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Palin
emphasizes need for natural gas pipeline
JUNEAU (AP) - Governor Palin tonight (Wednesday) told
lawmakers to soon expect legislation outlining the
process for a natural gas pipeline.
In her first State of the State address, Palin minced no
words about her priorities for this year's legislative
session, which began on Tuesday.
She says -- quote -- ``This gas line will fuel our
homes, our economy, and careers for Alaskans - for
generations. This gas line is critical not just for our
future, but for the nation's future.''
Palin's says her bill will re-establish project criteria
which energy companies must meet in exchange for
inducement incentives from the state.
Palin calls it the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or
AGIA (uh-gee-uh).
Successful passage essentially means replacing the
Stranded Gas Act, the foundation for Murkowski's deal,
though it would not represent a repeal.
She says the centerpiece of this is to induce
construction of the gas pipeline, a gas line constructed
on the state's terms, without selling Alaska's
sovereignty.
Palin says -- quote -- ``This law allows a transparent
and competitive process.''
She says this won't happen overnight.
Cutter takes processor in tow
The Coast Guard has come to the aide of a Seattle based
seafood
processor in the Aleutians following an engine room
fire.
The 316 foot Stellar Sea is disabled with 142 people on
board about 150 miles west of Cold Bay.
The Coast Guard Cutter Mellon arrived on scene before 6
a.m. Lieutenant Charter Tschirgi in the Juneau Command
Center says the cutter will take the processor in tow
and head toward Dutch Harbor. It will
be met by a commercial tug that will then take the
vessel into port.
It took about an hour to put he fire out. No
injuries were reported.
Winter
storm watch issued for Juneau
Old man winter is rearing its head in Juneau again.
Meteorologist Nathan Foster in the Juneau Forecast Office says a winter storm watch has been issued for this evening and through Thursday morning.
Four to 12 inches of snow is possible. That includes one to two inches this afternoon.
Alaska senator talks about wife's problems with airport security
An attack on U. S. airlines is a real fear the U. S. must face in a post 9/11 world.
In a hearing held today (Wednesday) Security Administrator Kip Hawley assured lawmakers that TSA is making great strides in airport security.
Still, airport security is not perfect and if you've ever been held up at airport security you know how it can be.
Even influential Alaska Senator Ted Stevens says his wife, is often stopped at airports because her name is mistaken for someone else's.
"My wife's name is Katherine Stevens and it comes out on terms of the no fly list as Cat Stevens," he says.
Cat Stevens is a singer and peace activist.
Exxon appealing $2.5 billion Valdez award
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Exxon Mobil is asking a federal
appeals court in San Francisco to reconsider its
December decision demanding the oil giant pay
two-point-five billion dollars in punitive damages to
compensate Alaskans for the 1989 Valdez tanker oil
spill.
The disaster soiled 15-hundred miles of Alaskan
coastline.
An Anchorage jury had originally awarded the company to
pay five billion dollars in punitive damages, but the
Ninth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals cut the award in
half.
Late Friday, the company asked the San Francisco-based
appeals court to rehear the case with the same three
judges or to empanel a 15-judge panel to hear it.
House
to practice 90 day session
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - House Republican leaders say they
want to give the voter-mandated 90-day session a dry run
this year.
The new law requiring lawmakers pare a month off their
121-day session is supposed to take effect in 2008.
House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels of Anchorage says
the main push is to speed up this session's budget
process.
However, the House will need the cooperation of the
Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Gary Stevens says he thinks it's
premature.
But Stevens says lawmakers can prepare for the shorter
session this year by making changes to the rules that
govern the legislative process.
Former
Fairbanks mayor, wife indicted on multiple federal
counts
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Former Fairbanks Mayor Jim
Hayes and his wife, Chris, were indicted today
(Wednesday) on multiple federal charges.
The couple is accused of funneling more than
450-thousand dollars in government grants to fund
construction of a church where Jim Hayes is the pastor.
The Hayes' also are accused of using the funds to buy a
plasma TV for their home, pay for a family wedding
reception and cover personal bills.
The couple face multiple charges, including money
laundering and illegal application of government grants.
According to the 92-count indictment, the couple
illegally diverted government funds awarded to a
Fairbanks charitable organization run by Chris Hayes.
The Hayes could not be reached for comment.
School
calendar adopted with some change
The Juneau School Board took final action on next year's
school calendar during last night's meeting.
Superintendent Peggy Cowan says members adopted the
calendar as presented except for dates for the Fall
conferences.
