Eaglecrest's Ptarmigan chair lift shut down for the next eight days
The Ptarmigan chair lift at Eaglecrest Ski Area will not be operating until January 17th.

General Manager Kirk Duncan says a bearing in the lift's upper bullwheel has apparently failed.

The ten foot diameter bullwheel sits on top of the terminal tower. The chair lift cable runs up the mountain around the bullwheel and back down the mountain to the lower terminal tower.

Duncan says last Saturday they noticed a very slight wobble in the Ptarmigan lift.

He says after an inspection today (Thursday) they believe that a bearing in the bullwheel has failed and has begun wearing down the other bearings.

Duncan says this past summer when they inspected and re-greased the bearings they looked for metal shavings that would indicate a problem, but did not find any.

He says the chair lift's bearings have been replaced three times during it's 30 years of use.

Duncan says it's fortunate that they have another bullwheel sitting about three hundreds yard away on the new mid-mountain chair lift that has not been installed yet.

He said during the next week they will install the replacement bullwheel and hope to have the Ptarmigan lift running again by Saturday, January 17th.

Duncan says he can not stress enough how badly he, his staff and the Eaglecrest Board Directors feel about closing the Ptarmigan lift, but it would be irresponsible to keep the lift operating.

Due to the heavy snow, hikers will not be allowed on the upper mountain because of avalanche control work.

The Platter and Hooter lift will be running as scheduled this weekend.

9 year old boy killed in Wasilla fire, unknown Good Samaritans rescue older brother
A nine year old boy was killed and his 12 year old brother critically injured in a trailer home fire near Wasilla in the Mat Su Borough Wednesday night.

Megan Peters of the Alaska State Troopers says they were notified at about 11 p.m.

She says trailer was totally destroyed. The remains of a child were found near the front door. Peters says it's believed those are the remains of the 9 year old, although positive identification is still pending.

Unknown heroes saved the 12 year old.

Two men driving by saw the fire at the Sylvan Road residence and stopped.

While one man called authorities, the other rushed into the burning trailer and helped the 12 year old get out.

Peters says it's believed the man suffered arm and hand burns and was unable to got back in to rescue the other boy.

The Good Samaritans turned the injured boy over to a neighbor and left before authorities arrived on scene, so their identities are not known.

Anyone with information about the Good Samaritans are asked to contact the Troopers.

Investigation revealed that the boys were the only occupants of the trailer at the time of the fire.

The State Fire Marshall Office is working to determine the cause and origin of the fire.

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In the meantime, Troopers are warning about the dangers of fire during the prolonged cold snap that has Alaska in its grip.

Troopers say three Alaskans have lost their lives in three separate home fires during the first week of 2009.

That is the highest number of fire fatalities recorded in the first week of a year since 1996.

Man dies of injuries sustained in Hillside home fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The former president of an Anchorage television station died last night following a house fire in the Hillside neighborhood of the city.

Duane Triplett died around 8 p.m. at Providence Alaska Medical Center.

His wife Colleen, their son and another family member were all injured in the fast-moving fire yesterday morning that filled their home with thick black smoke.

Six people were inside the home, split between two levels.

Upstairs were homeowners Duane and Colleen Triplett.

Their son Travis, his wife, her son and another woman were all downstairs. One of them was able to get a call to 911, before the family was able to escape.

Duane Triplett didn't make it out. His last act before collapsing inside was helping his wife through a bedroom window.

He was found in the bedroom and rushed to the hospital.
(KTUU-TV) 

Construction work believed cause of elementary school fire.
It appears construction work was responsible for Wednesday morning's fire at Harborview Elementary School downtown. 

The call came in at 6:34.

Capital City Fire Rescue Division Chief Rich Etheridge says the fire was knocked down quickly and  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.

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

Classes were not disrupted.

Use of electric heater to thaw water pipes cause of four-plex fire
The cause of a fire at a Mendenhall Valley four-plex was related to an effort to thaw frozen water pipes.  

The call came in at 7-44 from the residence at 10231 Heron Way off Back Loop Road.

Fire Chief Eric Mohrman says  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.

Winter storm warning in effect for Juneau
The National Weather Service got a jump on the winter storm warning that was suppose to take effect at 6 p.m. It went into effect at one p.m. instead since it started to snow heavily.

Twelve to 24 inches is expected by 6 Friday evening, with 2 to 4 coming today, according to Meteorologist Nikki Becker in the Juneau Forecast Office.

A silver lining is that it's warming up. Friday's high is expected to be around 30. She says temperatures will slowly warm into tonight and Friday.

Northeast winds to 30 miles per hour with gusts to 40 are forecast for tonight.

The strong winds predicted for yesterday and overnight, which would have plunged the wind-chill to 30 below did not develop in the area.

It hit 17 below overnight at the Forecast Office on Back Loop Road, It dipped to 9 below at the airport.

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Meanwhile, the air emergency for the Mendenhall Valley has been cancelled.

The alert was cancelled shortly after eight a.m.  as the result of warming temperatures. 

