A Pine butterfly on the needle of a ponderosa pine in Baker County. The butterfly, native to this area, is in the midst of one of its periodic population surges. Although the insect’s larvae can harm trees, their outbreaks are usually short-lived. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

Yet.

The insects are Pine butterflies, which are native to the region, said Bob Parker, forester for Baker and Grant counties.

“I’ll probably have a better picture next year when the eggs hatch,” he said.

The butterflies deposit masses of eggs in pine trees, and when the caterpillars emerge they start munching needles.

“They can do a little bit (of damage) or a lot,” Parker said.

The butterfly can affect each of the three pine species common in this area: ponderosa, lodgepole and whitebark.

After doing some research, Parker found that the Pine butterfly has caused large-scale defoliation in Idaho, Montana and Washington. A 1922 outbreak near Payette Lake caused a 25 percent mortality rate in mature ponderosa pines across 27,000 acres of forest.

The owner of Baker City’s grass tennis court complex will take his case to the City Council on Sept. 14.

Don McClure wants to extend the lights-out deadline at the four-court complex from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., and to play host to tournaments on as many as 30 days per year, up from the current limit of 22 days.

In May the city Planning Commission denied McClure’s application to make those changes to his conditional-use permit for the courts.

McClure appealed to the City Council.

Councilors are scheduled to consider that appeal at a public hearing during their next regular meeting, which is Sept. 14 at City Hall, 1655 First St.

On Tuesday night the Council had a work session to discuss the guidelines, as prescribed by state law, for that public hearing.

Councilor Clair Button was absent Tuesday, and Councilor Milo Pope left early because he had a previously scheduled conference call.

The Baker City Farmers Market will have the 2nd annual salsa festival Wednesday, and entries need to be submitted between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The market is held in Geiser-Pollman Park, at the corner of Campbell and Grove streets.

This salsa contest is open to everyone. Entries must be homemade and submitted in a one-quart glass jar with a clean, rust-free lid.

Entries will be judged by market customers at 5:30 p.m. The winning salsa maker will receive a Baker City Farmers Market grocery bag filled with the market’s bounty.

A Baker City man accused of murdering his wife by shooting her Thursday at the couple’s home was convicted of assaulting her in March.

According to Baker County Circuit Court records, Kevin Michael Blankenship, 41, of 3500 Auburn Ave., was sentenced to 18 months’ probation and ordered to enroll in a domestic violence intervention program for assaulting Christina Dawn Blankenship, 38, on March 16, 2010.

According to a police report, Kevin Blankenship punched Christina Blankenship in the face, giving her a bloody nose. That incident also happened at the couple’s home.

A grand jury indicted Kevin Blankenship on one count of murder Friday, District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff said today. Blankenship was arraigned on the charge Friday in Circuit Court. He is being held at the jail on $1 million full bail (which means Blankenship can’t be released by posting 10 percent bail, as is customary), Shirtcliff said.

The next court action will be a hearing in the judge’s chambers at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 13, Shirtcliff said.

Landowners and livestock producers might get a chance to help each other.

The latter need food for their cattle.

The former sometimes need their grass mowed.

Since cattle’s affinity for grass is well-established, the potential, should the two situations coincide, is obvious.

But the problem in the past has been managing leases between the grass owners and the ranchers.

Ken Anderson from the Baker Valley Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts is planting the seeds of a solution with local ranchers and landowners.

Authorities expect to charge a Baker City man with murder today in connection with the Thursday morning shooting death of his wife.

Kevin Michael Blankenship, 41, of 3500 Auburn Ave., was taken into custody shortly after his wife, Christina Dawn Blankenship, 38, was shot at the couple’s home in southwest Baker City, District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff said today.

“He is alleged to have shot his wife in an act of domestic violence,” Shirtcliff said.

None of the couple’s children was at home at the time of the shooting, Shirtcliff said.

A Baker City garden still displays a mix of green and ripening tomatoes in late August. (Baker City Herald/S.John Collins)

“Tomatoes don’t do well under 50 degrees,” said Jimmy Roberts, Master Gardener coordinator for the OSU Extension Office, who included a note about ripening green tomatoes in September’s gardening newsletter.

In other words, nights that drop to the 30s don’t do these plants any favors.

Roberts said Sept. 26 is, on average, the first day of frost in Baker City.

That’s average, remember.

“Fifty percent of the time we get a freeze before Labor Day,” he said.

The thousands who have been wondering for more than three years which roads on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will remain open to motor vehicles will have to continue to exercise their patience.

The final environmental impact statement for the forest’s Travel Management Plan is scheduled to be finished in March 2011, Wallowa-Whitman Supervisor Steve Ellis said this week.

But he doubts any roads will be officially closed to motor vehicles (the plan doesn’t affect snowmobiles) until 2012.

In January of this year Ellis, who has the final say on the plan, said he expected to make a decision by late summer.

But then severe flooding in early June damaged several forest roads, including the Wallowa Mountain Loop, an important recreation route linking Baker and Wallowa counties.

Coordinating repairs temporarily replaced the travel management plan as a priority.

Which was fine with some people, Ellis said.

By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
EAGLE CREEK —

Laurene Chapman sits cross-legged on a thick pillow as she methodically weaves a Navajo-inspired design.

Beyond her loom, just a few yards away, pristine Eagle Creek rushes over rocks, creating that soft background noise so familiar to the woods.

Scattered around Chapman are other weavers who have claimed a shady spot for this annual event they call “Weaving in the Woods.”

These are the Threadbenders, a guild of artists who specialize in fiber arts. Members live in Baker, Union and Wallowa counties.