|
House fire
doused in downtown area
Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to a house fire in the Highlands
area of downtown shortly before ten this morning.
Captain Pete Hettinger says it was at 570 Alder Street. He said the owner
told them he had left some bacon on the stove on low heat when he left the
house.
The captain says when firefighters arrived on scene smoke was coming from
the roof and few windows.
After the fire was knocked down in the kitchen, there was still lots of
smoke and heat in the house, according to the Captain. He says at that
point they decided to look for an extension of the fire in the upstairs
area. As a result, a hole was cut in the roof and third story windows were
broke out. An estimate of damage is pending.
No injuries were reported. The fire was contained at 10:49.
Lawmakers gavel in session
The 23rd Alaska Legislature convened today.
Lawmakers will spend the next 121 days debating issues facing Alaska and
approving a spending plan for the next fiscal year.
The day began with Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman administering the oath
of office to lawmakers elected in November.
In all, 56 of the 60 legislators were sworn in by Leman during separate
ceremonies in the House and Senate. Three current senate members were not
required to run for re-election under a new legislative map approved last
year.
Also, lawmakers confirmed the appointment of Representative Nancy
Dahlstrom, who replaces U-S Senator Lisa Murkowski. Dahlstrom took the
oath of office during a ceremony later in the day.
Senate President Gene Therriault noted that lawmakers begin with a clean
slate this year as Republicans control both houses of the Legislature and
the governor's office.
Much of today was filled with the ceremony of actually taking office, with
lawmakers ratifying their picks for House and Senate leaders as well as
formalizing committee assignments.
Lawmakers will meet in a joint session of the Legislature on Thursday to
hear Governor Murkowski deliver his first State of the State address.
Juneau weather marked by high winds
Hang on to your hat! That according to Metrologist Julia Ruthford in the
Juneau Forecast Office. She says there's a wind advisory for northeast
winds gusting to 55 miles per hour in the downtown area and Douglas.
She says the high winds will continue through Wednesday night. As a matter
of fact, a high wind watch has been issued for Juneau and Lynn Canal
starting tonight. The forecaster says the winds will pick up throughout
the night and continue through tomorrow night. She says they're expecting
gusts to around 70 miles per hour.
State Troopers investigating two deaths
in Ft. Yukon
State Troopers are investigating a connection between a weekend fatality
and a suicide in Fort Yukon.
Alaska State Troopers say 49-year-old Calvin James of Fort Yukon was found
dead early Saturday morning, apparently struck by a snowmachine. The
unidentified driver fled the scene.
During the course of their investigation, officers found a red Polaris
snowmachine, located behind a home, that had collision damage. While
troopers were at the home, the homeowner entered and found a handwritten
note written by 22-year-old Albert Carroll. The note indicated Carroll was
distraught.
Troopers followed a set of footprints leading into the woods and found
Carroll's body with a single shotgun wound to his head.
Troopers are not saying if Carroll was responsible for James' death.
Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said that, while the incidents appear to
be connected, they cannot confirm that at this time. Their investigation
is continuing.
Hearing into Galaxy sinking resumes
The Coast Guard was continuing a hearing today in Seattle on the explosion
and fire that hit the fishing vessel Galaxy.
Four people lost their lives after the Seattle-based ship exploded October
20th while fishing in the Bering Sea.
Commander Chris Woodley with the Coast Guard marine safety office in
Anchorage says a helicopter pilot and other rescuers were scheduled to
testify today. The ship engineer will testify tomorrow, followed by the
skipper on Thursday and Friday.
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearing began with six days
in December. Woodley says he'll complete his report by April 20th.
One crewman died of his injuries and two other crewman were never found.
In addition, one crewman on a rescue vessel, was swept overboard and lost
in high winds, heavy seas and freezing rain. Twenty-three people were
rescued and survived.
The 180-foot Galaxy sank after drifting for a day near Saint Paul Island.
Woodley says the goal is to determine what happened and learn how a
similar accident can be prevented.
Proposed
Haines wildlife park protested
The world's largest animal rights organization is protesting plans to open
a 40-acre wildlife park near Haines.
Members of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals have been sending
e-mails to Haines Borough Assembly members asking them to stop filmmaker
Steve Kroschel's plans to open the viewing park this summer.
PETA is based in Norfolk, Virginia. The organization launched a
membership-wide action alert after reading a story about Kroschel's plan
on the internet site of the Chilkat Valley News, Haines' weekly newspaper.
Borough assembly member Chip Lende says he received 50 recent messages
from PETA members.
He says he's not paying much attention to the complaints.
