|
October 18, 2007 Front Page |
|
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.
|
