S. John Collins / Baker City Herald Taking a close look at the eyes of Tanner Downing's monster are, from left, Sam McCauley, Braiden Colvard and Jorge Duran as the class came to an end Wednesday at South Baker Intermediate.

By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

In just about an hour, the classroom of fifth-graders was overrun with monsters.

Well, being made of clay, these monsters didn’t run — but they were on every desk, molded into any shape the students could create.

Some had one eye, some had four — nearly all had a mouthful of pointy teeth, horns, ears and claws.

Across the hall, in another fifth-grade classroom, a less terrifying art project — printmaking — was under way.

This week the students at South Baker Intermediate School were visited by two Portland artists — James DeRosso and Sheryl Murray.

By Terri Harber

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Baker County commissioners on Wednesday approved a contract for help with documentation required before building a hydroelectric power plant at Mason Dam.

EcoWest Consulting Inc., based in Baker City, already has done some work for the county related to the project. 

The county intends to build a 3.4-megawatt system at the dam, which blocks the Powder River to form Phillips Reservoir, about 15 miles southwest of Baker City. 

The energy produced would be sold to Idaho Power, which has a 138-kilovolt transmission line that runs close to the project site, said Jason Yencopal, community development director and the county staff member overseeing this project.

By Jayson Jacoby

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

After almost three years, quasi-public ownership of Anthony Lakes ski area no longer seems like an experiment to Alice Trindle.

Trindle, a longtime skier, ski instructor and one of five members of the board of directors for the nonprofit Baker County Development Corporation, which owns the ski area 35 miles northwest of Baker City, believes the switch to public ownership has proved its merit.

By Gerry Steele

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Baker finished second at the Class 4A boys state golf tournament Tuesday at Creswell.

The Bulldogs shot a two-day score of 715, trailiing only La Salle Prep’s 652.

Brandon Ellwanger tied for sixth place with a two-day score of 166 to lead the Bulldogs.

Baker’s other scores were Charlie Clarke 180 (tie for 28th), Riley Carter 183 (tie for 31st), Micah Grammon 186 (tie for 40th) and Evan Simonski-Davis 187 (tie for 43rd).

By Terri Harber

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

You can smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em — at least for a while longer — in city parks.

Baker City Councilors on Tuesday decided they want to hear more residents’ opinions before taking any action to curtail smoking, and possibly use of all tobacco products, in city parks and recreation areas.

A few people spoke about the topic during Tuesday’s meeting. Virtually all of them support the proposed ban.

By Chris Collins

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Baker School District hopes to know soon whether it will have any additional money to plug into salary increases or program improvements for the coming year.

Doug Dalton, the district’s chief financial officer, explained to members of the district’s budget board that more school funding might be available once the governor signs Senate Bill 822.

The fifth-annual Mayce Day DRINK PINK!, in honor of the late Mayce Collard, is set for Friday, May 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Bulldog Blender volunteers at Baker High School’s Learning Center will deliver blended drinks to businesses and organizations.

All proceeds will be donated to the J. Mayce Memorial Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is awarded annually to people who personify many of Mayce’s best qualities: a positive attitude, volunteer experience, and acceptance of others.

Mayce died in a car accident in February 2007 at the age of 16.

The menu includes peach and strawberry green tea fruit smoothies, mocha, vanilla latte and sugar free mocha ice rages, for $4 with or without whipped cream.

Orders should be placed by Thursday if possible. Orders can be emailed to Amy Powell at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it More information is available by calling 541-524-2639.

By Terri Harber

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

There’s only about a week left to participate in the May 21 election, which includes two seats on the Baker 5J School Board.

As of this morning, 12.5 percent of the ballots had been returned, said Baker County Clerk Tami Green.

That figure didn’t include ballots that had been returned over the weekend.

The clerk’s office mailed ballots to the 8,436 voters in the school district, which includes Baker City as well as much of Baker Valley, Keating and the Sumpter area.

Kevin Cassidy and Mike Ogan are campaigning for Position 3; Rosemary Abell, Richard McKim, Karen Spencer and Rick Stout are competing for Position 4.

Submitted photo Dead blossoms mean no fruit harvest at Eagle Creek Orchard near Richland this year because of a killing frost in mid-April. The orchard owners, Robert and Linda Cordtz, have launched a fundraiser on Indiegogo. Their goal is to raise $30,000 to upgrade the orchard’s frost protection system.

By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

The fruit trees at Eagle Creek Orchard near Richland “woke up” in March when the temperature topped 80 degrees, coming out of dormancy earlier than usual.

Then, in mid-April the orchard alarm went off, alerting owners Robert and Linda Cordtz that the temperature had hit the danger zone of 28 degrees.

The night got colder, and despite seven hours of their frost protection measures they lost 90 percent of  the apricots, peaches and plums. 

“The alarm went off at 12:30 a.m. and the temperature plummeted,” Linda said.“We knew it was bad."

Photo by S. John Collins: Whether at night or during daytime stormy conditions, tulips open wide only when temperatures are just right. Highs are expected to reach 85 degrees Saturday with lows in the 50s before cooling off with possible thundershowers Sunday.