Baker City Herald Paper 12-19-14

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Serving Baker County since1870 • bakercityherald.com

December 19, 2014

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

feeding begins FOR It',ILLING FOSTER

EastFaceofthe EIKhorns:APudlic/Private Partnership

Good Day Wish To A Subscriber

Elk

FATHER AND ANOTHER MAN IN 2013

A special good day to Herald subscriberAnn Rowan of Baker City.

Local, 3A The rapid-flash pedestrian crosswalk on Campbell Street near Geiser-Pollman Parktook a major hit Wednesday night. Police Chief Wyn Lohner said the crosswalk apparatus and the highway divider sustained $7,500 to $8,000 damage when a drunken driver crashed into it.

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BRIEFING

Bruno Dunes Band plays Saturday at Earth and Vine

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The Bruno Dunes Band will play from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, at Earth and Vine, corner of Washington Avenue and First Street. The band features John Woodard, Johnny Star, Debbie Friedman, Robert Anders and Paul McNeil.

Santa coming to the library Saturday Sales of raffle tickets for a new ebook reader will continue at the Baker County Public Library until the drawing on Dec. 22. Tickets are $1 to win the Nook Glowlight device, valued at $100. It is compatible with the library's digital catalog of downloadable ebooks and audio books. On Saturday, Dec. 20, Santa Claus will be at the library, 2400 Resort St., from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Photos are welcome. The Friends of the Baker County Library raised more than $1,000 with its recent winter book sale. The money pays for children's reading programs.

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S. John Collins/Baker City Herald file photo

A federal program offers money to private property owners to restore forests on the east face of the Elkhorn Mountains between BakerValley and Grande Ronde Valley. This scene is from BakerValley, looking southeast up the canyon of Rock Creek.

Before Treatment...

By Joshua Dillen Idillen©bakercityherald.com

Private landowners in Baker and Union counties have a substantial monetary resource to help reduce the threat of wildfire on their lands. That resource is the East Face of the Elkhorn Mountains Partner-

ship. The project is a collaborative comprising the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDAl Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation

Service (NRCSl, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODFl, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFWl, the BLM and private landowners. According to ajointpressrelease from the five government agencies,

By TheAssociated Press A 15-year-old who shot and killed two Baker City men at a family hunting cabin near Granite in October 2013 has been sentenced to 10 years in MacLaren, the state's juvenile prison at Woodburn. Dillan Dakota Willford Easley admitted to two allegations of first-degree manslaughter for shooting and killing his foster father, Michael Piete,43, and Piete's uncle, Kenneth Gilliland, 64. The two men died at the cabin amund midnight on Oct. 3, 2013. The manslaughter charges are felonies that, for an adult, would bring a maximum sentence of 20 years. Easley will remain at MacLaren up to age 25, when he will be eligible for release, his attorney, Kathie Berger of Portland, said. Easley was 14when he shot and killed the two men. He turned 15 on June 1 of this year.

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See Sentence/Page 8A

theNRCS inOregon funded $1.4 million in contracts with private landowners in Baker and Union countiestoperform essentialtim ber thinning practices in the fiscal year 2014. This is the first year that work has been completed on private lands through the partnership. Parker Ussery, district conservationist at the NRCS field office in Baker City, said the 2015 budget for the program is not final.

Free Christmas eve dinner

Submitted photos

... And After

Wolves found in Grant Coun The Oregon Department

of Fish and Wildlife (ODFWl

See Forests/Page 10A

Calvary Baptist Church in Baker City is hosting a free Christmas Eve dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the church, 2130 Fourth St. (main entrance at corner ofThird and Broadway). A candlelight service will follow at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. More information is available by calling the church office at 541-5233891.

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The paired photos show a forest stand before and after a slashbusting treatment, which chops small trees, leaving a layer of nutrientrich material that will decompose and enrich the soil

ReflectingOnHis12VearsAsCountyCommissionChairman

arnerrea or'ne c a er' "I'm pretty excited about the next

By Pat Caldwell

WEATHER

For the Baker City Herald

He spent the past 12 years in a critical local political position but next month Baker County Commission Chairman Fred Warner will step away from the helm and move on. Warner lost to challenger Bill Harvey in the May

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chapter fomy life." — FredWamer Jr., who is ending a 12-year stint as chairman of the Baker County Board of Commissioners

Republican primary, and a write-ineffortnever gained much traction this fall. Harvey will take over the Baker County Commission

chairman slot in January. Warner said that while he enjoyed working for the voters of Baker County, he is already focused on the

future. "I'm pretty excited about the next chapter of my life," he said. Warner admitted he was disappointedthat he lostto Harvey inthe May primary, but he remains philosophical about the shift in his political fortunes. SeeWarner/Page 8A

has confirmed at least two wolves near the border between Grant and Umatilla counties. ODFW biologists found tracks from two wolves on Dec. 15 in the northern part of the Desolation hunting unit. They also found tracks from a single wolf in the same area on two other occasions. The sites are near the North Fork of the John Day River, north of Granite. ODFW has little other information about the wolves, but the agency is planning to do more surveys. The first confirmed wolf to visit Oregon sincethe species was extir pated,a fem ale that migrated from Idaho in the winter of 1999, was trapped near the North Fork of the John Day and returned to Idaho.

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TO D A T

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Issue 94, 22 pages

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 & 9A Classified............. 1B-4B C r o ssword........sa & 4B Ja y s on Jacoby..........4A Op i n i on......................4A T e l e vision .........3C & 4C Comics... ....................5B Dear Abby.... .............6B News of Record... .....2A Outdoors..........1C & 2C Weather.....................6B

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