Local
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
August 18, 1972
HALFWAY — What may be a record power outage of
13 hours, 43 minutes was experienced in the Pine-Eagle
area Monday. Power went out at 10:02 p.m. and was not
restored until 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, threatening many harried
residents with fi nancial losses and causing considerable
turmoil.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 18, 1997
To fi nd the voice of the Powder River you have to talk to a
lot of people.
To the rancher who relies on its water to irrigate his crops.
To the angler who casts for trout in its pools and riffl es.
To the homeowner whose backyard deck overhangs the
water.
To truly understand the river you must also fi nd voices
from the past, say two artists who were in Baker City the
past several days to study the river and its role in Baker City.
Nanda D’Agostina and Valerie Otani, both of the Portland
area, have been commissioned to create artwork to be
placed along the proposed Leo Adler Memorial Parkway.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 20, 2012
Mike Widman needed but a single word to describe what
happened to his ranch Sunday.
“Catastrophe.”
A lightning-sparked wildfi re spread across 12,500 acres
of rangeland about 16 miles southeast of Baker City, includ-
ing a large swath of the grazing land that Widman and his
wife, Coral, own near Love Reservoir.
The Sardine fi re is the biggest this summer in what had
been a relatively tranquil fi re season for Baker County.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 19, 2021
There’s a strip of moist ground in Baker County that’s
being exposed to the air after more than three decades
under the water.
And if things keep on as they have been, a bit more land
might emerge for the fi rst time in better than half a century.
These patches form the shoreline of Phillips Reservoir,
along the Powder River in Sumpter Valley, about 17 miles
southwest of Baker City.
The reservoir, created by the completion of Mason Dam
in 1968 and designed to store water for irrigation and fl ood
control, has been depleted by drought to its lowest level
since late October 1988.
And if the reservoir recedes slightly farther, ground will be
revealed that has been covered by water since 1968, the
year the dam began to impound the Powder River.
George Chandler, a Baker Valley rancher and longtime
board member for the Baker Valley Irrigation District, which
manages the reservoir, said the fall of 1988 is the only time
he’s seen Phillips so low.
Numbers also illustrate the severity of the drawdown.
As of Wednesday Aug. 18, the reservoir’s “active storage”
volume was 479 acre-feet, which is less than 1% of its
storage capacity. That’s the lowest volume since the fall of
1988, when the reservoir reached a minimum of 449 acre-
feet on Nov. 1.
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SENIOR MENUS
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Telephone: 541-523-3673
ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
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Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media
Group, at 2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101
(P.O. Box 807), Baker City, OR 97814.
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Copyright © 2022
Process started more
than a year ago
Wednesday’s vote culmi-
nates a process commission-
ers started in June 2021, when
they passed a resolution “de-
claring the necessity for the
legalization of Pine Creek
Lane.”
The resolution deals with
the section of road that starts
at the eastern edge of McCa-
rty’s property and ends at the
junction with another road
leading to the Baisley Elk-
horn mine. The resolution
also covers a section of the
Baisley Elkhorn mine road.
The Pine Creek Road itself
continues another 2 miles or
so beyond the junction, lead-
ing to Pine Creek Reservoir,
which is on national forest
land, and beyond.
The county’s road legaliza-
tion process was prompted by
a lawsuit that David McCarty,
who owns a 1,560-acre prop-
erty through which the road
runs for about 2 1/2 miles,
filed against the county on
April 30, 2021.
McCarty is asking for ei-
ther a declaration that the
disputed section of the Pine
Creek Road crossing his
property is not a public right-
of-way, or, if a jury concludes
there is legal public access,
that the limits of that ac-
cess be defined and that the
county pay him $730,000 to
compensate for the lost value
of the land based on the legal
public access and for other
costs he has incurred as a re-
sult of the county’s actions.
He bought the land in Sep-
tember 2020, and not long af-
ter he installed a gate that has
Contributed Photo, File
The Pine Creek Road through David McCarty’s property is extremely rocky and rough.
at times been locked.
