OUTDOORS/STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Easterday sentencing delayed
Debby, and mother, Karen,
claim they are entitled to a
share.
The trial will sort out
ownership of more than 80
parcels of land acquired over
three decades by Cody East-
erday and his late father,
Gale.
Only Cody Easterday has
the knowledge to help fam-
ily attorneys prepare, Ore-
skovich argued. “It’s a mon-
umental amount of work that
is necessary,” he said.
Bastian agreed to delay
sentencing until after the
trial. “Mr. Easterday is doing
what he promised to do when
he pled guilty in this court-
room to try to help clean this
mess up,” the judge said.
Bastian said he also
wanted to sentence Easter-
day in person, not by video
conference, and it’s unlikely
that courtroom hearings will
resume this month because
of COVID restrictions.
He also noted that if East-
erday had insisted on a trial,
the trial would not have
started yet because of normal
delays. The case is still ahead
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
RICHLAND, Washing-
ton — An Eastern Washing-
ton federal judge Thursday,
Jan. 6, postponed sentencing
Cody Easterday to June 13,
giving the ex-cattleman six
more months of freedom to
settle his contentious bank-
ruptcy case.
U.S. District Judge Stan-
ley Bastian described the
ongoing dispute between
Easterday, his creditors and
his fraud victim, Tyson Fresh
Meats, as a “mess.”
“I can’t fi nd a better
word,” he said.
Easterday, 50, pleaded
guilty March 31 to defraud-
ing Tyson out of $233 mil-
lion. Easterday supplied
Tyson with cattle from his
feedlot near Pasco. Over sev-
eral years, he billed Tyson
for about 200,000 head of
cattle that didn’t exist.
Easterday faces up to 20
years in prison for wire fraud
and must make restitution.
His sentencing already had
been postponed twice to give
George Plaven/Capital Press, File
Cody Easterday
him time to sell farms and
equipment through bank-
ruptcy court.
Over the objection of the
Justice Department, Bastian
granted the motion by East-
erday’s attorney, Carl Ore-
skovich, for a third delay,
pushing sentencing back
from Jan. 24.
Bastian cited ongoing lit-
igation in bankruptcy court.
A trial to allocate more than
$200 million from the liqui-
dation of Easterday Farms
and Easterday Ranches will
begin April 18.
Tyson and other credi-
tors are seeking the entire
pot. Easterday and his wife,
of most criminal cases, he
said.
“And that’s because Mr.
Easterday pled guilty and
has taken the initial steps to
accept responsibility for the
mess that he created,” Bas-
tian said.
Along with the Justice
Department, Tyson opposed
postponing sentencing.
In a court fi ling, Tyson
said Cody Easterday wanted
to stay free to steer “tens of
millions of dollars in dis-
puted sale proceeds to his
mother and wife rather than
to creditors.”
In a written response,
Oreskovich disputed Tyson’s
description of the bank-
ruptcy case.
The Easterdays cooper-
ated to sell their companies
to raise money for creditors,
including Tyson, Oreskov-
ich said. The Easterdays face
paying $25 million in capital
gains taxes, he said.
Tyson and other creditors
are trying to stick the Easter-
days with the tax bill and no
money to pay it, Oreskovich
claimed.
US commits $1B for meat processing
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
WASHINGTON — The
Biden administration is going
full bore with its billion-dol-
lar eff orts to increase com-
petition in livestock markets
to help producers and reduce
food prices for consumers at
the same time.
President Joe Biden issued
an executive order in July
on strengthening competi-
tion across the U.S. econ-
omy. He challenged USDA
to take immediate action to
develop tools to expand meat
and poultry processing capac-
ity, increase competition,
increase farm income and cre-
ate good-paying jobs in rural
America, said USDA Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack.
The American Rescue
Plan provided USDA with the
resources to commit over $1
billion on several initiatives to
expand independent meat pro-
cessing capacity, he said during
a virtual press conference on
Jan. 3.
USDA will provide $100
million to reduce the cost of
inspections for small process-
ing facilities.
