After a week of relative tranquility, the unprecedented 2024 fire season returned with a vengeance to Baker County, as the lightning-sparked Town Gulch Fire made a major run on Tuesday, Aug. 6, roaring down the Eagle Creek Canyon north of New Bridge, destroying outbuildings and leading to evacuations.

The fire also spread east to the West Wall above Pine Valley, but firefighters stopped the fire from moving into the well-irrigated valley itself.

As of Friday, Aug. 9, the fire, though still active, had not had another major increase.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/crews-make-significant-progress-on-town-gulch-fire/article_52c4586a-564d-11ef-93cc-77edba1222f5.html

Five of the seven Baker City Council members plan to run for election Nov. 5. All were appointed last year.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/five-of-seven-baker-city-councilors-to-run-for-election-nov-5/article_ba137296-55e2-11ef-aab6-6fc11fc743b5.html

The Baker County Fair took place this week in Baker City, with a variety of events including the usual — youth showing the livestock they have spent many hours caring for — and the, well, not so usual — seeing how fast animals could munch a carrot, and dressing up a guinea pig as a baked potato. Next week we’ll see whether Friday night’s livestock auction sets a record.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/a-carrot-eating-contest-and-more-at-the-baker-county-fair/article_2ce2825c-55cb-11ef-b3a1-2feb29feb4b7.html

By PHIL WRIGHT

East Oregonian

Dear readers,

Last week, this letter mentioned taglines — brief information at the end of an article about how to contact the reporter who wrote. We put that same information in every print edition in the “publication box” at the bottom of A4.

We want to make contacting a reporter or editor as easy as we can, so to that end, here is the contact information for EO Media Group news staff in Eastern Oregon:

Baker County

Jayson Jacoby — 541-518-2088, jjacoby@bakercityherald.com

Lisa Britton — 541-518-2087, lbritton@bakercityherald.com

Umatilla and Morrow counties

Phil Wright — 541-966-0835, pwright@eastoregonian.com

Berit Thorson — 541-966-0807, bthorson@eastoregonian.com

Yasser Marte — 541-966-0838, ymarte@eastoregonian.com

Tammy Malgesini — 541-564-4532, tmalgesini@hermistonherald.com

Grant County

Bennett Hall — 541-575-0710 ext. 3, bhall@bluemountaineagle.com

Justin Davis — 541-575-0710 ext. 3, jdavis@bluemountaineagle.com

Union and Wallowa counties

Mike McInally — 541-905-4282, mmcinally@wallowa.com

Isabella Crowley — 541-624-6014, icrowley@lagrandeobserver.com

Bill Bradshaw — 541-263-0564, bbradshaw@wallowa.com

We also have a couple of interns working this summer.

Ellie Graham is the intern for The Observer in La Grande, and Alexander Banks is the intern for the Baker City Herald. They are not going around the office fetching coffee orders, they are working as full-on reporters.

Ellie is at egraham@lagrandeobserver.com, and Alexander is at abanks@bakercityherald.com.

And we at EO bid farewell and good luck on Friday, Aug. 9, to our intern, Tori Schuller. Although you might see her around town again soon — there’s a chance she’ll return just to experience the Pendleton Round-Up.

Your digital subscription access has been expanded to include the East Oregonian, La Grande Observer, Hermiston Herald, Baker City Herald, Wallowa County Chieftain, and Blue Mountain Eagle.

For all digital access:

• Simply register your account on every site you wish to read with the same email address and password you currently use.

• Once you’ve registered, enter your username and password to enjoy the full range of content on that news site.

• You should not have to login again unless you log out, clear history or experience software updates.

• Save your password when prompted by your browser and if you are inadvertently logged out, your browser can fill in your login and password for you. (Only use this option on your personal digital devices.)

To view the latest e-Editions, be sure to register your account and sign in to www.eastoregonian.com.

Sign up for e-newsletters from each website by going to the “Email lists” link on your account dashboard for each site.

Thank you for supporting local journalists in Eastern Oregon.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us at 800-781-3214 or email support@eomediagroup.com.

Phil Wright is the managing editor of the East Oregonian.