SPORTS A3
SPORTS A5
SPORTS A6
Crane girls, boys
both claim 1A title
Baker boys overcome
Gladstone, head to state
Bulldog girls beat
Pirates, 50-20
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Joseph
Brooks of Baker City.
BRIEFING
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Sen. Ron Wyden to
host a live online town
hall for Baker County
residents March 12
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
BULLDOGS
HEAD FOR THE BAY
For the first
time since
1998, both the
Baker boys and
girls basketball
teams qualify
for state
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore., will have a live
online town hall for Baker
County residents on
Saturday, March 12, at
3:30 p.m. To sign up, go to
https://m.facebook.com/
PeoplesTH/
Baker City’s Public
Works Advisory Committee
will meet Wednesday,
March 9, at 5:30 p.m.
in council chambers at
City Hall, 1655 First St.
Agenda items include
the review of the 2022
pavement management
plan and 2022 capital
improvement plans.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker junior Jozie Ramos goes to the basket against
Marshfield in a Class 4A playoff game on Saturday,
March 5, 2022, at Baker High School. Ramos and her
teammates will compete in the state tournament March
10-12 at Coos Bay.
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
F
or the first time in almost a quarter century,
both the Baker High School boys and
girls basketball teams will compete in the
state tournament.
Haines Fire Protection
District board meeting
March 14
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Hudson Spike led Baker with 17 points in a 69-52 loss to La
Grande in the GOL title game on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in the
Baker gym. Spike and his teammates will compete in the Class
4A state tournament March 10-12 at Coos Bay.
And as was the case the last time the teams
pulled off this feat, in 1998, the Bulldogs will all
be traveling to the same city.
This year it’s Coos Bay.
In 1998 the destination was Portland, where
both the girls and boys tournaments were played
at the Chiles Center on the University of Portland
campus (albeit in different weeks).
The situation for this week’s tournaments in Coos
Bay, which start Thursday, March 10, and continue
through Saturday, March 12, is a bit different.
See, Bulldogs/Page A3
WEATHER
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Today
City pays
$1,970 to
remove trash
from property
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker City paid a contractor
$1,970 earlier this month to remove
trash and other items from a prop-
erty whose owner had been cited
multiple times for violating the city’s
property maintenance ordinance.
“It’s a property we’ve been deal-
ing with for years,” Baker City Police
Chief Ty Duby said.
Dealing with the property took
much longer than expected, Duby
said.
See, Trash/Page A2
Public Works Advisory
Committee meets
March 9
HAINES — The Haines
Fire Protection District will
have its monthly board
of directors meeting on
Monday, March 14, at 7
p.m. at the main fi re station,
816 Cole St. All residents
of the district are welcome
to attend.
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2022 • $1.50
COVID weekly
cases fewest
since July 2021
Baker City Herald
With the omicron wave continuing
to recede, Baker County had the low-
est weekly total of new COVID-19
cases in more than half a year.
The Baker County Health Depart-
ment reported 11 cases from Feb. 27
through March 5.
That’s the lowest weekly total since
July 18-24, 2021, when there were six
cases reported in the county. That was
just before the surge in cases caused
by the delta variant started, peaking
with 139 cases from Sept. 12-18.
Cases then dropped substantially
through the fall, to a low of 20 from
Oct. 31-Nov. 6.
The omicron surge started the first
week of January, reaching a weekly re-
cord of 183 cases from Jan. 16-22.
Since then, cases have dropped for
six straight weeks, plummeting by
94% since the record-setting week.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown an-
nounced recently that the statewide
mask mandate for indoor public
spaces would cease starting March 12.
Masks will be optional in Baker 5J
schools starting Monday, March 14.
Rain or snow
Jesse Brown wins $100,000 at rodeo
Wednesday
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
41/23
33/6
Morning snow
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Brown, a 2011 Baker High
School graduate, has com-
Jesse Brown hasn’t had a
peted in the past two Na-
chance to calculate what the
tional Finals Rodeo events.
hourly wage would be based
He entered the 2021 com-
on the $100,000 he earned for
petition as the world’s sec-
his most recent 3.7 seconds
ond-ranked steer wrestler,
of work.
and finished sixth for the
Suffice it to say it would be
season with winnings of
an ample sum.
