Baker City has a city council again. Part of one anyway.

After being without any council members since Sept. 27, the Baker County commissioners on Oct. 18 appointed Roger Coles, Doni Bruland, Larry Pearson and Randy Daugherty to constitute a quorum. All four are former city councilors. Those four plan to fill the three remaining vacancies on the council in late November.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/four-new-city-councilors-coles-bruland-pearson-daugherty/article_1cccd2ca-6dee-11ee-b7e5-3fefaf0a0383.html

A spate of summery weather enabled Forest Service managers to do a significant amount of prescribed burning on parts of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest this past week. The prescribed burning, which is designed to reduce the risk of wildfires in the future, partially made up for the spring, when lingering snow and frequent rain fizzled prescribed fire plans.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/summery-weather-enables-fall-prescribed-burning/article_82b5308a-6ebd-11ee-9ce2-479c9d6c0ebf.html

Baker City is trying to make the intersection of Fourth Street and Auburn Avenue safer for students at South Baker Intermediate and Baker Middle School, many of whom cross Auburn at the intersection. Steps so far include painting more conspicuous crosswalks, and prohibiting parking on Auburn near the intersection to make pedestrians more visible. Some neighbors have advocated for the city to make the intersection a four-way stop. Now, there are stop signs only on Fourth Street.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/city-seeks-to-make-intersection-safer-for-students/article_f99b46fe-6cf0-11ee-a0ac-4f98cd44792e.html

Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby said that although the department is continuing to maintain around-the-clock patrols, doing so is taking a toll both on the department’s overtime budget and on the morale of officers who have to fill in for colleagues who are on vacation or ill.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/baker-city-police-staffing-bare-bones/article_3e5fbe5e-6db5-11ee-ace6-1fb8b23f86c9.html