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November 8, 2007 Front Page |
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No New Middle School, No New Tobacco Tax and Measure 49 Passes
By Brian Addison
Baker School District’s second attempt at passing a bond measure to fund the construction of a new middle school has failed by a vote of 3,566 to 1,988. The defeated ballot measure requested voter authorization to issue $21 million in general obligation bonds to finance construction of an 80,340 square-foot building and to finance the land purchase for the proposed site. Land purchase for the new middle school site had been proposed for an area sitting northeast of the high school sports complex and had been estimated at $400,000.
The first time the school district asked for authorization to fund construction of a new middle school in the May 2007 election, the vote was much closer. The request made back in May had included not only the request to fund a new middle school, but also requested funding dollars for maintenance to the other schools across the district.
County To Request Open Roads From Forest Service In Travel Management Plan
Nov. 16 Deadline for Submission of
County’s Open Road Requests
By Brian Addison
The Baker County Travel Management Plan Advisory Committee (TMP Committee) has completed Inventoried Road Assessments on two of seven watersheds considered “high priority” out of the total 19 watersheds in Baker County. The Inventoried Road Assessments have been completed on the Pine Creek (Halfway) and Ruckles Creek (excluding Bald Angel) watersheds.
The information gathered through the Inventoried Road Assessments will be compiled and presented to county commissioners to help guide Baker County’s request for an alternative to the blanket closure of roads, trails and areas within the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The county’s request to keep certain roads open will be submitted as an alternative to the blanket closure of over 4,000 miles of roads in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest as proposed by USFS Supervisor Steve Ellis through the national Travel Management Plan. The deadline for submission of the county’s alternative has been drawn out by extension to this Nov. 16 by Forest Supervisor Steve Ellis.
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