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News Archive
How Many People Does It Take To Build A Barn?
Photo and story information by Tammy Bloom
Family, friends and the community gathered together to finish building a barn on Floyd Morgan’s ranch this past weekend. The project started July 11.
Morgan’s barn burned to the ground last fall only weeks after he lost his wife to cancer, and had no insurance to cover the structure’s loss. Don Glerup spearheaded the project, rounding up the crew and help of Gyllenberg Construction. Several benefits were held to help raise money for the supplies. Triple C Redi-Mix gave a discount on the cement, and Millers Lumber provided the lumber package. A BBQ was also donated to feed the crew.
Around 25 people from all corners of Baker County worked on the barn.
County Commission: Ash Grove Situation Needs Public Comments
By Eden Taylor
The Baker County Commissioner’s met in regular session on July 15. Several topics were discussed. The County Health Department and the Museum Commission reports are found in other articles in this edition.
Of great importance is the necessity of the public to comment to the EPA about the Ash Grove Cement Plant. The Commissioners had met individually and in a citizen advisory committee earlier in the month. “There is a need for local people to comment,” Commission Chair Fred Warner Jr., said. He intends to submit a letter to the editor to encourage public participation.
Travel Management Plan
Baker County has joined with Union and Wallowa Counties to choose Alternative #3 in the USFS Travel Management Plan as the desired Alternative. The counties hope to show Forest Superintendent Steve Ellis what their concerns are and insure they are going to be able to coordinate with the USFS between the final alternative selection and the final plan.
Baker County Health Department Plays Vital Role
By Eden Taylor
Debbie Hoopes, Health Administrator, and Becky Sanders, Nursing Supervisor, gave an update on the Baker County Health Department to the Baker County Board of Commissioners in their regular session on July 15. The presentation was put together by summer interns, Jill Richards and Amanda Woods, who also attended the session.
The Health Department’s presentation focused on the great things that have been accomplished this year. Starting with the Cacoon/Welcome Baby program, Becky touted 392 visits in the 2009 fiscal year as compared to an average of 60 visits per year in the past. Marianne Stone administers this program which assists high risk families and helps to prevent developmental delays through nursing intervention. It also links families with services in the community for their specific needs.
Property Maintenance Code Up For Adoption
By Candie Campbell
On July 14 the City Council had a draft of the Property Maintenance Code that had been discussed during at least two City Council work sessions, parts of it rewritten and included public input from prior sessions. The council posted all the information on July 2 regarding this meeting for the purpose of inviting public opinion on the matter to the City’s web site www.bakercity.com.
The goal of this ordinance is to improve livability in Baker City and enhance code enforcement according to the Ordinance 3292, which encompasses issues like, “It is in the public interest to encourage an attractive and safe physical environment for the benefit of all citizens of Baker City,” and includes topics regarding “unsafe, unsanitary, and otherwise improperly maintained premises and structures within the city of Baker City, which adversely affect the value, utility, and habitability of the property within the city as a whole.”
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Principals Selected For 5J Schools
By Eden Taylor
Since the summer began, two Principals of Baker Elementary Schools and one educator have accepted positions elsewhere, causing a juggling of administrators for Baker 5J School District.
Benn Carr, who served as the Principal at North Baker last school year and was slated to be a BHS assistant principal and kindergarten principal, accepted a job in Wyoming. His resignation became effective July 1.
Craig Harlow, Principal at South Baker, turned in his resignation on July 6, effective June 30. He accepted a position in Hillsboro and the family has moved.
Bryce Eardley, who taught history at BMS last year and was to take over the Reading program at BMS this year, accepted an administrative position in Tooele, Utah.
Co-Sleeping With Infant Can Cause Death
By Eden Taylor
A mother’s worst nightmare would have to be finding her child dead. But when that child is an infant sleeping with the mother, and the tragedy could have been prevented, the parents are totally devastated. Unfortunately, this happens. When an infant less than one year old dies as a result of sleeping with an adult, it is called a “co-sleeping death.” Two such deaths happened in Baker City less than two weeks apart this spring. In fact in the past 5 years there have been 6 co-sleeping deaths in Baker County. With about 100 births in Baker County per year, that means that in the last 5 years over 1% of the babies born in Baker County are dying of co-sleeping.
District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff and County Medical Examiner Jim Davis want the public informed about this type of preventable infant death. Dr. Davis explains how this death occurs. The infant has limited ability to move around. The bed sags because of the weight of the parent. Gravity moves the child closer and the infant is wedged between the parent and the sloping bed. Because the infant can’t raise its head to breath, it is stuck in a position where it can’t get air and suffocates.
Correction—Clarification
In last week’s article “Commission Hears Vital County Issues concerning the Auburn Gulch Road,” Herman Pitcher’s last name was misspelled as Pilcher. Bob Sproed was also a misspelling and should be Bob Spreeuw. We apologize for the mistakes.
