July 30, 2010 12:33 pm
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Springfield Police arrested the husband of a former Baker City woman
Friday on a charge of murder in connection with her March death at the
couple’s Springfield home where they had lived for the past seven years.
William Murray “Bill” Wiggins, 61, was arrested at 7 o’clock Friday
morning by Springfield Police detectives, according to Sgt. David Lewis.
He pleaded not guilty to one count of felony murder during an
arraignment at the Lane County Jail in Eugene, Lewis said today.
Wiggins is represented by Eugene attorney Shaun McCrea.
Wiggins is accused of killing his wife, Andrea Nicholson Wiggins,
62, who died March 5. An autopsy conducted by the state Medical
Examiner’s Office determined Andrea Wiggins died of strangulation and
drowning, Lewis said in a telephone interview Friday from his
Springfield office.
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July 30, 2010 12:22 pm
Powder Valley grad Joseph Nelson filming a movie here
 Collin Clifford, left, plays the hero against villain Ammona Cunningham in a short film by Joseph Nelson about a young boy’s imagination.(Baker City Herald/S.John Collins) Madi Oldroyd perches on the rock, her wrists bound in thick rope and her face a perfect picture of boredom.
Suddenly the hero sprints into the frame, glancing a foot off a
cottonwood tree and landing in fighting stance to take on the villain
who tied up the Fair Maiden.
Cameraman Thor Wixom captures the action with his fancy Red One
camera, which is connected to a nearby screen where Director Joseph
Nelson is watching with a smile on his face.
“I get to stand in front of this screen and watch my imagination come to life,” he says.
Nelson, who graduated from Powder Valley High School in 2001, is
busy this week filming a short he’s titled “Then I Shall Reign Supreme.”
Local scenes were shot near the Elkhorn Wildlife Area west of North
Powder. Nelson’s plan is to finish the film, a short about 7 to 10
minutes long, by September to enter it in the Sundance Film Festival.
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July 30, 2010 12:20 pm
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Road closures are making it difficult to do business in Richland,
Halfway and Hells Canyon, but a contract is expected to be awarded
around the end of next week to repair flood damage to Road 39 of the
Hells Canyon Scenic Byway between Halfway and Wallowa Lake.
Debi Bainter, manager of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, said
it’s important to get the word out that the Eagle Valley and Hells
Canyon National Recreation Area are open and accessible up to the lower
portion of Forest Road 39, which washed out south of the Hells Canyon
Overlook in May.
“Getting the word out that the towns of Richland, Halfway, Oxbow,
and Hells Canyon are all open for business is the most important
message we need to relay,” Bainter said.
“Our neighbors to the east need our help encouraging visitors to
make the drive to the dam, take a jet boat ride on the Snake River, and
spend a night at a lodge, motel, or a bed and breakfast,” Bainter said.
“There is hiking, Geo-caching, a museum, gift and quilt shops, fishing
and boating opportunities, restaurants and least we forget, tranquil
moments of peace and quiet in Richland, Halfway and Hells Canyon for
our visitors to experience.”
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July 30, 2010 12:18 pm
The six-day event features day rides, meals, entertainment
Bicycle riders will be touring Baker County’s best scenery next week for the first-ever “Tour the Elkhorns.”
The six-day event will feature day rides (a total of 400 miles) with
support, breakfast and dinner each day and live entertainment in the
evenings.
So far 32 have signed up for the entire week. There’s still time to
register — $650 per rider — or you can join the group for $50 a day
($65 with meals).
Cost for the full week includes all the meals and entertainment,
plus a jersey designed by artist Terri Axness of Haines. The jersey
back portrays all six day rides with a small drawing from each
destination, and the front shows a bicyclist on a winding road through
evergreen trees.
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July 30, 2010 12:12 pm
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Mallory Bailey topped off her year of serving as state Future
Business Leaders of America president, a first for a Baker High School
student, with what is thought to be another first for the BHS
organization.
Bailey, a 2010 graduate, placed fourth in the sports management
competition at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Nashville,
Tenn.
Bailey said she was examined on her knowledge of contract law, sports, finance and marketing in a 100-question objective test.
“It was a really, really great experience,” Bailey said Tuesday of
the conference, which ran July 10-18. “It was a great way to end my
four years in FBLA.