Poe 1st to announce candidacy for Alaska governor
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Democrat Bob Poe says he's not running against a particular candidate as he begins his campaign for governor, but he had some strong criticism today for the incumbent, Republican Sarah Palin.

Poe says Palin has been out of town and out of touch for much of her two years in office and it's time to put Alaska's future ahead of one's own political future.

Poe is a former state commissioner of administration.

The 54-year-old Democrat has also directed the Office of International Trade and has been business development manager for the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state agency that lends money to promote economic development.

Poe says the state has not taken sufficient steps to weather the economic downturn and Alaska is no further along with a proposed natural gas pipeline that it was three years ago.
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Palin was the Republican nominee for vice president and she spent much of the campaign season on the road.

But Palin spokesman Bill McAllister rejects Poe's criticism that the governor's absences hurt the state. He says other governors have continued to operate their states while on the campaign trail.

On the natural gas pipeline process, McAllister says he wonders if Poe wants a return to closed negotiations and giveaways that Palin campaigned against.

McAllister says that's not what the public wants. 

Elton and Munoz sponsor bills dealing with state retirement system
Juneau Senator Kim Elton and Juneau Valley Representative Cathy Munoz have pre-filed bills dealing with the public employee pension system in advance of the legislative session.

Elton says his bill returns the public employee pension systems back to the defined benefit from a defined contribution.

It would allow new employees to choose between the two alternatives.

He says the market conditions over the last few months have demonstrated how risky a defined compensation package is and how quickly retirement funds can run out after a person retires.

Elton says the workers in the defined benefit package are no more expensive than the new plan.

He says the state has not saved any money under the new plan.

Elton adds his bill's retirement plan would help recruit and retain people.

Munoz is sponsoring a similar bill in the state House.

She says during her recent campaign one of the biggest issues that was brought to her attention from the public employee groups was the need to strengthen the public employee retirement system for new employees.

Munoz says the bill would return the system to defined benefits for new state and public employees.

Munoz say the bill she's co-sponsoring with along with Valdez Representative John Harris is a bit different than Elton's bill.

She says the House bill does not give the option of defined benefits or defined contributions.

The legislative session is scheduled to get underway January 20th.

Extreme cold slams Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Ted Johnson leaves his Stevens Village house these days for just two reasons: to chop wood used to heat the home and to fetch water.

Otherwise, he stays inside and out of the extreme temperatures that have slammed large regions of Alaska.

In Johnson's village, which sits along the Yukon River, temperatures have plummeted to 60 below zero for nearly two weeks.

Johnson says the wood he burns was to be used for a cabin he planned to build on his mother's land.

But heat comes first, so the cabin will wait a few years.

Subzero temps keeps ski races on hold
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Organizers of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage are down to one day.

After having a fourth day of race cancellations, organizers hope they can hold sprint races today.

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.

Weyhrauch loses appeal
Former Juneau Representative Bruce Weyhrauch will appeal a ruling against him all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Weyhrauch is charged with failing to disclose efforts to get a job with VECO Corporation while he served in the legislature.

His trial has been delayed while Weyhrauch challenges the grounds for the charges. Weyhrauch's lawyer argues that the disclosure was not required.

On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for re-hearing a ruling from November that allowed prosecutors to move forward.

Weyhrauch's lawyer, Doug Pope, says he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Visitors to Alaska declined last summer
The number of visitors to Alaska last summer decreased by point 4 percent with just over 1.7 million making the trek to the state.

That according to the Alaska Visitor Statistics Program Visitor Volume report released this week by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.

Caryl McConkie, the department's Tourism Development Manager, says there was a 1 point 3 percent drop in visitors exiting by air which was primarily responsible for the decline.

Visitors exiting by highway and ferry continued a three year pattern of decline since 2005, decreasing by 6.8 and 2.8 percent respectively.

The only highway with increased exits last summer was the Klondike between Skagway and Dawson City. That number was up seven percent.

The Alcan Highway dropped by 18 percent. The Haines Highway went down 15 percent. Exists on the Top of the World Highway decreased 9 percent.

Projections for next summer would indicate the trend will be lower still.

In discussions with the Alaska Travel Industry Association and various visitors' bureaus from around the state, McConkie, projects are calling for as much as a 30 percent decrease in bookings. In addition, she says cancellations are up as well.

Man dies in Palmer jail
PALMER, Alaska (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say a 42-year-old prisoner died at the jail in Palmer.

Robert L. McInelly Sr. of Wasilla was arrested by Wasilla police Monday on a charge of violating felony probation and driving without a valid operators license.

He was booked at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility just before 5:30 p.m.

Troopers say that at about 11:30 p.m., they took a call that McInelly was "unresponsive."

Jail staff members performed CPR on McInelly until emergency medical technicians arrived.

McInelly was pronounced dead just before midnight.

The state medical examiner's is investigating the cause of death.

Claimants continue to come forward
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - The Fairbanks Catholic Diocese says since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, the number of people alleging sexual abuse by priests and church workers has more than doubled.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy last March. Officials say since then another 152 people have come forward and filed allegations with the court.

That brings the latest tally to 292 people claiming they were sexually abused by Catholic clergy from the 1950s to 1980s.

