BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
Little League reports break-in at Wade Williams
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Wade Williams Field is no
stranger to the occasional
breakout home run, but be-
tween 7 p.m. Sunday, May
15, and 3 p.m. the next day,
someone broke in.
A thief or thieves equipped
with boltcutters snapped two
padlocks to gain entry to the
concession stand and equip-
ment storage at the baseball
complex in south Baker City
between Myrtle Street and the
Powder River.
The larcenous tastes were
singular, however, and no
umpire gear or other equip-
ment was taken, said Jason
McClaughry, president of the
Baker Little League, which
maintains Wade Williams.
(The facility, which in-
cludes a regulation baseball
field and two smaller fields
that host teeball games, is
owned by the Baker Elks
Lodge.)
“What they stole was four
boxes of candy and a couple
garbage bags of pop cans,”
McClaughry said.
Even some kinds of candy
went unpilfered, suggesting
the thieves might be bigger
fans of chocolate than base-
ball.
“Twix, Snickers, M&Ms,
those are our most expensive
candies,” McClaughry said.
He said losses, with the
locks, candy and cans, are es-
timated at about $300.
Baker City Police investi-
gated on Monday, May 16,
and took note of what all was
stolen, but had little evidence
to work with.
No cash is stored on the
premises.
McClaughry said this
week’s break-in wasn’t the
first.
There has been at least
one similar episode each sea-
son for the past three to four
years, he said.
If you have leads on a sus-
pect, such as someone with a
sudden glut of candy, call the
Kelly Tanzey/Contributed Photo
Baker City Police Department A thief or thieves stole candy and soda cans from the concession stand
at 541-523-3644.
at Wade Williams Field late Sunday, May 15, 2022, or early the next day.
Salmon
Continued from Page A1
Darin Oswald/The Idaho Statesman via AP, File
In this Jan. 25, 2006, file photo, fisherman Larry McBrom works along the Snake River shoreline below Hells Canyon Dam.
Program for
3 and 4 year olds
Sept. - May• Mon. - Thurs., 8-11
Call: 541-523-4812
Email: st-stephens@qwestoffice.net
http://www.bakerststephens.
org/preschool.html
gered salmon and steelhead and Fall chinook changes
also balance sportfishing and
That’s not the case with the
Tribal fishing rights.
fall chinook season on the
Snake River, Bratcher said.
Threatened salmon
During the fall chinook sea-
Although wild spring/sum- son — which starting this year
mer chinook were listed as a
has a standard period of Aug.
threatened species under the
18 through Oct. 31, and is no
federal Endangered Species
Act in 1992, limited sportfish-
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because most of the salmon
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low risk to wild salmon.
That’s particularly so for the
reach of the Snake from Dug
Bar to Hells Canyon Dam,
Bratcher said. Dug Bar is up-
river from the mouths of the
Imnaha and Salmon River,
Fred LeRoy Riggs
and most wild spring chinook
May 21, 1926 - May 13, 2022
return to those river systems
rather than continuing up-
Fred LeRoy Riggs passed away
stream to Hells Canyon Dam,
peacefully May 13, 2022, in his
which blocks any further pas-
daughter’s home, surrounded by
sage as there are no fish lad-
those who loved him. A graveside
ders at the dam.
ceremony with military honors will
Anglers are allowed to keep
be held at Eagle Valley Cemetery on
only hatchery fish during the
May 20, 2022, at 1 p.m. followed
spring chinook season.
by a celebration of life at the Eagle
Valley Grange.
He was born on May 21, 1926,
Marvin Lee Cassidy
in Turner, Oregon, to his parents, Clarence Ruben and
August 20, 1950 – May 8, 2022
Mary Elisa Porter-Riggs. The Riggs family lived in many
places throughout the years including North Powder,
Beloved brother Marvin Lee
Medical Springs, Telocaset, Pondosa, Baker, and Oxbow.
Cassidy, commonly known to
He lived and worked for Walt and Lizzie Saunders of
all as “Buzz’, died of pancreatic
Richland until he graduated from Eagle Valley High
cancer on May 8, 2022 at his
School in 1944.
home.
