A7
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021
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BRIEFING
Staff members
ratify contract
with St. Charles
The approximately 150
technicians, technologists
and therapists ratified
the first-time contract
on Wednesday with St.
Charles Bend.
The Oregon Federa-
tion of Nurses and Health
Professionals negotiated
wage increases and mar-
ket adjustments for the
first year .
The average increase
is about 11%, which is
consistent with increases
received from 2019
through the first quar-
ter of 2021 for non-con-
tracted technical care-
givers, according to the
hospital statement.
The salaries are about
40% higher than the
median hourly rate in
Central Oregon, said Da-
mon Runberg, Oregon
Employment Department
regional economist.
The standard wage
range for “radiologic tech-
nologists” across the state
is about $87,000 or about
$41.82 an hour, Runberg
said.
The union members
organized a nine-day
walk out that ended
March 13. One sticking
point was over allowing
current and future em-
ployees to join the union.
The ratified contract
makes the workplace
“open shop” and allows
current and future St.
Charles Bend employees
to choose whether they
join the union and pay
dues, according to the
hospital statement.
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U.S. SENATE
Bill would soften federal pot laws
BY STEVEN T. DENNIS
Bloomberg
Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer is pushing the U.S.
Senate toward lifting the fed-
eral prohibition on marijuana
with legislation that would rep-
resent the biggest overhaul of
federal drug policy in decades.
The bill that Schumer is
drafting with Senate Finance
Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore-
gon, and New Jersey Sen. Cory
Booker, also a Democrat, is still
being written. Though they
avoided the term legalization
when announcing their plan,
it is expected to remove mari-
juana from the list of controlled
substances and tax and regulate
it on the federal level while leav-
ing states able to enforce their
own laws regarding the drug.
Their proposal goes beyond
decriminalization, which Pres-
ident Joe Biden voiced sup-
port for during his campaign,
and may be a stretch for some
Senate Democrats. But it taps
into building public sentiment
for legalization and moves by
states to change marijuana
laws, including Schumer’s
home state.
See Pot laws / A8
COVID-19 | Funerals
Industry innovates
United plans to
hire 300 pilots
United Airlines said
Thursday it plans to hire
about 300 pilots, another
sign that airlines feel
more confident that a re-
cent increase in travel will
continue.
The airline plans to
start by hiring pilots who
received conditional job
offers or had a class for
new hires canceled last
year, when the indus-
try was slammed by the
coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. jobless claims
rise to 719K
The number of Amer-
icans applying for unem-
ployment benefits rose
by 61,000 last week to
719,000, signaling that
many employers are
still cutting jobs even as
more businesses reopen,
vaccines are increasingly
administered and federal
aid spreads through the
economy.
The Labor Depart-
ment said Thursday that
the number of claims in-
creased from 658,000 the
week before.
U.S. factory
activity expands
U.S. manufacturers ex-
panded in March at the
fastest pace in 37 years,
a sign of strengthening
demand as the pandemic
wanes and government
emergency aid flows
through the economy.
The Institute for Sup-
ply Management, a trade
group of purchasing
managers, said that its
measure of factory ac-
tivity jumped to 64.7 last
month, from 60.8 the
previous month. That’s
the highest since De-
cember 1983. Some of
the gain may reflect a
bounce-back from Feb-
ruary, when harsh winter
weather in Texas, Louisi-
ana and other southern
states knocked some oil
refineries and petrochem-
ical plants offline.
— Bulletin wire reports
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Brad Byrholdt, general manager of Oregon Care Group Inc., sits in the mausoleum at Deschutes Memorial Chapel and Gardens in Bend.
BY SUZANNE ROIG • The Bulletin
T
he pandemic denied many the opportunity to grieve in traditional ways with their friends and family who sought to
memorialize those lost lives. In the wake of restrictions to control the spread of the virus, funeral homes had to quickly
adopt new ways of handling people’s grief over the past 12 months.
Documents signed electroni-
cally rather than in person, video
services and a higher use of tech-
nology were measures quickly ad-
opted. Online marketplaces for
one-stop shopping for funerals
helped the industry adapt to the
changes.
Some of these measures will be
around in post-pandemic times;
others may fall by the way side, like
walk-by and drive-by services that
some funeral homes devised as a
way to maintain social distancing.
The pandemic has not only
changed the way the industry does
business, but it’s also caused finan-
“It’s been devastating for some families. It’s
gotten better, obviously. There was a lot of
fear. Now we’re allowed to let people come
and say goodbye. That’s vital.”
— Brad Byrholdt , general manager of Oregon Care Group Inc.
cial losses for funeral homes and
altered the way directors comfort
grieving customers.
“COVID-19 has forced the death
industry to innovate,” said Wally
Ordeman, Oregon Funeral Direc-
tors Association executive director.
“Funeral directors are not wired to
have remote grieving. They’re not
wired to say no to someone griev-
ing.
“But early on, it was unsafe to
hold memorials in person.”
As the nation vaccinates more
OREGON
people, cases drop and fewer peo-
ple die of the disease, Oregon
counties are opening up, loosening
restrictions. In the past year, the
virus alone has caused the deaths
of 119 people in Central Oregon,
2,383 statewide and 548,162 in the
United States.
A livestream service, or so-called
distance memorialization, could
become a thing in the future, Or-
deman said, because it can connect
people. Another prominent change
will be the ability to purchase ar-
rangements, even caskets and urns
online, he said.
See Funerals / A8
WASHINGTON
Dems’ bid to eliminate second- Cattle rancher who
home tax break draws backlash pleaded guilty to fraud
BY HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
Some Democrats in the Oregon Legislature
want their colleagues to look closely at who
benefits from the state’s largest housing sub-
sidy and consider scaling it back.
Five Democrats in the state Senate and
House proposed various changes to the mort-
gage interest deduction this session to pare
back the tax break, such as eliminating the
state’s version of it for second homes and for
primary homes of people with more than
$250,000 in federal adjusted gross income.
“It is a racial justice issue,” said Rep. Khanh
Pham, D-Portland, a chief sponsor of three bills
on the mortgage interest deduction. “There is a
huge racial disparity in homeownership.”
Homeownership among white Oregonians
stood at 65% in 2017, while the rate for Latino
residents was 43%, and the rate for Black Or-
egonians was 35%, according to a U.S. Census
Bureau estimate.
Lawmakers have pitched the idea of limiting
the state mortgage interest deduction for well-
off Oregonians in previous legislative sessions
only to see it quickly hit a wall of opposition,
and some supporters concede the most they
might achieve this year is to keep the discus-
sion alive.
See Homes / A8
now faces new charges
BY DON JENKINS
AND GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
On the same day an East-
ern Washington cattle rancher
pleaded guilty in federal court
to wire fraud, he was hit with
new fraud charges by another
federal agency charge — with
all of it related to the sale of cat-
tle that only existed on invoices.
Cody Easterday, 49, pleaded
guilty Wednesday to commit-
ting wire fraud against Tyson
Foods and another unnamed
company.
He agreed to pay $244
million in restitution and faces
up to 20 years in prison, ac-
cording to the U.S. Justice De-
partment.
He is scheduled to be sen-
tenced Aug. 4.
See Rancher / A8