“This is going to help
us maintain the capacity we
have,” he said.
The agency has awarded
$32 million in grants to 167
facilities to modernize and
expand to be able to engage in
interstate commerce.
“This is going to expand
market opportunity and
income opportunities for these
processors,” he said.
USDA has deployed $100
million in loan guarantees to
address mid-level supply chain
challenges, such as cold stor-
age and warehousing, and to
allow facilities to expand their
operations.
“We believe the $100 mil-
lion will leverage nearly a bil-
lion dollars of investment,” he
said.
USDA has announced an
$800 million commitment for
grants and loans to address
capacity, workforce and inno-
vation challenges. It will make
available $375 million in grants
for expanded facilities and con-
struction of new ones.
“Now, we want to get to
work right away because farm-
ers have been waiting a long
time for this help,” he said.
This spring, $150 million
will be made available through
a request for proposals for proj-
ects that are just about ready to
go but need help to accelerate.
“So this $150 million, we
believe, will help to sponsor at
least 15 new projects,” he said.
Another $225 million will
be made available this sum-
mer for projects that are in the
infant stage.
An additional $275 mil-
lion will be provided to lending
partners to create more aff ord-
able loans and fi nancing avail-
able for facilities that are being
built.
“Even if we build more
facilities, we also need a
trained workforce. … So $100
million of this resource is going
to be used to support and create
a pipeline of well-trained and
experienced workers so that we
can expand this workforce in
rural America,” he said.
USDA will also use $50
million for technical assistance
and research.
“We’re going to need a lot
of innovation in this indus-
try. We’re going to need new
business models. We’re going
to need new ways of innova-
tion and technology to create
greater effi ciencies,” he said.
Small and midsize facilities
need the opportunity to access
that innovation, as opposed to
the big four processors, he said.
But it’s not just about
money, it’s also about rules and
regulations, he said.
USDA is working on
strengthening the Packers and
Stockyards regulations, “Prod-
uct of USA” voluntary label-
ing and its partnership with
the Department of Justice on
enforcement of antitrust laws.
“It’s exciting work, and we
at USDA are really engaged in
this and involved and work-
ing with our farm partners,” he
said.
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Welcome!
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
A9
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
When you have one shot,
you better make it count
A
pproximately 80 years
ago a young man we
will call Ray was tend-
ing a band of sheep.
This country used to be full
of sheep. Not only is the area
well-suited
for them, but
many of the
earliest settlers
were Anglo-
Saxon in her-
itage, and tra-
Dale Valade
ditionally were
sheepherders.
When the local young men
came of age they would hire
out to ranchers as shepherds.
Many of the stone fences they
fashioned after the manner
of the old country still stand
today. It was a big job, to say
the least, and could be rather
lonesome.
Ray, our aforementioned
protagonist, was herding sheep
in the Black Canyon area. Per
necessity, Ray carried a rifl e to
keep himself in fresh meat, and
in the event of coyotes or other
predators, he could protect his
band.
His rifl e was a bolt-action
Savage in .25-20 WCF caliber
equipped with buckhorn sights.
The .25-20 was traditionally
loaded with a .25 caliber, 86
grain fl at nose jacketed bullet
going only slightly faster than a
.22 Long Rifl e.
Somewhere, somehow in his
travels, Ray lost the detachable
fi ve-shot magazine, making his
repeater in eff ect a single-shot.
No matter, he did without.
Water was scarce in the
Black Canyon area, and Ray
planned his travels to coincide
with hitting the natural springs
and creeks in the area day by
day.
As luck would have it, one
morning a sow black bear
descended upon his fl ock with
her eye on a mutton breakfast.
Ray grabbed the Savage and
snuck his way closer, knowing
that he would have only one
shot to kill the bear.
The sheep, which fi ve min-
utes before had been peacefully
grazing and watering up, were
getting more and more ner-
vous as the black bear made its
way into their midst, searching
for a young and tender lamb to
snatch up.
