BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Fair
Continued from A1
About halfway through
the final round of Wednes-
day’s rabbit show competi-
tion, judge Patrisha Malby
did something unexpected —
she asked the contestants to
switch rabbits.
“A good handler should
be able to handle any bunny,”
Malby said.
She added, “I want to see
how they handle something
that isn’t their own.”
In prior rounds, Malby
had asked contestants an as-
sortment of questions and
assigned different tasks to see
how well the kids handled
their rabbits.
Kaaen, for example, won
the intermediate division
round after she explained to
Malby that a 30-day quaran-
tine is necessary for any new
rabbits acquired in order to
prevent the spread of RHDV2
virus, a hemorrhagic disease
in rabbits.
In that round, she also
made sure, when asked to
hoist her Holland Lop by
the skin around its neck, not
to grab any part of the ears
— which could break or be
damaged when grabbed.
Kaaen performed a health
check of her rabbit — check-
ing the ears for damage,
the eyes for blindness, the
nose for discharge, the teeth
for defects, the toenails for
chips, the hocks for sores,
the fur for fleas, the belly for
swelling — and also checked
the sex and straightened the
tail.
But that was all with her
own Holland Lop rabbit.
Now, Malby was asking
Kaaen to handle her com-
petitor Chase Myatt’s larger
Californian rabbit. Kaaen
said that when she is asked to
switch rabbits, she “just hopes
they have a good tempera-
ment.”
In this case, she was in
luck — Kaaen knew what to
expect out of this particular
bunny.
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Sarah and Matt Heiner recently opened their early morning cafe, the
Mother Lode, at 791 Campbell St. in Baker City.
Cafe
Continued from A1
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Sage Baker, right, and Riley Schuette, left, handle their rabbits before the rabbit showmanship compe-
tition Wednesday morning, Aug. 10, 2022, during the Baker County Fair. Baker, who was in her first year
of rabbit showmanship, said she was nervous before the event. After the competition was over, how-
ever, she said the show went “really well.”
“It was nice because I have
watched him handle (that
rabbit) before,” Kaaen said of
Myatt.
She scooped it up with
ease.
Meanwhile, on the end
of the show table, a partic-
ularly rambunctious brown
rex rabbit was giving Tyler
Myatt, 11, who would win
overall reserve champion,
some trouble by kicking and
squirming as he attempted
to corral it.
It even nipped him, he said.
And it was apparent that
judge Malby wanted all the
contestants to have a turn
handling the squirrely ball
of fur.
She wasn’t judging based
on how energetic the rabbits
were, she said.
“What I’m looking at is
how gentle you are.”
Bans
The Thurs-
day, Aug.
18 wine
walk in
Baker
City will
focus on
books that
have been
banned
or chal-
lenged.
Continued from A1
The walk starts at 5 p.m. at
Launch Pad Baker, 2019 Main
St. A donation of $10 gets a
commemorative glass and map
of participating locations.
Each month, a portion of
proceeds goes to a local organi-
zation.
The Aug. 18 walk will sup-
port the Baker County Library
District in starting a Banned
Books Club, in which members
would read books that have
been banned or challenged
Jeana Phillips/
Contributed
Photo
Techniques
Continued from A1
The mandate is part of Sen-
ate Bill 762, which the Oregon
Legislature passed, and Gov.
Kate Brown signed into law, in
2021.
The legislation deals with
multiple issues related to wild-
fire risk and prevention in the
state.
OTEC, which is based in
Baker City and has about
31,000 customers in Baker,
Union, Grant and Harney
counties, submitted its 17-page
plan earlier this summer.
Eric Wirfs, director of op-
erations for OTEC, said that
for the cooperative the new re-
quirement was largely an exer-
cise in compiling existing poli-
cies into a single document.
“I would say 80 percent of
what’s in there was already
being done as prudent util-
ity practices,” Wirfs said on
Wednesday, Aug. 10.
A key part of that effort,
he said, is trying to prevent a
common cause for both power
outages and for sparks that can
ignite wildfires — a tree or tree
limb falling onto a line.
To reduce that risk, OTEC
maintains corridors along its
transmission lines that are
cleared of trees close enough to
potentially fall into a line. These
rights-of-way are generally 120
feet wide, Wirfs said.
Naturally, the transmission
lines at highest risk are those
that pass through densely for-
ested areas. Local examples in-
clude the line that runs from
Baker City through Sumpter
Valley and on to Granite, and
the line leading to Anthony
Lakes.
Wirfs said those lines, which
were previously inspected every
other year, as the PUC requires,
will now be patrolled annually.
OTEC’s plan also explains
how the utility makes changes
during the fire season — gener-
ally July 1 through Oct. 15, de-
pending on conditions — that
are designed to reduce the risk
But that troublesome
tant who hadn’t handled the
brown rex rabbit wasn’t sup-
brown rex.
posed to be on
Malby in-
the show table
structed her to
in the first place. “A good handler
do so.
