Daughters of the American Revolution —5 The Sumpter’s new mayor takes the helm —8 HOMEMADE GOODNESS COLUMN —9 Baker County Press Friday, January 16, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 3 Th eBakerCountyPress.com • Your local weekly news source! 75¢ LOCAL NEWS: HEADLINE STORIES • LOCAL ARTICLES • OUTDOORS • AGRICULTURE • CLASSIFIEDS Woman New City Council sworn in indicted on four counts MOSIER ELECTED MAYOR, DOWNING VICE MAYOR By Kerry McQuisten News@TheBakerCountyPress.com Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press Kimberly Mosier and Mike Downing were appointed Baker City’s new mayor and vice mayor Tuesday. By Gina K. Swartz Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com The fi rst order of busi- ness conducted at Tues- day night’s City Council meeting was administering the Oath of Offi ce to new councilors Ben Merrill, Mack Augenfeld, James Thomas and Rosemary Abell. Once sworn in, the Council attended to the business of appointing one of its own as mayor. Both Kim Moiser and Mike Downing were nomi- nated. With a vote of 5:2, Moiser won the nomina- tion. Downing and Ben Mer- rill were nominated for the position of Vice Mayor, which Downing won with a 5:2 vote. See CITY COUNCIL/ Page 5 Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press L-R: Rosemary Abell, Ben Merrill, James Thomas and Mack Augenfeld take their Oaths of Offi ce. B2H meetings come to county Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press Tamara Gertsch, National Project Manager with the BLM, talked about the time frame from the project’s 2007 application date until now. Friday 40% chance of snow during the day before turning over to rain. Little to no accumulation expected. High of 37. Low of 25. Saturday Possibility of a rain and snow mixture falling; chance of precipitation is 40%. Little to no accumulation expected. High of 38. Low of 29. Sunday 50% chance of rain during the day. Mostly cloudy with decreased chance of rain at night. High of 40. Low of 29. On Thursday, January 8, 2014, around 50 people attended an open house for the Bureau of Land Man- agement’s (BLM) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project, at the Best Western Sun- ridge Inn, from 5 to 8 p.m. On hand were project staff to discuss concerns, answer questions, and receive comments from those present. This open house was one of seven held in the project area, including one in Boardman on January 5, in Pendleton on January 6, in La Grande on January 7, in Durkee on January 9, in Ontario on January 12, and in Mars- ing, Idaho on January 13. Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com Idaho Power proposed this project, the result of which would be the addition of about 300 miles of new, 500 kV (kilovolt) transmis- sion line from a proposed substation near Boardman, Oregon to the Hemingway Substation near Melba, Idaho, and the rebuilding of fi ve miles of existing 138 kV and 69 kV lines. The purpose of the proj- ect is to alleviate existing transmission constraints between the Pacifi c Northwest region and the Intermountain region of southern Idaho, by provid- ing additional capacity to connect the two regions, and to meet current and fu- ture increases in customer demand. See BOARDMAN TO HEMINGWAY / Page 10 Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County. Our forecast made possible by this generous sponsor: Offi cial weather provider for The Baker County Press. Locals attend Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision meeting in Pendleton By Brian Addison BOARDMAN TO HEMINGWAY TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT By Todd Arriola On Tuesday, Emily Mun- sell, age 24 of Baker City, was arraigned in Baker County Circuit Court on an indictment handed down by a Grand Jury. According to the District Attorney’s offi ce, Munsell was indicted on two counts of solicitation to commit murder, one count of con- Submitted Photo. spiracy to commit murder, Emily Munsell. and one count of attempted aggravated murder. Munsell, a resident at 1356 Dewey Avenue in Baker City, was arrested December 26, 2014, was initially charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder. According to a press release from the District Attor- ney’s offi ce and other reports at the time, the Baker City Police Department received a tip from one of Munsell’s male relatives that Munsell was interested in hiring a hit- man to murder her ex-boyfriend—who is also her son’s father. The relative refused to commit the crime, and instead tipped off police. The local police initiated an undercover sting operation, which resulted in Munsell’s arrest after she tried to hire the offi cer for the murder. Munsell was allegedly willing to pay up to $1,000 for the murder, which included a down payment with the rest to follow after she received an anticipated tax refund in the spring. Judge Gregory Baxter set bail at $500,000 with full bail required. The case was set for pre-trial on January 22, 2015. Thirty-fi ve people representing a broad range of forest interests, including some from Baker County, attended a meeting January 8 in Pendleton, facilitated by the United States Forest Service to discuss the Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision. The Blue Mountain Forest Plan guides usage of the federally managed lands on the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla, and Malheur National Forests. The revision, when fi nalized, replaces the 1990 forest plan. Attending the meeting were members representing the federal land management agencies, Oregon state forestry and fi sh and wildlife personnel, timber and mining industries, forest collaborative groups, conservation organizations, Native American tribes, county commissioners, and local forest access advocates. The Forest Service released the draft of the forest plan revision last March followed by a public comment period. The public comment period has ended and For- est Service personnel now have the monumental task of combing through all the comments that were submitted. “We’ve reviewed some of the comments. There were about 1,100 comments received,” said Sabrina Stadler, Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision team leader. Stadler explained that the January 8 meeting was organized to get a diverse group together to develop further engagement from the public and to work through concerns brought forth in the comments. See BLUE MOUNTAIN FOREST PLAN / Page 3 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Funding cut may impact schools Huntington man gets 30 months 3 fi nalists in 5J superindent search PEO offers scholarships 4-Hers/OHA to raffl e pistol DEQ fi nes Unity man Page Page Page Page Page Page 3 3 5 6 8 10