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Man saves neighbor from burning trailer
A modest hero, who chooses to remain unidentified, is credited with saving a neighbor from a burning trailer this (Thursday) morning.
Capital City Fire Rescue responded to Space 70 of the Glacier View Trailer Park in the Valley at about eight a.m.
Deputy Fire Marshall Dan Jager says arriving fire fighters saw smoke coming out of the trailer and smoldering material outside.
The occupant was in the back bedroom
asleep when her next door neighbor, who was taking out
trash, noticed flames in the front living room.
He
kicked in the back door of the trailer and was able to alert the
woman of the fire and get her out.
He then went to the living room and pulled a burning mattress
outside.
Jager says the man declined to be publicly acknowledged at this time.
He's sure the man will be receiving some sort of fire department recognition for his heroics. Jager says he'll provide Fire Chief Eric Mohrman with his report.
The woman suffered only minor smoke inhalation and refused treatment.
The cause of the fire is believed to be smoking materials. Jager says it started in a futon mattress in the living room.
The trailer was insured. Total damage is estimated at $7,000.
Jager says there were no working smoke alarms installed in the trailer.
Trap
set to try and catch orphaned cub
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - State biologists are hoping to
catch a bear cub that is without its mother and not
hibernating for the winter.
The cub -- which is probably only about the size of a
small dog -- has been seen off and on for weeks
scampering through yards on Douglas Island near Juneau.
Neil Barten, the area wildlife management biologist,
says the cub is scrounging for anything it can find to
eat, and eventually will get into trouble.
So Barten says a live trap was set out today to try and
capture the cub.
If that is successful, the plan is to take the cub off
the island and to a more remote location, where it will
be introduced to a denning box with a nice bed of straw.
Barten says the hope is that the cub will go into
hibernation, and get a second chance at life when it
comes back out in the spring.
Heavy snow warning issued for Juneau
Lots of snow is headed Juneau's way.
The National Weather Service has issued a heavy snow warning for the area. Its in effect from 3 this afternoon until 6 Friday morning.
Two to 3 inches is forecast today, 3 to 7 tonight, and 1 to 3 Friday for a total accumulation of between 6 to 13 inches.
Heavy snow warnings have also been issued for Haines, Gustavus, Hoonah and Pelican.
Snow advisories were issued for Skagway and Angoon.
More
snow falls on Anchorage, Southcentral Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Heavy snowfall in Anchorage
took a toll on drivers by late afternoon Wednesday
Police Lieutenant Paul Honeman says police took reports
of 53 collisions between midnight and five p-m.
He reports more than 100 vehicles in ditches and eight
hit and run accidents.
Meteorologist Tom Dang at the National Weather Service
says up to 16 inches of snow fell on parts of Anchorage
as of five p-m.
Snow continued to fall and the weather service says a
snow advisory would remain in place until nine last
evening.
A low pressure system moving from the Gulf of Alaska
into Prince William Sound brought snow from Homer to
Talkeetna but Dang says Anchorage was among the cities
hit hardest.
Anchorage airport stays open despite heavy snowfall
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anchorage's international airport says it kept its record intact Wednesday of never closing because of snowfall.
About a foot of snow fell at the airport in a storm that ended that night.
The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has three major runways that each extend more than 10-thousand-500 feet, three major taxiways and 18 shorter taxiways.
The airport averages 500 aircraft landings and take-offs daily.
Dan Hartman is manager of airfield maintenance.
He says the airport has an agreement with Federal Aviation Administration personnel in the control tower that allows workers to go into continuous high speed snow removal.
The agreement includes coordination with the tower to open and close runways for snow removal.
Hartman also says a new field maintenance facility is close to the center of the airfield. That reduces response time to the field and the time it takes to replenish sand and deicing trucks.
Meteor
spied passing through Juneau skies
A couple of residents called our studios this morning to report what they believe was a meteor.
Florence Johnson in the Auke Bay area driving inbound when she saw it at about 7-15.
When it came up in the sky she said it was very bright and big. She compared it to a plane taking off, but it wasn't.
She saw it go from right to left, from Douglas to the mainland.
She noticed sparks at the tail and then it went dark.
A man, who was not identified, called at about the same time to say he saw it come over Douglas and the Gastineau Channel and then burning out in the Lemon Creek and Salmon Creek valleys.
He was driving in from North Douglas at the time.
The FAA Control Tower at Juneau's airport was unable to confirm the sighting.
The Coast Guard was setting off red flares downtown as part of a training exercise, but that didn't occur until after the event described by the two people In addition, it doesn't seem the observations made by the callers could be related to what the Coast Guard was doing.
