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News Archive
Parker Brothers Go Out On A Limb
By Debby Schoeningh
Jesse Parker and his sons of Parkers Tree Service in La Grande were in Baker City Monday to trim a cottonwood tree at Deb Romney’s 2nd Street residence.
James, 16; Grant, 18; and Rory, 20, climbed to the top of the 100-foot tall tree using climbing cleats and ropes tied to branches with “monkey knots,” sliding up and down the ropes much like rock climbers.
They are the third generation of Parkers in the tree service business. Jesse’s dad, Brownie Parker, started the family business in 1937 in southern California and operated it for 58 years before buying a ranch and retiring in Oxbow. Brownie was also given the title of world champion tree climber in 1944.
City Council Considers 16 Top Priorities
By Brian Addison
Baker City Council held a Work Session Tuesday in order to discuss a list of 16 current and future city business topics. Council clearly defined the top two priorities as System Development Charges and addressing Waster Water rates.
System Development Charges Consultant Selection
Baker City has been reviewing proposals from consulting firms for advice on System Development Charges. System Development Charges (SDCs) are established through Oregon Revised Statute as a means of funding a portion of a city’s infrastructure expansion costs as needed for new residential and commercial development. A municipality may apply SDCs to help fund five categories of infrastructure expansion: Transportation, Parks, Water, Waster Water, and Storm Water.
During the Oct. 19 meeting, City Manager Steve Brocato said that at that time, the city was considering proposals from five consulting firms. Brocato said the bid proposals ranged from $35,000 to $153,000 explaining that the difference in cost was related to experience, with the most experienced firm being the most costly and the least experienced being the least costly.
Councilor Raises Questions About Wheatland Insurance Contract
By Brian Addison
Baker City Councilor Beverly Calder questioned City Manager Steve Brocato about details within the city’s insurance contract for general/liability insurance with newly contracted provider Wheatland Insurance at Tuesdays City Council meeting.
Calder began by saying that the original Request for Proposal sent out by the city in search of a new general/liability insurance provider stated that the city was searching for proposals from an “Agent.” Calder contends that when the city issued the contract to Wheatland Insurance, the city did not get an “Agent,” but rather contracted for insurance services from a “risk management consultant.” By contracting for services from a risk management consultant rather than an agent, Calder contends that city staff must assume new work duties that were carried out as part of the contract with the city’s previous long-time insurance agent Clarke & Clarke Insurance of Baker City.
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Fire Destroys Carter Street Home
by Brian Addison
The call came into emergency services dispatch at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, for a house fire at 2215 Carter St., on the corner of Carter St. and 3rd several blocks north of South Baker Elementary School. Residents were able to get out safely, but the two-story, two family residence was a total loss.
During the initial stages of the fire, flames were visible through the broken-out second floor windows on the north side of the house. Firefighters pushed these flames back by aiming large amounts of water through the windows. For about a half an hour firefighters continued to fight the fire with several fire-hoses aimed through the first and second floors of the burning structure. As firefighters pumped water into the structure, smoke continued to build and pour out from just under the roofline.
Over 6,000 Eastern Oregon Residents Sign Petition Opposing Proposed Road Closures
By Brian Addison
When Tork Ballard attends Public Meetings on the national Travel Management Plan (TMP) he usually represents at least 1,000 Baker County residents. Baker County resident Tork Ballard handed Baker County Commission Chairman Fred Warner, a petition containing another 1,000 signatures. Over the last two TMP public meetings, Ballard has submitted over 6,000 signatures from local residents opposing the vast, blanket closure of roads in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest as proposed by the United States Forest Service (USFS) through the national Travel Management Rule.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has recently gone on record in support of the Travel Management Rule in the Wallowa-Whitman. Copies of a letter from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Northeast Regional Supervisor Craig Ely addressed to USFS Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Supervisor Steve Ellis were distributed during the TMP public meeting Monday evening. Ely states, “The department (ODFW) believes the Travel Management Rule provides a good foundation for effective travel management on federal forest and rangelands. Implementation of the proposed Wallowa-Whitman National Forest travel plan should result in repair of existing resource damage, prevention of new damage, reduced harassment to wildlife, and improvement to fish and wildlife habitat.”
LAMP/Central Park Committee Delays Final Decisions on Parkway Alignment
By Brian Addison
The Leo Adler Memorial Parkway/ Central Park Advisory Committee is having difficulty moving forward with final discussion on the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway/Central Park expansion project. The committee has been unable to make final decisions on pathway alignment between Broadway St. and Madison St., because the number of committee members attending meetings has fallen short of forming a quorum. The committee is comprised of adults and high school students and the committee meeting schedule has conflicted with work and sports schedules of both adult and high school committee members.
