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Home Depot gets green light from
Planning Commission
The Juneau Planning Commission has approved a site plan, a
conditional use permit, and a parking plan for the new Home Depot
Store.
The store will be located in the Lemon Creek area behind Costco in a
section of the the old CBJ gravel pit.
Home Depot has agreed to construct a bench road on the southeast
side of the building.
The bench road may be used as part of a future CBJ road that would
access city land to the north.
To deal with the increase in traffic new right turn lane will be
built on Glacier Avenue at the intersection with Anka Street.
And Anka will be widened to three lanes.
On of the conditions of the permit calls for Home Deport to fund a
hydrology study of Vanderbilt Creek to see how storm water should be
routed and treated.
Commissioner Frank Rue said at last night's meeting that Home Depot
has the opportunity to actually enhance and improve the creek which
has been degraded over the years.
The company's Arthur Richy says the study will help them determine
the design and construction impacts of their store and bench road
behind the store.
He says they already have plans to take the clean roof water
drainage to the creek.
Richy says they will abide the results of the study and determine
how to divert parking lot water to the creek treating it with a
constructed wetlands system or an oil and water separator.
The final plan will have to approved Community Development Director.
Another condition requires Home Depot to work with the Forest
Service to re-route the Lemon Creek Trail around the cut slope on
the southeastern side or developed a new trail head at the end on
Commercial Boulevard.
"Zip line" tour
proposal granted approval to operate at Treadmill Mine site
The Planning Commission has approved a conditional use permit for a
commercial seasonal "zip line" tour at the old Treadmill
Mine site.
Alaska Canopy Adventures has set up a zip line tour in Ketchikan and
will now get the opportunity to set one up at the end of the
Treadwill Trail on AJT Mining property at the old mine site in
Douglas.
Zip lines are cables that run from tree to tree that people,
outfitted with harnesses, can clip onto and slide from tree to tree.
The Treadwell Mine tour will consist of a network of aerial cables
consisting of 12 stations built on mature trees.
The company's consultant Murray Walsh told the commission last night
that a professional forest engineer with many years of experience in
Southeast Alaska selected the trees as required by the company's
insurance firm..
Customers will sign up at a kiosk at the downtown wharf and be
ferried across Gastineau Channel to Red Beach on a landing craft.
No dock will be required on Douglas Island.
Walsh said, if on a day the weather is to bad to ferry people across
the Channel and land on Red Beach, then the facility won't operate
during that time.
Customers will be taken 1,800 feet up the hill on a slow moving
eight wheel ATV accompanied by two guides.
As approved by DEC, the trail will be covered by six inches of
gravel fill to cap any mine tailings that may contain traces of
mercury or cyanide.
Portable restrooms will be serviced once a week by a contractor via
St. Anns Avenue, otherwise know as the Treadwell Trail.
Company officials say at the peak of the season they expect about
200 people a day will take the adventure- history tour.
Two landing craft, each accommodating 20 people, will make up to 14
round trips per day from 8-30 in the morning to 6-30 in the evening.
Alaska proposes monetary
rewards for school staff
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Businesses use cash incentives. Now Alaska
schools may offer cash rewards to school staff if student scores
improve.
Education Commissioner Roger Sampson presented the proposed School
Performance Incentive Program to the Senate Finance Committee this
morning.
Bonuses would range from 25-hundred dollars to 55-hundred dollars
for certificated staff and one thousand to 25-hundred for
non-certificated staff. Every staff member could receive a bonus if
students show substantial improvement on the state's standards-based
assessments.
Sampson said the program would encourage staff to share the
responsibility for teaching core subjects.
Sampson estimated the program could cost 15 million dollars if a
quarter of the state's school staff qualifies for the highest bonus.
Interior Dept. clears way
for oil leases in part of North Slope
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Interior Department has opened nearly half a
million acres of federal land in an ecologically sensitive area of
Alaska's North Slope to oil and gas development.
The department say it will allow oil development in virtually all of
the wetlands surrounding Lake Teshekpuk (Tuh-SHEK'-puk) in the
northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The lake region includes one of the most important molting areas in
the Arctic for wild geese and areas sought out by caribou herds for
calving.
The plan calls for opening seven leasing areas north and south of
the lake to oil and gas development.
The government estimates that the areas surrounding Lake Teshekpuk
contain about two billion barrels of economically recoverable oil.
It also estimates the area has three-and-a-half trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
Environmentalists are not happy with the decision.
Stanley Senner, executive director of the Audubon Society in Alaska,
says the decision is not good for geese or caribou.
Seat belt bill clears State
House
The first bill of the session to pass either chamber came on the
floor of the State House today.
Senate Bill 87 would allow police to pull over and ticket drivers
for not wearing their seat belts.
Police officers already issue tickets for not wearing a seat belt,
but only if they have pulled the driver over for another offense.
The bill's author, Anchorage Senator Con Bunde, says he understands
the mentality of Alaskans who feel the proposed law gives police too
much authority. But the Anchorage Republican says it will save
lives.
Representative Berta Gardner of Anchorage says she believes police
would use the law to pull drivers over on suspicion of more serious
offenses.
She says police already can pull over most drivers for small
infractions such as cracked windows or broken taillights.
Bunde says the state will receive 2 million dollars a year for nine
years in federal highway safety funds if the bill is approved this
year.
