BUSINESS/COMMUNITY
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
HeRMIsTOnHeRald.COM • A7
BRIEFS
Watermelon festival offers more
than a slice of fun
Bob Brawdy/Tri-City Herald
Easterday Ranches North Lot cattle feedlot at 8230 Blanton Road near Eltopia in rural Franklin
County, Washington.
Attorneys charging $1 million a
month to get Easterday farms,
ranches out of bankruptcy
By KRISTIN M. KRAEMER
TRI-CITy HeRald
KENNEWICK — Law-
yers working to get Easter-
day farming and ranching
operations through bank-
ruptcy reorganization have
racked up nearly $4.7 mil-
lion in fees and expenses in
four months.
And the bills keep
coming.
Easterday Ranches filed
for bankruptcy protection
Feb. 1, followed by Easter-
day Farms one week later.
The two Chapter 11 cases
in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
are being jointly adminis-
tered “for procedural pur-
poses only,” with court staff
maintaining one file.
Documents recently filed
in the main case detail how
much the three law firms
hired by the Easterdays are
seeking in compensation
and reimbursement for Feb.
1 through May 31. They are
the most recent fee applica-
tions on file.
The total for four months
is $4.67 million.
That does not include
the $1.4 million requested
by attorneys who are tasked
with making sure the unse-
cured creditors for both
companies are represented.
Chief Judge William L.
Holt established a court-ap-
proved budget early in the
case that allows for the “pro-
fessionals,” or lawyers, to be
paid 80% of their fees and
100% of their costs.
Those bills are being paid
by the “debtors” and “debt-
ors-in-possession” — East-
erday Ranches, Easterday
Farms, and members of the
Mesa-based family: Cody
Easterday, his wife Debby,
and his mother Karen L.
Easterday.
Karen Easterday is the
widow of Gale Easter-
day, the 79-year-old long-
time family patriarch who
died in a wrong-way crash
last December on a Pasco
highway.
In the two bankruptcy fil-
ings, the cattle ranch listed
debts of just under $237
million to its top 20 credi-
tors, while the farming side
showed debts of nearly $18
million to its top 20 creditors.
Legal fees, expenses
Pachulski Stang Ziehl &
Jones of Los Angeles sub-
mitted a request for about
$3.86 million.
Aside from $84,000 in
expenses, the rest of that is
for attorney fees. More than
$2 million was spent in the
first two months after the
bankruptcy filings, with
another $1 million in May.
The firm said it’s still
owed almost $2.9 million.
Bush Kornfeld of Seat-
tle submitted a bill for about
$243,000.
Almost half of the money
requested by the law firm
was accrued in the first two
months.
Davis Wright Tremaine,
another Seattle firm, is ask-
ing for almost $575,000.
The money was pretty
evenly spread out over the
four months, with about
one-third of it going toward
expenses.
It is serving as special
counsel to the Easterday
family and their two com-
panies, but also is working
on Gale Easterday’s probate
matters and “issues arising
under the Coronavirus Food
Assistance Program,” docu-
ments show.
Attorneys with Buchal-
ter firm in Seattle applied
for nearly $844,000 in the
same period, noting that it
already has been paid just
over a half-million dollars.
The firm represents the Offi-
cial Committee of Unse-
cured Creditors of Easterday
Farms.
The Cooley firm, which
represents the Official Com-
mittee of Unsecured Credi-
tors of Easterday Ranches,
billed about $562,000. That
covers just 1½ months since
the firm became substitute
counsel for the committee in
mid-April.
Tyson fraud
Before filing for bank-
ruptcy, Cody, Debby and
Karen all resigned their offi-
cer positions with the family
businesses. They transferred
control to a group of “inde-
pendent directors” who
adopted changes before the
first bankruptcy filing.
Since then, Cody East-
erday — who served as
president and chief exec-
utive officer — has admit-
ted bilking Tyson Foods and
an unnamed company out
of more than $225 million
total.
Federal prosecutors say
he concocted the scheme,
dubbed a “ghost-cattle
scam,” to charge the two
companies for the costs of
buying and feeding 200,000
cattle that did not actually
exist.
That money was used to
offset about $200 million
that Cody Easterday lost in
commodity futures contracts
trading.
Despite the fraud, East-
erday and Tyson are still
working together.
The meat processor
advances money to the cattle
operation every two weeks,
with the amount ranging
from nearly $2,200 in late
March down to $240 at the
end of June, court docu-
ments show.
That money is part of
the cash collateral that the
Easterday companies are
allowed to use during Chap-
ter 11 proceedings in order
to preserve and maintain
their assets, therefore “max-
imizing the value of the
debtor’s estate,” documents
said.
Restitution funds
Cody Easterday, 50,
could spend up to 20 years
in federal prison for his
guilty plea.
He had been set for sen-
tencing in early August but
his criminal attorney, Carl
J. Oreskovich of Spokane,
recently asked for a delay
because of the ongoing
bankruptcy proceedings.
He pointed out how
Easterday agreed to pay just
over $244 million in resti-
tution, and said the bank-
ruptcy cases “are antici-
pated to generate hundreds
of millions of dollars for
restitution in this matter.”
