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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2020)
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 L OCAL B RIEFING Chamber awards banquet Jan. 11 State council extends B2H review mission line that will run through fi ve Oregon counties PENDLETON — The and one in Idaho. next step in the controversial To continue with the Boardman to Hemingway proposed project, Idaho Power Transmission Line project must secure a site certifi ca- and its pursuit of state ap- tion from the EFSC, which proval will have to wait at oversees the development least another month. of large energy facilities The Oregon Energy Facil- throughout the state. ity Siting Council (EFSC) During the two-day meet- fi nished just a quarter of its ing, the EFSC met to review review process for the proj- the draft proposed order, the ect’s draft proposed order at public comments on the draft its monthly meeting in mid- — of which there were more December at the Red Lion than 470 individual com- Hotel in Pendleton, meaning menters — and Idaho Power’s the review period will con- response to those comments. tinue at January’s meeting in While changes and sug- Hood River. gestions for the order have “This is a big and complex already been made by DOE project,” said Todd Cornett, staff, which is recommending the assistant director for the the council approve the order, Oregon Department of En- this month’s meeting allowed ergy (DOE), who also served for the council to clarify its as council secretary. “But it’s own concerns to staff and to a really important part of the provide other feedback. process for the council to be Ultimately, the purpose of able to evaluate what’s been the council is to evaluate the done and ask questions.” application from Idaho Power Idaho Power, a Boise- within the context of over based company, is leading a dozen standards that all the permitting aspect of the energy facilities in the state project, though Pacifi cCorp must meet. and Bonneville Power Ad- “It’s a standards-based ministration are also involved review,” said Kellen Tar- in trying to construct the daewether, a senior siting 300-mile, 500-kilovolt trans- analyst, who has worked By Alex Castle East Oregonian as one of the project’s staff leaders for the DOE. “The applicant has the burden of proof of demonstrating whether or not they’ve met the standards. The council isn’t discretionary. Everything is based in rules, statutes and ordinances, and there must be legal authority for the decision-making process.” Though the other proj- ects on the council’s agenda pushed much of the review until next month, the council did get through discussions of general, organization, struc- tural, land-use and soil stan- dards, which included public concerns, such as wildfi re risks, erosion and blasting. One of the problems with B2H, however, is that many of the public’s concerns of it can’t adequately be addressed by the EFSC. “For all of those folks that commented about land ac- cess, or having an easement on their property, or whether or not Idaho Power has con- tacted them to have conver- sation about any of that, the council doesn’t have jurisdic- tion over that,” Tardaewether said. “There’s nothing the council can do to address that issue.” Irene Gilbert, co-chair for the Stop B2H Coalition in La Grande, attended the meet- ing both days and continues to be disappointed with the council’s response to potential issues the public is raising. “They do it with every standard, which they’re supposedly evaluating in a black-and-white sort of way,” she said. “They identify the problems with it, and then decide that none of the prob- lems are substantial. So it isn’t an objective process, it’s very subjective.” Cornett, however, stressed that the project still isn’t at a decision-making stage quite yet. Once the council fi nishes its review, the project will move into a contested case stage, where people who submitted “relevant” verbal or written comments by the public comment deadline may further contest the order. Once the contested order has been heard and any fi nal recommendations have been made, then the fi nal order may be issued and voted on by the council. If approved, an appeal to the order will go di- rectly to the Oregon Supreme Court. The 90th annual Baker County Chamber of Com- merce Awards Banquet is set for Saturday, Jan. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the Baker Elks Lodge, 1896 Second St. Tickets are $40 and are available at the Chamber, 490 Campbell St. More information is available by call- ing 541-523-5855. City parks board meets Tuesday The Baker City Parks and Recreation Advisory board will meet Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 5:15 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St. Agenda items include the planned construction of an all-abilities playground at Geiser-Pollman Park this spring, an update to the city’s parks master plan, board goals for 2020 and a proposed project at Sam-O Swim Center. Programs at Interpretive Center The BLM’s Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is open Thursday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a variety of programs and pioneer demonstrations scheduled. The Center, just north of Highway 86 about 5 miles east of Baker City, offers a pioneer story program at 2 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, and pioneer demon- strations Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. A ranger-led program, “Oregon Fever!” is offered at 11 a.m. each day Thursday through Sunday. The Center’s network of 4.2 miles of paved trails is open every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Trails are not cleared of snow. Free admission days this winter are Sunday, Jan. 19, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Monday, Feb. 17, in honor of Presidents Day. The hands-on “Wagons Ho!” exhibit opens Jan. 24 in the Flagstaff Gallery. Visitors can pack a wagon, dress in pioneer clothing and learn more about daily life on the Trail. Admission for adults is $5; seniors $4; and children 15 and under are free. America the Beautiful Inter- agency Park Passes are accepted. The Center returns to its regular schedule, open daily, on Feb. 17. For a calendar of daily activities as well as special events in 2020, go to oregontrail.blm.gov Eastern Oregon University recognized for academic programs EO Media Group LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University received a slew of national and regional recognitions in 2019, includ- ing a No. 1 spot for its online Fire Services Administration