A2 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2022
Local
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
February 26, 1972
HUNTINGTON — The Locomotives thumped Imbler
here 71-46 Friday night to wrap up their regular season
with assurance of a playoff berth, but which playoff, when
where and who are no clearer than before.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
February 26, 1997
Baker City voters will decide May 20 whether to allow
the city to sell property in an industrial park without voter
approval.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to take
the proposal to voters.
The city charter, approved in 1952, requires the city to
obtain voter approval before selling any piece of property
worth $5,000 or more.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
February 27, 2012
Baker City councilors will start conducting business
a little earlier than usual Tuesday evening when they
precede their regular meeting with a work session
regarding the water system.
The work session will give councilors a chance to hear
about what other Oregon communities that don’t fi lter their
drinking water are doing to protect against illness-causing
parasites such as cryptosporidium and giardia.
The city’s proposed plan is to build an ultraviolet
treatment plant at an estimated cost of $2.5 million.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
February 27, 2021
A nonprofi t promoting a proposal to add 18 Oregon
counties to Idaho, including Baker County, gathered
enough signatures to put a related measure on the
county’s May 18 special election ballot.
The measure wouldn’t directly deal with Move Oregon’s
Border’s proposal to expand Idaho.
Rather, if voters approve the measure in May, the
Baker County Board of Commissioners would be required
to meet on the second Wednesday every March, July and
November “to discuss how to promote the interests of
Baker County in any negotiations regarding relocating the
state borders of Idaho to include Baker County,” according
to the ballot title.
Actually moving the states’ border would require the
approval of both the Oregon and Idaho legislatures, and of
Congress.
To put the measure on the Baker County ballot,
Move Oregon’s Border had to collect at least 496 valid
signatures from registered voters in the county, said
Stefanie Kirby, Baker County clerk.
The organization submitted 746 signatures, and Kirby
said she verifi ed 630 of those.
Among the 116 signatures that weren’t verifi ed, 22
were duplicate signatures, 21 didn’t match the signature
on the person’s voter registration, and others were from
people who either aren’t registered to vote or don’t live in
Baker County, Kirby said.
Similar measures will also be on the May ballot in
Malheur, Lake, Sherman and Grant counties.
Move Oregon’s Border is also seeking to put measures
on the ballot this November in Harney, Morrow, Umatilla,
Josephine, Jackson, Klamath and Curry counties, said
Mike McCarter, who lives in LaPine, south of Bend, and is
president of Move Oregon’s Border.
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SENIOR MENUS
MONDAY (Feb. 28): Baked ham, candied yams, mixed
vegetables, rolls, green salad, brownies
TUESDAY (March 1): Chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes
with gravy, corn, rolls, cottage cheese and Jell-O, brownies
WEDNESDAY (March 2): Salisbury steak, baked beans, mixed
vegetables, rolls, macaroni salad, cheesecake
THURSDAY (March 3): Herb-baked chicken, rice pilaf, carrots,
rolls, green salad, cookies
FRIDAY (March 4): Barbecued ribs, baked beans, corn, rolls,
coleslaw, cinnamon rolls
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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Telephone: 541-523-3673
ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
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(P.O. Box 807), Baker City, OR 97814.
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Periodicals Postage Paid
at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Copyright © 2022
COVID hospitalizations falling fast
State to lift
mask mandate
March 19
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Severe cases of COVID-19
are falling so rapidly that Or-
egon could hit the official tar-
get that would allow the end
of community indoor-mask
mandates as early as March 12.
A new forecast by Oregon
Health & Science University
released Thursday, Feb. 24,
shows the state dropping below
400 people with COVID-19
in state hospitals by March
12. That’s the mark Gov. Kate
Brown had set for ending in-
door mask mandates.
But based on a previous
OHSU forecast, the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA) an-
nounced Thursday morning
that the mask mandate would
be lifted March 19. That is the
same date Department of Ed-
ucation Director Colt Gill said
that masks would also come
off at schools.
Brown also said on Thurs-
day that she would end the
pandemic state of emergency
on April 1.
“We can now protect our-
selves, our friends and our
families without invoking the
extraordinary emergency au-
thorities that were necessary
at the beginning of the pan-
demic,” Brown said.
Gill said school districts had
the option of continuing to
require masks and individual
students could also wear masks
after the mandate is lifted.
“Every individual has the
right to make that decision and
our schools will support the
continued use of face coverings
by individuals,” Gill said in a
statement.
Brown and OHA had yet to
comment Thursday whether
the new OHSU projection
would move up the date for
ending mask requirements.
