BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Accused
Alderson
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Mercado wrote that he
talked with Robert Good-
win, who reported the in-
cident. Mercado also saw
Kallio’s 2003 Nissan Max-
ima in the irrigation ditch
that runs beside Settler’s
Loop.
Goodwin told Mercado
that he was riding in Kal-
lio’s car as they returned to
their camp. Goodwin said
Kallio put on his seatbelt,
revved the car’s engine and
said his, Kallio’s, life was
over. Goodwin said he got
out of the car.
“Brian then spun the car
around and intentionally
tried to run Robert and his
tent over with his vehicle,
which resulted in Brian
driving the vehicle into the
creek,” Mercado wrote in
his affidavit.
After talking with Good-
win, Mercado drove to the
north end of Settler’s Loop,
at Pocahontas, where Ore-
gon State Police Sr. Trooper
Tim Schuette had arrested
Kallio around 7:28 p.m.
Schuette told Mercado
that Kallio was “hitting
himself and threw himself
on the ground when he had
arrived.”
Mercado wrote that he
called for mental health ex-
perts to meet with Kallio.
Mercado then went back
to the camp to continue his
interview with Goodwin.
Goodwin said he had
been staying with Kallio at
the camp and that they had
been getting along until the
past few days when “Brian
appeared to become para-
noid.”
Goodwin said that Kal-
lio’s car missed him by
about 2 feet.
Around 8 p.m., Mer-
cado met Baker City Police
Officer Mark Powell, who
had interviewed Kallio.
Mercado and Powell inter-
viewed Kallio at the police
department.
Kallio told the officers he
had meet Goodwin about a
week earlier, and that they
had been living in Kallio’s
car. Kallio told the officers
that he wanted to kill Rob-
ert “because of a past rela-
tionship that he had been
building over the past year,
because Robert had been
hinting that the relationship
was not real.”
Mercado wrote that Kal-
lio admitted using metham-
phetamine and marijuana.
He told the officers he had
used both drugs around
5:30 p.m. on Saturday, or
about 90 minutes before the
incident.
Kallio told the officers
that after Goodwin got out
of the car, he “pushed the
gas pedal all the way to the
floor,” spun around twice
and tried to run Goodwin
over before crashing into
the ditch.
Kallio said he threw a
machete at (Goodwin) in
“another attempt to kill him
but missed.”
Kallio said he then
walked away, heading
north.
Mercado arrested Kallio
at 9:07 p.m. and took him
to the emergency room at
Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center for a medical evalu-
ation. Mercado said he also
did a field sobriety test on
Kallio in the hospital lobby.
At 10:14 p.m. Mercado
drove Kallio to the Baker
County Jail, where he re-
mains.
Alderson and his brother,
Mark, own Baboon Creek Out-
fitters, a sporting goods store on
Main Street in Baker City.
In response to a voters guide
questionnaire in October, Alder-
son said his top priority as chair-
man is to work toward creating a
fire district to improve fire protec-
tion in the county. He also cited
the need for affordable housing as
a major focus.
Christina Witham, who was
running unopposed for position
2, one of the two part-time com-
missioner slots, was also elected
Tuesday.
Alderson, 42, will replace Bill
Harvey, whose second four-year
term expires at the end of 2022.
Harvey did not seek reelection.
Witham will replace Mark
Bennett, who also did not run for
another term.
Alderson and Witham will
join current commissioner Bruce
Nichols, who was elected in 2020
to a four-year term.
Award
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That last arrangement didn’t
last, with Myron quipping, “Ev-
eryone should have to milk
cows once in their life — it’s all
up from there.”
Finally, in 1980, the couple
returned to North Powder for
good after buying a 1,400-acre
property.
Today, Miles Ranch runs 250
head of mother cows.
The couple will be recog-
nized by Oregon Aglink as the
2022 Agriculturists of the Year
during the organization’s annual
Denim and Diamonds dinner
and auction fundraiser on Fri-
day, Nov. 18.
Myron also has a breeding
program, using artificial insem-
ination. He works with Amer-
ican Breeders Service Global, a
company that sells semen from
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
A series of snowstorms over the past two weeks has boosted the snowpack to record or near-record
levels for early November in parts of Northeastern Oregon.
Snow
in Unity, but as he drove east on Highway 245
toward Bridgeport the snow deepened and was
still falling Wednesday morning.
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And others are close to the maximum for
that date.
This wintry onslaught has perhaps seemed
especially sudden because it followed an Oc-
tober that was, until the final week or so, more
reminiscent of summer than of fall.
Unlike some years, there were no late sum-
mer or early autumn storms that brought a
brief preview of winter, with a light dusting of
snow that disappeared a few hours after the
next dawn.
Since the first significant storm, which ar-
rived Oct. 21, a series of progressively chillier
systems has continued to accumulate snow
not only in the mountains but, at times, in the
valleys.
The result is a snowpack that’s far ahead of
typical for the second week of November.
