By Terri Harber

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Concerns about only a small number of people running for Baker City Council were premature.

Nine candidates are vying for the four open seats on the Nov. 6 ballot, which is mailed to voters in October.

The two last candidates to obtain the necessary signatures from registered voters within the city were Jack Turner and Kimberley Mosier.

S. John Collins/ Baker City Herald Kindergarten teacher Leah Pepera will instruct her 17 students in a new modular building at the Haines Elementary School.

By Chris Collins

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New modular classrooms greeted Haines School kindergartners and first-graders on today’s first day of school.

The new classrooms were needed because of the rural school’s burgeoning enrollment, said Beth Bigelow, Haines principal.

She credited the growth to students who are returning to the public school from online programs, home schooling, private schools and transfers from other districts.

By Terri Harber

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Incumbent Baker City Councilor Milo Pope turned in his petition with the required number of signatures to run again.

The deadline for turning in the voter petitions was at 4 p.m. today. 

Jack Turner was expected to turn in his completed petitions before the deadline, said Becky Fitzpatrick, the city’s recorder and election official.

Lisa Britton/ For the Baker City Herald Molly McCrary lifts one foot off of the ground as part of an assessment to help health care professionals later determine when she might be suffering from a concussion. Watching her is Kim Zinn.

By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

Molly McCrary closes her eyes and lifts one foot.

She sways, but keeps her balance, for the full 20 seconds.

Next comes the coordination test, then a memory recall of words she heard several minutes before.

By Terri Harber

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The official field for the upcoming Baker City Council race has expanded to six candidates.

As of Thursday afternoon, R. Mack Augenfeld, Mike Downing and Richard Langrell all were declared as qualified to run after turning in petitions signed by registered voters.

By Chris Collins

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The Baker City Police Department has backed off of its plan to enforce trespassing laws in the area of Wade Williams Park until right-of-way questions can be resolved.

“If they’ve been using Main Street to access the Powder River we’re not going to stop them,” Sgt. Kirk McCormick said Tuesday.

Police will, however, continue to enforce city ordinances and state laws, including those that apply to trespassing, littering and drinking in public, McCormick said.

With the Sardine Creek fire under control Monday afternoon, firefighters began searching along roads for heat still lingering underground. Hiram Rooper, left, and Shalen Bennion from Council, Idaho, first felt for heat below the surface with gloved hands before digging and dousing the hot spots.

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The Sardine fire swept across 6,070 acres of Baker County rangeland on Sunday night and Monday.  

The BLM earlier estimated the size at 12,500 acres, a discrepancy the fire’s incident commander attributed to a GPS malfunction.

The fire, which was started by lightning Sunday afternoon near Love Reservoir, about 16 miles southeast of Baker City, was 50 percent contained as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.

A few structures were threatened on private land, though each was saved.

However, several local ranchers had private rangeland burned where they had planned to run cattle this fall.

By Jayson Jacoby

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Mike Widman needed but a single word to describe what happened to his ranch Sunday.

“Catastrophe.”

A lightning-sparked wildfire spread across 12,500 acres of rangeland about 16 miles southeast of Baker City, including a large swath of the grazing land that Widman and his wife, Coral, own near Love Reservoir.

The Sardine fire is the biggest this summer in what had been a relatively tranquil season for Baker County.

By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

As Lindsey Lou Bingham awaits a heart transplant in California, communities in Eastern Oregon continue to show their support for the Bingham family.

An auction and taco feed fundraiser Saturday at the North Powder School helped with the Binghams’ medical expenses.

“I’m so overwhelmed by the generosity,” Stacy Bingham said. 

Jeanette Thompson didn’t have a final number of money raised this morning, but said the auction sold close to 200 items. With some items fetching hundreds of dollars, the total raised will likely be in the five-figure range.

Cathy Tressler says she's fed up with trespassers blocking her driveway area and even the garage with their vehicles. The Tresslers say loud parties, rude behavior and the trashing of her riverside property at the south end of Main Street has become intolerable.

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The tradition of heading for the river to beat the heat is causing a stir in a southeast Baker City neighborhood this summer.

Police Chief Wyn Lohner was called to the area of Wade Williams Park last week when the conflict between property owners and interlopers hit the boiling point.

While Wade Williams is a hub of activity during Little League season, by late summer it is used through special arrangement with the Elks Lodge by visiting lodge members and other community groups and fraternal organizations, said Harvey Cookson, Baker lodge secretary.

In the past, the lodge has had little concern about those who also use the park to put their inner tubes in the Powder to float through town en route to a takeout spot down river.