Monday, Feb. 28, will mark
the two-year anniversary of the
first COVID-19 case in Ore-
gon. State health officials have
noted six waves of infection in
Oregon over the 24 months.
Oregon has reported
691,337 cases and 6,519 deaths
from COVID-19 since the be-
ginning of the pandemic.
Baker County’s totals, as of
Thursday, Feb. 24, were 3,173
cases and 46 deaths.
Since declaring the emer-
gency in March 2020, Brown
has used the sweeping powers
granted a governor to regu-
late business activity, close and
open schools, limit the size of
gatherings and require mask-
ing and other public health
actions.
Dr. Peter Graven, the lead
analyst on the OHSU forecast,
said the state has a relatively
high vaccination rate and anal-
ysis shows a large majority
of state residents adhering to
masking and social-distancing
protocols.
Put together, the actions re-
sulted in the omicron variant
having less impact than else-
where in the nation. The state
had the fourth-lowest peak in
hospitalizations when adjusted
for population.
“It’s clear that Oregon ap-
pears to be one of the top per-
formers nationwide during
omicron,” Graven said.
Brown cautioned that de-
spite the highly positive trends,
“the pandemic is not over.”
“COVID-19 is still present
in Oregon, and we must re-
main vigilant,” Brown said in
the statement. “We must con-
tinue to get vaccinated and
boosted, wear masks when
necessary, and stay home when
sick. That is the only way we
can achieve our shared goals
of saving lives and keeping our
schools, businesses, and com-
munities open.”
Hospitals in Oregon re-
ported caring for 528 patients
with COVID-19 on Thursday,
Feb. 24, down from 578 the
day before.
The trend in Oregon mir-
rors statistics from the rest
of the nation. The New York
Times on Thursday reported
new infections are down in 49
states, with only Maine show-
ing a rising infection rate. A
drop of over 50% compared to
two weeks ago was reported by
42 states.
Oregon health officials are
monitoring the situation in
neighboring Idaho, which has
the second highest per-capita
rate of new infections in the
nation. Idaho’s average number
of new cases is 80 per 100,000
people, behind only Maine at
81 cases.
Unlike Maine, Idaho’s infec-
tion rate is dropping, with the
case count down 23% over the
past two weeks.
Idaho reports 53% of eligible
residents are fully vaccinated,
far below the national average
of 65%. Oregon is at 66%.
The Johns Hopkins Coro-
navirus Resource Center re-
ported Thursday morning that
there have been over 78.7 mil-
lion cases and 942,985 deaths
Masks
County’s COVID situation
Continued from Page A1
Mark Witty, Baker School
District superintendent,
said on Thursday, Feb. 24,
that ending the mask man-
date for schools on March
19, in conjunction with
other indoor public spaces,
“makes sense.”
“It’s something we’ve
been advocating for,” Witty
said. “We appreciate the
ability to make decisions
with our health department
at the local level that we feel
are best for Baker students,
staff, and families.”
Although Witty said he
will still be discussing the
timeline with the Baker
County Health Department
and the Baker 5J School
Board, he believes the dis-
trict will be among those
that make masks optional
after March 19.
That’s a Saturday, and
spring break runs from
March 21-25, with classes
resuming March 28.
Witty emphasized that
even after the district makes
masks optional, it will “defi-
nitely support any staff
member or student who
chooses to wear a mask.”
He said employees might
also continue to wear a
mask when working with
students who have health
issues that make them
in the United States from
COVID-19.
Worldwide, the center re-
ported over 430.7 million cases
and 5,923,711 deaths.
The steep drop in cases mir-
rors the steep rise in omicron,
which has proven to be by far
the most contagious version of
COVID-19.
At its mid-January peak,
new daily cases in the United
States topped more than
800,000.
The variant was the first to
more easily infect vaccinated
people, causing a jump in
“breakthrough” cases.
The outcome of infections
was much better for vaccinated
people. The overwhelming
majority of severe cases and
deaths were among unvacci-
nated people.
OHA said just 2.4% break-
through cases require hospi-
talizations and 0.5% result in
death. The median age of fatal-
ities among vaccinated people
is 80.
While significantly more
contagious, omicron did not
cause as many severe cases and
deaths among all people who
were infected.
Daily hospitalizations
during the omicron wave
peaked at 1,130 on Jan. 27. In
comparison, the delta variant
peaked at 1,178 daily hospital-
izations on Sept. 1.
Deaths also were less com-
mon. Oregon’s record for
deaths in one month was set
in September 2021, when 918
deaths were reported amid
the peak of the delta variant.
During the peak month of the
omicron wave in January 2022,
Oregon reported 301 deaths
from COVID-19.
