February 05, 2010 11:51 am
What would a nickel buy in 1936? If you were lucky enough to have 5
cents, you could purchase a box of Valentine candy hearts. Slogans
imprinted on the candy included “Kiss Me,” “Have Fun,” “Hey Kid,” and
“Be Mine.” It was fun to read the message before devouring the morsels,
which left a spicy sting on your tongue.
In order to earn extra money for Valentines, my sister Alma and I
offered to throw wood into basement for a neighbor. The box end pieces
were smooth and easy to grasp without gloves. We each earned 15 cents.
Armed with new riches, we went immediately to the F.W. Woolworth
store on Main Street. As we entered the store we spied Valentines on
our left. We only glanced at the unaffordable chocolate hearts on the
right.
Valentines were spread loosely in a flat bin, kept in place by a
smooth glass bumper. As we stood at the counter sorting Valentines and
making decisions, we felt the heat of one single overhead light
diffused by a green metal shade.
We pondered the small slick Valentines priced two for a penny. These
would be fine for classmates, but we reserved a double fold for
teacher. We hoped she would like the apple and slate design.
Masculine designs featuring sailboats and football figures would
definitely be given to Billy, Bobby and Tommy, while feminine designs
of dolls and cats were chosen for classmates Betty, Jean and Dorothy.
Other Valentines had general subjects.
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February 03, 2010 12:37 pm
‘Marla’s Mall,’ named in honor of teacher Marla Cavallo, who died in 2007, is filled with donations
 Student Richard Baird helps keep the displays organized at ‘Marla’s Mall ‘ at Baker High. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr) It’s been three years since Marla Cavallo’s voice was last heard at Baker High School.
She died of breast cancer on Jan. 19, 2007, at the age of 45.
But Cavallo’s memory and influence continue to linger in the space where she taught for nearly 20 years.
These days that room, in the back of the small gym across the hall
from the high school’s large gymnasium, houses the Youth to Youth
program that works to create a positive climate for students on campus
and in the community.
Another element was added to the room during the holiday season, which will stand as a memorial tribute to Cavallo.
Known as “Marla’s Mall,” the room is filled with a collection of
clothing, accessories and even personal hygiene items donated to the
school for free distribution to students and their families.
The concept of the clothing center in honor of the late physical
education/health teacher came about in conversations between several of
Cavallo’s friends and fellow teachers.
Kim Virtue says the idea started as a “community brainstorm”
session. Virtue teaches students in the BHS Learning Opportunity
Center, an in-house alternative program to help students who’ve fallen behind in their work gain the credits they need to graduate.
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February 03, 2010 12:32 pm
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Cynthia Newman is surrounded by beautiful art every day — and as an artist herself, that’s a pretty good place to be.
Newman is the new community art director at Crossroads Carnegie Art
Center. Her position was created from two grants — one from Trust
Management and one from the Oregon Community Foundation (Dant Family
Fund and Robert W. Chandler Fund).
“They’re the ones who came up with the money for us to try this the
first year,” said Ginger Savage, Crossroads executive director.
Savage said she wanted to create this position soon after she began her job, which included overseeing the monthly art shows.
“I knew nothing about hanging art,” she said.
Fortunately Newman does, which frees Savage up to focus on the
business part of Crossroads — policies, procedures, volunteers and book
work.
“We are ultimately an art organization,” Savage said. “For us to
take the next step as a regional art organization, we needed someone
with the art credentials.”
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February 03, 2010 12:31 pm
Reservoirs are in good shape, though, and the snow usually doesn’t reach its peak until April
The way a lot of people around here see it, by the first of February it’s time for winter to be on the wane.
But Travis Bloomer figures winter has barely begun.
He hopes so, anyway.
He is quick to note that he’s talking about winter in the mountains,
lest anybody accuse him of rooting for their valley gardens to remain
snowbound until April.
Bloomer works for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Baker City.
One of his duties is to keep track of the mountain snowpack.
Which, besides being fun to ski or snowmobile on, is the source of
the water that irrigates the county’s crops and slakes the thirst of
everything from cattle to coyotes to, well, you.
So far, Bloomer is not especially pleased with what this winter has delivered.
“Those (snowpack) values up there in the Elkorns are lower than we’d
like,” he said Monday. “But I’m an optimist, and it’s still pretty
early in the winter.”
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February 03, 2010 12:28 pm
The scholarship will go to a student at Central Oregon Community College, which Ellis, who was killed in Iraq in May 2008, attended for two years
BEND — After she finished serving as an Army medic in Iraq, Jessica
Ellis hoped to stay in medicine and perhaps follow in the footsteps of
her mother, a family nurse practitioner.
Now, more than a year and a half after the 24-year-old soldier was
killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, a new scholarship in her honor
will help a Central Oregon Community College student work toward his or
her own medical career.
This fall, the college will be one of more than 50 institutions
around the country that will offer a scholarship in the name of a
member of the military killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The effort is
organized by the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, an Ohio-based
organization founded by the father of a soldier who died after being
captured in Iraq in 2004.
Ellis, a 2002 graduate of Lakeview High School, attended COCC for
two years before joining the Army. She was on her second deployment to
Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) when she was killed in May
2008.
