Local
A2
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
August 29, 1972
After 27 years as superintendent of school district 5-J, Dr.
James Evans has announced his retirement to become effec-
tive in June 1973.
Evans became superintendent in 1946. His education
included, along with a Masters at the University of Oregon,
attending Washington State College, summer classes at the
University of California and a Doctorate in Education in 1954
from the University of Oregon.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 29, 1997
The Oregon Natural Resources Council wants Congress to
designate most of the Elkhorn Mountains, including Baker
City’s watershed, as a federal wilderness area.
The council recently began the “Oregon Wild Campaign,” an
effort to add hundreds of thousands of acres across the state
to the wilderness list.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 29, 2012
Numbers remained steady at most area school districts
today as students settled into their fi rst days of the year.
The Baker School District saw numbers climb slightly from
those registered earlier this month — a district total of 1,739
reported on Aug. 20.
Preliminary numbers show about 441 students enrolled in
Grades K-3 at Brooklyn Elementary, and South Baker had 335
in 4-6 classrooms today.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
August 28, 2021
“Normal” isn’t an adjective that any school offi cial is apt to
use currently, but Baker School District Superintendent Mark
Witty is excited about what schools will look like when classes
convene on Monday, Aug. 30.
They’ll look busy, most notably.
“We’re looking forward to a new school year starting with
students in person,” Witty said on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 26.
That alone distinguishes the 2021-22 school year from its
immediate predecessor.
A year ago, Baker students were watching classes on
computer monitors in their home when the school year started
— the same situation that prevailed during the spring term in
2020, in the early stages of the pandemic.
Elementary students, in grades K-6, returned to in-person
classes for a full four-day weekly schedule on Oct. 14, 2020.
Middle school and high school students began attending
classes one day per week on Nov. 9, 2020, moving to two days
per week on Jan. 25, 2021, and to a full four-day schedule on
April 12, 2021.
But even though this school year will start much differently
from last, Witty acknowledges that “there are challenges with
the pandemic.”
A key one, naturally, is striving to prevent the virus from
spreading in schools during the county’s biggest surge in
cases during the pandemic.
From Aug. 1-26, the county reported 254 cases, the most
in any single month, surpassing the 196 cases in December
2020.
Last year the district was largely successful at avoiding
the virus. During the school year, 36 staff or students tested
positive.
Witty noted that the Vale School District in Malheur County,
in its fi rst four days of classes this week, had more than 50
students or staff members who were quarantining either
because they had tested positive or had been exposed to
someone who did.
In a post on the Vale District’s Facebook page on Wednes-
day, Aug. 25, Superintendent Alisha McBride wrote that “If we
do not act now, it is possible that our children will be forced
into distance learning shortly after the school year begins.”
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SENIOR MENUS
WEDNESDAY (August 31): Meatloaf, mashed potatoes with
gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls, coleslaw, birthday cake
THURSDAY (Sept. 1): Chicken a la king over rice, mixed vege-
tables, rolls, fruit, sherbet
FRIDAY (Sept. 2): Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, corn on
the cob, green salad, rolls, lemon squares
MONDAY (Sept. 5): CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY
TUESDAY (Sept. 6): Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes with
gravy, corn on the cob, biscuits, ambrosia, pudding
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.
CONTACT THE HERALD
2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101
Open Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Telephone: 541-523-3673
ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
Publisher
Karrine Brogoitti
kbrogoitti@lagrandeobserver.com
Jayson Jacoby, editor
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
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Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays except Christmas Day by the
Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media
Group, at 2005 Washington Ave., Suite 101
(P.O. Box 807), Baker City, OR 97814.
Subscription rates per month are $10.75
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Postmaster: Send address changes to
the Baker City Herald, P.O. Box 807, Baker
City, OR 97814.
