STATE A3
SPORTS A6
HOME B1
Bentz talks hot topics
in town hall
Ducks, Beavers have
football scrimmages
Attracting frogs,
toads to your garden
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Sue Shade of
Baker City.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2022 • $1.50
Shine & Sizzle
BRIEFING
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Gubernatorial
candidate Christine
Drazan to visit Baker
Christine Drazan, the
Republican
candidate for
Oregon gover-
nor, will be in
Baker City for
a meet and
greet event
Drazan
on Tuesday,
Aug. 16 at
6 p.m. at the Baker County
Events Center, 2600 East St.
Drazan, who won the Repub-
lican nomination in the May
17 primary, is running against
Democrat Tina Kotek and
independent Betsy Johnson.
Drazan is seeking to become
the fi rst Republican elected as
Oregon governor in 40 years.
Victor Atiyeh was elected in
1982 to the second of his four-
year terms.
Road over Hells Canyon
Dam closed Aug. 17
OXBOW — The road over
Hells Canyon Dam will be
closed on Wednesday, Aug.
17 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
PDT. No vehicles will be able
to cross the dam during that
time, as a large crane will be
on top of the dam. Idaho Pow-
er Company, which owns the
dam, will be using the crane
to remove vegetation from the
face of the dam. The road will
be open to pedestrians.
Contributed Photo, File
David McCarty installed this gate across the Pine
Creek Road at his property boundary during the
fall of 2020. The road passes through property that
McCarty owns. During a public hearing on April 19,
2022, a group of local residents who enjoy visiting
the area urged Baker County commissioners to pre-
serve public access to the road.
Travel Baker County, File
Classic cars will return to Quail Ridge Golf Course as part of the Baker City Memory Cruise on Saturday, Aug. 20,
2022. The event returns after a two-year hiatus.
Baker City Memory Cruise and Durkee
Steak Feed return after 2-year hiatus
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
C
lassic cars and a steak dinner are returning
to Baker City this weekend after a two-year
absence.
The Baker City Memory Cruise starts at
8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, in Geiser-Pollman
Park.
Registration is from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Entry is $15.
Visitors can tour the shiny cars from 8 a.m. to
3 p.m. for the show-and-shine portion in the park.
After the awards ceremony, which starts at
3 p.m., the car owners will drive to Quail Ridge Golf
Course, 2801 Indiana Ave., and park on the 9th
fairway during the Durkee Steak Feed.
The dinner runs from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tick-
ets are $27 for a steak plate, or $7 for a hot dog
plate. The meal includes rib eye, corn on the cob,
veggies, potato, dessert and the locally famous
pan-fried bread cooked over a fire in cast-iron
skillets.
Tickets are available at the Baker County Cham-
ber of Commerce, Quail Ridge, and at the gate.
See Steak / A3
Pine Creek
landowners
sue McCarty
Two couples claim
harassment, intimidation
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Two couples who own property along Pine
Creek west of Baker City have sued David Mc-
Carty, who bought land in the area in 2020 and
installed a locked gate across the road leading to
the couples’ properties.
James and Sharen Sanders, and Thomas and
Betty Ann Lager, filed the suit in late July in
Baker County Circuit Court. Each couple is
seeking a monetary award of at least $250,000 as
compensation for what they contend is the loss
of enjoyment of their properties.
They are represented by attorney Anne Cohen
of the Betts, Patterson & Mines law firm in Port-
land.
The defendants are McCarty, Joelleen Lin-
strom, who lives with McCarty and is described
in the lawsuit as his agent, as well as three compa-
nies in which McCarty has an ownership interest.
Linstrom said on Monday morning, Aug. 15
that she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.
Tom Lager said he needed to talk with the
other defendants before commenting publicly.
McCarty is the plaintiff in another lawsuit re-
lated to the Pine Creek Road, which he filed in
April 2021 with Baker County as the defendant.
