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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2022)
APRIL 27–MAY 4, 2022 WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM Reviving theaters across Eastern Oregon Watch ‘Owen Story’ PAGE 4 Join Fiddle Camp PAGE 7 Explore ‘Native Sport’ PAGE 13 PAGE 8 INSIDE VOTERS GUIDE A5-6 Go! Magazine Explore revitalized theaters in Go! Baker County Commission candidates Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group Renovations continue on the Liberty Theatre in downtown La Grande. IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS QUICK HITS ————— Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Dan Warnock of Baker City. BRIEFING ————— City begins testing fi re hydrants The Baker City Public Works Department started its annual fi re hydrant testing and water line fl ushing Monday, April 25, and the campaign will continue for about two to three weeks. This work is done each year to fl ush sediment from the water system and ensure all hydrants are functioning properly and are delivering water at the correct pressure and volume. Through this, small silt-like particles may become stirred up after settling in water lines that are less active. This can make water run cloudy temporarily. If that happens in your home or business, turn on a cold water faucet outside and let it run until the water is clear. If you use a water fi ltration system, remember to clean the screen to restore full water fl ow. If your water continues to be cloudy, call the city water de- partment at 541-523-6541. To qualify for a quiet zone, the city Heather Sells, one of the four coun- would have to made physical improve- cilors who voted in favor of apply- ments to crossings. A local ing for a quiet zone, left the The question of whether Baker City group has vowed to raise the Council on March 1 because should pursue a railroad quiet appar- estimated $150,000 privately, she was moving outside the ently won’t go to city voters after all. with no financial contribu- city limits and no longer eli- The City Council voted 4-3 on Tues- tion from the city, although gible to serve. day evening, April 26, to revert to its the city would be responsi- Then, during the April decision made on Jan. 25 to apply with ble for maintaining any new 12 City Council meeting, the Federal Railroad Administration structures. Councilor Joanna Dixon for the quiet zone, in which freight Michelle Owen, the city’s made a motion that the city Damschen trains would not sound their horns public works director, said at refer the quiet zone issue to when approaching public crossings an earlier meeting that the voters in the Nov. 8, 2022, unless the engineer determined there estimated annual maintenance cost is election. That motion passed 4-2, was an emergency. about $500. with Dixon, Mayor Kerry McQuisten BY JAYSON JACOBY AND SAMANTHA O’CONNER Baker City Herald BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Today 47/32 Partly sunny Full forecast on the back of the B section. The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. See, Council/Page A6 WEATHER ————— 54/33 and Councilors Johnny Waggoner Sr. and Kenyon Damschen in favor. Councilors Jason Spriet and Shane Alderson were opposed. Councilor Dean Guyer, who voted in favor of the Jan. 25 motion, was absent April 12. During Tuesday’s meeting, Guyer suggested the Council revert to the Jan. 25 decision. His motion passed 4-3, with Guyer, Spriet and Alderson joined by Dam- schen in voting yes. Baker resident sues hospital, surgeon After a two-year hiatus, the Quail Ridge Golf Course spaghetti feed returns on Saturday, April 30, at 5 p.m. Cost is $20 per plate, or free for children 12 and younger. The evening includes an auc- tion — all proceeds go toward course improvements. Friday THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022 • $1.50 Quiet zone won’t go to voters after all Spaghetti feed Saturday at Quail Ridge Rain showers Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald, File A La Grande Hot Shot firefighter uses a drip torch to ignite dry grass during a prescribed fire near Phillips Reservoir on April 15, 2021. Conditions have been too wet so far this spring for prescribed burning. revor Lewis was almost ready to start spreading flames when the rain arrived. The rain stopped. But it was supplanted by snow. Regardless of whether the precipita- tion has been liquid or frozen, there’s simply been too much moisture during April for Lewis and other U.S. Forest Service officials to begin their ambitious plans for prescribed burning on parts of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. “Right now it’s just too wet,” Lewis said on Tuesday morning, April 26. He’s an assistant fire management of- ficer for the Wallowa-Whitman’s Burnt Powder Fire Zone, in the fuels division. Given ideal conditions, forest man- agers had hoped to light controlled fires on several thousand acres around the south end of the forest, including in the Sumpter and Whitney valley areas and in the southern Wallowas around Balm Creek Reservoir, Lily White and Sparta Butte. Conditions have not been ideal. Far closer to the opposite, in fact. See, Forest/Page A3 The Baker County Board of Com- missioners took a significant step Wednesday, April 27, toward find- ing a new ambulance provider for Baker