Periodicals Postage Paid
at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Copyright © 2022
Baker City Herald • bakercityherald.com
Report: Benefits of Snake dams
must be replaced before breaching
BY NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — The
benefits provided by four gi-
ant hydroelectric dams on
the Snake River must be re-
placed before the dams can be
breached to save endangered
salmon runs, according to a
final report issued Thursday,
Aug. 25 by Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee and Washington
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
That is especially true re-
garding the reliable and car-
bon-free electricity the dams
generate, the report con-
cluded.
If the four Snake River
dams were ultimately re-
moved, it would be the largest
such project in U.S. history.
In 2012 the Elwha Dam on
Washington state’s Olympic
Peninsula was removed to re-
store habitat. At the time, the
National Park Service said the
elimination of the Elwha Dam
was the largest such project in
U.S. history.
Congress will ultimately
decide if the federally owned
dams will be removed, and
would have to appropriate
money for the work.
The issue is not a matter
of electricity versus salmon,
Thursday’s report said.
“We believe that is an over-
simplified binary choice, and
it is one that we do not accept
or see as inevitable,” Inslee and
Murray wrote.
But, “the science is clear
that — specific to the Lower
Snake River — breach of the
dams would provide the great-
Associated Press, File
The Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Pomeroy, Washington. Environmental groups are calling
for the removal of this dam and three others on the Lower Snake River.
est benefit to the salmon,” the
report said.
Breaching the dams would
significantly improve the abil-
ity of salmon and steelhead
to swim from their inland
spawning grounds to the Pa-
cific Ocean, where they spend
most of their lives, and then
back to their original spawn-
ing grounds to procreate and
die, the report said.
Major benefits of the dams
besides electricity include
making the Snake River nav-
igable up to Lewiston, Idaho,
allowing barges to carry wheat
and other crops to ocean
ports. Eliminating the dams
would require truck and rail
transportation improvements
to move crops, the report said.
The dams also provide irri-
gation water for farmers and
recreation opportunities for
people.
A draft report released on
June 9 concluded the benefits
provided by the dams would
cost between $10.3 billion and
$27.2 billion to replace.
The dams have many sup-
porters, including two GOP
members of Congress repre-
senting eastern Washington
state, where the dams are lo-
cated. The dams are also sup-
ported by barge companies,
farmers and other business
interests.
Republican U.S. Reps. Dan
Newhouse and Cathy Mc-
Morris Rodgers recently in-
troduced a bill to protect the
dams.
But the chairman of the
Yakama Nation has said the
dams must be breached.
“Our people are salmon
people,” tribal council chair-
man Delano Saluskin said
earlier this year. “When the
salmon thrive, we thrive; but
when they suffer, our people
suffer too.”
The dams have fish ladders,
but too many of the salmon
die as they swim through the
dams and across slackwater
reservoirs on their migrations.
Local Briefing
Free services for some cities,
counties, nonprofits
The Northeast Oregon Economic De-
velopment District (NEOEDD) is offer-
ing up to 20 hours of free help to cities,
counties and nonprofits in Baker, Union
and Wallowa counties. The free services
include project and organizational devel-
opment, grant prospecting, grant writing
and project administration services.
The services are possible due to fund-
ing from the Oregon Legislature and an
Oregon foundation, according to a press
release from NEOEDD.
NEOEDD will provide services based
on available staff time, an organization’s
readiness to proceed, and the timing of
grant deadlines.
“Our goal is to assist as many organiza-
tions as possible; however, our funding is
limited, so we may not be able to serve ev-
ery eligible organization,” said Lisa Daw-
son, NEOEDD executive director.
The money from the Oregon Legisla-
ture supports services to cities with popu-
lations under 2,500, counties with popu-
lations under 15,000, and special districts
in these cities and counties. NEOEDD
will use the same criteria to prioritize the
free services.
Cities, counties and nonprofits can sub-
mit a request for services online at https://
bit.ly/3R6nIZy.
