After a 2023 marked by resignations, Baker City Hall begins 2024 with a full contingent of seven city councilors and a new city manager. The council voted Dec. 26 to hire Barry Murphy, and they made it official on Jan. 2 by ratifying a contract with Murphy, a retired Air Force colonel and F-16 fighter pilot. Murphy’s wife, Cortney, is a 1998 Baker High School graduate, and he has visited the city many times over the past two decades.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/new-city-manager-excited-to-be-in-baker-city/article_b53aac74-abd5-11ee-8a38-97be46752c06.html

Two Baker City Police officers are on paid leave pending the completion of an investigation into a Jan. 2 incident in which the officers shot and wounded a Boise man who, according to District Attorney Greg Baxter, brandished a gun at the officers during a traffic stop.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/d-a-identifies-man-shot-and-wounded-by-baker-city-police/article_8c23cb32-aa94-11ee-8a9f-f3c8c4252c2f.html

Sorbenots, a Baker City business that owns coffee shops here and in several other cities in the region, is looking to sell franchises in other states. The business’ unusual name — it’s Stone Bros backwards — reflects founders, brothers Phil and Jason Stone.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/sorbenots-coffee-preparing-to-offer-franchises/article_56b71398-a4d9-11ee-ae8c-9bf5e5d7db7b.html

A lack of snowstorms has made for a slow start to the snowmobiling season in Northeastern Oregon. Although there’s sufficient snow at higher elevations for snowmobiling, none of the local clubs has seen enough snow to warrant bringing out their trail groomers. The weather forecast, however, is promising, with several storms on tap over the next week or so.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/outdoors/lack-of-storms-stymies-snowmobilers-in-northeast-oregon/article_e91089a2-cbfb-534f-9a4a-d541f747d061.html