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News Archive
Local Ranchers Beef Up School Lunch
By Debby Schoeningh
When 7- year-old Lexie Harrell of Baker City brought home her school's lunch
menu, her dad Bob Harrell Jr., had one question, “Where’s the beef?”
“I looked at the menu for the whole month and there was very little beef on
it,” said Bob who is a Baker County cattle rancher. He called Jean Dean,
Baker School District 5J food service director, and arranged for the Harrell
Hereford and Mackenzie Ranches to provide 35 tri-tip roasts, about 150
pounds of beef, for lunch at Brooklyn Elementary last Friday.
The day of the lunch, March 20, was also National Ag Day. With the help of
the Baker County Cattlewomen’s Association, Bob said they decided to turn
the beef lunch into an educational opportunity as well.
Rep. Bentz Holds Town Hall Meeting In Baker
By Suzan Ellis Jones
Approximately 40 people attended the two-hour Saturday morning Town Hall
meeting with Representative Cliff Bentz. Bentz lives in Ontario and was
first appointed to fill out the term of Tom Butler, who resigned before the
end of his term. Bentz was then elected in the last election to represent
District 60, which includes Baker County.
Rep. Bentz opened the meeting with a run-down of the committees on which he
is serving: Vice Chair of the Revenue and Sustainability and Economic
Development Committee, member on the Transportation and Environment and
Water Committee.
Cliff quickly ran through a slide show on the budget situation the
legislature is facing. He said the numbers actually change daily. The
committee meets daily to update on just how much money the state does not
have, as this figure keeps changing.
Baker County Commissioners Review HB 3453 To Protect Surface Rights On Split Estates
By Suzan Ellis Jones
Baker County Commissioners met last Wednesday in a regular session to take
care of several housekeeping items.
Before getting into the agenda items, in the Citizen’s Participation, Suzan
Ellis Jones passed out HB 3453 to the commissioners and gave them a brief
presentation on why this bill was needed. Tim Kerns stated that it never
made sense to him that these split estates, the mineral owner did not pay
taxes, yet they could come in and tear up the surface in which the surface
owner pays taxes on.
Commissioner Dr. Carl Stiff said, “The State needs to pass something like
this measure otherwise he could see a range war happening.” Commission Chair
Fred Warner Jr. said he thought the 30 days notice to the surface owner was
fair. The county commissioners agreed to support the house bill and Warner
will draft a letter to the legislature by April 2. Warner said he is going
to talk to Eastern Oregon Mining Association President, Ed Hardt about the
measure.
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Idaho Power To Start Over On Proposed Transmission Line Routes
Move Idaho Power Group Proposes Alternative
By Debby Schoeningh
Idaho Power has decided to go back to the drawing board when it comes to defining eastern Oregon routes for a 500 kV transmission line. The roposed 298-mile line is planned to start in Boardman, Ore., and will travel through several counties including Baker on its way to the Hemingway substation near Murphy, Idaho.
At the March 10 City Council meeting Mayor Dennis Dorrah said he attended a meeting Monday in Ontario with Idaho Power where the company announced that they are starting over with the routes.
“As of yesterday (March 9) there is no route,” said Dorrah.
Dorrah said Idaho Power wants to reorganize and initiate citizen’s advisory groups in three areas, which would include Ontario and south- western Idaho, Baker and Union county, and Morrow and Grant counties. Dorrah
said the goal is to have the groups made up of citizens from all walks of life.
School Board To Close North Baker School And BMS Central Building
By Eden Taylor
The School Board Meeting March 10 voted to close North Baker School
and the Central Building at Baker Middle School (BMS). They also
voted to place the Kindergarten in the High School, in a self-contained wing of the building. The middle school will all be housed at the Helen M.
Stack Building.
In the work session held prior to the scheduled meeting, Ben Carr, Principal of North Baker, went over the Management Team’s recommendations for school closures. Thirteen criteria were evaluated in making this decision. Those criteria were: safety, ADAcompliance, supervision in and supervision out, gym space, efficiency cost/sq ft., capital improvement, bus loading and traffic, long term plan/versatility, building security, specialized offices/sq. ft., and deferred maintenance. ADA, safety, supervision in and out were double weighted in calculating the scores. The criteria were defined so that all of the Management Team were on the same page. Other considerations were given to the Facilities and Efficiency report and the Zimmerman report.
The Management Team’s recommendations based on a consensus after evaluating all the parameters, were that Brooklyn Elementary would be the
best fit for Grades 1-3 and South Baker would be the best fit for Grades 4-6.
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Powder Valley Boys Win State!
by Eden Taylor
The local boys came out champions in this years’ State 1-A Tournament held in Baker City on March 4 through 7. Powder Valley had to come from behind to beat Columbia Christian and overcome a tough Crane team to get into the finals. The finals against Mohawk was held on Saturday, March 7, and was packed to capacity with an overflow area set-up in the small gym for fans to watch on closed-circuit TV.
Both teams jockeyed for position in the beginning minutes of the championship game. The game was tied three times and both teams had leads of no more than 3 points. Mohawk lead by a score of 14 to 11 at the end of the first quarter.
