Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2022)
FEBRUARY 16–23, 2022 WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM ‘Litt le Women’ OPENS AT BMCC Jennifer Colton/Contributed image Blue Mountain Community College and Friends of the Elgin Opera House present “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” Feb. 24-26 and March 3-5 in Pendleton. Karen Taylor, left, and Carly Elder are seen here at rehearsal Feb. 7, 2022. PAGE 8 Learn Salsa dancing Listen EOU music show Compete Lego contest PAGE 3 PAGE 9 PAGE 13 INSIDE SPORTS A6 Go! Magazine Arts & entertainment magazine Baker High to host district basketball tournament IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022 • $1.50 School board chooses 3 finalists to replace Witty QUICK HITS ————— Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscribers Larry and Pam Morrison of Baker City. BRIEFING ————— Two local students on dean’s list at University of Idaho MOSCOW, Idaho — Two local students were among those named to the dean’s list for the fall 2021 semes- ter at the University of Idaho. Samuel Hamilton of Baker City, who is majoring in business, and Alonda Ibarra of North Powder, who is majoring in psychology and communication, as well as culture, society and justice, earned a GPA of at least 3.5 while taking a minimum of 12 graded credits. ‘Night at Old Auburn’ scheduled Feb. 26 The Baker Heritage Muse- um is bringing back its an- nual “A Night at Old Auburn” fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Baker Elks Lodge, 1896 Second St. Dinner begins at 6 p.m., followed by gambling games and bingo at 7 p.m. Tickets for dinner are $40. Entrance tickets (no dinner) are $15. Tickets are available until Feb. 18 at the Baker Heri- tage Museum, 2480 Grove St., Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. These can also be purchased online at www.friendsofbakerheritage- museum.com. Those who wish to sup- port the museum but not at- tend the event can purchase dinner tickets and pick up the meal that night. WEATHER ————— Today 38/16 Partly cloudy Wednesday 41/19 Mostly sunny Full forecast on the back of the B section. The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. Baker City Herald Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald Baker City has cited Lucas Gwin for violating the city’s property maintenance ordinance more than half a dozen times over the past seven years related to accumulations of trash and other items at 1975 Birch St. City explores options for ‘nuisance’ property Owner appeals court ruling for home where trash, odors, mice have prompted neighbor complaints BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com The owner of a home in east Baker City that’s the first property in town to be deemed a “chronic neighbor- hood nuisance” under a city ordinance due to accumulations of trash and other factors is appealing the Jan. 11 judgment from Justice of the Peace Brent Kerns. Lucas Buddy Lee Gwin owns the home at 1975 Birch St., at the corner of Birch Street and Washington Avenue. Baker City’s code enforcement offi- cer, Brian LaFavor, cited Gwin, 33, on Dec. 9, 2021, under the city’s property maintenance ordinance, 97.01. Four times in the past four years, most recently in April 2021, Baker City paid to remove trash and other debris from Gwin’s property. But Ty Duby, Baker City Police chief, said that not long after that work, items started to accumulate again on the property, and the city received multiple complaints from residents in the area. In March 2019 the City Council, motivated in part by the city’s previous efforts to clean up Gwin’s property, ap- proved a revised version of the prop- erty maintenance ordinance that adds the chronic neighborhood nuisance designation. Duby said that revised ordinance was not added to the roster of ordi- nances on the city’s website. However, he said residents who live near Gwin pointed out to Duby that the ordinance had been revised, and that it gives the Baker County Justice Court Judge the authority to block people, including the owners, from properties deemed chronic neighbor- hood nuisances. After LaFavor cited Gwin on Dec. 9, 2021, the city asked Justice of the Peace Brent Kerns to declare the property as a chronic neighborhood nuisance. In an order dated Jan. 11, 2022, Kerns wrote that as of Jan. 5, Gwin’s property was a chronic neighborhood nuisance. Kerns also wrote that the home is “unsafe.” Kerns determined that the con- dition of the property met six of the seven criteria in the revised ordinance, including that the property does not have city water and sewer service and that it has a history of property main- tenance code violations. The property has not been closed to entry. Gwin filed an appeal to Kerns’ ruling in a document dated Jan. 19, 2022. The appeal was filed in Baker County Cir- cuit Court, where it is pending. Gwin declined to comment on the situation. Although the city’s 2019 update to the property maintenance ordi- nance states that people, including the owner, can be banned from entering properties deemed chronic neighbor- hood nuisances, City Manager Jona- than Cannon said he’s not convinced, since there is no precedent locally, that the city can legally enforce that aspect of the ordinance. Cannon said