Meteor
spotted over Haines and Petersburg
Residents of Haines and Petersburg report seeing what
appeared to be a meteor Thursday morning.
A Petersburg resident said he saw three bright flashes
flying over the Petersburg airport at 7-15 a.m. He says
it looked they were going to land in Thomas Bay.
Haines resident Matt Boron also witnessed yesterday
morning's lightshow.
He works for the state Department of Transportation and
was plowing snow on the Haines airport runway when he
noticed a bright white flash in the sky.
He says it broke into a shower of sparks just like a 4th
of July fireworks.
Boron says it was very brief and at first he thought it
might have been fireworks, but figured it wasn't likely
at around 7 o'clock in the morning.
He says he thought he might have been seeing things
until he heard a report on KINY yesterday.
Boron says you often see interesting things in the
morning when you're outside and it definitely caught his
eye but wasn't sure what he saw because "it was so
weird and out of place".
He says he also saw the meteor that passed through
Southeast skies in January of 2000 and plummeted on to
Tagish Lake in British Columbia.
Scientists said then that it gave them the most valuable
clues yet about the origin of our solar system.
They say it was the most primitive meteorite ever found.
An initial analysis suggested that the organic material
in the bus sized meteor could be the same material that
formed the Earth.
A meteor was also spotted on January 7, 2005 in Juneau
skies. It was also visible in Yakutat.
Branch
manager charged with bank embezzlement
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The F-B-I says the branch
manager of a Wells Fargo Bank in Wasilla has been
charged with embezzling about a half million dollars.
Justin Matthew Barlup was arrested yesterday (Wednesday)
at the Cottonwood Creek Branch in Wasilla.
The F-B-I says Barlup will be charged with theft,
embezzlement or misapplication by a bank officer or
employee.
2006 second highest for
Anchorage building permits
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The municipality of Anchorage
says 2006 was the second highest year for construction
in the city.
The municipality recorded nearly 802 million in
valuation of new building permits.
The largest year ever was 19-83, when new permit
valuation exceeded one billion dollars.
The largest category of new permits last year was
commercial with 413 million dollars in valuation.
Residential was 217 million and government construction
totaled nearly 171 million.
Mayor Mark Begich says the numbers confirm that
Anchorage is booming.
Begich says the building boom of the 19-80s was driven
primarily by government-funded projects while much of
the current construction in Anchorage is driven largely
by the private sector.
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Some of the new projects that helped build the 2006
valuation include an airport parking garage, the
Anchorage Civic and Convention Center, East High School
renovation the Glenn Square Retail Center.
Airport officials meeting with tenants to discuss phased remodel project
A meeting with tenants is planned this evening to discuss the possible expansion of Juneau's airport.
Patty deLaBruere, the airport's business manager, says they want to discuss the matter with the small taxi operators located in the north end of the terminal.
She says they want to determine how much they really need to remodel or add on to in that part of the terminal.
deLaBruere says they are now concentrating at specific areas as part of a phased approach. The north end is just one of the areas their examining.
The phased approach comes after voters turned down a proposal during last Fall's local election to use sales tax money for expansion and enhancement of the terminal.
The U.S. Customs space is also located in the north end as well as the meeting room.
This evening's meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Aurora Room at the airport.
Docks and Harbors Board
to take action on several items
The CBJ Docks and Harbors Board of Directors
has several items up for action during this (Thursday) evening's meeting.
Port Director John Stone says one calls for the renovation of the old Douglas Boat Harbor.
The conceptual plan calls for a new layout of the floats there
Stone says they're proposing to remove the existing A, B, and C floats. In their place, 58 and 30 foot fingers would be installed on and B and C Floats. Float "A" would involve linear side type moorage.
Stone says what they're doing is building bigger stalls to accommodate the bigger boats in town.
Another action item calls for the award of a contract for a downtown marine support facility study to the engineering firm of Tryck Nyman and Hayes in the amount of $115,000.
Stone says the study is primarily designed for a new travel lift facility.
A proposed cruise ship moorage study is on the agenda.
Stone says the panel, which has been working on this matter for several years, will be looking at the best alternatives for dealing with the downtown docks.
Those alternatives range from repairing existing docks, replacing them, or placing a new dock at Gold Creek.
Stone doesn't believe the panel will pick any one alternative during this evening's meeting.
He expects members to provide the best information possible to the Assembly later this month or in February.
Stone says the study is spurred by the need to accommodate four
"Panamax" size cruise ships with shore size ties. He says they can currently handle three cruise ships, but one is too short to handle the bigger vessels.
The board will be coming up with recommendations to the Assembly for funding of projects from Cruise Ship Passenger Fee proceeds.
