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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2022)
BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, FEBRuARY 12, 2022 A3 LOCAL Drugs rived for an appointment on Aug. 12 under the influence of Continued from Page A1 alcohol, meth and cocaine. Prevo checked into a local de- Baker City Police Chief Ty tox center that day but left two Duby announced the arrests of days later and then failed to re- Loren Dean Alexander Prevo, port to Kirby as required. 29, of Baker City, on Jan. 29, Tom Carroll’s case also dates and Tom Raymond Carroll, 38, to the spring of 2021. The Nar- on Jan. 25. cotics Enforcement A third man whom Team arrested him on the Narcotics Enforce- May 6, 2021, in a mo- ment Team had been tel room in Baker City investigating, Richard Carroll was on pa- Wayne Carroll, 51, role after serving a was treated for a drug prison term on drug overdose after being and firearms offenses. Tom Carroll found unconscious on He was charged (2021 photo) Feb. 6 at 1129 Elm St., with selling meth according to a press and fentanyl, which release from Duby. was in the form of blue pills, Detectives secured a search made in Mexico to look like warrant for the home and found 30 mg oxycodone pills. Fen- about 1 pound of methamphet- tanyl is a synthetic opioid that amine, several grams of heroin, is about 100 times more po- two AR-15 rifles and two hand- tent than morphine, according guns, along with “other items in- to Duby’s press release. dicative of narcotics trafficking,” The blue pills, known as blues, according to the press release. M30s or Fettys, are dangerous Richard Carroll, who is Tom and have been implicated in Carroll’s brother, was released many overdoses, Duby said. from the hospital and has not “We have seen an increase been charged, but the investiga- in these pills throughout tion is continuing. Eastern Oregon as well as re- All three men are acquainted sponded to several drug over- and “considered by the Narcot- dose cases in the last two years ics Team to be upper-level traf- due to the increased presence fickers of narcotics and firearms of opioids in our community,” into and out of Baker City and he said in the press release. Eastern Oregon,” Duby said in When police arrested Car- the press release. roll in May 2021 they found Detectives continue to investi- more than 2 pounds of meth, gate all three suspects. about 50 of the pills, a stolen 9 Prevo was arrested on Jan. 29 mm handgun and more than in Baker City on a charge dat- $20,000 in cash. ing to his March 2021 arrest, Carroll was released from the also by the Narcotics Enforce- Baker County Jail the same day ment Team, for unlawful de- after posting a $10,000 bond livery of meth. Prevo was also (10% of his $100,000 bail). charged in the Jan. 29 arrest for “Shortly after his release the being a felon in possession of narcotics team learned that a firearm, probation violation, Mr. Carroll was back in the and having a restricted weapon business of drug trafficking (a stun gun). and police initiated a separate He remained in the Baker investigation. He was again County Jail on Friday, Feb. 11. arrested in Baker City on Jan. Prevo, who was accused in 25, 2022, for violation of his the March 2021 incident of release agreement and was trafficking in meth, heroin taken into federal custody.” and fentanyl, the latter in the Baker County District At- form of counterfeit oxyco- torney Greg Baxter said Car- done pills, pleaded guilty to roll’s case was shifted to the drug charges and possession federal level last year because, of a restricted weapon. He was due to differences in Oregon given a suspended sentence by and federal law, it’s more likely Judge Matt Shirtcliff in Baker that Carroll, if convicted, County Circuit Court, in- would face longer prison cluding 17 days in the Baker terms from federal charges County Jail, and ordered to than from state charges. complete drug treatment. Baxter said the local charges Charges of delivery of heroin were dismissed without preju- and oxycodone, and unlawful dice, so they could potentially possession of heroin and meth, be refiled if the federal case were dismissed. isn’t adjudicated. According to Duby, Prevo left The Baker County Narcot- treatment within a week or so, ics Enforcement