Baker City Herald 06-05-15

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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com

June 5, 2015

iN m is aonioN: Lo cal • Health@Fitness • Outdoors • TV $ QUICIC HITS

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Three OfBaKerCounty's Bigger TaxpayersAppealProperty TaxBils

Good Day Wish To A Subscriber

BHS GRADUATION • Sunday, 2 p.m. • Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium, E and Ninth streets • Weather forecast: Mostly sunny, high temperature 86, north wind7to11 mph

A special good day to Herald subscriber Janette Titus of Baker City.

History, 5A On Sept. 7,1944, a U.S. Navy submarine sank a Japanese ship off the Philippines. Among the passengers on the Japanese ship were American POWs, two of them Baker boys — Willard E. Hall and Jesse "Gordon" Smurthwaite. Hall survived the sinking. Smurthwaite did not. The final installment in a three-part series on the men and their experiences by local historian Gary Dielman is in today's issue.

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S. John Collins/BakerCity Herald

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Benefit concert for Farmers Market A benefit concert calledTurnip the Beet is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, with proceeds supporting the Baker City Farmers Market. It will be held atThe Lone Pine Cafe,1825 Main St. Entry is by donation. For $20, attendees can get a BCFMTshirt and drink. Music will be by the The Powder Rhythm Band, Addison Collard, and Shannon Gray.

County Commissioners schedule work session 3une 10 The Baker County Board of Commissioners will meet for a work session, followed by a special session, on Wednesday, June 10, at 9 a.m. at the Courthouse, 1995Third St. in Baker City. During the work session, the Tri-County Weed Board will give commissioners an update. The special session will start at 10:30 a.m. The purpose is to review and approve a budget for Unity, which has no functioning city council.

Natural Resources Committee meets Baker County's Natural Resources Advisory Committee will meet June 23at3 p.m. atthe Courthouse, 1995Third St. The committee will discuss the BLM's recently introduced sage grouse protection plan.

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald file photo

Ash Grove Cement Co., which owns the cement plant near Durkee in Baker County, is one of the county's bigger taxpayers.

By Joshua Dillen idillen©bakercityherald.com

Two of the bigger taxpayers in Baker County— Ash Grove Cement and Tesoro Logistics NW Pipeline — have appealed their 2014-15 property tax bills to the Oregon Tax Magistrate. Ifthe companies prevail,the county could lose more than $220,000 in tax revenue, according to a report from county Treasurer Alice Durflinger. "For companies like Ash Grove and Tesoro, it's not a lot of money, but to Baker County it's a significant chunk of change," said Baker County Assessor Kerry Savage. Ash Grove owns two properties ia cement plant and limestone quarry) in Baker County that have an as-

sessed value of $83,357,421. The

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year, with a bill of $1,014,576. Savagebelieves Ash Grove is appealingitsassessment based on economic obsolescence, which is a devaluation ofassets iproperty in this case) due to factors such as a decreasein demand fora company's product or services due to an economic downturn or other reasons that might decrease profitability. In 2011Ash Grove did have a reduction in the valuation of its assetsdue to economic obsolescence, Savage said. In the few years prior to 2010, the company periodically laidoffworkers and even closed the plant for a few winters due to the

recession and subsequent lack of demand for its cement. That reduction was only granted for that tax year. Savage believes the reduction the company is seeking in its current tax bill isn't justified. "Ash Grove is running full time now," he said."When the economic obsolescencewas put in place, they weren't at full production. The economy is better now and it seems likeconstruction projectsare increasing across the country." Savagesaid the Oregon Department of Revenue Industrial Section, not his county office, determines the assessed value of Ash Grove's assets. See Taxes/Fbge 6A

'Whisger'agg fosterscyderdullying By Chris Collins ccollins©bakercityherald.com

When a cyberbullying incident rocked Baker High School a few weeks ago, it didn't take Ben Merrill long to gettothebottom ofit. But a new social media app that's gaining popularity among BHS students has left the principal shaking his head in exasperation. The app known as 'Whisper" allows students to post anonymous messages to awide audience targetingthose at

specific locations, such as Baker High School. The app can be downloadedfreeatthe Google Play app store site. Itencourages users to engage in"anonyMemll mous secret-sharing and m essaging forfree!See secretsposted by people near you or fiom your school!" Merrill, who's known for being tech savvy, says he fails to see any benefit the app could possibly provide.

Sogg V spell IIHoVSsplllls By Jayson Jacoby

Today

company's property tax bill for the current year is $809,593, which the firm has paid in full. Only Idaho Power Co. paid more in property taxes to the county this

BaKerHighSchoolPrincipalFrustrated SyPopularApp'sAnonymity

iiacoby©bakercityherald.com

WEATHER

Pottery for Parkinson's research

Mike Widman raises beef cattle instead ofhogs, but he picks a porcine rather than a bovine metaphor to describe how valuable the recent rainy spell has been for Baker County ranchers and farmers. "Itreall y saved ourbacon,"Wid-

man said Thursday. And alotmore besides. The soggy stretch — rain fell on 18 of 23 days at the Baker City Airport from May 11 to June 2 — revived grass on desiccated rangelands and eased the demand forscarce irrigation water. SeeSoggy IPage 3A

'This is one of the scariest technology apps that I've seen," he says."It concerns me that in our society people develop technology that is hurtM and damagmg. Those who post on the site don't create their own user names; the app does that for them and hones in on their location. "It is the most anonymous social media hosting site there is," Merrill says. See Whisper/Bge 8A

Bill Mitchell will give the commencement speechat Baker High School Sunday.

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teac er ta es isturn • Retired teacher Bill Mitchell used to assign speeches to his students; now it's his chance behind the lectern By Chris Collins ccollins©bakercityherald.com

Retired Baker Middle School teacher Bill Mitchell originally declined the invitation to speak to Baker High School graduates during the 2015 commencement ceremony. "I said no," he recalled in an interview about the request from his former middle schoolers in theirlastdays at BHS. "I told the person who

called me iMadison Richards) that I had done everything with them, and for them and to them I could think of," he sald. But the students — perhaps following lessons in the valueofpersistence taught by Mitchell in the classroom, around the track or on the football field — didn't give up. They made some phone calls and then Mitchell began getting some calls ofhis own. One came from last year's speaker Jerry Peacock, former longtime BHS principal who now directs career and technical training programs at the Baker Technical Institute.

"He said I probably had something to say that they would appreciate," Mitchell recalls.

Kathy Orr/Baker City Herald

Beef cattle sales in Baker County exceed $50 million annually.

See Mitchell IPage8A

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Issue 12, 22 pages

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Calendar....................2A C o m m u nity News ....3A He a lth ...............5C & BC O b i t uaries..................2A Sp o r ts ........................BA Classified............. 1B-BB C r o ssword........4B & BB J a y son Jacoby..........4A Opi n i on......................4A T e l e vision .........3C & 4C Comics... ....................7B DearAbby.................BB News of Record... .....2A Outdoors..........1C & 2C Weather.....................BB

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