BAKER CITY HERALD • TuEsDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Attendance
Although the district considers these
excused absences, Mitchell said the state
statistics for regular attenders count ex-
cused and unexcused absences.
That also affects athletes and students
who participate in other extracurricu-
lar activities that require them to miss
classes, Mitchell said.
That issue primarily affects Baker
High School and Baker Middle School.
Nonetheless, the high school’s regular
attender rate has had a smaller decline
than Brooklyn Primary.
BHS had a rate of 60% in 2021-22,
down from 69% in 2018-19 and 71% in
2017-18.
Mitchell said district officials continue
to encourage students to participate in
extracurricular activities, even if that re-
sults in lower attendance rates, because
those activities are important parts of
students’ experience.
This is especially vital after students
were deprived of those opportunities
during the spring term in 2020, when all
classes were online and sports and other
activities canceled, and during much of
the 2020-21 school year.
The 2021-22 year was much more
normal, and the current school year has
been, as well, with no restrictions on ac-
tivities.
“We’re having a great school year,”
Mitchell said. “The kids are very in-
volved.”
Although attendance rates showed
some of the larger declines during the
pandemic, both locally and statewide,
Mitchell said other data show positive
trends. The Baker School District’s rate
of freshmen who are on track to gradu-
ate — by earning at least one-quarter of
the required credits by the end of their
freshman year — was 83% in 2021-22,
equal to the state average.
That’s a drop of just 2 percentage
points from the 2018-19 year, and equal
to the district’s rate for 2017-18.
See www.bakercityherald.com for at-
tendance rates for other Baker schools
and other districts in Baker County.
much warmer than usual, with the
temperature above average every day,
topping 70 degrees on all 20 at the
airport.
During that period the average
high temperature was 75.7 degrees —
almost 14 degrees above average for
October.
Saturday’s high of 48 was 31 de-
grees lower than just five days earlier.
Although temperatures plum-
meted, Baker City didn’t get as much
precipitation as many other places in
Northeastern Oregon.
The three-day total at the airport
(Oct. 21-23) was 0.23 of an inch.
The Union County Airport near
La Grande recorded 1.12 inches.
Meacham had 1.29 inches, Pendle-
ton had 0.85, and the Boise Airport
0.81.
The rapid transition won’t be a
brief interlude, according to the Na-
tional Weather Service.
Temperatures are forecast to re-
main below average — mainly in the
40s during the day — through the
weekend, with a chance of rain, pri-
marily on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and
next weekend.
Continued from A1
The statewide average for those three
grades was higher in two of the three
years — 64% for 2021-22, and 74% for
2018-19. Brooklyn had a higher regular
attender rate than the state average in
2017-18 — 82% versus 80%.
Attendance data from the 2019-20
and 2020-21 school years are incomplete
or unavailable due to effects of the pan-
demic.
But Greg Mitchell, director of federal
programs for the Baker School District,
said he believes the declining attendance
in the district this past year, compared
with the pre-pandemic period, is due in
part to something district officials actu-
ally encouraged.
Many parents heeded the district’s ad-
vice to keep their students home if they
felt ill, regardless of whether COVID-19
had been confirmed or was suspected,
Mitchell said.
He said some parents likely also kept
their children home on some days be-
cause they were concerned about expo-
sure at school.
Weather
Continued from A1
The storm, although not abnormal
for late October, was notable largely
because it was not only the first of
the season, but so dramatically dif-
ferent from weather over the past
month.
The first 20 days of October were
Regan
Continued from A1
In an email to the Baker
City Herald on Friday after-
noon, Oct. 21, Baker City
Manager Jonathan Cannon
wrote: “Baker City is review-
ing the letter from the De-
partment of Justice. It appears
from the letter the Depart-
ment of Justice has declined
to criminally prosecute Sgt.
Shannon Regan. The admin-
istrative proceedings on the
matter are not complete. It is
in the best interest of everyone
involved that we finalize all
proceedings before making a
change to the status of admin-
istrative leave for Sgt. Shannon
Regan.”
Regan referred questions to
her attorney, Dan Thenell of
Portland.
Thenell said in a phone in-
terview Friday afternoon that
he believes an Oct. 17 letter
from Jay D. Hall, senior assis-
tant attorney general, to Greg
Baxter, Baker County district
attorney, concluding there is a
lack of evidence for criminal
charges against Regan, “com-
pletely vindicates Shannon.”
“She’s been on adminis-
trative leave for 16 months,
and it’s time to put her back
to work,” Thenell said. “She’s
suffered under the publicity of
this investigation.”