End of quarter conferences for high school and middle
school students in October were okayed. They were
postponed until Thanksgiving week in November for
elementary schools in order to allow for assessments and
report cards to be completed
Adjustments to the budget were okayed using new
enrollment numbers. Additional staff based on increased
numbers in the elementary schools also won approval.
Mat-Su Borough
approves new school superintendent
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A new school superintendent has
been hired for the Mat-Su Borough School District.
The school board unanimously voted to hire George Troxel
for the position.
His contract is still being worked out, but he
officially takes over July 1st.
Troxel spent eight years as the school district's
director of education.
He's been assistant superintendent for the past five
years.
Troxel will replace Bob Doyle, who is planning to retire
at the end of the school year.
(KTUU)
First of two public meetings on North Douglas crossing
is tonight
The first of two public meetings aimed at helping come up with Juneau's preferred route for a North Douglas crossing is this evening.
Jan Caulfield of Shineberg and Associates, the contractor selected to oversee the study says they want to hear from the public with their thoughts on a preferred route.
The project team is charged with coming up with a recommendation to the Assembly
When the Assembly approved the $135,000 for the study, it narrowed its scope to three crossing proposals, They are Vanderbilt Hill, Sunny Point and Yandukin Drive.
The project team is looking at two variations of the Yandukin Drive proposal. One is an overland route just east of the airport area. The second would be underground partially with a tunnel under the runway.
This evening's meeting is in Ballroom One of Centennial Hall from 7 to 9.
Another is scheduled for the same time on January 30th in the Valley at the St. Paul's Catholic Church Parish Hall.
The project team plans on submitting a report and recommendation to the Assembly by late February following the public meetings.
Public comment is due by February 9th.
Comment can also be made by going to the CBJ web site at
www.juneau.org
and clicking on North Douglas Crossing.
There's also a lot of information about the project there.
Passport rules worry Canadians, border states
WASHINGTON (AP) - Canadians and U-S border-state officials are concerned that rules requiring passports for Americans and other travelers entering the United States will hurt commerce and tourism.
Starting
Tuesday, air travelers who are citizens of Canada, Mexico and Bermuda, as well as U-S citizens returning home, must with few exceptions display passports to enter the United States.
The new rule brings them under the same rules that apply to all other travelers worldwide.
Similar rules for land and sea borders will take effect between January 2008 and June 2009.
The new rules were mandated by Congress in 2004 following the terrorist attacks of September Eleventh 2001, and were recommended by the 9-11 Commission.
Until now, citizens traveling in the Western Hemisphere usually needed to display little more than a birth certificate or driver's license to cross U-S borders.
Possible homicide probed in Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say they are investigating the death of a 23-year-old Fairbanks man as a possible homicide.
Brandon Steward died Sunday night at the Lakeview Terrace trailer court. Sergeant Dave Willson says Steward's body was found outside near mailboxes at the trailer court.
Teen stabbed at Anchorage bus stop
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A 16-year-old boy was stabbed this morning (Wednesday) while he was waiting at bus stop in Anchorage.
Police say the boy is listed in fair condition at a local hospital
According to police, the assault occurred during an apparent robbery near Muldoon Road in East Anchorage.
Officers responded to the scene around 6-30 a-m and found the boy had been stabbed in the upper chest.
Police are looking for a man in his late teens or early 20s, five-foot-nine to six-feet and medium build.
The suspect's race is unknown.
Police say he was last seen wearing blue jeans, a dark hooded jacket described as puffy and a white knit cap with the bill turned off-center.
Prison site picked by Mat Su Assembly
The Mat-Su Borough Assembly has unanimously endorsed a site at Point MacKenzie for a new, medium security prison.
The assembly voted at last night's meeting to select the Point MacKenzie site for a prison the borough would lease to the state.
The next step would be soil & water tests. If project engineers determine that the site is unsuitable, the project would shift to a backup site near the existing prison in
Sutton.
Point MacKenzie was the most remote and expensive location to develop among the finalists considered by a site selection panel.
Assembly members say putting a prison there will bring 400 to 600 jobs to an area targeted for expansion.
(KENI- Anchorage)
Tugboat to operate this winter in Cook Inlet
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - Oil tankers navigating the ice in Cook Inlet can receive assistance this winter from a new tugboat brought in by oil refiner Tesoro Alaska.
Early last year, a ship the company was leasing was pulled from its mooring by an ice floe and set adrift. The company contracted the tug, named the Protector, as a safety precaution.
Tesoro spokesman Kip Knudson said the tug is under contract solely for this winter. He did not know how much Tesoro is paying for it.
