Searches, including by two hounds, fail to turn up cougar spotted Wednesday in south Baker City

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald Joe Curtis, right, and Wyn Lohner, Baker City Police chief, search for cougar sign along Myrtle Street Thursday. Curtis says his dogs are used mainly for bobcat hunting. Barreta is the dark Plott breed and June is a Walker tree hound.

By Chris Collins

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and Jayson Jacoby

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A two-day search that involved police officers, state fish and wildlife workers and a pair of trained tracking hounds turned up no sign of a cougar that two people reported seeing Wednesday afternoon in south Baker City.

By Chris Collins

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The Baker School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to offer the job of superintendent to 51-year-old Mark Witty, who has filled that role for Grant School District No. 3 in Grant County for the past five years.

Witty accepted the job today, according to a press release from the board. 

His wife and her sister both suffer from hypothermia and minor frostbite

A Pendleton man hiked about 17 miles on a snowbound road in the Blue Mountains west of Baker City, and his wife and sister-in-law walked about 2fi miles last week after their four-wheel drive rig got stuck in snow between Ukiah and Granite.

Baker City Police are resuming the search for a possible cougar this morning, focusing on a grove of trees and brush along Settlers Slough between 7th and 10th streets.