S. John Collins / Baker City Herald Fears about the flu, and flu-like illnesses, have been rising in recent weeks.

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Despite serious outbreaks of the flu in other parts of the country — including 20 child deaths — the condition is less serious in Oregon where no child has yet died of the flu.

Though the illness is termed “widespread” throughout Oregon, the number of people suffering with the flu is rated as “moderate” in the most recent update from the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division.

 Alicia Hills, nursing supervisor at the Baker County Health Department, said no “reportable” cases of the flu have come to her attention in Baker County.

But that doesn’t mean that people aren’t suffering with flu-like symptoms, she said.

By Katy Nesbitt

The (La Grande) Observer

Wolves have played a unique role in the human psyche throughout history, and the argument continues whether the two should share the landscape.

Hunkering yards away from human campfires, living, in part, off discarded scraps, the more docile members of ancient wolf packs became the ancestors of domestic dogs.

Their gregarious nature and pack structure that resembles a family, are familiar to people and even, to some, endearing.

On the flip-side, their brutal-seeming dinner table manners, eating prey sometimes while it is still alive, has stricken fear in the hearts of their human neighbors – vilifying them as agents of the devil and their violent reputation inspired fairy tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs."

That changed in February 1999, when an adult female wolf from Idaho, where the federal government had reintroduced wolves four years earlier, crossed the border and entered Oregon.

As wildlife biologists had predicted, that wolf, which was captured and returned to Idaho in March 1999, was merely a vanguard.

Today, Oregon is home to five wolf packs and an estimated 48 wolves.

The return of wolves precipitated a debate that continues unabated. There are multiple issues: Can wolves co-exist with cattle and sheep? Should livestock owners be able to kill wolves that harass or attack their animals? How will wolves affect populations of deer, elk and other big game animals? When should wolves in Northeastern Oregon, which are no longer protected by the federal endangered species act, also be removed from Oregon’s endangered species list?

In a six-part series that starts today and continues through Jan. 25 in both the Baker City Herald and The Observer in La Grande, we’ll look as far back as 1843, and well into the future, to put into perspective what has become one of Oregon’s major natural resource issues of the 21st century.

 By Katy Nesbitt

The (La Grande) Observer

The years following World War II spawned industrialization, increased access to education, advances in technology, and the free time to consider societal issues such as peace, civil rights, and environmentalism.

America’s farming became mechanized and more people were living in suburbia when issues of clean water, air, protecting the environment, and wildlife species went from being a fringe movement to the forefront of concern with the passage of new protection laws.

The Endangered Species Act was one of the laws that came out of the early 1970s concern for the environment and an awareness that certain species were in peril while others had almost disappeared.

Wolves in the West, for instance.

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald The convenience of direct deposit for her monthly Social Security check appeals to Marda Bloom, right, who lives out of town, while Anna Hackett cites security as her main reason for the service. Direct deposit of Social Security checks will be become mandatory beginning March 1.

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An intensive public relations campaign by the U.S. Treasury Department seems to have achieved its goal —  at least in Baker County.

The campaign is aimed at getting everyone who receives a monthly federal benefit payment to convert from a paper check to an electronic payment system by March 1.

According to a straw poll of about 40 seniors gathered for lunch at Community Connection Wednesday, most have already signed up for automatic deposit, according to Mary Jo Carpenter. She’s the Baker County manager for Community Connection, which sponsors the lunchtime meals.

Maybe part of that is because of the Treasury Department’s efforts.

“They’ve been well-notified,” Carpenter said of the seniors who frequent Community Connection. “The Treasury Department is doing quite the notification campaign.

“They’ve gotten quite a lot of notice that this was coming down the pike."

By Jayson Jacoby

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Zella Sly is holding a stone that looks perfect for propping open a door that’s out of plumb.

Or you could use it to buy a new Ferrari.

This is, suffice it to say, not an ordinary rock.

To be geologically precise, it’s not even a rock at all.

It’s a chunk of nearly pure gold.

Specifically, the biggest, and most famous, gold nugget ever found in Oregon.

And it has a new home in Baker City.

Well, sort of new.

The Armstrong nugget, all 5 pounds of it, rests today where it has for more than half a century — in the U.S. Bank branch at 2000 Main St. in Baker City.

But the nugget, and the rest of the dazzling display of the precious metal that surrounds it, is shown off to better effect in a new wood-and-glass case.

The custom-built case not only looks nice, it incorporates much more sophisticated security features, said Sly, who manages the Baker City branch.

By Terri Harber

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The four new Baker City councilors were sworn in Tuesday evening at City Hall.

Kim Mosier, Richard Langrell, Barbara Johnson and Mike Downing, who were elected Nov. 6, introduced themselves to the audience.

Their first decision was choosing their leader for the next two years. Nominations were made for Langrell and Clair Button. 

Langrell received five votes and Button received two.

Johnson and Downing voted for Button. Button voted for Langrell, as did Councilors Dennis Dorrah, Roger Coles, Kim Mosier and Langrell himself.

Button was named vice mayor.

In Baker City’s council-manager form of government, the mayor sets meeting agendas and presides over meetings but does not have veto power.

UV water treatment bid OK’d

Once the mayor and vice mayor were elected, the new Council took up an old bit of business: Deciding how to upgrade the city’s water treatment plant.

By Jayson Jacoby

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The snowpack in Northeastern Oregon’s mountains isn’t setting any records.

But this isn’t a bad thing.

In mid-December the snowpack, which is the region’s largest reservoir of water for irrigation, recreation and, of course, drinking, was noteworthy for its scarcity rather than its abundance.

But a pair of storms, one just before Christmas, the other on the holiday itself, brought the snowpack to a more respectable level.

And the chilly weather that has prevailed since has prevented any of the newfound gains from trickling away prematurely.

By Terri Harber

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There is now a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever burned a picnic table at Central Park.

The Baker City Lions Club and Baker City will each donate $250 to make up the total amount of $500.

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald -- The Backpack Program puts community volunteers to work once a week building 88 food packs to help qualified students get better nutrition during the weekends. Five of the volunteers are, from near to far, Rick Rembold, Susan Hinzpeter, Mark Ferns, Deb Trapp-Roehm and program organizer Lynn Roehm.

By Chris Collins

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As the new year begins, the First Presbyterian Church is expanding two programs designed to help feed Baker City children.

The expansion is possible thanks to two grants awarded by the Eastern Oregon Presbytery, which oversees Presbyterian churches in Eastern Oregon and parts of Idaho. 

But community contributions and more volunteers will be needed to maintain the expansion, according to  Larry Cassidy and Lynn Roehm.

By Terri Harber

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Someone purposely set fire to a sheltered picnic table at Central Park late Friday, and Baker City Police are investigating the incident.

The fire was called in to emergency dispatch just after midnight Saturday. 

Police arrived at the park to find one of the picnic tables ablaze in the park. An officer used an extinguisher to put it out, said Police Sgt. Mike Regan.