Joelleen Linstrom, who lives
with McCarty, has said previ-
ously that McCarty didn’t ob-
ject to people walking along
the road, but that he was con-
cerned about people in ve-
hicles posing a potential fire
danger.
Linstrom repeated that
concern during Wednesday’s
meeting, saying she had “ob-
served a lot of people being
careless during fire season.”
Cindy Birko, who lives
near Pine Creek, told com-
missioners on Wednesday
that she believes the fire risk
is lower when the road is
open and more people are
using it, and thus in the area
to potentially see and report
smoke.
“I do not view that as a li-
ability, but I see that as an
asset to protect us all,” Birko
said.
Tom Lager, who owns
property that is surrounded
by McCarty’s land, echoed
Birko’s thoughts.
Lager and his wife, Betty
Ann, are the plaintiffs, along
with James and Sharen Sand-
ers, in a recently filed lawsuit
naming McCarty and Lin-
strom as defendants.
The Lagers and Sanderses
are each seeking monetary
damages of at least $250,000,
claiming McCarty’s installa-
tion of the gate has deprived
them of access to and enjoy-
ment of their properties.
Both that lawsuit, and the
suit McCarty filed against
the county in April 2021, are
pending.
After county commission-
ers passed a resolution in
June 2021 to start the pro-
cess, under Oregon law, of
declaring the section of Pine
Creek Road as a public right-
of-way, McCarty’s attorney
sought a temporary restrain-
ing order prohibiting the
county from pursuing that
avenue, including having the
road surveyed.
A judge granted that re-
straining order in July 2021,
but in November of that
year another judge dissolved
the order and ruled that the
county could survey portions
of McCarty’s property that the
Pine Creek Road crosses.
Richard Stein, a surveyor
from Anderson-Perry of La
Grande, told commissioners
Wednesday that the road today
follows a different route than
the road shown in an 1891
county record describing a sur-
vey of a road along Pine Creek.
Linstrom has said in the
past that the title report Mc-
Carty received while his pur-
chase of the property was
pending does not show a
public road or list any public
easement through the
property.
ENDANGERING: Jesse James Corr, 27,
Baker City, 1:59 p.m. Monday,
Aug. 15 at First and C streets; cited and
released.
PROBATION VIOLATION (two Baker
County Circuit Court warrants), FAILURE
TO APPEAR (two Union County Circuit
Court warrants): Alexander Harold Wise,
20, Baker City, 9:05 a.m. Monday, Aug. 15
in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue;
jailed.
SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL
TRESPASSING: Timothy Kelly Slaney, 33,
Baker City, 8:49 a.m. Monday, Aug. 15
in the 600 block of Campbell Street;
cited and released.
Baker County Sheriff’s Office
Arrests, citations
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
INTOXICANTS: Robles Duran-Melquiades,
41, Baker City, 2:34 a.m. Wednesday, Aug.
17 at Slough and Chandler roads; cited
and released.
Driving under the influence of intoxicants:
Zachary Lin Sandberg, 19, Baker City,
9:51 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15 on Wingville
Road near Old Wingville Road; cited and
released.
TELEPHONIC HARASSMENT: Nicole
Yvonne Wilkerson, 45, Haines, 7:58 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 15 on Highway 30 near
the Haines Cemetery; cited and released.
News of Record
DEATHS
Larry Rood: 75, of Baker City, died Aug.
13, 2022, in Greenleaf, Idaho.
John Higbie: 92, formerly of Baker
City, died Aug. 14, 2022, at his son’s
residence in Seneca. Arrangements
are under the direction of Tami’s Pine
Valley Funeral Home & Cremation
Services. Online condolences can be
shared at www.tamispinevalleyfuneral
home.com.
