1st Oregon News Minute from the AP

Date: 03/29/2013 04:00 AM

OR–1st NewsMinute/286
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Fans of Oregon craft beer can bring a reusable container known as a “growler” to their local brewery and fill up. Oregon winemakers say they want in on that kind of trade. The state Senate voted unanimously yesterday to let wineries, restaurants and grocery stores dispense wine in consumer-supplied growlers of up to two gallons. The measure now goes to Gov. John Kitzhaber.

REDDING, Calif. (AP) – The U.S. Department of Interior has rejected a whistleblower complaint that a department statement on scientific reports reviewing the proposed removal of four dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and Northern California was biased. The Redding Record-Searchlight reports yesterday that the decision to reject the complaint followed the recommendation of a panel of scientists, which found no scientific misconduct in the statement.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings and another 30 members of Congress have sent a letter to the Obama administration, asking why it is demanding timber counties send back roughly $18 million in federal subsidies. The Agriculture Department distributed $323 million to 41 states in January. But the administration recently said the payments are subject to the sequester, and states must return a portion of the money.

BEND, Ore. (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service is moving faster than it had earlier planned to cut expenses, and will close two mail processing centers in Oregon this year. They are in Bend and Pendleton. The Postal Service told union leaders they are among dozens nationwide. KTVZ-TV reports that Bend mail will be processed in Portland, even letters to another address in Bend. A 2011 study found that closing the Bend center would save $2 million a year.

 

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.