LOCAL A2
SPORTS A3
STATE A6
Road closures over
Hells Canyon Dam
Bulldogs picked for
all-star baseball series
Off -road wheelchair
built for Baker boy
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Cindy
Heesacker of Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Nominees sought
for Baker County
Fair Family
Baker County Friends of
the Fairgrounds are seeking
nominees for the 2022 Fair
Family of the Year. Nomi-
nations are due by July 10.
Nomination letters can be
emailed to bakercityfriend-
softhefair@gmail.com.
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022 • $1.50
When can
Connor
Creek Road
be closed?
FALLING
THROUGH
THE CRACKS
Final settlement
on county’s lawsuit
sets standard
Raleigh Rust drowned in the Powder River in
May 2021, and his mother, Carla Koplein, still
wonders how her son might have been saved
Carla Koplein/Contributed Photo
ABOVE:
Raleigh Rust
with his
girlfriend,
Carrie Edison
Johnson, in
the winter of
2019. They
were living
in Las Vegas
at the time.
They were
sightseeing
while
returning
from a
concert in Los
Angeles.
Rep. Mark Owens
plans meet and greet
in Baker June 22
Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane,
who represents Baker County
in the Oregon House of Rep-
resentatives, will have a meet
and greet Wednesday, June
22 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. at Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative, 4005 23rd St.
Owens will give updates from
the Legislature and hear from
constituents.
LEFT: The
memorial to
Rust, created
by his mother,
Carla Koplein,
along the
Leo Adler
Memorial
Parkway
between
Bridge Street
and Auburn
Avenue.
Three Baker students on
Gonzaga president’s list
SPOKANE, Wash. — Three
Baker City residents were
named to the president’s list
for the spring 2022 semes-
ter at Gonzaga University. To
be eligible, students must
earn a GPA of at least 3.85.
Baker City students on the
president’s list are Gabriel
Gambleton, Jacob Jackson
and Jazmine Labonte.
Jayson Jacoby/
Baker City Herald
WEATHER
—————
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The wildfire danger would have
to be extreme for more than 26
straight days before a landowner
in eastern Baker County could
close and lock gates on a dirt road
that was the subject of a lawsuit
the county filed in 2019 and set-
tled earlier this year.
That’s one of the clauses in the
settlement of the lawsuit involv-
ing a section of the Connor Creek
Road near Lookout Mountain that
was closed to public access after
the property owner locked the
gates in 2017.
Based on that fire danger
threshold, the gates could have
been locked for two weeks during
the summer of 2021, but not at all
in 2020 or 2019.
Although the property sold
about two weeks after the settle-
ment was signed on Jan. 20, 2022,
the deal is binding on the new, and
any subsequent, owners, said Kim
Mosier, the county’s attorney.
County commissioners voted
2-1 on Sept. 15, 2021, to approve a
memorandum of understanding
to negotiate a settlement. The pro-
posed pact included a payment of
$125,000 from the county to the
landowner for a “permanent, un-
disputed” public right of way on
the road.
Negotiations on the terms of the
settlement continued through the
fall and into the winter.
See, Settlement / Page A3
Today
Infant formula
shortage has
local effects
60/40
Rain showers
Sunday
59/40
Afternoon showers
Monday
68/42
Partly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
BY JAYSON JACOBY • jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A
s Carla Koplein listened to the
staccato chatter on the police scanner,
at an hour when almost everyone in
Baker City is deep in sleep, she wondered if her
son, Raleigh David Rust, was involved.
She worried that he was.
The list of people likely to be
the subject of a 911 call about
someone wailing near Sec-
ond Street and Court Avenue
at 2:28 a.m. was surely not a
lengthy one.
Yet as Koplein listened on
the early morning of May
14, 2021, she had no trouble
imagining that the police of-
ficers and the dispatcher were
talking about Raleigh, 46, al-
though the initial report spec-
ulated that the wailing person
was younger.
She knew her son, one of
her four children, was men-
tally ill.
He was also kind and intelli-
gent and generous.
But Raleigh’s mental health
struggles had been a frequent
challenge for Koplein.
She had tried for several
months to have Raleigh civ-
Carla Koplein/
Contributed Photo
illy committed to the Oregon
State Hospital for treatment.
Just three months earlier he
spent a week or so at a psychi-
atric hospital in Twin Falls,
Idaho, where she said he was
diagnosed with biopolar dis-
order with schizophrenic ten-
dencies.
But Raleigh underwent that
treatment voluntarily.
He didn’t stay.
Koplein feared that her son
would soon be dead if he re-
mained free, neither in treat-
ment nor in the Baker County
Jail, where he had been in-
carcerated multiple times for
short periods over the past
several months, for charges in-
cluding burglary and criminal
trespassing.
A school
picture of
Raleigh Rust
when he
was about 8.
His mother,
Carla Koplein,
said he was
full of spunk
and endless
energy. “He
was at the age
where he was
aware of his
appearance
and tried to
constantly
impress
people,” she
said.
See, Raleigh / Page A7
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Baker County has fared better
than many parts of the country
during the infant formula short-
age, but the effects are being felt
here with scant supplies at times at
local stores.
“Many families have not been
able to find the formulas they use
to feed their babies,” said Meghan
Chancey, administrator at the
Baker County Health Department.
Some parents have also had to
switch formula brands repeatedly
depending on which were avail-
able, Chancey said.
“While this isn’t ideal for fami-
lies, most babies will tolerate for-
mula changes,” she said.
Formula shortages have affected
parts of the country since this Feb-
ruary, when Abbott Nutrition, one
of four companies that produce
about 90% of the product in the
U.S., closed its Michigan factory
due to bacterial contamination.
See, Formula / Page A3
Council looks to swap sister cities: No Russia, yes Taiwan
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
The Baker City Council voted 6-0
on Tuesday, June 14, to move toward
ending the sister city relationship with
Zeya, Russia.
Baker City and Zeya became sister
cities in 1996 after a group of Russian
miners visited here.
Councilor Johnny Waggoner Sr.,
reflecting on Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine earlier this year, said Tuesday
that “we don’t have really good terms
TODAY
Issue 17
14 pages
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Community News.............A2
with Russia right now.”
Councilor Jason Spriet was absent
Tuesday.
But even as Baker City dissolves
one sister city relationship, councilors
will be looking at forging a new bond
with a distant land.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten will bring
information to the Council in July re-
garding a possible relationship with a
city in Taiwan.
McQuisten said she had dinner in
Portland last week with the two Tai-
Crossword ...............B2 & B3
Dear Abby .........................B6
Horoscope ..............B2 & B3
wan diplomats who are based in Se-
attle.
“They are looking to establish a sis-
ter city relationship potentially and
this is a really positive thing moving
forward,” McQuisten said. “This is a
really good opportunity I think to get
in on the ground floor plus it’s a polit-
ical statement as well.”
McQuisten said she will meet with
the Taiwanese officials again in Seat-
tle in July, and report back to coun-
cilors.
Jayson Jacoby ..................A4
Lottery Results .................A2
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Councilor Joanna Dixon said she
believes it is a wonderful opportunity,
saying the U.S. needs to strengthen its
ties to Taiwan.
Taiwan, also known as the Republic
of China, encompasses a series of is-
lands off mainland China, the largest
of which is Formosa.
Although the U.S. doesn’t have of-
ficial diplomatic relations with Tai-
wan, the two have strong economic
ties.
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See, Council / Page A3
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