Thenell said he was ap-
pointed to represent Regan by
the Fraternal Order of Police’s
legal defense fund. The Frater-
nal Order of Police has about
360,000 members in law en-
forcement nationwide, include
officers with the Baker City
Police, Thenell said.
Baxter also released a writ-
ten statement on the matter
Friday afternoon:
“The Baker County District
Attorney’s Office appreciates
the Department of Justice’s
investigation into this con-
flict case for possible criminal
charges involving Detective
Shannon Regan. Beyond a
reasonable doubt is a high
standard and the DOJ deter-
mined that there was insuffi-
cient evidence to proceed with
criminal charges. The District
Attorney’s Office will now
move forward with finalizing
a decision on whether De-
tective Regan’s actions in the
Greenwood case will allows
the office to use her as a wit-
ness in future criminal cases.
That determination has a dif-
ferent standard that must be
applied.”
Thenell, however, contends
that the different standards
aren’t relevant, and that the
Department of Justice’s con-
clusion about Regan should be
sufficient to alleviate any con-
cerns city officials might have
about her ability to work as a
detective, and concerns Baxter
might have about being able to
use her as a witness in crimi-
nal cases.
Accusation that led to
administrative leave
Attorney Jim Schaeffer of
La Grande sought during the
summer of 2021 to have all
charges dismissed against his
client, Shawn Quentin Green-
wood, arguing that Regan, by
listening to the phone calls
which Greenwood made while
in the Baker County Jail, had
violated Greenwood’s consti-
tutional rights.
Schaeffer argued in court
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Students at Keating Elementary School play soccer during P.E. class on Thursday, Oct.
20, 2022.
that Regan’s conduct was
“egregious” and an “intrusion
and violation of my client’s
constitutional rights.”
Although police can legally
access and listen to calls that
jail inmates make to friends or
family, conversations with at-
torneys are protected by attor-
ney-client privilege.
Judge Matt Shirtcliff of
Baker County Circuit Court
declined to dismiss all charges
against Greenwood. But the
judge did rule that Baxter
couldn’t use at trial any ev-
idence that Regan collected
after Sept. 14, 2020, the day
her computer was used to ac-
cess and play recordings of the
phone calls.
In early September 2021,
prior to a scheduled trial,
Greenwood accepted a plea
agreement with the district
attorney’s office in which he
pleaded no contest to three
lesser charges and was sen-
tenced to 90 months in prison.
Greenwood, of Vale, had
been charged with first-degree
murder in the January 2020
fatal shooting of Angela Par-
rish in Baker City. He pleaded
no contest (which has the
same effect as a conviction) to
criminally negligent homicide,
first-degree burglary, and at-
tempting to elude law enforce-
ment.
Five other counts, includ-
ing first-degree murder, were
dismissed in a plea agreement
with the district attorney’s of-
fice.
Baxter, in a press release at
the time of Greenwood’s pleas,
said: “The Baker County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office offered
the plea agreement in this
case after it was apparent that
many important pieces of ev-
idence would not be available
at trial due to the lead police
investigator listening to privi-
leged telephone conversations
between the defendant and his
attorney. The state believed
that at trial, that the defense
would have focused on the
actions of Baker City Police
Detective Shannon Regan
thereby clouding the evidence
concerning the crimes com-
mitted by Greenwood.”
In July 2021, after Schaef-
fer filed a motion to dismiss
charges against Greenwood,
citing the phone calls, Duby
and Baxter asked Oregon State
Police to investigate and de-
termine whether Regan could
be charged with official mis-
conduct.
Thenell said he believes
Baxter “panicked” after
Schaeffer filed his motion, and
that Baxter overestimated the
effect that Schaeffer’s claims
about Regan’s actions had
on the district attorney’s case
against Greenwood.
Thenell contends that Bax-
ter should have recognized
that the situation “was not the
constitutional crisis he made it
out to be.”
Oregon State Police
investigation
According to the Oct. 17
letter from Hall to Baxter, Sgt.
Evan Sether of the Oregon
State Police investigated the al-
legations against Regan related
to the phone calls.
The Oregon Department of
Justice’s Criminal Justice Divi-
sion then reviewed the results
of that investigation.
Although a forensic review
showed that Regan’s work
computer is the only one used
to access the five calls between
Greenwood and Schaeffer,
Sether, the OSP detective,
“was able to establish that
during the time in which the
audio files were played, De-
tective Regan was engaged in
other law enforcement activ-
ities, including preparing for
a SWAT operation the next
day,” Hall wrote in his letter to
Baxter.
