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News Archive
Photo by Cpl. Benjamin Crilly
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Ferree, a sniper in support of the 81mm Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, is greeted by a group of Afghan children at the edge of a wheat field in the village of Sareagar April 16. Mingling with local residents and developing rapport with them saves lives and enables them to have the confidence to stand up for themselves. Ferree is from Baker City, and the son of Vickie and Cal Foster of Baker City, and Rob Ferree of Washington. His grandparents are Bucky and Mary Lou Wirth of Medical Springs, Bob and Nancy Ferree and Wayne and Maxine Foster of Baker City. His wife, Ali, resides in California at Camp Pendleton. This is Ferree’s second deployment to Afghanistan.
Baker City Man Marine Sniper In Afghanistan
By Cpl. Benjamin Crilly
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — The Marines and sailors of the 81mm Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, conducted an atmospherics and security patrol, April 16.
The patrol route took the Marines, including Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Ferree of Baker City, down Route 611 and through the village of Sareagar, allowing interaction with local residents while maintaining a strong presence in the area.
Upon reaching an intersection known as the “bus stop,” the squad-sized element and its Afghan National Army counterparts conducted a vehicle checkpoint.
Council Receives Positive Report From Historical Baker City Inc.
By Joni Lea Linscott
Ann Mehaffy, Main Street Manager/Director, and Julie Zaccone, President of Historic Baker City, presented their Main Street Program Management Work Plan for 2011 to the Council on Tuesday night.
Included in their report were the areas of focus, organization, design, economic restructuring and promotion. Some of the objectives were to create a new website, which would link to social networking sites; assess downtown alleyway opportunities, assess business needs and opportunities via a business needs survey, and improve image of downtown as a vibrant downtown.
Mehaffy commented on the visit that HBC had in February from Oregon and National Main Street Program staff and consultants, which allowed them to assess opportunities and issues that affect our downtown. The team provided a public presentation and report to help HBC develop a 12 to 18 month implement strategy.
Lime Wind Requests Changes To Road, Commissioners Appoint Greenhorn City Council
By Debby Schoeningh
At the May 4 County Commission meeting Randy Joseph proposed changes to the road leading to Morgan Mountain to assist with construction of his three megawatt wind project at Lime.
Joseph said with no maintenance, the road has deteriorated significantly since he initially began plans for the Lime Wind Project. He said he met with Baker County Roadmaster Ken Helgerson to discuss changes/repairs to the road. Joseph proposed Lime Wind investing between $50,000 and $70,000 to bring the road up to standards that would allow equipment to be hauled to the wind site. He said his proposals would be beneficial to the project and would also provide a benefit to the community.
He said there are rock piles and rocks left over from past bulldozing activities that could be used as fill in the road to help provide a good base which would be less expensive than hauling in rock. Utilizing available fill would not require excavation or crushing. He also asked Commissioners to consider allowing the road to be moved slightly and taking out a couple of corners.
Saturday Trolley Service To Be Discontinued
Wednesday Community Connection of Baker County announced that as of June 1, 2011, the Saturday fixed route bus service, known as the Trolley service, will no longer be available.
This change has been proposed primarily due to lack of use of service. For the past two years, the Saturday service has not been utilized in comparison with the regular weekday service.
According to Mary Jo Carpenter, Manager, the ridership has been tracked over the nearly two years the service has been offered, but the Saturday service has not shown any significant growth; which may indicate that the need for the service.
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News Flash!
Missing Canadian Woman Found
The Baker City Police Department has been notified that RITA CHRETIEN was found alive May 6 in Elko County, Nev.
Preliminary information is that hunters found the vehicle belonging
to a missing Canadian couple Friday afternoon. The vehicle, a 2000
Chevrolet Astro van, was reportedly found on a logging road in a remote
area. With the vehicle was one of the missing owners, RITA CHRETIEN. Mrs. CHRETIEN was airlifted by helicopter to an
unknown medical facility and is listed as being in "fair" condition.
It is believed that ALBERT CHRETIEN left the vehicle on foot in March. He has not been located at this time.
Mr. and Mrs. CHRETIEN had last been seen at a Baker City area convenience store on March 19, 2011.
Family members have been notified.
Update On Resolution Setting Fees
By Joni Lea Linscott
City Council heard from City staff at the meeting on April 26, on a resolution for setting fees for city services, permits, of applications.
Airport Fees
The Council had no comments regarding changes to the airport fees.
