NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Loan program makes local meat more accessible
program, Old West held
a raffle for “Get a Freezer,
Give a Freezer Full of Beef.”
When Union County
rancher Charlie Rohlf found
out about the loan program,
he donated half a beef to fill
the second freezer. Billy
Bob’s Butcher Shop in
Elgin processed the meat at
a reduced cost.
Union County Sher-
iff Cody Bowen drew the
winning ticket for Brett
Baxter, the principal of La
Grande High School.
Baxter chose the Union
Food Bank to receive the
freezer full of beef, and Old
West posted a video of the
delivery on Facebook.
Kavanaugh said the loan
program is also supported
with a grant from the North-
west Credit Union Founda-
tion.
Farm to Table
loans also can
cover cost of a
freezer for storage
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
LA GRANDE — When
meat prices rose in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Ken Olson wanted to help
local consumers purchase
products from local produc-
ers.
Olson is the chief exec-
utive officer of Old West
Federal Credit Union, which
has branches across Eastern
Oregon, including John Day,
Baker City, La Grande, Prai-
rie City, Union, Pendleton,
Hermiston and Burns.
“He has a big heart for
our communities and rural
areas,” Bob Kavanaugh,
vice president of business
development and member
experience at Old West, said
of Olson.
The USDA reports that,
in 2020, supply of meat
products was affected by
temporar y closu res of
meatpacking plants due to
COVID-19. The low supply
in turn drove up prices in the
grocery store.
Kavanaugh said Olson
challenged an Old West
team to brainstorm a solu-
How it works
Alex Wittwer/La Grande Observer
Rancher Riley Martin feeds his cattle from the back of a tractor at the family’s North Powder
farm Monday, April 5, 2021. Old West Federal Credit Union is trying to make it easier for resi-
dents to buy locally raised beef.
tion that would make local
beef more accessible —
especially when money is
tight.
“Food insecurity is a real
thing,” Kavanaugh said.
“We came up with a strategy
to help our local communi-
ties purchase meat in bulk.”
The program is called the
Farm to Table Loan.
Loan amounts are avail-
able from $500 to $4,000.
When someone inquires
about the loan, Kavanaugh
said they meet with an Old
West staff to discuss the loan
amount and payback details.
Storing meat can be a
challenge for some fami-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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lies, too, so a freezer can
be financed into the loan as
well.
The 12-month loans are
interest-free.
Kavanaugh said Old West
introduced the program
several months ago, and will
relaunch it around June 1.
To initially promote the
Oregon bans guns from Capitol,
demands safe storage in homes
By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
A t-storm late this
afternoon
Warm; breezy in
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Becoming windier
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PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
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87° 53°
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HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
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Seattle
Olympia
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Hermiston
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The Dalles 99/64
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La Grande
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PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
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Enterprise
94/60
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89/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
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2:26 a.m.
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 109° in Needles, Calif. Low 27° in West Yellowstone, Mont.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Once a loan is approved,
the borrower specifies where
he or she wants to buy meat
(beef, lamb, chicken, pork,
etc.).
Kavanaugh said Old West
cuts a check to the butcher.
The loan recipient hands
over the check and receives
a supply of fresh meat.
When the program was
about to launch, Kavana-
ugh called meat processors
around Northeast Oregon.
At Billy Bob’s Butcher
Shop, co-owner Kaleen
Smith was quick to praise
the idea.
“He said, ‘Is there a
need?’ I said, ‘You’re
already behind the ball,’”
Smith said.
She said the shop has
offered its own type of loan
program to help people
pu rch a se me at. A nd ,
she said, meat prices are
continuing to rise.
“Not everybody had the
money up front,” she said.
She’s telling customers
about the Old West program,
a nd helpi ng c o n n e c t
consumers with producers,
too.
“I’d advise people to look
into it,” she said of the bank
loan.
Rohlf said it costs about
$1,200 for half a beef, which
includes cutting and wrap-
ping.
When meat supply dwin-
dled in the grocery stores,
he had more locals seeking
out meat from his ranch.