“We may also refer organizations to Se-
quoia Consulting for help to identify ap-
propriate grant sources for a project or to
prepare an organization to apply for and
successfully manage a grant,” Dawson said.
More information is available by email-
ing Chantal Ivenso at chantalivenso@
neoedd.org or by calling 541-426-3598,
extension 4.
and the auction starts at 7 p.m.
Cash prizes will be awarded in various
categories thanks to local sponsors who
have donated $1,225.
After judging, all blocks will be auc-
tioned by Mib Dailey. Proceeds go to the
OHSU Parkinson’s Center of Oregon —
since it began in 2006, this auction has
raised $160,000.
For more information, visit whit-
deschner.com/the-great-salt-lick-contest
or contact Deschner at 541-519-2736 or
deschnerwhit@yahoo.com.
Entry deadline nears for
Great Salt Lick Contest
Free grant-writing training
for nonprofits
Time is winding down to submit an
entry for the Great Salt Lick Contest and
Auction, which happens Saturday, Sept.
17, at Churchill School.
In this contest, founded by Whit De-
schner, anyone is welcome to turn in a salt
block that has been licked into an artistic
form by livestock or wildlife.
Enter blocks by Sept. 15 — and get a re-
placement block — at Oregon Trail Live-
stock Supply in Baker City or Richland
Feed and Seed.
At the event, viewing starts at 5 p.m.,
HALFWAY — Lisa Dawson and Sara
Miller from the Northeast Oregon Eco-
nomic Development District will teach a
free workshop series in Halfway in Sep-
tember and October focusing on success-
ful grant writing for nonprofits.
The classes will take place on four Satur-
days from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Sept. 10
and 24, and Oct. 8 and 22. The classes will
be at the Lions Hall in Halfway. Registra-
tion deadline is Sept. 8. Register at https://
tinyurl.com/29sm299c or find the link at
neoedd.org/events/ or call 541-426-3598.
News of Record
FUNERALS PENDING
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.
Peggy Anna Pittman: Graveside
service Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. at Mount
Hope Cemetery. Friends are invited to
join the family for a reception afterward
at the Baker City Christian Church, 675
Highway 7. In lieu of flowers, memorial
contributions can be made to Smile
Train, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or
Shriner’s Children’s Hospital through
Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500
Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814. To
light a candle in Peggy’s memory, or to
offer online condolences to her family,
go to www.grayswestco.com.
Cass Robertson Vanderwiele:
Celebration of life/anniversary
celebration, Sept. 10 from 4 p.m. to
6 p.m. at the Thomas Angus Ranch
party barn, 42734 Old Trail Road, north
of Baker City. It will be a time to visit
with Cass’s family and offer them love,
support and condolences. Friends and
loved ones are welcome to stop by at
their convenience between those times.
Memorial contributions can be directed
to Colton Accounting, on Church Street
in Baker City. Cass loved making sure the
children of Baker, who were in need, had
a great Christmas. A foundation will be
created to honor his wishes in his name.
To leave an online condolence for Cass’s
family, go to www.grayswestco.com.
bakercityherald.com
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
Justice Court warrant): Jimmy Dean
Smith Jr., 57, Baker City, 4:43 a.m.
Monday, Aug. 29 in the 500 block of
Campbell Street; cited and released.
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Umatilla County
warrant): Paul Adam Heller, 51, Baker
City, 4:43 a.m. Monday, Aug. 29 in the
500 block of Campbell Street; jailed.
FIRST-DEGREE CRIMINAL TRESPASSING:
Stacy Lee Lindstrom, 43, transient,
3:10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28 in the 2300
block of Colorado Avenue; cited and
released.
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
warrant): David Samuel Cutshall, 30, Baker
City, 12:23 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 in the
1300 block of Elm Street; cited and released.
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF INTOXICANTS: Daniel Raymond
Croucher, 62, Baker City, 4:35 p.m. Friday,
Aug. 26 in the 3700 block of Midway
Drive; cited and released.
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