The court imposed a Dec. 2 deadline to file further abuse claims.

Previous to filing for reorganization, the Fairbanks diocese had settled with 23 victims.

Anchorage attorney Ken Roosa says calls are still coming in. And he says new offenders are listed among the more recent claims of sexual abuse.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Venezuelan oil to continue flowing to Alaska villages after all
Gifts of fuel oil from Venezuela will continue.

Rural Alaska villages have benefited from the program for the last two years, but falling oil prices had threatened the delivery this winter.

On Monday, the nonprofit partner of Venezuela's CITGO Petroleum announced that shipments would stop.

But on Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the world economic crisis would not keep him from donating fuel to poor Americans.

Through the Alaska Intertribal Council, CITGO pays for 100 gallons of fuel per household in communities that are more than 70 percent Native.

The program has donated more than 16-million dollars worth of fuel in Alaska over the last two years.

Oregon man sentenced for selling walrus ivory
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Oregon man has been sentenced in Alaska for illegally selling walrus ivory.

U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline sentenced James Schneider, 47, of Astoria to three years probation and a fine of $10,000.

According to federal prosecutors, Schneider planned to act as a retail seller of illegal ivory by acquiring and selling walrus parts. He pleaded guilty in October 2008.

Schneider planned to sell the ivory in Oregon. His plan was thwarted by an undercover investigation conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

He also was ordered to surrender other walrus ivory he illegally possessed.

Docks and Harbors Board  to takes up various projects and union contract
The Docks and Harbors Board meets tonight. (Thursday)

There are two items on the consent agenda.

The first is a request from DIPAC and Channel Construction to lease additional tidelands.

The second item is a cooperative agreement amendment for the Amalga Harbor launch ramp facility.

Port Director John Stone says the state Department of Fish and Game is proposing to grant CBJ $135,000 for improvements to the facility.

He says they're looking at improving the pathway from the parking lot down to the kayak launch ramp.

If approved by the board, it will be forwarded to the Assembly for appropriation.

The first item for action is a request from the Alaska Commercial Fishermen Memorial Foundation for a subcommittee of the Docks and Harbors Board to take over management of the memorial located at Marine Park.

The second item is a request for  Marine Passenger Fee revenue.

Stone says the board is looking for additional funding to help construct a new visitor center and a customs and port worker building to be located near the Mt. Roberts tram.

The building would replace the old Marine Highway building.

The board is also requesting operational funding from Marine Passenger Fees so that it can take the lease revenues generated from tideland leases next to the cruise docks.

Stone says the board is looking at moving those revenues to the Harbors Enterprise Fund to help with harbor rebuilds.

The third action item is a request to replace a float in Harris Harbor that was damaged by an extreme low tide last month.

Stone says it was the lowest low tide ever recorded in Juneau, at  minus 6 point 2 feet.

He says the tide was so low that the gangway to the float fell off its guides and got jammed into the float.

When the tide rose,  the gangway pushed the float into the water and basically destroyed it.

The gangway also fell off the float and sunk a boat.

The estimated cost to repair the float is $155,000.

The fourth item is the contract ratification with the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association which represents CBJ docks and harbors workers.

The city manager's staff negotiates the contract and board has to ratify it.

Stone says, in essence, there are two salary increases over the next three years.

There would be a 5 percent increase for the 2009 calendar year and then a 3 percent increase for the 2010 calendar year.

The Docks and Harbors Board meets tonight at 7 in the Assembly Chambers.

Anchorage may suffer loss of jobs this year
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Economists say 2009 might be the year in which Anchorage's long run of job growth comes to an end.

Neal Fried, the state labor economist, says job growth has occurred every year for the past two decades, but this year looks different.

Fried says he expects a loss of about 200 jobs. 

Crimson Bears lose to Grace Christian Academy
The men's basketball team at Juneau Douglas High School fell to Grace Christian Academy 63 to 59 at the Dimond Tournament in Anchorage today. (Thursday)

The Bears are in action again Friday.

Tip off on KINY is at 2-45 p.m.

Dog mushing race starts this weekend
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Copper Basin 300 is set to begin on Saturday.

Lance Mackey, winner of the last two Iditarods and last four Yukon Quests, is among the 34 competitors signed up for the first big mid-distance race.

The race is offering an $18,000 purse and is considered a tune-up by some mushers for the longer and more grueling Iditarod.

Palin taps Juneau man for seat on safety council
A Juneau resident is among Governor Palin's latest appointments to boards and commissions.

Robert S. Peterson was appointed to the Alaska Safety Advisory Council.

Peterson has been the Southeast Alaska representative for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 since 206.

He was named to the seat representing organized labor.

Idaho Planned Parenthood merges with NW affiliates
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) - Planned Parenthood of Idaho has merged with two other organizations in Washington and Alaska to form Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.

Officials announced the merger Tuesday, saying the move was motivated by the economy.

Planned Parenthood official Brian Cutler said the consolidation will result in more resources going to health care across 28 offices. The 28th will be a new office in Juneau.

He says no employees lost their jobs because of the merger.
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com