FUNERALS PENDING
Conrad Gabriel Wlodarczyk and
Mary Ann Wlodarczyk: Mass of
Christian burial will be at St. Francis
de Sales Cathedral, First and Church
streets, Friday, Aug. 19 at 10:30 a.m.,
with Father Suresh Telagani officiating.
Interment will immediately follow
the mass at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Memorial contributions can be made
to Best Friends of Baker through
Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel,
1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR
97814. To leave an online condolence
for Conrad and Mary Ann’s family, go
to www.grayswestco.com.
Tom ‘Mac’ Kerns: A celebration of
Mac’s life will take place Saturday,
Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. in the Haines
Methodist Church. Donations can be
made to the Eastern Oregon Museum
in Haines through Coles Tribute
Center, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR
97814. To light a candle in memory of
Mac, go to www.colestributecenter.
com.
Frank William Hermann: A
celebration of his life will take place
on Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. at the Harvest
Christian Church, 3720 Birch St.
in Baker City. To leave an online
condolence for Frank’s family, go to
www.grayswestco.com.
Allen R. Morris Sr.: Graveside
service with military honors will
be Saturday, Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. at
Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland.
For those who would like to make a
donation in Allen’s memory, his family
suggests St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital
through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral
Home & Cremation Services, P.O.
Box 543, Halfway, OR 97814. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
block of Windmill Lane; jailed.
SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL MISCHIEF,
HARASSMENT, FAILURE TO APPEAR
(Umatilla County warrants): Steven
Vincent Anderson, 40, Pendleton,
1:58 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 in the 1200
block of Campbell Street; jailed.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Payette County,
Idaho, warrant): Danielle Christine
Purkey, 41, Baker City, 4:59 p.m. Monday,
Aug. 15 at First and Church streets; jailed.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (two Payette
County, Idaho, warrants): Joseph Richard
McCaslin, 51, Baker City, 4:59 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 15 at First and Church
streets; jailed.
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CONTACT THE HERALD
want to downplay the signif-
icance of commissioners’ ac-
tion, however. He noted that
they were spurred by residents
who have had access to the
road for many decades.
“I think that this is based
on extensive public input,”
Bennett said. “We’ve had nu-
merous public hearings with
opportunities for the public
and for Mr. McCarty to make
comments and to submit tes-
timony, information, docu-
ments, and also research.”
’S
Public luncheon at the Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St., from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $5 donation (60 and older), $7.50
for those under 60.
Continued from A1
N
FRIDAY (August 19): Pot roast, scalloped potatoes, carrots,
rolls, green salad, pudding
MONDAY (August 22): Spaghetti, mixed vegetables, garlic
bread, green salad, ice cream
TUESDAY (August 23): Ground beef steak, onions and gravy,
mashed potatoes, rolls, carrot-raisin salad, brownies
WEDNESDAY (August 24): Chicken-fried steak, mashed pota-
toes, green beans, rolls, ambrosia, bread pudding
THURSDAY (August 25): Orange glazed chicken, rice, broccoli,
rolls, fruit cup, cinnamon rolls
FRIDAY (August 26): Roasted turkey, stuffi ng with gravy, green
beans, rolls, green salad, apple crisp
Pine Creek
2
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
Baker City Herald • bakercityherald.com
RD
Thursday, August 18, 2022
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POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
DRIVING WHILE SUSPENDED,
VIOLATION OF RELEASE AGREEMENT:
Christian Reynolds Oliver, 22, Baker
City, 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17
on Auburn Avenue between First and
Second streets; jailed.
OFFENSIVE LITTERING: Charles Leon
Efird, 77, Baker City, 3:14 p.m. Tuesday,
Aug. 16 in the 2500 block of Broadway
Street; cited and released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Baker County
Circuit Court warrant): Larry Merl Barker,
41, Baker City, 10:51 a.m. Tuesday, Aug.
16 in the 2100 block of Failing Avenue;
cited and released.
VIOLATION OF RELEASE AGREEMENT:
Carmon Deon Hendriksen, 34, Baker City,
4:57 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 in the 2100
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