And snowpack has an importance far be-
yond its scenic and recreation benefits. Moun-
tain snow is the biggest reservoir for this arid
region — the key source of water to irrigate
crops and to produce forage for beef cattle,
both crucial contributors to the local economy.
Soaking the soil
Bennett said one of his chief worries this
fall was that snow would come only after the
ground, desiccated by a dry summer and early
fall, had frozen.
When that happens, he said, even a deep
winter snowpack can be wasted, in a sense, be-
cause much of the melting snow soaks into the
soil rather than running into streams, replen-
ishing reservoirs that supply irrigation water.
But the recent storms have considerably
eased Bennett’s anxiety on that account.
Rain dampened the soil in late October, he
said, and although snow earlier in November
melted, the ground had not yet frozen, allow-
ing even more moisture to soak in.
Wednesday’s snowstorm didn’t quite make
it to Baker Valley, with flakes mainly confined
to the southern and eastern parts of Baker
County.
Bennett said there was about 1 inch of snow
bulls, carefully choosing genetic
traits that will allow his cows to
grow bigger, faster and produce
higher-quality meat.
Cows at Miles Ranch are ro-
tated regularly in pastures to
avoid overgrazing and spread-
ing invasive weeds. A smaller
portion of the land is dedicated
to growing alfalfa, with minimal
tillage and cover crops to pre-
vent soil erosion.
“You need to protect the en-
vironment and our resources, so
our kids and grandkids will still
have food,” he said.
Away from the ranch, Myron
is a board member for the Baker
Valley Soil and Water Conser-
vation District and has spent 60
years advocating for ranchers
with the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association. He was president
of the Baker County Livestock
Association when the county
adopted its right-to-farm ordi-
Mountain snowpack piles up
As usual, even more snow is accumulating
at higher elevations.
Automated snow-measuring stations,
known as Snotels, reflect the unusual generos-
ity of the early storms.
At Taylor Green, for instance, in the western
Wallowas east of Medical Springs, the water
content in the snow (the most meaningful sta-
tistic when it comes to forecasting water sup-
plies) on Nov. 8 was 3.6 inches.
That’s the most ever for that date since the
Snotel was installed there in 1979, according to
records from the Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service, a federal agency that oversees
snowpack measuring across the West.
At Eilertson Meadow, along Rock Creek in
the Elkhorn Mountains west of Haines, the wa-
ter content Nov. 8 was 1.2 inches. That’s a mod-
est amount — the elevation at the site is just
5,500 feet — but it’s the second-highest for Nov.
8 since the Snotel was installed there in 1980.
The record for the date is 1.7 inches, in 2005.
At Moss Springs, in the western Wallowas
above Cove, the water content Nov. 8 was 4.9
inches, the most on that date since the Snotel
was built in 1980.
A similar situation prevails across the re-
gion.
• Aneroid Lake, in the Wallowas south of
Wallowa Lake. Water content Nov. 8 was 3.4
inches, the fifth-most since the Snotel went in
in 1981.
• Mount Howard, also in the Wallowas near
Wallowa Lake. Water content Nov. 8 was 3.3
inches, the fifth-most since the Snotel was in-
stalled in 1980.
• Schneider Meadows, in the southern Wal-
lowas north of Halfway. Water content Nov. 8
was 3.3 inches, the third-highest total since the
Snotel was installed in 1981.
• Milk Shakes, in the northern Blues north
of Tollgate. Water content Nov. 8 was 5.2
inches, the most for that date since the Snotel
was installed in 2007.
nance, protecting growers from
nuisance complaints.
Meanwhile, Dotty remains
active as a board member for
Blue Mountain Community
College and the local Baker City
Rotary Club.
“We wouldn’t know how to
act if we didn’t have a calendar
that was completely clogged up
with things to do,” Myron said.
The couple said they are
pleased and honored to be rec-
ognized as Agriculturists of the
Year by Oregon Aglink.
“Not only do we pride our-
selves on how we run our
ranch,” Myron said, “but we
think that we’ve helped others
along the way to improve their
cattle and way of life, too.”
Oregon Aglink is a nonprofit
volunteer organization dedicated
to agricultural education and
outreach. Denim and Diamonds
raises money for programs such
as Adopt a Farmer, pair-
ing farms with middle
school classrooms for
field trips and activities.
Every year, Oregon
Aglink selects a group,
business or individual as
its Agriculturist of the
Year, recognizing out-
standing contributions to
the agriculture industry
as a whole.
Baker Rural Fire Protection
District tax levy
For the second time this year,
voters rejected a five-year prop-
erty tax levy for the district that
includes parts of Baker Valley.
The measure failed with 544
votes against and 464 votes in favor.
The levy would have increased
property taxes by 75 cents for
$1,000 of assessed value.
In the May primary, voters re-
jected, by 362 votes to 329, a five-
year levy that would have boosted
taxes by $1 per $1,000 of assessed
value.