Team is com- “and the narcotics team initiated posed of members from the another case as he returned to Baker City Police Department narcotics trafficking in the East- and is supported by the Baker ern Oregon area.” County Sheriff ’s Office, the An Aug. 20, 2021, report from Baker County District Attor- Prevo’s probation officer, Rich ney’s Office and the Oregon Kirby, stated that Prevo had ar- State Police. Council Continued from Page A1 “Baker City received a grant from the Department of Land Conservation and Devel- opment to create a Housing Production Strategy. Part of the grant will pay for utiliz- ing a consultant to perform the work,” Councilor Joanna Dixon read from the staff re- port. City Manager Jonathan Cannon said the grant is around $80,000 but most of it is needed by the Baker COVID Continued from Page A1 The trend is backed up by the averaging of 13 major medical, university and scientific fore- cast models submitted regularly to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a briefing with state law- makers late Monday, Feb. 7, Graven said he was seeing sus- tained trends that omicron is very high, but receding. “I believe we are at the peak and we are kind of bouncing around a little bit as it comes down,” he said. Hospitalizations are the most accurate measure of the impact and direction of a virus surge. Graven’s report showed the state would be under 1,000 hospitalizations a day by Feb. 18. It expects cases to drop un- der 500 around March 23. The count will go under 200 by April 23. By the second week of May, hospitalizations should fall below 100. Estimates of severe cases of COVID-19 in OHSU reports near the beginning of 2022 showed up to 3,000 people could be hospitalized in Ore- gon on peak days in the wave. “In the current surge, a lot more states went up much City-County Planning Depart- ment for its part of the work. Alderson noted that New Directions Northwest also has received a grant to do a hous- ing study. “I think by the time we get the information from both of those, we will be in a better position to make decisions on housing,” Alderson said. • unanimously approved Resolution No. 3900, moving $30,000 from the contingency fund to fund the legal costs for union negotiations and other legal costs including personnel matters. much higher than us and more steeply,” Graven said. OHSU projected 80% of the state population followed the indoor mask mandate during recent weeks. With masking and a relatively high level of vaccination, Oregon was dealt a less powerful blow than other states where the safe- guards were ignored or ac- tively opposed. The hospitals have filled up during the omicron wave with mostly unvaccinated people either suffering from severe cases of the virus, or hospital- ized for other reasons — sur- gery, accidents, heart attacks — but blood tests showed they were positive for COVID-19. The forecast released Thurs- day, Feb. 10, shows the aver- age number of deaths rising from about 13 per day now to a peak of 18 in early March. It will then follow the same path as infections and severe cases with a relatively steep decline. Deaths are projected under five per day by the end of March. Breakthrough cases Statewide, 46% of cases from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 were breakthrough, defined as an infection in a fully vaccinated person. That means a person La Grande students, parents protest school mask mandate BY DAVIS CARBAUGH The (La Grande) Observer LA GRANDE — Doz- ens of parents and La Grande students of varying ages rallied outside of La Grande Middle School on the morning of Friday, Feb. 11, to voice their opposi- tion to mask requirements in school. The demonstra- tion is one of many that have occurred across the state in the wake of Oregon health officials announcing that indoor mask mandates will be lifted by the end of March. “We don’t like wearing the stupid masks!” one stu- dent yelled at the protest. The outdoor rally along Fourth Street in La Grande came just one day after a number of students at La Grande Middle School re- fused to wear masks in- doors. The protest involved students from Central El- ementary and La Grande Middle School, along with many parents. Lloyd Mills, a parent of two students at Central El- ementary, attended the protest in favor of