Judge moves Waterman trial to Juneau
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)- The trial of a young Craig woman accused of killing her mother more than a year ago will move to Juneau.

Jury selection was set to begin in Craig tomorrow (Tuesday) in the murder trial of Rachelle Waterman.

Waterman was arrested in November 2004 and accused of plotting to kill her mother, Lauri Waterman.

Juneau Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins held a hearing Friday at the request of Waterman's attorney, Steven Wells.

Wells says he filed a motion to move the trial based on responses to half of the 300 questionnaires sent to potential jurors in Craig.

Collins says that following the hearing, District Attorney Stephen West agreed with Wells that there was little point in trying to find a jury in Craig.
---

Jury selection in the case will begin January 23rd in Juneau.

Waterman was 16 years old when she and two 24-year-old men were charged with conspiring to murder Lauri Waterman.

The 49-year-old woman's burned remains were found in her van on a remote logging road outside Thorne Bay on November 14th, 2004.

The suspects were accused of first and second-degree murder, plus burglary, kidnapping and multiple counts of tampering with evidence.

Brian Radel of Thorne Bay and Jason Arrant of Klawock pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in June.

They agreed to testify against Waterman in return for dismissal of all other charges against them.

The men are to be sentenced in February.
(Ketchikan Daily News)

Fire destroys home...no injuries...furnace malfunction blamed
A home out North Douglas Highway was totally destroyed fire that broke out early this morning. (Sunday)

Capital City Fire Rescue was called to 8000 North Douglas Highway at 1:57 a.m.

Fire Marshall Rich Etheridge says the fire was determined to be an accident. It was caused by a furnace malfunction. He says it appears a leak from the furnace was the cause.

He says the three story residence was valued at about $304,000

No one was injured. The fire marshal says the family was alerted by a smoke detector.

The fire was declared completely out by about 8:30.

Suspected drunk driver loses control...damages small plane at airport
A suspected drunk driver plowed in to a small aircraft parked at Juneau International Airport this morning. (Sunday).

Juneau Police says the incident occurred after nine a.m.

They say the operator of the vehicle lost control on Yandukin Drive while traveling toward the airport when he lost control, plowed through a fence, and smashed into the Cessna 120.

Further details, including the identity of the driver and the estimate of damage, is pending word from Juneau Police.

Hope needs more children to save school
HOPE, Alaska (AP) - Townspeople in Hope have sent out the call for families with young children to move there.

Hope has had a school for more than 100 years. But fewer than ten students are now enrolled.

State law says the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board could close the school if he has less than eight elementary-age student. And most of Hope's students are in the seventh grade or higher.

Superintendent Donna Peterson recommends closing the school, but she says the board has the final say.

The school board will meet tomorrow (Monday) in Soldotna, and Hope parents are expected to attend in force. However, they can't testify because it's a work session for the board.
---
Residents also are taking a proactive approach to the problem, doing everything they can to bolster student population.

Two women have signed up to be foster parents. And residents are trying to find absent homeowners to urge them to rent to sell to families with children.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day ceremony planned at Juneau Christian Center
The community is invited to attend a celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today. (Monday)

The annual event is sponsored the Black Awareness Association and the MLK Foundation.

Sherry Paterson is one of the organizers. She says they're speaking to youth this year about King as a man of of destiny.

The community is invited to attend a celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday.

The annual event is sponsored the Black Awareness Association and the MLK Foundation.

Sherry Paterson is one of the organizers. She says they're speaking to youth this year...

There will be special music provided by Voices of Praise, Sherry Paterson and the MLK Choir.

It's a free event and everyone is invited.

It's starts at 2 o'clock this afternoon at the Juneau Christian Center across from Fred Meyer.

Large Guard deployment planned for summer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Army National Guard officials say 700 more Guard soldiers will be heading to Iraq this summer.

The deployment is the largest ever for the Alaska Guard.

Spokeswoman Kalei Brooks says the final orders for the deployment have not come in, but officials want to tell everyone now so they can prepare.

The Army Guard has sent more than 300 Alaskans to war in a series of deployments over the past year.

Brooks says the 700 soldiers leaving this summer have not yet been selected, but they will be pulled from across the state.

The first Army Guard unit to leave for Iraq -- 130 soldiers -- returned Friday from a year-long tour.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Service for Alaskan believed killed in Iraq draws hundreds
JAMESTOWN, N.D. (AP) - An Eagle River man who is believed to have been killed by a militant group in Iraq was remembered in a memorial service Saturday in North Dakota.

Friends and relatives attended the ceremony for 40-year-old Ronald Schulz at Saint John's Lutheran Church in Jamestown, where he grew up.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has claimed it killed Schulz, who was working as an industrial electrician in Iraq.

U-S officials have not confirmed Schulz's death but relatives say they identified him in two videos from insurgents.

Schulz's family says he was captured in Iraq in late November.

They say he had planned to return to his home in Eagle River.