Local
A2
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Baker City Herald • bakercityherald.com
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
November 14, 1972
The price of haircuts dropped to 50 cents in Baker
Tuesday in the midst of a hot barber war, but the matter was
apparently settled today.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 14, 1997
A researcher who has written two books critical of the en-
vironmental movement will speak Thursday in Baker City. Dr.
Michael Coffman, president of Environmental Perspectives
Inc., will discuss the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem
Management Project at 7 p.m. at the Sunridge Inn.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 16, 2012
Investigators have used an Ontario man’s global posi-
tioning system to track his criminal activity and send him to
prison.
“The benefi ts of modern technology aren’t always that
great if you’ve got something to hide,” District Attorney Matt
Shirtcliff said of the GPS that led deputies to rural Baker
County homes burglarized by Brian Anderson last spring.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 16, 2021
Kara Leggett was awakened from sleep, and to the awful
reality of COVID-19, by a thump from the kitchen of her Baker
Valley home.
It was early morning, Aug. 22, 2021.
Kara rushed to the kitchen.
She found her husband, Anthony Leggett, sprawled on the
fl oor.
“He was breathing heavily, like he was hyperventilating,”
said Kara, 41.
She managed to get her husband, who’s also 41, into a
chair.
Kara, frightened by Anthony’s labored wheezing, asked him
if that was really the only way he could breathe.
It was.
She called her brother-in-law, Dan Kolilis, who is a nurse.
When he saw Anthony’s condition, he told Kara to call for
an ambulance.
The ambulance took Anthony to Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center in Baker City.
Both Kara and Anthony knew they had been infected with
the virus. Kara had felt ill for about a week, her symptoms
gradually accumulating.
Anthony, by contrast, felt fi ne for several days after his wife
became sick.
But when the illness commenced, Kara said, it advanced
rapidly. Both Kara and Anthony had recently had their fi rst
dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But they recognized that their
inoculations had come too late to potentially protect them
from the virus.
A few hours before Kara was awakened by the thump, she
had to help Anthony walk to the bathroom.
He couldn’t get there by himself.
‘Zero chance of survival’
At the hospital in Baker City, doctors tried to stabilize
Anthony so he could be fl own by Life Flight helicopter to Saint
Alphonsus Hospital in Boise.
That’s the destination for most local COVID-19 patients,
and in particular those who are severely ill.
Kara said doctors couldn’t intubate Anthony.
His oxygen saturation dropped to 40% — a level that can
quickly prove fatal.
Anthony was placed in a tub of ice to combat his fever.
“They told me, he’s a very sick man,” Kara said. “I didn’t
realize that was code for he’s probably not going to live.”
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A trio of Oregon Department of Transportation snowplows clear the westbound lanes of Interstate 84.
ODOT facing a winter labor shortage
BY DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A labor shortage has
Oregon Department of Transportation of-
ficials juggling schedules and resources in
Eastern Oregon as the winter season’s icy
grip tightens.
The department’s Eastern Oregon region,
which is composed of Morrow, Umatilla,
Union, Wallowa, Baker, Grant, Harney and
Malheur counties, has 300 total positions.
The region now has 38 vacancies, about
25 of which are permanent and seasonal
road maintenance positions, according to
Ken Patterson, the manager of ODOT’s
Area 5 region.
The vacancies mean some ODOT crews
may have to do more with less as they work
to keep Interstate 84 and state highways
clear of snow and ice.
“We will do as much as we can with the
people we have,” Patterson said.
The employee shortage is linked to a fall-
ing number of seasonal workers, who are
hired to work from November through
April.
“Our No. 1 concern going into winter is
seasonal labor,” said Rich Lani, the manager
of ODOT’s District 12, which covers Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties and the northern
half of Union County.
Stricter regulations
ODOT’s labor shortage is more difficult
to address today than it was two years ago
because of a new state regulation that makes
the process of earning a commercial driver’s
license more time-consuming.
The additional regulations make it harder
to find potential employees who are ready
Totals
Continued from A1
This is the first general elec-
tion in which ballots postmarked
by election day, but which ar-
rived later, will be counted.