The measure was approved on reconsideration 21 to 18. Both Juneau
Representatives Beth Kerttula and Bruce Weyhrauch voted in the
affirmative.
SB 87 now goes back to the Senate for concurrence in changes made by
the House.
Alaska lawmakers look at
private property rights
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska lawmakers today (Wednesday) took their
first look at a measure to curb the power of state government to
seize private property.
The House Judiciary Committee heard one of six bills filed in the
wake of last year's U-S Supreme Court decision. The ruling allowed a
town in Connecticut to turn over waterfront homes to a private
developer for commercial development.
Five state legislatures have since passed bills restricting the use
of eminent domain. Similar measures are in the works in 36 other
states, including Alaska.
House Bill 318 would prohibit the use of eminent domain for another
person's economic gain and clarify that a person's primary home
cannot be taken for recreational purposes.
The bill also lays out a host of exceptions that describe when
government may use eminent domain and requires four state
commissioners sign off on the decision.
Hickel endorses gas reserves tax
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Former Governor Wally Hickel says a plan to
tax oil companies for not developing the state's natural gas
reserves is long overdue.
Hickel says the state needs to act as the owner of the North Slope's
reserves. He adds that the oil industry exerts undue influence on
the state's governmental process.
Hickel was testifying today (Wednesday) to the House Ways and Means
Committee. The committee is considering a bill that would tax North
Slope oil companies about 1 billion dollars a year until the state's
gas reserves are transported to market.
Bill sponsors Harry Crawford and Eric Croft (both Anchorage
Democrats), say the measure is a way to spur construction of a
natural gas pipeline.
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The two legislators are also sponsoring a citizen's initiative on
the tax they hope will be placed on the November ballot. Croft says
he's not going to rely on the legislative process to get the measure
passed.
Governor not ready to
announce his re-election plans
At one point during his State of the State Address Tuesday night,
the Governor referred to his administration entering the last year
of its first term.
That spurred a question during a press conference today (Wednesday),
about his plans for re-election.
In response, he said he'll be backing an announcement, but wasn't
ready to indicate when.
Woman suffers minor injury
in vehicle wreck
A 1988 Ford Explorer ended up on its side outbound on Egan Drive at
Fred Meyer before nine this morning. (Wednesday)
Captain Tom Porter says they got the call at 8:53 saying the vehicle
was on fire.
Fortunately, Porter says, that wasn't the case. The driver, a 31
year old woman, suffered minor injuries. She was cited for excessive
speed.
Area roads were icy this morning.
Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $2,500.
Observatory confirms
eruption of Augustine Volcano
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Volcano Observatory says Mount
Augustine Volcano has erupted.
Geologist Jennifer Adleman says an ash cloud has been confirmed.
The observatory estimates the cloud is about 30-thousand feet high.
Residents of Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula told the observatory
they had spotted ash in their community.
Adleman says she's not sure if ash was spotted in the air or on the
ground.
A pair of explosions this morning shortly before five a-m marked the
onset of the eruption.
The volcano is 75 miles southwest of Homer and about 180 miles
southwest of Anchorage.
The observatory says it plans flights today to gain more information
on the kinds of gasses that the mountain expelled.
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The four-thousand-134-foot volcano last erupted in 19-86.
The explosions today were preceded by increased earthquake activity
last night (Tuesday).
That prompted the observatory to upgrade the level of concern code
from yellow to orange.
With the explosions, the code is now red.
Birds to highlight Airport
Board meeting
The problem that birds visiting the landfill are causing the Juneau
Airport will be a topic of discussion at tonight's meeting of the
Airport Board of Directors.
Airport Manager Allan Hesse says a wildlife hazard assessment is
under way. Bird activity increased after the incinerator at the
landfill was shut down.
The problem was noted as a major discrepancy during a Federal
Aviation Administration inspection of the airport last month.
The FAA recommended that the airport conduct a follow up on the
wildlife assessment to look at the source of bird movements, ways to
dramatically reduce bird activity around flight corridors, and
evaluate what possible affect the landfill has on hazards.
Hesse says in response Alaska Airlines has said it may curtail their
departure procedures which take them closest to the landfill until
the bird activity subsides.
On another matter, Hesse will inform the panel that an amendment
with the prime consultant for the EIS study is being finalized
The cost of this amendment is about $400,000. Hesse calls it a
housekeeping matter and hopes the amendment will take them through
the record of decision.
The proposed parking lot rate increases will be discussed and the
Finance Committee will present recommendations on the airport's
capital program.
Another topic up for discussion is the need for improved security
around the airport fuel farm and the city's impound lot.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Aurora Room at the Airport.
Man gets four months in
Juneau assault case
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A 46-year-old man is going to jail for four
months after pleading no-contest to a misdemeanor assault charge.
James White was accused of beating up a man last year who asked him
why he kicked out two young Alaska Native boys from a store White
was managing at the time.
Fred Hiltner -- an elementary school teacher -- says he feared for
his life in the February 25th assault at the Radio Shack store owned
by his family.
At his sentencing yesterday (Tuesday) White also was slapped with a
five-thousand dollar fine.
Hiltner says White punched him in the face and head about 20 times.
He says his shoulder has never healed and could require surgery.
(Juneau Empire)
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