The bill takes effect in January 2013.

“This is a huge win for credit unions. It will open the door for public entities and offices to do financial banking at credit unions,” said Julie Zaccone, manager of Baker City branch of Old West Federal Credit Union.

House Bill 3700, which the House passed last week, now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature.

The Senate approved the legislation by a 24-6 vote, and the House by a 44-12 margin.

Both of Baker County’s legislators — Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, and Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario — voted for the bill.

Zaccone said the $250,000 deposit limit has made it difficult for credit unions to attract public agencies such as school districts, cities and counties.

Banks aren’t subject to the deposit limit.

Jerry Johnson straps himself into an ATV equipped with the Pro-Tec Safety System he designed at his Baker City shop. Johnson, who moved here five years ago, hopes to convince the Consumer Products Safety Commission to mandate ATV manufacturers install such devices, which are designed to protect riders during rollovers. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

Johnson, owner of Pro-Tec ATV in Baker City, said he and his wife, Nadejda Johnson, have a patent pending on an ATV safety system that he believes could create hundreds of manufacturing jobs in Baker City, save thousands of lives and prevent thousands of injuries to children and adults across the country.

“The next big step is for the Consumer Products Safety Commission to mandate the safety systems to be installed on ATVs,” Johnson said, just as the agency required seat belts in cars starting in the 1960s.

He said he’s made his case to officials with the CPSC, and he thinks they’re taking seriously his call for mandatory ATV rollover protection.

“We’ve got to the point where they are calling me now,” Johnson said.

He said there’s about 14 million ATVs in use today across the United States and millions more around the world. About 1 million new ATVs are built and sold annually.

Johnson told those attending Walden’s town hall meeting that he believes if the CPSC mandates ATV rollover protection there would be so much demand for his Pro-Tec system from the seven major ATV manufacturers that he could put hundreds of people to work building them in Baker City.

And even then “we couldn’t keep up with the demand,” he said.

Chamber Director Debi Bainter said many businesses experienced a slow start in 2009, but ended up beating their 2008 sales figures.

“June through August were strong tourism months with high visitor numbers at the Chamber of Commerce and up at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center,” Bainter said.

Gift shops at both the Interpretive Center and the Chamber of Commerce had banner sales months through September, and business didn’t slow until snow began to fall and visitor numbers dropped, Bainter said.

“I have heard from more than one business that (2009) was their best year yet,” Bainter said.

“Baker County’s (non-seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate has not risen above 10 percent during this recession, proving our mix of retail and manufacturing businesses are appropriate,” Bainter said.

“Maintaining attractive and vibrant towns and cities — and preserving their history — has always been part of our character. Today, we add a new way of making it part of the mission of state government,” Kulongoski said prior to signing the executive order.

The order directs state agencies to strive to locate offices in historic downtown areas when it fits with the agency’s mission and is economically feasible.

The order also encourages state agencies to schedule meetings and conferences in historic downtown buildings.

“When we re-use historic buildings, we preserve their landmark qualities for the next generation. Historic buildings are non-renewable resources that should be conserved just as passionately as our natural resources,” Kulongoski said.

He said the order is also designed to give an economic boost to historic downtowns.

“Through the Oregon Main Street program — which is managed by our State Historic Preservation Office — we are partnering with local communities to rebuild downtowns, not just as tourist attractions — but as real centers of commerce and government,” Kulongoski said.

Roger Roper, deputy state historic preservation officer, said the Historic Preservation Office is the lead agency charged with implementing Kulongoski’s executive order.

Roper said the order seeks to simplify the site selection process so agencies will call the historic preservation office in the initial stages of selecting sites.

Although some fees have gone up at the resort, it’s still a bargain among Northwest ski areas, said general manager Bill Junnila.

“The biggest change is in the all mountain ticket prices, which went up from $35 to $39,” Junnila said. “That’s the main one. The rest are pretty nominal.

“Even with the increases we are still substantially under the cost to ski as our nearest competitor — Bluewood ski area outside Dayton, Wash., at $42,” he said.

Junnila said the season pass prices won’t change for this year, but will increase for the 2010-11 season.

The resort’s owners said the price increases were necessary to reverse their small, but consistent, operating losses.

“We just recognized that we have been losing money on the resort for the past 10 years, and we decided we had to do something to stem the losses,” said Lee Kearney of Vancouver, Wash., who owns the ski area along with his wife, Connie, and partners, Kim and Dana Kutsch of Jefferson, Ore., and Parke and Gail Ball, also of Vancouver, Wash.

“It isn’t losing a huge amount of money. It almost breaks even, so the fee increases are minimal,” Lee Kearney said.

While the three families own the resort buildings, chair lift and business, they lease the property from the U.S. Forest Service.

Lee Kearney said all of the owners have strong ties to the ski resort and to the Baker area.

Owner Don McClure said he is closing the store he has operated at 1216 Adams Ave. since the late-1990s for a variety of reasons, including sluggish sales during the current economic downturn.

 McClure’s Baker City jewelry store will remain open. He said running two stores at once proved too much.

“Due to these poor economic times and some health issues, I’m left with no other option but to downsize and simplify by closing the original La Grande location and focusing my efforts on the Baker store,” McClure said. He said he has developed high blood pressure which, fortunately, is “very treatable.”

McClure was born in Milton-Freewater and moved with his family to La Grande in 1971. In 1975, the family moved to Newberg. McClure graduated from Newberg High in 1976.

“I have fewer customers coming in from Ash Grove. People are scared. They don’t know what will happen with these layoffs,” Lettunich said.

The Ash Grove plant is one of the larger private employers in Baker County.

In Durkee Valley, about 23 miles southeast of Baker City along Interstate 84, it’s very nearly the only one.

Durkee also has a post office, the Hungry Redneck Cafe and the combination Nyssa Co-op and Durkee General Store.

Lettunich said business was pretty brisk during the first three years after he opened the Hungry Redneck in a building that formerly housed a restaurant called the Wagon Wheel.

“I had 18 to 20 Ash Grove workers who were regulars. They came in almost every day after the shift change (at 4 p.m.),” he said.

Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, Nov. 25, to be eligible for a share of $54,000 in matching grants for employers in the three counties to train their existing workers to improve skills or advance to higher-paying positions, or for matching scholarships available directly to workers wanting to get training to advance to a higher-paying occupation or position.

The business, operated by Linda Hudson and Marilyn Spicer, was featured during the last PubTalk meeting of the year Thursday night at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center.