Local
A2
Saturday, November 19, 2022
TURNING BACK THE PAGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
November 19, 1972
IONE — After four years under Huntington’s rule, Class A
8-man football will have a new king. An Ione coup banished
the Eastern Oregon power 28-22 here in Saturday’s semifi -
nal match.
The victory elevated the Cardinals to next week’s champi-
onship game against Alsea.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 19, 1997
The Baker City Council is interested in applying for a
federal grant that pays 75 percent of the cost to hire new
police offi cers.
But councilors want to know how much the city would
have to spend over the next several years to bolster its
police force.
The council discussed the Cops Universal program, and
several other police department issues, at a work session
Tuesday evening before the council’s regular meeting.
Under the program, the federal government pays 75
percent of the cost of new offi cers and the city 25 percent.
But the grant lasts for just three years. After that, the city
pays the entire cost.
Councilors asked Police Chief Jim Tomlinson to compile
a chart showing the city’s cost for hiring one, two or more
offi cers.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 19, 2012
SCAPPOOSE — Traveling to Scappoose to face the No.
1-ranked Indians with home fi eld advantage and in inclem-
ent weather (rain), it certainly wasn’t ideal conditions for the
ninth-ranked Baker Bulldogs (9-1) football team to pull off
an upset.
But that’s exactly what the Bulldogs did as they played
exceptional defense in a 22-0 victory over Scappoose in the
Class 4A quarterfi nals Saturday at Scappoose High School.
The three-time Greater Oregon League champion Bull-
dogs, led by 11-year head coach Dave Johnson, advanced
to the 4A semifi nals and will meet the Cascade Cougars
(10-1) Nov. 24 at 5:30 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium. The winner
of that game will play in the Dec. 1 championship game
against the winner of the other semifi nal (North Bend vs.
Ontario).
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
November 20, 2021
The shifting of the seasons has been marked by chilly
mornings, falling leaves and frost-covered lawns, and now
another sign of the holidays is in place.
Baker City’s community Christmas tree was felled on
Friday morning, Nov. 19, and trucked to its traditional spot
in the Court Street Park, in the historic downtown district
between Main and Resort streets.
Chuck Carey performed his usual role with a chain saw to
bring down the estimated 45-foot-tall spruce that grew on
Jeremiah Allies’ property at Third and Campbell streets.
Crews from Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative were on
hand, and Superior Towing, Eastern Oregon Rental, and the
city’s police and public works department helped with the
operation. The tree was loaded onto a truck for its short trip
downtown in less than an hour.
Allies, who donated the tree, said he hopes everyone
enjoys its presence downtown during the holiday season.
“The reason I’m getting rid of this is it’s too close to the
house and the roots are most likely going to start growing
into the basement,” Allies said.
The tree will be adorned as usual with lights, which will
be illuminated on Saturday evening, Dec. 4, following the
Chamber of Commerce’s “Miracle on Main Street” Christ-
mas parade. The parade starts at 5 p.m.
OREGON LOTTERY
MEGABUCKS, NOV. 16
WIN FOR LIFE, NOV. 16
3 — 7 — 13 — 17 — 41 — 45
Next jackpot: $1.8 million
38 — 46 — 56 — 76
POWERBALL, NOV. 16
• 1 p.m.: 6 — 4 — 2 — 3
• 4 p.m.: 1 — 3 — 8 — 7
• 7 p.m.: 5 — 6 — 3 — 3
• 10 p.m.: 5 — 6 — 4 — 0
28 — 34 — 51 — 53 — 56 PB 11
Next jackpot: $93 million
MEGA MILLIONS, NOV. 18
6 — 19 — 28 — 46 — 61
Mega 23
Next jackpot: $238 million
PICK 4, NOV. 17
LUCKY LINES, NOV. 17
3-6-10-13-17-21-28-29
Next jackpot: $34,000
SENIOR MENUS
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
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 23): Chili cheese dogs, potato wedges,
mixed vegetables, cottage cheese with fruit, pudding
THURSDAY (Nov. 24): CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING
FRIDAY (Nov. 25): CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING
MONDAY (Nov. 28): Hot beef sandwiches, mashed potatoes
with gravy, mixed vegetables, carrot-raisin salad, 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
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Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays except Christmas Day by the
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(P.O. Box 807), Baker City, OR 97814.
