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Juneau Daily News Online

Friday, January 8, 1999  © Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News

Storm closes schools
   Power outage completes double-whammy
   A foot of snow and an area-wide power failure spiced the day for Capital City residents today. The outage occurred at 11:45 this morning. It took Alaska Electric, Light and Power about an hour and a half to restore power to all customers. Initial indications were that there was a problem with the power transmission line from the Snettisham Hydroelectric Project. A few minutes later an eyewitness reported flashing on a transmission line on Back Loop Road. Utility official Peter Bibb said they don't know if that problem caused Snettisham to go down. Juneau pubic schools and numerous public schools were closed because of the heavy snow fall overnight. School District Superintendent Mary Rubadeau called the closure a rare event. The last time it happened was five years ago. State and federal officials notified their employees to delay their arrival to work by two hours to allow time for crews to clear roads. Bob Martin, the regional director for state transportation in Southeast, said his crews were out overnight and he was pleased with their ability to keep main arteries open. City Public Works Director Ernie Mueller said his crews are a bit overwhelmed, but they're getting caught up, although it make take a day or two before all roads are cleared. He's worried about the forecast which now calls for freezing rain tonight. He says that will make it nasty with roadways turning to ice. Rain is also in the forecast tonight.

Bears games, Homecoming may be delayed
Homecoming at Juneau Douglas High School was dependent on Alaska Airline flights getting in from Anchorage. The men's team from Dimond and the women's squad from West were due in this afternoon, but that flight over headed this afternoon. The plan in the event they didn't get in calls for games tomorrow evening and Sunday. The Homecoming Assembly has already been rescheduled for three tomorrow afternoon at the high school gym.

CBJ moving ahead on Y2K project
The City and Borough of Juneau's Y2K remediation program is in full swing according the Coordinator Ann Stadnychenko (left). She says city departments are at various steps in the process of identifying and actually fixing problems in about thirty mission-critical systems. Stadnychenko, who appeared on KINY's Capital Chat this morning, says early work is also being done on a contingency plan in the event of Y2K-caused failures at the beginning of the new millennium. The plan at this point includes, she says, some departments at the talking stage, while others have committed some contingencies to paper.

Alaska Air MD-80s under investigation
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Northern California. The panel is probing alleged irregularities in the airline's maintenance and repair records for some MD-80 jetliners. The investigation centers on whether repair records were faked, indicating work was performed on some MD-80s when, in fact, it was not. The grand jury also is looking into whether unauthorized employees approved repairs. Airline Official Lou Cancelmi said they're assured by the Federal Aviation Administration that safety is not an issue. He provided assurances that flights on those aircraft are safe. The MD-80 is a widely used passenger jet. McDonnell-Douglas merged with Boeing in 19-97, and Boeing still manufactures them. There are only three of the aircraft in Alaska's 85 plane fleet. Cancelmi says the plane's only make rare long haul flights to Alaska in the summer. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on the probe in today's editions, citing unnamed sources.

Kensington could open under new mining plan Coeur Alaska President Dennis Wheeler (right) told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce today that the company's new plan will allow the Kensington Mine near Juneau to withstand fluctuating gold prices. He said it will cut 100 dollars an ounce from operating costs and reduce capital expenditures by five million dollars. The new plan includes the use of cyanide in the processing of gold and marine tailings disposal. Coeur is now seeking new permits for the altered plan.

Oates named to replace Lestenkof
Army Colonel Phil Oates will be the state's new commissioner of Military and Veterans Affairs and adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard. Oates is currently the chief of staff for the Alaskan Command. He replaces Major General Jake Lestenkoff who is retiring. A change of command ceremony is scheduled for next Thursday. Governor Tony Knowles -- who had planned to make the announcement at his downtown Juneau office  -- postponed a scheduled morning press conference, replacing it with an afternoon video conference when Oates' plane was not able to land in Juneau.

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