He developed each entree, appetizer and dessert from scratch.

But now five of his secret recipes are revealed thanks to a seven-page spread in the August/September issue of Country magazine.

Barbara Sidway, who owns the Geiser with her husband, Dwight, said the magazine contacted her for a feature on the hotel.

“They were interested in Eastern Oregon,” she said.

In the magazine, the article right before the Geiser story highlights the Oregon that lies east of the Cascade Mountains. Photos show a hiker on the East Lostine River Trail in the Wallowas, rafters on the Deschutes River near Bend, Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert in Southeastern Oregon, and the Sumpter Valley Railroad.

But according to the rules, which EPA released Monday morning, the agency is willing to consider giving Ash Grove extra time to comply with limits on the amount of airborne mercury that can be released from the company's plant near Durkee, about 25 miles southeast of Baker City.

In the new rules, EPA notes that the agency "is interested in exploring the concept" of allowing Ash Grove more than "the three to four years specified in this rule" to comply with the new mercury emissions limits. 

That information arrived after the deadline for Monday's issue of the Herald and so is not included in the story in the paper. 

Without concessions from EPA, Ash Grove would have to reduce mercury emissions by about 98 percent within that three- to four- year period, according to EPA.

The $20 million system that Ash Grove has installed at the Durkee factory cuts mercury emissions by about 90 percent, said Curtis Lesslie, vice president for environmental affairs for the Kansas-based company.

The central issue is the type of limestone that Ash Grove quarries near the Durkee plant and uses in the cement-making process there.

That limestone contains more mercury than is typical in that type of rock. As a result, the Durkee plant releases more of the toxic metal than most other cement plants — it's the second-biggest emitter of airborne mercury in the country, according to the EPA.

Lesslie said the Durkee limestone generally contains from 400 to 2,000 parts per billion of mercury; he said the EPA's new limits are based on average mercury concentrations in limestone of 20 parts per billion or less.

Two cement factories -- the Durkee plant and one in Tehachapi, Calif., that's owned by another company -- use limestone that contains unusually high concentrations of mercury, according to EPA.

The agency in its 460-page document outlining the new regulations notes that the mercury concentrations at Durkee constitute "a unique challenge" for Ash Grove in trying to comply with the limits.

EPA also acknowledges in that document that Ash Grove has installed mercury-capturing equipment at the Durkee factory even though the company was not required to do so.

As a result, EPA will consider extending Ash Grove's deadline for complying with the 98-percent limit. The agency has not said how long an extension it might grant to Ash Grove.

Lesslie said Ash Grove officials don't yet know whether the Durkee plant can meet the 98-percent standard using only the equipment that's in place now. The company started testing the technology on July 14, and so far a 90-percent reduction in mercury emissions seems feasible, he said. The Durkee plant has in the past released more than 2,000 pounds of mercury per year.

According to the EPA rule, Ash Grove could further reduce mercury emissions by installing "dust-shuttling" equipment. Lesslie said dust-shuttling would cost about $2 million, and that Ash Grove would have to get permits to install the equipment. He said he doesn't know how much mercury the process would remove at the Durkee plant.

Airborne mercury can accumulate in water and in fish tissue. The metal can cause a variety of health problems in people, including damage to the brain and other parts of the central nervous system.

Andrew Whelan, a spokesman for Congressman Greg Walden, the Republican who represents Eastern Oregon, said Monday morning that although Walden is disappointed that EPA didn't include a subcategory for cement plants that use mercury-rich limestone, the congressman is optimistic that the agency will at least consider giving Ash Grove more time to comply with the new limits.

The factory is not only one of Baker County's larger private employers, but it pays almost $1 million per year in property taxes to the county. That's more than 10 percent of the county's general fund budget. Without Ash Grove's tax payments the county almost certainly would have to reduce services and lay off employees.

Janie Mahaffey, right, leads her students in yoga poses at Quail Ridge Golf Course. Following her lead are Kathy Parry (front), Teresa Uriarte (middle), and Carol Glaser (far left). Behind Uriarte is Britta Yates and Fawn Robertson.(Baker City Herald/Lisa Britton)

But look across the green expanse and you’ll see a line of walkers, each carrying a rolled up yoga mat instead of golf clubs.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Janie Mahaffey and her yoga students meet at 6:30 a.m. at the clubhouse to begin the half-mile walk out to Hole No. 12.

This is the most remote putting green at Quail Ridge, a bright green circle surrounded by sagebrush that sits high above the rest of the course.

A posted sign reads “Green closed 4 yoga.”

And one is intimately so — he’s had the job before.

That’s Jerry Gillham.

