Juneau Daily News Online

Tuesday, January 11, 2000  ©  Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News

Budget will top session agenda
  GOP plans another $30M in cuts
The bottom line will continue to be the top priority of majority lawmakers this legislative session. House and Senate leaders conducted a press conference late this morning. Senate Finance Co-Chair John Torgerson said the commitment from 1995 to cut the budget by $250-million remains the chief goal which means another reduction of $30-million this year. Senate President Drue Pearce said not to expect new taxes. House Finance Co-Chair Gene Therriault (right) was quoted recently as saying that the balance of municipal assistance and revenue sharing would be eliminated and that he had a deal with Senate Finance on that issue. Therriault said there is no such deal. Other majority leaders said there would be a focus on results-based budgeting which measures the performance of agencies during this fiscal year.

Porter doubtful of state worker contract funding
"Tough sledding" is how House Speaker Brian Porter (left) gauged the chances of lawmakers funding state employee contracts during KINY's Capital Chat this morning. That's because of the majority's intention to reduce the operating budget further this session, he added. Because of that same reason, he doesn't give the recommendation put forth by the Privatization Task Force that calls moving legislative sessions to Anchorage much of a chance. He doesn't believe lawmakers would be interested in funding short term costs associated with that proposal. Related to that subject is improving access to the Capital. The Juneau Access Study contains various options for marine highway improvements and a road up the east side of Lynn Canal to Skagway. Porter says being able to drive to Juneau would eliminate a main argument used by those in favor of a capital or session move. On other topics, the Speaker said the majority is interested in further consolidation of state agencies to achieve cuts and he recommends local government leaders act now to preserve what's left of municipal assistance and revenue sharing.

Mackie's last session
State Senator Jerry Mackie of Craig says he will not run for re-election when his term ends after this session. Mackie is in his 10th year in the Legislature. The Republican spent 6 years in the House and is serving as Majority Leader in his 4th year in the Senate. He adds that he may consider statewide political office in the future.

JSD, CBJ meet face to face this week
The School Board conducts a joint meeting with the Assembly Finance Committee tomorrow evening on reduced funding facing the Juneau School District. Superintendent Gary Bader (right) says the district is eyeballing a $385,000 shortfall this year because of slightly reduced enrollments. Increased wages and benefits negotiated in the labor contracts last year are also factors. He says that's why they want a face to face meeting with city budget writers to determine what their revenue picture will look like especially if local reductions are planned. Bader figures the district can deal with the current shortfall, although with some pain. Anything more could be a "tough nut to crack," he adds. Bader says the shortfall could grow to $800,000 or more over the next couple of years.

New club for young people coming to Juneau
Tentative plans call for opening a Boys and Girls Club in the Capital City by this summer. That following word last Friday that the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority had reached a lease agreement for a portion of the building formerly the home of Southeast Distributors . The building's across the street from the Nugget Mall, according to Annette Ulmer who is the authority's Regional Youth Coordinator. The authority chose to apply a $181,000 Drug Elimination Grant it received from the Federal Housing and Urban Development Agency last year to a Boys and Girls Club facility. The club in Juneau is part of a statewide expansion program.

Planners to review horse stable, fire hall addition
The Planning Commission takes up a conditional use permit at tonight's meeting that calls for an addition to the Lynn Canal Fire Station. The addition includes crew quarters and a vehicle bay. Another conditional use permit would provide temporary stabling for 16 to 20 horses from May through September to support horseback riding tours at the end of Montana Creek Road.

Big celestial show this morning
A fireball in the sky! That's what Chris Dolmar of Douglas said he saw from his Crow Hill Condo while looking across Gastineau Channel at about 3:00 this morning. He was looking in between the mountains and first noticed a flash that turned into a fireball that just kept getting bigger. It then started to fade as it began to drop with a tail noticeable as it came down. Dolmar said it was so big he actually braced himself for an impact. He lost sight of it as it came down over the mountains. Whatever it was, he said it hit hard because a flash of red lit up the horizon from north to south on both sides of the channel. Dolmar added that he hasn't seen anything like it, except in the movies. He figures he saw a meteor. He checked with police then to see if there were other reports. There were none then, but police told him later in the day that others had called in with similar descriptions.

DOT now in charge of highway safety
Governor Knowles has shifted the state's highway safety planning efforts to another agency. The governor transferred the Alaska Highway Safety Planning Agency from the state Department of Public Safety to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

State still in running for missile system
President Clinton intends to ask Congress in his 2001 budget for a $2.2-billion increase in spending for a national missile defense system. Defense officials say the money would go primarily for an expanded arsenal of interceptor rockets to be based in Alaska or North Dakota. Clinton is to decide as early as July whether to go ahead with the deployment.

Legislative reception tonight
Juneau's community reception for lawmakers and their staff is scheduled for this evening at Centennial Hall. The reception begins at 5:30pm. Juneau Senator Kim Elton (right) invited his colleagues to attend during today's floor session.

(Captions for our photographs can be viewed by hovering over them with your mouse pointer)

maps.expedia.com

Photographers/Public Information Officers:
KINY is actively soliciting photos of timely local news events. Please email us for details.