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Fire
doused on boat at Harris Harbor
Capital City Fire Rescue responded to Harris Harbor at
about 10 am. on the report of a boat fire.
The fire was reported in the pleasure craft Gabriel
located in Stall 22 of Float 3.
Its reported that the fire was inside the vessel and
that no one was on board.
The fire was reported knocked down at 10-15 a.m.
Fire
Marshal Rich Etheridge, the incident commander, says
they discovered heavy smoke inside. Damage
to the 30 foot vessel was estimated at $1,000.
The
suspected cause is an oil stove left on that ignited
wood stacked behind it.
A passerby
noticed the smoke and contact the Harbor Master, who in
turn, called 911.
Legislature
takes over neighboring Masonic temple
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Legislature now has a little
more room in Juneau.
The Legislature yesterday (Thursday) took ownership of
Juneau's Scottish Rite Masonic Temple.
A
million-and-a-half dollar renovation project will soon
start.
The 14-thousand-900-square-foot building, near the
Capitol, was purchased by the city for 725-thousand
dollars to turn over to the Legislature.
All building tenants other than the Masons have vacated
the building. The Masons will have to be out within 60
days.
Tenant
goes to jail after landlord tries to collect rent
A man who called police Thursday evening complaining
that a gun was pulled on him ended up going to jail.
22 year-old Justin Stone of Juneau told police that his
landlord and another man had come to his Lemon Creek
area residence demanding payment for back rent. He also
said that one of the men pulled a gun on him.
When police arrived at about 6:35 p.m. they met with
Stone, the two men, and two women who were with Stone.
After conducting interviews with all involved, officers
determined that Stone allegedly became belligerent when
the landlord and his acquaintance came to collect the
back rent.
During the confrontation, Stone allegedly pulled out a
folding knife, then a baseball bat and brandished them
towards both men in a threatening manner.
Officers located the knife and baseball bat used in the
incident, but did not locate a firearm, which Stone said
was allegedly held by one of the men.
Stone was placed under arrest for Assault in the Third
Degree. Assault in the Third Degree is a class C Felony,
punishable by imprisonment from one to five years and a
$50,000 fine.
He was jailed at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Stolen objects
posted on MySpace Web site
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An 18-year-old who police say
stole items from an Eagle River church allegedly posed
with the objects on the social networking Web site
MySpace-dot-com.
On the Web page, Moisae Martushev was pictured
bare-chested and brandishing a handgun against a
backdrop of marijuana bongs.
In his other hand, the youth held a cross that church
officials believe was stolen during a break-in two weeks
ago.
Police say they haven't proved the items belong to the
church because they have not seized the objects.
They discovered the site after a tipster called it in,
and they arrested Martushev after he tried to pawn other
items stolen from churches.
Martushev appeared in an Anchorage court this week and
was charged with 34 counts of burglary, theft and
criminal mischief.
He and three others are accused of breaking into a
string of Anchorage churches.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Police
in Anchorage arrest man in commercial burglary
investigation
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anchorage police say they've
arrested a man in connection with a string of commercial
burglaries.
Police say they've arrested 33-year-old Wayne Jackson of
Anchorage after investigating the burglaries that
spanned August to October of last year.
Police say the burglar smashed the front glass doors to
the businesses, which included a fly shop, a nail salon
and a dry cleaners.
Detectives says Jackson's arraignment is scheduled for
today (Friday) at the Anchorage Jail Court.
Cambodian
Peace Corps volunteers include Juneau resident
A Juneau resident is among the first group of Peace
Corps volunteers ever to serve in Cambodia.
23 year-old Michael Kohan is one of 30 English teachers
who departed for Phnom Penh on January 31st at the
invitation of the Cambodian government.
Kohan recently graduated from the University of
Washington. She's the daughter of Tom and Trish
Kohan.
