|
March 26, 2009 Front Page |
|
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.
|