He was hired as Baker City manager in October 2003, and he started work that November.

Gillham’s tenure was interrupted, slightly less than a year later, when he was called to active duty in the Army National Guard and deployed to Iraq.

Gillham was gone for about 13 months. He returned to work at City Hall in late November of 2005.

His second stint lasted less than a year.

On June 27, 2006, Gillham submitted a letter of resignation to the City Council. He resigned Sept. 1, 2006.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce tough new limits on mercury emissions today that could ultimately force the Ash Grove Cement plant in Durkee to shut down.

But first, the EPA and Department of Energy teamed up Wednesday to award Ash Grove Cement plants in Durkee and Leamington, Utah, the prestigious Energy Star Award for their successful efforts to protect the environment and to improve energy efficiency.

“Just 26 individual cement plants in the United States have been honored to receive this award from the EPA and DOE since the Energy Star program began in 1992,” said Scott Matter, a spokesman for Ash Grove Cement Co., which is has its headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., and is the largest cement manufacturing company in the nation, producing nearly 8 million tons of cement annually from eight cement plants across the country.

At the Durkee plant, the cement manufacturer recently completed installation of a $20 million mercury recovery system that’s working far better than projected.

As school registration begins Monday, so does the annual Project Back to School campaign that aims to provide children with the supplies they need to be academically successful.

Holli Diamond, The Salvation Army’s family services coordinator for Baker, Union and Wallowa counties, is busy arranging donation sites where items such as pens, pencils, notebooks and glue sticks will be collected.

Diamond will be on hand during the Parent Resource Fair to distribute empty backpacks. She also will take orders for backpacks that will be filled with supplies and distributed on Aug. 27.

Diamond said she handed out 96 backpacks (not yet filled) during the National Night Out Tuesday at Geiser-Pollman Park. She will have another 50 empty backpacks available during the Parent Resource Fair at Baker High School and will be taking orders for filled backpacks at that time. Another 90 will be filled and distributed from The Salvation Army office at 2505 Broadway St. on Aug. 27.

Volunteering has never been more rewarding.

At least not for those who volunteer at the Cool Cafe.

Located at the United Methodist Church on Second Street, the Monday through Thursday lunches are provided to diners 18 years and younger — and it’s all free. The largest age group is the 5- to 10-year-olds.

The lunches are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Federal School Lunches program.

Volunteer organizer Suzanne Moses said the lunch program was started to ensure kids have a healthy and involved summer lunch schedule.

“We want there to be a caring adult during the middle of the day,” she said.

The Cool Cafe has 48 volunteers, with eight usually participating each day.

Fire ‘volunteers’ actually earn a real paycheck

Lt. David Blair, the fire department’s training officer, said there are 10 volunteer firefighters in Baker City.

That’s fewer than half the 25 volunteers the department relied on in 1985.

Blair said the more volunteers the fire department has, the better prepared the department is.

“Twenty is a really good number,” he said.

An open house on Thursday was designed for people who want to visit the fire hall in unintimidating circumstances.

“It’s very daunting to come into the fire station because firefighters tend to be very mystic, so to speak,” he said.

Although volunteer firefighters are described as such to distinguish them from the department’s 13 paid professionals (one of those 13 positions is vacant), the volunteers don’t actually work for free.

Rick Forrester has more than 40 years experience in law enforcement. He began his career with the Bremerton, Wash., Police Department in June 1966. He then worked for the Washington State Criminal Justice Department training students in the academy.

After retiring from Washington, Forrester moved to Baker City and worked as an investigator for the Baker County District Attorney.

Now he volunteers with the Baker City Police Department, training citizens who have volunteered to help the community through the Citizens on Patrol (COP) program.

COP volunteers patrol public areas such as Geiser-Pollman Park, as well as doing office work.

They’re valuable liaisons between the community and visitors, Forrester said.

“COP is a way in which the city of Baker can welcome tourists and visitors from out of town,” he said.

A Rocky Mountain goat from the Elkhorn Mountains is released into its new home near Mount Jefferson. (Photograph by Jim Yuskavitch)

A group of 45 goats that were born and reared in the Elkhorn Mountains west of Baker City today ramble across the volcanic slopes of the state’s second-tallest peak.

That’s 10,495-foot Mount Jefferson, in the central Cascades between Mount Hood and the Three Sisters.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife trapped the goats last week at Goodrich Lake, about 12 miles northwest of Baker City, then trucked the animals a couple hundred miles west to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs reservation near Madras.

The goats were released along Upper Whitewater River on July 27.

Mountain goats were extirpated from the Cascades south of the Columbia River Gorge more than 100 years ago, according to ODFW.