Tyler Myatt
And when
should
be
able
to
said that be-
Kaaen cradled
fore the round,
handle any bunny. the bunny, it bit
contestant Skye
her in the palm,
I want to see
Smith acciden-
its teeth punctur-
tally grabbed
ing her skin.
how they handle
the rabbit from
Either the
something that isn’t wound didn’t
its pen not
knowing it was
hurt or she didn’t
their own.”
a different rab-
show it — she
bit from the
handled it well
— Patrisha Malby,
one she had just judge
enough to earn
handled when
her the award of
she won the
grand champion.
grand champion award in the After the biting, she went
senior round — although the on to handle her own rabbit
two looked the same. The one again and answer a few more
she brought to the table was
critical questions, composure
much harder to handle.
unwavering.
At this point in the contest,
“It’s satisfying to win,”
Kaaen was the only contes-
Kaaen said.
that a power line damaged by
a tree or other cause will ignite
a fire.
Transmission and distribu-
tion lines are equipped with
“reclosers,” Wirfs said. Those
are electronic devices that are
designed to restore power to
a line within a second or two
if the “fault” — for instance, a
tree limb that hits the line but
then falls to the ground — is
brief.
The purpose, Wirfs said, is
to ensure that a small problem,
such as a single limb that strikes
a line but doesn’t damage it,
doesn’t result in a long outage.
Outside the fire season, re-
closers are set to operate up to
four times in rapid succession,
Wirfs said.
But on lines in higher risk
areas, such as forests, reclosers
are limited to operate just twice
during the fire season.
The reason, Wirfs said, is
that if a fault remains on the
line, the more often a recloser
operates and reenergizes the
line, the greater chance it
might spark.
Limiting the recloser to two
operations reduces that risk,
he said. That also increases
the chances that a fault that
doesn’t damage the line will
result in an extended power
outage, but Wirfs said that
tradeoff is necessary to reduce
the fire threat.
The fire-related settings for
reclosers is not a new policy for
OTEC, Wirfs said.
Intentional power shutoffs
The mitigation plan also ad-
dresses “public safety power
shutoffs” — when a utility in-
tentionally turns off power to
a transmission line during pe-
riods when the fire risk is ex-
treme.
Wirfs said OTEC has not
had to do so. He called that a
“last resort” situation.
OTEC’s plan lists the cri-
teria the cooperative would
use to determine whether to
order a public safety shutoff,
once of which is “immediately
predicted winds of 50 mph or
higher within the vicinity of
OTEC facilities subject to shut-
off.”
Fortunately, Wirfs said,
winds of that strength are rare
in OTEC’s territory.
Moreover, he said a survey
of the cooperative’s tree-caused
power outages showed that
most — 10 of 13 — happened
during the winter or otherwise
outside fire season.
Both last year and again ear-
lier this summer, OTEC sent
letters to members who have
service in areas at high risk for
wildfire to alert them to the
possibility, however remote, of
intentional power shutoffs.
About 2,200 members —
around 8.5% of OTEC’s total —
have service in those areas, said
Joe Hathaway, the cooperative’s
communications manager.
OTEC’s wildfire mitigation
Since their retirement,
parked there some time in the
1960s, the dining cars have
been the launchpad for so
many restaurateurs that for
Baker City it’s almost tradi-
tion to see a new face in the
window.
The faces you’ll see today
are Matt and Sarah Heiner,
and while the building itself is
nearing a century old, Sarah
brought history of her own
to match, and it’s delicious.
She maintains a sourdough
starter, or “mother,” that’s been
in her family for four genera-
tions, passed down from her
great-grandmother.
“We have Americana diner
food, fresh made sourdough
bread, and we also have sour-
dough pancakes,” Matt said.
“It’s our specialty.”
The sample pancake they
brought out was true to form,
crispy with a sour tang and
served with Grade A maple
syrup, in itself all part of a cen-
tury old design.
There was, though, a singu-
lar stumble as the couple pre-
pared to open.
Hoping to keep the pancake
recipe safe as they set up shop,
Sarah had pulled its card out
intending to put it somewhere
secure.
Instead she accidentally
lost it.
“I had to call my grand-
mother,” said Sarah, laughing.
Fortunately, her grandmother
chuckled as well and still had
the original recipe handy.
Sarah re-copied it and put it to
good use.
Matt and Sarah decided
they wanted to focus on early
morning diners, setting their
hours from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.
every day.
“Even in the winters there’s
working crews that go off to
work before daylight, by the
time most restaurants open
they’re all at work,” said Sarah,
hoping their breakfast avail-
ability will fill the niche others
haven’t.
As well, the easy distance
from the interstate will have
its benefits among all-hours
truckers.
“Also it gets way too hot
here during the summer,”
said Sarah, noting that they’ll
be saving on AC when other
restaurants will be baking
throughout their shift. “It’s a
metal box.”
The two say they’ve con-
sidered selling the sourdough
bread itself, but they have lim-
its to mixing equipment and
baking space.
“Three loaves at a time,
that’s all that’ll fit in my oven,”
Sarah said. “If we did that we’d
just run out.”
But don’t fret.
“We do sell starters!” she
said.
and then critically discuss each
work, said Perry Stokes, library
director.