optional mask usage. “They were forced out,” Mills said of his kids. “They said I had to take them home because I didn’t want them wearing masks. I couldn’t even take my kids to school.” Alex Wittwer/The (La Grande) Observer Students and parents protest Oregon’s mask mandate outside La Grande Middle School in the morn- ing before school starts on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Many parents stood alongside their children at the protest, holding signs and chanting at oncoming cars. Numerous cars driving by honked in support, while one driver yelled out, “Wear your mask!” The rally started around 7:30 a.m. and lasted through the start of the school day. Upon school starting, sev- eral students rushed into the middle school building while many others remained at the rally. Numerous stu- dents refusing to wear masks were turned away. “They won’t let our kids go to school,” one parent said. La Grande Superinten- dent George Mendoza noted that the students at the rally had the option to go into the school with a mask on or go home with their parents at the conclu- sion of the protest. According to Mendoza, the La Grande School Dis- trict is working toward mak- ing masks optional before or at the March 31 deadline for lifting mask requirements set by the Oregon Health Authority. “We support peaceful pro- tests,” Mendoza said. Baker High School, Middle School announce honor rolls Rylee Elms, Cody Eskew, Makenzie Flanagan, Ethan Fletcher, Kailyse Fuss, Grant Gambleton, Wade Hawkins, Sydnee Hallett, Austin Hays, Owen Higdon, Seth Holden, 3.7 Promise Hughes, Megan Baker Middle School Sage Baker, Isaac Berry, Hurley, Olivia Jacoby, Diego Dylan Conklin, Kayla Co- Jones Bedolla, Sydney Lamb, 4.0 GPA ley, Serenity Herrera, Chadd Blaize Lewis, Caitlin Lien, Paige Anderson, Brooklyn Hillman, Riley Hurliman, Jaxon Logsdon, Axel Mar- Baxter, Kegan Bott, Weston Lily Logsdon, Dave Ochoa, vin, Zane Morgan, Gavin Burton, Ashlyn Child, Jar- Aribella Rademacher, Luiz Nelson, Lincoln Nemec, Ol- ren Cikanek, Andie-Jo Rosales, Wayland Thomas, iver Palmer, Ryann Paulsen, Craigmile, Lance Down- Jace Whitford Morgan Pelcha, Thaddeus ing, Dawson Fletcher, Jax- Pepera, Candace Peterson, son Ford, Talon Gyllenberg, 3.6 Lani Pierce, Roxie Bree Johnee Hallett, Ruby Her- Marley Barrett, Clay Ste- Pierce, Sarah Plummer, Jil- iza, Meren Jesenko, Taylor vens, Quinton Wellman, lian Poe, Aiyana Radford, Johnson, Jack Joseph, Taylor Brett Whitley Jozie Ramos, Brooklyn Rayl, Lee, Elias Long, Colton Lus- Julie Robinson, David Shaw, chen, Macey Morgan, Chase 3.5 Eowyn Smith, Brianna Myatt, Anthony Mack, Zachary Conant, Zakary Stadler, Gaven Stecher, Ti- Jake McClaughry, Kathryn Davey, Elijah Jones, Miley yana Stevens, Neah Thomas, Murphy, Maggie Pierce, Joseph, Daniel Maldonado, Tristen Tritt, Antonio Wash- Kara Regan, Andrew Rich- Malachi Miller, Theodore ington, Jayden Whitford, ards, Leona Rose, Erelah Pepera, Emily Sullivan, Phoebe Wise. Rosin, Reese Roys, Kaitlyn Ethan Whiting Schwin, William Spriet, Dal- 3.5-3.99 GPA lin Stocks, Elizabeth Timm, Baker High School Eva Anderson, Jose Ar- menta, Angelyna Baird, Da- Ella Wilde 4.0 GPA kota Ballou, Abigail Benson, 3.8 Ashlyn Anderson, Emma Dashel Bloomer, Travis Bol- man, Graysen Bowling, Ca- Claire Bachman, Sawyer Baeth, Anna Belding, leigh Carpenter, Silas Carter, Blatchford, Adysen Boehm, Gaige Birmingham, Gauge Jacob Burton, Stella Carl- Bloomer, Gabriel Bott, Dan- Connor Chastain, Anthony son, Hayden Churchfield, iel Brown, Savannah Brown, Christopher, Lacy Church- field, Taylor Churchfield, Harris Gaslin, Waylon Gib- Palmer Chandler, Te’ygan bons, Raegan Gulick, Alex- Coley, Alexis Conant, Tristin Ben Coburn, Lilly Collins, zandria Honsvick, Moriah Curry, Kaycee Cuzick, Ash- Rebecca Craigmile, Emma Davis, Angel De Arcos, Manniselli, Connor Mar- lyn Dalton, Taylor Dalton, Baker City Herald Baker High School and Baker Middle School re- cently announced honor roll students for the first se- mester. who has had both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vac- cines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson, but not necessarily a booster shot. Graven, from OHSU, said the omicron wave has been much less dangerous for peo- ple who are vaccinated, and in particular those who have had a booster