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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2022)
A2 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2022 Local TURNING BACK THE PAGES 50 YEARS AGO from the Democrat-Herald February 14, 1972 UNITY — Giving up a fl abby 36 free throw shots to the enemy while being slapped with their worst gunning from the line in recent games, the Burnt River Bulls were victimized by North Powder in the fi nal seconds Saturday night, 51-46. 25 YEARS AGO from the Baker City Herald February 14, 1997 Burnt River had little trouble eliminating Spray from the District 4-1A girls basketball tournament Thursday morning. The Lady Bulls built a 20-8 halftime lead on the way to a 43-23 victory in the consolation semifi nals at Baker High School. The Lady Bulls increased their margin to 30-10 after three quarters. Mandi Anderson led Burnt River with 12 points. Jenni Anderson added 11. Uganda Continued from Page A1 Mulopi’s plan, Sarno said, is to “design food forests for other orphanages, extending self-reli- ance into Uganda’s orphan pop- ulation and giving orphans use- ful food-producing skills so they become valuable to their com- munity rather than a burden.” How to help Sarno is encouraging church groups and service organiza- tions to learn more about His Grace Children’s Home, and to consider sponsoring a child. She said an easy way to donate is through the web- site www.snakerivermusic- gardens.org. Sarno said donors receive monthly updates and annual reports. Sponsors receive pho- tos and messages from child. Another way to help is to fi- Hall Continued from Page A1 10 YEARS AGO from the Baker City Herald February 15, 2012 Baker City councilors showed no further interest in merging the city police department and the Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce during a discussion about consolidation efforts that was on the agenda for their meeting Tuesday night. Councilors recently expressed curiosity about whether it would be viable to consolidate the two departments. The Sheriff’s Offi ce is located in Baker City. City Manager Mike Kee, the former police chief of Ontario, gave councilors a report that listed several issues to keep in mind if they had continued to pursue the idea, such as community opinion, quality of service and cost. ONE YEAR AGO from the Baker City Herald February 16, 2021 Baker City’s snowplowing fl eet has awakened from its winter hibernation. A Presidents Day snowstorm interrupted what had been a tranquil winter during which the city’s public works department has salted and sanded slippery streets several times but had little use for its plows. “It’s been pretty good for snow and ice control,” Tom Fisk, the department’s operations supervisor, said on Monday morning, Feb. 15. A city crew plowed snow around Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City and the Sheriff’s Offi ce Saturday, but there was barely enough to justify the job, Fisk said. The situation was quite different Monday morning. With about 4 inches of new snow accumulating overnight, and heavy snow still falling as dawn broke, Fisk summoned a four-person crew, with two graders and two backhoes, around 8 a.m. The team focused on priority streets and areas including around the hospital, and heavily traveled sections of several streets, including Cedar, Campbell, 10th, Auburn and Broadway. Because school wasn’t in session due to the holiday, crews didn’t need to clear streets around schools as early as they would on a school day, Fisk said. Even earlier Monday, around 4 a.m., a three-person crew started salting busy intersections, sanding downtown streets and plowing the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway, he said. 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CONTACT THE HERALD 2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101 Open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephone: 541-523-3673 Fax: 541-833-6414 Publisher Karrine Brogoitti kbrogoitti@lagrandeobserver.com Jayson Jacoby, editor jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Advertising email ads@bakercityherald.com Classifi ed email classifi ed@bakercityherald.com Circulation email circ@bakercityherald.com ISSN-8756-6419 Serving Baker County since 1870 Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays except Christmas Day by the Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media Group, at 2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101 (P.O. Box 807), Baker City, OR 97814. Subscription rates per month are $10.75 for print only. Digital-only rates are $8.25. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Baker City Herald, P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814. Periodicals Postage Paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Copyright © 2022 times 10 months and the mu- sic garden would be off and running,” Sarno said. She said Snake River Music Gardens’ weekly video con- ference often features music, and interested supporters could tune in to hear the chil- dren sing. Other donations could help finance school fees and de- velop a school at the home, or support the development of a neighborhood medical clinic. Hall, a retired chef, is also chairman of the Baker County Democratic Party and a recent member of the board for the League of Oregon Cities. His bid for the Democratic nomination in the May 22 pri- mary is not Hall’s first foray into politics. He ran unsuccessfully to represent Baker County in the Oregon Legislature in 2006 and in 2014. Hall said in a phone interview on Thursday, Feb. 10, that he was motivated to enter the governor’s race in part because he wants voters to understand that not all Democratic candidates are urban residents from the Willa- mette Valley who might tend to be more liberal than he is. Hall said he disdains what he terms “magic wand think- ing” among some Democratic politicians. He describes this approach as the belief, and one he con- siders misguided, that govern- ment regulations can fix any societal problem. “I want to break through the idea that they can fix ev- erything with a regulation or by spending money,” Hall said. He said he favors what he considers more pragmatic and flexible approaches to issues than what he calls “one size fits all.” As an example, Hall said he was a proponent of Oregon’s multi-tiered minimum wage law, which reflects the range in living costs from, say, Eastern Oregon to the Portland area. Hall, who was born in Seat- tle and earned a bachelor’s de- gree in German and Political Science from the University of Washington, believes the state COVID Continued from Page A1 The mask mandate for schools will end March 31. Staten said that as cases de- cline, it’s still important to try to protect the people most vulnerable to COVID-19, in- cluding the less virulent omi- cron variant. That group in- cludes the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. “How do we manage this going forward?” Staten said. News of Record Contact For more information about how to be involved, at- tend the March 4 First Fri- Lindianne Sarno/Contributed Photo day event, or contact Snake Angela, an orphan in Uganda sponsored by Lindianne Sarno and River Music Gardens by call- ing 541-519-9321 or emailing Arthur Sappington of Baker City, holds the letter she recently wrote lindianne@snakerivermusic- to them. gardens.org. To learn more about Art nance the purchase of musical phanage music teacher, created instruments for the orphan- a budget of $2,500 for musical Roamers, visit www.artroam- ers.com or check the Face- age’s music garden. Sarno said instruments. book page. that Kasagga Grace, the or- “Ten musicians times $25 should use the same approach to avoid leading to even worse to determining poverty levels, environmental problems. using as criteria cost of the liv- Supporting ‘responsible ing as well as income. Republicans’ Climate change Although Hall is a member Hall said he wants to see of the party that has dominated Oregon look at new options Oregon politics for the past for dealing with water short- four decades — seven of the ages for farms and ranches state’s members of Congress are due to drought. Democrats — he said he would He points out that although have no objection to Republi- much of Oregon’s surface wa- cans filling more of those seats. ter, especially in arid Eastern But not what he considers Oregon, is claimed by prop- extremist Republicans who erty owners with water rights, support Donald Trump. in many years there isn’t “I want responsible Repub- nearly enough water to satisfy licans, centrist, pragmatist, old all those owners, which harms school Republicans,” Hall said, citing as two examples Oregon’s agriculture. Hall advocates for the gov- former U.S. senators, Mark Hatfield (who also served as ernment potentially buying, governor) and Bob Packwood. from willing sellers, proper- Hall said another factor that ties with water rights and con- verting the land to other uses. motivated him to file as a can- That, combined with an em- didate was Baker City Mayor phasis on more efficient use of Kerry McQuisten’s announce- water, would make more water ment in late June 2021 that available to the existing farm- she was seeking the Republi- can nomination in the gover- ers and ranchers, he said. “We can’t make water mag- nor’s race. Hall said he wants to show ically appear,” he said. “We need to focus on the reality of voters that Republicans, and specifically McQuisten, our water crisis.” doesn’t represent the beliefs of Hall emphasizes that such all of rural Oregon. a program would depend on He contends that he would farmers and ranchers working together to get the most out of be more effective at bridging what he called the “east-west the limited water supply. divide” in Oregon than Mc- He believes drought is only one effect from climate change. Quisten would be. Another that has affected all of Oregon is wildfire. Hall said Masks and mandates in some places, and in particu- Hall said he has been up- lar east of the Cascades, some set by people who decry Gov. forests are overcrowded and Kate Brown’s executive orders need to have some of the fuel regarding face masks as “tyr- removed. anny and dictatorial.” Hall said commercial log- “I find that absolutely