He says the Alaska Department of Fish and Game takes will decide whether
permits for the park are issued and the Haines assembly probably will not
touch the issue.
PETA members say that wild animals kept in captivity are by definition
abused.
Fish and Game Department permit specialist Ryan Scott says he expects
issue permission later this spring to Kroschel to bring his animals into
Alaska. Kroschel says the park he's designing will have natural habitats,
large shelters, and plenty of room to roam.
He says the wolverines, wolves, lynx, coyotes, foxes, ermine, marmot and
reindeer he's bringing have been raised in captivity, are treated humanely
and seek human contact.
Fred Meyer checking out Ketchikan
The owners of the Fred Meyer chain of retail stores is taking a look at
property in Ketchikan. The company is interested in about nine acres off
the North Tongass Highway. S Fred Meyer official Rob Boley says the
company has entered into an agreement that enables it to control the lot
while officials look at it.
Canadian official says wild salmon must
come first
A Canadian government agency says aquaculture research funds should be
redirected to protect wild Pacific salmon from the risks of fish farming.
John Fraser is chair of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation
Council. He says the council is trying to find a way to end the public
debate over salmon farming in British Columbia. Fraser says wild salmon
must come first.
Most research into salmon farming has focused on improving the efficiency
at farms and reducing costs, rather than minimizing the impact on wild
salmon.
The council wants to see existing funds redirected to issues such as the
potential spread of parasitic sea lice from farmed to wild fish, viruses,
and the implications of fish escapes from Atlantic salmon rearing pens.
Phone war results in two Anchorage
directories
Phone companies G-C-I and A-C-S have been battling over phone service in
the Anchorage area. And soon they'll be competing over phone directories.
G-C-I says it plans to launch an Anchorage-area phone book next winter to
compete with the A-C-S phone book.
E-mail filing partnership announced by
IRS
The Internal Revenue Service says more than 70 million Americans are
eligible to file their tax returns on line for free this year.
The U. S. Treasury has announced a new partnership with seventeen private
companies called the "Free File Alliance." The service is
available at the I-R-S website....I-R-S DOT G-O-V.
In the past, the E-file service was only available through a professional
tax preparer, or using store bought computer software. But now, Judy
Monahan with the IRS says some of the same companies are doing it for
free. She says getting taxpayers to file electronically saves tax dollars.
She says it will be up to the filers to pick which company they want to
use, and they'll have to do some comparison shopping, because each company
has different requirements
Money Smart classes begin in February
An adult education program tagged "Money Smart" starts up in
Juneau next month.
Ed Musslewhite is the program coordinator with the Division of Public
Assistance. He was among the guests on KINY's Capital Chat this morning.
He says the program was developed by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation..
Musslewhite says the FDIC got involved because they were concerned about
what they were calling the "unbanked" population, people who did
not have checking or savings accounts.
He says the problem is that people without accounts often have to resort
to more expensive alternatives such purchasing money orders to pay bills.
In addition, they deal with the risk of carrying around cash.
Musslewhite says, surprisingly, only 32 percent of Alaska households have
checking accounts. That ranks 37th in the nation. Only about half have a
savings account which places Alaska 46th in the nation.
Its a cooperative effort that includes Juneau Job Service. Venietia
Santana of the agency was also on the program. She says Job Service
personnel will help teach the Money Smart classes. She says the classes
work hand in hand with getting job. She says Money Smart teaches people
that money can get them to that next step. It helps them retain their job
and obtaining their goals, she says.
The classes will be held every Saturday between February 1st and March 1st
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Floyd Dryden Middle School.
Register by calling the Cooperative Extension Service at 465-8749.
Launches at Poker Flat may start this
week
Rocket launch season at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks Poker Flat Research Range starts this week.
A series of seven rockets will be launched to study the northern lights.
The launch window for the first opens on Wednesday, although Vicki Daniels
of the school's Geophysical Institute says scientists have up to three
weeks to wait for conditions to be right.
Another mission to be launched between February 18th and March 8th. A set
of four rockets will go up within minutes of each other and release tracer
chemicals.
A third mission will also release glowing tracers, except the rockets will
enter the aurora sideways. School children in the Yukon-Koyukuk School
District will take pictures to provide the scientists with images of the
glowing trails.
Funding committed for People's Learning
Center
A Yukon Kuskokwim career learning center has been promised two (M) million
dollars by an Anchorage-based foundation. The Rasmuson Foundation
announced it will donate the money to the Yuut Elitnaurviat (YOOT
lit-NOW'-vat), which is Yup'ik Eskimo for ``People's Learning Center.''
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News) |
