JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE
Wednesday, January 22,1997 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*This week's foggy weather around the state capital is adding to the debate over the
meeting place of the Alaska Legislature. Two Anchorage House members -- Republican
Representatives Joe Green and Norm Rokeberg -- have introduced legislation that
would move the four-month Legislature session from Juneau to Anchorage. Green and
Rokeberg say the move would save money and make the Legislature more accessible
to Alaskans. Critics say Juneau's mountains and overcast skies cause too many airline
delays reaching the capital. Just yesterday -- a House committee had to cancel a
hearing on raising tobacco taxes because fog prevented some panel members from
getting back to town after a long weekend. Opponents of moving the legislative session
say it would be costly to set up work space in Anchorage for the 60 lawmakers and their
staffs.
*A proposal by Juneau's three state legislators would give Alaska lawmakers a ten-day
recess midway through their session for hearings around the state. Senate Minority
Leader Jim Duncan -- a Juneau Democrat -- says the proposals are intended to give
Alaskans more direct access to legislative hearings. Duncan introduced the proposal in
the last legislative session and has revived it this year. Juneau's two House members --
Democrat Kim Elton and Republican Bill Hudson -- have proposed a similar bill.
Alaska House members considering ethics charges against Anchorage Reresentative
Jerry Sanders have decided to send the matter to the House Rules Committee. House
Majority Leader Brian Porter announced the decision yesterday.
*Members of the Alaska Conference of Mayors and the Alaska Municipal League
addressed a handful of state legislators yesterday about local government aid. Mayor
Dennis Egan says that the main concern of the municipalities is that the burden from
declining state revenues will be shifted to the local level. Mayors and other local officials
say they want to work with lawmakers on cutting the state budget and finding money to
repair roads and buildings. Kodiak Mayor Carolyn Floyd says local governments need to
form partnerships with the state to deal with municipal funding problems.
*The Juneau Board of Education met last night. Board President Sally Rue says the
board board gave final approval to several program policies last night. The student
grouping and classroom placement policy, a few minor changes to both of these
controversial issues and the instructional resource policies. Also the board approved a
boundary adjustment for Riverbend school, based on their best estimate right now. The
board will continue monitoring to see if they need to make any additional adjustments.
*The Alaska Pulp Corporation has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of
Justice and the E.P.A., in a suit brought by those agencies regarding violations of the
federal Clean Air Act. A civil penalty of $646,579 will be paid by the Alaska Pulp
Corporation, according to a settlement signed last week in Anchorage by U.S. District
Court Judge James Singleton. Once the penalty is paid, the Justice Department will
dismiss it's suit alleging that the Alaska Pulp mill in Sitka violated federal and state air
quality standards from January 1991 until the mill ceased operations in September,
1993.