LOCAL A3
SPORTS A5
HOME B1
Governor candidates
have fi rst debate
NBA legend Bill
Russell dies at 88
Making the most of
ripe tomato season
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2022 • $1.50
BIG RATTLESNAKE FIRE
A special good day to subscriber
Robin Crowell of Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Missoula Children’s
Theatre returns
Missoula Children’s Theatre
returns this month with “The Little
Mermaid.” Registration is still
open for the camp, which runs
Aug. 15-20. MCT is brought to
Baker City by Crossroads Carne-
gie Art Center.
MCT is open to students from
grades 1-12. Registration closes
Aug. 14. Cost is $40 for members
of Crossroads, or $60 nonmem-
bers. Scholarships are available.
Sign up at www.crossroads-arts.
org or call 541-523-5369.
Auditions are held at 10
a.m. Monday, Aug. 15, at Baker
High School. Rehearsals are
held throughout the week, and
culminate with community per-
formances at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug.
19, and 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20.
Admission is $5 for adults, and
free for children 12 and younger
who come with a paid adult.
These shows include a treat of ice
cream, thanks to the Oregon K-12
Summer Grant Program.
The Big Rattlesnake fire burning
west of Medical Springs on Sunday
evening, July 31, 2022.
Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo
GALE-FORCE WINDS
FANNED THE FLAMES
BHS football camp planned
Signup for Baker Bulldog
Football Camp has started. The
camp will run Aug. 15-18 at the
Baker High Memorial Stadium,
hosted by the Baker High School
coaching staff and players.
Grades 7-8 will play from
10:30 a.m. to noon and can sign
up at class registration.
Grades 3-6 will play from 4:30
p.m. to 6 p.m. and can sign up at
Les Schwab’s or the YMCA.
The camp will wrap up with the
Quarterback Club barbecue at
6:30 p.m. on Aug. 18.
Signup fee is $20, including
the meal and an event shirt.
Winds subsided before a lightning-sparked blaze near Medical Springs —
Baker County’s largest fire this year — reached any structures
BY JAYSON JACOBY • jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
T
he combustible combination of lightning, a record-setting heat wave, a weeks-long dry spell and
gale-force winds on Sunday afternoon, July 31, contributed to Baker County’s biggest wildfire so
far this year.
The Big Rattlesnake fire
burned 425 acres in the remote
Powder River Canyon between
Thief Valley Reservoir and High-
way 203, and for a few hours
posed a threat to several homes.
The Baker County Sheriff’s Of-
fice issued a Level 2 evacuation
notice — be prepared to leave at a
moment’s notice — for five or six
homes on the west side of High-
way 203 on Sunday evening, and
a Level 1 notice — be ready for
the possible need to evacuate —
for residents east of the highway
along Miles Bridge Road.
No one was evacuated, and no
structures were damaged, said Ja-
son Yencopal, the county’s emer-
WEATHER
—————
Today
91/53
Partly sunny
Wednesday
92/55
Partly sunny
CORRECTION
—————
A story in the July 30 issue
about the Baker County Republi-
can Party meeting incorrectly stat-
ed that a Jan. 25 meeting was pri-
vate. The event was a public forum
for GOP gubernatorial candidates.
It took place at a privately owned
venue, the Baker Elks Lodge.
gency manager. The evacuation
notice was canceled for areas east
of the highway on Monday morn-
ing, Aug. 1, and reduced to Level
1 for homes west of the highway,
Sheriff Travis Ash said.
There are three levels of evac-
uation notice. Under Level 3,
which was not initiated for the
Big Rattlesnake fire, residents are
told to leave immediately.
Ash said on Monday morning
that the preliminary evacuation
notices were given as a precau-
tion mainly due to the strong
winds that initially caused the
fire, which was reported a little
before 5 p.m., to grow rapidly.
When the wind calmed later
Sunday evening, the fire activity
also slowed, Ash said.
Jonathan Dunbar, fire duty
officer for the Bureau of Land
Management’s Vale District, said
the fire did not grow overnight
Sunday into Monday.
“Crews will continue to secure
the perimeter and mop up to-
day,” Dunbar said in a press re-
lease Monday morning.
Rancher grateful for fast work
by firefighters
Mike McGinnis smelled the
smoke and watched the power-
ful gusts bending the grass near
the ranch he and his wife, Nicky,
own just west of High-
way 203 between the Powder
River and Medical Springs.
He was worried.
McGinnis feared that if the
flames crossed the Big Creek
canyon, which is between his
home and where the fire started,
those winds could quickly push
the fire toward his house and
outbuildings.
But later on Sunday evening
the wind shifted direction, he
said, blowing the flames back
toward areas that had already
burned.
McGinnis said the fire didn’t
get closer than about a mile to
his home.
See Flames / A2
“You just cannot say enough about these rural volunteer firefighters. They’re willing to put everything
on the line. We’re blessed with a great community. People truly care. It’s a great feeling.”
— Mike McGinnis, Baker County rancher whose home was threatened by the Big Rattlesnake fire
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
A trip to Rosemarie’s garden
Rosemarie O’Donnell
has transformed her
Huntington yard into
a green bounty
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
HUNTINGTON — Beyond the
corner fence, the hillsides roll away
in every direction from this town
at the southeastern corner of Baker
County.
Golden grass
sways in the
morning breeze
and casts shad-
ows of platinum
blonde.
But bursting
O’Donnell
through and over
the fence, a green
bounty nearly escapes containment.
Within, an abundance. Flowers,
fruits, vegetables, and ornamen-
tal plants, a streaming fountain and
TODAY
Issue 35
14 pages
Woman accused
of hitting officers
during her arrest
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Rosemarie O’Donnell’s gourds are growing well, with a honeybee actively polli-
nating the flower on July 22, 2022.
glints of rainbow from discs on string.
A passer-by might feel a wince
of concern, seeing an 80-year-old
woman on hands and knees work-
ing the earth, lugging stones and
Classified ....................B3-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B3 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ............B1-B3
chopping with shovels.
But for Rosemarie O’Donnell,
the physical strain is secondary to
the freedom it affords.
A Baker City woman is accused of hitting
two police officers and a motel employee
during an altercation on July 28 at the Best
Western Sunridge Inn.
Christine Marie Mills, 35, is in the Baker
County Jail, charged with resisting arrest, in-
terfering with police, second-degree criminal
trespassing, second-degree disorderly con-
duct and three counts of harassment.
She is scheduled to enter a plea to the
charges on Sept. 12 at 1:30 p.m. in Baker
County Circuit Court.
According to a report from Baker City
Police officer Justin Prevo, the incident
started just before 3 p.m. on July 28 when
he responded to the Sunridge Inn after a
report of a woman who was in the parking
lot, trying to fight with customers and em-
ployees.
See Rosemarie / A3
Horoscope ..............B4 & B5
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A5
See Arrest / A2
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B7