|
Drug bust
reported in Ketchikan
There was a drug bust in Ketchikan Sunday morning after a state
ferry arrived from Bellingham.
Alaska State Troopers including canine Yukon and officers from the
Ketchikan and Craig Police Departments boarded the ferry
Yukon alerted to the presence of narcotics coming from a vehicle
owned by 49 year old Jeffrey Music of Craig, according to the
Trooper dispatch.
After the vehicle was seized, a search warrant was obtained.
Located inside the tires of an ATV and in a truck tire were
approximately 40 pounds of processed marijuana that was packaged
in 70 gallon size bags.
The shipment of marijuana was bound for Prince of Wales Island.
A second search warrant for Music's residence in Craig resulted in
the seizure of scales, packaging material and other items related
to the distribution of marijuana.
Troopers say the estimated street value of the seized marijuana is
in excess of $600,000.
Music was arrested and jailed at the Ketchikan Correctional Center
on three counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
His bail was set at $25,000.
142,800 gallons of fuel spilled
on Alaska island
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) An estimated 142,800 gallons of diesel
fuel spilled from a storage tank on an island in Alaska's remote
Aleutian chain.
The Coast Guard says 1,000 gallons from the Monday spill on Adak
Island entered a creek and flowed into a small boat harbor.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the fuel
flowed from an underground storage tank as a ship moored at a pier
pumped fuel to the tank.
The flow reached a drainage system that collects water from around
the underground tanks and sends it into the creek. The amount
overwhelmed the system's oil and water separator.
The fuel tank is owned by Adak Petroleum. Workers discovered the
spill, halted pumping and set up boom to contain the fuel.
Adak Island is 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Allen goes
to prison
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) A key player in Alaska's political
corruption cases has reported to a federal prison in California.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross says Bill Allen arrived
Tuesday morning at the low-security Terminal Island federal
correctional institution.
Allen is the former chief executive of oil field services company
VECO Corp. who pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and tax
violations.
His sentencing on the 2007 plea was delayed until October, when he
was sentenced to three years and ordered to pay a $750,000 fine.
Allen was not taken into custody until he checked into prison.
Ross says Rick Smith, a former VECO executive who pleaded guilty
to the same charges, had not yet reported to prison.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Grand jury returns
indictment in 1988 Sitka cold case
A grand jury in Sitka returned an indictment Friday in the
disappearance of a Sitka man in 1988.
Jane Limm, also known as Jane Coville and Jane Reth, has been
charged with first-degree murder and tampering with physical
evidence in the case of her husband, Scott Coville, whose body has
never been found.
Coville disappeared in April 1988.
The cold case units in the Alaska State Troopers and the
Department of Law have been investigating the 22 year-old case.
Deputy attorney general Rick Svobodny says DNA forensic science
technology was instrumental in verifying what investigators
believe to be the exact location where Coville is alleged to have
been murdered.
Coville and Limm were married in Sitka in late 1987 and were
living together at the time of his disappearance.
The Superior Court in Sitka has issued a warrant for Limms
arrest.
An arraignment on the charges and the scheduling of a trial will
take place after Limm has been apprehended.
Voluntary drug testing set to
begin in mid-February
The school district's voluntary drug testing program is scheduled
for its first hearing at tonight's (Tuesday) School Board meeting.
Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich says they plan to start the
voluntary program in mid-February.
The board is also scheduled to discuss it's legislative
priorities, next school year's calendar and appoint the public
members of the district's budget committee.
The School Board meets at 6-15 tonight at the district offices on
Glacier Avenue.
Upcoming census
and pool management discussed Assembly work session
The Assembly Committee of the Whole listened to a report from the
director of the Alaska Region for the U. S. Census Bureau at
Monday night's work session.
Eric Davenport is a former resident of Juneau, according to Deputy
Mayor Randy Wanamaker, who said the official explained to them the
importance of the census and how it relates to the amount of
federal funding available to a community.
Wanamaker says Juneau's participation rate in the past was 60
percent, while the national average is 67 percent.
He says the Assembly has agreed to form a "Complete Count
Committee" in conjunction with the Census Bureau.
Wanamaker believes Davenport's involvement will help the town.
He once served as the chief financial officers for the Tlingit -
Haida Central Council so Wanamaker says he's very familiar with
the community and will help Juneau make a complete count.
The Assembly also heard a presentation from Max Mertz of the group
that spearheaded the Dimond Park swimming pool project.
They want to form an advisory committee and have an oversight role
in the management of the pool to ensure it's operated efficiently
and with as little subsidy as possible.
