BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, JuLY 16, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Sweet
In addition
to selling
frozen treats
and bottled
water, the Ice
Cream Ped-
alers pick up
trash along
their route
on the Leo
Adler Memo-
rial Parkway.
Isabel Hardy,
left, and So-
phia Daffer
worked the
morning
shift on Tues-
day, July 12,
2022.
Continued from A1
“We needed to partner with
a business, and they love to do
programs with youth in our
community,” said Janie Radi-
novich-Brose, who is the dis-
trict’s youth transition special-
ist along with Shannon Keck.
The specialty bicycle looks
typical on the back end —
seat, pedals, handlebars — but
the front is equipped with an
insulated cooler loaded with
ice cream and dry ice.
To recruit staff, Radi-
novich-Brose and Keck had
students apply and interview
for the position.
“For a lot of these kids,
this is their first job,” Radi-
novich-Brose said.
And, Keck said, it will help
students gain skills in cus-
tomer service, money transac-
tions and bike safety.
Twelve employees and
four adult supervisors rotate
through two daily shifts — one
morning and one afternoon.
The Ice Cream Pedalers will
sell cold treats Monday through
Thursday along the Leo Ad-
ler Memorial Parkway. They
have a set route that runs from
Geiser-Pollman Park to Central
Park — along the Parkway be-
tween Washington and Valley
avenues — so hungry patrons
know where to find them.
“We’ve been decently busy,”
Isaac Nemec said on Tues-
day, after they arrived at Geis-
er-Pollman Park for the late
morning stop.
The Pedalers play music
— but not the traditional jin-
gle that signals an ice cream
truck.
Suspect
Continued from A1
Baker City Police offi-
cers responded and found
a male juvenile with a gun-
shot wound. Efforts to save
the victim were not suc-
cessful.
Police also found a female
juvenile at the scene who
was not hurt.
Police haven’t said
whether the female juvenile
who was in the parking lot
reported the shooting, or
whether someone else called
police.
According to the state law
dealing with juveniles being
prosecuted as adults, a judge
can consider, among other
criteria, whether:
• “The youth at the time
of the alleged offense was
of sufficient sophistication
and maturity to appreciate
the nature and quality of the
conduct involved.”
• “The amenability of
the youth to treatment and
rehabilitation given the
techniques, facilities and
personnel for rehabilita-
tion available to the juve-
nile court and to the crim-
inal court that would have
Lisa Britton/Baker
City Herald
“We didn’t want to drive
people crazy,” Mitchell Ste-
phens said with a laugh.
During the lunch break, from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the ice
cream is restocked for the after-
noon session.
Here is where you can find
the Ice Cream Pedalers:
Morning schedule
• 8:30 a.m.: Geiser-Pollman
Park
• 9:45 a.m.: Central Park
jurisdiction after transfer”
(to adult court).
• “The aggressive, violent,
premeditated or willful man-
ner in which the offense was
alleged to have been com-
mitted.”
• “The previous history of
the youth, including: prior
treatment efforts and out-of-
home placements; the phys-
ical, emotional and men-
tal health of the youth; the
youth’s prior record of acts
that would be crimes if com-
mitted by an adult; the grav-
ity of the loss, damage or
injury caused or attempted
during the offense.”
The law also gives the
prosecutor the right to have
at least one psychiatrist or
licensed psychologist, of
the prosecution’s choice,
examine the juvenile de-
fendant.
Baxter said he doesn’t
know how long it typically
takes for a judge to decide on
a motion seeking to prose-
cute a juvenile defendant in
adult court.
A defendant convicted of
second-degree murder as
an adult could be sentenced
to life in prison without the
possibility of parole.
Alfred (Larry) Craig
June 4, 1933 - June 18, 2022
On June 18th, 2022, Alfred (Larry) Craig, age 89,
died peacefully at the Pioneer Home in Palmer. Larry
was born in North Powder, OR on June 4, 1933. He
graduated from Eastern Oregon University with an
Education degree and served in the US Army. Larry
married Marcia (Parker) Craig in 1954. They were
married for 51 years until Marcia’s death in 2005.
