LOCAL A2
SPORTS A5
LIVING B1
Artists complete
Resort Street mural
BHS gym has vibrant
new paint scheme
Home-cooked
meals on a budget
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022 • $1.50
Fires keep
crews
busy over
weekend
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Mysti Ritter
of Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Local students on
dean’s list at EOU
LA GRANDE — More than a
dozen Baker County students
were named to the dean’s list
for the spring 2022 term at
Eastern Oregon University. To
qualify, students must earn a
GPA of at least 3.5 and have at
least 12 graded credit hours.
Baker City
Kara Bennett, Kodie Birming-
ham, Renee Blincoe, Melody
Castello, Isabella Evans, Abagail
Hunt, Julia Krohn, Elijah Lien,
Makayla Ogg, Hayden Paulsen,
Taylor Price, Jayme Ramos,
Matthew Wirth.
Haines
Ashley Dyke, Samuel Pointer.
Halfway
Wyatt Page
Huntington
Rachel Berry
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Above: Rows of classic cars, lift-kit trucks, jeeps, service vehicles,
sports cars and more lined up at Geiser-Pollman Park for the
30th Baker City Memory Cruise on Aug. 20, 2022.
Cruise
Mastrude makes
dean’s list at Pacifi c
FOREST GROVE — Dylan Mas-
trude of Baker City was among
the students named to the
dean’s list for the spring 2022
term at Pacifi c University. To be
eligible, students must earn a
GPA of at least 3.7 and have at
least 12 graded credit hours.
Climate Vigil plans
two events Aug. 26
Climate Vigil, a local organi-
zation, is hosting two events on
Friday, Aug. 26, at Crossroads
Carnegie Art Center, 2020
Auburn Ave.
• Lunch and learn (bring your
lunch), noon to 1 p.m.
• Live music and sidewalk
art, 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
More information about
Climate Vigil is available by
emailing peter@climatevigil.org
WEATHER
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Today
89/50
Car show returns after 2-year stall
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
C
lassic cars filled nearly every
available space in Geiser-
Pollman Park Saturday, Aug.
20, as the Baker City Memory Cruise
made a resounding return after a
two-year hiatus.
Throngs of young and old were in attendance,
though several parents had to be especially watchful
of their kids amid the oh-so-very expensive exhib-
its, brought in from all around the state (and, from
some manufacturers, the world).
“It turned out great, we had close to 160 cars,”
said organizer Jeron Simmons. “Everyone enjoyed
it.”
The event featured live music, food and drink,
poker runs, raffles and prizes throughout the day,
and concluded with some car owners driving to
Quail Ridge Golf Course to join the Durkee Steak
Feed.
The Memory Cruise puts in context Baker City’s
age.
From the time the city was founded in 1864 until
the first Ford Model T’s rolled out of Henry Ford’s
factories in 1908, was a window of only about 40
years, an era nobody living today was witness to.
During that period automobiles were exceedingly
rare.
Yet within a couple short decades they were ev-
erywhere, and before standardization and regula-
tion that came in the second half of the 20th cen-
tury, cars were as varied as trilobites in the ancient
sea.
Those antiques, some more than a century old,
were represented in the Memory Cruise, including
Model T’s and the later Ford Model A’s.
One of the latter Fords was driven by Joan Sher-
man of Baker City.
See Cruise / A3
Sunny
Some cars
have kept their
iconic charm
for decades,
including this
Nash Metro-
politan on
display during
the Baker City
Memory Cruise
on Aug. 20,
2022.
Wednesday
89/52
Sunny
Full forecast on B8
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Ian Crawford/Baker
City Herald photos
Baker County’s community services
deputy gives update about new job
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Maldonado
TODAY
Issue 44
14 pages
Gabe Maldonado, the Baker
County Sheriff’s Office’s com-
munity service deputy, gave
county commissioners an
overview of his myriad duties
during their Aug. 17 meeting.
Maldonado, a longtime dep-
uty with the sheriff’s office,
started the newly created posi-
Classified ....................B3-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A2
tion in January of this year.
“There’s many different hats
to this position but the goals
are pretty simple — it’s to pro-
mote positive community re-
lationships,” Maldonado said.
“I’m to be a liaison for the
sheriff’s office, especially for
our rural and remote commu-
nities in Baker County.”
He said his role is to also
Crossword ...............B3 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ............B1-B3
provide aid to individuals by
educating the public about
social services that are avail-
able from various community
partners.
“I personally contacted and
became familiar with about 18
community service partners and
civic groups in our area,” Maldo-
nado told commissioners.
Horoscope ........................B3
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
See Deputy / A3
Wildland firefighters had a hectic
weekend in Northeastern Oregon as a
human-caused blaze burned near Half-
way on Friday afternoon, Aug. 19, fol-
lowed by a rash of lightning-sparked
fires Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Fire crews doused all of the blazes
relatively quickly. Most of the lightning
fires burned less than 1 acre.
Fortunately, most of the thunderstorms
have spawned at least light rain as well as
lightning bolts, said Steve Meyer, wildland
fire supervisor at the Oregon Department
of Forestry’s Baker City office.
Although the weekend rain wasn’t
enough to extinguish the fires, Meyer
said the showers have caused blazes
to smolder for an hour or two, giving
firefighters time to respond before the
flames can gain momentum.
“Generally that’s enough time for us
to get on scene,” he said.
Meyer said fire crews have also ben-
efited from the absence of sustained
strong winds to propel the flames.
Although storms bring brief periods
of gusty winds, once the cell passes the
winds have subsided, eliminating one
of the biggest challenges that fire crews
face, Meyer said.
He said the generally benign weather
is welcome because forests and range-
lands are dry after several weeks of hot-
ter-than-average temperatures.
“Fuels are ready to burn,” Meyer said.
According to an index that measures
the potential for fires to spread, condi-
tions are near to slightly above normal
in the six regions that comprise North-
eastern Oregon.
Charts are available online at
bmidc.org/erc.shtml.
Joel McCraw, deputy fire staff offi-
cer for the Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest, said on Monday morning that
many of the weekend fires, on the Wal-
lowa-Whitman and the adjacent Uma-
tilla National Forest, involved single
trees struck by lightning.
See Fires / A3
8 turn in
signatures for
City Council
election
Baker City Herald
As many as eight candidates, includ-
ing three incumbents, will vie for the
four Baker City Council slots that will
be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
City Recorder Dallas Brockett said
eight people turned in petitions with
signatures before the deadline of 5 p.m.
on Friday, Aug. 19.
The county clerk’s office has already ver-
ified signatures for two candidates — Katie
LaFavor and incumbent Dean Guyer.
Brockett is waiting for verification for
six others who could join those two on
the ballot — incumbents Johnny Wag-
goner Sr. and Kenyon Damschen, along
with Matt Diaz, Bev Calder, Donald
Cody and Joe Johnson.
Four of the seven positions on the
city council will be filled in the Nov. 8
election.
To qualify, candidates had to submit
at least 46 signatures from registered
voters who live within the city limits.
The four positions up for election are
those held by Joanna Dixon, Waggoner,
Guyer and Damschen.
The three other Baker City coun-
cilors — Kerry McQuisten, Shane Al-
derson and Jason Spriet — are serving
terms that continue through the end of
2024. All three were elected to four-year
terms in November 2020.
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ..................... A5 & A6
Sudoku..............................B7
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B8