Ellis’ parents, who live in Baker City, were recently notified that
Jessica had been selected for one of the scholarships, which are given
in honor of one fallen member of the military from each state.
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February 03, 2010 12:25 pm
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When members of the local Aglow International describe what they witness at meetings, the organization’s name seems perfect.
They’ve seen, many times, a woman attend who they describe as a “candle with barely a flicker.”
“By the time they leave, they’re glowing,” says Linda Shelton. “They know they’re loved. And those relationships grow stronger.”
Aglow is a “transdenominational organization of Christian women” that is now in 172 nations on six continents.
The local Aglow leadership team includes Stephanie Barger, Lola Sevey, Helen Sargent, Terri Reed and Shelton.
Aglow, they say, is changing.
For one, they are encouraging men to join the monthly meetings.
Aglow, Barger said, partners with Christian men’s groups including Promise Keepers and Full Gospel Businessmen.
At the international Aglow conference in Kentucky in October, these
women learned about the three mandates that are the current focus.
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February 03, 2010 12:21 pm
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Landowners and producers from throughout Baker County convened last
Tuesday at the Sunridge Inn for the Baker County Soil and Water
Conservation Districts’ annual awards dinner.
The event pays tribute to landowners and partners who have helped improve natural resources throughout the county.
The event brought together people from throughout the state to
socialize and discuss conservation practices that have been employed
over the years.
The event started with a video presentation showcasing what the
districts and their partners accomplished in 2009, including juniper
management, stream restoration, cross fencing and outreach.
Five awards were given by the four Soil and Water Conservation
Districts. Each of the SWCDs presented an award to the landowners they
selected for the Conservationists of the Year.
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February 01, 2010 01:00 pm
Congressman, speaking Sunday in Baker City, hears from constituents who share his concerns about debt
 Rep. Greg Walden, who represents Baker County in Congress, spoke in Baker City Sunday. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr) During a town hall meeting Sunday in Baker City, Rep. Greg Walden
got an earful from area residents and business owners concerned about
soaring deficit spending and red tape at the state and federal levels
stifling the nation’s economy.
“The real problem is government. They are telling us our business
and they pass regulations to impose their agenda,” said Judy Price of
Baker City.
Walden, whose scheduled 10:30 a.m. arrival was delayed about 90
minutes due to the weather, said some environmental regulations passed
during the past 20 years wound up doing more harm than good. He cited
damage done to forest health by logging restrictions, as well as
industries that have left the country and are making products in China,
India and other countries with less stringent environmental regulations
and lower wages.
America’s $11 trillion national debt, financed mostly by China,
Japan and other foreign countries, is the net effect of the combination
of excessive government regulation and government growth in the face of
a shrinking national economy, Walden said.
To emphasize his point to the 50 or so people attending the meeting
at the Geiser Grand Hotel, Walden compared the nation’s fiscal crisis
to a horse race in which the horse is the private-sector economy and
the jockey is the government.
“If the jockey is heavier than the horse, you’re not going to win many races that way,” Walden said.
To rein in government spending, Walden said he has proposed and will
continue to propose a balanced budget amendment to force the government
to live within its means.
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February 01, 2010 12:57 pm
Steve Bogart’s second stint as Baker City manager apparently will last for at least one year.
The City Council, meeting in a special session Friday, approved a contract with Bogart, Mayor Dennis Dorrah said.
The city will pay Bogart $90,000.
Former manager Steve Brocato, whom the Council fired June 9, 2009, was making $96,816.
Bogart replaces Tim Collins, a former longtime city attorney who has worked as interim manager since last June.
Bogart’s contract does not include severance pay, Dorrah said.
The Council voted unanimously on Jan. 26 to hire Bogart.
He served as the city’s interim manager from October 2004 through November 2005.
A Baker County native, Bogart graduated from Baker High School in 1969.
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February 01, 2010 12:54 pm
Owner says Measure 67 could drive customers to other states
Local business owners already struggling with a depressed economy
fear that a new tax Oregon voters approved last week will drive
customers to competitors in other states.
What the ballot title for Measure 67 didn’t tell voters is that the
measure, one of two voters endorsed, includes a gross receipts tax on C
Corporations, a change that Bob Black, owner of Black Distributing in
Baker City, contends is like a back door sales tax.
Based on the history of Oregon voters soundly rejecting sales taxes,
Black said he believes voters would also have rejected Measure 67 if
the gross receipts provision was included in the ballot title and more
fully explained.
He also blames public employee unions, which spent more than $4
million for the Yes on Measures 66 and 67 campaign, which he believes
misled voters by portraying Measure 67 as a minimal increase in
corporate filing fees from $10 to $150.
“They lied to the people. It’s a value added tax. It’s a sales tax,” Black said.
During a town hall meeting Sunday in Baker City, Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Ore., read a comment made by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley,
published in The Oregonian, that after voters passed both Measure 67
and Measure 66, which raises income taxes on higher-earning Oregonians,
he was planning to send recruiters to Oregon to lure businesses and
investors away from the Beaver state.
“I fear for the future of this state,” Walden said.
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