|
Waterfront moratorium shelved by
Assembly
The Juneau Assembly has dropped an ordinance that would have imposed a
moratorium on downtown waterfront development pending completion of the
Downtown Waterfront Plan.
The draft version of the plan could be ready for review within the next 30
days according to Deputy City Manager Donna Pierce.
Community Development Director Dale Pernula told the Assembly at last
nights' meeting, that from his perspective, there are not any projects
underway that are clearly inconsistent with the draft waterfront plan.
The Madsen hotels near the bridge are in an area that is zoned for
mixed use in the draft plan, and are not clearly inconsistent with the plan
according to Pernula.
Also not inconsistent are the luxury condominiums proposed for construction
on a spit of land behind the Fish and Game building on 8th street and the
Jacobson Dock proposed for the rock dump area.
Port Director John Stone told the Assembly, from the Docks and Harbors
Board's view, there is one project that is not consistent with the
waterfront plan, and it's still in the concept stage, is a cruise ship dock
near Gold Creek.
Once the draft waterfront plan is completed it will be reviewed by the
Assembly and the Planning Commission.
There will be opportunities for public comment before final approval.
Forum dealing with a funding shortfall
for school buses set by Juneau district
In response to a new state law, Juneau School District officials are
exploring changes to school bus schedules.
A change in the start time for schools and the elimination of buses are
among the possibilities.
A public forum is planned next Tuesday evening that will lay out various
options under consideration.
Rather than reimbursing school districts for pupil transportation, the state
legislature decided on a grant system which is based on a fixed amount for
each student.
District Business Manager Gary Epperson explained on KINY's Capital Chat
this morning that the law impacts Juneau negatively since it is losing
enrollment.
He says the impact will require a transfer of about $286,000 from the
general fund to the transportation fund to cover the short fall in this
budget year.
In response the district is considering various options for changing start
times.
School Board member Allan Schorr, who chairs the Program Evaluation
Committee, said the options produces savings ranging from $250,000 to
$650,000.
One has the high school beginning classes at 9:45 rather than at eight. That
means they would not get out of school until four in the afternoon.
Superintendent Peggy Cowan says another idea is to enforce a one point five
mile perimeter, meaning more students would be required to walk. That would
result in the elimination of seven buses.
The biggest impact will be elimination of the only two buses that transport
Glacier Valley Elementary students, but Cowan says another consideration
will be whether or not the route is hazardous. That involves traffic and the
availability of such things as sidewalks, guards at crosswalks, traffic
signals and overpasses or underpasses.
The forum is planned from 5 to 7 next Tuesday evening, January 13th at
Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School.
Preparation for exit exams begin at
JDHS
Juneau Douglas High School is making preparations for the high school exit
exams
Principal Deb Morse said during her daily program on KINY this morning that
its scheduled for the first week of February.
Morse says they plan to conduct a series of practice sessions before then.
The sessions started today.
Students must pass all three sections before receiving a diploma this year.
The tests cover math, reading and writing.
Report finds Anchorage Archdiocese
not in compliance with church guidelines
Anchorage is listed as one of the few Catholic archdiocese considered
"not fully compliant" with a new policy to prevent sex abuse by
priests.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released an audit today which shows
90 percent of diocese *are* fully complying with the plan.
Anchorage is among 20 local churches considered to be not in full
compliance. The audit finds that the Archdiocese of Anchorage has not
updated its policy on sexual abuse, and has not begun background checks.
Sister Charlotte Davenport, chancellor for the archdiocese, says both of
those changes are underway, and the background checks should be finished
this month.
Davenport says, as far as she can tell, parishioners are satisfied with the
steps being taken.
The audit does commend the archdiocese for setting up a local commission to
address the problem of sexual misconduct.
The audit finds the Diocese of Fairbanks and Juneau are fully compliant.
The Juneau Diocese had has a policy on sexual abuse of minors since 1995.
According to a release issued by the diocese, the audit determined that the
policy was in need of significant revision in order to incorporate all the
provisions of the charter into one policy statement.
The release says the audit also determined that the diocese needed to
identify how it planned to do background investigations of all who would
have regular contact with children.
The Diocese of Juneau says that as of December 1, all instructions and
recommendations from the audit had been addressed.
Lena Point plan before PRAC
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meets tonight to vote on the
Lena Point Master Plan.
The Gastineau Rotary Club has spent a number of years working and improving
the trail system at Lena Point and created a master plan for what they would
like to see for the area.
Some members of the Lena Extended Neighborhood Association have proposed a few
changes to the plan.
Parks And Recreation Director Kim Kiefer is proposing some compromise
alternatives.
They include trail improvements, eliminating the shelter and installing an interpretative panel instead, and considering off street parking improvements in
conjunction with the NOAA facility.
The committee meets beginning at 6 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers.
Docks and Harbors panel to take letter
from union
The CBJ Docks and Harbors Board meets Tuesday evening.
Port Director John Stone says an item up for action is a letter to the
Assembly from the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the union that
represents docks and harbors employees, concerning various personnel issues.
