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IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
QUICK HITS
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Record-breaking
heat wave
continues
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Barbara Carnahan
of Baker City.
BRIEFING
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 • $1.50
EAGLE CAP
FIRES GROW
Local students
graduate from EOU
LA GRANDE — Several Baker
County students were among
those to earn degrees from
Eastern Oregon University
during the 2021-22 academic
year.
Baker City
• Kara L. Bennett, bachelor
Fires in the Eagle Cap
Wilderness are being fu-
eled in part by record-set-
ting heat as August gives
way to September.
The high temperature
reached 98 degrees on
Tuesday, Aug. 30 at the
Baker City Airport. That
broke the previous record
high for the date of 96, set
in 1996 and tied in 2017.
Another record was
likely on Wednesday, Aug.
31. The National Weather
Service forecast a high of
101, well above the record
of 96, set in 2019.
Abnormally hot
weather likely will con-
tinue through the Labor
Day weekend and be-
yond, with temperatures
ranging from the low to
the upper 90s through at
least Tuesday, Sept. 6.
of science, Biology
• Boston Colton, bachelor of
science, History
• Isabella L Evans, bachelor
of science, Computer Science
• Melissa Ann Kendall, bach-
elor of science, Accounting
• Elizabeth Ann Kippes,
bachelor of science, Biology
• Katie Jo Stephens, master
of science, Education
Haines
• Ashley Margaret Dyke,
bachelor of science, Accounting
• Samuel H Pointer, bachelor
of science, Business Adminis-
tration
Halfway
• Wyatt C. Page, bachelor of
science, Computer Science
WEATHER
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Today
93/42
Sunny
U.S. Forest Service/Contributed Photo
The Nebo fire is burning in the southeast part of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
One blaze created pyrocumulus
cloud on Tuesday; trails closed
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest has closed
sections of three trails that
are near one of the two
growing lightning-sparked
fires the agency is monitor-
ing in the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness northeast of Baker
City.
The Wallowa-Whitman
announced the trail closures,
in the North Minam River
area, on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Both the Sturgill fire,
which is near the closed
trails, and the Nebo fire,
more than 15 miles east on
the opposite side of Ore-
gon’s biggest federal wilder-
ness, produced large smoke
plumes on Tuesday as tem-
peratures eclipsed record
highs for the date.
The fires started Aug. 22.
The Sturgill fire, es-
timated at 1,000 acres
on Wednesday, Aug. 31,
spawned a pyrocumulus
cloud Tuesday afternoon
and evening — in effect, a
thunderhead induced by the
fire’s heat.
The atmosphere was al-
ready slightly unstable Tues-
day, meaning the sun was
heating the ground and
causing the air to rise high
enough that some of the
moisture condensed into
cumulus clouds, said Jay
Breidenbach, a meteorolo-
gist at the National Weather
Service office in Boise.
The fire added consider-
ably more heat to the equa-
tion, he said, allowing the
air to rise even higher. The
result was the pyrocumulus
cloud.
Breidenbach said he re-
viewed a time-lapse loop of
satellite images from Tues-
day, and the progression of
both smoke from the Stur-
gill fire, and the formation
of the pyrocumulus cloud,
were evident.
See Fires / A3
Mike Douglass/Contributed Photo
A pyrocumulus cloud formed above the Sturgill fire in the Eagle
Cap Wilderness on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022.
Blaze
damages
Baker
City home
Baker City Herald
A fire started by an elec-
trical issue damaged a Baker
City home on Tuesday
morning, Aug. 30.
The fire was reported at
8:10 a.m. at 1895 Balm St.,
in east Baker City at the cor-
ner of Balm Street and Court
Avenue.
Firefighters from the
Baker City Fire Department
and Baker Rural Fire Pro-
tection District responded
with 11 firefighters in all,
according to a press release
from David Blair, division
chief with the city fire de-
partment.
Firefighters searched the
home and confirmed the ini-
tial report that the two peo-
ple who were home when
the fire started had left safely.
Casey Johnson, a fire-
fighter with the Baker City
Fire Department who re-
sponded to the fire, said the
occupants were alerted by a
smoke detector.