“It was an honor to represent not only Baker FBLA but Oregon FBLA on
stage. I was proud to be successful in an event where the corresponding
field is traditionally male-dominated,” she said.
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July 30, 2010 12:10 pm
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Three family members were hurt, one seriously, in a Thursday morning ATV accident near Phillips Reservoir.
Sheriff Mitch Southwick said the Baker County Dispatch Center
received a call at 11:40 a.m. from John Wickert, 60, of 1105 H St., who
told the 911 operator that he had wrecked his ATV and that he, his
wife, Jerri, 60, and their 11-year-old granddaughter had been injured.
Southwick said the three had been riding on one ATV when it
overturned on an old overgrown logging road south of Phillips Reservoir
on Forest Service Road 600 near the 1100 Road.
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July 28, 2010 02:00 pm
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The Baker County Commissioners voted 3-0 Wednesday morning to take control of the Ski Anthony Lakes resort.
What’s not yet certain is whether the county will operate the ski
area this winter, or a yet-to-be-formed nonprofit will take the reins.
“I think this is a really good scenario and I think we should do
it,” said Fred Warner Jr., commission chairman, who was en route to
Washington, D.C, and participated in the meeting via speakerphone.
Warner said the county has the next three months to either start a
501c(3) non-profit organization or take full ownership of the resort.
Commissioners said during a meeting earlier this month that they
prefer transfering responsibility for the ski area to a nonprofit.
The three couples who have owned the resort since 1998 will keep the
business until Nov. 1, giving the county time to plan the transition
and organize a business model.
“We have a lot of work in the next few months, and we want to keep
you all involved,” Warner said at the close of the 15-minute meeting.
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July 28, 2010 01:56 pm
Vince Woods discovers six stained glass windows inside the Baker County Courthouse
 Vince Woods uncovered a surprise in the Baker County Courthouse: six stained glass windows. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr) Vince Woods just needed to discover what lay beneath the dirt of six
windows — three hidden above a lowered ceiling — in the Baker County
Courthouse.
“Totally black — no color,” said Woods, who is head of the facilities department.
It took lots of scrubbing and lots of window cleaner, but he and
summer employee BJ Savage finally uncovered the surprise: six stained
glass windows original to the Courthouse, which was built in 1909.
“It took four hours per window just to pull off the old glazing and
clean them,” Woods said. “Every night my hands were jet black.”
And each window was convex — bowed out from age.
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July 28, 2010 01:53 pm
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The Baker City Council will interview two candidates to replace Steve Bogart as city manager.
Councilors did not name the two people during Tuesday’s meeting, nor did they schedule interviews.
If the Council doesn’t hire either of the applicants, the city will
enlist the Prothman firm of Seattle to coordinate the recruitment of
other applicants.
Both candidates responded to a letter that Mayor Dennis Dorrah
mailed in early July to 160 city managers and department heads working
for Oregon cities with populations between 5,000 and 20,000.
The deadline to respond was July 23.
“In my opinion we shouldn’t say ‘Oh, we only got two responses we’ll
just ignore them,’ ” Dorrah said Tuesday. “I think these people are
interested, they indicated an interest and I think we owe it to them to
do something and talk to them immediately.”
Councilor Milo Pope cast the lone “no” vote on Councilor Aletha Bonebrake’s motion to interview the two candidates.
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July 28, 2010 01:52 pm
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Brian Cole’s attorney has asked a Pendleton judge to reconsider his
decision to allow at trial most of the evidence police gathered in an
investigation of allegations that Cole provided alcohol to a
17-year-old girl and sexually abused her.
Baker City attorney Bob Moon filed the motion Friday in Baker County Circuit Court.
During a pretrial hearing Monday, a 3 p.m. court session was scheduled for Aug. 25 to consider additional argument on the issue.
Cole’s trial has been set for Nov. 29-30 and Dec. 1 in Baker County Circuit Court.
Moon contends Reynolds based his decision to allow the evidence at
trial “on a theory that was not argued by the state” during a May 21
hearing. Moon argued that officers illegally stopped Cole and did not
advise him of his rights when they interviewed him and the girl on
Halloween night at the Pocahontas Fire Station about two miles west of
Baker City.
Cole was cited and released that night on a charge of furnishing
alcohol to a minor. The deputies found a bottle of peppermint schnapps
from inside Cole’s car and also cited the girl on a charge of minor in
possession of alcohol. She was released to her parents.
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