To further clarify the content of the story, it was Herman Pitcher’s lock that was cut on his gate and the excavator moved across Pitcher’s property. When the final copy of the motion was typed, #2 of the evidences listed read, “2. Auburn Gulch Road serves as access to no public or private property with the exception of one (1) private claim based on the road condition today.
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Baker City Gets A Trolley
By Eden Taylor
A new trolley will be driving around Baker City beginning Monday, July 13. Community Connection has purchased the trolley bus, which will take a scheduled, fixed route in Baker City providing public transportation. A free introductory period will begin on July 13.
Mary Jo Carpenter, Baker County Manager for Community Connections, says the focus of the trolley is to provide good public transit for the community and to enhance the historical theme of Baker City. The trolley will be operating during Miners’ Jubilee.
Local Man Arrested In Horse Abandonment Case
James Charles Harmon, 30, of Baker City, has been arrested in connection with the abandonment of five Appaloosa foals on Highway 7. The horses were young enough that they were not weaned and were unable to survive on their own.
Harmon has been charged with five counts of animal abandonment, four counts of second degree animal neglect and one count of first degree animal neglect.
Baker County Sheriff Mitch Southwick said Wednesday morning that another arrest is pending.
Civil Rights Activist And Former BHS Graduate Honored
Rev. Bruce Klunder, Civil Rights activist who was killed in 1964 during a Cleveland Ohio protest, was honored at the Baker County Courthouse last week. A bulldozer backed over him during the protest, which was being held at a construction site for a segregated school for black children. Klunder and four others slipped through barriers and threw themselves down in front of and behind a bulldozer, shouting to the operator. The operator did not hear them and Bruce was killed when it backed over him. He was 26.
Klunder graduated from Baker High School as an honor student at the age of 16. He was the center on his high school league-champion and state quarter final football team, played trumpet in the school band, and was active in several high school clubs and organizations. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1958 and from Yale Divinity School in 1961.
Commission Hears Vital County Issues
By Eden Taylor
In their regular session on July 1, the Baker County Commissioners heard reports on vital issues and made an important decision on the Auburn Gulch Road.
In an addition to the agenda, Ken Helgerson appeared before the commission to ask for a decision on Auburn Gulch Road as to whether or not it would be designated an RS2477 Road. In light of a controversy which began June 30 and was still ongoing as the commissioners met, the decision needed to be immediate. The controversy included Herman Pilcher, whose lock was cut on his gate, and an excavator, possibly stolen, that had been brought across Pilcher’s property to a mine on USFS land. A couple of officers from the Sheriff’s Office were at the scene.
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Council To Transcribe Recording Of June 9 Meeting
By Debby Schoeningh
At Councilor Clair Button’s request Council approved at their June 23 meeting to have a full transcript made of the recording of the June 9 regular council meeting where City Manager Steve Brocato was fired. Button volunteered to pay for the cost because he wants to “ensure all citizens feel they have a complete and accurate record of what was said and what happened.”
Councilor Milo Pope said the minutes should be put into transcript form by
someone who is certified to do so. Council decided to have the City bear the
cost of transcribing.
Baker County Man Convicted Of Rape
On June 29, 2009 Charles Matthew Ferguson, 29, was sentenced in Baker County Circuit Court on the charge of Rape in the First Degree to 100 months with the Oregon Department of Corrections to be followed by 140
months of post prison supervision. The sentencing followed the conclusion of a three-day jury trial last week in Circuit Court. Judge Gregory Baxter presided over the trial and the sentencing.
Ferguson was convicted of Robbery in the First Degree and Burglary in the Second Degree in Washington County in 2004. The Baker County jury did not receive evidence of these prior convictions, as Ferguson did not testify at trial. The Court also sentenced Ferguson to 30 months with the Oregon Department of Corrections on the Sex Abuse Second degree count. This sentence will run con- current to the 100 months for the Rape First Degree count. District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff recommended the Court run the counts consecutive based on evidence of the Defendant’s “willingness to commit separate offenses.”
Hummer Hangs Nest Out With The Wash
A hummingbird built its nest between two wooden clothespins on a clothesline under the roofed patio at Annie Wong’s of Baker City. Annie was treated to a close-up view of the baby hummers when they hatched into the world. The mother hummingbird flits around Annie’s backyard searching for food to feed her off-spring. Hummingbirds feed primarily on the nectar of flowers and supplement their diet with small insects. They typically feed five to eight times an hour.
Adult hummingbirds found in this area weigh about 3 grams. A humming- bird’s weight will almost double this amount as they put on fat in getting ready for migration. They are about 3 1/2 inches from the tip of their beaks to the tip of their tails.
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