JULY 6–13, 2022
WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM
Jammin’ with the
WALLOWA FIDDLE
TUNES CAMP
GO! MAGAZINE
LOCAL A2
THE WEST A6
Cool rides, fi ddle camps
and outdoor movies
Free golf off ered for
some students in July
Petersen Rock Garden
has purchase off er
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IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
Motorcycle
rally gets
ready to roll
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Alene Martineau of
Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Lions Club Jubilee
breakfast, horseshoe
tournament set
The Baker Lions Club Jubilee
breakfast will happen July 16
and 17 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. at
Geiser-Pollman Park during Min-
ers Jubilee weekend. Cost is $10
adults, $8 children ages 3-10.
Saturday’s menu is sausage,
pancakes, eggs, coffee and juice.
Sunday features ham, pancakes,
eggs, coffee and juice.
The Lions will also sponsor a
horseshoe tournament on Sat-
urday, July 16, at 2 p.m. Teams
of two (men, women or co-ed)
can enter for $5 per person.
Cash prizes are awarded for top
teams. Entry forms are available
at Gregg Hinrichsen State Farm
Insurance, 1722 Campbell St.,
or register the day of the event.
For information, call Hinrichsen at
541-523-7778.
THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022 • $1.50
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Food Co-op
at a crossroads
Officials unveil shopping pledge campaign,
say co-op’s future depends on response
Local students on honor
roll at Oregon State
CORVALLIS — Several Baker
County students were named to
the honor roll for the spring 2022
semester at Oregon State Universi-
ty. To be eligible, students must
earn a GPA of at least 3.5 and
take at least 12 hours of graded
courses.
Baker City students on the
honor roll: Calli N. Ward, senior,
Sociology; Erik L. Ruby, senior, Art;
Anna C. Carter, junior, Marketing;
Anthony J. Cowan, junior, Nuclear
Engineering; Cayn J. Osborn,
senior, Civil Engineering; Reno
R. Hammond, senior, Public
Health; Jesse J. Johnson, senior,
Chemistry.
Also on the honor roll, from
Halfway, is Joseph W. Aguilar, a se-
nior majoring in Animal Sciences.
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
C
onsumers are creatures of habit,
said Cheri Smith, president of Baker
Food Co-op.
And she believes shoppers who got out
of the habit of coming to the co-op during
the pandemic explains the significant drop
in customers — even as restrictions ended.
“We kept thinking, ‘it’ll come back, it’ll
come’ back,’ ” Smith said. “I’m thinking
(customers) got out of the habit of coming
to shop here. We want to encourage them
to get that habit back.”
Dana Ring, the general manager of the
store at 2008 Broadway St., said just 10%
of customers are spending $50 or more
at the co-op each month. That’s down by
roughly one-third this year compared
with last.
That trend prompted co-op officials to
launch a campaign on July 1 called Save
WEATHER
—————
Our Store (S.O.S.), which asks members
to pledge to spend at least $75 per month
at the store. If more people don’t start con-
sistently shopping there, Ring says, the
store will no longer be able to function as
a co-op.
“The co-op is absolutely in a critical po-
sition,” Ring said. “Operationally, we aren’t
sustaining ourselves.”
The campaign aims for 300 to 500
pledges. Smith said 300 pledges would al-
low the store to move forward on a “skele-
tal basis,” and Ring said 500 pledges would
be enough to make the co-op sustainable
beyond a month-to-month schedule.
Customers can sign up as pledges at the
store, by calling 541-523-6281 or emailing
manager@bakerfoodcoop.org.
You don’t need to be a co-op member
to shop at the store, and Smith encourages
non-members to pledge as well.
See Cooperative / A3
Today
Shameless Tees owner Brandy Bruce is feel-
ing the rush as the revived Baker City Motorcy-
cle Rally revs up for this weekend.
“We had the police in here yesterday,” Bruce
said on Wednesday, July 6. “They wanted to
know if it’s true we have 500 people coming.”
She laughed, reasonably sure it was Facebook
speculation more than any real figure. Registra-
tions so far haven’t reached that, but she does
expect many riders to register on the first day of
the event, Friday, July 8.
In previous rallies, many riders who showed
up didn’t officially register, so predicting the
turnout can be difficult.
