JUNE 29-JULY 6, 2022
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BACKGROUND:
Fireworks wowed
the huge crowd
gathered at Wallowa lake
for the Shake the Lake
Fourth of July 2019.
Ellen Morris Bishop/For
the Wallowa County
Chieftain
GO! INSIDE
LOCAL A2
REGION A3
Fireworks and other
4th of July festivities
Summer intern joins
Baker City Herald
Idaho Power seeks
new license for dams
PAGE 12
PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS ON PAGE 18
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE •SPORTS
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022 • $1.50
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
City Council discusses police patrols
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Blake Marlia of
Baker City.
City will maintain 24-hour patrols;
council sets work session for Sept. 13
BRIEFING
—————
Nominees sought for
Baker County Fair Family
Baker County Friends of the
Fairgrounds are seeking nomi-
nees for the 2022 Fair Family of
the Year. Nominations are due
by July 10. Nomination letters
can be emailed to bakercity-
friendsofthefair@gmail.com.
Volunteers needed to
help Library book sale
Friends of the Baker County
Library need volunteers to
help sort books and to work as
cashiers during the book sale July
14-17. Volunteers can sign up at
the library, 2400 Resort St., or by
calling Jen at 541-519-7828..
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker City Police Chief Ty
Duby told city councilors on
Tuesday, June 28 that the de-
partment will continue 24-
hour patrols while city offi-
cials discuss the possibility of
dropping patrols during early
morning periods when call
volumes are relatively low.
Councilors decided to
schedule a work session prior
to their regular meeting on
Sept. 13 to continue discuss-
ing the patrol schedule issue.
Although Duby said in
an interview with the Her-
ald on Monday, June 27 that
maintaining 24-hour patrols
has been a challenge since he
joined the department about
three years ago as a lieu-
tenant, the topic wasn’t listed
on the agenda for the coun-
cil’s Tuesday meeting.
That changed after social
media posts last weekend
stated that the department,
starting Aug. 23, would no
longer patrol from 3 a.m. to
7 a.m. daily.
Duby told councilors that he
had asked a sergeant to draft a
schedule with that change so
City Manager Jonathan Can-
non and councilors would
have a document to review.
THE RODEO LIFE
Bill and Colleen Taylor reflect on more than
30 years with the Haines Stampede Rodeo
H
AINES — When Bill
and Colleen Taylor look
across the Haines Stam-
pede Rodeo arena, their gazes
see beyond the expanse of sand
and bucking chutes and speak-
ers.
They see children learning
how to hammer nails.
They see a rodeo attendee
asking to scatter ashes of the
beloved dog which he won in
this very place.
They see their granddaughters
in a barrel racing contest — one
of the few events that Colleen
has actually seen in 30-plus years
of volunteering with the rodeo.
“There are so many stories
out here,” Colleen said.
“Our kids and grandkids
have grown up in this arena,”
Bill added.
The Haines Stampede arena,
so quiet on Tuesday, June 28,
will be full of action in a few
The annual Kids Sidewalk
Tribute Walk, sponsored by
Baker City Events, happens
Saturday, July 2, in downtown
Baker City. The theme is “Salute
to Rural Country Life in America.”
Entries can line up for judging
at 1 p.m. at Court Plaza (Main
and Court streets) followed by
the walk to Geiser-Pollman Park.
Adult chaperones are encour-
aged to join in the walk with
their youngsters. Every child will
receive a ribbon, and cash prizes
will be awarded in the categories
of: Groups and Clubs; Floats;
Individuals; Wheels and Pets. At
the park, treats will be provided
by Gregg Hinrichsen State Farm
Insurance and games organized
by the Baker Elks Lodge.
Sponsors help support the
parade — those who are interest-
ed in donating $75 to help with
prizes and awards can send a
donation to Baker City Events,
2545 College St., Baker City, OR
97814. For more information,
contact Lynette Perry at 541-
519-5653 or bakercityevents1@
gmail.com.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Colleen and Bill Taylor at one of their favorite places — the Haines Stam-
pede Rodeo grounds — on June 28.
days for the annual rodeo on
July 3 and 4.
The Taylors will be honored
as grand marshal and queen at
the Haines Fourth of July pa-
rade at 10 a.m. on Monday, July
4. They were also celebrated at
a potluck dinner on Wednes-
day, June 29.