The Peace
Corps' Maria Lee says the volunteers will be working in
classrooms teaching English as a foreign language to
high school students and they'll also focus on high
school English teachers in the Cambodian Provinces to
improve their English teaching skills.
Lee says, in addition, the volunteers will collaborate
with community groups and individuals to enhance the
quality of life for Cambodians through the development
of community initiated projects and promotions of life
skills.
Lee says volunteers will enter a country that has
experienced record growth in it economy and tourism
throughout the decade.
Following nine weeks of intensive language, cultural,
and technical training the group will be officially
sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers on April 4th.
Lee says people join the Peace Corps for altruistic
reasons, but lately they've also been seeing an upsurge
of recent college graduates who are realizing that the
Peace Corps is a way to enhance and launch their
careers.
Other volunteers are at transitional points in their
lives, like switching careers.
And
there's also the baby boom sector. Lee says five percent
of all volunteers are over the age of 50.
She says the number of volunteers is at a thirty-year
high and two colleges in the Northwest region of the
U.S. are leading the way.
The University of Washington is number one nationally
for producing Peace Corps volunteers.
It's the first time in twenty years that a school has
surpassed the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
The University of Puget Sound is the number one school
with less then 5,000 undergraduate students.
The Peace Corps is celebrating 45 years of service in
139 countries.
Since 1961, more than 187,000 people have volunteered.
Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at
least 18 years of age.
There is no upper age limit to serve in the Peace Corps.
Peace Corps service is a 27 month commitment.
Subsistence
projects include one near Angoon
An project near Angoon is among a number approved by the
Federal Subsistence Board for its Subsistence Fisheries
Monitoring Plan.
It will count sockeye salmon escapement into Kanalku
Lake near the Southeast village, through the use of a
weir.
The lake is one of several sockeye salmon systems in
Chatham Strait. The Federal Subsistence Board says
information on escapement is needed to manage both the
subsistence and commercial fisheries.
The plan covers 34 projects and costs $3 point 5
Million.
In addition to the projects approved last month, there's
an additional 25 studies totaling $1 point 7 Million
being conducted this year that were approved previously.
Crewmember
missing from fishing boat near Dutch Harbor
The Coast Guard has suspended a search for a missing
crewmember of the catcher processor Northern Victor near
Dutch Harbor.
23 year-old Joseph Arop was last seen at about 2 a.m.
Thursday morning.
He was noticed missing during an all hands drill at 11
Thursday morning. The vessel was anchored out south of
Dutch Harbor at the time.
The man's personal effects including his wallet were
still on board.
A search by the Coast Guard and the Northern Victor of
nearby waters failed to locate the man.
Leader
in Anchorage deaf community charged with sexual abuse of
minor
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A man who was considered a
leader in Anchorage's deaf community has been charged
with sexually abusing a boy in his care.
Randall Danes was charged yesterday (Thursday) with
sexual abuse of a minor in the first and second degrees,
and one count of attempted sexual abuse.
Bail for the 39-year-old was set at 100-thousand dollars
in cash.
Police say Danes earned an income providing child care
at his home for members of the deaf community.
He's listed in public records as the president of
Williwaw Recreational Club for the Deaf.
Police say Danes had provided care for as many as 15
children, including a 10-year-old boy he allegedly
molested over a period of several years.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Budget
analysts warn leaner years ahead
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Legislature's lead budget
analyst says state spending could be back in the hole as
early as next year.
Legislative Finance Director David Teal told the Senate
Finance Committee yesterday (Wednesday) that mounting
costs and volatile oil prices could eat up a dwindling
budget surplus that was the result of record high oil
prices.
And he predicts lawmakers will be hard pressed to make
the reductions that Governor Palin has called for in her
budget.
She is proposing to cut 150 million dollars from an
operating budget that is 750 million dollars over what
lawmakers approved for this year.
Teal says Palin's plan is missing key parts that
lawmakers have little, if any, choice about funding.
