JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE
Monday, January 13,1997 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*The 20th Alaska Legislature went to work today with an agenda much like last year's: A
handful of key legislative proposals and continued efforts to scale back state
government. The House convened at ten o-clock this morning -- with the Senate
following a half-hour later. Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer presided as lawmakers
elected last fall to the 60-member Legislature were sworn in -- including eleven new
legislators and two former House members who won Senate seats.
*Cleaning up contamination at the Ketchikan Pulp Company mill in Ketchikan appears to
have received the financial commitment from Ketchikan Pulp and Louisiaa-Pacific
needed to ensure that the cleanup, once it begins, will be followed through to the finish,
according to Bob Jacobsen of EPA's Region 10 office in Seattle.
*A 42-year-old Alaska State Trooper was found dead after he apparently tried to chase
down a man who abandoned a stolen taxi.The body of Glennallen Trooper Bruce Heck
was found by another trooper Friday night. Trooper spokesman Steve Wilhelmi: Heck --
a 16-year veteran with the troopers -- began his career here in Juneau, and had worked
out of the Glennallen post in the Copper River valley since 1990.
*Alaska's newest ferry will be named after the Kennicott (KEN'-nih-kott) Glacier in the
Wrangell Saint Elias Mountains. Sixth grader Leah Jarvis of Glennallen submitted the
winning name in a statewide contest to name the 80 (M) million dollar boat -- which
should be plowing Alaska waters in about a year and a half.
*Four tobacco companies are suing Alaska to prevent the state from trying to recover
public funds spent to treat smoking-related ailments. Philip Morris, R-J Reynolds,
Lorillard, and Brown and Williamson tobacco companies filed the lawsuit against Alaska
in U-S District Court in Anchorage last Wednesday.
*A Juneau man is asking the U-S Forest Service for a permit to harvest medicinal plants
from the Tongass National Forest. But some Southeast Native groups are wary of the
idea. Craig Ritchey says he wants to harvest hemlock and Sitka spruce boughs, sprigs
from blueberry plants, ferns, and several types of club mosses. Ritchey says he would
not uproot the plants. The boughs would be used for wreaths and other decorations
locally, while other plants would be shipped to floral and herbal businesses.
*The Juneau Convention and Visitor Bureau wrapped up the annual board retreat and
meeting over the weekend. Susan Bell says they reviewed all of their programs
including convention marketing, tourism marketing, memberships, administration and
visitor services. Bell says that they also brought in a C.P.A. to review this past year's
audit of the books for the Board, so they would be comfortable with the financial
position.