Baker City Herald Daily paper 10-24-14

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Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com

October 24, 2014

iN mis aonioN: Local • Health&Fitness Outdoors TV QUICIC HITS

$< cl p peIIIBS SUP ERINTEND ENT WALT WEGENER RETIRING NEXT JUNE

At BrooklynPrimarySchool

Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriberAnne Spivey of Baker City.

Local, 3A More than two dozen local residents were among the800 students who received degrees or certificates from Eastern Oregon University during the 2013-14 year.

Oregon, 5A PORTLAND —The number of reported auto crashes and injuries involving wildlife on state roads has increased dramatically in the past decade, according to an analysis by The Oregonian.

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By Chris Collins ccollins©bakercityherald.com

II

BRIEFING

Animal rescue group fundraiser Set fOr NOv. 1 New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals, a nonprofit that helps animals through rescue and adoption, population control, training and education, will have its annual fundraising banquet Nov. 1. The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Community Connection Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St. in Baker City. The evening will include live and silent auctions, a barbecuestyle dinner and a no host bar. Tickets are limited, and cost $25 per person. Tickets are available at Betty's Books, Treasure Every Stitch, Bella and The Little Pig, or by calling 541-403-2710. Auction items include photographs, quilts, gift certificates, airplane ndes, sporting goods, furniture, baskets, massages and more. New Hope is raising money for a variety of programs, including: • Building an animal shelter on property the organization owns in Baker City • The Powder Pals dog program, a partnership with the Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City. So far 58 homeless dogs have been training by inmates. • Trap-Neuter-Return program partnership with Baker City in which feral cats are trapped, neutered and returned to their trap site. About 110 cats have been neutered since January 2014.

WEATHER

Today

56/33 Rain likely

Saturday

63/37

S. John Collins /BakerCity Herald

The police search through Brooklyn PrimaryThursday morning includes the modular units that house kindergarten classes and one first grade class, above. From left are Oregon State Police officers, Joey Jayo and Andrew McClay, andTravis Ash, Baker County Sheriff's Department.

By Chris Collins ccollins©bakercityherald.com

On Tuesday night, Baker High School Principal Ben Merrill was telling the Baker School Board how a new messaging system will revolutionize district communication with parents. By Thursday morning, the software program was speaking for itself. It was used by Merrill and Ellen Dentinger, DistrictOffice receptionist,to send out the same message simultaneously to 479 parents of Brooklyn Primary School students assuring them that their childrenwere safe after a panic alarm was inadvertentlyactivated by a staff member. The messages, sent by telephone calls or emails, toldparents that police had searched the building and foundno threat at the school at 1350 Washington Ave. Dentinger said she sent the message at 9:06 a.m. That was just one minute afterpolice cleared the building, according to dispatch records. Dentinger also posted Facebook messages to alert parents. Activation of the panic alarm at 8:27 a.m. sent

Ev

The Baker School Board approved a plan Tuesday night to set the groundwork for hiring a new superintendent. Superinteadeat Walt Wegener has announced that he will leave the position on June Wegener 30, 2015. As proposed by Director Kevin Cassidy, the first phase of the process calls for an"open/competitive advertisement"oftheposition for 24 days. The applications will be submitted to Norma Nemec, board secretary, and then presented to the board in an executiveiclosed tothepublicl session as allowed by the Oregon Public Meeting law. See 5J Board/Fbge GA

ELECTION 2014 S. John Collins/ Baker City Herald

Discussing the situation after "standdown" is called are, from left, Doug Dalton, 5J business manager, Police ChiefWyn Lohner,Travis Ash, right, Baker County Sheriff's Department, and GaryTimm,with Baker County Emergency Management. 12 city, county and state law enforcement officers, and an ambulance crew, fireengine, Baker County Emergency Services workers, Baker City Public Works employees and schooladministrators to the Brooklyn building for the second time this fall. The first activation was the morning of Sept. 24. The alarmisactivated by depressing two buttons on a fob that most district employees wear around their necks. A panic alarm also was accidentally activated at Haines School at 4 p.m. Wednesday, but dispatch

was notified that it was a false alarm in time to call responders ofFjust as they began arriving at the school, said Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner. If no false alarm notification is received, police followtheprotocol established with the district to ensure there is no threat in the building. That means teachers gather children when they hearthe alarm and see the flashing yellow lights. Classroom doors are locked and stay that way until they are opened by law enforce-

ment officers or district administrators. The front door of the building also is locked. Before classrooms are reopened, officers conduct a thorough search of the school. Lohner noted that police have refined their process and were able to clear the building more quickly Thursday than during the Sept. 24 response at Brooklyn. And time is of the essence in dealing with a possiblethreat ata school, he said. See Alarm/Page6A

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parcels onballot By Jayson Jacoby ]]acoby©bakercityherald.com

Baker City voters, in addition to electing city councilors and weighing in on a raft of statewideballotmeasures in the Nov. 4 election, will also decide whether the city shouldsellsome forestland in the Elkhorn Mountains. The city has two parcels of land near its watershed. The city doesn't need eitherpieceofground forits water system, and in August the City Council voted to put the matterto voters. That was necessary because the city charter requiresvoterstodecide on theproposed sale ofcity propertyworth atleast

ain ina ouses ireseISOn

The first widespread rain since September prompted officials to end fire season Thursday for forestlands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry's iODFl Northeast Oregon District. This includes private, state, county, municipal and tribal lands in seven counties: Union, Baker, Wallowa, Umatilla and small portions of Grant, Malheur

and Morrow. However, John Buckman, Northeast Oregon District Forester, reminds the public to implementsafe practices when using fire in the fall months. "Fall is a good time to burn forest slash or yard debris, but please recognize that just one sunny and windy day can change conditions very quickly," Buckman said in a press

release. "Each fall we respond to escaped fires, so please continue to use fire in a responsible manner." Technical advice for burning and smoke management can be obtained from your local ODF office iin Baker City, 2895 Hughes Lane, 541-523-

5831l. With the termination of fire season, requirements such as providing firefight-

ing equipment at logging sites or obtaining a burning permit for burn barrels are nolonger in efFect. However, termination of ire season does not relieve f landowners or forest operatorsoflaw fulresponsibilities concerning the safe burning of debris or slash. Windy conditions combined with warm weather could cause unpredictable fire behavior.

$5,000. Both parcels are along Salmon Creek, on the east slopes of the Elkhorns about eight miles west of town. The smaller of the two, at 15.95, is much more valuable, with a real market

value of $160,560, according to the Baker County Assessor's OfFtce. See City Land/Page 6A

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Issue 70, 22 pages

Showers

Calendar....................2A C o m m u nity News ....3A He a lth ...............5C & 6C O b i t uaries..................2A Sp o r ts ........................SA Classified............. 1B-BB C r o ssword........4B & 5B Ja y son Jacoby..........4A Op i n i on......................4A T e l e vision .........3C & 4C Comics... ....................7B DearAbby.................SB News of Record... .....2A Outdoors..........1C & 2C Weather.....................SB

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