and the corporate office of Pio- Zea Young. neer Bank. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. www.eomediagroup.com Barbara Lee Sherman March 15, 1941 - January 31, 2022 Barbara Lee Sherman, 80, of Baker City, Oregon passed away peacefully on January 31, 2022 surrounded by her fam- ily. Barbara grew up in Baker City, a town she loved and never left. Barbara Lee Sherman, born to William T.H. and Peggy Sherman on March 15, 1941. Barbara was a force to be reckoned with from the get go, graduating from Baker High School in 1960 and Links School of Business in 1963. She pur- sued and was awarded a de- gree in Junior Accounting. While Barbara never married, her nephews and nieces meant more to her than words can describe. She had many loving pets that she absolutely adored; Licorice, Buddy and Squirrel. She dedicated her entire working career to The Record Courier where she worked for 40+ years. Barbara was an active member of her 1960s class reunion committee and the Re- publican Central Committee. When Barba- ra retired, she spent her mornings with a cup of coffee and good fellowship at the Baker Truck Corral. Barbara was preceded in death by both parents, sister Mary Ger- mond, and nephew Patrick Germond. She is survived by her brothers, Bill and wife Donna Sherman, Dick Sherman, and Jim Sher- man. Nephews Mike Ger- mond, Kenneth Sherman, Richard Sherman. Nieces Ruth Germond, Brenda and husband Billy Buck, Nancy Sherman, Kim Huntley, Sandy and hus- band Buzz Harper, Jody and husband Jeff Colton, Patty and husband Brandon Ruiz. Numer- ous great nephews and great-nieces who loved giving Aunt Barb a hard time. Services will be held at Coles Trib- ute Center on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, please con- sider a donation to Best Friends of Baker City, OR.