S. John Collins / Baker City Herald Taking a close look at the eyes of Tanner Downing's monster are, from left, Sam McCauley, Braiden Colvard and Jorge Duran as the class came to an end Wednesday at South Baker Intermediate.

By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

In just about an hour, the classroom of fifth-graders was overrun with monsters.

Well, being made of clay, these monsters didn’t run — but they were on every desk, molded into any shape the students could create.

Some had one eye, some had four — nearly all had a mouthful of pointy teeth, horns, ears and claws.

Across the hall, in another fifth-grade classroom, a less terrifying art project — printmaking — was under way.

This week the students at South Baker Intermediate School were visited by two Portland artists — James DeRosso and Sheryl Murray.

By Terri Harber

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Baker County commissioners on Wednesday approved a contract for help with documentation required before building a hydroelectric power plant at Mason Dam.

EcoWest Consulting Inc., based in Baker City, already has done some work for the county related to the project. 

The county intends to build a 3.4-megawatt system at the dam, which blocks the Powder River to form Phillips Reservoir, about 15 miles southwest of Baker City. 

The energy produced would be sold to Idaho Power, which has a 138-kilovolt transmission line that runs close to the project site, said Jason Yencopal, community development director and the county staff member overseeing this project.