$165,061.
(About $97.3 million,
Brown, who competes for
which most people could get
Resistol, a maker of cowboy
by on.)
hats, brought down his steer
Brown, a steer wrestler
in 3.76 seconds at The Amer-
from Baker City, had the big-
ican.
gest payday of his professional
Brown said he’s watched
career on Sunday, March 6.
the event on TV since he
Brown won the steer wres-
started in rodeo several years
Rod Connor/PRCA/Contributed Photo ago.
tling event at The American,
Jesse Brown of Baker City takes down his steer in 3.9 seconds in Round
He competed in the event
a rodeo in Arlington, Texas,
for the first time in 2021.
earning a $100,000 check.
9 of the National Finals Rodeo on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, in Las Vegas.
“It’s one of a handful of
The American is a unique Brown tied for first in the round with three other steer wrestlers.
those rodeos that a guy
competition with a total pay-
out of $3 million, including
Texas, where he’s taking a rest like The American, the results wants to win in his career,”
$100,000 for the winners in
day before heading to Hous- will count toward the season Brown said.
The event began with 10
several events.
ton for another big rodeo
standings leading up to the
“What a day,” Brown said in March 10-11.
Super Bowl of rodeo, the Na- contestants in each event,
and the top four times and
phone interview on Monday,
That one has a more mod- tional Finals Rodeo in De-
scores advanced to the cham-
March 7, from Weatherford, est purse, at $50,000, but un- cember in Las Vegas.
pionship round. In the sud-
den-death format, the top
time and score earned the
$100,000 payday.
Brown said the atmosphere
in AT&T Stadium, where the
Dallas Cowboys play their
home football games, was
electric.
“The stands were packed,”
he said. “It’s a huge stadium,
and I was pretty juiced up.
There was pressure, but it felt
awesome.”
Brown, who played foot-
ball at Washington State Uni-
versity before transferring
to Montana State University
and taking up rodeo full time,
spends much of the year trav-
eling around the country to
compete in rodeos.
One of his favorites is Or-
egon’s most famous — the
Pendleton Round Up.
In the 2019 Round Up
Brown set an event record by
bringing down his steer in
3.7 seconds.
Washington skier dies in accident on Gunsight Peak
to a Union County Search and
Rescue press release.
A Washington college stu-
The accident was reported
dent died following a ski acci- at 11:22 a.m. March 5 after
dent on the northwest slope of a man Carr was skiing with
Gunsight Peak, southwest of
called 911, according to Union
the Anthony Lakes Mountain County Search and Rescue
Resort, on Saturday, March 5. Coordinator Nick Vora.
Ella Carr, 20, was severely
Search and rescue teams
injured after losing control and from the Union and Baker
crashing into trees, according County sheriff’s offices, plus
BY DICK MASON
The (La Grande) Observer
TODAY
Issue 125
14 pages
Classified ....................B4-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
crews from the La Grande and
North Powder Rural fire de-
partments, U.S. Forest Service
law enforcement and the An-
thony Lakes Ski Patrol all re-
sponded to the accident.
In addition to the respond-
ing ground resources, a Life
Flight medevac helicopter
was ordered, along with a
hoist-capable medevac heli-
Crossword ...............B4 & B6
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ............B1-B3
copter from the Oregon Army
National Guard due to the
steep terrain and reported se-
verity of Carr’s injuries.
The helicopter’s hoist equip-
ment would have allowed Carr
to have been pulled into the
aircraft while it was hovering.
Vora said it would have been
impossible for a helicopter to
land at the site.
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports .............. A3, A5 & A6
About 80 minutes after the
initial call, a ski patrol mem-
ber and Anthony Lakes staff
climbed the approximately
38-degree slope and reached
Carr. They assessed the situ-
ation, and then brought her
to the base of the peak where
La Grande Fire Department
See, Death/Page A2
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B8