Juneau Daily News Online

Tuesday,  January 15, 2002

Skagway Air pilot dies in crash near Haines
The pilot of the plane owned by Skagway Air that crashed on a flight from Skagway to Haines this morning has been found dead.

A Coast Guard helicopter spotted the wreckage before eleven this morning about 200 feet up the side of a mountain three miles directly east of Haines near Low Point.

Petty Officer Roger Wetherell says the helicopter refueled in Skagway and transported a Skagway Mountain Rescue team to the crash site. He says they were able to gain access the wreckage where they found the pilot dead in the fuselage.

Greg Wilkinson of the State Troopers says Skagway Air has identified the pilot as 29 year old Joel Mathis of Skagway. Positive identification by the Troopers will wait until the body is retrieved and brought to Juneau, according to Wilkinson. In the meantime, continuing bad weather and visibility are making recovery efforts impossible.  Recovery crews plan to return to the scene tomorrow morning.

The plane took off at 8:15 this morning for the short flight. A signal from the distress beacon was picked up at 8:22 by the Juneau Flight Service Station.

Malfunctioning furnace calls fire fighters to Valley trailer
Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to a trailer fire at the Sprucewood Trailer Court in the Valley just before Noon.

Glacier Station Captain Beth Weldon said a furnace caught on fire. Flames were showing from the stack on their arrival.

When firefighters entered the structure, all they found initially was smoke from knee high level and up. She says a furnace repairman had already put out the bulk of the fire which had spread into the venting system.

Weldon says two people where treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

Assembly committees briefed on waterfront project alternatives
Any future plans for the Marine Park -Steamship Wharf area hinge on bus staging. That according to the project team made up of city's Engineering, Harbors and Parks Departments.

Department Directors updated members of the Assembly's Planning and Policy, and Public Works and Facilities Committees yesterday.

City Engineering Director John Stone said they're trying to fit five acres of ideas into two acres. He adds that they're trying to think of every possible way to stage buses while at the same time integrating all the other uses of the area.

Where and how tourist buses will park dominates any future plans. And Stone says the public will play a crucial roll in establishing a balance of uses.

There are two bus staging scenarios under consideration. The first is diagonal staging which is side by side parking the second is parallel lane or end to end parking. Both plans would be a combination of on-street and separated bus parking that would extend into the project site.

The project wish list includes, among other things, expanding the park's functions, a shelter, a visitor information kiosk and public restrooms. The project team will submit a list of alternatives, with the most expensive topping out at over 7 million dollars. Generally, Stone say the price goes up depending on how much of the area is decked over.

Finishing touches are being put on the alternatives, and they'll be released for public scrutiny and comment next month. Stone says if the Assembly chooses to go forward with a preferred plan by April, the project could be designed over the summer and put out to bid by next fall with construction starting the spring of 2003.

Yun Shu Ka Dancers to help shepherd Olympic Torch across Gastineau Channel
A local native dance troupe will play a significant role as the Olympic flame is carried by torchbearers from Juneau's Airport to Centennial Hall on the morning of January 24th.

One part of the course calls for Tlingits to paddle the Olympic Flame aboard a canoe from the Goldbelt Dock on Egan to the Intermediate Vessel Float on South Franklin. Carolyn Noe of the Yun Shu Ka Dancers said on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that her group will set the beat for the canoe. They'll do that twice. Initially when it leaves the Goldbelt Dock, and once again when it arrives at the Intermediate Vessel Float.

Group member Ethel Lund will carry the torch on the canoe. And Noe says there will be 12 paddlers and that they still need paddlers.

Noe also said during today's program that the group has been selected to perform during the Fourth of July celebration in Washington D. C. in 2003.

Consultant hired by legislative panel for gas shipment study
The Joint Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines says it's hired Northern Economic Research Associates of Fairbanks to a 168-thousand dollar contract that will run through June 30th.

Alaska's oil industry is currently studying two proposals to ship about 37 trillion cubic feet of North Slope natural gas to the Outside.

One would involve a gas line through northern Canada and another would bisect Alaska generally following the trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline and the Alaska Highway. There is also interest in constructing a facility to liquefy natural gas for export.

Tysons Corner may be sold by Permanent Fund
One of the Alaska Permanent Fund's prime real estate investments could be up for sale.

A report in the Washington Post says a New York development company is interested in purchasing the Tysons Corner Center mall, just outside Washington D-C. The newspaper quoted the property manager for the mall who said it could be sold by April.

The Alaska Permanent Fund owns about 57 percent of the mall, which is worth an estimated 525 (m) million dollars. Permanent fund spokesman Jim Kelly would not comment on the report.

Tysons is the eighth-largest mall in the country. The Alaska Permanent Fund holds two and a half (b) billion dollars worth of real estate.

Results of traveler's survey released
The Juneau research firm McDowell Group has released information on its latest Alaska Traveler's Survey.

Surveyors talked to more than 45-hundred visitors at the end of their trip to Alaska last year, according to Susan Bell.

Repeat visitors are increasing to nearly one-third of the market, partly because satisfaction remains high, according to Bell, who says its pegged at 4 point 8 on scale of five.

She says travel agents are still important, but less so than in the past, as more people use the Internet. More than half of those surveyed used the World Wide Web for trip planning and about one-fifth bought at least one Alaska travel product electronically. And she says planning times are shorter. She says over one half made their arrangements less than 90 days ahead of their trip.

The survey revealed that visitors cover less of the state than they used to and are more likely to focus on specific areas and activities.

Bell says the survey also revealed that niche markets, such as wildlife viewing, adventure travel and cultural tourism are becoming more important. People are also buying more shore excursions tours which she says is good news for local ground tour operators.

The McDowell Group estimates that about 1 point 3 million pleasure, business and seasonal visitors came to Alaska from May to September last year.

The company also concluded that the volume of cruise ship visitors slowed in growth, while the non-cruise market stayed at the same level of recent years.

Tourism industry to recruit UAS students
A summer career fair for students seeking jobs in the tourism industry is scheduled tomorrow on the Auke Lake of the University of Alaska Southeast.

Chancellor John Pugh says industry representatives will be there to talk to students about job opportunities this summer. The event is scheduled from Noon to 5 in the Mourant Building. An ice cream social sponsored by Student Government will be held in conjunction with the job fair beginning at 2 p.m.

New ferry service begins from Prince of Wales Island
Sunday was a historic day for transportation in Southeast Alaska with the first trips recorded by the Inter-island Ferry Authority. The authority's new 196-foot ferry Prince of Wales made three trips between Ketchikan and Hollis. About 100 dignitaries boarded the ferry in Ketchikan for the inaugural voyage.

Streaming audio now available from Gavel to Gavel
The Alaska legislature is now on your personal computer. Local public radio station, KTOO, has set up the technical end of the service which can stream the audio portion of up to eight legislative events simultaneously.

KTOO General Manager Bill Legere was a guest on KINY's Capital Chat yesterday. He said in order to access the audio stream, you'll need a fairly contemporary personal computer with a sound card and speakers, and free software to play media stream, like Real Player, or M-Peg 3.

The public station received funding for the project, from the Alaska Committee plus technical support and bandwidth from Alaska Communications Systems.

For a schedule go to the KTOO web site at KTOO.org and click on Gavel to Gavel.

Project to preserve native languages underway
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are working with Alaska's Inupiats to help preserve their ancestral languages. The National Science Foundation awarded the Carnegie Mellon researchers two-point-five million dollars for the project.

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