Hall also wrote that Regan
was interviewed about calls
she listened to, “and to her rec-
ollection, she only heard one
phone call that might have
included an attorney, how-
ever she did not recognize the
voice of the person speaking
with Greenwood. She also in-
dicated she would not have
recognized Schaeffer’s voice
because she was not familiar
with it.”
Hall also wrote in his letter
to Baxter that Shirtcliff had
concluded that the district at-
torney’s office didn’t receive
information about the content
of the phone calls between
Greenwood and Schaeffer.
In the final section of his
letter, under the heading “Le-
gal Analysis,” Hall wrote: “In
our review of the investiga-
tion, there is no clear evidence
that Detective Regan engaged
in criminal conduct.”
Later in the letter Hall
writes: “Arguably Detective
Regan should have been more
careful in reviewing the re-
corded calls, but her lack of
diligence in that regard does
not mean that she has com-
mitted a crime. Rather, the
appropriate remedy in this
context would be suppression
of evidence if it was unlawfully
obtained.”
Lorraine Gardner
April 30, 1928 - September 7, 2022
Lorraine passed quietly in her
residence at Meadowbrook Place
in Baker City, OR on September
7, 2022. A celebration of life was
held in her honor on September 16,
2022, at the Harvest Church.
On behalf of Lorraine’s family,
we want to express our gratitude
and sincere appreciation, especially
to Cindy Carpenter, and the friends
and staff who so lovingly served and cared for our dear
mother throughout her recent years.
Thank you to everyone for your kind words, help
and attendance in celebrating our mother’s life.
Sincerely,
Terry Gardner of Moro, OR
Barbara Zinter of Ione, OR
and Dave Gardner, Jr. of Baker City, OR
Which is basically what
Shirtcliff ruled regarding evi-
dence that Regan collected in
the Greenwood case after the
date the recorded phone calls
were played.
Hall, in the “legal analy-
sis” section of the letter, wrote
that although Baxter had de-
cided he could not have called
Regan as a witness against
Greenwood had there been a
trial, the law, on the issue of
whether a police officer has vi-
olated a defendant’s constitu-
tional rights, “is not straight-
forward.”
Hall cited a case, State v.
Russum, in which “the court
indicated that it was unsettled
whether a detective’s inad-
vertent reading of unmarked
inmate mail containing attor-
ney-client communications
implicated the defendant’s
right to counsel. Second, the
record would not support a
conclusion that Detective Re-
gan knew she was listening to
calls from Greenwood to his
attorney, that she forwarded
the calls to the district attor-
ney, or that she took any ac-
tion with respect to the calls
to advance the criminal case
against Greenwood.”
Thenell, Regan’s attorney,
said he believes Hall’s letter
conclusively establishes not
only that Regan didn’t commit
a crime, but that she did noth-
ing that would warrant her
continuing to be on adminis-
trative leave.
Thenell believes that the
reference in Hall’s letter to a
police officer’s “inadvertent
reading” of an inmate’s let-
ters is important, although in
Regan’s case the issue wasn’t
written material but recorded
phone calls.
Council
Continued from A1
In 2020 the city com-
pleted a housing needs
analysis that projected
the city will need between
230 and 460 new housing
units of different kinds
over the next 20 years.
The analysis also
found there is a current
need for more affordable
housing units. It reads,
in part: “In order for
all households, current
and new to pay 30% or
less of their income to-
wards housing in 2040,
more affordable rental
units would be required.
This indicates that some
of the current supply. ...
would need to become
less expensive to meet
the needs of current
households.”
City officials are work-
ing on a housing pro-
duction strategy, which
is scheduled to be fin-
ished in May 2023, that
will include options for
encouraging the types of
housing the city is likely
to need.
Information gathered
during Tuesday’s meet-
ing will help city officials
compile the housing pro-
duction strategy.
Thenell contends that the
OSP investigation shows that
Regan didn’t intentionally lis-
ten to Greenwood’s conver-
sations with his attorney, and
that she took no action that
violated Greenwood’s consti-
tutional rights.
Thenell said Baker City has
hired an investigator to deter-
mine whether Regan, separate
from the criminal investiga-
tion, violated any department
policies.
Thenell contends that the
Department of Justice’s con-
clusion that Regan didn’t en-
gage in official misconduct
also is sufficient to determine
that she did nothing which
would warrant her remaining
on paid leave.
“If the city wanted her to
show up for work Monday,
she’d be there,” Thenell said.
“She’s ready to go to work.”
