https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/the-talking-pumpkin-will-return-to-baker-city-this-halloween/article_b3c04fac-916c-11ef-ac9d-13e50c45b779.html

A beloved Baker City Halloween tradition that multiple generations of residents enjoyed from the 1960s through the 1990s is returning.

From 1962-97, Chuck Schlingman, a veterinarian, and his wife, Virgene, invited trick-or-treaters to their home on Campbell Street to meet the Talking Pumpkin. Schlingman placed an intercom speaker inside a jack-o-lantern placed in the front yard, and hidden in his living room, he greeted each child.

This Halloween, Liz Estabrooks, a former longtime Baker City resident who brought her daughter to the see the Talking Pumpkin and recently returned after retiring, is reviving the tradition at her home, which is also on Campbell Street just a couple blocks from the Schlingmans’ former home (Chuck died in 2014, Virgene in 2022).

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/rehab-for-public-land-burned-in-durkee-cow-valley-fires-estimated-at-27-million/article_dcaaffcc-920f-11ef-bdaa-f374f8e82efe.html

Reports from the Bureau of Land Management estimate the costs to rehabilitate public land burned in the Durkee and Cow Valley fires this summer at $27.5 million. That doesn’t include work on private land, which made up more than half the 427,000 acres burned in the two blazes.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/work-starts-on-a-new-gymnasium-at-the-baker-county-ymca/article_272f6824-9177-11ef-9629-f3c25a08a812.html

Work is underway on a new gymnasium next to the YMCA’s Family Fitness Center on Pocahontas Road.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/baker-county-ballot-return-rate-at-13-5-through-oct-23/article_422f4b90-92cf-11ef-ae59-07342714e9f5.html

As of Oct. 23, almost 14% of Baker County’s 13,128 registered voters had returned their ballot for the Nov. 5 election.

REMINDER: Although multiple Baker County stories are published each week in the Wednesday issue of the East Oregonian, most local news, including sports, opinion and business, is available to subscribers on the Herald’s website, www.bakercityherald.com.