LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
On Dec. 30, 1922, Vladimir
Lenin proclaimed the estab-
lishment of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, which lasted
nearly seven decades before
dissolving in December 1991.
In 1813, British troops burned
Buff alo, New York, during the
War of 1812.
In 1853, the United States
and Mexico signed a treaty
under which the U.S. agreed to
buy some 45,000 square miles
of land from Mexico for $10
million in a deal known as the
Gadsden Purchase.
In 1860, 10 days after South
Carolina seceded from the
Union, the state militia seized
the United States Arsenal in
Charleston.
In 1903, about 600 people
died when fi re broke out at the
recently opened Iroquois The-
ater in Chicago.
In 1954, Olympic gold medal
runner Malvin G. Whitfi eld
became the fi rst Black recipient
of the James E. Sullivan Award
for amateur athletes.
In 1972, the United States
halted its heavy bombing of
North Vietnam.
In 1994, a gunman walked
into a pair of suburban Boston
abortion clinics and opened
fi re, killing two employees.
(John C. Salvi III was later con-
victed of murder; he died in
prison, an apparent suicide.)
In 1999, former Beatle
George Harrison fought off a
knife-wielding intruder who’d
broken into his mansion west of
London and stabbed him in the
chest. (The attacker was later
acquitted of attempted murder
by reason of insanity.)
In 2004, a fi re broke out
during a rock concert at a night-
club in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
killing 194 people. Bandleader
and clarinetist Artie Shaw died
in Thousand Oaks, California,
at age 94.
In 2006, a state funeral ser-
vice was held in the U.S. Capitol
Rotunda for former President
Gerald R. Ford.
In 2009, seven CIA employees
and a Jordanian intelligence
offi cer were killed by a suicide
bomber at a U.S. base in Khost
(hohst), Afghanistan.
In 2015, Bill Cosby was
charged with drugging and sex-
ually assaulting a woman at his
suburban Philadelphia home
in 2004; it was the fi rst crim-
inal case brought against the
comedian out of the torrent of
allegations that destroyed his
good-guy image as “America’s
Dad.” (Cosby’s fi rst trial ended
in a mistrial after jurors dead-
locked; he was convicted on
three charges at his retrial in
April 2018 and was sentenced
to three to 10 years in prison,
but the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court overturned the convic-
tion in June 2021 and Cosby
went free.)
Ten years ago: North Korea
warned the world there would
be no softening of its posi-
tion toward South Korea’s
government following Kim
Jong Il’s death as Pyongyang
strengthened his son and heir’s
authority with a new title:
“Great Leader.”
Five years ago: Two luxury
retreats in New York and Mary-
land where Russian diplomats
had gone for decades to play
tennis, sail and swim were shut
down by the Obama adminis-
tration in retaliation for Mos-
cow’s cyber-meddling in the
presidential election.
One year ago: Republican
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri
said he would raise objections
when Congress met to affi rm
President-elect Joe Biden’s vic-
tory, forcing House and Senate
votes. President Donald Trump
asked the Supreme Court to
overturn his election loss in Wis-
consin; it was his second unsuc-
cessful appeal in as many days
to the high court over the result
in the battleground state.
LOTTERY
Monday, Dec. 27, 2021
Powerball
36-38-45-62-64
Powerball: 19
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $416 million
Megabucks
3-6-10-28-35-36
Estimated jackpot: $7.5 million
Lucky Lines
3-8-9-16-18-24-25-32
Estimated jackpot: $59,000
Win for Life
15-19-32-64
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 1-5-3-7
4 p.m.: 7-7-9-5
7 p.m.: 8-5-8-5
10 p.m.: 1-8-0-4
Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021
Mega Millions
3-5-8-31-38
Mega Ball: 4
Megaplier: 3
Estimated jackpot: $201
million
Lucky Lines
1-8-11-15-18-23-25-30
Estimated jackpot: $60,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 1-3-6-8
4 p.m.: 1-5-2-7
7 p.m.: 8-9-0-3
10 p.m.: 0-7-4-0
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
Snowmobile
riders found
after losing
their way
University wipeout
Panhandle Snowmobile
Club helps sheriff
find lost snowmobilers
near Fish Lake
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Isaac Morgan wipes out on the hill behind Badgley Hall at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021.
Snow, cold temps on tap through holiday
Overnight lows
will reach single
digits over the
weekend
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE —
Thermometer mercury
has made quite a journey
this year, from heat waves
breaking records in June
to a cold front bringing a
rare snowstorm to Seattle
and Portland and chilly
temperatures that might
break records on New
Year’s Eve.
“What is bringing
this in is a low-pres-
sure troughing pattern
— a series of lows that
are originating as conti-
nental air masses rather
than marine air masses,
so we’re getting colder
air that is more arctic
in nature,” said Colby
Goatley, a meteorologist
with the National Weather
Service in Pendleton.
