BAKER CITY HERALD 03-20-15

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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityheraid.com

March 20, 2015

iN mis aomoN: L ocal • Health@Fitness • Outdoors • TV $ < QUICIC HITS

WALLOWA-WHITMAN NATIONAL FOREST

CountyCommissionersAsKState ForIlroulhtlleclaration

Good Day Wish To A Subscriber

Preschool nutrition lessons

A special good day to Herald subscriber Ethan Reidy of Baker City.

Sports, 6A Two wins by No. 14 seeds. Two sons winning games for their father-coaches. Two overtimes. Several big comebacks. The team nobodythought belonged in the field winning a game. The Big 12 starting 0-3. And, heartbreak for Harvard. Just another opening day at the NCAATournament.

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BRIEFING

MayDay needs volunteers MayDay, Inc., the Baker City nonprofit that helps victims of sexualassault,domestic violence and elder abuse, needs volunteers to answer a crisis phone line that's available 24 hours a day. To fill rotations in that position, MayDay needs a compassionate person who is a good listener and can carefully follow training protocols. This volunteer position requires a criminal background check and strict adherence to the confidentiality policy. The job can be done from home or other locations, depending on the setting. Anyone who can meet these qualifications and be on call approximately one week each month, should call Milli at 541-523-9472, or come to MayDay's office at1834 Main St. in Baker City.

City gets $500 grant for Arbor Week event Baker City is one of three Oregon cities awarded $500 grants by the nonprofit organization Oregon Community Trees. The awards will be used to enhance the cities'Tree City USA Arbor Week celebrations. Baker City is celebrating its 30th years as a Tree City USA and will replace four dying trees in the historic downtown area, a press release announcing the grants stated. This year, Arbor Week in Oregon will be April 5-11.

WEATHER

Today

67/40 Showers tonight

Saturday

61 /28

S. John Collins/Baker City Herald file photo

Phillips Reservoir, shown here last winter, is about 37 percent full this week.

cellphone from hisproperty eastof Unity. "And that's almost 8,000 feet." 7,879feet,according tothecartographers' latest reckoning. But Bennett's point isn't about elevation so much as timing. "That's not what you want to look at in March," he said."The mountains are our reservoirs in Baker County, and there's just nothing there."

By Jayson Jacoby llacoby©bakercityherald.com

Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett is looking at the mountains near his ranch and what he sees is trouble. Or rather, what he doesn't see. Snow. "I'm standing here, looking at Bullrun Mountain, and there's only a few patches of snow," Bennett said Thursday afternoon, talking by

Not enough to make up for the scanty snowpacks the past two winters, certainly. Little wonder, then, that Bennett joined fellow commissioners Tim L. Kerns and Chairman Bill Harvey on Wednesday in asking Gov. Kate Brown to declare a drought emergency in Baker County. See Drought/Page 8A

WVden:Moretimefor B2Hcomment through both public and private property ! between Boardman and Hemingway, which is in southwestern i Idaho. A group oflocal Wyden residents doesn't want Idaho Power to build the line through the county. The Baker County Board of Commissioners submitted written comments to the BLM this week, arguing,

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. has asked the BLM to extend by two months the comment period, which ended Thursday, for the proposed Boardman-toHemingway power line. The comment period started Dec. 19, 2014. Idaho Power Company wants to build the line through Northeastern Oregon, including Baker County. The BLM is the lead federal agency in analyzing the possible effects of the power line, which would run

among other points, that the BLM failed to adequately consider optional routes for the power line that reduce theeffectson localfarmers and ranchers, as well as the view from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Wyden, who had town hall meetings in several Eastern Oregon locations recently, including Baker City, wants the BLM to extend the comment periodfor 60 days. SeeWyden IPage5A

The controversial proposal to ban motor vehicles on some roads and trails on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will be delayed until the Forest Service has finished writing new management plans for the Wallowa-Whitman and the two other national forests in Northeastern Oregon. Regional Forester Jim Pena said Thursday that he has advised the WallowaWhitman supervisor to defer work on the Travel Management Plan. SeeRoads/Page 5A

4File for

5 board A Baker High School student is running for a position on the Baker School Board. Austin C. Mitchell, 19, filed as acandidate justbefore the deadline at 5 p.m. Thursday, County Clerk Cindy Carpenter said. Mitchell will run against incumbent Andrew Bryan for Position 2. Melissa Irvine, a member of the 5J budget committee, has filed for Kyle Knight's position. See Election/Page 5A

Second Place: Sydney Lamb

First Place: Caitlin Lien

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ElkseseiIrotection Third Place: 3adyn Berry iIoster contestwinners Three BakerCity fikh-graders were chosen as winners out of 158 local entries in the annual Oregon State Elks Association's eye injury preventionpostercontest. Students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades from South Baker Intermediate School, and Keating and Haines elementary schools partici-

pated. Local winners:

• 1st place, Caitlin Lien, Haines Elementary; Caitlin's poster also placed second at the district level. • 2nd place, Sydney Lamb, South Baker. • 3rd place, Jadyn Berry, South Baker; Jadyn's poster also placed third at district. The contest ran from Sept. 7, 2015, through Feb. 2, organizer Hal Huntington said.

Showers

Sunday

T ODAY

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Issue 133, 24 pages

Calendar....................2A C o m m u nity News ....3A He a lth ...............5C & 6C Obituaries.................. 2A Classified.. ...........1B-BB Crossword........3B & 4B Jayson Jacoby..........4A Oprnron......................4A Comics.......................7B De a r Abby...............10B Ne w s of Record........2A Outdoors ..........1C & 2C

S p o r ts .................. 6A-SA Te l e v ision .........3C & 4C We a t her ................... 10B

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