District officials said the tax
levy was needed to keep up with
increasing costs for equipment as
well as the increase in the number
of homes in the district over the
past few decades.
The district, which was formed
in 1983, has relied almost solely
on a permanent property tax levy
of 67 cents for $1,000 of assessed
value. That levy has never been in-
creased.
Psilocybin ban measures
There were several measures
on the ballot asking voters to ban
psilocybin (magic mushrooms)
businesses in unincorporated
Council
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parts of Baker County and within
some cities.
Voters approved all of the mea-
sures.
• Baker County unincorpo-
rated areas: Yes, 5,478; no, 2,762
• Sumpter: Yes, 100; no, 40
• Huntington: Yes, 122; no, 71
• Halfway: Yes, 115, no, 61
• Unity: Yes, 20; no, 1
Contested races in other cities
Sumpter mayor
• Linda Wise, 98 votes
• Jon Patterson, 41 votes
Sumpter City Council, position
2
• Charlie Briscoe, 88 votes
• Vern Hollopeter, 38 votes
Huntington mayor
• Natalie VanCleave, 120 votes
• Donald Stacy, 46 votes
Haines mayor
• Dennis Anthony, 146 votes
• Brian Pound, 30 votes
Halfway mayor
• Nora Aspy, 110 votes
• Rose Darting, 61 votes
U.S. House of Representatives
Republican Cliff Bentz easily
won another two-year term in
Congress, defeating Democrat Joe
Yetter in the Second Congressio-
nal District, which includes Baker
County.
In unofficial results, Bentz had
179,069 votes to Yetter’s 88,577.
Baker County voters also went
heavily for Bentz. He received
6,640 votes in the county, com-
pared with Yetter’s 1,728.
Oregon House of
Representatives
Incumbent Mark Owens, a Re-
publican from Crane, easily won
reelection in House District 60
over Antonio Sunseri of the Pro-
gressive party.
Owens had 23,566 votes to
Sunseri’s 2,710.
In Baker County, Owens had
6,868 votes, Sunseri 828.
Uncontested county races
Two elected county officials,
clerk Stefanie Kirby and trea-
surer Alice Durflinger, were un-
opposed. Both were reelected to
four-year terms.
will appoint two people to replace
McQuisten and Alderson.
Incumbent councilor Jason
Spriet was elected in 2020 to a
four-year term.
The county could potentially
also receive a small
number of eligible bal-
Baker City measures
lots that were left in a
Baker City voters de-
dropbox in a different
cided on several mea-
county.
sures on the Nov. 8 bal-
County Clerk Stefanie
lot, including a measure
Kirby said on Wednes-
banning psilocybin
day morning, Nov. 9
Guyer
mushroom-related busi-
that she hopes to certify
nesses within the city
final results Nov. 30.
limits.
Baker City Coun-
Voters approved that
cil incumbents Dean
ban by a margin of 2,943
Guyer, with 2,068 votes,
votes to 1,602.
and Johnny Waggoner
• Measure 1-110:
Sr. with 1,893 votes,
Should Baker City
were second and third.
change acting mayor’s ti-
If that order remains,
Waggoner
tle to vice mayor?
both would serve four-
The measure failed,
year terms along with
with 3,143 no votes and
Diaz.
1,115 yes votes.
Former councilor
• Measure 1-111:
Beverly Calder had
Should the city require
1,830 votes and was in
councilors to review
fourth, which would
their oath of office, the
mean she would serve a
city charter and the U.S.
two-year term. Calder
Calder
and Oregon Constitutions
had a lead of 51 votes over
annually?
Katie LaFavor, who was
The measure passed, with
fifth with 1,779 votes.
Other candidates: Joe Johnson, 3,485 yes votes and 956 no votes.
• Measure 1-112: Should the
1,734; Kenyon Damschen (in-
city remove from its charter a sec-
cumbent), 1,328; Donald Frank
tion, added more than 30 years
Cody, 1,160.
The election isn’t the only thing ago, that prohibits the incinera-
tion of transformers in the city?
affecting the roster of councilors,
The measure passed, with
though.
Two of the three current coun- 2,616 yes votes and 1,459 no
votes.
cilors — Kerry McQuisten and
• Measure 1-113: Should the
Shane Alderson — will be leaving
city charter be changed to replace
office.
the pronoun “his” to “their” in
McQuisten is moving outside
one section?
the city limits and will no longer
The measure failed, with 2,557
be eligible to serve as a councilor.
no votes and 1,857 yes votes.
Her last meeting will be Nov. 22.
• Measure 1-114: Should the
Alderson was elected Tuesday
city charter be changed to clar-
as chairman of the Baker County
ify that the Baker County Justice
Board of Commissioners, so he
will also have to resign as a coun- Court handles municipal court
duties for the city?
cilor in December before being
The measure passed, with
sworn in as commission chair-
2,785 yes votes and 1,308 no
man in January 2023. The other
votes.
councilors, per the city charter,
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