Those include increases in K-12 funding to cover rising
retirement costs, changes in the state's Medicaid match
and increases resulting from new state employee
contracts.
House
will chart its ethics course this weekend
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A group of House lawmakers will
meet Saturday morning to decide how to handle a dozen
ethics bills before the state Legislature.
The three-member subcommittee will look at measures from
Republican and Democratic legislators and Republican
Governor Palin.
The group will consider whether to roll all the measures
into one bill.
Among the bills are proposals that would require
lawmakers to make more timely and detailed reports of
their outside income and would bar public officials from
working on state business with companies they own stock
in.
The ethics legislation will be heard formally in the
House State Affairs Committee.
Northern fur
seal pup estimates decline again
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The National Marine Fisheries
Service released its latest estimate of northern fur
seal pups today (Friday) and the news is not good.
The agency says the number of pups born between 2004 and
2006 in Alaska's Pribilof Islands fell by nine percent
between 2004 and 2006.
The islands in the Bering Sea are the breeding grounds
for 55 percent of the world's northern fur seas.
The pup estimate decreased most sharply on St. Paul
Island, the largest of the Pribilof Islands.
In 2004, the fisheries service estimated
122-thousand-825 pups on St. Paul Island. The latest
estimate conducted in August is 109-thousand-937 pups.
Doug DeMaster is director of NOAA's Alaska Fisheries
Science Center.
He says the agency has recorded a significant decline in
the abundance of fur seals on the Pribilof Islands
starting about 19-98.
The reason remains a mystery.
Seals feed on pollock, herring, squid and more than 50
species of other prey.
Some suspect food has become less abundant because of
global warming or commercial fishing.
The agency says increased predation by killer whales
could be the cause of a decline.
It also lists entanglement in marine debris, parasites,
disease and pollutants as possible causes of past or
present declines.
---
On the Net:
Northern Fur Seal pup and adult male report: http://nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/PDF/2006-furseal-pi.pdf
Biologists
propose limits on caribou hunting in western Alaska
DILLINGHAM, Alaska (AP) - State biologists want to limit
hunting of the Mulchatna caribou herd, saying the
numbers have dropped dramatically in the last ten years.
Biologists say there were over 200 thousand caribou in
1995, but today there are about 45 thousand.
The herd lives in western Alaska.
State biologist Jim Woolington says the number of bulls
has declined dramatically in relation to the number of
cows.
He says there may be multiple reasons for the herd's
decline.
But he says they are hoping to stem the decline before
the herd reaches 35 thousand.
The Nushagak advisory committee will take up the
proposal today.
(KDLG-Dillingham, Jodie Seitz)
Palin honors
paratrooper killed in Iraq
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Governor Palin has offered her
condolences to the family of a Fort Richardson
paratrooper killed last week in Iraq.
Staff Sergeant Jamie D- Wilson was shot with small arms
fire while conducting security operations near his base
in Fallujah, Iraq.
The 34-year-old Wilson, of San Diego, was part of the
3rd Battalion, 509th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Palin, who attended the brigade's send-off in September,
says the loss from this deployment is particularly
painful.
She says Wilson died trying to bring democracy to the
people of Iraq, and she asks that the people of Alaska
pause to reflect on his sacrifice.
Palin will send a letter of condolence to his family and
fly a state flag over the Capitol in his honor, which
will also be presented to his family.
Fallen
soldier to be buried Saturday in Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A Fort Richardson-based soldier
who was abducted and killed during a sophisticated sneak
attack in Iraq will be buried with full military honors
tomorrow (Saturday) in Alabama.
Army Private Johnathon M. Millican was one of four
soldiers to die in the January 20th attack in Karbala,
Iraq.
The 20-year-old Millican was a 2005 graduate of Locust
Fork High School. He was a member of the Army's 2nd
Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment,
based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Millican had been in the Army for 17 months. He is
survived by his wife, Shannon Millican, and parents,
Mitchell and Angie Millican.