“It will be beneficial for
all parties to have identified
the amount of money that
has been paid out for res-
titution through the bank-
ruptcy prior to the time of
sentencing,”
Oreskovich
added.
“Substantial restitution
funds” then should be avail-
able at sentencing, he said.
As part of the bank-
ruptcy, the Easterday com-
panies recently sold 18,000
acres of agricultural land in
a private auction.
Farmland Reserve Inc.,
the parent company of
AgriNorthwest in Kenne-
wick, had the winning bid at
$209 million. The property
is in the southeast corner of
Benton County, along the
Columbia River near Wal-
lula Gap.
AgriNorthwest
antic-
ipates closing on the
purchase in the next
couple weeks.
The Irrigon Watermelon Festival is gear-
ing up to offer a slice of family fun at Irri-
gon Marina Park.
The event kicks off Saturday, July 31,
from 6:30-9:30 a.m. with a hearty breakfast
at the marina park, 430 N.E. Eighth St., Irri-
gon. Sponsored by Umatilla Harvest Foods,
volunteers from Columbia View Church
will cook up plates of eggs, ham, hash
browns, sausage and biscuits and gravy.
After getting their fill of food, festival
goers are encouraged to take in the parade,
which gets underway at 10 a.m. along Main
Avenue.
Following the parade, the fun shifts into
high gear at the marina park — with every-
thing from vendor booths, live entertain-
ment, classic cars, boat rides offered by
the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office and
a variety of food. Of course, watermelon
will be plentiful, thanks to Bellinger Farms.
The Shades, a Tri-Cities band, will per-
form throughout the afternoon and a street
dance featuring Desert Sounds runs from
9-11:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.face-
book.com/irrigonwatermelonfestival. For
questions, call Dave Cooley at 541-561-
6459 or Charlene Cooley at 541-571-8541.
Communities gear up for National
Night Out
National Night Out is an initiative devel-
oped to encourage people to get out to
meet their neighbors. In addition, its mis-
sion is to help promote police-community
partnerships.
NNO helps create safer communities as
residents become familiar with what’s hap-
pening in their neighborhoods. In addition,
it provides a relaxed atmosphere to interact
with law enforcement personnel and other
first responders.
National Night Out (www.natw.org) is
officially Tuesday, Aug. 3, however, Stan-
field is hosting a Family Fun Night Out
Wednesday, July 28. Local National Night
Out celebrations include:
HERMISTON
For more than two decades, the Herm-
iston Police Department has kicked off its
National Night Out festivities in advance
with a treasure hunt. The Hermiston resi-
dent who finds the golden medallion, which
is about 3 inches in diameter and attached
to a red, white and blue ribbon, will win a
block party.
Police personnel and city officials will
serve ice cream during the evening of Aug.
3 in the winner’s neighborhood. Available
personnel also hope to visit other gatherings
throughout town.
Community members are encouraged to
organize neighborhood events, cookouts or
parties on National Night Out. Those plan-
ning a gathering are encouraged to pro-
vide time and location information to HPD
Corporal Tim Miears at 541-667-5112 or
tmiears@hermiston.or.us.
Tammy Malgesini/Hermiston Herald
A golden medallion is hidden as part of the
National Night Out festivities in Hermiston.
Follow the clues published in the East
Oregonian and Hermiston Herald to find it
and win a block party in your neighborhood.
The treasure hunt, Miears said, is a fun
way to get people excited leading up to
National Night Out. In his fourth year of
heading up the treasure hunt, Miears likes
to hide the medallion in a place that makes
it fun for people to search.
To read treasure hunt rules and the first
clue, grab a copy of the Tuesday, July 27,
East Oregonian or view it online at www.
eastoregonian.com. See By the Way in this
edition of the Hermiston Herald for clue
No. 2.
If you find the medallion, take it imme-
diately to the Hermiston Police Depart-
ment, 330 S. First St. If it’s found after
5 p.m., leave a voicemail for Miears at 541-
667-5112 or send an email via tmiears@
hermiston.or.us.
ECHO
WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 3
TIME: 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: George Park
WHAT: Free barbecue dinner, bingo,
a bike rodeo, games, raffle drawings and
announcement of the Neighbor of the Year
Award (nominations must be turned in by
Aug. 1 at Echo City Hall).
QUESTIONS: 541-376-8411
STANFIELD
WHEN: Wednesday, July 28*
TIME: 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: Bard Park
WHAT: Free barbecue and watermelon,
games, inflatable fun, bike rodeo and raf-
fles. Also, teens are invited to continue
enjoying the activities from 8-9 p.m. after
the event officially ends.
*Note: Because the Stanfield Police
Department also provides services in Echo,
they are combining their National Night
Out festivities with the city’s Summer Fun
Program on a different night. The event is a
combined effort of the police and fire depart-
ments, the library and parks and recreation
as a way to build a sense of community.
QUESTIONS: 541-449-1254
UMATILLA
WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 3
TIME: 6-9 p.m.
WHERE: Village Square Park
WHAT: Music, food, games, activities
and giveaways.
QUESTIONS: 541-922-3226
–Hermiston Herald
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