On February 26, 1944, at the age of 17, he married
Born August 20, 1950 in
his school mate, Jennie Jean Ashby. Shortly thereafter,
Klamath Falls, Oregon he is
he was drafted into the US. Army where he served in
survived by his mother Martha
the South Pacific during WWII with the 322nd Infantry
Jane Cassidy and brothers
Division for two years.
Larry, Kelly and Garry.
Fred and Jennie raised three children: Frank, and
Buzz, a retired electician, is
twins Merrilyn and Marlyn. In 1984 they moved back to
fondly remembered by many
Richland where he lived until 2019. This was when he
Bakerites as smart, fun loving, ready to help others and
relocated to Halfway to live with his close family.
a good friend to all.
Many jobs were held throughout his life. He worked
He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
for the Holcomb Sheep Ranch, logged, and drove log
truck. In 1964, Idaho Power hired him as an inspector on
Hells Canyon Dam. He retired from Idaho Power in 1985
as a mechanic.
Sharon Lee Keaton
Fred was a very active member in the community and
July 21, 1942 – May 12, 2022
volunteered many hours of work to various clubs and
Sharon Lee Keaton, 79, of
organizations. In 1976 he joined the Snowmobile Club
Meridian, Idaho, passed away
where he drove the groomer for 25 years. He was on the
peacefully on May 12, 2022,
Eagle Valley Cemetery board for 15 years, served on the
at
Creekside Transitional
Richland City Council for 18 years, and was mayor of
Care and Rehab in Meridian,
Richland for 4 years. In addition, he drove the Richland
Idaho. There will be a private
ambulance for 25 years, was an active member in the
interment at Mount Hope
Eagle Valley Grange where he mowed the park for 20+
Cemetery in Baker City,
years. He worked for the Baker County watermaster out
Oregon, in the near future.
of Eagle Valley for 15 years. He was a proud lifetime
On
July
21,
1942,
member of the NRA.
Sharon was born in Ontario,
Fred enjoyed spending time with his good friend, Pat.
California, to Burt and Shirley
Hobbies included hunting, fishing, mushrooming, picking
(Anderson) Turner. She attended and graduated high
huckleberries, snowmobiling, attending rodeos, and he
school in Chino, California. In 1963, Sharon married
especially loved camping and spending the majority of
Tom Keaton in Ontario, California, and together they
his time with his granddaughter, Teena, and his sidekick,
had two daughters, Linda and Julie.
Vegas.
With Tom, she owned and operated the Leaning
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife,
Tower of Pizza in Southern California. She also owned
Jennie; brothers, Paul, Bob, and Coy; sister, Hazel; son,
and operated the Burrito Construction Company in
Marlyn, and great-granddaughter, Brandie.
Baker City, Oregon.
Fred is survived by his son, Frank (Roseanne) Riggs;
Sharon also loved animals.
his daughter, Merrilyn (Richard) Seal; 12 grandchildren;
Sharon is survived by her daughters, Linda (Todd)
21 great-grandchildren; and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Powell of Meridian, Idaho, Julie (Fred) Hertel of Dallas,
Those who would like to make a memorial donation
Oregon, and her granddaughters, Mallory (Dana) Parker
may do so to the Eagle Valley Ambulance Fund or the
of Avon Lake, Ohio, and Amanda (Ritter) Warren of
Eagle Valley Grange though Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral
Dallas, Oregon.
Home and Cremation Services, P.O. Box 543, Halfway,
To leave an online condolence for the family of
Oregon, 97834. Online condolences may be shared at
Sharon, please visit www.grayswestco.com.
www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com
NATIO
TH
E
15
2
GU
St. Stephen’s Preschool
Registration for 2022-23
Smolt releases resumed at Hells
Canyon Dam in 2021
The 2022 situation should
not be repeated at least for the
next couple years.
Sven Berg, a spokesman for
Idaho Power, said the com-
pany did release spring chi-
nook smolts below Hells Can-
yon Dam in 2021 and again
this year.
That means there should be
enough returning four-year-
old spring chinook in 2023
and 2024 to return to the cus-
tomary fishing season starting
in late April.
All the smolts raised from
eggs collected in 2018 were re-
leased at Rapid River and mi-
grated down the Salmon River
to the Snake and then the Co-
lumbia, Bratcher said.
