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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (May 14, 2022)
SPORTS A6 LOCAL & STATE A5 OUTDOORS B1 A wintry walk on a spring day Four Bulldogs advance to state tennis tourney Illegal pot farms expand indoors Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS City Council discusses reply on ambulance service QUICK HITS ————— Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Scarlett Soto of Baker City. BRIEFING ————— Baker County Garden Club meets May 18 The Baker County Garden Club will meet on Wednes- day, May 18, at 10:30 a.m. at the Eagle Cap Nursery, 45328 Mother Lode Road in the Keating Valley. Those who want to carpool should meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Baker County Library, 2400 Resort St. Please bring a sack lunch. New members are always welcome. Councilors concerned about parts of county’s request for proposals, but commissioners say those are unfounded BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER soconner@bakercityherald.com Students Make Their Best Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald Ballot return just below 20% Almost one in fi ve Baker County voters had returned their ballot for the May 17 primary election as of Friday morning, May 13, Baker County Clerk Ste- fanie Kirby said. The county mailed 12,850 ballots, the most for any election in county histo- ry. As of Friday morning, the county had received 2,547 ballots. The number of eligi- ble voters in the county has risen substantially over the past fi ve years, due in large part to Oregon’s “motor voter” law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2016, and auto- matically registers people after they visit a DMV for any transaction. Kai Ogan, sitting, used laser etching to create his cutout and keychain designs at his booth during the Baker High School Market Day on May 11, 2022. SALES PITCHES First Market Day at BHS allows students to show their creativity BY IAN CRAWFORD icrawford@bakercityherald.com Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald WEATHER ————— Today 62/42 Rain showers Sunday 74/45 Rain showers Monday 67/40 Rain showers Full forecast on the back of the B section. The space below is for a postage label for issues that are mailed. SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 • $1.50 Baker High School student Gracie Morris had an abundance of humorous stickers and jewelry of her own design for sale at the BHS Market Day on May 11, 2022. T he price tags gleamed only half as bright as sellers’ smiles on Wednes- day, May 11, as students at Baker High School launched their own vending booths for the very first BHS Market Day. See, Market/Page A5 Kids try out North Powder’s newly restored playground BY DICK MASON The Observer NORTH POWDER — The restored playground at North Powder’s city park is now for- mally open thanks to about 60 energetic children. Students from nearby North Powder Elementary School participated in a grand opening ribbon-cut- ting ceremony on Thursday, May 12. The children cut through a crepe paper ribbon on the edge of the playground by running through it. The ribbon cutting cer- emony officially opened a renovated playground that features a swing set with six swings (two designed for small children and four for older children), a double tee- ter-totter, a merry-go-round, See, Playground/Page A3 Baker City Manager Jonathan Cannon will present the City Council with a draft response to Baker County’s ambulance service request for proposals at the Council’s May 24 meeting. Councilors met in a work session on Wednes- day, May 11, to discuss the request for proposals (RFP) and how the city should respond. The county set a June 3 deadline for pro- posals. Councilors had decided during their meeting on Tuesday, May 10, to respond to the county’s RFP, which covers the Baker Ambulance Service Area. That includes Baker City as well as about two-thirds of the rest of the county, including the Baker and Sumpter valleys. The Baker City Fire Department is the cur- rent ambulance provider for that area, although the city and county do not have a contract for the service. The Council’s decision preserves the possibil- ity that the fire department will continue to op- erate ambulances beyond Sept. 30, 2022. That’s the date the city set for ending ambulance ser- vice in a notice the City Council voted to send to the county on March 22. Under Oregon law, the county, not the city, is legally responsible for ensuring ambulance ser- vice. If the city does curtail its ambulance ser- vice, the county would need to find a replace- ment provider. In response to the city’s notice, county com- missioners approved the RFP in April. Cannon has told city councilors, including at the March 22 meeting, that he doesn’t think the city can afford to continue operating ambu- lances because the city isn’t collecting enough revenue from ambulance bills. See, Council/Page A3 ODFW confirms another livestock wolf attack Calves injured near Richland BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald Wolves from the Cornucopia pack injured two calves north of Richland recently, the third attack on cattle in that area in the past few weeks, according to the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). ODFW biologists investigated the latest incident on Monday, May 9, in the Summit Road area. A rancher found two injured calves while checking cattle on a 5,400-acre Bureau of Land Management grazing allotment. Biol- ogists estimated the calves were injured one to two weeks earlier. Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, who also responded to the incident, said earlier this week that he thinks one calf, which had the largest open wound, would be eutha- nized. Students from North Powder Elementary try out the play structure and other fea- tures at North Powder’s new playground on Thursday, May 12, 2022. See, Wolves/Page A2 Safe Families for Children hosts forum May 19 BY LISA BRITTON lbritton@bakercityherald.com Safe Families for Children, a local faith-based minis- try with families that help care for children while their parents are struggling with issues, is hosting a commu- nity forum on Thursday, May 19, at New Directions Northwest, 3452 13th St. in Baker City, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. TODAY Issue 2 12 pages The community is wel- come to attend. Register online at www.eventbrite. com/e/2022-commu- nity-forum-registra- tion-304116268947. The event features psychi- atrist and author Dr. Curtis Thompson. The main session will be livestreamed, followed by a breakout session with those in attendance. The fo- rum also includes local suc- Classified ....................B2-B4 Comics ..............................B5 Community News.............A2 cess stories and several na- tional panelists. Safe Families started in Baker City in November 2019. Andy Micka became program director in February 2021. The program, he said, has six host homes available to help struggling families. “Parents, if they’re strug- gling, can volunteer for this,” Micka said. “We can host the child while the parents work Crossword ...............B2 & B4 Dear Abby .........................B5 Horoscope ..............B2 & B4 on making a safe home.” He said the program has a 92% rate of children returning to home, rather than entering the foster care system. Long-term hosting, up to six months, is available, as well as day hosting or respite care for a weekend. Host homes go through a background check through the Oregon Depart- ment of Education, and also complete various trainings. Jayson Jacoby ..................A4 Lottery Results .................A2 News of Record ................A2 Opinion .............................A4 Outdoors ..........B1, B2 & B6 Senior Menus ...................A2 “It’s a lengthy process to get a host family approved,” Micka said. The program, he said, uses “circles of support” to assist families. “There’s a whole circle of support wrapped around that family,” he said. “Our ap- proach is to include the parent in everything.” To learn more, visit https:// safe-families.org/. Sports ...............................A6 Turning Backs ..................A2 Weather ............................B5