By Jayson Jacoby

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The animal that attacked a family’s dog last month in Baker Valley was a large dog, not a wild gray wolf.

DNA testing from the University of Idaho confirmed that the attacker was a dog, said Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Baker City office.

Officials at the University of Idaho tested DNA from samples of feces and hair that Ratliff collected on March 24 near the home of Jay and Genie Ogg. The couple, who have three children, live on Spring Creek Loop, which branches off Pine Creek Lane about 10 miles west of Baker City near the base of the Elkhorn Mountains.

By Terri Harber

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Up to 250 people attended U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s Town Hall meeting on Wednesday.

The event was held at Baker High School and many of those who attended were students — primarily juniors and seniors in government, economics and social studies classes. 

“We were taking advantage of the moment,” said Gwen O’Neal, the vice principal at BHS. 

At least one teacher worked with students on formulating questions to pose to Wyden, a Democrat from Portland.

Kathy Orr file photo / Baker City Herald Burning dry grass and brush along fences and irrigation ditches is a spring tradition in Eastern Oregon.

By Jayson Jacoby

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Fire creeping through the winter-browned grass along an irrigation ditch or a fence is a symbol of spring as reliable around here as the buttercup and the wobbly calf.

The fire engine spewing water on the flames, not so much.

But this year, the combination of an abnormally dry March and temperatures rising into the 60s and low 70s during the past week has created burning conditions more typical of early June than early April.

“It is dry,” said Jason Simmons, fire management officer for the BLM’s Vale District. “We’ve seen a trend over the past few years in Malheur County and even in southern Baker County."

A special showing of two classic films is scheduled Friday night at the Iron Gate Theatre upstairs in the Basche-Sage Mall, 2101 Main St.

The event will begin with “McLintock,” a 1963 Western starring John Wayne.

Next will be the 1940 film, “His Girl Friday” starring Cary Grant and Roasalind Russell.

The $8 tickets, which include a $3 discount on snacks and drinks at Charlie’s Ice Cream Parlor, may be purchased at the door. Seating is limited to 40 people.

A college rugby match that had been tentatively scheduled for April 13 at the Baker Sports Complex has been canceled, Baker High School athletic director Brad Dunten said Wednesday.

Dunten said the University of Utah, which had been slated to play Oregon State University, decided not to participate.

The two schools had discussed playing a match that had been postponed earlier.

Officials were looking for a neutral site roughly midway between Corvallis and Salt Lake City. Baker City was picked as a possible site because several Baker High School graduates played rugby at Oregon State, and some of the alumni have contacts with Oregon State coaches. 

Anthony Lakes ski area opens Thursday morning at 9 o'clock for its final weekend of the season. Lift tickets are half price on Thursday.

The resort, in the Elkhorn Mountains about 35 miles northwest of Baker City, will be open Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

There will be a big air competition in the meadow on Saturday and Sunday.

The Nordic spring fling, with homemade ice cream, is set for Saturday, the final day of the season for the Nordic Lodge (in the Forest Service's historic guard station on the north shore of Anthony Lake).

Tyler Brooks will perform Saturday night in the Starbottle. 

On Sunday, the final downhill day, there will be an outdoor barbecue and bash, with Bitterroot playing live music.

Snow conditions are available online at www.anthonylakes.com, or by calling 541-856-3277. 

By Chris Collins

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Winds Tuesday afternoon fanned the remains of a day-old fire set to burn a ditch bank along private property, spreading flames into about 28 1/2 acres of brush and grass on Forest Service ground near Phillips Lake.

Glen Marshall had burned Monday and thought the fire was out, bit it revived Tuesday afternoon, said Fire Chief Wes Morgan of the Powder River Rural Fire Protection District.

“It sat overnight and then the warm temperatures hit and it took off,” Morgan said.

The fire burned grass and a few willow trees in bottom ground between Hudspeth Lane and Phillips Lake, about 20 miles southwest of Baker City.

By Terri Harber

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Only plywood is visible in the face holes of the clock tower atop Baker City Hall. 

The clock faces have been blank for a few weeks. Several pieces of the clock were sent two weeks ago to a company that specializes in repairing and restoring tower and street clocks.

Essence of Time, in Lockport, N.Y., fully restored the tower clock on the Baker County Courthouse in 2009. 

The company has been in business for about 30 years and is known for restoring the nation’s oldest tower clock, circa 1750, at the Old Hillsborough Courthouse in Hillsborough, N.C.

By Jayson Jacoby

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The only gas station along the 45-mile stretch of Interstate 84 between Baker City and Huntington has closed.

The station and store at Durkee, about midway between the two towns, closed about two weeks ago.

An employee at the company that owns the Durkee station, Valley Wide Cooperative of Rupert, Idaho, said this morning that the business was closed, but referred further questions to an employee who was in a meeting.

The closure of the gas station leaves Durkee, an unincorporated community along the Burnt River, without retail fuel or food.

The Hungry Redneck restaurant, which was next to the gas station, closed more than a year ago, said Wes Prouty, who lives near the two former businesses on Vandecar Road, just north of Interstate 84.

By Terri Harber

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The federal government has asked for partial repayments of Secure Rural Schools money from all recipients — including Baker County — a move that has angered Oregon’s congressional delegation.

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Department sent $323 million to 41 states.

Federal officials say budget cuts related to the sequester are why they want a portion of the money back. Oregon counties would be required to return $3.6 million. 

Baker County received about $800,000 from this source for its road department funding, said Fred Warner Jr., the Baker County Commission Chairman. 

He said the feds might be seeking a return of more than $40,000 from this fund.