Opinion
A4
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
OUR VIEW
Glad
inquiry is
in the past
A
bout the best thing that can be said for
the conclusion of an investigation by the
Oregon School Activities Association
regarding the use of racist remarks at a football
playoff game last fall is it is over.
Last month, the OSAA released its fi ndings
on an alleged incident that occurred during a
La Grande-Gladstone football playoff game in
November. The OSAA found the allegations
regarding the use of racial slurs by members of
the La Grande team against the Gladstone squad
could not be confi rmed.
Another allegation, that an offi cial identifi ed a
Gladstone coach by his ethnicity, was confi rmed.
The probe, though, found that the offi cial later
apologized to the coach during the game.
The OSAA review of the game lasted sev-
eral months, and a third-party investigator was
used to conduct the probe. Players and staff were
interviewed.
While the OSAA could not substantiate the
evidence of the use of a racial slur, it did recog-
nize “that students, coaches and families were
negatively impacted.”
The entire episode was unpleasant but there
are some bright spots. For one, it is clear the La
Grande and Gladstone school districts worked
together to fi nd the truth in this matter. That says
a lot about offi cials in both districts and should be
a reminder to everyone that once emotions cool,
clearheaded individuals are available to address
such issues in a methodical way.
The OSAA should get some credit as well for
tackling this controversial issue with profession-
alism and tact, while also staying focused on
fi nding the truth.
No agency, no school offi cial, eagerly seeks to
experience such an episode as what was alleged
at that November game. However, when such
issues arise, it is gratifying to know that top
leaders in state school districts — and the OSAA
— will not shy away from investigating and
working diligently to discover the truth.
While the investigation and conduct of the
school offi cials in this matter were good, there
is no getting around the fact none of this should
have occurred in the fi rst place.
That is why a focus on sportsmanship and
equality should always be paramount at prep
sporting events. We’re glad this incident is now
behind us and hope that such episodes do not
occur in the future.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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YOUR VIEWS
Idaho Power avoids
the full story
The headline in the Jan. 22
Observer “Power companies
announce deal on B2H” doesn’t
tell the full story. It should read:
“BPA pulls out of ownership of
the B2H; enters into transmission
agreement.”
After 16 years of analysis the
BPA (Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration) decided that owning a por-
tion of the B2H was not fi nancially
viable for them. Instead, in order
to serve their customers in South-
eastern Idaho, they will give some
un-needed equipment and trans-
mission rights in return for lower
wheeling charges (the fee to move
energy on other companies’ trans-
mission lines).
In return, Idaho Power must
absorb the BPA’s share of 24%,
bringing Idaho Power’s total share
from 21% to 45%, more than dou-
bling their cost. The public knew
the BPA was withdrawing from
ownership of the B2H in 2019 when
Idaho Power informed the state
utility commissions.
In 2021 the Oregon Public
Utility Commission told Idaho
Power to recalculate B2H’s budget
to show Pacifi Corp’s 54% owner-
ship and Idaho Power’s 45% own-
ership, adjusted for infl ation. The
budget of $1.2 billion was devel-
oped in 2016. It is signifi cantly out-
dated. In Idaho Power’s most recent
fi ling to the OPUC in December,
there is still no budget documen-
tation. They say they will pro-
vide a Transmission Supplement
with a detailed analysis in the fi rst
quarter of 2022. They must still be
crunching the numbers, attempting
to justify their ability to fi nance
almost half the B2H transmission
line.
Idaho Power expects us to accept
that doubling their fi nancial obli-
gations will still be the least cost/
least risk scenario for their cus-
tomers. Meanwhile they continue
plans to pillage the landscape of
Eastern Oregon while serving land-
owners pre-condemnation papers
for a project that is still years from
approval. I don’t trust them and nei-
ther should you!
Jim Kreider
STOP B2H Coalition
La Grande
Wild and unspoiled
land becomes more
precious every year
In the legal battle over logging
state forests, the counties want to
cut more timber whether or not it
aff ects “the greatest permanent
value of those lands.” In Northeast
Oregon we don’t have state forest
land so much as private, i.e. Han-
cock Forest Management. Unfortu-
nately, logging contracts awarded
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
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SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
STAFF
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on Hancock lands are being con-
ducted in an aggressively destruc-
tive manner that leaves permanent
damage.
Just above Cove, in 2021, the log-
gers went in and carved deep into
the topsoil, uprooted and trashed
non-timber species and created a
biological desert right above Mill
Creek. This was a steep but acces-
sible hillside rich in plants, ani-
mals and birds. The destruction is
heartbreaking to look at. I cannot
imagine human beings willfully
destroying so much in the name
of harvesting some timber. Yet it
seems to be the norm nowadays.
One of the only instruments pro-
posed to mitigate this treatment in
the future is the River Democracy
Act. We need that to make up for
Oregon’s inadequate riparian pro-
tection buff er on non-federal for-
ests. The law states a 20-foot buff er
is adequate, but in Washington and
California it is wider and on national
forests it is 200 feet.
Every day we are told about a
shortage of workers in every fi eld.
Our workforce needs to move on
from timber extraction. What little
is left of our wild and unspoiled
land becomes more precious every
year. Lately it is being recognized
for its benefi t to mental health
(which many nature lovers have
been saying for centuries).
Mary Cooke
Cove
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