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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2022)
OUTDOORS B2 SPORTS A5 State to stock trout in many lakes, ponds Baker baseball romps past Ontario IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2022 • $1.50 Council to discuss ambulance issue response QUICK HITS ————— Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Susan Zoon of Baker City. BRIEFING ————— Baker High School presents ‘SHOUT!’ the musical Baker High School will present “SHOUT! The Mod Musical” at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 14, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15. Admission is free but tickets are required. Donations will be accepted. Tickets are available at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, Sweet Wife Baking and the front offi ce at BHS. Daughters of American Revolution to meet May 13 The Lone Pine Tree chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will meet May 13 at the Baker Truck Corral. En- ter the restaurant on the freeway side of the building. The meeting room is to the left and across from the cash register. To socialize, meet chapter members, and order your lunch (if desired) please arrive by 11 a.m. This is a no host lunch meeting which starts at noon. WEATHER ————— Today 51/30 Rain showers Sunday 47/28 Rain showers Monday 45/29 Morning showers Full forecast on the back of the B section. The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. Baker City Herald Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald South Baker Intermediate fifth graders Carson Johnson, left, Sadie Christensen and Juniper Joseph create different growing environ- ments for grass seed during an activity at a “Field to Fork” event this week. Down and...not dirty Fifth graders learn how soil (don’t call it dirt) puts food on their plates BY LISA BRITTON lbritton@bakercityherald.com K ara Miller’s tactic for teaching about soil drew giggles nearly every time from the fifth graders. Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald Jordan Wolfe, a fifth grader at South Baker Intermediate, shows his edible soil sample during “Field to Fork” on Wednesday, May 4. The “soil” layers were made of Oreo cookies, pudding, sprinkles, gummy worms and M&Ms. When asked about the rich brown mixture that grows plants, students would quickly say “dirt.” And every time Miller shook her head. “Dirt is a dirty word!” she’d say. Miller ran one of five stations at the annual Field to Fork event on Tues- day and Wednesday, May 3 and 4, at the Baker County Fairgrounds in Baker City. This “agricultural field day” invited Baker County schools, plus Powder Valley, to send fifth graders for a day to learn about the role of agriculture and how their meals get from “field to fork.” See, Soil/Page A3 School district settles lawsuit for $200,000 trina serves as an example of how one person’s dedication can positively im- pact a community. We are committed to protecting all students in our District.” The Fasts, who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Pendleton, were rep- resented by Jennifer J. Middleton, a Eu- gene attorney. BY JAYSON JACOBY Roberta Fast said in an interview on Thursday, May 5, that she and her jjacoby@bakercityherald.com A Baker City woman and her daughter would talk about the settle- daughter who filed a federal lawsuit ment when Katrina returns to Baker against the Baker School District two City from college in about two weeks. years ago, claiming that district offi- The central charge in the suit was cials retaliated against the daughter that school district officials kept Ka- after she complained about alleged Contributed Photo trina Fast, then a BHS junior, off the sexual harassment by a Baker High Katrina Fast, a former Baker High School varsity volleyball team — she played School volleyball coach, have settled on the JV team as a junior in the fall volleyball player, has signed a letter of in- the suit out of court and will receive tent to play for Warner Pacific University in of 2019 — as retaliation for her com- $200,000. plaints about the actions of head volley- Portland in the fall of 2022. The money comes from the district’s ball coach Warren Wilson. “risk pool and not out of district funds,” district released Thursday afternoon, In an email to the Herald in April according to a press release. May 5. It reads: 2020, Mark Witty, school district super- Roberta Fast and her daughter, Ka- “Baker School District values its re- intendent, wrote: trina, filed the suit in April 2020 in U.S. lationships with students, families, staff “While the District has been advised District Court. and the community. These relationships not to respond to specific allegations, They contended that the district vi- are critical to the District’s efforts to the District can share that it disputes the olated a federal law prohibiting dis- support student safety. We thank for- allegations in the Complaint and looks crimination in schools — commonly mer District student Katrina Fast for forward to addressing and resolving known as Title IX — as well as the First coming forward and sharing her con- those claims through the course of the Amendment and Oregon law. cerns. The District acknowledges the litigation process.” As part of the settlement, both parties contribution of Ms. Fast and her efforts agreed to a statement that the school to effect change to protect others. Ka- See, Lawsuit / PageA3 Roberta Fast and her daughter, 2021 graduate Katrina Fast, filed the lawsuit in federal court in April 2020 Silver Birch subdivision begins to fill BY IAN CRAWFORD icrawford@bakercityherald.com Despite challenges getting construction ma- terials, one of Baker City’s newer subdivisions is beginning to fill. Jim and Carla Michel, former longtime Baker City residents who now live in Meridian, Idaho, created the Silver Birch subdivision in 2020 east of Birch Street and north of Campbell Street, be- tween D and E streets. The Michels have sold five of the 21 lots in the development, which is in the low-density residen- tial zone. “We’ve had some supply chain issues, but that’s happening everywhere,” Jim Michel said. See, Birch/Page A2 TODAY Issue 151 12 pages Classified ....................B2-B4 Comics ..............................B5 Community News.............A2 Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald The 21-lot Silver Birch subdivision is just east of Birch Street, north of Campbell Street between D and E streets. Crossword ...............B2 & B4 Dear Abby .........................B6 Horoscope ..............B2 & B4 Jayson Jacoby ..................A4 Lottery Results .................A2 News of Record ................A2 Opinion .............................A4 Outdoors .................B1 & B2 Senior Menus ...................A2 The Baker City Council will discuss sending a response to Baker County regarding the county’s offer to contribute $150,000 for the city’s ambu- lance service during the fiscal year that starts July 1. The City Council will have that discussion, which Coun- cilor Kenyon Damschen re- quested, during its meeting Tuesday, May 10, at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St. In an April 7 letter, Bill Har- vey, chairman of the Baker County Board of Commis- sioners, tendered the $150,000 offer, which commissioners approved April 6. That figure represents 20% of the city’s es- timated ambulance revenue shortfall. The 20% figure de- rives from the city’s estimate that 20% of its ambulance calls are outside the city limits. The City Council on March 22 voted to notify the county, which is legally responsible for providing ambulance service, that the city intended to dis- continue that service, through the city fire department, on Sept. 30, 2022. City Manager Jon Can- non has told councilors that he doesn’t believe the city can afford to continue operating ambulances because of the dif- ference between what the city bills and what it collects from ambulance bills. If the city does curtail ambu- lance service, the county would need to find a replacement am- bulance provider, likely a pri- vate firm. See, Council/Page A2 Baker City man in critical condition after motorcycle crash Baker City Herald A Baker City man sustained serious injuries when the mo- torcycle he was riding went off Highway 86 along the Powder River Wednesday afternoon, May 4, and plunged down a 25- foot embankment. Terris Blain Webb, 50, was in critical condition on Fri- day morning, May 6, at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, hospital spokesman Mark Snider said. Webb’s con- dition was unchanged from the previous day. Oregon State Police re- sponded to the crash at 4:47 p.m. on Wednesday, ac- cording to a police report. Webb was riding east on the highway through the Powder River Canyon, about 27 miles east of Baker City and 13 miles west of Richland. He rode off the highway on a curve, ac- cording to the report. Police found Webb a short distance from the Honda mo- torcycle. A LifeFlight helicopter brought Webb to the Boise hospital. Sports ...............................A6 Turning Backs ..................A2 Weather ............................B6