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