Rapid River is the prior-
ity release site for smolts, he
said, so in years, such as 2020,
when the number of smolts
is unusually low, there aren’t
enough to also have a release
at Hells Canyon Dam.
Those priorities were es-
tablished as part of the United
States vs. Oregon court case, a
continuing federal case, dating
to 1968, that is intended to pre-
serve threatened and endan-
’S
Canyon Dam in 2020 means
relatively few adult chinook
will return this year, he has
been following the robust re-
turn of salmon on the Colum-
bia River this year.
As of May 15, the adult chi-
nook count passing Bonneville
Dam, downriver from Hood
River, was 114,663 fish. That’s
more than double both the to-
tal for the same period in 2021
(50,706) and the five-year aver-
age (42,971).
With so many fish available,
Brassard wishes ODFW would
revive its program, which
started in 2004 but hasn’t hap-
pened since 2016, of releasing
adult hatchery spring chinook
in the Powder River in Baker
City and below Mason Dam.
Salmon runs were eradi-
cated in the upper Powder
River in 1932 when Thief Val-
ley Dam, which lacks fish lad-
ders, was finished.
The salmon releases that
started in 2004 weren’t intended
to create a salmon run in the
Powder River. The goal was
to give anglers an opportunity
they hadn’t had in the upper
reaches of the river for decades.
Brassard said he enjoyed
the opportunity to fish for,
and catch, salmon in the
Powder River.
N
Two years later, when the
juvenile fish are known as
smolts, workers release them
so they can migrate downriver
to the Pacific.
Most of the hatchery salmon
make the return journey two
years later, as four-year-olds,
Bratcher said. Each year’s run
also includes fish three or five
years old as well. The younger
fish are known as “jacks.”
With so few adult spring
chinook returning to the trap
at Hells Canyon Dam in 2018,
officials from the ODFW, the
Idaho Fish and Game Depart-
ment, in consultation with Na-
tive American tribes, decided
not to release any spring chi-
nook smolts below Hells Can-
yon Dam in 2020.
And that means that in
2022, the year when the ma-
jority of the surviving smolts,
now four-year-old adults,
would return to the Snake, the
number of hatchery spring
chinook moving upriver from
Dug Bar is projected to be
low, Bratcher said.
“While we aren’t expecting
a lot of fish, there is a healthy
public interest in this fishery
and we have decided to open
so people can take advantage of
that opportunity,” Bratcher said.
He said anglers are much
more likely to catch jack
salmon than adult fish this year.
The daily bag limit is four
hatchery chinook per day,
of which only one can be an
adult, longer than 24 inches.
Anglers must stop fishing for
salmon once they have kept one
adult hatchery chinook or four
hatchery jack salmon.
Barbless hooks, an angling
license, a combined angling tag,
and a Columbia Basin Endorse-
ment are required when an-
gling for salmon, steelhead, and
sturgeon in the Snake River.
The late spring chinook sea-
son, and the prospect for fewer
fish to show up than usual, is
disappointing for Dan Bras-
sard, a longtime salmon angler
from Baker County.
Although Brassard said he
understands that the lack of
smolt releases below Hells
longer set each year based on
the timing of salmon returns —
anglers can keep one wild chi-
nook per day. Wild fish have an
intact adipose fin, as do about
60% of hatchery fall chinook,
according to ODFW.
The daily bag limit during
the fall chinook season, which
extends from the Washington
border upriver to Hells Canyon
Dam, is three adult fish per day,
with no limit on jacks.
Bratcher said fewer fall chi-
nook are returning to the
reach of the Snake between
the Salmon River and Hells
Canyon since the release site
for smolts was moved to the
Salmon River in 2018, although
he didn’t have an estimate of
the change in numbers.
Brassard, who said he used
to be a regular fall chinook
angler below Hells Canyon
Dam, said he doesn’t intend to
fish there this year because it’s
“fruitless” based on the few chi-
nook that return.
He thinks it’s misleading for
ODFW to make it a regular
season for fall chinook start-
ing this year, even though the
number of salmon available
has actually declined since the
release site was moved to the
Salmon River.
T
TE
RD
Thief or thieves
stole candy,
empty soda cans
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