SPORTS
Inside
Young ‘iron chefs’ test
their new skills, 2A
Follower of the Fir, 1B
Worth the weight
FRIDAY-SUNDAY • August 23-25, 2019 • $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Terry Gray of La Grande
Fires torch trailers at Bearco
■ Nobody seriously injured in accidental blaze; original suspicion of arson dropped
By Sabrina Thompson
and Dick Mason
The Observer
The La Grande Fire and Rural
Fire departments responded to a
fi re at Bearco Storage Units about 7
a.m. this morning. The fi re began in
a stored camp trailer and spread to
a second trailer and an RV, caus-
ing smoke and water damage to
the adjacent El Erradero Mexican
Restaurant. No major injuries were
reported at the scene, and the fi re
was put out within an hour of the
fi rst engine arriving.
“Our concern was getting the fi re
out (and) minimizing damage to the
restaurant,” Captain Robbert Tib-
betts of the La Grande Fire Depart-
ment said. “First though is making
sure everyone is alive and out. Then
property conservation and minimiz-
ing damage to buildings as much as
possible.”
Four people were sleeping in a
tent near the camper where the fi re
started. They included Casey McCall
of La Grande and Jami Rice of Pend-
leton. Rice said she was awakened
See Fire / Page 3A
Sabrina Thompson/The Observer
Three trailers were destroyed in an early fi re Friday morning.
Declared
impasse
could
result in
strike
County
states
B2H
concerns
By Dick Mason
The Observer
students and the smallest around 40.
The buses have been purchased with
help from a $500,000 loan the school
district received.
All seven of the buses are housed
in or outside the school district’s bus
barn. Kerry Eckstein, the school dis-
trict’s maintenance supervisor, plans
to get as many of the buses inside the
barn as possible so that they can be
protected from the elements.
He said he has had his staff work-
ing hard to remove items from the bus
barn so more vehicles can be fi t in —
“bless their hearts,” he added.
Eckstein has been in charge of the
school district’s buses since being
named the district’s new mainte-
nance supervisor in June. Eckstein,
The construction of the
proposed Boardman to
Hemingway transmission
line through Union County
could make this area become
more vulnerable to wildfi res,
road damage, the spread of
noxious weeds and the loss of
viewsheds.
These are among the risks
the Union County Board of
Commissioners are request-
ing the state address in
the event the B2H project
is approved despite Union
County’s objections. The
commissioners did so in a
letter sent Thursday to Kel-
len Tardaewether, a senior
siting analyst for the Oregon
Department of Energy, which
has a big infl uence on deter-
mining the fate of the B2H
transmission line in Oregon.
The Boardman to Heming-
way transmission line would
run for 300 miles from
Boardman to the Heming-
way substation in Southwest
Idaho. The line would be built
by Idaho Power, which is
leading the B2H project with
major assistance from the
Bonneville Power Admin-
istration and Pacifi Corp. It
has been contended that the
county will not benefi t from
the transmission line yet will
be severely impacted by its
construction and presence.
Major requests made in
the Union County Commis-
sioners’ letter, which was
See Elgin / Page 5A
See B2H / Page 5A
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — The
bargaining team represent-
ing thousands of classifi ed
staff at Oregon’s seven public
universities has declared an
impasse in contract negotia-
tions.
Declaring an impasse
means both the union and
management have until
Friday to submit fi nal con-
tract offers, Oregon Public
Broadcasting reported. After
that, there’s a 30-day cool-
ing off period during which
negotiations are scheduled
to continue and workers can
give notice of a strike.
SEIU 503 represents staff
including library technicians,
offi ce workers and custodial
staff.
Members of the SEIU 503
bargaining team say the
universities aren’t offering
a fair contract and cite con-
cerns over salary increases,
proposals related to layoffs
and workplace bullying.
“What I’m looking at right
now are proposals I can’t live
with,” said Darrow Omar,
SEIU member organizer and
offi ce coordinator for Portland
State University’s women,
sexuality and gender studies
department.
As part of negotiations, the
union is asking for a 3.5%
cost of living adjustment for
2020 while the universities
propose a 1.25% cost of living
increase.
Oregon Public Universities
Dick Mason/The Observer
Kerry Eckstein checks the oil of one of the Elgin School District’s buses. Eckstein is the school district’s new main-
tenance supervisor.
Elgin’s new buses
By Dick Mason
The Observer
A yellow school bus is as synony-
mous with education in the United
States as an apple is with a teacher’s
knowledge, so much so that children
emerging from such a vehicle is a
refl ection of classic American culture,
the type Norman Rockwell so skillful-
ly captured in his Saturday Evening
Post illustrations decades ago.
People in the Elgin School District
will continue seeing Rockwellian
images of children at bus stops in the
upcoming school year, but look below
the surface and one will see that the
foundation of the school
district’s bus service has changed.
The Elgin School District is now
running its own bus service instead
of using an outside service. The step
was made by the Elgin School Board
earlier this year to save money. The
school district ended its contract for
bus service from Mid-Columbia Bus
Company after the 2018-19 school
year.
The change will not impact the bus
service students and families receive
from the Elgin School District. Bus
drivers will drop off and pick up stu-
dents as they have always done.
The differences are that the school
district now owns all the buses
students ride on, is responsible for
the vehicles’ upkeep and employs all
the bus drivers. The school district
has purchased a total of seven new
and used buses in recent months, the
largest of which has a capacity of 84
Kindness in action
See Impasse / Page 5A
■ New thrift store gives
back to community
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
Sabrina Thompson/ The Observer
Community Kindness of Eastern Oregon features donated items whose profi ts
go directly back into the community.
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified .......4B
Comics ...........3B
Crossword .....6B
Dear Abby .....8B
Horoscope .....6B
Lottery............2A
Obituaries ......3A
On the Fence .4A
MONDAY
Opinion ..........4A
Outdoors .......1B
Spiritual Life ..6A
Sports ............7A
Community Kindness of
Eastern Oregon will offi cially
open the doors of its thrift store
at a grand opening Saturday.
Though the La Grande store
has been open for the last eight
weeks for shoppers, the day
will celebrate the nonprofi t and
the work it plans to do for the
community.
Every dollar earned at Com-
munity Kindness goes back
into the community, according
to the store’s owner, Liz Meyer
of La Grande. Whether it is to
purchase materials to make
dolls and fi dget blankets to
go to various organizations —
including Wildfl ower Lodge,
Angeline Senior Living, Heart
‘n Home Hospice and Palliative
Care and Grande Ronde Hos-
pital Home Care Services — or
to soon give direct monetary
donations to additional groups
and organizations, Community
See Kindness / Page 5A
CONTACT US
Full forecast on the back of B section
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
54 LOW
84/48
78/46
Partly cloudy
Lots of sun; nice
Sunny; pleasant
541-963-3161
Issue 100
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com .
More contact info
on Page 4A.
GRH NAMES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Online at lagrandeobserver.com