City and more than half of the county should city officials follow through on a plan to stop operating ambulances through the city fire de- partment on Sept. 30, 2022. Commissioners voted 3-0 to ap- prove a request for proposals (RFP) for an ambulance provider for the Baker Ambulance Service Area. That area includes Baker City and about two-thirds of the rest of the county, including Baker and Sumpter valleys. The county has three other am- bulance service areas — in the Rich- land, Halfway and Huntington areas. By Oregon law, the county, not cities, is responsible for ensuring there is ambulance service in desig- nated areas. Commission Chairman Bill Harvey said during Wednesday’s meeting at TODAY Issue 147 30 pages the Courthouse that with the city hav- ing set the Sept. 30 deadline, county officials needed to approve the RFP as part of the preparations for finding a replacement provider. That’s likely to be a private com- pany. The RFP will be posted on the county’s website, www.bakercounty. org. The county will accept propos- als from possible ambulance provid- ers through June 3. The RFP calls for a minimum 5-year contract. After reviewing a report from City Manager Jonathan Cannon on March 22, the Baker City Council voted to notify the county that the city in- tended to discontinue ambulance ser- vice Sept. 30. The reason, Cannon said, is that the city, as has been the case for many years, spends more to operate ambu- lances than it collects in ambulance billing. The shortfall averaged about $730,000 for the past five fiscal years, and the city projects a $581,000 gap for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2022. Business .................B1 & B2 Classified ....................B2-B4 Comics ..............................B5 BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com A Baker City woman has filed a lawsuit against Saint Alphonsus Med- ical Center-Baker City and a former surgeon seeking up to $10 million in damages for injuries she suffered due to an infection following ankle sur- gery in the spring of 2020. Nancy Wilson filed the malpractice suit on April 22 in Baker County Cir- cuit Court. The defendants are Saint Alphonsus and Dr. Eric Sandefur, who announced in December 2020 that he would “explore new oppor- tunities in healthcare” and would no longer see patients. See, Suit/Page A3 Baker Sheriff’s Office reports mail theft Baker City Herald County to seek proposals for ambulance services BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER soconner@bakercityherald.com Plaintiff claims post- surgery infection caused permanent disability Community News.............A2 Crossword ...............B2 & B4 Dear Abby .........................B6 Cannon said that with ambulance call volumes increasing, he expects the city would need to hire three more firefighter/paramedics later this year, which would widen that financial gap. Baker County, which is giving the city $100,000 for ambulance services this fiscal year, has offered $150,000 for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Commissioners said Wednesday they have not received a response from the city to that offer. Cannon, though, has said he be- lieves the city would need about $750,000 to be able to continue am- bulance services. If the city does stop operating am- bulances, the loss of about $1 million in annual revenue from ambulance billing would force the city to cut six firefighter/paramedic positions. The fire department is budgeted for 12 po- sitions this fiscal year, although two of those are vacant now. Baker City Fire Department crews handle far more ambulance calls than fires — about 80% to 85% of calls are for ambulances. Horoscope ..............B3 & B4 Lottery Results .................A2 News of Record ................A2 The Baker County Sheriff’s Office recovered several pieces of mail in a ditch near Pocahontas Road on Mon- day, April 25, after an off-duty Sheriff’s Office employee saw the items and re- ported the find. The mail was addressed to several addresses in Keating and throughout the Baker Valley. The envelopes had been opened, said Ashley McClay, ex- ecutive assistant and public informa- tion officer for the Sheriff’s Office. Anyone with information about the mail thefts should call Sgt. Craig Rilee at 541-523-6415. The Sheriff’s Office recommends residents follow these precautions: • Check mailboxes daily. • If you will be away from home for a period of time, have a relative or friend pick up your mail or ask the Postal Service to hold your mail while you’re gone. • Install a secure, locking mailbox. • Sign up for the USPS Informed Delivery service, which will allow you to digitally preview your mail and manage your packages scheduled to arrive soon. You can sign up for the Informed Delivery service at https:// informeddelivery.usps.com/box/ pages/intro/start.action. • Closely monitor your bank ac- counts and credit reports, which may alert you to any potential identity theft issues. McClay said theft of mail from boxes is more common in rural areas, where a resident’s mailbox can be more than a mile from the home. Opinion .............................A4 Senior Menus ...................A2 Sports ......................... A6-A8 Sudoku..............................B7 Turning Backs ..................A2 Weather ............................B6