Business Fees
Council members had no discussion on the business license within city limits, and liquor license review fee initial application only fees, as the amounts for these fees are yet to be determined.
The Council had quite a bit of discussion on the proposed Liquor License renewal fee, which would allow the City to charge businesses to apply to have their liquor licenses renewed. The city used to charge $10 for this, but it was taken away four years ago, because there was no real task assigned to the city to be paid for. Councilor Beverly Calder said to charge for renewals is strictly revenue generated.
‘Mad As Hell’ Doctors Visit Baker City
By Travis Short
On Wednesday, April 27, a panel of doctors, nurses, and concerned citizens, and a retired forestry professor from Oregon State University, spoke with the public about one of the hottest topics in current American politics: healthcare. The group is affiliated with a number of organizations, but two are Physicians for a National Healthcare Plan (PNHP), and Mad as Hell Doctors.
Much like our president, they believe our current healthcare system is dysfunctional. They disagree with Obama’s current plan though. These doctors believe that healthcare should not be a privatized industry, that is to say that they want to convert to a single payer system like Canada, Germany, Britain and the majority of other industrialized countries.
According to Dr. Mike Huntington, a radiation oncologist from Corvallis, 60 percent of the bankruptcies in America are related to high medical costs. That would be about one million a year. One of the main causes of big bills from doctors is patients not being able to afford primary care. Huntington said regular visits are so taxing on consumers wallets that “they won’t get the things they need to keep them well.”
This leads to a simple condition, such as high blood pressure, to go undetected until it culminates into a serious situation that requires emergency care, like a stroke. You don’t have to be an expert to know that a trip to an Emergency Room isn’t cheap.
Students Arrested For Drug Possession
One high school student and three elementary school students were arrested for possession of marijuana.
On April 19, three South Baker students ages 11, 12 and 13 were cited and released for unlawful possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school.
On April 26 Devon Baldwin, 18, was also cited and released for unlawful possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school.
Sgt. Kirk McCormick with the Baker City Police Department said the three elementary school students were arrested after the school contacted them. Baldwin was arrested after school resource officer, Shannon Regan, noticed he was under the influence.
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Council Reads Ordinance Establishing Variance Process For Regulations Of City Parks
By Joni Lea Linscott
Director of the Heritage Museum, Chris Cantrell, presented to the council their current summer-long exhibit. The exhibit is in honor of Wallace (Wally) Byam and his invention of the Airstream Travel Trailer. The exhibit is called “Carvanning and Collecting – Two Unique Tales of Charismatic Baker Natives.”
Cantrell explained to the Council that members of the Wally Byam Caravan Club have invited themselves to Baker City for the 4th of July Birthday celebration of Byam. They will be traveling here with their Airstream trailers, and due to the large group that is expected have requested to have a place to put their trailers on display. The museum has requested the use of Geiser Pollman Park, as it is close to the museum, to put 20 of the most vintage lightweight trailers on display. There are at the moment 60 to 70 registries, and the museum is expecting there to be between 100 and 200 caravans total.
After Cantrell's presentation, Council members decided to jump ahead to agenda item 9, which was the amendment of the Baker City Municipal code Chapter 95, which prohibits the use of motor vehicles and overnight use in the park.
City Manager Mike Kee wrote an ordinance to amend the current ordinance, which would give the opportunity for a variance to the current code, for special events such as the Wally Byam exhibit. The ordinance prepared by Kee gives the opportunity for a community group to set up a display in the park, such as the Airstream trailers, and actually camp in the park. There would be an application process, deposits, and fees before a group would be allowed to use the park for such purposes.
Teachers Disagree with Proposed School Calendar
By Eden Taylor
Over 20 teachers and school district employees attended the School Board work session on April 19 at the Baker 5J Office. The employees were there to voice their opinions on the proposed school calendar for the 2011-2012 school year.
Superintendent Walt Wegener explained to the two board members who were there (Lynne Burrows and Rusty Munn) that the administrative team had devised three calendars from which to choose or that the board may refuse all of them and choose another one.
The first calendar was one that meets the current contract requirements: for example 4 ½ school days a week. The second calendar assumes flexible Friday’s. That means Fridays would be available for optional use. The third calendar is similar to the second except that it differs by one school day and defines Fridays’ use. Wegener said they “worked really hard on getting to where we are.”