dose. “Once you get boosted, you pretty much get removed from the possibility of getting hospi- talized for much,” Graven said. According to OHA’s latest breakthrough case report, almost 30% of COVID-19- related deaths in Oregon during January were break- through cases. In Baker County, 46.1% of cases for the week Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 — 53 of 115 — were breakthrough cases, the coun- ty’s highest percentage during the pandemic. OHA does not list the num- ber of breakthrough case deaths by county. tin, Kathleen Nilsen, Ryder Nimmo, Benjamin Nudd, William O’Connell, Jaxyn Ramos, Madelyn Rudi, Lil- lyan Smith, Roman Zickgraf According to OHA, the most recent onset of an infec- tion in a local school was on Jan. 31 at South Baker Inter- mediate. There are no current out- breaks in Baker County schools, according to OHA. Vaccinations As has been the case since last fall, Baker County’s vacci- nation rate is the fifth-lowest among Oregon’s 36 counties. As of Thursday, Feb. 10, 55.5% of Baker County residents 18 or older have had at least one dose of vaccine, according to OHA. The statewide average is 82.6%. The four counties with a lower vaccination rate are Lake (45.7%), Malheur (50.1%), Grant (51.3%) and Gilliam (52.2%). Rates for other counties in Northeastern Oregon: Wal- lowa (71.9%), Union (60.6%), Morrow (59.9%) and Umatilla (58.5%). Baker County’s running seven-day daily average of doses administered has dropped from 34 on Jan. 13 to 12 on Feb. 8. Schools Mark Witty, Baker School District superintendent, said the absentee rate — which can result from a variety of issues, Gary A. Warner of the Ore- including COVID-19 infection gon Capital Bureau contributed or possible exposure — has to this story. dropped in district schools. Christopher Entrekin, Tessa Feeley, John Garcia, Bry- ley Garvin, Lillian Gately, Gerardo Gonzalez Sierra, Sofia Hanson, Wyatt Haw- kins, John Heriza, Cole Hes- ter, Paul Hobson, Payton Hobson, Nicholas Hughes, Brooklyn Jaca, Annastasia Johnson, Sage Joseph, So- fia Kaaen, Eleanor Lamb, Hannah Lay, Jaron Long, Tanner Lucas, Melissa Luna, Dana Luster, Megan Luster, Jesse Maldonado, Seth Mas- trude, Jessica Mercado, Lu- cas Metz, Jacob Mills, Macey Moore, Gretchen Morgan, Dillon Multop, Joy Murphy, Emylia Myer, Clark Nor- ton, Anahy Ocampo Garcia, Emrie Osborn, Sydney Pen- ning, Tessa Potter, Scarlett Rademacher, Evangeline Rexroad, Cole Richards, Alex Ritter, James Robinson, Richardo Rodriguez-Duran, Anastacio Rodriguez, Iriana Rosales, Marco Rosales, Kincaid Rudi, Makenna Shamion, Riley Shaw, Mark Shetler, Jordan Smith, Cyl- lus Sperl, Gavin Stone, Grai- son Stone, Izabella Thomas, Kaydence Thomas, Daniel Wachtel, Meadoh Waldrop, Wyatt Widman, Katherine Wilde, Montana Williams, Lillyanna Wilson, Alexander Wise, Paige Wolfe, Hayden Younger, Austen Zemmer. New At The Library Patrons can reserve materials in advance online or by calling 541- 523-6419. Recently, Baker County Library has added 20 new best- sellers, 27 movies, six audiobooks, 19 children’s books, and 110 other new books, including 76 that are available online with the Libby App. See everything new to Baker County Library District at wowbrary. org. Materials featured, and in library collection, does not indicate endorsement or approval of contents by the library. Selections are based on factors such as demand, public interest, diversity of view- point, community relevance, and others. FICTION • “Daughter of the Moon Goddess,” Sue Lynn Tan • “Dog Park,” Sofi Oksanen • “The Horsewoman,” James Patterson and Mike Lupica • “The Marriage Game (Book 1),” Sara Desai • “Something to Hide,” Elizabeth George NONFICTION • “The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire,” William Dalrymple • “Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected,” Rory Miller • “The Meghan Method: The Step-By-Step Guide to Decorating Your Home in Your Style,” Meghan Carter • “The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone’s Legendary Druid Pack,” Rick McIntyre • “The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the Peo- ple Who Stopped It,” Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague DVDs • “The Addams Family 2” (Family) • “All is Lost” (Action) • “Dune” (Sci-Fi) • “Last Night in Soho” (Horror) • “Spencer” (Drama)