“Crews were able to knock
the fire down from the exte-
rior and transitioned into in-
terior operations,” according
to the press release.
Firefighters ventilated the
roof and extinguished flames
in the attic, controlling the
fire 28 minutes after arriv-
ing.
Crews were at the scene
for 1 hour and 44 minutes.
The single-story house,
which is 1,768 square feet
and was built in 1952, is
owned by Todd and Chris-
tine Golar, according to the
Baker County Assessor’s Of-
fice.
It has a market value of
$194,000, according to the
Assessor’s Office.
Blair estimated the dam-
age at $25,000. The value of
lost items in the house is un-
determined.
There were no injuries.
See Blaze / A5
Friday
99/52
Sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Former bank building
becomes business hub
Plans include
indoor restaurant
or cafe and food
trucks outside
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
A former bank building in
downtown Baker City is on
its way to becoming a hub for
commerce and education.
The Baker City-County
Planning Department re-
cently approved a project to
transform the former Pioneer
Bank building at First and
Broadway streets, and the
parking lot on its west side,
into a space that includes
professional offices and retail,
including indoor and out-
door seating for restaurants.
In addition, the Baker 5J
School District’s special edu-
cation department will use the
entire top floor for operations.
According to a site narra-
tive submitted by developer
Mike Aizpitarte, the property
is a “tremendous opportunity
to enhance the atmosphere
in Historic Downtown Baker
City by providing the com-
munity a formal and infor-
mal gathering place to so-
cialize and create business
opportunities.”
See Hub / A3
BAKER CITY COUNCIL
Eight qualify for election ballot
Top 4 will be elected Nov. 8
Baker City Herald
All eight people who turned in signatures
have qualified for the Baker City Council bal-
lot in the Nov. 8 election.
They will be vying for four slots on the sev-
en-member council. The four positions are
held now by Joanna Dixon, Johnny Waggoner
Sr., Dean Guyer and Kenyon Damschen.
Guyer, Waggoner and Damschen are
among the eight candidates.
The five others are: Katie LaFavor, Matthew
Diaz, Bev Calder, Donald Cody and Joe Johnson.
TODAY
Issue 48
32 pages
Business ...........................B1
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Calder is a former city councilor.
The three other incumbent Baker City coun-
cilors — Kerry McQuisten, Shane Alderson
and Jason Spriet — are serving terms that con-
tinue through the end of 2024. All three were
elected to four-year terms in November 2020.
The top three candidates in the Nov. 8,
2022, election will begin four-year terms in
January 2023. The fourth-place candidate will
be elected to a 2-year term.
Among the three incumbents on the Nov. 8
ballot, one — Waggoner — was elected in No-
vember 2020 to a 2-year term.
See Council / A3
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Churchill School’s newest
sculpture has a solid base
Obie Simonis’
creation emerges
from a boulder
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Obie Simonis taps the
rock, listening for variations
in sound.
Most taps ring solid; a few
echo a bit more hollow.
But he’s happy with this
boulder, which is the base
for a new sculpture in front
of Churchill School, 3451
Broadway St.
“I went to first grade here,”
he said, pausing in his work
to wave a hand at the school.
Simonis is a graduate of
Baker High School, but he
has lived in Boston for many
years.
He’s a professional artist,
and his sculptures can be
seen at numerous univer-
sities and other locations
around the world.
“I have them from here to
Singapore,” he said.
He also helped organize a
community of artists in Bos-
ton called the Brickbottom
Artist Association that devel-
oped two semi-abandoned
buildings into 150 studios.
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Obie Simonis inspects the
boulder that is the base of his
sculpture titled “Mind & Mat-
ter” in front of Churchill School.
It will be unveiled during the
First Friday art walk on the eve-
ning of Sept. 2.
Simonis visits Baker City
every year, and while here
he stays in the Airbnb rental
inside Churchill, which has
been renovated by Brian and
Corrine Vegter.
The couple have installed
several sculptures in front
of the school, and Corrine
contacted Simonis after ac-
quiring three boulders from
Jeffrey Bond.
See Sculpture / A5
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6