Goatley said the pat-
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Tyler Sanborn shovels snow in front of his Washington Avenue
home and his 1952 Chrysler Imperial on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021,
in La Grande.
tern is more typical, and
doesn’t bear the charac-
teristics of a polar vortex.
Still, the temperatures
will drop signifi cantly
overnight.
Nighttime lows for
La Grande through New
Year’s Day will dip into
the single digits, with
the lowest temperature
predicted to be as low
as 4 degrees on Friday,
Dec. 31, according to
the weather service. The
previous record for La
Grande was set in 1968
with a nighttime low of
minus 3. Daytime highs
will hover in the 20s and
remain below freezing for
the rest of the week.
A high probability
of snow through Dec.
31 could accumulate
up to 4 inches by Dec.
30, tapering off by New
Year’s Day as weather
improves.
“If you’re going to be
out during those cold tem-
peratures, just make sure
you’re plenty bundled up,”
Goatley said. “You can
get frostbite pretty fast.”
The cold weather
will handily beat out last
year’s temperatures that
kept steady above 18
degrees for December.
This is partly due to the
La Nina weather pattern
returning, bringing more
precipitation to the Pacifi c
Northwest.
Goatley cautioned that
wind chills could bring
the temperatures down
even further to the neg-
ative teens, though the
chance of wind gusts
are low. With the cold
weather, precautions
should be taken by drivers
traveling back after the
holidays, as well as by
owners of livestock or
animals who may get
caught in the biting cold.
“Make sure any ani-
mals have adequate
shelter or brought indoors,
and pipes are covered to
prevent bursting,” he said.
Installing pipe sleeves
or simply running water
through the night —
even just a trickle — can
also prevent pipes from
bursting, according to the
American Red Cross.
County commissioners OK PILT for solar farm
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — An
agreement on payment in
lieu of taxes for a com-
munity solar project and
a new cover sheet for
contract and grant appli-
cations were approved
Wednesday, Dec. 15,
by the Wallowa County
Board of Commissioners.
Ryan Sheehy, of Fleet
Development, asked the
commissioners for the tax
agreement to help him
plan for the future of his
project.
A year ago, the Chief-
tain reported that the
commissioners approved
a lease on 2.5 acres of
land just outside of Enter-
prise for a long-planned
solar farm by Sheehy’s
fi rm. The project will be
built on county land on
Homan Lane near Fish
Hatchery Lane considered
unusable for any other
practical purpose, the
commissioners agreed.
The site is that of the
county’s old asphalt plant.
The power generated
from the 360-kilowatt
solar farm would provide
energy to local customers
through the Pacifi c Power
and Light power grid.
Sheehy said the power
already is planned to be
subscribed to local busi-
nesses and apartment
complexes that have no
other viable access to
solar power.
“We’re actually in con-
struction with (it) right
now. It’s been a long time
coming — three years
working on it — and it’s
pretty remarkable to see
it actually growing on the
ground there,” Sheehy
said. “One of the things
that I needed to settle
earlier to get fi nancing
for the project was what
is the cost to operate it
and one of the questions
within that subset is what
the taxes are.”
He said his request has
been ongoing.
“Earlier in the year, I
reached out to the county
and was working on get-
ting a good-faith estimate
on that,” he said.
But, he said, he’s been
having diffi culty getting
the answers he needs.
An assurance from the
commissioners will be
helpful getting fi nancing
for the project.
“For me, I need to
know what the taxes
are,” Sheehy said. “That’s
because solar is diffi cult
to fi nance.”
He emphasized that
there are a wide variety of
costs associated with it.
“Over 20 years, the
solar production will
decline and the costs will
go up. I have to look at
what will it look like in
year 21 and will we have
enough to cover insur-
ance and taxes and all
those things,” he said.
In the Aug. 9, 2020,
Chieftain, Sheehy said he
expected the project to be
good for at least the 20
years of his contract with
PP&L and could likely
extend on to 30 or more
years.
In the Dec. 23, 2020,
Chieftain, Commissioner
Susan Roberts stated that
the lease with the county
could be renewable after
the 20 years.
Sheehy said the project
is paying an above-market
lease rate for the county
land. He said the project
should generate more
than $5,000 in annual
revenue for the county.
To the maximum extent
possible, all construction
and equipment have been
locally sourced.
Sheehy has his pref-
erence for taxation
methods.
“One of the great
things that the state
has done for solar is
to provide an alterna-
tive method to the tax.
It was just upgraded and
re-passed during the last
legislative session,” he
said. “The bottom line
is they came out with
the same methodology
in that they’ll tax at a
dollar amount per mega-
watt size. So it’s $7,000
per megawatt. If you do
the math, it works out
to $2,520 a year for our
360-kw project. What
I’m asking you all is that
at this point, as we’re
closing in on commercial
operations and with get-
ting Community Bank
to lend to us, I would
like to move forward
with this methodology of
taxes because it’s set and
I know what it’s going to
be in 20 years. I think this
is the simplest way to get
some value out of this. ”
Commissioner John
Hillock, who owns Enter-
prise Electric, abstained
on the motion, with the
other commissioners
voting to approve it.