The youthful shepherd got
Contributed Photo
A .25-20 cartridge (left) shown with
a .22 Long Rifl e for comparison.
as close as he dared without
exposing his cover and possibly
putting himself in the path of
an aggressive, hungry predator.
Resting on a fl at rock, Ray took
careful aim as the bear lum-
bered closer and closer. If she
would just stop, he could shoot.
Ewes frantically gath-
ered their lambs as the clamor
of their bleats began to alert
the whole band of impend-
ing danger. As Ray closed his
left eye to focus on his sights
and leaned into his rocky rest
to steady the rifl e, some peb-
bles gave way, betraying his
position.
The sow bear stopped in
her tracks and looked directly
up at the young shepherd. He
slowly let out his breath as he
squeezed the trigger.
At the shot, the black bear
dropped to the ground. Quickly
Ray reloaded and made ready
as he waited. After a few min-
utes, when he was sure the bear
was dead, he walked down to
the carcass. His bullet had hit
her right in the eye, exactly
where he was aiming, killing
her instantly with a brain shot.
Necessity is always the
mother of invention and inno-
vation. While no sane person
would consider a .25-20 to be
an adequate bear rifl e, young
Ray Potter made his into one
because that’s what he had to
do. A cool head and a single
well-placed shot will always
carry the day.
Write to us at shootingth-
ebreezebme@gmail.com and
check us out on Facebook!
Dale Valade is a local coun-
try gent with a love for the out-
doors, handloading, hunting
and shooting.
Happy New Year!
I wanted to make you aware of some new
developments here at the Chamber and touch
on some others.
First, we have a new website! The web
address has not changed, it is still www.
gcoregonlive.com. But it is definitely new
and improved. As before, your business has a
page. To find it, click on “ Business Guide” at
the center top of the Home page. Find your
A uniquie boutique featuring local
artisans from Grant County
business and click on the box. Please review
133 W. Main, John Day, OR
the content on your page and let us know if
541-620-2638 • etc.handmade@yahoo.com
you want to change anything. If you have a
logo that is not shown, please email it to me.
We can also post photos and change any of
the written content
Our Grant County Greenbacks program
has been effect for six years now, and it’s still
going strong! We started it in November of
2015, not knowing how it would go over here
in Grant county. Well, to say the least, it has
been a hit! Since November, 2015, we have
sold more than $120,000 in Grant County
Greenbacks.
So far, eleven Chamber business members
have taken advantage of the Business
Enhancement Grant program that we started
in October of 2020. We have provided
matching funds of almost $30,000!.
We are working on our new Business
Directory. Copies will be given to all
Chamber member businesses and to people
interested in relocating to Grant County.
www.dukewarnerrealtyofeasternoregon.com
Information from your webpage will be used Principal
Lori Hickerson
Sally Knowles
Babette Larson
Broker, GRI
Broker, GRI
Broker, GRI
in the directory, so we want to make sure your Office: 541-575-2617 Office: 541-932-4493 Office: 541-987-2363
information is correct. Please let us know if
it isn’t. Please also make sure we have your
most current email address. We often share
important information that may be time
sensetive. We wouldn’t want you to miss out.
We will be installing a new reader board
sign in front of the office soon, so watch for it!
We will display a lot of information including
events, so make sure to let us know when you
are planning an event so we can get it on our
calendar.
Mark you calendars for May 11th. We
will be reviving the Grape and Grain event.
Watch for more details!
Our next Chamber Business meeting will be
S268191-1
Thursday, January 20th at 10:30 AM at the
Chamber office.
• etc •
208 NW Canton
John Day
541-575-2725
mbddental@live.com
michaelbdesjardinmd.com
S273980-1
Monday - Thursday
7am-
6pm
Monday
- Thursday
7am-
6pm
Friday
8am
- 5pm
Friday Sharpe
8am - 5pm
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S275588-1
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FARM SUPPLY
60561 HWY 26,
John Day, Oregon 97845
541-575-0023
Stay Well,
Tammy Bremner
Executive Director
S277558-1