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December 3, 2014
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BaKerCity's Community ChristmasTree
Good Day Wish To A Subscriber A special good day to Herald subscriber Cherryl Martin of Baker City.
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Oregon, 5A SALEM — Gov. John Kitzhaber called for changing the state's involvement in public education and increasing overall spending by nearly 11 percent over current levels in his proposed budget, released Monday. The governor's proposed $18.6 billion 2015-17 budget focuses primarily on funding kindergarten and early literacy programs, with Kitzhaber pledging to increase education spending by 9 percent, to $9.4 billion, in the next two years.
• HBC buys new lights, snowflake ornaments for downtown tree
• When the Baker City Council convenes in January, four of its seven members will be newcomers e
The Baker City Council had a special meeting Monday evening to proclaim the winning candidates in the Nov. 4 City Council election. The Council's action offtcially certifies the county election Abell results. The special meeting was scheduled because Oregon BM k ~ ') elections law requires election results to be certified within 30 days after the general election. The Council's next regularly Augenfeld scheduled meeting will be Dec. 9, after the state deadline. The seven-member City Council will undergo a major revamp when it convenes for the first time in 2015. Four of the seven councilors Memll will be newcomers — Benjamin Merrill, R. Mack Augenfeld, James Thomas and Rosemary
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BRIEFING
Axness painting up for auction at Festival of Trees This year's Festival of Trees gala will feature a special one-of-a-kind live auction item — the original "Guardian of theValley" painting by Terri Axness. Kirk and Marsha Smith donated the painting to be auctioned off at the Festival, which is a fundraiser for the St. Alphonsus Foundation in Baker City. Reprints of "Guardian of the Valley," a scene showing the snowy Elkhorn Mountains, have all been sold over the years. In addition to the original painting, one of the trees to be sold at the live auction is decorated with 50 ornaments handmade byAxness — each is modeled after a historic building in Baker City. The formal gala begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Community Events Center, 2600 East St. Tickets are sold out, but there are other chances to see the trees. The "Preview Among the Trees" is Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15. Family day is10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and admission is a can of food or an unwrapped toy. Santa will be there as usual, and Crossroads Carnegie Art Center will run a "Make It andTake It" craft center ($5 per child; $15 per family). — Lisa Britton, for the Baker City Herald
WEATHER
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Abell. Merrill, Augenfeld and Thomas were on the Nov. 4 ballot, and Abell received the most write-in votestoearn thefourth slot.
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S. John Collins/ Baker City Herald
Justin Plumbtree, right, unrolls a 75-foot string of Christmas lights Tuesday. He and Blain LeaMaster, left, Baker City Department of PublicWorks employees, trimmed the community Christmas tree with new lights and snowflakes purchased by grants through Historic Baker City.
By Lisa Britton For the Baker City Herald
This year the community Christmas tree sports new lights and snowflakes thanks to severalgrants and donations to Historic Baker City Inc. The tree, a Colorado blue spruce donated by Ken and Jill Gross, was cut down Nov. 22 and placed in its place ofhonor at Court and Main streets in downtown Baker City. As hap-
pens every year, a crew from Oregon Trail Electric Co-op (Tim Banister, Tony Hellbusch, Gene Nelson, Ned Ratterman and Jeff Andersonl donated their time, Chuck Carey felled the tree and Don Christy of Superior Towing hauled it downtown. A crew from Baker City's Public Works Department decorated the tree on Tuesday, but the lights will stay dark
A truck driver from Yakima, Washington, died Monday afternoon when his truck crashed on icy Interstate 84 near Lime. David.W. Herring, 62, was killed in the accident, which happened about 4:50 p.m. on the westbound freeway near Milepost 342, about 38 miles southeast of Baker City. A Haines man, Frank Ray Horton, 48, and James Ray Barnes, 55, of Boise, also were hurt when their vehicles were unable
T ODAY Issue 87, 28 pages
OTEC to mail refund checks
until the offtcial tree lighting Saturday night following the Twilight Parade. Jeff Nelson, HBC program m anager, saidthe treeiscovered with more than 30 strings oflights, each 70 feetlong,and about 34 giant snowflakes (HBC actually has 44 strings oflights, but there's not enough room on the tree for all of them).
Offtcially they're "capital credits allocations" but you could just call them early Christmas presents. Based on the envelope, which bears the familiar logo of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTECl, you might mistake it for a monthly bill. But inside you'll find a check. OTEC's board of directors, as they have each year for more than a decade, have approvedrefunds tothecooperative'scustomers. This year's rebates amount to $1.2 million. Customers whose refund is $15 or more will get a check in the mail later this month.
See Lights/Page 8A
See RefundslPage 8A
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•r to stop on the icy freeway and crashed into the wrecked truck, the Oregon State Police reported. Herring, who was driving a truck hauling a 53-foot-long trailer, was rounding a curve when he lost control on the ice-coated freeway. The truck slid off the road into the median Oregon State Police photo then went over an embankment and into a David W. Herring of Yakima, Wash., died Monday when guardrail. the commercial truck he was driving crashed on lnterSeeCrashlPage 8A state 84 near Lime.
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