Trenton Dixon and Justin Allen both hit jumpers in the second quarter to bring the Badgers back within one point twice, but the Mohawk Indians kept the lead until 4:56 left in the half. Casey Wendt made a trey for the Badgers, and then Dixon made a basket on an assist by Joey Brown. A basket by Brown and the Badgers led 25-18. Powder Valley never looked back. The Badgers led at halftime 34 to 24. In the first half Dixon scored 9 points, Pratt had 8 and Anthony Massingale had 7.
Natural Resource Advisory Committee Chosen
By Eden Taylor
County Commissioners approved individuals to serve on the Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC) in their regular session on March 4. This committee will develop a County Natural Resource plan and look and empowerment and coordination of the County’s plan with the other government agencies. The Committee will make sure their plan is compatible with other counties.
Fred Warner Jr., County Commission Chair, emphasized that the Commissioners would like a consensus report with a majority opinion and a minority opinion. He recommended appointing residents who will work toward a consensus. It was decided that the following Baker County personnel will be appointed to the NRAC, representing the mentioned fields:
Members Vote To Disband Elkhorn Grange Association
By Teri Brown-Johnson
According to Elkhorn Grange Masters Larry Curry and Larry Cole, during a meeting held on Tuesday, March 3, the members voted and unanimously decided to surrender the Chapter of the Grange over to the Oregon State Grange. The members came to this decision due to a decline in active membership. At times there were not enough members attending the meetings to make a quorum of seven to conduct business.
It was a very emotional meeting, and there was a great deal of discussion before the motion was made. Larry Cole has been a member for 57 years when he was a sophomore in high school in 1952, and Larry Curry has been a member for the past 18 years. The Elkhorn Grange was formerly a school house. The Grange was established in Haines in 1945. Meetings were held on the first Tuesday of each month. The members conducted agricultural business, and they were involved in helping the local community.
Charter Communications To File Chapter 11
Charter Communications, a provider of cable TV, Internet and other broadband services, which has a local office in Baker City, has announced its intention to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a "financial restructuring."
The St. Louis-based company plans to reduce its debt by $8 billion. With the Chapter 11 filing, an agreement has been reached with a group of bondholders that will invest more than $3 billion in Charter. This will be used to refinance the company’s current debt and provide new capital. They anticipate seeking court approval of the agreement sometime before April 1.
In a letter to Baker City Manager Steve Brocato, Charter Vice President Frank Antonovich stated, “We will work to ensure that our operations continue as usual and that service to our customers will not be interrupted. In addition, we will continue to pay all franchise fees and other amounts due under our franchise agreements.”
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BHS Honor Society Holds Prom
Baker High School National Honor Society Learning Center Prom for disabled students was held at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center Friday, Feb. 27. The girls and boys were "made" up at the Presbyterian Church by members of NHS and the dance started at noon. A formal luncheon was also held at the Church. This is the third year for the Prom, which is chaperoned by instructors Amy Powell and Sharon Defrees.
The Honor Society was awarded an Outstanding Volunteer Award by Crossroads this year as one of the great organizations that help Crossroads.
“They are always there to be servers, hosts and hostess at the Crossroads Gala's and whenever we need help,” said Ginger Savage, executive director at Crossroads.
City To Revamp Sign Code
By Debby Schoeningh
Local signs are getting more than a casual glance by City officials. The City’s existing Sign Code was developed in 1921 and hasn’t been updated since, but that’s about to change.
Planning Director Don Chance, told City Councilors at their regular meeting last week that “signage is probably the single most cost effective thing the City can do to advance urban design objectives and to contribute to a sense of place and authenticity. It can set an image for the community in the eyes of the outside world.”
The Planning Department drafted a sign code modeled after Meridian, Idaho’s code. Chance said the Department visited Meridian to see the physical outcome of their signage laws and talked to local businesses there to get their opinions.
EDC Moves Forward With Projects Including Higher Education Center
By Debby Schoeningh
The Economic Development Commission (EDC) reported to City Council last week that they are working on several projects and have adopted a strategic plan after considering 23 different strategies. Out of those they chose nine strategies as priorities: business retention and expansion, business recruitment, value-added forest products, downtown development, destination tourism, value added agriculture, health care, entrepreneurial development and energy diversification.
Jennifer Watkins, director of community development, said EDC’s focus for 2009 will include the Elkhorn View Industrial Park rail spur, which they expect to be completed in 2009; the Central Park, which they will break ground on this spring; Leo Adler Memorial Parkway, Resort Street Development, funding for the Airport Master Plan, which will be adopted this year; D Street Improvements; Base Camp Baker in collaboration with the Blue Mountain Heritage Trail; and County projects including Scenic Byways.
Baker’s Bloody Break-In
By Debby Schoeningh
An intruder entered a garage on the 2500 block of 8th Street in Baker City the night of Feb. 23-24 and left behind a sizeable amount of blood.
Sgt. Kirk McCormick with the Baker City Police Department said the garage had been left unlocked to allow the owner’s dogs to get out of the weather. The intruder broke into a car that was parked in the garage and damaged the car’s glove box and antenna. McCormick said the damage was estimated at $250. However, he said the owners did not find anything missing.
McCormick said a significant amount of blood that was described as “pooling or puddling” was left behind indicating that the intruder had a cut, probably on the forearm or hand. He said there was no indication that the incident involved more than one person and they could not determine exactly how the intruder was injured.
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