MARCH 9–16, 2022
WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM
INSIDE
Pendleton
Air Museum
soars with history
PAGE 8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
World War II Air Force veteran Bob Stangier, left, and Korean
War Army veteran Ken Garrett volunteer Thursday, Feb. 24,
2022, at the Pendleton Air Museum in downtown Pendleton.
Listen
Tunesmith
Night
Read
‘Lenni and
Margot’
Explore
Pendleton
Library
PAGE 3
PAGE 6
PAGE 9
SPORTS A6
Go! Magazine
Arts and entertainment magazine
Seattle Seahawks shake up lineup
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
Saint
Alphonsus-
Baker City
names new
president
County Fair’s
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Cheryl
Colwell of North Powder.
Windfall
BRIEFING
—————
Wyden online town hall
set for March 12
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/
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2022 • $1.50
Baker City Herald
Dina Ellwanger, president of Saint Al-
phonsus Medical Center-Ontario, will
add the Baker City hospital to her list of
responsibilities.
Ellwanger will replace Priscilla Lynn,
president and chief nursing officer at
Saint Alphonsus in Baker City, who is
ending her four-year tenure on May 6.
“Priscilla has spent
many years of dedicated
service to Saint Al-
phonsus Health System,
and it is with mixed
emotions that we bid
her farewell and wish
Priscilla well in her
new endeavors,” Odette
Ellwanger
Bolano, president and
CEO of Saint Alphon-
sus Health System, said
in a press release.
“Dina knows Baker
City well and will be a
valuable leader as we
continue meeting the
healthcare needs for the
Lynn
community.”
Ellwanger has been president and chief
nursing supervisor at the Ontario hospi-
tal since August 2020.
She served as chief nursing officer at
the Baker City hospital from 2010-14.
During Lynn’s tenure, Saint Alphon-
sus-Baker City was named one of the
top 100 critical access hospitals for five
straight years, 2017-2021.
She oversaw a major remodeling of the
emergency department, outpatient reha-
bilitation services and The Cafe.
Saint Alphonsus Medical Cen-
ter-Baker City is a 25-bed, critical ac-
cess, acute care hospital.
The hospital was founded by the Sis-
ters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in 1897
and became part of the Saint Alphonsus
Health System in 2010.
Baker County
gets $2 million
from state for
fairgrounds work
Workshop on trimming,
pruning fruit trees
The OSU Extension Master
Gardeners program will offer
a workshop on trimming and
pruning fruit trees on Satur-
day, March 26, from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. at the Baker County
Event Center, 2600 East St.
Cost is $15. The speaker is
David Cowan, who has been
an OSU Extension Master
Gardener since 2005.
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
T
he Baker County
Fair Board received
an unprecedented
financial boost to turn
the ideas into reality
with its 5-year plan for
improvements to the
fairgrounds in Baker City.
Learn more about foster
care at March 16 event
A $2 million boost, to be spe-
cific.
The Oregon Legislature allo-
cated that amount to the Baker
County Fair in House Bill 5202.
That’s the 114-page spending
bill, approved during the Legisla-
ture’s short session that adjourned
last week, that allocates tens of
millions of dollars for a variety of
projects statewide.
“It’s very exciting for the Fair
to have this opportunity,” Ron
Rowan, chairman of the Fair
Board, said on Tuesday, March 8.
A virtual event for those
who want to learn more
about foster care is planned
for Wednesday, March 16,
from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It
is sponsored by Every Child,
the Oregon Department of
Human Services, and GOBHI
(Greater Oregon Behavioral
Health Inc.)
To register, go to https://
everychildneoregon.org. Click
on “Upcoming Events” and
search by county. The offi cial
title of the event is “Virtual
Explore Fostering — Every
Child NE Oregon.”
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Replacing the dilapidated wooden fence around the pe-
rimeter of the rodeo grounds at the Baker County Fair-
grounds in Baker City is one of the priorities in the Fair
Board’s 5-year master plan.
“It’s very exciting for the Fair to have
this opportunity.”
See, Fairgrounds/Page A2
— Ron Rowan, chairman, Baker County Fair Board
WEATHER
—————
Friday
City Council
deadlocks on
filling vacancy
43/23
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Today
Baker County has received $2 million from state legislation for
improvements at the Baker County Fairgrounds in Baker City.
38/17
Sunny
Sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Youth chess players to play at state
place Saturday, Feb. 26, in Herm-
iston.
“I’m really proud of the dedication
and commitment these kids have
had to the chess program,” Wolfe
said. “They chose to get on a bus at
6 a.m. on a Saturday and travel two
hours to Hermiston to mostly play
against each other.”
Students participating at region-
als were:
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Chess players from Baker City are
heading to compete at the state tour-
nament April 8-9 at the Portland
Expo Center.
The regional and state competi-
tions are part of Chess for Success, a
program that funds chess clubs in el-
igible schools where more than 50%
of the student population qualifies
for free or reduced-price lunch.
This is the third year Chess for
Success has been offered in the
Baker School District, which offers
clubs at Brooklyn Primary (grades
1-3), South Baker Intermediate
(grades 4-6) and Baker Middle
School (grades 7-8).
The chess program is part of
Baker School District’s FridayPlus
programming. Chess for Success
funds a position for a chess coach,
provides boards to all players,
T-shirts, supplies, and pays for regis-
tration to the regional competition.
Ian Wolfe is the chess coach. The
club at each school practices weekly
from October to May, with a tourna-
ment in June.
TODAY
Issue 126
28 pages
Baker Middle School
Jacob Burton, Weston Burton,
Dallin Stocks, Elias Taylor, Jace
Whitford and Christopher Dall-
stream.
Grades 6-8, Haines
Drew Benjamin
Ian Wolfe/Contributed Photo
Baker students competed in a regional
Chess for Success tournament on Feb.
26, 2022.
Grades 6-8, South Baker
Joseph Chastain
Grades K-5, South Baker
Jozellynn Barnett, Madison Coo-
Brooklyn has two sessions a week
— one for beginners and one for ad- per, Jaxxon Chesterman, Evan Car-
vanced players. Every Friday features roll, Layla Sexton, Isabella Moyes
an open practice for all ages.
The regional tournament took
See, Chess/Page A3
Business ...........................B1
Classified ....................B4-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B4 & B6
Dear Abby .........................B8
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
The Baker City Council, which is back
down to six members, deadlocked again
in an effort to fill its one vacancy Tuesday
evening, March 8, at City Hall.
Councilor Heather Sells resigned
March 1 because she is
moving outside the city
and thus no longer eli-
gible to serve.
During Tuesday’s
meeting, Councilor
Dean Guyer made a
motion to appoint Ray
Guyer
Duman to replace Sells,
whose term contin-
ues through the end of
2022.
Guyer noted that
the City Charter allows
councilors to fill a va-
cancy without going
through a formal appli-
Duman
cation process. Duman
applied for a vacancy
last fall, one eventually
filled when councilors
appointed Guyer on
Dec. 14.
“I would like to de-
fer on the application
process and move to
McQuisten
an actual selection,”
Guyer said. “Raymond
Duman actually applied for the position
that I applied for back in December. He
is someone who has knowledge about
city governance, also is very knowledge-
able about the police department, also
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
See, Council/Page A3
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B8