U-S Coast Guard officers and oil industry watchdog groups say a tug posted in the region could help avert a catastrophic shipwreck or oil spill.
Industry watchers called for a tug and an expansion of other safety measures after the incident in February when the tanker 600-foot Seabulk Pride drifted onto a beach about half a mile to the north.
The tanker had 32 people aboard and nearly 5
million gallons of petroleum. The vessel suffered minor cracks, but NO oil spilled into the inlet.
Coast Guard officials say Cook Inlet has tugs based in Anchorage and other ports, but this latest addition is much more powerful.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Troopers seek information on man missing for 4 days
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say they're seeking information on a Kenai Peninsula man who has been missing since Saturday.
Troopers say 18-year-old Jared Richardson Struthers of Sterling was reported missing by his father.
Troopers say Struthers was last seen at a residence off Borealis Ave in Kasilof on Saturday morning.
Jared Struthers is a white male, five-feet-eight inches tall, 135 pounds, blond hair, blue eyes, and is a student at Kenai Peninsula College.
He was last seen wearing a red jacket and blue jeans.
Troopers are asking anyone with information to his whereabouts to call them at
907- 262-4453.
International panel to vote on reducing halibut harvest levels
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Charter boat anglers could see the bag limit on halibut decrease from two fish to one this summer.
The proposal is being voted on this week by the international panel that manages Pacific halibut.
The proposal by the International Pacific Halibut Commission is the latest in a series of attempts to keep the growing halibut charter fleets in the two regions from exceeding annual harvest limits.
Tourism industry leaders are up in arms, saying a one-fish bag limit could cripple halibut charter operations this summer.
Ron Peck is executive director of the Alaska Tourism Industry Association.
Peck says charter anglers won't pay the going rate of more than 200 dollars for a day charter trip just to catch one fish.
The international halibut commission - composed of three U.S. and three Canadian officials - isn't likely to reach a decision until the end of the week, fishing industry.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Kodiak
Tanner crab quota lower
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - The Kodiak Tanner crab season has
opened with a lower quota and fewer location options
than last year.
Guideline harvest levels for the season that kicked off
Monday are set at 100-thousand pounds for the Kodiak
District's northeast section and 700,000 pounds in the
eastside section.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says last year's
quota was two-point-one million pounds.
Agency biologist Nick Sagalkin expects this years season
to go fairly quickly.
Also, the district's southeast and southwest sections
were open last year, but they're closed this year
because of high numbers of undersized crabs.
Sagalkin expects quotas in the next few seasons to
shrink because of a declining Tanner population.
But he says a strong population of younger crab should
be ready in about three years.
(Kodiak Daily Mirror)
Results
released on Kenai River boating study
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Department of
Natural Resources has released the results of its study
on Kenai River boating.
The agency says that out of the more than 500 public
comments, most of the responders are opposed to changes
governing outboard motors on the Kenai.
One proposed change would raise outboard motor limits to
50 horsepower.
Supporters say that would help reduce erosion from boat
wakes by enabling boats to plane over water instead of
plowing through it.
(KTUU)
Research on 1918 flu could help fight bird flu
WASHINGTON (AP) - New research into history's deadliest epidemic might give doctors some ideas on how to fight the modern-day bird flu.
Experts now believe the Spanish flu, which hit in 1918, actually turned a person's body against itself. Scientists resurrected the virus, which exists today only in two labs. They infected monkeys with it, and their research shows that an over-stimulated immune system killed even while trying to fight the flu.
The new study suggests those fighting the bird flu in the future could try using drugs that reduce inflammation and control the body's immune response.
Spanish flu killed 50 million people nearly 90 years ago.
Starbucks drops milk products with growth hormone in some regions
SEATTLE (AP) - Starbucks Coffee Company is ending its use of milk products that contain an artificial growth hormone.
Company officials say it will phase out the use of bovine growth hormone starting in company-owned stores in New England and several western states, including Alaska.
Spokeswoman Sanja Gould told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Starbucks has not raised prices so far and is working with suppliers on the cost of milk products.
Starbucks has 56-hundred stores in the United States. The total number affected by the change was not immediately available.
The hormone is given to cows to boost milk production.
For more than a decade some advocacy groups have asserted that there has not been enough research on how it affects humans.
Large-scale dairy operators say there is no scientific evidence to suggest any effect on humans from the hormone, called
posilac.
Monsanto Company of Saint Louis, obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration for commercial sales of the hormone beginning in 1994.
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