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Copyright © 2022
Baker City Herald • bakercityherald.com
GRANT COUNTY
Sheriff threatened with arrest while
arresting Forest Service burn boss
BY TONY CHIOTTI
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — New details
in the arrest of a Forest Service
burn boss in October during
a prescribed burn in Grant
County are raising the possibil-
ity the sheriff who arrested him
could in turn be subject to pros-
ecution.
On Oct. 19 a prescribed burn
the U.S. Forest Service was con-
ducting, with help from Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
and contract crews, escaped
the burn area, scorching ap-
proximately 18 acres of adja-
cent private land in Bear Valley,
about 7 miles north of Seneca.
While that “slopover” fire was
actively being brought under
control, Grant County Sheriff
Todd McKinley, responding to
a 911 call from the landowners,
arrived and arrested Rick Sno-
dgrass, the federal employee in
charge of the operation, on a
misdemeanor charge of reckless
burning.
But a document the Blue
Mountain Eagle obtained shows
that, in the course of arresting
Snodgrass, McKinley was him-
self threatened with arrest for
governmental obstruction, a
potential felony charge under
federal law.
In a sworn probable cause
affidavit filed in court, McKin-
ley gives a detailed account of
events surrounding Snodgrass’
arrest for reckless burning. The
sheriff describes a “tenuous and
awkward situation” where the
“conversation started going bad”
once McKinley confronted Sno-
dgrass.
“Fire Personnel were trying
to tell me I was going to be ar-
rested for Governmental Ob-
struction,” McKinley states in
the affidavit.
The affidavit concludes with
McKinley’s assessment that, as
he drove off with Snodgrass in
custody, “the fire was still not
contained.”
According to the affidavit,
Tony Chiotti/Blue Mountain Eagle
Chad Holliday of Windy Point Ranch speaks with a Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations officer
Oct. 20, 2022, on County Road 62, between private and public land, the day after Grant County Sheriff Todd
McKinley arrested a federal burn boss.
while McKinley was on the
scene “landowners were re-
questing air support.” While air
support had been authorized
and planned for, the fire crews
never called for it. The fire was
ultimately brought under con-
trol using hand crews and a
bulldozer within one hour of it
being reported.
Arrest criticized
The incident attracted na-
tional attention, sparking dis-
cussions around prescription
burning in general and bring-
ing heavy criticism of the Grant
County sheriff’s unprecedented
action. Prior to these events,
a federal firefighter had never
been arrested in the course of
performing their duties.
In the days following the
incident, U.S. Forest Service
Chief Randy Moore issued a
statement defending Snodgrass
and calling the arrest “highly
inappropriate under these cir-
cumstances.” He went on to say
he will “not stand idly by” and
will defend all Forest Service
employees carrying out their
duties.
The National Federation of
Federal Employees, a union
representing 110,000 federal
workers, including Forest Ser-
vice personnel, went further in a
statement on Nov. 2.
“It is not normal for a local
sheriff to arrest a working fire
commander during an inci-
dent,” wrote NFFE President
Randy Erwin. “In doing so, the
sheriff may have violated federal
law that makes it a felony to in-
terfere with a federal employee
during their official duties, and
the sheriff may have opened the
county to massive liability for a
civil rights violation for unlaw-
fully detaining and removing
(Snodgrass).”
McKinley confirmed that
Snodgrass was one of the “fire-
fighting personnel” he de-
scribed as threatening him with
arrest on the scene.
Whose authority?
Firefighters do not have
the authority to make arrests,
according to Lisa Ludwig, a
criminal defense attorney who
handles state and federal cases.
Ludwig said threatening arrest
without having that authority
may be “talking out your ear” in
the moment, but she went on to
explain how it could still lead to
federal charges down the line.
“A firefighter could act as an
investigator or an agent of the
government to write up a report
and recommend a prosecution
to a U.S. attorney,” who could
choose to later pursue charges
based on that investigation,
Ludwig said.
She pointed out that some
federal employees, such as park
rangers, are given “quasi-law en-
forcement” authority and can is-
sue citations. But she also said it
was more likely “they were giv-
ing their opinion that the sheriff
could be arrested for what he
was doing, not that they were
claiming to have the power to
arrest him.”
One Forest Service official
said he understands it was less a
threat of arrest and more a mat-
ter of firefighters “informing the
sheriff of the consequences of
his actions.”
