JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE

By Chris Burns - kiny@ptialaska.net

Wednesday, January 24, 1996 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*Tourism is now Juneau's second biggest industry, providing about 18-percent of the economic base, second only to state government. That's one of the findings in the draft of a new study by the McDowell Group. Although firm numbers are not yet available, the study indicates that the tourism industry is more than paying its way. City services provided for tourism cost about $650,000 last year, while sales tax revenues generated by the tourist trade topped $3-million.
*Juneau's unemployment rate was flat for December at 6.6-percent, the same as November. Statewide 8.2-percent -- or about 25,000 Alaskans -- were out of work last month. The state Labor Department says part of the increase in state joblessness was due to the shutdown of MarkAir Express last month. The highest unemployment in Southeast was on Prince of Wales Island where seasonal losses brought the rate to 16-percent.
*The U.S. Minerals Management Service is out with a draft Environmental Impact Statement for a 5-million acre oil lease off the coast of Yakutat. A spokeswoman says 3 previous sales in the area produced only test wells, all of which were considered unprofitable and were capped and abandoned.
*Two of the major lighthouses in Southeast Alaska may soon be missing their familiar fog horns. The Coast Guard is proposing to deactivate the Cape Spencer and Cape Decision fog signals because mariners now rely on electronic navigation and don't really need them. The Coast Guard also wants to switch the lights over to solar power which would eliminate the generators, fuel and manpower needed to run them.
*A total of 2 members of the public showed up for last night's meeting with officials of the Juneau Parks and Recreation Department. That was double the crowd the department drew at a similar meeting last week. Parks and Rec is trying to get public input into its new comprehensive plan. The last update was nearly 20 years ago.
*Governor Tony Knowles appointed Acting Commissioner Michelle Brown to take over as permanent boss at the Department of Environmental Conservation. Brown, a former assistant attorney general in the department, succeeds Gene Burden who resigned for family reasons.
*U.A.S. is looking for submissions from writers and poets for its literary magazine, now in its 15th year. Over 900 entries came in last year, with local students fairing very well in the blind-juried judging.