The Old West program,
he said, will help people
buy good-quality meat
and support the local
economy.
“They’re helping produc-
ers, the local butcher shops,
and the local community,”
Rohlf said.
“I told (Kavanaugh) I’ll
raise as much beef as I can
to help out the cause.”
SALEM — Legislators
have brought guns into the
Oregon State Capitol for
personal protection. Protest-
ers have carried semi-auto-
matic rifles onto the grounds
and into the building.
Later this year, doing so
will be outlawed under a bill
signed Tuesday, May 1, by
Gov. Kate Brown that was
earlier passed by the Legis-
lature, with Democrats in
favor and minority Republi-
cans opposed. The new law
also mandates the safe stor-
age of guns.
“Today, I am signing SB
554 with the hope that we can
take another step forward
to help spare more Oregon
families from the grief of
losing a loved one to gun
violence,” Brown said on
Twitter.
The bill was named for
Cindy Yuille and Steve
Forsyth, who were slain in a
shooting at a Portland-area
shopping mall in 2012 by
a man who stole a friend’s
AR-15 rifle. A third person
was seriously wounded.
Among those who testi-
fied in favor of the measure
was Paul Kemp, Forsyth’s
brother-in-law.
“I will never forget the
screams I heard when we had
to tell my teenage nephew
that his father had been
killed at the mall,” Kemp
said.
Backers of the new law,
which takes effect three
months after the Legisla-
ture adjourns this summer,
said it will prevent acciden-
tal shootings by children,
suicides and mass shootings.
It requires that firearms
be secured with a trigger
or cable lock, in a locked
container or gun room.
Opponents said a delay
in accessing a firearm for
self-defense could cost lives.
Jim Mischel, of Sheridan,
provided written testimony
to lawmakers describing
how his wife woke up when
he was away one night in
1981. She heard a noise,
went to investigate and saw
a stranger in their home.
She tried to get a pistol
that was in a locked gun box
in the nightstand out but was
unable to before the man
got into the bedroom and
threatened her with his gun,
Mischel said.
“She has never recov-
ered,” he said.
The bill also bans guns
from the Oregon Capitol,
changing a law that allowed
concealed handgun licens-
ees to bring firearms into
the building. In a related
development, an interfaith
movement plans to pres-
ent signatures May 2 to the
staff of Oregon Secretary of
State Shemia Fagan, a step
in an attempt to get two
initiative petitions onto the
ballot.
IP 18 would ban the sale
of assault-style weapons in
Oregon. IP 17 would ban the
sale of large-capacity maga-
zines and require a permit
to purchase any gun and
a completed background
check before a firearm is
purchased.
The movement has gath-
ered the signatures of 2,000
voters for each initiative peti-
tion and will hand deliver
them to Fagan’s staff, said
Pastor Mark Knutson of the
Augustana Lutheran Church
in Portland.
“We hope to get the go
ahead by early fall, which
will give us almost 10
months to get 140,000 signa-
tures to ... place them both on
the November 2022 general
election ballot,” Knutson
said.
The debate over guns
is being resurrected as the
number of mass shootings
climbs again in America,
with increased efforts to ban
assault rifles and large-ca-
pacity magazines.
IN BRIEF
Oregon Legislature makes
cocktails to-go permanent
SALEM— Oregon lawmakers passed a
bill allowing the sale of cocktails to-go to
continue after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports
that Senate Bill 317, which allows licensed
establishments to sell “mixed drinks and
single servings of wine in sealed containers
for off-premises consumption,” previously
passed the Oregon Senate in March. It cleared
the House on Tuesday, June 1, by a vote of
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51-7. The bill now moves to Gov. Kate Brown.
As new coronavirus restrictions brought
drinking and dining to a standstill across
America in March 2020, many states rushed
to overturn laws banning takeout cocktail
sales, many of which had been on the books
since Prohibition.
Sponsored by Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Spring-
field, and Rep. Rob Nosse. D-Portland, the
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cocktails to-go permanent.
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