McKinley said to his knowl-
edge the matter “is not being
pursued, though I’m not going
to say it didn’t happen,” refer-
ring to the threat of arrest.
A Forest Service Law En-
forcement and Investigations
officer had been requested for
the Oct. 19 burn. This was not a
standard arrangement, accord-
ing to current and retired Forest
Service officials. The request
was made directly in response
to verbal harassment and per-
ceived threats the crews had
reported on the previous day
of burn operations on Oct. 13.
That law enforcement officer
was not able to be on the scene
due to an injury, but the burn
went ahead.
Tree
Baker City’s
community
Christmas
tree is loaded
and ready
for transport
downtown on
Friday morn-
ing, Nov. 18,
2022.
Continued from A1
This year’s Christmas display will be a lit-
tle different from previous years due to a
planned redesign of the Court Plaza.
Michelle Owen, the city’s public works di-
rector, said this year will be a bit of an exper-
iment.
The Baker City Downtown group has a
subcommittee working with the city on an
updated design for the plaza.
Owen said the Oregon Department of
Transportation has agreed to build a north-
south sidewalk across Court Avenue when a
contractor returns next spring to finish the
ADA-compliance project that took started
this spring and included dozens of curb cuts
and ramps on sections of Broadway, Main,
Elm and other streets.
“Then we’ll just have a nice pedestrian
walkway,” Owen said.
However, the hole where the Christmas
tree is placed is close enough to where the
sidewalk will be built next year that the taller,
wider trees the city has placed in the plaza in
previous years would interfere with pedestri-
Ian Crawford/Baker
City Herald
ans, she said.
One option is to move the tree hole east,
but Owen said the Baker City Downtown
committee wants to try smaller trees that will
be in the same spot.
The tree Rayl donated is between 20 and
25 feet tall. Last year’s Christmas tree was
about 45 feet tall.
“So, this year we have a little bit smaller
tree and this will be a good test of will a
smaller tree work for the community? Will
it work for Court Plaza?” Owen said. “It’s ev-
erybody’s tree, it’s everybody’s plaza. So, let’s
give it a try and see what it’s like.”
The proposed design for the plaza includes
a section with pavers rather than asphalt.
Owen said this year’s tree, in addition to
taking up less space in the plaza, was also eas-
ier to transport.
“It’s a beautiful tree,” she said.
Robbery, kidnapping suspect remains in jail
A Baker City woman who
was arrested Nov. 2 on multi-
ple felony charges, including
robbery and kidnapping, re-
mains in the Baker County Jail
and is scheduled to enter a plea
on Dec. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in Baker
County Circuit Court.
Heather Aimy-Mae Winston,
30, has been indicted by the Baker
County Grand Jury on six counts:
• Two counts of first-degree
kidnapping, a Class A felony.
• Coercion, a Class C felony.
• Third-degree robbery, a
Class C felony.
• Fourth-degree assault, a
Class A misdemeanor.
• Menacing, a Class A misde-
meanor.
Judge Matt Shirtcliff set Win-
ston’s bail at $350,000. She could
be released by posting 10% of
that amount.
Winston was convicted of
second-degree robbery in Baker
City in 2019 and sentenced to
36 months in prison. She was
released from Coffee Creek
Correctional Facility, Oregon’s
women’s prison, on Oct. 29,
2021, and had been living at
News of Record
bakercityherald.com
Heather Aimy-Mae
Winston scheduled to
enter plea Dec. 1
Baker City Herald
1690 Indiana Ave., according to
a press release from Ty Duby,
Baker City Police chief, after
Winston was arrested.
She is accused of assaulting
and threatening a Baker City
man and his girlfriend, confin-
ing the woman to a home and
taking money from her in late
October.
The incident happened after
Winston and three other peo-
ple, including the victims of the
alleged assault, drove to Pend-
leton to buy fentanyl. Police
seized the fentanyl pills after the
group was stopped by police in
La Grande.
November 26th & 27th
$7.00
2600 East St., Baker City
Reservations: Ray (541.519.7482) or email: traderrays00@gmail.com
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
CONTEMPT OF COURT (Baker County
Justice Court warrant): Nathaniel
L. Brown, 40, Baker City, 3:37 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 17 in the 2900 block of
Elm Street; cited and released.
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
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