LOCAL A2
STATE A5
SPORTS A6
OTEC building solar
farm in La Grande
Wildland fi refi ghters
still waiting for pay raise
Warriors rout Celtics
to even NBA Finals
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2022 • $1.50
County
gets two
ambulance
proposals
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Fran
Bunch of Prairie City.
BRIEFING
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Livestock Association
to meet June 9
The Baker County Live-
stock Association will meet
Thursday, June 9 at 7 p.m.
at the Missouri Flat Grange
on Cedar Street just north
of Hughes Lane. Food and
drink will be available.
Blood drive set for
June 13 in Baker City
T he American Red Cross
has scheduled a blood drive
on Monday, June 13 from
noon to 6 p.m. at the Baker
City Nazarene Church, 1250
Hughes Lane. Call Myrna
Evans at 541-523-5368
for an appointment or go to
redcrossblood.org to sign
up online.
Baker County Garden
Club to meet June 8
The Baker County Garden
Club will meet Wednesday,
June 8 at 10:30 a.m. at
3345 Kirkway Drive. Please
bring a chair and a sack
lunch. New members are
always welcome.
Haines Fire Protection
District to meet June 13
HAINES — The Haines Fire
Protection District will have
its monthly board meeting
June 13 at 6:45 p.m. at
the main fi re station, 816
Cole St. All residents of
the district are welcome to
attend. The budget for the
next fi scal year will be the
fi rst order of business.
WEATHER
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Today
71/50
Increasing clouds
Wednesday
70/48
Rain showers
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
A
UNIQUE
Both are from
private companies
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker High Class of 2022
celebrates its perseverance
JOURNEY
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Hats, confetti and cheers filled the air on June 4, 2022, as the Baker High School Class of 2022 celebrated commencement in the
BHS gymnasium.
BY IAN CRAWFORD • icrawford@bakercityherald.com
H
ats and spirits flew high on Saturday, June
4, for Baker High School’s first unrestricted
commencement since 2019.
Due to a rainy forecast, the cer-
emony was moved from its tra-
ditional venue in Baker Bulldog
Memorial Stadium into the BHS
gymnasium.
The Class of 2022 donned robes
and mortarboards in the Bulldogs’
purple and gold regalia and filed
in for the conclusion of 13 years of
schools, teachers and ambitions.
Seniors Alanda Torres and Da-
kota Ballou sang the national an-
them to begin the 2 p.m. ceremony.
BHS Principal Skye Flanagan
then addressed the crowd, noting
the challenges the graduates had
confronted, with three of their four
high school years affected by the
pandemic.
“High school wasn’t meant to be
done the way these young adults
had to do it,” Flanagan said. “None-
theless they all endured, and they
sit here today as a testament to the
perseverance and the fortitude that
it took to be the ones, who will one
day look back, smile, and talk about
the COVID years they endured.”
When this year’s graduates were
sophomores, spring term classes
were all online. The Class of 2020
had a drive-thru graduation fol-
lowed by a vehicle procession
through town.
For the Class of 2022’s junior
year, they attended classes online
for much of the year, returning to
a regular in-person schedule in
April 2021. The Class of 2021 had
commencement in Bulldog Me-
morial Stadium, but with limits
on attendance.
The Class of 2022’s senior year
was much closer to normal, with
in-person classes throughout and
culminating in a regular gradua-
tion, albeit in the gym rather than
the football field.
Graduates chose BHS language
arts teacher Joe Wilson to give the
commencement address.
Wilson, who held his infant
daughter during his speech, told
graduates that “the greatest lie is
that someday you lose control of
your life. And the greatest truth
comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet,
as the old man gives advice to his
son and says ‘Ultimately, to thine
own self, be true.’ ”
Salutatorian Megan Hurley noted
that the Class of 2022 has been the
smallest class in the school district
“pretty much every year starting in
elementary school.”
“Now, this means a lot of things,”
Hurley said. “For one, it means
that we had to work together to
stand out and be louder and more
spirited than the rest of the classes.
Which, hey guys, we did get the
spirit award this year! It also means
that for better or for worse, this
eclectic group of humans got to be
pretty close to one another pretty
fast. We support each other. We all
supported Abbey Benson when Si-
las Carter chipped her tooth with
a chair in third grade. We stick to-
gether. Nobody ever snitched out
the person who threw an eraser at
a substitute teacher in sixth grade
reading groups. And we laugh
together. Like, when Savannah
Brown hit someone’s car in the stu-
dent parking lot only six days after
she got her license! Now that’s just
impressive! Above all, it means we
really freaking love each other.