Stone says members have three specific projects in mind. One is in anticipation of doing something
with downtown cruise ship docks.
Another is placing a passenger for hire boarding float in Auke Bay that would be used
by cruise ship passenger tours and free up the Statter Harbor float system to recreational and fishing boats.
The panel also wants to replace Float A in Aurora Harbor where one of
the cruise ship tugs now ties up.
A pontoon float study is also on the list of action items. Stone says there are four of those floats now. They've looked at another alternatives at using the so called "big pipe" floats.
Following that review, Stone says they don't see any of the alternatives panning out so they'll be asking the board for approval to put them out to bid for disposal.
The Docks and Harbors' board meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Assembly Chambers at City Hall. Services planned for Angoon leader
Tlingit elder Peter Jack, Sr. of Angoon passed away Wednesday morning in Sitka at the age of 79.
At the time of his death, Jack was serving on the Angoon City Council and the Kootznoowoo board of directors. He served on both for over 30 years.
Jack was also a member of the Angoon Community Association, the federally recognized tribal organization for Angoon and
the Sealaska Heritage Institute Council of Elders.
He once was mayor of Angoon and the president and chair of the village corporation.
Jack served in the Navy during World War II. He returned to Alaska following his military service and resumed his work as a commercial fisherman.
He was ordained a minister of the Angoon Presbyterian Church last September.
Memorial services will be held Friday at 6 p.m. in Juneau at the ANB Hall and Saturday evening at the Angoon ANB Hall.
His funeral will be Sunday in Angoon with Dr. Walter Soboleff presiding. Soldier killed in Iraq had Kenai ties
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - A U-S soldier killed in Iraq spent many of his summers on the Kenai Peninsula.
Army Private First Class Alan Blohm took part in setnet fishing on Salamatof Beach in Kenai and he leaves aunts, uncles and cousins in Alaska.
The 21-year-old Blohm died in an explosion Sunday as he took part in a security patrol in Baghdad.
He had been stationed in Iraq for about three months.
Starting when he was 14 years old until he enlisted six years later, Blohm left his Midwest home in
Kawkawlin, Michigan, to fish a setnet site.
His aunt, Diana
Zirul, and mother, Denise Blohm, are part of the Kenaitze
(can-ITE'-zee) Indian Tribe.
His family says Blohm had aspirations to become a state trooper and he left fishing for the military in 2005. He was trained as a combat engineer and a paratrooper.
He and other Fort Richardson troops left for Iraq in the fall.
(Peninsula Clarion, Kenai)
Unalaska police charge Alex Haley crew member with sexual assault
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - A crew member of the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley has been arrested by Unalaska police and charged with two counts of sexual assault.
Forty-four-year-old Freddy Lugo was charged after an investigation that began early New Year's Day.
Prosecutors say a woman contacted police early Monday morning in the lobby of the Grand Aleutian Hotel.
She told police she met a guardsman at a bar, drank and danced with him, and then left for a hotel room.
The woman told police she was assaulted despite telling the man to stop.
Charging documents say Lugo denied the accusations and told officers he had consensual sex with his accuser.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for today (Thursday).
(Kodiak Daily Mirror)
More
than 100 deer trapped on Kodiak Island mountains
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - More than 100 deer have been
trapped by heavy snow on Kodiak Island mountains.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says about two to
three of snow is preventing them from moving down to the
beaches to forage for food.
The department is using a helicopter to monitor about 70
deer on top of Womens Mountain and another 40 on Pillar
Mountain.
It appears younger deer have made their way down to the
beaches.
The department says at this point, the adult deer
trapped on the mountain don't appear to be overly
stressed. But if the cold and snow continue, there could
be winter kill.
The National Weather Service says the cold snap is not
expected to let up and snow flurries will continue
through the weekend.
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The service says Kodiak experienced a record low
Thursday of minus four degrees Fahrenheit. The previous
record was four degrees Fahrenheit set in 19-49.
(Kodiak Daily Mirror)
Colorado man sentenced in
Alaska child sex case
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A Colorado man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for traveling to Alaska to have sex with a child more than two years ago.
Thirty-three-year-old Brock Jon Purviance of Arvada, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday (Wednesday) on the federal charge of travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child.
Purviance had been a guitar teacher at a music school in Colorado.
Federal prosecutors say Purviance met a 13-year-old Alaska girl in an Internet music chat room and engaged her in online conversations for more than a year.
He traveled to Anchorage to have sex with her in August 2004.
Prosecutors say that Purviance admitted in his plea agreement that he persistently engaged in online sexual conversations with the child before he traveled to Alaska from Colorado for their meeting.
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Prosecutors say he admitted discussing in graphic detail how he could perform sex acts and directed the child on how she could perform sex acts.