Together, they raised their son, Stuart.
In 1959, Larry and Marcia moved to Kodiak,
Alaska. He taught high school history and was later the
principal at Kodiak High School. From Kodiak, Larry
and family moved to Anchorage where Larry was West
High School vice principal. Moving to Palmer, Larry
accepted a position as school counselor at Palmer High
School. A promotion to the Director of Secondary
Education followed. Shortly before retirement, he was
the facilities manager for the Mat-Su School District.
Larry was also a lifetime member of the Elks and
Masons.
Larry always loved a good adventure. On their
honeymoon, Larry and Marcia began their adventures
by refusing to share their tent with bears while camping;
later they traveled throughout Alaska, over the Alaska
Highway, and to various favorite locations in the lower
48. Their travels took them to Uganik Cannery on
Kodiak Island as winter caretakers, to Homer, AK for
many fishing trips, and through the Panama Canal. He
fought fires in interior Alaska, floated down the Yukon
River with his son Stuart, and shared a jet boat trip
through Hells Canyon on the Snake River with friends.
He often traveled back to Alaska to visit his son Stuart
and family.
Larry loved good jokes, loved to tease, and spent
most days with a smile on his face and in his heart. One
of his favorite sayings was “tempus fugit” (time flies).
As he is welcomed into heaven with open arms by his
loving wife Marcia and all his family and friends that
went before him, he thankfully no longer has to worry
about tempus fugit.
Larry was preceded in death by his father, Charles
(Jack) Craig, his mother, Dorothy Craig Haley, his
brothers, Steve Craig, Terry Craig and Thomas Craig,
and his wife, Marcia Craig. He is survived by his son
Stuart Craig, and his grandson, Joshua Craig.
At his request, there will not be a memorial service.
His ashes will be interred next to his wife Marcia at the
family burial plot in Baker City, OR.
• 10:15 a.m.: The Great Salt
Lick in Court Plaza
• 10:45 a.m.: Central Park
• 11 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.:
Geiser-Pollman Park
Afternoon schedule
• 12:30 p.m.: Geiser-Poll-
man Park
• 1:45 p.m.: Central Park
• 2:15 p.m.: The Great Salt
Lick
• 2:45 p.m.: Central Park
• 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Geis-
er-Pollman Park
Treats
The cooler is loaded with a
variety of treats with various
prices, from $1 for an Orange
Dream Bar to $4.50 for a Big
Bopper Sandwich.
They have cold water too,
for $1.75 per bottle.
Cash or cards are accepted.
“The students do all the
transactions,” Stephens said,
as Daffer took a dollar in pay-
Easements
Continued from A1
“The work that has been done has largely
been the permitting aspect, getting the gov-
ernment permits that they need to construct
that line.”
The federal government has approved
the 293-mile route, which runs from near
Boardman, in Morrow County west of
Pendleton, and the Hemingway substation
near Murphy, Idaho. The Oregon Energy
Facility Siting Council, part of the state
Department of Energy, is reviewing the
proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line,
which would cross parts of Baker, Malheur,
Union, Umatilla and Morrow counties.
The proposed route through Baker
County would run south of Interstate 84
from near Huntington to the Durkee Val-
ley, cross the freeway near Pleasant Valley,
then follow the route of an existing 230-ki-
lovolt line (which it would replace) along
the north side of the freeway to near Baker
City, then head north along the east side of
Baker Valley between the freeway and the
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
Martin said he has been in touch with
Idaho Power officials, who expect to com-
plete the state permitting process later this
year, although he said “that timeline may
get pushed out a little bit further.”
Idaho Power anticipates the transmis-
sion line could be finished as early as 2026.
A regional organization, Stop B2H, has
been working for several years to block
the project, claiming it is not needed and
would harm the environment, increase
Council
Continued from A1
“Fundamentally, the rea-
son why I’m here is because I
believe a wrong was done to
our community,” Husk said.
“Working in the fire service I
know what it takes to put out
a fire in your house. I’ve been
out on fires with (only) two
people, and fortunately they
were small, small, small fires.”