NEWS BRIEF
Truck crash leads
to series of wrecks
BAKER CITY — A semi-
trailer lost control on an icy curve
on Interstate 84 near Rye Valley,
southeast of Baker City, Sunday
morning, Dec. 26, leading to a
chain reaction in which several
other vehicles were damaged.
There were no serious inju-
ries, although several drivers and
passengers suff ered minor inju-
ries, according to an Oregon State
Police report.
The incident started just before
10 a.m. when truck driver Teresa
S. Hubbard, 59, of Knoxville, Ten-
nessee, was westbound near Mile-
post 342, about 38 miles southeast
of Baker City, and slid on the slick
pavement and careened off a steep
embankment.
The trailer was partially
blocking one westbound lane, and
several other vehicles crashed
when they reached the site,
according to a report from OSP
Sgt. David Aydelotte.
Shortly after the chain reaction
of crashes, a Lexus SUV crashed
into an Oregon Department of
Transportation snowplow that was
helping with the incident.
Several vehicles, including the
semitrailer, had to be towed.
The truck crash caused signif-
icant damage to the concrete bar-
rier in the center of the freeway
and destroyed a section of guard-
rail, according to Aydelotte’s
report.
The semi also spilled approxi-
mately 150 gallons of diesel.
— EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — A group of
Baker County snowmobile riders
rapidly shifted from recreationists
to rescuers the day after Christmas
when riders from Washington got
lost during a blizzard in the Wal-
lowa Mountains north of Halfway.
The locals, members of the Pan-
handle Snowmobile Club in eastern
Baker County, found the fi ve snow-
mobilers, none of whom was
injured, and escorted them back to a
parking area about four hours after
the rescue operation started.
The episode showed the value
both of the GPS-equipped emer-
gency transmitter the Washington
snowmobilers carried, and of
having a local cadre of riders who
are familiar with the terrain and
willing to help others, Baker County
Sheriff Travis Ash said on Monday,
Dec. 27.
“They made a pretty seamless
transition from enjoying their day
to a rescue mission,” Ash said of
the Panhandle Snowmobile Club
members.
The incident started about
5:28 p.m. Dec. 26 when Ash
received a phone call from Brandon
Christensen, a Washington man
who is friends with the fi ve snow-
mobilers. Christensen told the
sheriff that his friends, who had
limited cell service, had called to
tell him they were lost in the Fish
Lake area, about 14 miles north of
Halfway.
Christensen said he is also an
experienced snowmobiler who has
participated in search and rescue
missions, involving snowmobiles,
with the Umatilla County Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce. Christensen said he was
riding his snowmobile in the Toll-
gate area, north of Elgin, on Dec.
26 and had just returned to his
cabin when he got a phone call from
Mike Kelly, a friend from Burbank,
Washington, near the Tri-Cities.
Kelly said he and four other
riders, all of them friends with
Christensen, were riding in the Fish
Lake area north of Halfway and
that they were lost in a storm that
brought fog, snow and gusty winds
that eradicated their tracks. The
riders couldn’t fi nd their way back
to the trailhead in the dark.
“I immediately started making
phone calls,” Christensen said.
One of those was to the Wallowa
Avalanche Center in Joseph, where
a staff member gave Christensen a
phone number for Ash.
Kelly used his cellphone to send
Christensen a digital map osten-
sibly showing their location. But
the map showed them to be in the
Catherine Creek area, more than
15 miles to the west. At about
5:43 p.m., the Baker County Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce received an SOS alert
from a Garmin satellite device. The
message stated that several snow-
mobilers, one of whom had a med-
ical condition, were lost. The mes-
sage pinpointed the group’s location
near Fish Lake.
Ash said it was clear that this
was the same group Christensen
had called him about.
Christensen said another member
of the group, John Mecham, of
Kennewick, brought the Garmin
InReach satellite device. Ash said
he told Christensen, who had inter-
mittent cellphone contact with
Kelly, to tell the group to stay where
they were since the GPS message
had established their location.
Christensen said his friends had
ridden in the area several times but
were unable to get their bearings in
the storm. They did have materials
to start a fi re, as well as some food.
Ash said that after confi rming
the group’s location he called Duane
Miles, of the Panhandle Snowmo-
bile Club, who immediately started
assembling riders while Ash was en
route from Baker City to Halfway.
The club members reached
the fi ve Washington men about
9:10 p.m. They were cold and tired
but otherwise OK. They rode back
about 9 miles to the Clear Creek
Sno-Park on the road to Fish Lake.
The group, in addition to Kelly
and Mecham, consisted of John
Rasmussen, of Kennewick, and
Alan Townsend and Steve Paget,
both of Burbank.