Wanamaker says the Assembly asked the group to prepare various
options including creation of an advisory committee, but also
establishing a board such as the one that governs Eaglecrest which
has the power to direct operations rather than just advise.
City staff was also asked to prepare information on target cost
recoveries for operating the pools.
Wanamaker says the cost recovery for the Augustus Brown Pool has
been 35 percent, so 35 cents of every dollar is recovered.
The deputy mayor says suggestions for improving cost efficiency
will be seriously considered by the local governing body.
Environmental groups sue over Tongass timber sale
MARY PEMBERTON - Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Three environmental groups are trying
to stop a timber sale of old-growth trees in the country's largest
national forest.
The lawsuit filed Monday alleges that the U.S. Forest Service
failed to consider the timber sale's impact on wolves, deer and
salmon in that part of the Tongass National Forest.
The federal agency last year approved the Logjam timber sale on
Prince of Wales Island at 73 million board feet near the high
end of what was proposed.
Greenpeace, Cascadia Wildlands and the Tongass Conservation
Society want the court to cancel the sale of timber on 3,422
acres. The groups say the area already is heavily logged, and that
wildlife need the old-growth buffers that are left for shelter and
migration.
Judge rules
against state in Point Thomson dispute
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) A judge has ruled that the state
improperly terminated ExxonMobil's leases to develop the Point
Thomson gas fields on the North Slope.
Alaska Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason said in a 30-page
decision Monday that Department of Natural Resources Commissioner
Tom Irwin did not follow proper procedures regarding hearings to
which Exxon was entitled.
The state attorney general's office said it is analyzing the
decision.
In 2005, the state notified Exxon that its development plan for
Point Thomson was inadequate and began stripping the companies of
their leases. The state terminated the leases and declared them
expired after becoming frustrated with a lack of production at the
gas fields, where no drilling had occurred for decades.
ExxonMobil challenged the state's termination of those leases.
A year ago, Irwin reinstated two of the 31 leases at Point
Thomson. In exchange, Exxon pledged to start drilling there right
away. The company completed the surface section of the first gas
well last September. The well is part of the first phase of
Exxon's planned $1.3 billion natural gas cycling project at Point
Thomson.
ExxonMobil said it is studying the implications of Gleason's
ruling.
Exxon estimates that the field on the Beaufort Sea coastline,
about 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, holds an estimated 8 trillion
cubic feet of gas. That's about a quarter of all the known gas
reserves on the North Slope. The company estimates that it also
contains about 200 million barrels of condensate or liquid
hydrocarbons.
The Irving, Texas-based company has said it plans to complete the
well by the end of next year and begin production by the end of
2014.
The gas is a crucial part of a proposed multibillion-dollar
natural gas pipeline plan from the North Slope into Canada for
delivery to the U.S.
Rep. Ramras wants
limit on gas pipeline taxes
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) State Rep. Jay Ramras of Fairbanks has
proposed a constitutional amendment that would hold taxes constant
for the life of a major natural gas pipeline from the North Slope.
Ramras told The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner it would erase a risk
for firms deciding whether to build the pipeline. Two construction
teams are considering the project.
Ramras is a Republican who also is a candidate for lieutenant
governor. He and Rep. Ralph Samuels proposed the same plan for a
constant tax structure two years ago, but it died in the 2008
Legislature.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Parnell
seeks to suspend motor fuel tax once again
Governor Sean Parnell has sent the Legislature a bill that would
suspend the state's motor fuel tax for two years.
The levy was suspended as part of an energy assistance bill in
2008, but its terms lapsed in last September.
The new suspension proposed by the Governor would apply to
gasoline,diesel, and marine and aviation fuel.
Parnell says the state needs to ease the burden placed on Alaskans
while long term solutions are sought to the high energy costs
across Alaska.
Competing gas
line projects to seek customers in 2010
The Alaska natural gas pipeline project backed by North Slope
producers BP and Conoco Phillips plans next summer to seek
customers that would ship gas through the proposed pipe.
The Denali pipeline project's "open season" would start
around July and run for 90 days.
Open seasons are critical tests of a gas pipeline project --
enough customers are needed so that the owners can obtain the
financing needed for construction.
The Denali project involves a roughly 2,000-mile pipeline project
from Prudhoe Bay to Alberta, Canada, where the gas could flow into
existing pipeline networks serving Canada and the Lower 48. The
project could cost tens of billions of dollars.
