Date: 10/28/2013 04:01 AM
AP-OR–1st NewsMinute/255
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A recent scandal over hiring practices that discriminated against veterans at the Bonneville Power Administration has exposed long-standing tensions over control of the agency and its economic benefits. Some local stakeholders fear the U.S. Department of Energy could use the agency’s hiring violations as an excuse to centralize BPA’s policy-making in Washington, D.C., raising Northwest energy rates and hampering the region’s economy.
SEATTLE (AP) – Hundreds of trains carrying crude oil could soon be chugging across the Northwest, bringing potential jobs and revenues but raising concerns about oil spills, increased train traffic and other issues. But ports and refineries in Washington and Oregon are increasingly turning to trains to take advantage of a boom in oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region.
PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – A major shipping company’s decision to withdraw from the Port of Portland by January means local exporters will face higher transportation costs to move their products overseas. The East Oregonian reports that South Korea-based Hanjin Shipping will leave Portland’s Terminal 6 due to rising handling charges and sagging longshore labor productivity.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) – A Southern Oregon woman who was rescued with her infant son after getting lost in the woods in September is now training to be a search-and-rescue volunteer. The Klamath Falls Herald and News reports Billie-Jean Biria got lost as she was retrieving her son’s red beanie. The next morning, they were able to make it to a nearby road.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