Husk’s concern is that with
the fire department staffing
reduced from 16.25 full-time
equivalents in the fiscal year
that ended June 30, to 10.5 in
the current fiscal year, fire-
fighters’ ability to handle
structure fires will be signifi-
cantly reduced.
“That guy in the black shirt
in the back,” Husk said during
Thursday’s meeting, indicat-
ing a fellow firefighter in the
crowd, “him and I went to a
fire at Kirkway about six to
eight months ago, it was just
a small shed that had spread
into the adjoining prop-
erty and we barely got that
knocked down with two peo-
ple.
“So if we show up at your
home, and there’s a full bed-
room on fire? On the second
floor? Our ability to get there
and fight has just been de-
stroyed,” Husk said.
Husk disputes Cannon’s
contention that the city can’t
afford to continue operating
ambulances due to the rising
cost of the service, and that the
city is collecting only about
half the amount it bills.
In response to the city’s de-
cision to discontinue ambu-
lance service Sept. 30, 2022,
Baker County, which by Ore-
gon law is responsible for en-
suring ambulance service, has
ment and recorded the sale.
“The ultimate goal is to prepare
the students with job skills.”
And they aren’t just serving
up cold treats — this group
picks up litter as they go along
the Parkway.
“Everywhere is cleaner af-
ter we’ve been there,” Stephens
said.
They don’t have a specific
location at each stop, but they
do try to park out of the hot
summer sun.
the risk of wildfire, and intrude on private
property.
Idaho Power is required to survey sites
along the route, including private prop-
erty, for wildlife and plants, among other
things.
In late 2021 and early 2022, attorneys
representing the company filed 10 lawsuits
against Baker County landowners — and
similar complaints against other property
owners elsewhere in Eastern Oregon —
seeking access to their properties for sur-
veys.
Idaho Power dismissed all the Baker
County suits this spring after all the af-
fected landowners granted the company
permission to do surveys.
Easement payments
A focus of Wednesday’s meeting was
the one-time payments Idaho Power will
offer to property owners for easements
across their land.
“They have individuals that work with
Idaho Power approaching landowners
and presenting packages of documents to
folks,” said Martin, who called for a show
of hands from property owners who’d al-
ready received the documents.
Nearly every landowner attending has
received initial offers from Idaho Power.
Martin said landowners should have an
attorney review the forms before signing.
“If you notice, they’re full of blanks, so
those are pretty generic forms,” he said.
“For most of you, unless you have an at-
torney look at it, it’s a lot of legalese and
lawyer jargon.”
hired Metro West Ambulance
of Hillsboro to replace the city.
In the meantime, Metro
West has had an ambulance in
Baker City for the past several
weeks.
“They did certain creative
math to make it show that
‘we couldn’t afford the am-
bulance,’ ” Husk said during
Thursday’s meeting. “We have
the actual expense numbers
from the previous year, and
they can’t fudge those, and
then we have a budget where
they can just make up num-
bers and make believe, and
when you look at the budget
and think that it’s super ex-
pensive, overtime is through
the roof, you don’t see the
backside that they changed the
way the department works.”
Husk and Casey Johnson,
a firefighter and president of
the fire department’s union
chapter, have cited a decision
by Cannon and Fire Chief
Sean Lee in July 2021 to reas-
sign the department’s two of
the three division chiefs from
working the same 24 hours
on, 48 hours off schedule that
firefighter/paramedics do, to
a standard 40-hour weekday
schedule.
He said that means the divi-
sion chiefs aren’t available as of-
ten to go out on calls or to cover
the station when a two-person
crew is out on a call.
The result, Johnson said in a
previous interview, is that the
department, more often than
before the staffing change,
has to ask off-duty firefight-
ers to respond to the station,
to ensure it is staffed, when a
two-person crew is out on an
ambulance or fire call.
According to city records,
the fire department’s overtime
bill for the nine-month period
“Look for us in the shade,”
Stephens said.
