LOCAL A2
Oregon braces for
possibly hectic
fi re season
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS
STATE A3
SPORTS A6
Trio will vie for Oregon
governor in November
Baker baseball prepares
for postseason with win
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022 • $1.50
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Phyllis
Badgley of Baker City.
PICKING
BRIEFING
—————
Sophomores, juniors
can apply to attend
Rotary conference
and
May 23 is the deadline
for high school sophomores
and juniors to apply to
attend the RYLA conference,
a Rotary-sponsored camp
that teaches team building,
leadership skills and per-
sonal growth. The camp will
take place July 28-31 in Twin
Falls, Idaho, and the Baker
City Rotary Club will pay
all expenses for attendees
from a high school in Baker
County or Powder Valley High
School. Applications are
online at http://ryla5400.
weebly.com/. Students can
call 541-519-2012 for more
information, or see the Baker
City Rotary Facebook page.
REGION A5
Oregon forecasts a
record $3 billion tax
kicker in 2024
Taxes kept rolling into
Oregon’s coffers at record
amounts this year, but state
economists say much of that
money is likely to go back to
taxpayers in 2024 in record
credits against their state
tax bills.
PLANTING
Baker High
School science
students plant
ponderosa pines
in a burned area,
and collect morel
mushrooms
while they’re at it
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
C
ierra Lafferty pats the soil around the newly planted ponderosa pine seedling,
then gives the needles a gentle tug to make sure it’s secure in the ground.
“Welcome to your new home,” she says,
her words nearly whisked away by the wind
whipping across Dooley Mountain, about 15
miles south of Baker City.
Then she stands, pulls her phone from a
pocket and holds it close to the tree.
“Blog moment!” she says, snapping a
picture of the seedling, then photos of
her buddies.
On Wednesday, May 18, science students
from Baker High School helped plant pon-
derosa seedlings along the Skyline Road in an
area burned by the Cornet-Windy Ridge fire
in August 2015.
The lightning-sparked blazes, which
burned together during hot, windy weather,
spread over 104,000 acres, the largest wildfire
in Baker County history.
Bill Mitchell and Noah Erickson, who both
work in the silviculture department for the
U.S. Forest Service, gave the students a quick
lesson on the proper way to plant a tree.
See, Planting/Page A3
School
chief:
Mask
mandate
not likely
to return
State issued
advisory, but
Baker County
risk remains low
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Jordynn Scholl shows off her bounty of morel mushrooms
collected during a field trip for Baker High School science
students on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
Baker School District Superinten-
dent Mark Witty thinks it’s a “very
remote” possibil-
ity that the district
would revert to
requiring students
and staff to wear
face masks before
the school year
ends in early June.
Witty
“I don’t foresee
that, with only a
few weeks left in the school year,”
Witty said on Tuesday, May 17.
The Oregon Department of Ed-
ucation issued a statewide advi-
sory on May 13, which is effective
through Aug. 31, recommending,
but not requiring, that schools man-
date masks in counties where the
COVID-19 risk level is high based
on criteria from the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
See, Masks/Page A6
WEATHER
—————
Today
59/34
Fresh look
inside the
Baker
High gym
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Jaylyn Baird, left, Joy Murphy and Tessa Potter plant a
seedling beside a fallen log, a technique called “micrositing”
that uses natural vegetation as protection for new trees.
Mostly sunny
Sunday
63/36
Rain showers
Monday
New paint scheme,
other changes are
now underway
63/39
Mostly cloudy
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Presbyterian Church donates
$15,000 to aid for Ukraine
Baker City Herald
A fundraising effort by Baker
City’s First Presbyterian Church to
aid humanitarian work in Ukraine
resulted in a $15,000 donation to
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
The local campaign started in late
March, a little more than a month af-
ter Russia invaded Ukraine.
Jean Simpson-Geddes, a mem-
ber of the local church Session, the
Presbyterian governing body, said
donations from members of the
Baker City and La Grande congre-
gations, along with donations from
other Baker County residents, to-
taled $7,500.
Baker City’s First Presbyterian
Session matched that amount, for
TODAY
Issue 5
12 pages
a total donation of $15,000, Simp-
son-Geddes said.
The Baker City church will be send-
ing thank you notes to people from
outside the church congregation who
contributed to the campaign, she said.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
has been working in Ukraine and bor-
dering countries to provide shelter,
meals, medicines and hygiene prod-
ucts to residents affected by the war.
“We’re happy to match whatever
we can,” said Jean Simpson-Geddes, a
member of Session.
According to its website, https://
pda.pcusa.org, Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance focuses on these areas:
• The long term recovery of disaster
impacted communities.
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B5
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
• Provides training and disaster
preparedness for presbyteries and
synods.
• Works collaboratively with church
partners and members of the ACT
Alliance (Action by Churches To-
gether) internationally, and nationally
with other faith based responders.
• Connects partners locally and in-
ternationally with key organizations
active in the response — United Na-
tions, NVOAD (National Voluntary
Agencies Active in Disaster), World
Food Program, Red Cross, FEMA
and others.
To learn more about the Presby-
terian Disaster Assistance work in
Ukraine, visit https://pda.pcusa.org/
situation/ukraine/.
Jayson Jacoby ..................A4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
The Baker High School gym-
nasium has been the site of many
triumphs, and this spring and sum-
mer it’s undergoing the first round
of renovations including a stylish
paint job on the interior north and
south walls.
By next year the gym will gleam
like the awards in the trophy case in
the hallway.
The Baker School District con-
tracted the current project for less
than $10,000. Work includes a new
paint scheme and the installation of
“crash pads” — the pads on the walls
behind the baskets designed to pre-
vent injury to players leaping after a
loose ball.
One pad will have the words
“Bulldog Nation” with the snarling
Bulldog logo in the middle. The
other will have the Bulldog paw-
print on one side, “Welcome to
Baker” in the middle, and “BHS”
on the other side.
Replacing the pads was overdue,
BHS Principal Skye Flanagan said.
“We don’t know exactly how
old they were,” he said. “But they
were old.”
The north and south walls are be-
ing repainted with a stark, semigloss
black, which will match the design
Opinion .............................A4
Outdoors .................B1 & B2
Senior Menus ...................A2
See, Gym/Page A6
Sports ...............................A6
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6