Bruce’s business decided to put on a mo-
torcycle rally after the organizer of the annual
Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally, a tradition al-
most 20 years old that has attracted thousands
of visitors, announced in February that the rally
wouldn’t happen for the third straight year.
Bruce said this rally will feature at least
15 merchandise vendors along Main Street,
which will be closed to traffic during the week-
end. Vendors will start setting up at 5 p.m. on
Thursday, July 7.
Music
On Friday, July 8, Philadelphia’s, at 975
Campbell St., will be hosting Trailer Hitch on
the patio at 6 p.m. The Baker City Veterans Me-
morial Club, 2005 Valley Ave., will be hosting
Wicked Mary, a hard rock cover band, starting
at 8 p.m. and open to the public.
See Rally / A3
Baker City to
refund FireMed
memberships
Residents who are taken by
Metro West ambulance don’t
have current coverage
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
86/52
Mostly sunny
Friday
82/50
Mostly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Cheri Smith is president of the Baker Food Co-op, which has been struggling
since the pandemic reduced the number of shoppers.
The Baker City Council’s decision to have the
fire department cease ambulance service Oct. 1
is already affecting residents who have bought
memberships in FireMed.
That program, which is part of the Life Flight
network, pays for members’ ambulance rides
or emergency medical flights, or both, for those
who buy a dual membership.
Starting Oct. 1, the Baker City Fire Depart-
ment will no longer operate ambulances or par-
ticipate in the ground ambulance portion of the
program.
Local subscribers recently received mailed
notices about the pending change.
Baker City Manager Jonathan Cannon esti-
mated that approximately 2,000 local residents
are FireMed members.
See FireMed / A3
Man with warrants
arrested in Powder
River after chase
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
A Lakeview man who had two felony war-
rants and led police on a chase on the Fourth
of July was arrested after officers found him
hiding in the Powder River.
Michael Ray Schulte, 36, was arrested at
about 8:37 p.m. in the river near Church
Street, according to court records and a press
release from the Baker County Sheriff’s Of-
fice.
Schulte was taken to the Baker County Jail,
charged with being a felon in possession of a
weapon, reckless driving, attempting to elude
police and unlawful possession of metham-
phetamine.
See Warrants / A3
TODAY
Issue 24
36 pages
Business .................B1 & B2
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
2 events to protest Roe v. Wade ruling
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
Two separate public events are
planned in Baker City on Satur-
day, July 9 in opposition to the
U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deci-
sion overturning the Roe v. Wade
ruling and giving states the au-
thority to ban abortions.
Emily Simko of Baker City
said the Baker Community Jus-
tice Project has scheduled a “Bans
Off Our Bodies” walk starting at
11 a.m. at Central Park, beside the
Powder River between Washing-
ton and Valley avenues.
Participants will walk to Geis-
er-Pollman Park via Main and
Campbell streets.
“The Baker Community Justice
Project decided to put together
a walk this weekend to show our
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
discontent of the recent SCO-
TUS decision to overturn Roe v.
Wade,” Simko wrote in an email
to the Herald. “Bans Off Our
Bodies is a collective movement
of peaceful protests going on
across the country in response to
the overturn of Roe v. Wade, our
constitutional right to abortion.
For the first time in generations,
children and young adults have
less bodily autonomy than their
parents and grandparents.
“PBS published a poll in May
of 2022 that found over 64% of
Americans support Roe v. Wade
and only 33% would support over-
turning it,” Simko wrote. “The de-
cision made by the Supreme Court
on June 24th does not reflect the
wants of two-thirds of Americans.
Peaceful protesting is our right.
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Demonstrations such as a peace-
ful walk is a way to encourage jus-
tice and reform — it can lift our
spirits and lead to transformative
change. We are walking on Satur-
day to support a person’s right to
make a decision for themself (in
private) and have access to safe
and affordable health care with
a provider they trust, no matter
where they live.”
A second, separate event
on Saturday, a women’s rights
peaceful protest hosted by
Kaylee Tenbush of Baker City,
will start beside Campbell Street
near Geiser-Pollman Park at
noon.
Tenbush said she plans to
provide baby formula and baby
clothing to mothers in need at
the event.
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6