Deliveries
The Ice Cream Pedalers
can deliver as well for orders
over $10 — check the page on
Facebook for a link to an or-
der form.
A customer can request a
location and time, and specify
a quantity of treats.
They also have an email:
icecreampedalers@gmail.com.
Martin said the packages are in effect
the first step in the negotiating process.
In most cases Idaho Power is seeking a
160-meter wide easement, although the
dimensions vary depending on the prop-
erty.
He said landowners would be able to
continue using the easement for purposes
such as cattle grazing.
Martin said that if Idaho Power can’t
negotiate an easement, the next step
would be a “condemnation lawsuit.”
Also known as eminent domain, that’s
a legal process that forces a private land-
owner to give up a portion of property
for a public project, such as a highway or
power line. The property owner would
receive a payment, but it would be deter-
mined by the court rather than in a nego-
tiation between the parties.
“You’re probably all aware of that as-
pect,” Martin said. “Idaho Power would
file a lawsuit against you to obtain a right
of way through your property. So, that
process is fairly involved.”
He said Idaho Power would prefer to
avoid condemnation lawsuits, given the
cost of litigation.
In response to a question from a land-
owner about where transmission towers
would be built, Martin said Idaho Power
would have some flexibility, but that tow-
ers and any other structures would have
to be within the easement.
At the end of Wednesday’s meeting,
Bennett said property owners can contact
him by email at mbennett@bakercounty.
org for more information.
July 2021 through March 2022
was $135,600 — an increase
of $69,900, or 94%, from the
same period the previous year.
Husk and his coworkers
during Thursday’s meeting
described overtime exceeding
100 hours per worker a month,
placing stress on the staff.
Recall process
“The topic tonight is to get
all of us that are interested in
this on the same page so go-
ing forward as we have recall
petitions we have resources
that we can call on,” Husk said
Thursday.
“All this comes from a
council that says don’t worry
about it, there will be no effect
from our actions. Don’t worry
about it, two firefighters is bet-
ter than four firefighters. Don’t
worry about it, we’re gonna
save you money by getting rid
of this ambulance. And then,
we forgot to tell you, we got
rid of the ambulance revenue
that offset the cost and now
you’re paying more. And don’t
worry about it, we’re going to
cut services we give you and
not cut the taxes you pay for
those services. So, that’s why
I’m here.”
A standing-room-only
crowd attended the City
Council’s May 10 meeting,
and 18 people spoke to coun-
cilors, objecting to the plan,
announced March 22, to cut
ambulance service.
Councilors voted 7-0
during that meeting to have
Cannon draft a proposal for
continuing ambulance ser-
vice that would be sent to the
county.
But two weeks later, during
their May 24 meeting, coun-
cilors voted 4-2 to not submit
that proposal.
Councilors Dean Guyer,
Joanna Dixon, Johnny Wag-
goner Sr. and Kenyon Dam-
schen voted in favor of Guyer’s
motion to not respond to the
county request for proposals.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten
and Councilor Shane Alder-
son voted no.
Councilor Jason Spriet was
absent.
Husk told the audience
Thursday that to qualify for
a recall vote, he would need
680 verified signatures from
city residents who are regis-
tered voters. A separate peti-
tion with at least that many
signatures would be required
for each councilor, although
voters could sign multiple pe-
titions.
If the county clerk certifies a
petition, the councilor named
on it could either resign or
face a recall vote.
“The councilor, if they have
any form of integrity, they re-
sign,” Husk said. “If they don’t
and they say screw those peo-
ple, they don’t know what
they’re talking about, then
the county sends out a special
election.”
“Recall is a simple process,
with a lot of red tape,” he said.
“That’s our recourse. We’re
here to hold people account-
able to their dereliction of of-
fices.”
Husk said that even if his
campaign succeeds, and a
new group of councilors fires
Cannon and the city fire de-
partment resumed ambulance
service — although the coun-
ty’s contract with Metro West
is for five years — he wouldn’t
try to rejoin the department.
At the end of Thursday’s
meeting, Husk said “this is not
an empty meeting. There will
be results from this.”