See Lawsuit / A3
WEATHER
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Today
97/49
Sunny
Wednesday
99/53
Partly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Travel Baker County, File
Volunteers cook steaks during the 2019 Durkee Steak Feed at Quail Ridge Golf Course. The event returns on Satur-
day, Aug. 20, 2022, after a two-year hiatus.
BAKER COUNTY FAIR
Youths brave spotlight
in the auction ring
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
An arena full of people fixated
on a 10-year-old boy heeling a
sheep might normally intimidate
the boy.
Especially when the judgment
of those in the crowd will deter-
mine if the boy’s sheep, the one
he spent months raising, is worth
their precious dollars.
But Aaron Kellar of Baker
City has participated in livestock
auctions for long enough — six
years — to feel at ease when the
crowd’s gaze falls on him.
His confidence was on display
as he strutted around Cockram
Arena with his sheep on Fri-
day, Aug. 12, at the annual 4-H
livestock auction at the Baker
County Fairgrounds, where he
sold the animal for $8 per pound.
The event was the culmination
of the 2022 Baker County Fair.
A string of youngsters guided
their animals into the show ring,
where potential buyers could exam-
ine the specimens in order to de-
cide, by the raise of a hand, whether
they wanted to up the ante.
See Auction / A3
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Claire Collier poses with her sheep
before the auction during the
Baker County Fair on Friday,
Aug. 12, 2022.
State says fire risk map didn’t affect insurance
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Oregon insurance companies
haven’t used, and don’t plan to use,
a controversial state wildfire risk
map in determining coverage or
premium costs, according to a sur-
vey a state agency released on Fri-
day, Aug. 12.
The survey results counter one
of the complaints that prompted
the Oregon Department of For-
estry to withdraw the map released
to the public June 30.
TODAY
Issue 41
12 pages
Property owners and state law-
makers cited cases in which resi-
dents whose property was deemed
at high or extreme fire risk on the
map had problems with their in-
surance, including policies that
weren’t extended.
But the Oregon Division of
Financial Regulation on Friday
stated in a press release that “insur-
ance companies in Oregon did not
use, and currently have no plans to
use, the state wildfire risk map in
their decision-making.”
Classified ....................B3-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B3 & B5
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ............B1-B3
The risk map is part of Senate
Bill 762, a 2021 bill that the Leg-
islature passed and Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown signed into law.
The bill addresses multiple is-
sues related to wildfires in the state,
including wildfire prevention and
protecting rural properties from
fire. The bill required the state
to draw a map, by June 30, 2022,
showing the wildfire risk for each
of Oregon’s 1.8 million tax lots.
Hail causes
damage in
Oxbow area
Friday storm brought
hailstones the size of golf balls
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Jeanne Dennis’ garden took a beating from a
hail storm the likes of which she had never seen,
but at least she got some pickled jalapenos out of
the deal.
Dennis, who lives near Oxbow at the eastern
edge of Baker County, tried to find some solace
in the aftermath of a storm that she described as
“really, really horri-
fying.”
The hail, some
about the size of golf
balls, pummeled
Dennis’ property
along Homestead
Road about 4 miles
north of Oxbow
around midday on
Friday, Aug. 12.
The icy onslaught
Photo by Brent Morrissey
was frightening in
Photo of a hailstone near Ox-
part, Dennis said,
because it was unex- bow on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022,
pected.
taken by Brent Morrissey and
She thought the posted on the Facebook page
thunderstorm was for the National Weather Ser-
over. The tempest
vice office in Boise.
spawned a torren-
tial downpour that Dennis feared would cause
flooding or possibly damage the Homestead
Road, her link to paved Highway 86.
But not long after the rain stopped, the hail
started.
Dennis, who has lived in the area for more
than 20 years, first heard stones clanging off the
tin roof on her porch.
See Insurance / A2
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Opinion .............................A4
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Sports ...............................A6
See Hail / A3
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