“As a class, we have basked in
the chaos, came in and totally con-
quered the institution of public ed-
ucation, and this year we nailed the
craziness once again,” Hurley said.
“I think all of this is a testament to
our unrelenting awesomeness. And
as The Dude Jeffrey Lebowski once
said, ‘Life goes on, man.’ ”
Hurley’s address was followed
by remarks from each of the
four valedictorians, Caitlin Lien,
Sarah Plummer, Phoebe Wise and
Emma Baeth.
See, Grads/Page A3
Two private ambulance companies
are interested in replacing the Baker
City Fire Department as ambulance
provider for an area that includes the
city and about two-thirds of the rest of
Baker County.
Baker County commissioners set a
June 3 deadline for proposals.
The proposals are from Metro
West Ambulance of Hillsboro, and
Victory EMS of Boise, said Jason
Yencopal, the county’s emergency
management director.
The Baker City Council decided
on May 10 to also submit a proposal,
but councilors, by a 4-2 vote on May
24, reversed the unanimous decision
from two weeks earlier.
During the May 24 meeting, Coun-
cilor Dean Guyer suggested the city
not send a proposal to the county by
the June 3 deadline.
Guyer and councilors Joanna
Dixon, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and
Kenyon Damschen voted in favor of
See, Proposals/Page A5
Two cited for
possession
of fentanyl
and meth
Baker City Herald
Two Washington men were cited
for possession of small amounts of
fentanyl during an incident on Inter-
state 84 in Baker County on Friday,
June 3.
Oleg Nikolayevich Kuropatkin, 38,
of Chattaroy, and Wayne J. Marchand,
49, of Spokane, were also cited for
possession of methamphetamine.
The citations were violations, as
both had amounts of the drugs that
are consider user quantities based on
Oregon law that voters changed when
they approved Measure 110 in No-
vember 2020.
That measure eliminated criminal
penalties for possession of smaller
amounts of drugs, including meth,
fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.
See, Citations/Page A3
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
A work vacation — on the trail
Participants will
help improve a trail
in Hells Canyon
“It’s a give-back mindset to tourism,”
Sizer said.
It is the first such trip Go Wild has
offered.
“This is our pilot program,” he said.
The cost is $450, which includes
gear, meals, transportation, live music,
BY LISA BRITTON
and pre- and post-parties.
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
“You’ll show up with a tent set up, a
An opportunity to fix up trails in
cot, a pad on your cot, and a cocktail
Eastern Oregon and be pampered
waiting for you,” he said.
back at camp is coming up later this
The only specific supplies to bring
month thanks to a partnership be-
tween Go Wild: American Adventures are boots, good work gloves, and lunch
and the Wallowa Mountain Hells Can- snacks.
The camping experience, Sizer said,
yon Trail Association.
could be described as “glamping” —
The “all-inclusive trail work vaca-
tion” is set for June 17-19 on the West- glamorous camping.
“The cooking will be a highlight —
ern Rim Trail above Hells Canyon.
that’s what Go Wild is known for,” he
“It’s one of the early season options
said. “We’re taking the modern culinary
— and a trail that needs work,” said
craft movement to the backcountry.”
Sizer, who owns Go Wild.
The group will leave Baker City at
The trail is also part of the Blue
8 a.m. Friday, June 17. This day in-
Mountain Trail, a 530-mile route in
cludes trail work in the afternoon, then
Eastern Oregon.
Sizer said the idea for this trip came cocktail hour and a campfire dinner.
from a conversation about “regenera-
tive tourism.”
See, Trail/Page A5
TODAY
Issue 12
14 pages
Classified ....................B3-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B3 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ........B1 & B2
Wallowa Mountain Hells Canyon Trails Association/Contributed photo
The Wallowa Mountain Hells Canyon Trails Association works with the Forest Service
to maintain trails, and on June 17-19 one of these projects is offered as a “work vaca-
tion” with Go Wild: American Adventures. For details and cost, visit www.gowildusa.
com/volunteervacations.
Horoscope ..............B3 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
Sudoku..............................B7
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B8