BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Trolley
Continued from Page A1
The trolley has nine official stops,
but riders can flag the driver anywhere
along the route.
“Just put your hand up and wave. The
driver will pull over wherever it’s saf-
est,” said Joe Hayes, county manager
for Community Connection of Baker
County.
The entire route covers Baker City
from Grocery Outlet to the east, south
to Colorado Street, west to 17th Street
and north to Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center.
The loop takes an hour. It begins and
ends at Community Connection, 2810
Cedar St.
On the map, the first half hour is
marked with a blue line. The second half
hour is designated in green.
Maps are available at Community
Connection, the Chamber of Com-
merce, and online at https://ccno.org/
publictransit/baker-county-2/. Click on
“Trolley Deviated Fixed Route.”
The fare is $1 every time you board,
or you can buy a pass — $3 daily for un-
limited rides, or $35 monthly.
Passes are available from the driver, or
at the main office.
Community Connection of Northeast
Oregon includes Baker, Union and Wal-
lowa counties. Hayes said that the fixed
route fare in Union and Wallowa coun-
ties is free, thanks to a grant.
In Baker County, the $1 fare — which
raises $20,000 to $30,000 each year —
Community Connection of Northeast Oregon
supplies a local match when applying
A map of the trolley route is available at Community Connection and the Chamber
for grants, he said.
of Commerce.
Children as young as 10 can ride the
trolley without an adult.
Because the trolley is considered pub-
Taxi service using thriftier vehicle
lic transportation, masks are still re-
Baker City’s licensed taxi service, Elkhorn Taxi, has made a change to reduce the financial
quired through at least April 18, per fed-
burden of the recent spike in gas prices.
eral guidelines.
“We’ve been running a smaller (vehicle), a Hyundai Elantra, and that has helped a lot
Dial-A-Ride
The trolley isn’t the only choice for
public transportation in Baker County.
Dial-A-Ride can be requested for
specific pick up and drop off — unlike
the fixed route trolley that must follow
a certain path and schedule.
Hayes said those who want to uti-
lize Dial-A-Ride should call ahead at
least four hours prior to pickup, al-
though an entire day of notice is rec-
ommended.
Although the priority is given to
medical appointments, Dial-A-Ride is
available to the general public with an
emphasis on service for seniors and
people with disabilities.
Cost for Dial-A-Ride is $1 per direc-
tion.
For more information or to schedule
a ride, call the office at 541-523-7433.
because it gets about 26 miles a gallon around town,” Elkhorn Taxi employee Wes Phegley
said. “We haven’t been using our van. But yeah, we’ve definitely been feeling it. We’re trying
to mitigate it by using a more fuel-efficient car.”
Phegley said the volume of calls has been pretty steady through the winter.
“We’re hoping we can maintain our prices and stuff and not have to raise our prices but
we’re definitely keeping an eye on it,” Phegley said.
If the company sought to increase its prices it would need to make that request to the
City Council, which has the authority to set rates under a city ordinance.
— Samantha O’Conner
It stops in Haines, then arrives in La
Grande by 8 a.m.
“It drops them off at work,” Hayes
said.
The bus returns to La Grande around
5 p.m. to bring riders home.
A monthly pass costs $110. Other-
wise fares are $11 round trip or $7 one
way.
Worried about being stuck in La
Grande without a car?
There are two fixed trolley routes in
La Grande, with free fare.
have shopping lists. Cost is $7.
On Fridays, a bus brings Sumpter
residents to Baker City. Cost is $5.
Baker City to Ontario
On Thursdays, a shopping bus heads
to Ontario. Riders can request multiple
places to stop.
“We’ll take you anywhere you want to
go,” Hayes said.
Cost is $5 because this trip is subsi-
dized by a grant, he said.
Baker to La Grande
Please call ahead to reserve a ride
Those who commute to La Grande
— the amount of passengers dictates
for work or school could catch a ride on From outlying areas
which vehicle they use, Hayes said.
the connector bus, which leaves Baker
On Wednesdays, a bus runs from
“If nobody rides, we don’t go,” he
City at 7 a.m.
Halfway to Baker City for residents who said.
Upgrades
COVID
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
Dispatchers there commu-
nicate with officers from the
Sheriff’s Office and Baker City
Police Department, as well as
with the county’s many volun-
teer fire protection districts.
Oregon State Police and
federal agencies including
the Forest Service and Bu-
reau of Land Management
have their own radio net-
works, but those agencies
can also use the county’s sys-
tem if needed, Ash said.
The largest, and most re-
cent, grant is $190,000 in-
cluded in the final funding
package from Congress for
the 2022 fiscal year.
President Joe Biden signed
the bill into law on March 15.
“The Sheriff ’s Office ap-
preciates this opportunity
which will allow us to update
radio infrastructure, improv-
ing communications among
first responders (EMS, fire,
and law enforcement) and
also with the dispatch cen-
ter,” Ash said. “These up-
grades will not only increase
officer safety, but will also
enhance the services pro-
vided to those we serve
The most significant con-
sistent task throughout the
pandemic has been the Health
Department’s work to investi-
gate cases and do contact trac-
ing — interviewing people
who might have been exposed
to the virus, Bennett said.
