1st Oregon News Minute from the AP

OR–1st NewsMinute/345
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) – Authorities in northeast Oregon’s Umatilla County say a Hermiston woman missing since Thursday was kidnapped by her estranged boyfriend. Investigators with the sheriff’s office believe 26-year-old Melody Mickel is being held against her will. They are searching for 28-year-old Albert Martinez, who is a registered sex offender and has a history of kidnapping. Authorities said yesterday that a temporary warrant has been entered nationwide for Martinez for kidnapping.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A 70-year-old Tillamook-area woman who was rescued from a submerged car more than a week ago has died at a Portland hospital. Oregon State Police said yesterday that Helga Garling died Saturday at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where she was being treated. Garling was injured April 17 when the car she was riding in with her husband plunged down a 100-foot embankment and into the Wilson River east of Tillamook, trapping her for about a half hour.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Bonneville Power Administration has ordered Pacific Northwest wind farms to cut production twice in recent days because it has a surplus of power from hydroelectric dams. The agency, which manages much of the power grid in the Northwest, confirms it issued the order during the early-morning hours of Sunday and yesterday, times when demand is low. The action renews a dispute from last spring, when the BPA curtailed wind turbines because the water from a large mountain snowpack left the region with more hydropower than the electrical grid could handle.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – A judge says the state of Oregon should deny a company’s request for a permit to pump more than 21 million gallons of water a day from the McKenzie River for sale to south Lake County. State administrative judge James Han ruled against Willamette Water Co. last Friday, saying the company’s bid was speculative in that it had no contracts to sell water and had not shown it will obtain them in the future. His ruling now goes to the Oregon Water Resources Commission.

 

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.