• Ballots that were delivered
to a clerk’s office in a different
county. Clerks are required by
state law to mail those ballots to
the county where the voter lives
by Nov. 16, Kirby said.
She estimates there will be
fewer than a dozen of these
ballots.
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 16): Sweet-and-sour chicken, brown
rice, Oriental vegetables, rolls, Asian slaw salad, cinnamon
rolls
THURSDAY (Nov. 17): Thanksgiving lunch: Roasted turkey
with stuffi ng, butternut squash with apples and cranberries,
vegetables, cranberry sauce, rolls, broccoli-bacon salad,
pumpkin pie
FRIDAY (Nov. 18): Baked ziti, garlic bread, carrots, green
salad, ice cream
MONDAY (Nov. 21): Chicken strips, mashed potatoes with
gravy, corn, biscuits, coleslaw, cookies
TUESDAY (Nov. 22): Taco salad, sour cream and salsa,
chips, fruit cup
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
Advertising email
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Classifi ed email
classifi ed@bakercityherald.com
Circulation email
circ@bakercityherald.com
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
for print only. Digital-only rates are $8.25.
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
The move has so far drawn in at least two
ODOT employees to work in the region.
Patterson, ODOT’s Area 5 region man-
ager, said it is only fair that travel status be
granted to ODOT employees coming here
from outside the region.
“They are stepping away from lives they
have elsewhere,” he said.
Another step the agency is taking in-
volves maintaining its Fire and Ice program,
a program that involves ODOT and the Or-
egon Department of Forestry.
Employees in the program
are guaranteed year-round
work by fighting fires for
Help wanted
the Oregon Department of
ODOT is accepting
Forestry in the summer and
applications for open
being employed as seasonal
seasonal positions.
winter employees for ODOT.
Filling holes
The seasonal employee
situation is particularly dire
at ODOT’s Meacham main-
tenance station, where eight
of its total of 27 positions are
unfilled. Lani said it is hard
People interested
to fill the Meacham positions
in the positions can
Versatile workers
because the community has
learn more on ODOT’s
The transportation agency
limited housing for employ-
website, www.ore-
is putting the versatility of
ees, forcing many working in
gon.gov/odot.
its employees to good use by
Meacham to commute be-
transferring some full-time
tween either the La Grande
workers from other positions
area to the east or Pendleton
area to the west. Both are at least 25 miles, a to fill seasonal winter spots.
Employees at ODOT who have differ-
costly drive because of today’s high
ent summer and winter jobs include Andy
gas prices.
Adkins, the bridge crew coordinator for
Lani said that when fully staffed, his dis-
ODOT’s District 13 and a winter road
trict would have as many as 72 employees
maintenance worker. He said that doing
after Nov. 1, but now has only 55.
snow and ice and removal leaves him with
The transportation department is taking
little downtime in the winter.
a new step this year to keep as many of its
While he compared the job to parenting
winter positions filled as possible. The state
— “It is like having kids,” he said. “You are
is granting travel status to employees who
come to Region 5 from outside Eastern Ore- busy constantly” — Adkins noted that the
gon to help with winter road work. Employ- winter challenge of keeping roads clear of
ees granted travel status have their meals and snow and ice is a unique undertaking.
“It is an entity all its own,” he said.
lodging expenses paid for, Patterson said.
• Ballots that either lacked the
voter’s signature, or that had a
signature that elections officials
concluded did not match the
signature on file.
There are about 90 of these
ballots, Kirby said.
The clerk’s office mails a no-
tice to the voter in each case,
whether the ballot lacked a sig-
nature or there was a question
about the signature matching
one on file, Kirby said.
Those voters have until Nov.
29 to resolve the situation. They
can do so by coming to the
clerk’s office and signing their
ballot, or signing a form that, if
it matches the one on file, be-
comes the new official signature
for that voter, Kirby said.
In past elections, she said,
relatively few people with such
ballots responded to the letter
and resolved the issue to ensure
their votes were tallied, Kirby
said.