Clay Gyllenberg
May 18, 1959 - October 18, 2022
Clay Scot Gyllenberg, 63, a lifelong
Baker City resident, passed away October
18, 2022, at his home. His memorial service
will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, October 29th, at
the Baker City Church of the
Nazarene, 1250 Hughes Lane.
Friends are invited to join the
family for a dinner reception
immediately following the
service at the Family Life
Center adjacent to the church.
Clay was born to Jack
and Janice Gyllenberg on
May 18, 1959, the third of
four children. He was raised
on the family ranch, where
he developed his hard work
ethic, love of motorcycle
riding and passion for
mechanical problem solving.
He graduated from Baker High School in
1978. He worked for Mel’s Discount Auto
parts prior to attending and graduating
from Boise State University’s Vocational
Technical School in 1980. Upon graduation
he returned to Baker and pursued his dream
of owning his own business. With a few hand
tools, he started Gyllenberg Equipment in
his granddad’s machine shop on 9th Street.
Clay met the love of his life, Christine
Ricco, in May 1984. It didn’t take long for
him to realize this was his lifelong mate
and they were married in June 1985. They
were blessed with two sons, Cody, born in
1996 and Dusty in 1997. Clay and Chris
worked side-by-side running their business,
ranch, raising their boys, and serving the
community. They were an inseparable team.
Together, they expanded the business to
include equipment sales, taking on the Zetor
tractor line in 1989. Clay pursued his lifelong
dream of having a shop on the freeway and
in November 1994, built his shop on E.
Campbell Street. He expanded the shop
building in 2004, taking on additional lines
of Kioti, McCormick, Krone, and Branson
equipment.
Clay built his business on the premises of
honesty, integrity, quality, and hard work. No
job was too unique, and Clay would work on
and repair anything from lawnmowers to
bulldozers.
His drive for perfection led him to
constantly improve and re-engineer most
equipment he touched. His hobby was
his work. He delighted in enhancing
“old beaters,” turning everything from a
motorcycle, snowmobile, or tractor into a
high performing piece, and seeing just how
far he could push its performance limitations.
He was also an inventor, designing,
fabricating and welding to create everything
from new ag equipment to gifts and
household decor. One project that rose to
the top was his custom built show bike,
“Rawhide.” It was made out of scrap ag
parts entirely, powered by a four-cylinder
Wisconsin industrial engine. The wheels
are from an antique manure spreader. Its
only chrome was a dented snowmobile gas
tank. It took two to ride it to display at the
Hells Canyon Motorcycle
Rally, of which he won an
award! “Rawhide’s Her
Name, Redneck’s the Game”
became its motto. It was part
of his bucket list bringing him
great pleasure in not only the
design, but how it brought
such joy to others (including
local law enforcement!).
Clay also ran a ranching
operation with his family
to continue a passion from
his youth while allowing his
young sons the opportunity
to learn how to run a ranch.
Clay passed on many ranching skills such
as flood irrigation, equipment operation and
techniques on how to put up hay. He received
great satisfaction from improving the land
and its production, all while working toward
his goal of passing on a love for ranching to
his sons.
He had a passion for helping others,
whether sharing rides on snowmobiles or
teaching skills he had learned. He helped
teach the FFA Ag mechanics team. He spent
his lifetime mentoring many individuals and
employees in the field of mechanics.
Clay had a humble giving spirit. He
never knew a stranger and his customers
developed into his friends. He delighted
in joking, teasing and putting a smile on
people’s faces with his witty humor. He was
an encourager and wanted others to feel
needed and included.
Clay had a love for music that started
with playing the saxophone in high school.
He was a member of his brother Brent’s
traveling gospel band, and was an active
member of the Nazarene Church’s worship
team for over 10 years playing bass guitar.
His greatest joy in music was teaching and
playing with his sons.
Clay is survived by his wife, Chris of
Baker City; sons and daughter-in-law,
Cody and Elle Gyllenberg of Richland,
Washington, and Dusty Gyllenberg of
Boise, Idaho; granddaughters Ada and
Josie Gyllenberg; brother Brent (Bitsy)
Gyllenberg of Baker City; sisters Neva
Parker of Powell Butte, Oregon, and Elissa
(Clint) Morrison of Baker City. He was
predeceased by his parents, Jack and Janice
Gyllenberg. Memorial contributions may be
made to the Northeast Oregon Compassion
Center or the Baker County Livestock
Producers Foundation either online or
through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home,
P.O. Box 543, Halfway, Oregon 97834.
Online condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.