NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Furry friend greets
Pendleton pilots
By CHARLY HOTCHKISS
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
night was dark and quiet at the
Eastern Oregon Regional Air-
port in Pendleton. In the dis-
tance a light descended from
the clouds and the familiar roar
of an incoming plane fi lled the
air. Seconds later the squeak of
the rubber tires touching down
on the runway announced the
plane had made contact with
the ground.
Not two seconds after that,
a faint cry came from the shad-
ows — an insistent “meow”
that repeated and grew louder
as the creature moved closer.
Behind the fence that sep-
arates the tarmac from the
outside of the airport, near
the portable buildings hous-
ing temporary bathrooms and
offi ces while renovation is
underway, a cat trotted out of
the darkness — a friendly tor-
toiseshell tabby female with
a clipped left ear, letting peo-
ple know she has been spayed,
most likely through a local
trap, neuter, return program.
The Boutique Air Pilatus
PC-12 plane taxied along the
tarmac toward the terminal,
where eight passengers exited.
The cat meowed excitedly,
running and seeking attention.
Passengers milled past on
the other side of the fence into
the portable building hous-
ing Boutique’s offi ces. The
cat meowed at them. People
smiled and waved at the cat as
they passed by their new four-
legged friend.
Pilot Omar Reynoso, of
Morgan Hill, California, has
been working with Boutique
Air for one year doing this
route to and from Portland
International Airport. Reynoso
confi rmed he and the airport
cat are good friends.
“When I started they told
me to feed the cat,” Reynoso
said with a laugh. “Like it was
one of my tasks.”
Reynoso explained he
thinks the cat hears the plane
coming as it approaches and
comes running to wait for the
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
The airport cat hangs out
Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, with
Marilyn Barrett, Boutique Air
customer service agent, at
the Eastern Oregon Regional
Airport in Pendleton.
crew near the exit of the tar-
mac, as the cat is there waiting
for them every evening after
they land.
“It knows we are going to
feed it,” Reynoso snickered.
The pilots wrap up their
nightly duties and head
over to their crew house to
rest, and the little airport cat
is right at their heels. The
pilots feed her on the porch
of the crew house. Reynoso
said after awhile she got so
comfy with him she started
wandering inside, though
really she is supposed to stay
outside because some Bou-
tique employees are allergic
to cats.
“If we go out to town she
waits for us to come back in
the parking lot,” Reynoso
said.
The cat throughout the day
usually hangs out around the
crew house, directly across
the parking lot from the run-
way, according to airport staff .
Marilyn Barrett, customer
service agent with Boutique
Air, said the fi rst time she actu-
ally met the cat she was doing
laundry at the crew house in
the middle of the day when the
cat wandered into the laundry
room to greet her.
“I had heard the meows and
looked but never saw the cat,”
Barret explained. “Then she
came and found me.”
The tabby has no name, and
why she chose to live at the
Eastern Oregon Regional Air-
port is unknown.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
A13
Powerline opponents plan appeal
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Stop
B2H Coalition is taking its case
against the proposed Boardman
to Hemingway transmission line
to the Oregon Supreme Court.
The coalition intends to
appeal a decision last month by
Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting
Council to approve a site cer-
tifi cate for the project. The per-
mit authorizes construction of
the 290-mile, 500-kilovolt line
across fi ve Eastern Oregon coun-
ties, including Union County.
Federal agencies have already
granted permission for the line
to cross land they manage.
“We have not given up,” said
Jim Kreider, co-chair of the Stop
B2H Coalition, along with Irene
Gilbert.
Sven Berg, a communi-
cations specialist with Idaho
Power, a major supporter of the
B2H project, said he feels good
about Idaho Power’s position
with regard to the appeal.
“That is their right under
Oregon law but we are confi dent
in the case we have built and
laid out before the Energy Facil-
ity Siting Council,” he said. “We
look forward to the resolution of
this issue and beginning the con-
East Oregonian, File
The setting sun silhouettes transmission lines in Boardman Feb.
3, 2022, near the possible future starting point for the proposed
290-mile Boardman to Hemingway transmission line.
struction of this project.”
Berg said Idaho Power has
started design work, geo tech-
nical and survey work and has
been working with property
owners to get easements for land
it needs along the project route.
