Herald failed to do its due diligence with misleading story about Truck Corral

To be clear the Baker Truck Corral has not been sold and will not be sold to Pilot Corporation!

On September 25 the Baker City Herald published a front-page story titled “Company wants to replace Baker Truck Corral with Pilot Travel Center.” The article would lead most people to believe that the Truck Corral had sold out to Pilot Corporation (I have encountered people all over town that believe we have sold.) The Herald irresponsibly jumped the gun and failed to do their due diligence to find the truth in the story before going to press. The fact is that at the time of publication the deal was already dead. How hard would it have been for the reporter to hang up his phone, get off his rear and drive out to the Truck Corral? I believe the reporter jumped to a false conclusion based on an application that Pilot had made to plan review. Just because Pilot submitted a plan for review doesn’t mean anything will ever come of it. They must know that they can obtain get a permit before making an offer. It is simple due diligence.

The Herald did report “Ryan Robinson of Pilot Flying J said Tuesday that the company has not bought the Baker Truck Corral property. Robinson said the company is looking at options for the property but does not have a signed agreement.” This statement should have given the reporter pause. The story was not time sensitive. It could have waited until Friday’s paper to give the reporter time to get it right. Instead Herald rushed to publish a story that is potentially damaging to our busianess. Will people not frequent our business because they believe it has been sold? We have 54 employees that rely on us for their livelihood. So please come and see us. I do not believe the Herald intended to mislead the public, but it did. At the very least we believe we are owed an apology form the Herald.

Kurt J. Miller

General Manager/Owner

Baker Truck Corral & Restaurant

Baker City