Per state guidance earlier
this month, the county is no
longer doing those tasks, he
said.
The state also ended, as of
March 12, the requirement
that people wear masks in
some indoor public settings,
including schools.
Mask requirements remain
in effect for health care set-
tings, including the Baker
County Health Department at
2200 Fourth St., and on some
public transportation.
Nancy Staten, director of
the Health Department, said
the county reported only one
COVID-19 case during the
week March 13-19.
The number of tests done
in the county that week had
not been updated for the en-
tire week before press time.
But for the first five days of
Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo
A $190,000 allocation from the federal government will allow the
county to replace 17-year-old radio consoles.
throughout our community.
This project will truly be a
benefit to all.”
Combined with $60,000
from the Oregon State Fire
Marshal’s Office, money that
the Greater Bowen Valley
Fire Protection District ap-
plied for, and $30,000 from
the federal Department of
Homeland Security, the
$190,000 should be sufficient
to replace the repeaters at all
10 sites, said Chris Galisze-
wski, chief for the Bowen
Valley district and the Sher-
iff ’s Office’s radio technician.
Several of the mountains
have two repeaters — one for
fire districts and one for law
enforcement.
Ash said the new repeaters
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should improve radio signal
coverage in the county, al-
though some dead spots likely
will remain.
Work on the repeaters will
start when the snow melts
enough to allow access to the
sites, Galiszewski said.
The county will also replace
the radio consoles that dis-
patchers use to communicate
with emergency responders,
Ash said.
Those consoles, which date
to 2005, are increasingly trou-
blesome because parts are
harder to come by, he said.
The Sheriff’s Office has not
ordered new consoles and
there is no firm timeline for
that part of the project.
All credit cards accepted
Tourism
Continued from Page A1
Sizer and his team of four
focus on guiding the trips
throughout treasured spots
in Eastern Oregon. The crew
helps the clients have the
most ideal outdoor experi-
ence by providing services
such as transporting equip-
ment, teaching fishing les-
sons and serving high-end
campfire meals.
The business often helps
beginners or inexperienced
campers submerge themselves
in a full-on backpacking expe-
rience that otherwise might be
out of their comfort zone. Sizer
noted that many car campers
look to Go Wild for a more
immersive camping and hik-
ing experience.
“My thinking is that if I can
provide a really fun, comfort-
able experience for folks if it’s
their first time sleeping in the
wilderness, then those people
have a greater understanding
and appreciation for the out-
doors,” Sizer said. “Ultimately,
I think they become better
caretakers of nature.”
Environmental education
is an important aspect of Go
Wild, showing clients how to
make the most out of an out-
door experience while appreci-
ating the land.
“That component I think
is a big part of the narrative,”
Sizer said. “We talk about
growing up on this land and
how we use it, how important
it is to use it in a certain way so
that we protect this resource
the week, the total was 130,
so the test positivity rate for
the week was less than 1%, ac-
cording to the Oregon Health
Authority.
That hadn’t happened in
Baker County since late June
2020.
The county also reported a
single case for three weeks in
2020, but the number of tests
was lower so the positivity
rate was higher — July 12-18,
Sept. 13-19 and Oct. 11-17.
Staten said county officials
plan to meet this week to
discuss whether to cease re-
porting daily case totals. The
county temporarily switched
to weekly reports in July 2021
until the surge caused by the
delta variant began.
For the first 20 days of
March, the county had zero
or one case on 17 days. That
includes zero cases on nine of
11 days from March 10-20.
Staten said that although
the Health Department has
ceased contact tracing and
might reduce the frequency
of its data reporting, she en-
courages residents who have
questions or concerns re-
lated to COVID-19 to call the
agency at 541-523-8211.
Staten also said the Health
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Department continues to of-
fer COVID-19 vaccines.
Baker County has the
fifth-lowest vaccination rate
among Oregon’s 36 counties,
with 55.8% of residents 18
and older having had at least
one dose.
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for generations to come. In
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Pat Vaughan joined Sizer
in 2017 with the primary fo-
cus of crafting a gourmet
food experience for travelers.
Vaughan has since moved on
to nursing school, but the cu-
linary services he introduced
carry on in the company. Go
Wild partners with local busi-
nesses, such as Glacier 45 Dis-
tillery, Terminal Gravity, Cop-
per Belt Wines and other local
restaurants and businesses.
“What I think makes a
memorable trip is the people
you meet, the food you eat
and the experiences that push
the boundaries,” Sizer said.
“We’ve tried to instill really
cool things that you might not
do by yourself.”
Sizer and his crew have a
slate of summer events already
planned, while custom trips
can be scheduled on the Go
Wild website, www.gowildusa.
com. According to Sizer, the
business is planning to partner
with a mule packer this sum-
mer, elevating the potential for
high-end food experience as
well as helping with accessibil-
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able to carry a backpack well.
On top of showcasing the
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Go Wild: American Adventures/Contributed Photo
Go Wild: American Adventures owner Dan Sizer, right, gives a fishing
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