program. The College of Business also earned distinctions for its online economics degree (No. 9 nationally), online business administration degree (No. 12), and its no-application-fee online Master of Business Administration program (No. 16). Now under new leader- ship from Dean Edward Henninger, the entire college was named a College of Distinction. “Our online College of Busi- ness programs continue to receive very favorable evalu- ations and national rank- ings by independent online publication sites dedicated to helping students and their families fi nd the right higher education option,” Henninger said. “The rankings confi rm our commitment to providing affordable, high-quality and responsive degree programs to serve the diverse academic and career needs of stu- dents. We are proud of such recognitions and each serves to heighten our dedication to academic quality, student ac- cess and career readiness.” Overall, EOU was ranked No. 9 for online bachelor’s degrees in Oregon, and No. 10 for accredited online colleges. The university jumped to No. 77 in the U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of universities in the West and came in at No. 37 among pub- lic schools in the region. “Rankings like this let prospective students know that EOU is providing high- quality, transformational education in the West,” said Matt Seimears, Dean of the College of Education. Prioritizing access to edu- cation, Oregon’s Rural Uni- versity was also ranked No. 4 for affordable online colleges and No. 5 among those in the Pacifi c Northwest. Plus, EOU earned a Bronze recognition for being Military Friendly. Specifi c programs also stood out in the rankings. The newly revived MFA in Creative Writing was named No. 4 among online master’s degrees in creative writing. Health and Human Perfor- mance also saw stand-out reviews for its exercise science program (No. 4) and online public health program (No. 11). The College of Education also earned top honors for its online master’s degree program (No. 20), and online early childhood education program (No. 25). It’s also under new leadership from Dean Seimears and was named a College of Distinc- tion. “When students come into a program and begin to see what their future can look like, that is priceless,” Seime- ars said. United Way of Eastern Oregon closes its doors By Sabrina Thompson The (La Grande) Observer LA GRANDE — United Way of Eastern Oregon closed its doors on the last day of 2019. Alex McHaddad, interim president of the La Grande- based charity, explained a number of factors played roles in pushing the orga- nization’s board to vote to end operations, including the structure of United Way of Eastern Oregon. Rather than have a specifi c focus or cause, he said, United Way of Eastern Oregon served as the collection point that passed contributions to other chari- ties and service organizations in Union and Baker counties, including Baker City Back- pack program, the Mount Emily Safe Center and Shel- ter From the Storm. “Today people aren’t as familiar when funding is generalized,” McHaddad said, and thus less likely to give to a clearinghouse type of model instead of directly to organizations and causes they value. United Way of Eastern Oregon on its 2016 tax fi ling reported total revenue of $78,011 and total expenses of $53,157, leaving an excess of $24,854. But the following year’s tax fi ling shows rev- enue dropped to $73,482 and expenses leaped to $104,654, putting the organization more than $31,000 in the hole. The organization on its 2018 tax fi ling shows revenue plummeted to $52,777. Total expenses dropped as well, to $60,814, but that still left a defi cit of $3,539. “We lost some sources of revenue in 2017, but we didn’t make changes to the budget,” McHaddad said. Changes in federal tax law made charitable donations less appealing for corpora- tions, he said, and United Way of Eastern Oregon in recent years lost some major corporate sponsors, including The Observer, which contrib- uted to the charity’s annual September golf tournament. But the real hit to the bot- tom line, he said, came from Oregon’s change that nixed employee payroll contribu- tors. The charity’s board notifi ed partner agencies on Oct. 25 about shutting down but did not reveal the decision to the public until last week. McHaddad said that was in part because there was a chance operations could continue. He said the board held out hope some federal funding would come through, but that did not happen. “If it wasn’t for all the structural things falling through, we probably could have survived,” McHaddad said. “But this is not the end of United Way being here.” United Way of Eastern Oregon already has passed through the money it received for specifi c organizations, McHaddad said, while money without a designation will go to various charities. He said any remaining funds will be seed money for whatever takes over the United Way for the counties. “We are trying to save as much money as possible when closing so that we can have more to give to the com- munity,” McHaddad said. United Way Worldwide is working on which branch could assume coverage of Union and Baker counties, he said. Boise and Bend have United Way operations, but the nearest is the United Way of Blue Mountains, which has offi ces in Walla Walla and Pendleton. That branch came about in the summer, when the United Way of Umatilla and Morrow counties merged with the United Way of Walla Walla and Columbia counties. Ring in the new year! Have a happy & safe 2020! Tax Reform Benefits Continue for Oregon Customers Idaho Power’s Oregon customers continue to receive a rate benefit resulting from federal tax rate changes that occurred in 2017. Idaho Power recently requested an increase of $36,151 to the annualized Oregon jurisdictional benefits associated with tax reform, increasing the total benefit to more than $1.5 million. If this proposal is approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) as filed, the typical Oregon residential customer using 1,150 kilowatt-hours of energy per month would see a $0.06 decrease on their monthly bill beginning June 1. Idaho Power’s filing is subject to public review and OPUC approval. Copies of the application are available at OPUC offices (201 High St. SE, Suite 100, Salem, OR 97301-3398), the OPUC website (oregon.gov/puc), Idaho Power offices and Idaho Power’s website (idahopower.com). Written comments can also be submitted to: Oregon Public Utility Commission 201 High St. SE, Suite 100 Salem, OR 97301-3398 Thank you for being our valued customer! 2390 Broadway, Baker City 541-523-5223 idahopower.com
