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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityheratd.com
April 24, 2015
iN mis aonioN: Local • Health@Fitness • Outdoors • TV
$1
gets a clean bill
QUICIC HITS
Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Terry Drever Gee of Baker City.
Results from our website poll: The most recent question on our website poll at www.bakercityherald.com. was: "What should Baker City Council do about marijuana? Options are: Ban all commercial sales; Ban recreation sales only; Allow all commercial sales; Let voters decide..
By Joshua Dillen • Voters will decide ldFen©bakercityherald.com Baker County's elecin the May 19 tive legislative offices are election on Measure nonpartisan, with three exceptions: the county com1-63, making missioners. county commission County voters will have a chance to change that in positions the May 19 election. Ballot Measure 1-63 nonpartisan
would make the three county commission positions nonpartisan offices. Ballots will be mailed to the county's approximately 9,900 registered voters on April 29. The measure, if approved, would have the most significant effect in primary elections, by allowing all voters,
regardless of their political party affiliation, to cast a ballot in county commission races. That's not the case now. Oregon has a closed primary system. That means,for example, that only registered Republicans are allowed to vote in primary races involving
Road
l
package mustbe
fair By Pat Caldwell
The current question is: "Should Baker City ban the use of certain herbicides in parks and other public spaces?
For the Baker City Herald
BRIEFING
Free health seminar Tuesday Elizabeth Smithson of Baker City will present a free community health seminar Tuesday, April 28, on the topic of"Planting Greens: in your garden and in your brain." She will give two classes that day — 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Both are at St. Luke's Clinic EOMA, 3950 17th St., in the conference room. This is part one of an "Eating for Health" series organized by the Baker YMCA. Smithson began focusing on whole foods and high nutrients seven years ago. In 2009 she attended a week-long seminar in Park City, Utah, given by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of "Eat to Live." She is now in the final stages of receiving her certificate in advanced nutritarian studies from the Nutritional Education Institute. In 2013 she presented at the Food Revolution Day in Baker City, and in 2014 was a guest educator at a pre-diabetes seminar hosted by St. Luke's EOMA.
WEATHER
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SeePartisan IPage5A
Bentz:
FFAIractor-IlriuinoCompetition
• BAN ALL COMMERCIAL SALES: 907 • ALLOWALL COMMERCIAL SALES: 600 • LET VOTERS DECIDE: 265 • BAN RECREATIONAL SALES ONLY: 29
Republican candidates. The same is true for Democratic candidates. iPolitical parties can choose to open their primariestoother voters,however.) Baker County's most recent primary election, in May 2014,isan example.
S. John Collins/ Baker City Herald
Guiding equipment straight and even is part of cultivating skills judged by Jarrod Maxwell andTami Foltz. Future Farmers of America member Bryce Melville from Wallowa was at the controls Wednesday during the FFA Skills Competition at the Baker County Fairgrounds. Drivers try not to knock over paper cups aligned in rows. A student's knowledge of tractor operation and safety is graded at all four stations.
By Joshua Dillen ldFen©bakercityherald.com
Meat, dairy and tractors were the main focus of three career development events at the Baker County Fairgrounds Wednesday. Eastern Oregon District FFA members tested their skills in those areas. The competition helped studentsprepare for state-levelFFA events. The top tractor scorer will go to the Oregon State Fair in September to compete in the FFA's state tractorcompetition.
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See FFAIPage 8A
S. John Collins/ Baker City Harald
Baker High School's Dustin Gyllenberg anticipates his turn at maneuvering a tractor and trailer through a marked course. In the background are Elgin High School students Caleb Lathlop, left, and Michael Hays.
mission meets in Bend. Russ Morgan, Oregon's wolfbiologist, said the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan prompts the agency to delist when five criteria are met that have to do with the species' ability to survive. This winter, eight of nine documented wolfbreedingpairshad two or more pups. The plan
By Katy Nesbitt
LA GRANDE — Ten years after the Oregon Wolf Plan was approved by the state's fish and wildlife commission, gray wolves have reached recovery goals and aprocessto remove them from the state's endangered species list is being proposed today when the com-
says that if there are four or morebreeding pairsfor three consecutive years the state will move from Phase I of the plan, the conservation phase, to Phase II and startthe processto delist. 'The factors that got us to this stage by our plan are alsothose factorsthatsupportthe delistingprocess," Morgan said.'The guiding
ODFW to revive
trout in Balm Cr. Reservoir By Jayson Jacoby llacoby©bakercityherald.com
principles of our planning process allow us to use the flexibilities needed while still providing conservation." The Wolf Plan divides wolf management by a north/south line along Highway 97 on the east side ofthe Cascades.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to sow a fish-killing poison this fall in a Baker County reservoir where illegally introduced fish have trumped the once-thriving trout population. But it's not Phillips Reservoir. Instead the Fish and Wildlife Department iODFV9 will target Balm Creek Reservoir, in the southern Wallowa foothills about 22 miles northeast of Baker City.
SeeWolveslPage 2A
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Wildlife commission totalkwolf delisting Vyescom News Service
For state Rep. Cliff Bentz, a future state transportation funding package must revolve around two key concepts: fairness and relevancy. Bentz, the Onbato Republican who represents Baker County, said this week that iflawmakers convene and B en t z develop a transportation funding package, ruralareas ofthe statem ust benefits as much as urban centers. 'There has to be a reason for what we do," Bentz said."It is not enough to have a nice road. There has to be more forpeopletoreach fortheir wallet." Bentz said discussion regarding a plan to repair Oregon's outmoded road infrastructure is simply talk right now. SeeBentzIPage3A
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Issue 148, 26 pages
Calendar....................2A C o m m u nity News ....3A He a lth ...............5C & 6C Obituaries..................zA Classified.. ...........1B-BB Crossword........3B & 4B Jayson Jacoby..........4A Opinion......................4A Comics.......................7B De a r Abby.................SB N e w s of Record........3A Outdoors ..........1C & 2C
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