South Baker Intermediate School/Contributed Photo
Students at South Baker Intermediate School collected toys for
a Christmas toy drive in December 2021.
unusually susceptible to
COVID-19.
Witty said he is urg-
ing state officials to allow
school districts that make
masks optional to continue
to use the “test-to-stay”
policy. That allows stu-
dents and staff who have no
symptoms, but who have
possibly been exposed to
someone with COVID-19,
to stay in school if they have
a negative test.
Witty said the district
has used that policy to keep
both students and employ-
ees in schools over the past
few months.
When state officials an-
nounced that the mask
mandate for schools would
end March 31, the proposal
also included eliminating
the test-to-stay option for
districts that chose to make
masks optional.
Witty said the Oregon
Department of Education
is supposed to release new
guidelines soon, and he
hopes the test-to-stay pol-
icy remains an option for
all districts, including those
that end the mask require-
ment after March 19.
“I would hate to lose one
of the tools that we have
been using effectively to
keep kids in place,” he said.
“It’s a really good tool for
staff and students.”
New COVID-19 cases continued to de-
cline this week in Baker County, a trend that
dates back about a month following the
peak of the omicron surge in late January.
For the first 5 days of the current mea-
suring week, Feb. 20-26, the county re-
ported 19 new cases. There were 40 cases
for the week of Feb. 13-19, the fewest in a
week since the last week of December.
The Oregon Health Authority this week
reported the 46th COVID-19-related death
in Baker County during the pademic. A
94-year-old man who tested positive on
Jan. 26, died on Jan. 31, at at his home. The
presence of underlying medical conditions
is being confirmed, according to OHA.
There have been four COVID-19-related
deaths in the county during February, fol-
lowing four deaths in January.
The OHA’s weekly outbreak report, re-
leased on Wednesday, Feb. 23, listed two
outbreaks in care facilities in Baker County.
There have been 15 cases at Settler’s Park,
where the first case of the outbreak was re-
ported on Jan. 24, and six cases at Memory
Lane Homes, the first reported on Jan. 5.
Under the workplace outbreak cate-
gory, there have been 35 cases at Powder
River Correctional Facility in Baker City,
the most recent onset on Jan. 31. The re-
port does not distinguish between cases
in staff and inmates.
In the school outbreak report, Hun-
tington School District reported one case
on Feb. 12. No cases have been reported
in Baker 5J School District schools during
February.
According to OHA’s weekly break-
through case report, Baker County had 16
breakthrough cases — infections in people
who are fully vaccinated — for the week
Feb. 13-19. That’s 40% of the weekly total
of 40 cases.
News of Record
DEATHS
Betty J. Combs: 90, a longtime Baker
City resident, died Feb. 22, 2022, at
Memory Lane Homes in Baker City. A
visitation will be Friday, March 4, from
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Coles Tribute Center,
1950 Place St. Her funeral will take place
Saturday, March 5, at 1 p.m. at Coles
Tribute Center, with vault interment
to follow at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Memorial contributions can be made to
the United Methodist Church or Quail
Ridge Ladies Association through Coles
Tribute Center, 1950 Place St., 1950
Place St., Baker City, OR 97814. To light
a candle in Betty’s memory, go to www.
colestributecenter.com.
Ivan Bork: 78, of Baker City, died Feb.
22, 2022, at his home, surrounded by
family. Arrangements are under the
direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral
Home & Cremation Services. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
James Crosley ‘Jim’ Longwell: 78,
of Baker City died Jan. 31, 2022, at his
residence. Memorial contributions
can be made to the Wounded Warrior
Project through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer
Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR
97814. To leave an online condolence for
Jim’s family, go to www.grayswestco.
com.
Agnes Bird: 95, a longtime Halfway
resident, died Feb. 22, 2022, at her
home. Arrangements are under the
direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral
Home & Cremation Services. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
FUNERALS PENDING
James Bacon: Memorial service
with military honors will take place
Saturday, March 12, at 11 a.m. at
the Harvest Church, 3720 Birch St.
in Baker City. Memorial donations
in Jim’s name can be made to the
Powder River Sportsmen’s Club rifle
range, through Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services,
P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834.
Online condolences can be shared at
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
FUGITIVE (one warrant from Ada County,
Idaho, for probation violation, one
warrant from Washington County, Idaho,
for possession of controlled substance):
Carol Marguerite Womack, 39, Nampa,
Idaho, 12:37 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the
3600 block of Midway Drive; jailed.
Oregon State Police
Arrests, citations
FAILURE TO FILE ANNUAL SEX OFFENDER
REGISTRATION: Eric Lee Cavyell, 31,
Baker City, 9:36 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, on
Windmill Lane; jailed.
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