Category Archives: Baker City Herald

Governor nominates Mark Bennett to state land conservation and development commission

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has nominated Mark Bennett of Baker County to serve on the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission. Bennett, who owns a cattle ranch near Unity, in southern Baker County, is a former county commissioner. He was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2013, then elected to four-year terms in 2014 and […]
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Rural Oregon mental health, suicide resources increase

Oregon is working to increase access to resources for people struggling with their mental health. For decades, Oregon has had a higher rate of suicide deaths than the national average, with rural communities in particular typically seeing higher rates of suicide deaths compared to metro areas. Source: Rural Oregon mental health, suicide resources increase | […]
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State gives Baker County $100,000 to help farmers, ranchers deal with grasshoppers

A year after a grasshopper infestation that some Baker County farmers and ranchers said was the worst here in decades, the Oregon Department of Agriculture is giving the county $100,000 to help deal with the crop-munching insects. The state agency filed emergency rules establishing the grant program on April 24. Four other counties will also […]
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COLUMN: Sanctity of the shelves: Celebrating library’s new challenge policy

The national tide of specious attempts to ban books from public libraries has not left its noxious flotsam to foul the shelves at the Baker County Public Library. This is a fine thing. Source: COLUMN: Sanctity of the shelves: Celebrating library’s new challenge policy | Columns | bakercityherald.com

OTHER VIEWS: Killing ravens could boost ailing sage grouse

Sage grouse have been struggling in Baker County over the past 20 years or so. The data are clear on that point, based on surveys done by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The population in the chicken-size bird’s primary range east and north of Baker City, which covers about 336,000 acres, declined by […]
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Our view: Legislature needs to deal with rising wildfire protection costs

The Oregon Legislature failed to take action during its short session this winter on two issues, both related to the state’s increasing wildfire danger and the cost it imposes on Oregonians. The legislature’s Emergency Board might be able to help by allocating state dollars later this year. Other changes might be delayed until the full […]
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Shrunken reservoir: Prospect of major spring runoff prompts Idaho Power Company to draw down Brownlee Reservoir in Baker County, leaving boat ramps dry

Boat ramps at Brownlee Reservoir that are stranded above the water line now will be submerged later this spring as the reservoir on the Oregon-Idaho border begins to refill. That refilling will start soon, Jen Cuhaciyan, senior engineer for Idaho Power Company, which owns and operates Brownlee Dam, about 45 air miles east of Baker […]
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State files eminent domain lawsuit for work at Paizano’s Pizza

The state of Oregon has filed a second eminent domain lawsuit seeking an easement across private property on 10th Street in north Baker City as part of a street improvement project. Allie M. Boyd, an assistant attorney general in the Oregon Department of Justice, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, March 5 in Baker County Circuit Court. […]
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Judge grants Idaho Power access near Baker City for B2H

A judge has given Idaho Power Co. permission to enter a privately owned parcel near Baker City to build a power transmission line, but the company has to pay the owners more than it had offered. Baker County Circuit Judge Matt Shirtcliff issued a decision last week on Idaho Power’s motion in the eminent domain […]
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Our view: Legislature should address recreational immunity issue

An ongoing lawsuit that has prompted local officials to close a handful of public trails on the Oregon Coast has yet to have that effect in Northeast Oregon. But the temporary suspension of the legal concept of “recreational immunity” in our state, due to that lawsuit, poses a potential threat to access to trails that […]
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