JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE

By Chris Burns - kiny@ptialaska.net

Friday, January 26, 1996 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*Former KINY Program Director and air personality Paul Ryder has died of natural causes at his home in Boise, Idaho. Ryder -- whose real name was Paul DeBard -- passed away earlier this month. Paul moved to Alaska in 1962, living in Fairbanks and Juneau, working at various radio stations including over a dozen years at KINY. He returned to his native Boise in 1992 to be near his mother after his father died. He was employed by Boise station KBOI at the time of his death. Captain' Paul Ryder was 54 years old.
*The size proposed for a new police station in Juneau has been increased. The Public Safety Building Task Force agreed last night to a 27,000 square foot design. That's up from the 26,000 square feet suggested by a subcommittee last week, but still 3,000 square feet smaller than a proposal turned down by Juneau voters last October.
*Firefighters, smoke and lots of equipment will be evident in the Cedar Park area tomorrow. Borough fire stations are holding a live-fire training exercise beginning about 8:00 in the morning when they torch some old apartment buildings.
*The frost level continues to drop down in the ground around the Capital City with depths of as much as 50-inches in the Valley to 20-inches in some places downtown. C.B.J. Water Superintendent Dean Nordenson says city water mains have so far been mostly unaffected by the deep freeze, but more and more residential water pipes are freezing as the cold weather continues.
*The Alaska Municipal League and the state Conference of Mayors met this week in Juneau to discuss the effect of state budget cuts on local services. The mayors have asked for legislation to ensure that revenue sharing funds go first to police, fire, water and sewer projects. The A.M.L. says state residents will end up paying more property taxes to offset any cuts in state spending, with the net result that our taxes and cost of government will actually increase.
*A big turnout last night for the Juneau legislative delegation's town meeting to discuss issues on the burner this session. Residents talked about state budget problems and the need to solve them in equitable ways. There were also discussions about senior citizen and capital move issues.
*Not many people came out to comment on the C.B.J. Parks and Recreation Department's rewrite of its master plan. Only 4 people showed up to make suggestions at a meeting held last night. All told, just 32 residents made comments during a series of 4 meetings held over the last week. A draft plan is expected to be out in March.