Without a quorum, the committee was unable to proceed with the agenda at the Oct. 15 meeting. The agenda listed a review of the Draft Parking Statement and deliberation on preferred pathway route. Because of project schedule timelines, the committee has scheduled another meeting this week for Wednesday, Oct. 17, with a later start time to accommodate the varying work and sports schedules of committee members.
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City Manager Alleges Impropriety Of Funds In The Building Department
By Brian Addison
City of Baker City Manager Steve Brocato and Finance Director Jeanne Dexter have brought allegations of impropriety involving Baker City Building Department funds from November of 1998 to 2003. Manager Brocato has placed one employee, a Building Permit Technician, on paid administrative leave as the city continues to investigate the matter.
In March of 2007, Brocato visited the District Attorney to request an investigation into the alleged impropriety of city Building Department personnel. Brocato had received an internal report from Dexter identifying the alleged impropriety. The internal memo from Dexter gives a detailed background into the case and Brocato also provided the detailed background during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. ...Read More
Terminated City Attorney Serves City With Tort Claim
By Brian Addison
Recently terminated Baker City Attorney David Fine served the city with a Tort Claim at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting. Mayor Jeff Petry declined opening the envelope containing the tort claim saying that he would open it later in the evening and provide information to the public the next morning.
As Fine submitted his tort claim against the municipality, he said, “I’m sure if you had a City Attorney, he would explain it to you.”
As Fine left the city council meeting chambers, he paused outside and spoke briefly about his recent termination as City Attorney. Fine voiced disappointment and surprise by the termination. He said the City Attorney position has been a part of Baker City staffing for 40 years and that he didn’t understand why it has been decided now that the city can no longer fund the position.
As Fine departed he said, “When I came here, I didn’t think Baker City was the kind of place where this would happen.” ...Read More
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Former Employees Charged With Embezzling Money From Baker Clinic
By Debby Schoeningh
Two women have been arrested for allegedly embezzling nearly $14,000, from the Baker Clinic while employed at the business.
Deborah Lynn Soliz, 36, of Redmond, Ore., was arrested Sept. 29 in Redmond and charged with five counts of theft in the first degree and five counts of computer crimes. She was employed at the Baker Clinic as a bookkeeper for approximately 3-1/2 years and left January of 2006. Soliz is being transported to Baker City this week for arraignment.
Nancy Lynn Giddings, 48, of Baker City was arrested Sept. 28 in Baker City and has been charged with two counts of theft in the first degree and two counts of computer crimes. Giddings was also employed at the Clinic as a bookkeeper after Soliz until November of 2006. She was arraigned in Baker Circuit Court earlier this week. ...Read More
Carl Kostol’s Experiences As A B-25 Bomber Pilot With The Flying Tigers In S. W. China During World War II
By Gary Dielman
Lt. Carl Kostol’s parachute jump from his fatally crippled B-25 bomber was short. He had purposely delayed opening his chute until the last moment, so that he would not be a target any longer than necessary for Japanese soldiers on the ground. The ploy worked but separated him from his crew, who had bailed out ahead of him. On August 17, 1944, their plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire while bombing a railroad yard on the Yangtze River in central China. It would be a month before pilot Kostol was united with his crew, after they had made their separate ways, guided by Chinese guerillas, back to their base 500 miles away in southwestern China.
The pilot I’m writing about is lifetime Baker City resident and retired physician Dr. Carl Kostol. I first met Kostol in 1954, when Kostol, wife Virginia, and infant son Shot moved next door to my parents in the Grandview section of Baker City. As a teenager, I saw the Kostol family grow every couple of years to include Teresa, Chris, and, by 1961, Casey. As an adult with my own family, Kostol was our family physician. I got to know him socially in the 1970’s playing recreational YMCA basketball. Even at age 50, he had the smoothest and deceptively-fastest moves of anyone I’ve ever played And today, at age 85, Kostol is perhaps the youngest-looking and acting octogenarian you’ll ever meet. ...Read More
Forest Service Claims Authority Over RS2477 Roads In Wallowa-Whitman Forest
By Brian Addison
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Supervisor Steve Ellis directed his staff to contact The Record-Courier in order to correct what United States Forest Service spokesperson Katy Countryman called “confusion from letters in the paper,” regarding the national Travel Management Plan.
Some members of the community with an interest in keeping an RS2477 road open in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest have sent or are preparing to send petition letters to the Baker County Commissioners requesting protection from federal road closures through the county. Countryman indicated that county commissioners had not yet brought any petition letters of this type before the Forest Service. ...Read More
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