there is a “delicate bal- ance” between protecting private prop- erty rights, including the ability for the owner to even enter the property, while also ensuring that the property owner’s use isn’t harming neighbors. As an alternative, Duby said the city plans to pursue a different legal ave- nue — potentially declaring the home an unsafe structure. Duby said the city’s building official can declare a building unsafe and thus not inhabitable. Duby said he plans to present an af- fidavit to Baker County Circuit Court listing the reasons he believes Gwin’s home is unsafe to occupy, and ask Judge Matt Shirtcliff to grant an ad- ministrative search warrant to allow the city to determine the condition of the home. Ultimately, he said, the city could board up the home to prevent entry. Access to the property would still be open to allow for the removal of de- bris, he said. See, Nuisance /Page A3 Local residents will have a chance next week to meet the three finalists to replace Mark Witty as superintendent of the Baker 5J School District. The school board, along with employees from the dis- trict and members of the dis- trict’s budget committee and bond oversight committee, in- terviewed candidates last week. During an executive ses- sion meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 15, the board chose Erin Lair, David Marshall and William Schidbach as the three finalists. The trio will return to Baker City for a second set of inter- views next week. See, School/Page A3 Utah man sentenced for 2021 high- speed chase BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com A Utah man who led an Or- egon State Police trooper on a high-speed chase last spring and then tried to elude on foot was sentenced on Monday, Feb. 14, after pleading guilty to three charges in Baker County Circuit Court. Clayton Ted Snell, 37, of Sandy, Utah, pleaded guilty to fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, which is a Class C felony, as well as mis- demeanor charges of reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants. Judge Matt Shirtcliff sen- tenced Snell to 20 days in jail and 18 months of supervised probation, and suspended his driver’s license for one year. Snell also was fined $1,000 for the DUII conviction. Two other counts, one for fleeing or attempting to elude, and one for criminal mischief, were dismissed in a plea agree- ment with the district attor- ney’s office. See, Chase/Page A3 5 file for county commission positions 3 seeking chairman job, 2 file for part-time position BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER soconner@bakercityherald.com The list of candidates is get- ting longer for Baker County Commissioner positions on the May 17 primary election ballot. So far three people are seek- ing to replace Bill Harvey as chairman of the three-mem- ber Baker County Board of Commissioners. Harvey, who is the only full-time commis- sioner, is not seeking reelec- tion, and his current four-year term ends Dec. 31, 2022. The three registered candi- dates for Harvey’s job — Po- TODAY Issue 117 28 pages Witham Justus sition 3 — are all Baker City residents. Joe Johnson filed on Jan. 11, Dan Garrick on Jan. 26, and Shane Alderson on Feb. 7. Two people are vying to re- place Commissioner Mark Bennett, who holds the part- time Position 2. Bennett’s term also ends this year, and he, like Harvey, is not seeking reelection. Christina Witham of Baker City was the first to file, on Dec. 2. Business .................B1 & B6 Classified ....................B2-B4 Comics ..............................B5 Alderson Kody Justus, who lives in Baker Valley, filed for Posi- tion 2 on Feb. 7. The deadline for candi- dates to file for either com- mission position is March 8 at 5 p.m. Information about filing is available from the Baker County Clerk’s Of- fice in the Courthouse, 1995 Third St. The phone number is 541-523-8207. In both of the commis- sion races, if one candidate receives more than half the Community News.............A2 Crossword ...............B2 & B4 Dear Abby .........................B6 Johnson Garrick votes in the May 17 primary, that candidate would be elected. If none of the candidates receives more than half the votes, the top two candidates would advance to a runoff in the Nov. 8, 2022, general election. the Republican primary for the third commission posi- tion in 2016. (Voters later approved a measure making county commissioner positions nonpartisan, so there are no longer Republican and Democratic primaries.) Justus lost that race by just 40 or so votes. Position 3 candidates Johnson is a dispatcher with the Baker County Sher- iff ’s Office. Garrick, a former member of the Baker 5J School Board, is a self-employed builder and general contractor. Position 2 candidates Alderson, a Baker City Witham owns Oregon Sign Council member, owns Ba- Company in Baker City. boon Creek Outfitters in Justus, who is a rancher, ran against Bruce Nichols in Baker City. Horoscope ..............B2 & B4 Lottery Results .................A2 News of Record ................A2 Opinion .............................A4 Senior Menus ...................A2 Sports ...............................A6 Sudoku..............................B5 Turning Backs ..................A2 Weather ............................B6