Federal District Court Judge John Sedwick said Purviance had a clean criminal record but also noted criminal conduct by him in 2000 that was not prosecuted.
Prosecutors say Purviance met a 14-year-old Colorado child in an Internet chat room and had sex with her.
Besides a 71-month-prison term, Sedwick also imposed 25 years of supervised release, with special conditions limiting Purviance's use of the Internet and his contact with children under 18 years of age.
He is also required to register as a sex offender.
Scientists
say oil company misinforms public on global warming
WASHINGTON (AP) - ExxonMobil calls it a ``smear,'' but
the advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists claims
the energy giant has funded efforts to discredit the
science behind global warming.
The report claims ExxonMobil gave 16 million dollars
to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 to
mislead the public.
Just last September, Britain's leading scientific
academy, The Royal Society, asked Exxon to halt support
for groups it claimed ``misrepresented'' the science of
climate change.
Many scientists say carbon dioxide and other
heat-trapping gases from tailpipes and smokestacks are
warming the atmosphere like a greenhouse. They say it's
melting Arctic sea ice and alpine glaciers and
disrupting the lives of animals and plants.
Michigan soldier killed by blast near Baghdad
KAWKAWLIN, Mich. (AP) - A 21-year-old Army private from Michigan has died from injuries he sustained suffered in an explosion in Iraq.
Alan Blohm's family in Michigan says it learned of his death on New Year's Eve. Military releases indicated Blohm was from Kenai, Alaska.
However, a U-S Army Alaska spokesman did not immediately return a message to clarify the situation.
The Pentagon says Blohm died Sunday after a roadside bomb detonated near his unit while it patrolled in Baghdad.
Blohm graduated in 2004 from high school in Michigan and enlisted two years ago.
He was based at Fort Richardson in Anchorage
He was a 250-pound defensive player for the football team.
Blohm is survived by parents and two siblings. Missing Bethel hunter found alive
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - A 36-year-old Bethel moose hunter has been found alive after he went missing for three days.
Don Woods was found
Wednesday next to a small fire he built to warm himself after his snowmobile broke down in subzero temperatures about 50 miles northwest of Bethel.
Alaska State Troopers say Woods did not suffer hypothermia or major frostbite, but he was treated for exposure.
Woods left Bethel on Sunday.
Troopers say his global positioning system device would not work.
So he built small fires from bushes and ate the little food he had.
(Anchorage Daily News) Many happy returns: 2007 filing season begins
WASHINGTON (AP) - It's time to dig out the receipts, find the W-2s or maybe just call an accountant.
The 2007 tax filing season is officially open. If you filed a paper return, you can expect to see a tax package in your mailbox in the coming days.
But the I-R-S wants more Americans to file electronically. Officials say if you're entitled to a refund, you'll get it faster that way. And those making 52-thousand a year or less can use Free File, a free electronic program. Boozer leads Jazz over Sixers
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Juneau's Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur
(meh-MEHT' oh-KOOR') scored 27 points apiece as Utah topped Philadelphia
98-to-87 Wednesday night.
Boozer also had 14 rebounds and Okur went 10-for-10 from the line to help the Jazz improve to 14-and-2 at home. "Raven Odyssey" to premiere at Perseverance
The world premiere of Raven Odyssey will be on Perseverance Theatre's stage starting this weekend.
It was adapted for the stage by Ishmael Hope and theatre artistic director P. J. Paparelli, who were guests on Capital Chat this morning.
The play shows all the Native cultures in the state.
The command thread is Raven since there are Raven stories in all the cultures even though Raven's personality varies from culture to culture
They traveled around the state last year for about two months visiting all the cultures and listening to their elders and talking to craftsmen and dancers.
Hope says their two goals were to make it culturally appropriate and respectful and to create a piece of theatre.
After nearly three years, Paparelli believes they succeeded.
There's a "pay as you can" preview Friday. The play opens Saturday. There are other"pay as you can" performances on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.
All performances are at 7:30 p.m.
The play runs Wednesday through Sunday each week through Sunday, January 28th.
Soldotna trade show to focus on food
SOLDOTNA, Alaska (AP) - About 150 exhibits catering to Alaska's commercial food harvesters and producers will be featured at an upcoming trade show in Soldotna.
The ``Global Food Alaska 2007 Conference and Trade Show'' is scheduled for June 13 and 14 at the Soldotna Sports Facility.
The event is organized by Global Food Collaborative and Cook Inlet Branding Incorporated, which markets Cook Inlet salmon under the Kenai Wild brand.
More information can be found at
www.globalfoodcollaborative.com
(Anchorage Daily News)
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