in- ging “could be a component” sulting to the people around of that effort. the world who actually suffer “There are areas where it’s under real oppression, tyr- perfectly appropriate,” he said, anny and dictatorships,” Hall although he cautions that log- said. “There’s a difference.” ging needs to be done carefully Hall said the governor’s mask mandate was “proba- bly overreach,” although he’s more concerned about the lack of enforcement and com- pliance than about the basic idea of encouraging residents to wear face masks, in indoor situations where social distanc- ing isn’t possible, to curb the spread of COVID-19. He also believes the gover- nor and other state officials have done a poor job of ex- plaining the mask mandate. Hall said that were the de- cision his to make, he would have made it explicit that the state would support any busi- ness or venue that chose to strictly enforce a mask re- quirement, but that businesses could also choose whether, or how, to enforce it. He admits that’s essentially the situation that has prevailed for many months in parts of Or- egon, including Baker County. “Time will tell.” The Health Department is distributing home COVID-19 test kits to county residents. Staten said the department handed out 31 boxes, each including two tests, during a one-hour drive-thru event Sat- urday, Feb. 12, in Baker City. Staten said residents who have potential COVID-19 symptoms can call the Health Department at 541-523-8211 and arrange to pick up a test kit. Staff will bring the kits to people waiting in their cars. Staten encourages people to take the home test, which yields results in about 15 min- utes, and for those who are positive, to take precautions to (Jan. 16-22) to 24.6%, then to 23.9%, and to 18.6% for the most recent week, Feb. 6-12. Statewide, the test positivity rate for that week was 13.7%. On Friday, Feb. 12, the OHA announced details about the most recent COVID-19-re- lated death in Baker County resident. An 82-year-old woman died Jan. 29 at her residence after testing positive on Jan. 11. She had underlying medical con- ditions. Hers was the county’s sec- ond COVID-19-related death in Baker County during Feb- ruary. There were four during January. The county’s total during the pandemic is 44. avoid infecting others. “We want to get (the test kits) out to the community,” she said. “We all have a respon- sibility to limit the spread.” Although Staten noted that people who take home tests aren’t required to report the results, whether negative or positive, to the Health De- partment, she believes the information can influence residents’ decisions regarding quarantining. According to OHA, Baker County’s rate of positive tests has dropped along with the number of cases over the past three weeks. The weekly test positivity rate has dropped from 33.2% Too much big — government and business Hall said he finds onerous the common complaint among Republicans that government regulation is stifling busi- nesses, including agriculture. “The real regulations you’ve got to worry about, especially from a farmer’s standpoint, is big corporations, which basi- cally act like a government,” Hall said. He said corporations have too much control over the marketplace, including prices paid to the people who pro- duce our food. “The problem isn’t big gov- ernment or big business — it’s just big,” Hall said. “Big busi- ness is controlling big govern- ment. But (Republicans) don’t talk about that part.” Hall’s website — www.peter- hallgovforall.com/ — has more of his policy positions. DEATHS Louis Tholen: 91, of Baker City, died Feb. 8, 2022, in Payette, Idaho. His memorial service will take place later, with date and time to be announced. Arrangements are under the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Online condolences can be made at www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com. POLICE LOG Baker City Police Arrests, citations FAILURE TO APPEAR (2 Baker County Circuit Court warrants): Robert Michael Goodwin, 34, Baker City, 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, in the 2900 block of Walnut Street; jailed. SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL TRESPASSING: Jeremy James Broyles, 39, Baker City, 1:32 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in the 1100 block of Campbell Street; cited and released. FAILURE TO APPEAR (out-of-county warrant): Paul Adam Heller, 50, transient, 12:56 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at First Street and Valley Avenue; jailed. FOURTH-DEGREE ASSAULT (domestic): Derrick Payton, 36, Baker City, 8:01 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the 1000 block of Place Street; jailed. PAROLE VIOLATION: Dewey Harrison Richardson, 30, Pendleton, 3:03 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the 2500 block of Broadway Street; jailed. Baker County Sheriff’s Office Arrests, citations DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICANTS: Daniel Adam Smeltzer, 59, Baker City, 3:03 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, in the 2400 block of Broadway Street. 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