Juneau Daily News Online

Thursday,  January 10, 2002

Signatures turned in for legislative session move
The group "Alaskans for Efficient Government" turned in its initiative petition to move legislative sessions from Juneau to the Mat Su Borough this morning.

Sponsors handed in over 40 thousand signatures to the Division of Elections in Anchorage. That gives them a margin of error to make sure they end up with the required 29 thousand signatures needed to place the issue on November's General Election ballot.

Even if its approved, its not clear exactly where lawmakers would meet this time next year. Sponsor Karen Bretz says facilities would have to be prepared in the Mat Su Borough first. She says sessions would convene in Anchorage until 2005.

The initiative would also repeal the "Frank Initiative" which requires the costs of such a move to be studied and made public.

Win Gruening is chair of the Juneau based Alaska Committee which is plotting a strategy to defeat the initiative. He says the inability of Alaskans to vote on the costs associated with a move is a point his organization will publicize statewide. Gruening believes there will be significant statewide support to defeat the initiative, if its approved for the ballot.

Tree cutting proposal back in Airport Wildlife Management Plan
The Airport Board of Directors reversed itself last night on what projects to include in the Environmental Impact Study list.

Last month the panel voted to forward to the list on to the Federal Aviation Administration minus a proposal to remove trees from the south side of the float pond.

Patty DeLaBruere of the Airport Manager's Office says the board first moved to rescind its action taken last month that deleted the tree cutting project from the list. It then approved a revised motion that put the project back on the list.

She says the board thought it was prudent to consider the tree cutting issue in the EIS study. She says members stressed that they were not making a decision to remove the trees, but rather only to consider the project for further study.

The Juneau Audubon Society opposed the project and is disappointed that the board voted to place it back into the Wildlife Management Plan, according to member Laurie Ferguson Craig.

She says there's apparently some confusion over the procedure. She adds though that board still doesn't won't the trees to be cut, but wants to be sure that the analysis on what role the trees play is included in the study. Ferguson Craig says she doesn't agree with the method the board used to get to that conclusion.

She says the society will continue to bird dog the issue, since it feels the trees provide a natural barrier that separates the waterfowl that use the wetlands from the airport.

Route of Olympic Flame in Juneau disclosed
The course for the Olympic Torch Relay in Juneau was revealed today. A Delta Airlines flight is bringing the Olympic Flame to Alaska's Capital City, the first time its ever come to Alaska.

The torch relay is scheduled to begin at 8:30 on the morning of Thursday, January 24th, from the airport to Centennial Hall CBJ Parks and Recreation Director Kim Kiefer says the ten mile route will involve 50 torchbearers.

In two cases, the flame will be put in a miner's lantern and driven to the next starting point. That will occur between the Brotherhood Bridge Parking lot and Capital Chevrolet in the Lemon Creek area and from the Salmon Creek Medical Center to the next Glacier Highway access point. Kiefer says the motorized transports in those locations are needed to ensure the flame gets into as many areas of town as possible.

Once it gets in the downtown area, part of the route will be unique to Juneau, according to Kiefer. It will be placed in a canoe and travel from the Goldbelt Dock on Egan Drive to the Intermediate Vessel Float on South Franklin accompanied by Tlingits in full regalia.

The flame will arrive at Centennial Hall at about 11 where a ceremony begins an hour earlier and will last until about noon.

Course maps will be available next week and an exact narrative of the route is now available through Parks and Recreation.

Alaska adds flights from Seattle to Denver and Boston
Alaska Airlines is adding more flights outside.   Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, the parent company of the carriers, says it is laying on three daily flights between Seattle and Denver and one daily flight between Seattle and Boston.

The flights will be served by Boeing 737s capable of carrying 138 passengers.

Temperature ties record high in Juneau
Wednesday's high of 45 degrees in Juneau tied a record for the date initially set in 1981. Today's high is not expected to reach he record high of  48 degrees set in 1944. Tuesday's high of 41 degrees ended up three degrees shy of the record for that date.

The wind advisory in effect yesterday was cancelled overnight. Gust to 41 miles were reported last night at the airport and the Rock Dump downtown. A gust of 54 miles per hour was detected at the top of the Mt. Roberts Tram.

Rain surpasses average in Ketchikan last year
The city of Ketchikan is famous for rain and the year 2001 revealed why. The National Weather Service says a fraction less than 184 inches fell on Ketchikan last year. That's 46-point-5 inches above Ketchikan's average of 137-point-4 inches.

New UAS students gather for orientation
An orientation for new students at the Auke Lake Campus of the University of Alaska Southeast is scheduled tomorrow. Chancellor John Pugh says it begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Mourant Building. It will include campus tours and planning sessions.

In the meantime, a special registration is planned downtown tomorrow. It will be held at the Bill Ray Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The spring semester begins Monday.

Child abuse prevention agency suffers budget woes
An Anchorage agency that works to prevent child abuse has shut down most of its operations temporarily while officials try to figure out how to deal with a cash flow crisis. The Anchorage Center for Families offers counseling and operates a nursery and preschools.

"Razzle" staged by Perseverance
Perseverance Theatre's Production of "On The Razzle" opens tomorrow night.

Co-Director Roblin Davis, who was among the guest on KINY's Capital Chat this morning, guaranteed a laugh or two. He called it a fantastic farce that is chalk full of belly laughs, chuckles, snorters, puns, malapropisms, and double entendres. He added that every scene is stuff full of humor and that everyone will definitely leave with a smile on their face.

The play opens tomorrow evening at 8 and runs through February 3rd. A preview is scheduled this evening at 7:30.

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