INSIDE: Farm-City Pro Rodeo fi nals | PAGE A10
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 129
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2021
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Judge
tosses most
claims in
Finicum
death
lawsuit
2021 FAIR
WRAPS UP
LaVoy Finicum
joined armed
occupation at
Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — A federal
judge has tossed most of the civil
claims brought in a wrongful
death lawsuit by the family of
an Arizona rancher who served
as spokesperson for the armed
takeover of Oregon’s Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge in
early 2016.
Robert “LaVoy” Finicium,
54, was fatally shot by Oregon
state troopers after he crashed
his truck near a roadblock as
state police and FBI agents
arrested key people in the anti-
government occupation.
U.S. District Judge Michael
W. Mosman on Thursday, Aug.
14, dismissed the lawsuit’s
claims against the Oregon State
Police, the former state police
superintendent and the two state
troopers who fi red at Finicum,
The Oregonian/OregonLive
reported.
Mo s m a n a d d it io n a l ly
dismissed their claims filed
against the federal government,
the FBI, Harney County and
former Harney County Sheriff
Dave Ward. Some were thrown
out he said because the Finicum
family didn’t properly serve
notice to the defendants.
“After all this time, Plaintiff s
have yet to identify any facts
or theories that, properly pled,
would support a finding that
any negligence or wrongdoing
on behalf of the United States
was not grounded in policy
judgments,” Mosman wrote in
his opinion. His ruling accepted
most recommendations that U.S.
Magistrate Judge Patricia Sulli-
van made in 2020.
Mosman retained a single
civil rights claim against Gov.
Kate Brown, noting that the
state didn’t move to challenge
it, and gave the plaintiff s until
Sept. 15 to amend a conspiracy
claim against the governor, the
state of Oregon and state police.
Finicum’s family alleged he
was shot “assassination style”
as he was trying to drive to the
safety of another county on Jan.
26, 2016.
The lawsuit contended FBI
agent W. Joseph Astarita fi red
at Finicum after he crashed and
stepped out of his Dodge pickup
Emotions
run high at
livestock
auction
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Buyers check in Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, at the 2021 Umatilla County Fair Youth
Livestock Auction in Hermiston.
Latino Night strums
up tunes for Umatilla
County Fair
Area youth pack annual livestock
auction with some 200 animals
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hundreds of attendees of all ages
and from all corners of the Northwest gathered Satur-
day, Aug. 14, for the fi nal day of the Umatilla County
Fair and its annual Youth Livestock Auction at the East-
ern Oregon Trade & Events Center.
Emotions ran high throughout the auction as youths
said goodbye to their animals, while adults shouted
bids trying to snag the prized animals. For many of the
children involved, it was a bittersweet moment. After
months of hard work, patience and dedication, it was
time to say goodbye to those they’d formed a strong
bond and connection with.
“I’m sad but I’m happy that I’ll get more sheep and
it’ll happen again,” said Elsie Bowman, a sixth grader
from Echo who sold her lamb. “We’ve had struggles
and good times.”
After receiving awards earlier in the day, the chil-
dren and teens spent their day receiving bids on the
lambs, goats, steers, rabbits, turkeys and hogs that
they have spent the last couple of months raising. Ford
Bonney, Nick Nelson and Jack Seavert presided as
the auctioneers who whipped the crowd into a buying
frenzy and helped the day see the sale of more than
200 livestock.
See Auction, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston’s Fortaleza De Tierra Caliente performs Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, during
Latino Night at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. The local band is part of
the array of music the fair seeks to bring to the stage for the evening.
Four Mexican bands jam the night away
as the fair returns
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Music almost
is synonymous with the Umatilla
County Fair and, after COVID-19
forced the cancellation of the event
last year, music was back on the
table as the fair roared back to life
Wednesday, Aug. 11, and fi nished
Aug. 14.
Starting at 9 p.m. the first day
back, fans were welcomed with a free
concert featuring Stone in Love, a
Journey tribute band, then Everclear
on Aug. 12 and Frankie Ballard on
Aug. 14. The widest mix of the music
events, however, was the county fair’s
Latino Night on Aug. 13, which saw a
slew of Spanish-speaking musicians
and bands perform.
Running from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m.,
and headlined by Tierra Cali, attend-
ees had the opportunity to listen,
dance and sing along with Diana
Reyes, Alfa 7 and Fortaleza De
Tierra Caliente — a Hermiston band.
“We try to hit all the major
genres,” said Andy Wagner, the fair’s
music director, but mentioned the
fair tries to get classic and upcoming
country, rock and Latino music.
The organizers have their work
cut out for them.
See Tunes, Page A9
See Lawsuit, Page A9
Relay for Life off ers opportunity to fi nd support
By BEN LONERGAN
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Chains of paper rings, one ring for each year a cancer survivor has been in re-
mission, hang on a clothesline Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, for a “One Step, One
Year, One Dollar” fundraiser at Relay for Life at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton.
PENDLETON – When Kellie
Sims was diagnosed with colorectal
cancer Dec. 22, 2014, she she knew
there had to be a purpose behind her
diagnosis.
“You always wonder — why do
I have to go through this? Why am I
doing this?” she said.
Sims, who had previously faced
cervical cancer in her late 20s and
is now 18 months into remission for
thyroid cancer, found her purpose
several years later when she met
Georgia Marshall at a Relay for Life
event.
“Sometimes your story really
does help someone,” said Sims as
she paused to collect herself. “You
don’t know what you say — how it
can aff ect somebody else.”
Marshall and Sims connected
over their similarities, Marshall had
become too weak to continue chemo-
therapy, a step Sims had faced in the
course of her treatment as well.
“You become a family,” Marshall
said. “None of us are blood related,
but it is a bond that you can’t beat.”
As a 10-year-old, Marshall had
seen her grandmother die of cancer,
an event that encouraged her to
pursue work in hospice care and help
others the same way her grandmother
had been cared for. She said the years
of working with cancer patients on
hospice had shown her the impor-
tance of a support system but, after
facing a diagnosis herself, its impor-
tance became even more prevalent.
See Relay, Page A9