50 YEARS AGO

from the Democrat-Herald

May 8, 1971

Fred Warner was sworn in as the 1971-72 president Baker Chapter of the Future Farmers of America last night before a crowd of nearly 220 people who attended the annual parent-son banquet of the FFA. Warner was given the oath of office by outgoing president Craig Conklin.

25 YEARS AGO

from the Baker City Herald

May 8, 1996

Some members of the volunteer group that helps operate the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center worry that attendance and donations will drop when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management begins charging admission fees later this year.

10 YEARS AGO

from the Baker City Herald

May 9, 2011

While searchers were scouring Baker County’s backcountry for her in early April, Rita Chretien was a couple hundred miles away and already more than two weeks into a 49-day ordeal.

Her remarkable tale of survival ended Friday when hunters found her, malnourished but relatively healthy, along the remote Nevada mountain road where the van Rita, 56, and her husband, Albert, were traveling in got stuck in the mud on March 19.

The search is continuing for Albert Chretien, 59, who left the stranded van on March 22 and went for help.

ONE YEAR AGO

from the Baker City Herald

May 9, 2020

A group of Oregon churches and individuals, including as lead plaintiff the Elkhorn Baptist Church in Baker City, is suing Gov. Kate Brown claiming her executive orders imposing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic are unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs filed the suit in Baker County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

They are represented by attorney Ray D. Hacke of the Pacific Justice Institute in Salem. Hacke said the Institute is a nonprofit law firm that defends religious liberty. It opened its Salem office about two years ago.

The plaintiffs are asking for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the governor from enforcing the executive orders, including the ban on gatherings of more than 25 people, which has affected many church services.

Hacke said Thursday afternoon that he also filed a motion asking a judge to grant the plaintiffs a temporary restraining order.

That order would prevent the governor from imposing terms of the executive order, including the prohibition on larger gatherings if participants can’t maintain social distancing.