In April, Denali plans to submit to federal regulators the terms
it expects to offer during the open season, the company said.
A rival pipeline project backed by TransCanada Corp. and North
Slope producer Exxon Mobil Corp. plans its open season this spring
and summer.
(Anchorage Daily News)
West 12th Street reconstruction
before Planning Commission
A CBJ project for the reconstruction and improvement of West 12th
Street in downtown Juneau is before the Planning Commission
tonight. (Tuesday)
The recommendation calls for widening the current substandard
width sidewalks to 5.5 and 6 feet.
The street width would be reduced by 1 foot from 29.5 to 28.5
feet.
That will result in vehicle travel lane widths of 10.5 and 10
feet.
The remaining 8 feet of the overall 28 foot street width would be
used for on-street parking.
Also on tonight's agenda is election of officers and committee
assignments.
The Planning Commission meets tonight at 7 in the Assembly
chambers.
Gov. submits bill to update state
disaster program
Governor Sean Parnell has submitted legislation he says will
modernize a state program that assists Alaska households affected
by natural disasters.
The state Individual and Family Grant program is two decades old
and no longer meets the full needs of disaster victims according
to the governor.
The program currently allows a maximum of $5,000 per affected
household.
The proposed legislation increases the maximum amount to $14,950
and allows for annual adjustments based on the consumer price
index.
Currently, the federal Individual Assistance program can provide
up to $29,900.
That is a slight decrease from last year due to the economic
reality of the current year.
The state Individual and Family Grant program provides assistance
when the federal program is not available.
Seattle officers arrive in Alaska
to help in case
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Two Seattle police detectives have
arrived in Anchorage to help authorities investigate a shooting
that left an officer with serious injuries.
Lt. Dave Parker says the detectives played pivotal roles in
investigating an Oct. 31 ambush on a parked patrol car in Seattle
that killed Officer Timothy Brenton and injured another officer.
Christopher Monfort has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder
and attempted murder in that case.
The detectives, whose names have not been released, are assisting
in the case of Anchorage police Officer Jason Allen, who was shot
early Saturday as he sat in his patrol car in a residential
neighborhood.
Police say a dark-colored car pulled up next to Allen and a
passenger fired, striking the 47-year-old officer as many as five
times in his arms and torso.
Anchorage Police
union offers reward in officer shooting
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The Anchorage Police Department
Employees Association is offering a $10,000 reward for information
that leads to the arrest of whoever shot Officer Jason Allen.
Police say they have no suspects or clear motive in the ambush
about 2 a.m. Saturday.
Allen was sitting in his car filling out a report when multiple
shots were fired from a car that pulled up alongside. He's
expected to recover.
(KTUU)
Another 189
years for Palmer machete murderer
PALMER, Alaska (AP) A man who killed his father with a machete
and attacked his father's fiancee was given a 189-year sentence
for murder and attempted murder.
Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. apologized at Monday's sentencing in a
Palmer court.
KTUU reports the woman who barely survived the 2007 attack, Elan
Moren, also spoke in court and asked the judge to "keep this
monster behind bars forever."
The machete attack was the first part of a spree in which Rodgers
also shot three strangers in Anchorage, killing one and wounding
two. He was given a 309-year sentence in November for those murder
and attempted murder convictions.
He has a combined
sentence of 498 year.
(KTUU-TV)
Girl
intervenes when man snatches mom's purse
KENAI, Alaska (AP) A 26-year-old man accused of snatching a
woman's purse, then fighting off her 11-year-old daughter who
tried to stop him, has been arraigned in Kenai District Court.
Daniel McCurdy is charged with four felonies: robbery, theft,
assault of a child and tampering with evidence.
Kenai police say Julie Dorsey was dining Friday at Louie's
Restaurant and got up to use the restroom. Her daughters, ages 11
and 8, stayed at the table.
The older girl told police that a man walked toward their table,
hovered a moment, then snatched the purse and ran.
The girl gave chase and grabbed the purse handle. A witness says
the girl was dragged or slammed into a door as the man fled.
Witnesses saw the man run into nearby woods. McCurdy was arrested
about 10 minutes later.
(Information from: Peninsula Clarion)
Application
period for limited charter halibut permits set
There's a follow up to our story last week on a federal proposal
to limit the number of charter boats in the guided sport halibut
fishery in Southeast Alaska and the central Gulf of Alaska.
NOAA Fisheries has come out with the specific time period in which
it will accept permits. They will be accepted between February 4
and April 5.