On the Baker County bal-
lot, the race for Baker County
Commission Chairman wasn’t
close enough to be affected by
outstanding ballots, as Shane
Alderson has nearly 1,000 more
voters than Dan Garrick.
The Baker City Council elec-
tion is closer.
Voters are electing four coun-
cilors.
The margin between the
fourth-place candidate, Beverly
Calder, and fifth-place, Katie
LaFavor, is 51 votes.
It’s not clear how many of
the ballots that could still be
counted are from voters who
live within the Baker City lim-
its and are eligible to vote in the
city council race.
Nov. 11 in the 400 block of Spring
Garden Avenue; jailed.
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
Justice Court warrant): Tami Deann
Dudley, 42, Richland, 12:10 p.m. Friday,
Nov. 11 in Richland; cited and released.
Oregon State Police
Accident reports
Friday, Nov. 11, 9:51 p.m. on Interstate
84, Milepost 291 eastbound. A Ford
F-150 pickup truck pulling a camper
trailer, driven by Aaron Paul Singleton,
43, of Draper, Idaho, hit ice, causing the
trailer to jackknife and the truck to spin.
The truck and trailer stopped facing
west on the eastbound shoulder, with
the trailer on its side. No injuries were
reported, according to an OSP report.
Thursday, Nov. 10, 8:33 a.m. on
Interstate 84, Milepost 293 eastbound.
Harold Wayne Bobo, 71, of Haines,
was driving a commercial truck when
an animal ran onto the freeway. The
truck drifted on the gravel shoulder
on a slight corner, and when the driver
tried to maneuver the truck back onto
the freeway, it overturned, landing on
the passenger side, according to an
OSP report. Bobo was taken to Saint
Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City
with minor injuries.
News of Record
DEATHS
SENIOR MENUS
to begin driving snowplows and trucks.
ODOT is hiring people without CDLs and
then helping them earn the accreditation.
However, a number of employees leave
ODOT after receiving their CDLs because
they are now able to land higher paying
jobs elsewhere.
“Having a CDL gives you more options,”
explained Ace Clark, manager of ODOT’s
District 13, which includes all or portions of
Union, Baker and Wallowa counties.
Freda Lois Waldron: 95, of Baker City,
died Nov. 8, 2022, at her residence. To
leave an online condolence for Freda’s
family, go to www.colestributecenter.
com.
Paul Herb: 76, of Halfway, died Nov.
10, 2022, at Saint Alphonsus Medical
Center in Boise. A family gathering
and celebration of Paul’s life will take
place at a later date, the time and place
to be announced. Arrangements are
under the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services.
Online condolences can be shared at
www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
Teresa Lorene (Randall) Watson:
72, formerly of Richland, died Nov. 10,
2022, at Mountain View Hospital in
Las Vegas, Nevada. A graveside service
and celebration of Teresa’s life will take
place later, the time and place to be
announced. Arrangements are under
the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services.
Online condolences can be shared at
www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
Doug Payton: 77, a lifetime resident
of Halfway, died Nov. 8, 2022, at his
home in his wife’s arms. A roping
and celebration of Doug’s life will
take place in the summer of 2023,
the time and place to be announced.
Arrangements are under the
direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral
Home & Cremation Services. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
FAILURE TO APPEAR (Roseburg
Municipal Court warrant): Jordan
Kent Sanko, 28, Baker City, 1:48 a.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13 in the 2400 block of Oak
Street; jailed.
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF INTOXICANTS: Gordon Leallen
Wicklander, 77, Sumpter, 7:26 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 11 at Washington Avenue
and Main Street; cited and released.
Baker County Sheriff’s Office
Arrests, citations
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
Justice Court warrant): Jeremy James
Broyles, 39, transient, 7:23 p.m. Sunday
at Auburn Avenue and Main Street;
cited and released.
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
Justice Court warrant): Robert Jarboe,
47, Huntington, 6:18 p.m. Sunday, Nov.
13 in Huntington; cited and released.
UNLAWFUL DELIVERY OF
METHAMPHETAMINE (Baker County
Circuit Court warrant): Joshua James
Smith, 40, Baker City, 4:14 p.m. Friday,
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