LOCAL A2
SPORTS A5
SPORTS A6
Grant Co. sheriff talks
fi re boss arrest
Powder football rolls
past rival Adrian
Badgers win district
volleyball title
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022 • $1.50
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Steve Proebstel of
Haines.
BRIEFING
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Music students to
perform this week
Music students at Baker High
School and Baker Middle School
have been practicing for their fall
concerts at the BHS auditorium,
2500 E St.
The choir performance is set
for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26.
The band concert is at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 27. Admission is
free and the public is welcome.
Children younger than 14 must
have an adult chaperone.
Looking ahead, holiday perfor-
mances will be held Dec. 8 (BMS
and BHS band) and Dec. 15
(BMS and BHS choir, featuring the
children’s choir from South Baker
Intermediate School).
Learn about technology
in agriculture
Baker Community Sciences
& Arts Lecture Series continues
Thursday, Oct. 27, with “Pota-
toes, Cattle & Technology: Trends
in Eastern Oregon Ag” featuring
Will Price of the Oregon State
University Extension Service and
Jess Blatchford of Blatchford
Farms. The discussion will center
on the use of technology in agri-
culture and ways farms are trying
to continue in the future of Baker
Valley. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
and the talk starts at 6 p.m. at
OTEC’s conference room, 4005
23rd St. Attendance is free.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
About 8 inches of snow accumulated at Anthony Lake over the weekend.
Skipping Seasons
Sudden shift takes weather from summer-like to wintry
Baker High School
color run Thursday
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Baker High School’s color
run will be Thursday, Oct. 27, at
3 p.m. The 1.5 mile run/walk
starts in the student parking lot.
Entry is $5 and proceeds will be
donated to a local family.
Wear white or purchase
a shirt for $5. Prizes will be
awarded.
WEATHER
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Today
49/30
rain showers
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Snow sticks to leaves in Baker City on Sunday morning, Oct. 23,
2022.
So much for autumn.
For a couple hours on Sunday morning, Oct.
23, it seemed as though Baker County had
jumped straight from summer to winter, with
no pause for the intermediate season’s gradual
changes that give residents a reasonable time to
hunt up their heavy coats and ice scrapers.
Less than two days after the temperature was
above 70, a skiff of snow brightened the ground
as Baker City residents awoke.
The snow had mostly melted by noon, but
the day remained chilly, and with a blustery
north wind besides.
Sunday’s high temperature of 47 degrees at
the Baker City Airport was the lowest in almost
five months, since May 28, when the high was
44.
On Monday morning, Oct. 23, the tempera-
ture at the airport dipped to 21, the lowest since
May 25, when the low was 15.
The situation was even more wintry, as ex-
pected, in the mountains.
About 8 inches of snow accumulated over
the weekend at Anthony Lakes, elevation 7,100
feet. The temperature there was in the low 20s
on Sunday afternoon.
The sudden shift in seasons actually started
on Friday, Oct. 21, when a strong storm spread
into Oregon from the North Pacific.
Rain started falling in Baker City in the after-
noon and continued through the evening and
overnight.
Friday’s high of 59 degrees was a 12-degree
plunge from the previous day, and Saturday
dropped another 11 degrees, to a high of 48.
See Weather / A3
Wednesday
46/24
rain showers
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
City Council BAKER CITY
Official: No criminal charges
to discuss
housing costs warranted for police officer
Regan’s attorney says
in Baker City Shannon
she should be returned to work
Baker City Herald
The Baker City Council is inviting res-
idents to participate in a discussion about
housing costs during the council’s regular
meeting Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at City
Hall, 1655 First St.
According to Oregon’s definition, Baker
City is a “severely rent burdened city,” mean-
ing 25% or more of residents are spending
more than 50% of their household income on
housing.
Cities with a population of 10,000 or more
— a threshold Baker City reached for the first
time in the 2020 Census — are required to
have a public meeting each year to discuss
housing issues.
Topics to be discussed during Tuesday’s
meeting include:
• The causes and consequences of severe
rent burdens within the city.
• The barriers to reducing rent burdens.
• Possible solutions to reduce the number
of severely rent burdened households within
the city.
See Council / A3
TODAY
Issue 71
12 pages
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A2
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Officials from the Oregon Department of Justice
have concluded there is no basis for criminal charges
against Baker City Police Sgt. Shannon Regan, who
has been on paid leave for more than a year.
Police Chief Ty Duby placed Regan, a 17-year
officer, on leave in July 2021 after the attorney rep-
resenting a murder suspect alleged that Regan, the
lead detective in the case, listened to five phone
calls between the suspect and the attorney in 2020,
and by doing so violated the suspect’s constitutional
rights.
The city has been paying Regan about $6,000 per
month while she is on leave.
See Regan / A3
School attendance rates fell during pandemic
Local statistics mirror
statewide trends
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Absentee rates among students
in the Baker School District were
higher last school year compared
with the two years prior to the
pandemic.
That’s one of the statistics in-
cluded in the annual school pro-
files the Oregon Department of
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
Home & Living ........B1 & B2
Education released on Thursday,
Oct. 20.
State officials calculate atten-
dance rates for all grades, but in
districts they highlight the figures
for figures for students in kin-
dergarten through second grade,
since those early years can have a
significant influence on students’
subsequent habits.
The education department
compares districts, and individual
schools, based on the “regular at-
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
tender” percentage — a “regular
attender” is a student who attends
at least 90% of classes.
For Brooklyn Primary School
in Baker City, which houses first,
second and third graders, the
regular attender rate was 46% in
2021-22.
That’s down from 74% in the
2018-19 school year — the last
year before the pandemic — and
82% in 2017-18.
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ..................... A5 & A6
See Attendance / A3
Sudoku..............................B5
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6