50 YEARS AGO

from the Democrat-Herald

June 17, 1971

The city planning commission discussed a letter from the school board last night asking for several street vacations on Washington Street near the Junior High School.

The commission took no action on the request since no one from the school board attended the meeting to explain the request and clear up some uncertainties.

25 YEARS AGO

from the Baker City Herald

June 17, 1996

The Oregon State Mint opened its doors in Baker City Memorial Day weekend, joining three other businesses at its new location on Main Street.

The Oregon State Mint, Baker Gold & Silver, Oregon Trail Mercantile and Easy Does It Distributing share quarters at 2200 Main St., Suite 1. Terry Karp owns and operates the first three, Dick Secrest the mail-order distributing business.

10 YEARS AGO

from the Baker City Herald

June 17, 2011

The Oregon National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 166th Cavalry, based out of Eastern Oregon, is part of a pilot program that will provide employment services for deployed soldiers.

These soldiers will communicate with partner agencies, such as WorkSource Oregon, to submit applications, resumes, and complete interviews over the Internet while they are still overseas.

ONE YEAR AGO

from the Baker City Herald

June 18, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is not deterring Baker County residents from donating blood.

The American Red Cross blood drive Monday at the Baker City First Church of the Nazarene attracted 110 people willing to donate a pint of blood.

A computer glitch meant a few dozen of those people weren’t able to give blood.

But local coordinator Myrna Evans was still pleased with the level of interest.

The roster of 110 willing donors follows a March 30 drive in Baker City — the first such event after restrictions and precautions related to the pandemic started — that attracted about 98 donors.

And that was 15 more donors than showed up for a January 2020 event, the last before coronavirus arrived. The 98 donors in March were the most that Evans had recorded since taking over responsibility for local blood drives from the retired Colleen Brooks in early 2018.

Although the Red Cross has had to cancel hundreds of blood drives nationwide due to the pandemic, Lisa Winter, a senior account manager for the organization whose territory covers all of Oregon, said volunteers have continued to show up for events that were scheduled.

Monday’s 6-hour event, from noon to 6 p.m., was the first in Baker City in which the Red Cross tested all donors for COVID-19 antibodies, which show they have previously been exposed to the virus, Winter said.

“When we take their blood, it’s just going to be a test we’re going to add to it and we’re going to do that through the end of October,” she said.

Evans said donors can check their test results through the Red Cross app or at redcrossblood.org within 7 to 10 days.