Jim Ginter in the agency's Alaska Region Office says charter
halibut guides will be required to carry their new permit on board
starting February 1, 2011
Ginter says the intended effect is to curtail and then stabilize
the growth of the charter halibut industry.
The new program was
approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Fort Richardson soldier killed in
combat
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The U.S. Department of Defense
announced that a soldier assigned to Fort Richardson has been
killed in Afghanistan.
The department said Monday that Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hickman of
Kingsport, Tenn., died Jan. 7 when enemy forces attacked his unit
with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.
The 35-year-old Hickman was a combat engineer assigned to A
Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team
(Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.
Anchorage television station KTUU reports that Hickman joined the
Army in April 1999. He served in an engineer battalion at Fort
Bragg, N.C., in a recruiting battalion in Wisconsin and in Iraq
before arriving in Alaska in May 2008.
Fort Wainwright
MP company deploying to Iraq
FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska (AP) Members of the 472nd Military
Police Company from Fort Wainwright said their goodbyes Monday to
relatives and friends.
The 140 MPs are headed to Iraq for the next year to train and
support Iraqi police.
To prepare for the deployment the 472nd trained for a month last
fall at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in the Mojave
desert.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
McCain discusses Palin, but
not her book
WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. John McCain says he's happy he picked
Sarah Palin for his running mate for the White House. He says she
energized the party.
He refused to discuss a book that says the selection of the Alaska
governor was hasty and haphazard.
Sarah Palin makes
debut as Fox News contributor
FRAZIER MOORE -AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) Sarah Palin accounts for the controversy she
attracts by saying her opponents don't like the "commonsense,
conservative solutions" she represents.
Debuting as a Fox News analyst, the 2008 vice presidential
candidate and former Alaska governor was the guest of Bill
O'Reilly on Tuesday's edition of "The O'Reilly Factor."
During the interview, Palin said sinking approval numbers for
President Barack Obama reflect "an uncomfortableness"
some Americans feel toward his administration.
"It was just a matter of time," she said.
"There is an obvious disconnect between President Obama and
the White House, what they are doing to our economy and what they
are doing in terms of not allowing Americans to feel as safe as we
had felt," she said.
She told O'Reilly she hadn't seen a recent "60 Minutes"
report about her, explaining she was warned it contained "a
bunch of b.s."
On the claim made on "60 Minutes" that she didn't
understand the nature of her son's mission when he was shipped to
Iraq, she said, "I think that these are the political
establishment reporters who love to gin up controversy and spin up
gossip. The rest of America doesn't care about that kind of
crap."
O'Reilly told her she now has a forum with Fox News that allows
her to "immediately neutralize '60 Minutes'" he
snapped his fingers "like that." He invited her back
on his show any time she wants to set the record straight.
Palin's multiyear deal with the network was announced Monday.
Defense Dept:
Remains of Utah pilot identified
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The remains of an Air Force pilot who went
missing in action during the Vietnam War have been identified, the
Department of Defense said Tuesday.
The ashes of Air Force Maj. Russell C. Goodman will be scattered
in Alaska, his family told Anchorage television station KTUU. The
station said the family was currently in Hawaii, where forensic
experts identified Goodman from bone fragments.
One of Goodman's daughters, Sue Stein, told the station the family
learned about the identification a week after the death of their
mother, June Stein, who always hoped for the return of her
husband.
"All these years we've wondered: Did he just crash and die
and nobody cared? But apparently somebody did care, so that is a
good thing," Stein said.
Goodman, who was from Salt Lake City, will be honored this week at
Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The base is home to the U.S. Air
Force Thunderbird demonstration team. When Goodman went missing,
he was assigned to the Thunderbirds and was flying with the U.S.
Navy on an exchange program.
Goodman's F-4B Phantom took off from the USS Enterprise and was
struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire on Feb. 20, 1967. The plane was
on a bombing mission against a railroad yard in Thanh Hoa Province
in North Vietnam.
Another man in the plane, Navy Lt. Gary L. Thornton, was able to
eject at 250 feet above ground. He survived and was held captive
until his release in 1973.
Goodman did not escape the plane, and search-and-rescue efforts
for him were limited because of heavy anti-aircraft and automatic
weapons fire near the crash site, the Defense Department said.
Joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command conducted two investigations and excavations at the crash
site between 1993 and 2008.
The efforts recovered human remains and aircraft debris that
matched what the men were flying.
The remains were identified as Goodman's using circumstantial
evidence and forensic identification tools, including
mitochondrial DNA that matched two of Goodman's maternal
relatives.
|
