March 12, 2010 02:30 pm
Project, set to begin next month, will bridge gap in the Leo Adler Path between Washington Avenue and Madison Street
 A plan for a new park along the Powder River, between Valley Avenue and Washington Street, still is in the works, according to Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager and project developer. Also the smaller park on Court Street between Main and Resort streets is in planning stages. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins) After years, and in some cases decades of planning, Baker City is
undergoing one of its largest parks and street improvement campaigns
since the gold mining heyday more than a century ago when the town
blossomed into what became known as the Queen City of the Mines.
Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager, told members of the Rotary
Club of Baker County Monday that nearly $9.5 million in federal and
state grants, as well as donations from charitable groups, have all
come together to allow the city to complete or break ground on several
projects.
That $9.5 million includes money for a trio of projects that were
done last summer, including the extension of D Street across the Powder
River and improvements to the Dewey Avenue underpass.
This year the city’s focus is on connecting two sections of the Leo
Adler Memorial Parkway, the pedestrian path along the Powder River,
Watkins said.
She told the Rotarians that a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled
April 5 for the Parkway extension between Washington Avenue and Madison
Street at Geiser-Pollman Park.
The Washington Avenue bridge over the Powder will be modified to better accommodate foot and bicycle traffic, Watkins said.
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March 12, 2010 02:28 pm
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Laurie Wittich takes multi-tasking to new heights as she directs activities at the YMCA’s fitness center and pool.
This spring she’s spending Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons
helping 31 eager young swimmers improve their skills. The group
includes all ages and abilities, kindergarten to eighth grade.
“Last year we just decided that the YMCA wanted to introduce what
it’s like to be on a swim team,” Wittich said during a recent practice
while supervising her swimmers and fielding interview questions.
“If you didn’t take a shower, take a shower,” she booms with a voice
that easily carries to the far end of the pool. “Then get your
equipment and slide into your lane.”
To qualify for the mini swim team, participants must demonstrate their ability to swim one length of the pool.
“That’s 25 yards whatever way they need to do it,” she said.
And there is a $25 fee for members and $50 fee for nonmembers.
Otherwise participants need only arrive in a swimsuit carrying a pair
of goggles. Many also choose to wear swim caps to protect their hair
from the chlorine content of the pool water and to keep it out of their
faces.
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March 12, 2010 02:27 pm
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When Eileen Monti opened her e-mail to discover a contest with a
fast-approaching deadline one day last fall, she sat down and pounded
out the 100-word essay required to enter.
“I wrote the essay 15 minutes before lunch,” she says. “One of those times when you throw something together and hope.”
Her hopes were realized earlier this month when the Pine-Eagle
School District at Halfway was notified that it had won $50,000 in
equipment and software as a first-prize winner in the contest.
Monti, who lives just across the street from the school, is the district’s technology coordinator.
Pine-Eagle was one of 21 schools named as finalists in the
nationwide competition. Thirteen were awarded the $50,000 first-place
prizes and five schools will receive second-place prizes of $10,000.
Three schools will continue to compete for the $210,000 grand prize
to be announced March 31 in New York City. The two that are not named
grand-prize winners also will receive first-place awards.
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March 12, 2010 02:25 pm
Baker High School graduate Brian Siefkes landed a role — two roles, actually — in the Matt Damon thriller ‘Green Zone’
If you see the new thriller “Green Zone,” which opens Friday at the
Eltrym Theatre, take a close look at the actor driving the car for Matt
Damon.
That’s Brian Siefkes, a 1997 Baker High School graduate and the son of Sig and Cathy Siefkes of Baker City.
He attended the film’s premiere in New York City last week.
“That’s pretty weird, to see yourself on the big screen,” he said.
Siefkes, 30, lives in Beaverton where he works in marketing for the software company Axium.
He served with the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2003, and in that last
year of service he was part of a mobile exploitation team in Iraq.
“Our task was to conduct a search for chemical weapons,” he said.
He was there for about six months, then returned to the U.S. and was
honorably discharged two months later and enrolled at the University of
Oregon in Eugene.
Five years later, in 2007, he was sitting at his desk when he answered a call from Michael Bronner, co-producer of “Green Zone.”
He asked if Siefkes would be a consultant for the film.
“Of course I said yes,” Siefkes said.
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March 12, 2010 02:24 pm
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ENTERPRISE — Rumors are running rampant in Wallowa County about the
identity of the mother of the newborn baby found dead near Minam State
Park Monday, but officials are remaining mum.
Wallowa County Sheriff Fred Steen said that he can neither confirm
nor deny a rumor that the mother is a 21- year-old woman who lives in
La Grande but has ties to Wallowa County.
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March 12, 2010 02:21 pm
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The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will begin spring prescribed burning as snow melts and warmer, drier weather arrives.
Forest workers light prescribed fires to accomplish a variety of goals, including:
• Reduce dead and down fuels
• Selectively thin understory trees in dense forest stands
• Stimulate fire-resistant plant species
• Enhance forage and browse
• Reduce the risk of large stand-replacement fires
• Restore fire, under controlled conditions, to areas where natural fires happened often in centuries past
Prescribed burns can range from a few acres to several hundred acres.
In most areas, prescribed burning is the last of a series of
treatments that include logging and cutting of trees too small to be
sold to mills.
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March 12, 2010 02:19 pm
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A 19-year-old man is in custody today on a nationwide warrant
charging him with statutory rape in North Carolina after Baker High
School officials became suspicious when he attempted to register for
classes.
Baker City Police arrested Brenton Lynch of Spring Lake, N.C., at
2:30 p.m. Thursday as he was walking at First and Madison streets, Sgt.
Kirk McCormick said today.
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March 12, 2010 02:19 pm
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A 19-year-old man is in custody today on a nationwide warrant
charging him with statutory rape in North Carolina after Baker High
School officials became suspicious when he attempted to register for
classes.
Baker City Police arrested Brenton Lynch of Spring Lake, N.C., at
2:30 p.m. Thursday as he was walking at First and Madison streets, Sgt.
Kirk McCormick said today.
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March 12, 2010 02:17 pm
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The annual carnival of the Baker City Kiwanis Club happens from 4
p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at South Baker Elementary, at Third and Grace
streets.
This event is a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club and K-Kids, a Kiwanis-sponsored service club for sixth-graders.
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March 10, 2010 12:48 pm
Statistic showing 30 percent of pregnant women in Baker County smoked in 2007 prompts medical student to start a public awareness campaign about the dangers
 Jennifer Lint reviews information gathered during her research into health risks associated with pregnant women who smoke. She is a third-year medical student at OHSU. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins) Jennifer Lint was perusing health statistics for Baker County when she found the ideal subject for her research project.
“One of the most staggering statistics I found was women who smoked during pregnancy,” she said.
Lint is a third-year medical student at Oregon Health and Sciences
University in Portland, and this week she finishes her four-week rural
rotation at Eastern Oregon Medical Associates in Baker City.
Part of that rotation is to design a project focused on the community.
In those health statistics she found that, in 2007, Baker County’s
rate of pregnant smokers was 30 percent, as opposed to 12 percent for
Oregon. The county figure is a little lower for 2009 — 25 percent
according to the DHS Tobacco Fact Sheet — but Lint still saw it as a
huge public health issue.
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