Visitation is today from noon until 8 p-m.
Funeral services will be at noon Saturday in Trussville,
Alaska (the Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home Chapel, with
burial in Jefferson Memorial Gardens).
Injured
Boozer makes All-Star team
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Carlos Boozer says he will be at
the N-B-A All-Star game later this month.
Whether he's playing in it will depend on the hairline
fracture below his left knee.
Boozer -- who played high school ball in Juneau, Alaska
-- leads the Utah Jazz in scoring and rebounding. He
learned today that he was selected to the Western
Conference All-Star reserves. But his injury could keep
him from playing.
Boozer says he's doing everything he can to speed up his
recovery. He hopes that's enough to play in the game on
February 18th in Las Vegas. If it isn't, Boozer says
he'll still be there for the festivities.
Boozer is the first All-Star for the Jazz since Andrei
Kirilenko in 2004 and the ninth player in franchise
history to be selected.
Crimson
Bears men and women notch road wins
The Juneau Douglas High School men's basketball team
defeated West Valley 56 to 39 yesterday. (Thursday)
The Bear's Will Egolf was the high scorer with 27
points.
The Crimson Bears are on the road in the Fairbanks area.
The competition today (Friday) is the North Pole
Patriots. Tip off is at 6 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on KINY.
Saturday's game against the Lathrop Malamutes is at 3
p.m. and can also be heard on KINY.
The Bears men are ranked number one in the state by the
Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network poll
The Lady Bears are ranked second.
Speaking
of which, they defeated Bartlett 48 to 41 in their
opening game yesterday at the Dimond Lady Lynx
Tournament in Anchorage.
Juneau plays top ranked Wasilla this evening in the
semifinal round.
Hockey
team wrapping up season
The Juneau Douglas High School Crimson Bear hockey team
wraps up its season this weekend.
The competition is provided by the Monroe Rams of
Fairbanks.
The puck drops at the Treadwell Arena tonight at 8 and
Saturday at 7 p.m.
January weather
stats for Juneau issued
It was warmer and wetter than normal in Juneau during
January.
Meteorologist Kimberly Vaughn in the Juneau Forecast
Office says the first day of the year was the warmest
day of the month when it hit 43 degrees.
Temperatures were five degrees above normal with an
average of 31
There were 25 days with high temperatures above
freezing.
But there were cold overnight lows. She says
temperatures plummeted to single digits on the 9th, 10th
and 11th. The 10th was the coldest when it hit five
degrees..
Precipitation amounted to 6 point 25 inches, one point
44 inches above normal.
Only 12 days were snow free. Even so, the forecaster
says January recorded one point four inches below the
average for the month. The total was 27 point 5 inches.
There was a daily snow record set at the airport on the
4th with four point four inches. That amount broke the
previous record for the date set in 1969 by just shy of
an inch.
Ice pellets were also observed on the 7th, 15th and
16th.
The strongest winds were recorded mid-month when maximum
gusts to 54 miles per hour occurred at the airport.
There was a 56 mile per hour gust at Mayflower Island
and there was a gust to 68 on Mt. Roberts.
GCI:
Satellite services could be disrupted later this month
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The telecom company General
Communications Incorporated says customers of all cable
television, Internet and long-distance telephone
companies utilizing satellites could experience brief
service disruptions February 20th through March 10th.
G-C-I officials say that's due to a seasonal solar
occurrence known as a ``sun outage.''
G-C-I says each outage could last up to 15 minutes.
The company says land-based services such as fiber
optics and microwave are not affected by sun outages.
Parking garage
work starts next week
Maintenance and repair work begins Monday at the Marine
Parking Garage downtown.
City officials say the work will continue through
mid-May and proceed by parking level beginning with
Level "D".
Closures and designated parking areas will be announced
and posted.
Caution is urged as you go through the work areas.
The Juneau Public Library atop the parking garage will
remain open during the work.
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