4 injured in Anchorage fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Anchorage Fire Department says four people were injured in a fire in a home in the city's Hillside neighborhood.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Duane Triplett, the retired president of KIMO Channel 13 and a founder of the Alaska Television Network, was critically injured in the fire Wednesday.

Fire Department spokeswoman Bridget Bushue says the 911 call came in at 10:27 a.m.

Eighteen pieces of firefighting equipment responded.

Police spokeswoman Anita Shell says Triplett lost consciousness and may have been trapped in a back bedroom.

Firefighters and police slid the unconscious man out of a window using a ladder perched between the window and a nearby hill.

Harborview Elementary is scene of fire, school not disrupted
The fire department responded to a report of a fire at Harborview Elementary this morning. (Wednesday)

The call came in at 6:34.

Superintendent Peggy Cowan says the fire was in the construction area  near the gymnasium and was knocked down quickly. 

Capital City Fire Rescue Division Chief Rich Etheridge says damage was confined to plastic hanging on the walls and light combustible material in the two rooms.

No one was injured.

The cause is under investigation, although  Etheridge says it is initially believed to have started from construction work from the night before.

Fire Marshal Dan Jager says cutting torches and grinding tools were in use there Tuesday.

He says it's believed that after work wrapped up for the day sparks from that work smoldered overnight and were blown up by the wind..

Work crews were allowed back into the building by 8 a.m.

Damage is estimated at less than $500.00.  Most of the damage was done to the wood framing for the new windows.

Cowan  says the area was a long way from the Marie Drake Building where Harborview classes are being conducted.  As a result, classes were to go on as scheduled.

Authorities blocked the roadway at 12th and Glacier Avenues as it staged for the fire.

Fire department responds to four plex fire
Capital City Fire Rescue responded to a fire in the Mendenhall Valley Tuesday evening.

The call came in at 7-44 at a four plex at 10231 Heron Way off Back Loop Road.

Fire Chief Eric Mohrman one unit received moderate damage while the other suffered only minor damage. Both had smoke damage.

The fire was located inside an interior wall. Fire Marshal Dan Jager determined the cause was an  electric heater that was used to try to keep water pipes from freezing.

It's the fifth such fire this winter season. The previous ones involved heat tape.

Two  of the units are not habitable at this point.  The chief says the others would be once power was restored.

Weldon and Kresbach promoted by Capital City Fire Rescue
Two promotions to announce at Capital City Fire Rescue.

One involved the new Division Chief for Volunteers position approved by the Assembly last year.

Chief Eric Mohrman says one of the department's very experienced captains, Beth Weldon, was picked for the job.

He says she was selected from a field of 20 candidates and is the first woman in Juneau to serve as a division chief.  She was also the first woman to rise to the rank of captain in the department.

She started with the department as a volunteer in 1990 and was hired as a full time firefighter in 1992.

Her promotion opened an opportunity for a firefighter to take her position.

Based on previous captain testing, John Kresbach was number one on the eligibility list and selected for that job.

Tuesday was his first day and Chief Mohrman says Kresback has already responded to two fire calls and an EMS call.

Coast Guard : Threat fuel facility in Ketchikan not credible
The Coast Guard responded to a reported threat in Ketchikan this morning. (Wednesday)

The 17th Coast Guard Command Center in Juneau received an anonymous phone call this morning  in which the caller threatened to detonate fuel tanks at the Petro Marine fuel facility there.

It was later determined that the threat was not credible.

The maritime security level that was elevated for the port of Ketchikan has since been reduced.

A safety zone was also established to redirect vessel traffic away from the potential blast zone. 

The Coast Guard worked with Alaska State Troopers, the Ketchikan Police Department and the Transportation Security Administration to mount a coordinated joint response to the threat.

The lieutenant says they will not reveal any more specific about the threat.

Search for missing crab fisherman suspended
The search for the crab fishermen pulled overboard Tuesday morning from the Kodiak based Seabrooke near Cold Bay has been suspended.

The Coast Guard ended the search just before Noon today (Wednesday).

The man is identified as 43 year old Keith Criner of Stockton, California.

He became tangled in crab pot line and fell from the 98 foot vessel about 22 miles northwest of Cold Bay.

Two Coast Guard helicopters and a C-130 and searched 107 square miles Tuesday and 25 square miles of ocean today, but no sign of the man was found.

The Seabrooke was fishing for Tanner crab in the Bering Sea at the time.

Lottery big hit in Juneau
Juneau residents turned out by the hundreds yesterday (Tuesday) to buy a $5 dollar ticket for a chance at a half million dollar jackpot.

Lucky Times Pull Tabs and nonprofit Standing Together Against Rape are sponsoring the lottery. State law calls for a nonprofit to benefit from a lottery.

We spoke to Lucky Times Pull Tabs' Abe Spicola shortly after ticket sales wrapped up last night at Marlintini's Lounge.

He estimated between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of tickets were sold in less than seven hours.

He says over 2,000 people bought an average of two to four tickets apiece.

Statewide, well over 135,000 tickets have been sold.

The non-profit organization Standing Together Against Rape will receive 20 percent of the proceeds after the jackpot is paid out and expenses are deducted.
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There was a glitch when state gaming officials say the organizers' permit expired December 31st, but the state received the necessary paperwork yesterday to continue ticket sales.

New Year's Eve was the original drawing date, but it was postponed to get tickets from the state's rural areas.

State gaming supervisor Jeff Prather says the organizers still face a standard audit and investigation into whether tickets were sold after the permit expired.
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The drawing is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Anchorage at Rumrunners Old Towne Bar.

Spicola says they will definitely hold another lottery next December.

Thirty people apply to become next CBJ Manager
The deadline to apply for the position of City and Borough of Juneau City Manager closed Monday.

