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TUESDAY EDITION
January 4, 2022
Utility
goes to
court
over B2H
Idaho Power seeks
access to Baker
County properties
for B2H surveys
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — An
Idaho-vbased utility is
asking a judge to order
the owners of fi ve Baker
County properties to allow
the company to survey their
land as part of its plan to
build a major electric trans-
mission line through North-
eastern Oregon starting as
early as 2023.
Attorneys representing
Idaho Power fi led civil peti-
tions regarding two of the
properties on Dec. 17, 2021,
in Baker County Circuit
Court, two others on Dec.
21, and one on Dec. 28.
The company is repre-
sented in all fi ve cases by
Timothy Helfrich and Zach
Olson, of the Ontario law
fi rm Yturri Rose.
The company has been
working since 2007 on
the Boardman-to-Hem-
ingway project, a 293-mile,
500-kilovolt line that would
run from near Boardman to
Hemingway, near Murphy
in Owyhee County, Idaho.
Although sections of
the proposed route runs
through public property —
Idaho Power has received
permission from the federal
government to do so — the
line, as proposed, would
also cross several dozen
parcels of private land in
multiple counties, including
Baker, Union, Wallowa and
Morrow in Oregon.
Idaho Power would have
to pay private landowners
for an easement to build
the power line across their
property. This would be a
one-time payment, not an
annual lease, according to
the boardmantohemingway.
com website.
Sven Berg, a corporate
communications specialist
for Idaho Power, said the
line would aff ect about 30
private landowners in Baker
County, who combined own
about 60 separate parcels.
Court fi lings
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Crews with the city of La Grande Public Works clear a snow berm along Adams Avenue on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Wind storms and severe weather closed
schools, as well as several local roads.
High winds batter valley
Severe weather forces road
closures, shuts down school
districts in Union County
By DICK MASON and ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Snowdrifts cre-
ated by high winds plus icy conditions
are making traveling in Union County
treacherous.
The weather forced all six of Union
County’s school districts to be closed on
Monday, Jan. 3, which was to be the fi rst
day back after the holiday break.
Imbler School District Superintendent
Doug Hislop said on Jan. 3 the decision
was not a hard one to make.
“I spent three hours driving around
yesterday and most of the time it was
hard for me to fi nd anywhere where
roads were clear,” Hislop said.
He noted that the Imbler School Dis-
trict’s parking lot was fi lled with snow
and that workers there spent much of the
day just trying to clear the lot.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
See, Storm/Page A5
Oregon Department of Transportation vehicles block Interstate 84 on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Severe
wind formed several snowdrifts along I-84, closing the roads in and out of the Grande Ronde Valley.
Recalling a special visitor
Bishop Desmond Tutu spoke during a 1983 visit to Cove
By DICK MASON
The Observer
The properties listed
See, B2H/Page A5
COVE — A leather
fi sherman’s cap worn by
Anglican Bishop Desmond
Tutu saved the day for a
party he was traveling with
on Interstate 84 in Baker
County four decades ago.
The South African was
riding in a car with Rustin
Kimsey, then the bishop
of the Eastern Oregon
Diocese of the Episco-
palian Church, and his
wife, Gretchen, on a hot
August day in 1983. The
three had left the Ascen-
sion School Camp in Cove
a half hour earlier. They
were bound for the airport
in Boise, where they were
supposed to pick up Tutu’s
daughter, M’Pho, before
returning to Cove where
Tutu was making presen-
tations during a week-long
conference.
The trip to Boise was
going well until the car
overheated because of a
malfunctioning radiator.
The vehicle was stranded
on the side of Interstate 84
and the situation looked
bleak before Tutu spotted
a drainage ditch below the
road.
“Undaunted by the
steepness and while
wearing his leather fi sher-
man’s cap, he scampered
down the ravine, dipped
his hat into the drain ditch
and brought enough water
to our overheated radiator
to cool it. Soon we were on
our way again,” Gretchen
Kimsey said.
The three, after a stop in
Baker City for repair work,
‘He spoke to the heart’
The Kimseys were
among about 70 people
who attended the 1983
See, Tutu/Page A5
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made it to Boise to pick up
Tutu’s daughter and soon
returned to Cove.
Gretchen Kimsey has
fond memories of that day
and of Tutu. Kimsey’s hus-
band, Rustin, had become
a good friend of Tutu’s
after getting to know him
at international meetings
of Episcopalian church
leaders. Tutu, who had just
attended a meeting of the
World Council of Churches
in Vancouver, B.C., had
come to Cove to speak
at the Ascension School
Camp at Rustin Kimsey’s
invitation.
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Ascension School Camp/Contributed Photo
Churchill Pinder is ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church by
The Most Rev. Desmond Tutu, left, and The Rt. Rev. Rustin Kimsey at
the Ascension School Camp in Cove in 1983.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
30 LOW
32/27
Snow, 2-4”
A bit of snow
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Issue 2
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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