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.