FRIDAY
MORE THAN $133 IN COUPONS SPORTS, 5A
STATE SOFTBALL TOURNEY
In OUTDOORS, 1C
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
July 22, 2016
IN THIS EDITION:
Local • Health & Fitness • Outdoors • TV
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald subscriber Greg Pointer of Baker City.
Nation, 6A
CLEVELAND — Declaring America in crisis, Donald Trump pledged to cheering Republicans and still-skeptical voters Thursday night that as president he will restore the safety they fear they’re losing, strictly curb immigration and save the nation from Hillary Clinton’s record of “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness.”
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Work Continues To Open Sumpter Dredge’s Top Floor To Visitors
High Priority Plan
BRIEFING
N. Powder Class of 1956 reunion set for July 30
The North Powder High School Class of 1956 will celebrate their 60th class reunion at the North Powder Huckleberry Festival on Saturday, July 30. Classmates will meet at the School Cafeteria for the pancake breakfast at 8:30 a.m. The Huckleberry Festival includes vendors selling different kinds of huckleberry treats, food and craft vendors, car show and parade. For more information call Mary Rider at 541-856-3517.
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Jack Walls is working to get the second story of the Sumpter Dredge open to visitors.The control room for the gold dredge is behind top left windows. By Forrest Welk
fwelk@bakercityherald.com
Medicaid expert and VA claims agent will have free class Aug. 11 in Baker City
Joe Mitchell, a longterm care Medicaid expert and accredited Veterans Affairs claims agent, will put on a free class Aug. 11 in Baker City. The class will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Baker City Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St. Mitchell will cover topics including: • What long-term care Medicaid covers • How to qualify for Medicaid while protecting assets • Aid and Attendance pensions, up to $2,120 per month, available for wartime veterans or other widows who need in-home care or other long-term care Registration is not required, and everyone is invited to attend. More information is available at www. oregonmedicaidhelp. com
WEATHER
Today
79 / 40 Mostly sunny
Saturday
79 / 41
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Rella Brown, park ranger, says the second deck's well-worn stairs and floor are too unsafe for regular visitor use.
DREDGE HISTORY The Sumpter Dredge, a 2.5-millionpound behemoth, was the third goldmining machine to ply the gravels along the Powder River.The machine was assembled from parts of older dredges, and it operated from 1935 until 1954. Sumpter residents said the dredge’s clamor clattered so consis-
tently through the valley that on the rare occasions when the machine shut down, the sudden silence seemed as deafening as a thunderclap. The dredge is a brutally simple machine. The proboscis-like boom that juts from the hull supports a string of 72 one-ton iron buckets. Motors propelled the bucket line, pushing
SUMPTER — Rella Brown stands on the top center deck of the Sumpter Dredge, admiring the massive mining rig built in the Great Depression. A ranger assistant of Oregon State Parks, Brown points to a large metal structure partially sticking out the ship’s front. It looks like a rusty Ferris wheel, featuring multiple spoonshaped buckets that weigh a ton each. The hopper, as it’s called, used to carry ore into the ship by scooping it up and rotating it toward the dredge’s mouth. From there, the rocks were washed and filtered for gold in a metal container called the neck. Brown uses anatomical terms including mouth, neck and belly to explain the complex machine to children. Today, the former workplace is a tourist attraction restored by Oregon State Parks and Friends of the Dredge, an organization devoted to continued preservation of the historical piece. One floor below, curious tourists pass by and look up to hear Brown’s distant explanation of the hopper’s function. The public isn’t allowed on the top floor due to safety concerns, and Brown usually has to explain the elevated hopper by using a laser pointer from the ground floor. See Dredge/Page 6A
the containers into banks of goldbearing river gravels and pulling the laden buckets back into the dredge’s innards. There, the rock moved through steel cylinders that sorted the debris by size. Elsewhere, pumps sucked water into sluices where the heavier gold settled into collection containers while the lighter rocks and dirt floated away.
Strawberry Wilderness hiking FILLING VACANCY ON BAKER CITY COUNCIL
City has 1 in line
The Baker City Council’s decision to give residents an extra week to apply to fill a vacancy on the Council didn’t attract any new applicants. The deadline to apply was noon Thursday. The original deadline was July 7, and two candidates, Chris Parker and Loran Joseph, applied to replace Sandy Lewis, who resigned as a councilor July 13 because she’s moving out of town. Councilors decided during their July 12 meeting to not appoint either Parker or Joseph. Instead, councilors extended the application deadline. In the meantime, Parker withdrew her application and chose instead to run for election to a full term in the Nov. 8 election. Joseph is still interested in replacing Lewis. If appointed, his term would continue through the end of 2016. See Council/Page 2A
Teen health carnival set for July 27 By Lisa Britton
For the Baker City Herald
All teenagers are invited to a Teen Health Carnival and outdoor movie starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, in Geiser-Pollman Park. The event is paid for with “incentive funds” from the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization, and the Local Community Advisory Council (LCAC) decided how to spend those grant dollars. See Health Fair/Page 2A
County deeds Greenhorn lots By Joshua Dillen
jdillen@bakercityherald.com
Baker County Commissioners approved the deeding of several lots of county-owned land to the city of Greenhorn on Wednesday. Greenhorn Mayor Dale McClouth wrote a letter to commissioners requesting the land be released to the Greenhorn for the establishment of a city park and a Life Flight heliport. Commission Chairman Bill Harvey said the city also plans to sell the properties that aren’t used for the park or heliport to help pay for a water system project.
Mostly sunny
Sunday
85 / 48 Mostly sunny
TODAY Issue 32, 20 pages
Calendar ....................2A Classified ............. 1B-6B Comics ....................... 7B
Community News ....3A Crossword ........5B & 6B Dear Abby ................. 8B
Health ...............5C & 6C Jayson Jacoby ..........4A News of Record ........2A
Obituaries..................2A Opinion ......................4A Outdoors ..........1C & 2C
Sports ........................5A Television .........3C & 4C Weather ..................... 8B
MONDAY — STICES GULCH RESIDENTS REMEMBER THE FIRE
See County/Page 2A