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First Powder Pal Graduates
By Travis Short
On Monday the first graduate of Powder River Correctional Facility’s (PRCF) “Powder Pals Program” was released to his new home with an employee of New Directions, an agency that provides counseling for inmates. Cooper, a yellow Labrador retriever who had a sordid past (he has an unexplained metal plate in his right rear leg) and anxiety issues has been receiving obedience training from four inmates selected to take part in the project. Without the opportunity given him, this energetic dog would likely have faced euthanasia.
The inmates chosen are responsible for the project’s dogs 24 hours a day, according to Ron Miles of PRCF, and the lead staff member overseeing the program. The men have also been receiving help and advice from a number of civilian volunteers including Karen Haines, Mitch Bulthuis, Karen Skeen, Sheila Holman, Susan Glass, Marion Price, and Dick Haines. Heading the training is Jeanette Stewart of Richland.
Stewart is currently working on a bachelor’s degree in animal behavior, and has a dog training and behavioral counseling business called “Practical Dog Solutions.” The program espouses positive reinforcement, and places an emphasis on not teaching through force or aggression. The driving idea behind her (and consequently, the inmates’) training style is that a dog responds well to, and remembers, a reward for positive actions.
BPA Outlines Proposed Rate Increase For Region’s Electric Utilities
By Angela Perez
Also explains need to balance energy, economic and environmental laws and goals
In a region that has “few economic advantages,” low cost, renewable hydroelectric power is a blessing to the Pacific Northwest, according to BPA chief administrator Steve Wright. Wright was speaking to 70 attendees at a recent Town Hall meeting held in last week at OTEC’s Baker City headquarters. BPA, the federal marketing agency that sells OTEC most of its electricity, visited OTEC to discuss a proposed rate hike this October that could be as much as 15% for the region’s electric utilities, including OTEC. That cost increase could translate into as much as a 7.5% increase for OTEC members on their monthly bill.
Wright outlined the many factors that have led to the proposed rate hike. Those factors include issues involving salmon protection as well as need to renovate dams and other power-generating facilities. Also, BPA has experienced decreased revenues due to both the national economic recession and decreased snowpack, which has led to lower-than-average flows in the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Missing Canadian Couple Last Seen In
Baker City
The Penticton Royal Canadian Mounted Police are continuing their investigation into the disappearance of a Penticton couple after their family reported them missing March 31. Law enforcement agencies in the western United States and Baker County are assisting RCMP with the release of their information to area media and providing any needed help to locate the couple.
RCMP investigators obtained store security video footage from Baker City confirming Albert Chretien, 59, and his wife, Rita Chretien, 56, made a gas purchase Saturday, March 19, at Jackson's Food Mart. Investigators also confirmed that Albert and Rita Chretien crossed into Washington via Oroville on March 19 at approximately 7:05 a.m. They stopped in Baker City where the gas purchase was made at 2:45 p.m. while they were on a business trip enroute to Las Vegas, Nev. The couple did not arrive at their destination.
"To date, the couple’s banking activities and cell phone usage have been nil. The Penticton RCMP is liaising with several U.S. police agencies in order to forward the information state side in attempts to locate the couple," said RCMP Corporal Dan Moskaluk.
The couple's children grew concerned after the pair did not return from their trip to Las Vegas as planned. The couple was scheduled to return last week between Monday and Wednesday. Family members are very concerned and note that their parents failing to show for the planned attendance at a trade show and convention is out of the ordinary. They said the couple are local business owner-operators which has had a direct effect and concern to many others including the small staff they employ.
Albert and Rita Chretien were traveling in their two-tone tan 2000 Chevy Astro van displaying British Columbia license plates 212-CAV.
The RCMP and U.S. State and county agencies are now concentrating their investigative efforts in the Baker City and Oregon State area, the last known whereabouts of the Canadian couple.
The missing couple is described as:
Albert Chretien, 59
• Caucasian male, 5'6", 175 lbs, with blue eyes and brown hair bald on top
• Black baseball cap with bold white lettering logo "RITAL" and smaller orange lettering "Enterprises Ltd"
• Khaki button up dress shirt
• Black jeans and black shoes
Rita Chretien, 56
• Caucasian female, 5'3", 135 lbs, blue eyes and wears glasses, shoulder length brown hair worn in pony tail
• Brown jacket with light colored collar
• White blouse/shirt
• Beige mesh purse
• Dark leather lace up shoes
• Last seen wearing sunglasses
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