Rodeo lifestyle
The rodeo life is essential to
the Taylors.
See Taylors / A6
— Bill Taylor, historian and past president for the Haines
Stampede Rodeo
Today
82/49
Sunny
Friday
85/51
Sunny
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Weather
shift spurs
mosquito
spread
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
“There aren’t many people in this valley we can’t
call if we need something. There are a lot of
people who are willing to step up and make things
happen.”
WEATHER
—————
See Patrols / A3
The bugs progress
through larval
stages faster in hot
weather
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Kids Sidewalk Tribute
Walk set for July 2
“I did just assume that we
all just had a month and a
half to have some further dis-
cussions to discuss with the
city manager, command staff,
council, because by (the po-
lice union) contract, we have
to post the schedule ten days
before we change things out,”
Duby said.
Bulls gave com-
petitors a wild
ride during the
Haines Stampede
rodeo in 2020.
Sam Anthony/Baker
City Herald, File
For a mosquito, death by
hand is common. But for
mosquitoes in the Baker Val-
ley, so is death by plane.
After an unusually cool, wet
spring, summer temperatures
have arrived in Baker Valley
— the high temperature on
Monday, June 27 at the Baker
City Airport was 97 degrees,
the hottest day there since
Aug. 15, 2021, when the high
was 98.
And the heat is accompa-
nied by pesky mosquitoes,
forcing the local mosquito
control crew to shift to aerial
tactics with a goal of curbing
the bug population and po-
tentially stifling the illnesses,
notably West Nile virus, they
can spread.
Even though the excess of
spring precipitation left plenty
of standing water — mosquito
larvae habitat — in the Baker
Valley, below average tempera-
tures prevented most of the
bugs from hatching as early as
usual, said Matt Hutchinson,
manager of the Baker Valley
Vector Control District.
But recent heat will increase
mosquito activity and hatch-
ing, Hutchinson said.
The 200,000-acre district,
which gets revenue from a
permanent property tax levy
and a local option levy that
voters decide on periodically,
includes most of Baker, Keat-
ing and Bowen valleys. Baker
City is within the district.
“Things have been drying
up a little bit, but there’s still
some wet pockets and irri-
gation patches,” Hutchinson
said.
See Mosquitoes / A3
Winds fan wildfire to 36,000 acres of grassland near Vale
Cause of blaze
under investigation
Baker City Herald
Gusty winds fanned the
flames of a wildfire that
burned about 36,000 acres of
grass and sagebrush in north-
ern Malheur County north of
Vale on Tuesday, June 28.
Smoke from the Willow-
creek fire drifted across sec-
tions of Interstate 84 south-
east of Baker City, prompting
a closure of the freeway be-
tween Baker City and Ontario
for about two and a half hours
Tuesday night.
The cause of the fire, which
started on private property
and spread to public land
managed by the Bureau of
TODAY
Issue 21
38 pages
Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office
The Willow Creek fire burned a little more than 36,000 acres north
of Vale on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
tLand Management, is under
investigation by the Oregon
State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Lighter winds overnight
Business .................B1 & B2
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
helped fire crews prepare to
attack the blaze Wednesday,
according to a press release
from the BLM’s Vale District.
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
“The winds calmed about
3 a.m. which gave us a good
chance to get around the hot
spots on the fire,” Vale BLM
Fire Duty Officer Justin Fen-
ton said Wednesday morning.
At 2:30 p.m. on Wednes-
day, the fire was 25% con-
tained.
The fire hasn’t threatened
any structures and there have
not been any evacuations. No
injuries have been reported
among firefighters.
The fire was reported
around 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday,
according to the BLM’s Vale
District.
Nine fire engines from the
Vale District worked on the
fire, along with two engines
from the Payette National
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
Forest, two engines each from
the Burns and Boise BLM
districts, and crews from the
Vale Rangeland Fire Protec-
tion Association, Burnt River
Rangeland Fire Protection
Association, Oregon State
Fire Marshal and Vale Rural
Fire Department. Multiple
aircraft, including single- and
multi-engine air tankers, also
worked on the fire.
The freeway was closed
from about 7:30 p.m. until
10 p.m.
The fire was pushed by
strong winds from a pass-
ing cold front. An automated
weather station near the fire
recorded gusts as high was
35 mph on Tuesday evening.
The temperature reached 100
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6