City Manager Rod Swope says the CBJ Human Resources reports that it has received 30 applications.

About a half a dozen were from Alaska including Juneau.

The CBJ Director of Human Resources is going to meet with the search committee this week to go over the applications to narrow down the applicants to the most qualified.

Mayor Bruce Botelho appointed the committee made up of himself, Deputy Mayor Jeff Bush who will chair the panel and Assembly members Merrill Sanford and David Stone.

Swope has served as CBJ Manager for six years.

Wind chill to 30 below in forecast,  heavy snow predicted for Thursday and Friday
A wind advisory is in effect for Juneau until 9 this evening which will produce some impressive wind chill temperatures and a winter storm watch is in effect from late Thursday through Friday afternoon.

The low at the airport overnight was 5 below zero. It hit 15 below at the Juneau Forecast Office on Back Loop Road.

East winds to 15 miles per hour with gusts to 40 miles per hour out of interior passes will produce a wind chill to 30 below zero today and tonight. The National Weather Service says those winds are mostly kicking up just north of Juneau in Lynn Canal.

Today's high will be between 6 to 12 above and the low tonight from 1 below to 9 above.

Snow heavy at times, with an accumulation of 5 to 10 inches, is forecast for Thursday night and Friday, but it will warm up with the low Thursday night ranging from 14 to 20 and the high Friday around 30.

Advice to prevent frozen water pipes offered to Juneau residents
Due to the frigid weather conditions, the CBJ Water Utility Department is advising residents to take measures to prevent their water service line from freezing.

There are a number of suggestions.

-Leave water running a trickle to keep water circulating through pipes.

-Close foundation vents on your residence

- and insulate or heat tape water pipes.

If pipes are frozen inside the house, residents are advised to call their plumber.

If the line from the main to the house is frozen, then Water Utility personnel can come out with their thawing unit.

Call the Water Utility at 780-6888. For after hours emergencies, call 586-2165.

Air Emergency issued for Mendenhall Valley
The city declared an "Air Emergency" for the Mendenhall Valley this morning due to a temperature inversion that exists in the area.

The area covered by the emergency extends from the Airport north to the Mendenhall Glacier, west to Montana Creek, south along the east shore of Auke Lake and includes the east half of the Mendenhall Peninsula.

All wood stove burning in that area is prohibited with the exception of pellet stoves.

An "Air Emergency Cancellation" will be announced once air particulate levels return to a safe health standard.

Updates are available by calling 586-5333.

Anchorage residents using more natural gas to keep warm
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anchorage residents are using a record level amount of energy to keep warm and lights on during the long cold snap that has gripped much of southcentral Alaska in its grip now for a week.

The local utility, Enstar Gas, says customers on Saturday used 234 million cubic feet of gas - the most ever for one day.

Subzero temps keeps ski races on hold
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Subzero temperatures are keeping athletes off the trails for another day in the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage.

Race spokesman John Quinley says Wednesday's sprint races have been postponed until Thursday, the final day of the event already beset by four days of cancellations.

Only two distance races were contested so far, and that was on Monday.

Since then, temperatures have been below what organizers felt what was acceptable for athletes to compete.

Races won't be held unless temperatures hit a minimum of minus 4 degrees. Wednesday's mid-day temperature was minus 10.

Union backs off of delay claim
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska public safety representatives met Tuesday to discuss allegations that politics played a role into when a woman tied to Gov. Sarah Palin's family was to be arrested.

Allegations that Alaska State Troopers waited until after the November presidential election were ultimately shot down.

Sherry Johnston was arrested in December on six felony drug counts. She pleaded not guilty on Monday.

She is the mother of 18-year-old son Levi Johnston, who is engaged to Bristol Palin, the daughter of the former Republican vice presidential candidate.

A drug investigator had claimed in an internal e-mail to public safety union members that there was a delay in the investigation into Sherry Johnston because of political reasons.

The union first supported the claim, but has since backed off.

Union head John Cyr says union leaders met with Public Safety Commissioner Joe Masters to discuss the issue, which Cyr says, quote - "has taken on a life of its own."

Cyr says the issue was a misunderstanding and says the meeting was productive.

He says quote -- "the union and the department are committed to working together to make sure something like this doesn't happen in the future."  

Young sworn in for 19th time, introduces ANWR drilling bill
Not only did Alaska's newest senator get sworn in to Congress Tuesday; Representative Don Young began his 19th term in the U. S. House.

As he returned to the capitol, Young introduced a bill aimed at allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The "American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act" includes a 2-thousand acre limit on the footprint of ANWR development, and would steer revenues toward renewable energy programs.

Young introduced the same bill in the last Congress. however, even when oil prices reached record levels last summer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared ANWR oil drilling off the table because opposition was too strong.

Warnings sounded over proposed gravel mine near Kotzebue
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - More than 120 people in a letter are warning regulators about the impact of a proposed gravel mine near Kotzebue.

The mine would sit in the path of a caribou migration route, and that residents say will disrupt subsistence hunting.

Kotzebue Mayor Willie Goodwin says the area also is the first stop for salmon that migrate up the Noatak.

Ketchikan mall sold
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has sold its interest in the Plaza Port West shopping mall in Ketchikan.

The mall was the fund's only real estate investment property in the state.

With the sale, the permanent fund's $3.7 billion real estate portfolio now has no holdings in Alaska, except where its offices are located.

Crimson Bears clawed by Eagles
The men's basketball team at Juneau Douglas High School was humbled in Anchorage this afternoon.

The West High Eagles doubled the score on the Crimson Bears.

The final was 101 to 47.

The Bears begin play at the Dimond Tournament in Anchorage Thursday.

They tip off on KINY at 4:30 p.m. versus Grace Christian Academy.