“Banned Books & Buns” will
be held at Sweet Wife Baking,
2028 Resort St.
Jeana Phillips, owner of Bet-
ty’s Books, will be there with
a selection of books that have
been challenged in the past, ac-
companied with the reason for
the challenge, the location and
the date.
She said awareness of efforts
to ban books — and the reasons
for the challenge — is important
for “access and representation.”
“The power of having your-
self and your experience rep-
resented,” Phillips said. “To
experience something that is
completely outside your expe-
riences.”
Stokes will also be on hand
Thursday to talk about the First
Amendment and the role of li-
braries for providing access to
information.
Stokes is co-chair of the Ore-
gon Library Association’s Intel-
lectual Freedom Committee.
His purpose of talking about
banned books, he said, is “to
support the civil right to free
Banned Books Week
This event is a precursor of
Banned Books Week, which is
Sept. 18-24.
According to the Banned
Books Week Coalition, the
week is a way “to increase
awareness of the annual cele-
bration of the freedom to read.”
To learn more, visit banned-
booksweek.org.
plan states that the coopera-
tive’s dispatch center monitors
weather forecasts and each day
assigns a risk level. When the
National Weather Service issues
a red flag warning — meaning
that any fire that starts could
spread quickly — OTEC delays
routine work on transmission
lines. The cooperative might
delay such work on other days
when thunderstorms or other
severe weather is possible, but a
red flag warning is not in effect.
will be Friday, Aug. 19 at 9 a.m.
at the Baker Rural Fire Pro-
tection District station at 3855
23rd St., near OTEC’s head-
quarters.
The Union County town hall
will be Friday, Aug. 19 at 2 p.m.
at the La Grande Fire Depart-
ment, 1806 Cove Ave.
OTEC also urges its mem-
bers to stay updated on wild-
fire-related information. To
do that, call OTEC at 541-523-
3616 or log in to your account
on otec.coop and make sure
all contact information is cur-
rent. OTEC can send alerts
and messages if a safety-related
outage may occur. OTEC also
highly recommends members
sign up to “Opt In” to receive
information via text messages.
Members can do that by texting
“START” to 352667.
Town halls scheduled
to discuss fire
mitigation plan
OTEC has scheduled town
halls for its members later this
month, in each of the four
counties it serves, to review the
cooperative’s fire mitigation
plan.
The town halls will last one
hour. The Baker County event
Margaret Kingman
April 9, 1946 - August 3, 2022
Margaret Kingman, 76, of La
Grande, Oregon, died on August
3, 2022. A private family graveside
service will be held at Grandview
Cemetery in La Grande.
Margaret was born on April
9, 1946, to Robert and Helen
(Michael) Kingman in Batesville,
Indiana. The family later moved
to Baker City, Oregon, where she
graduated from Baker High School in 1964.
Margaret’s favorite color was lavender. She loved
the colors of Spring and enjoyed playing guitar. She
was a Majorette for the Baker City Drum and Bugle
Corps. Margaret would like to be most remembered for
her sense of humor.
She was preceded in death by her parents. Margaret
is survived by her brothers, Louis (Pat) Kingman and
John Kingman; and her sisters, Mary (Mark) Karl and
Nancy (Dusty) Simonis.
The family would like to thank Bullock’s Country
Care for her excellent care these last 7 years.
For those who would like to make a memorial
donation in memory of Margaret, she suggested La
Grande CHD Senior & Disabled Services (Mental
Health) through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home &
Cremation Services, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, Oregon
97834. Online condolences may be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
access to ideas, which is vital to
democracy.”
“There’s a reason why free
speech is first in the Bill of
Rights,” he said.
Nelda Marshall
July 7, 1931 - August 5, 2022
Our dear friend Nelda
Marshall, 91, went to be
with our Lord and Savior on
August 5, 2022. A service will
be held at the Haines First
Baptist Church in Haines,
Oregon, on Saturday, August
13, 2022, beginning at 2 p.m.
Her interment will be held at
the Haines Cemetery at 3 p.m.,
and a reception will be held
directly after at the Haines First
Baptist Church. Pastor Ben Janzen will be officiating.
Nelda was born on July 7, 1931, the youngest of
five kids to Shadrach and Dinah Marshall in Hillsville,
Virginia. She began working for the bank in their local
town right out of high school. Later she transferred to
California and worked her way up through the ranks to
become associate vice president of the First National
Bank of California before retiring and moving to
Oregon.
She was always happy to see kids and greeted
them·with a treat. Nelda loved helping with the youth in
church throughout the years and helped support several
missionaries. She also loved animals and raised horses,
rabbits, goats, and chickens, as well as a huge garden
and fruit trees. But her primary purpose in life was to
help lead people to the Lord!
She will be missed by all who knew her.
Nelda was a devoted aunt to her nieces and nephews
in San Pedro. She was a constant source of love and
support throughout their childhood. Her nieces and
nephews affectionately referred to her as “Nellio.”
She is survived by nieces and nephews and many
friends.
Memorial contributions may be made to Ethnos 360
(a missionary training group) or to a charity of your
choice through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel at
1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
To leave an online condolence for friends and family
of Nelda, please visit www.grayswestco.com.