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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2017)
GRANT COUNTY FAIR BOOK – INSIDE The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , J ULY 5, 2017 • N O . 27 • 18 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com LaVoy Finicum shooting Indictment: FBI agent lied about fi ring weapon during arrest attempt By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle An FBI agent pleaded not guilty to charges related to lying about fi ring his weapon during the attempted arrest of ref- uge occupier LaVoy Finicum. W. Joseph Astarita, a member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, was indicted by a federal grand jury June 20 on three charges of making a false statement and two charges of obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges Wednesday in Portland and was released pending future appearances, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce. Astarita “falsely stated he had not fi red his weapon” to FBI and Oregon State Po- lice investigators when he actually fi red two rounds, according to the indictment. Neither round struck Finicum, who was fatally shot by OSP offi cers after re- fusing to stop his vehicle and attempting to run a roadblock on Highway 395 be- tween John Day and Burns Jan. 26, 2016. Finicum was a vocal member of the group that occupied the Malheur National Wild- life Refuge in early 2016. Six shots fi red by OSP offi cers, includ- ing three that struck Finicum, were deter- mined to be justifi ed by investigators from Malheur and Deschutes counties. U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said in a statement, “Special Agent Astarita’s al- leged actions that led to this investigation and indictment do not, in any way, call into question the fi ndings of the Major In- cident Team’s investigation of OSP’s use of deadly force. OSP’s actions were jus- tifi ed and necessary in protecting offi cer safety.” Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nel- son said in a press conference Wednesday one of the two rounds fi red by Astarita struck the roof of Finicum’s pickup. He said the investigation is ongoing. Finicum was en route to a meeting at the John Day Senior Center when law en- forcement offi cers attempted to stop his vehicle, which contained several passen- gers including Ryan Bundy. The Department of Justice Offi ce of the Inspector General in partnership with the United States Attorney’s Offi ce for the District of Oregon investigated the case. Eagle file photo Refuge occupier LaVoy Finicum’s widow, Jeanette Finicum. The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Grant County People Mover Rural veteran program logs 500,000 miles By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle Oregon’s Highly Rural Transportation Program, a federal, state and local part- nership helping meet the trans- portation needs of veterans in rural areas, has logged over 500,000 miles in its fi rst two years of operation. Veterans who were served by this program were trans- ported all over the Pacifi c Northwest to see doctors and receive medical care. The grants are implemented through local transportation entities. Grant County is serviced through the People Mover, which goes to Bend, Red- mond, Pendleton, Walla Walla, Burns, Baker City and Boise. Angie Jones, the transpor- tation manager at the People Mover, said the program has been extremely helpful for vet- erans all over the county. “We’ve been able to get Grant County residents to any kind of medical appointment, including pharmacy, for free,” she said. The $50,000 in grant funds is helpful, but it doesn’t get the People Mover all the way there. “Usually by the 10th month, we’re using gener- al funds,” Jones said. “It’s a limited amount of money, but See PROGRAM, Page A18 R AINBOW FEEDING THE Gathering serves as testing ground for disaster relief he thousands of Rainbow Gathering attendees come from all walks of life, but they share one thing in common: the need to eat. As of Saturday afternoon, the fi rst offi cial day of the 45th annual gathering on national forest lands, almost 7,200 peo- ple had set up camp for the seven-day event surrounding a July 4 prayer for peace. Flagtail Meadows, the site of the gathering in the Malheur National Forest south of John Day, buzzed with activity as new arrivals carried supplies into the camp. See RAINBOW, Page A6 See DEATH, Page A6 T RIGHT: Miles Biddulph plays guitar at the Rainbow Gathering Saturday, July 1. Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer is investigating the death of an unidentifi ed man at the Rainbow Gathering. Multiple offi cers from the Forest Service, Oregon State Police and Grant County Sher- iff’s Offi ce responded to the gathering off of Forest Road 24, according to a July 2 press release from Palmer. An unidentifi ed man col- lapsed near a makeshift By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle TOP: A banner welcomes people to the Rainbow Gathering July 1. Death investigated at Rainbow Gathering Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs Windstorm causes tens of thousands of dollars of damage to Prairie City Wastewater treatment facility struck by lightning By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle A windstorm caused tens of thousands of dollars of dam- age in Prairie City on Monday, June 26, according to Mayor Jim Hamsher. The city’s water system was damaged, computers went down and a house and vehicle had trees land on them. City and private property was damaged, Hamsher said. Lighting struck the waste- water treatment facility in Prairie City and damaged the electronics controlling the water system, Public Works Director Chris Camarena said. No untreated water entered the system, and the city’s million-gallon reser- voir was used to supply the city with water. Camarena said he worked 36 consecutive hours monitor- ing and repairing the system. He said the two other pub- lic works employees had been “phenomenal,” and both put in 18 hour days. “We don’t have catastro- phes very often, but when we do, everybody steps up,” Ca- marena said. He was thankful there were no injuries, but was unable to put a dollar fi gure on the amount of damage done as cleanup efforts are ongoing. City Recorder Taci Phil- brook said trees were split, uprooted and knocked over, some on houses, “Prairie City was hit pretty hard by it,” Philbrook said. However, the very next day residents were helping remove branches and cleaning up the city, “neighbors helping neigh- bors,” she said. John Day was also affect- ed by the storm, but not to the same degree as Prairie City. No city property was dam- aged, but a tree was blown down on Ferguson Road. The west part of town lost power for a short period of time, ac- cording to Public Works Di- rector Monty Legg. The storm hit around 1 p.m. and scattered debris and branches around the city. “It was a pretty good little storm,” Legg said. Dayville, Seneca, Mt. Ver- non, Long Creek and Canyon City all avoided serious dam- age. “It really didn’t hit us like it did John Day,” Canyon City City Recorder Corry Rider said. Contributed photo/Pam Woodworth A tree in Prairie City uprooted by a windstorm on Monday, June 26.