Among other things, he says the union is complaining about the treatment of
docks and harbors' employees.
An informational items up for discussion is the Juneau Harbor's Deferred
Maintenance Report. Stone says they have been surveying the small boat
harbors for the last six months and will report its findings back to the
board. The next step is to come up with a plan to address those maintenance
needs.
The panel will also discuss items it wants to discuss when it meets with the
city and borough's Washington, D.C. lobbyist on January 13th.
The Docks and Harbors Board meeting is scheduled from 5 to 7 in Conference
Room 224 at City Hall.
Katmai grizzly attack determined to
occur at mid-day
The National Park Service has issued a report that sheds light on the bear
mauling and deaths of two people in Katmai National Park.
The Park Service says the mauling that resulted in the deaths of Timothy
Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, which was believed to have happened at
night, actually happened at mid-day.
The time was determined by a date stamp found in a digital video camera the
couple turned on just before the attack.
The video contained sounds of the October attack, but no pictures because
the lens cap apparently was left on.
Bruce Bartley of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the fact that
the bear attacked during the day, and didn't sneak up on the campers at
night, makes it look more like the bear may have been provoked.
The adult male grizzly was later shot and killed by park rangers.
Trapper Creek man killed when vehicle
hits moose
A man was killed Monday evening when his vehicle collided with a moose near
Mile 105 of the Parks Highway near Talkeetna.
State Troopers identify him as 30 year-old John
J. High of Trapper Creek.
They say he was northbound when the moose
entered the roadway. High was trapped in his vehicle and being helped by
passing motorists when Troopers arrived on scene at about 6:30.
Medics arrived 15 minutes later and placed
him in the ambulance. High was pronounced dead at about 7:30.
Draft registration to appear Anchorage
ballot
Voters in Anchorage will have a chance to answer a question about the
military draft.
The Alaska Libertarian Party and supporters of the measure collected
ten-thousand signatures to get the question on the April 6th ballot.
Voters will be asked whether Anchorage men should be excused from
registering for the draft.
Scott Kohlhaas, the chair of the Alaska Libertarian Party, says the petition
is not anti-military. He says it's anti-draft. He says supporters want to
promote an all-volunteer force.
The law now requires that all American males between 18 and 25 sign up for
Selective Service.
Anchorage man pleads guilty to gun and
drug charges
A man who showed up at Bartlett High School in Anchorage carrying a loaded
pistol and crack cocaine has pleaded guilty.
Nineteen-year-old Nikos Delano Dorsey pleaded guilty yesterday in federal
court in Anchorage.
Prosecutors say Dorsey showed up at the school on September 2nd -- the first
day of school -- and was asked to leave. He was not a student at the school.
Officials say Dorsey left, but returned the next day. He was arrested in the
parking lot for criminal trespass. Authorities say crack cocaine was found
in the car, as well as a loaded nine millimeter semiautomatic weapon and 400
dollars.
Dorsey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. The
maximum sentence is 40 years.
American Lung Association gives
Alaska mixed grades
The American Lung Association has given Alaska a failing grade for not
banning workplace smoking in more communities.
However, the association in a recent report did praise Alaska for its
efforts to keep kids from smoking.
But it faulted the state for the amount it spends to control smoking and
prevent it, giving Alaska a ``D'' in that category.
Health and Social Services Commissioner Joel Gilbertson says he does not
think the grades accurately reflect the success Alaska has had in
discouraging and preventing smoking.
This year's state budget does include about five million dollars for
anti-smoking advertising, a toll-free hot line and enforcement to stop
underage purchases of tobacco.
That's three million dollars less than what is the recommended minimum
set by the U-S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Interior matriarch dies at age 97
Mary C. Demientieff, the matriarch of a large Interior Athabascan family,
has died at her Nenana home after providing decades of health care.
Demientieff died Sunday evening. She was 97 years old.
Demientieff retired in 1990 at age 83. For more than 30 years, she was
on-call 24 hours a day as a health worker in Nenana -- a small community
located 60 miles south of Fairbanks on the Parks Highway.
She was born on September 12th in Eagle, and was raised in Flat.
She was sent to the Catholic mission at Holy Cross for schooling, where she
helped out the school nurse.
She married Alphonse Demientieff at age 20. The couple moved to Nenana in
1945 and had 14 children.
It wasn't until Demientieff was in her 60s that she had the opportunity for
formal instruction with the Community Health Aide Program.
Demientieff finally became Doctor Mary C. Demientieff on May 11th, 1986,
when she received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Alaska
Fairbanks.
Twenty below wind chill predicted
for Juneau overnight
A wind advisory for this afternoon is calling for easterly winds to 25 miles
per hour this afternoon (Tuesday) with gusts to 40.
By this evening, a northeast Taku wind between 30 to 40 miles per hour with
gusts in excess to 60 are forecast for the .downtown area and Douglas.
Meteorologist Kimberly Vaughn in the Juneau Forecast Office says that result
in a wind chill of 20 degrees below zero.
The forecaster says they have issued a high wind watch for tonight through
Wednesday afternoon.
(Copyright ©2003
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
|