He said Idaho Power hopes to
start construction of the B2H
transmission line in the second
half of 2023.
Kreider said the Stop B2H
Coalition will fi le its appeal in
early December. Its deadline for
fi ling the appeal is Sunday, Dec.
4.
Grounds upon which Stop
B2H may fi le appeals include
the decibel level of the noise
created by the towers’ transmis-
sion lines. Kreider said the noise
level of B2H’s power line would
exceed state noise standards.
An appeal may also be fi led
regarding the scenic values B2H
power lines would impact at the
National Historic Oregon Trail
Interpretive Center, 5 miles east
of Baker City and Morgan Lake,
Kreider said.
Stop B2H members have
been meeting with their coa-
lition’s attorneys to determine
which issues it will base its
appeal on. Recommendations
will be presented by Stop B2H
members for legal analysis.
“They will do a deep legal
dive into the issues,” Kreider
said.
He said members of Stop
B2H are feeling more optimis-
tic because of the success they
are having raising the money
needed to bring their case to
the Supreme Court. The larg-
est donation has been a $40,000
grant from the Oregon Historic
Trails Fund of the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation “to edu-
cate and mobilize communi-
ties in fi ve rural eastern Oregon
counties to promote, advocate,
and litigate for the protection
and preservation of the Oregon
Trail,” according to the grant
application Stop B2H submit-
ted to the Oregon Community
Foundation.
Lois Barry, a member of the
Stop B2H Coalition, said in a
press release about the grant
the B2H transmission line as
planned, would cross remnants
of the Oregon Trail in Eastern
Oregon 17 times and “severely
impact the experience of walk-
ing the pristine parts of the trail
near the National Historic Ore-
gon Trail Interpretive Center
near Baker City.”
Towers along the B2H line
would be as high as 180 feet. In
comparison, standard towers are
75-90 feet tall. Plans call for the
towers near the National His-
toric Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center, Kreider said, to be 130
feet tall.
Flour mill demolition prep begins
By DAKOTA
CASTETS-DIDIER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The burnt
portions of the Pendleton fl our
mill are set to be demolished,
and a team from Northstar
Demolition and Remediation
Inc. was at the mill Thursday,
Oct. 20, assessing the site and
planning the demolition.
Matt Chambers, vice presi-
dent of operations for Northstar
Demolition and Remediation
Inc. was overseeing the inspec-
tion and explained that they’re
still in the preparatory phase of
the demolition process.
“We’re doing surveys and
the engineering,” Chambers
said, “The structure is compro-
mised, so determining where
the vulnerable points are and
how to mitigate hazards associ-
ated with it, that’s what we’re in
the process of doing right now.”
Chambers, who fl ew out
from Denver to oversee the
operations, was on site with a
Northstar Demolition and Reme-
diation Inc. team from Portland
which will be carrying out the
demolition.
“We have heavy involve-
ment from engineering partners
looking at structure, looking at
the damage and examining old
drawings to try and determine
what’s the best scenario, how
can we approach things, what’s
being supported by what, those
types of things,” Chambers said.
“Anytime you enter a demoli-
tion like this it’s diff erent every
time, so there’s no set box that
you can pull out and say, ‘this is
what we’re going to do.’ Right
now we’re getting the engineers
involved and fi guring out what
to do.”
The Pendleton Fire Depart-
ment was also at the mill during
the inspection, continuing
their work of dousing hotspots
throughout the burnt mill as
they have since the fi re.
“They requested we come
down, they’re getting ready,
so we’re trying to make sure
to keep these hotspots down,”
Lieutenant-Paramedic Craig
Murstig, of the Pendleton Fire
Department explained. “We
may have to come back as they
start working, for now we’re
putting water on it and knock-
ing it down as best we can. The
problem is there’s so much
rubble material in there, you
can’t get to all the fi re. You
get it doused down, after a
few days it dries out and starts
smoking again.”
While the demolition is
still in its preparatory phase,
the whole demolition process
could be complete in just a few
months, Chambers explained.
“Once we get through the
engineering, hopefully we get
everything down to a safer ele-
vation within a month.” Cham-
bers said. “Then probably
another month and a half to two
months to get everything cleaned
up, gone, and get the site restored
back to something usable.”
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