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Report clears A-G of ethics
violations... finds lesser infraction
A report by former U-S Attorney Robert Bundy released today concludes that Attorney General Gregg Renkes did not violate the state's code of ethics.
For about four months Bundy investigated Renkes and his involvement in a state coal deal.
Bundy concluded Renkes was not
motivated to benefit his personal financial interest.
But, the report says, Renkes did break the law by continuing his involvement in the deal without seeking an ethics determination.
But, Bundy wrote: (quote) ``the question was close.''
Renkes fell under ethics scrutiny last year when the Anchorage Daily News reported his stock ownership in KFx Incorporated, a Denver company trying to commercialize a coal-drying process.
He promoted KFx last year in state negotiations with Taiwan aimed at development of a one
billion dollar coal mine at Beluga west of Anchorage.
Renkes had disclosed his KFx holdings of more than one-hundred-thousand dollars to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation but had not told the governor.
Renkes, in his first interview since the allegations surfaced in October, told
The Associated Press that he feels vindicated.
During today's press conference, Governor Murkowski call on Anchorage Representative Eric Croft withdraw his complaint to the Personnel Board in order to bring this matter to a close.
He says he knew in his heart that was the truth. He says he did not resign because he had faith this would come to its proper conclusion.
Renkes and Governor Murkowski left after this morning's press conference started and were not available to answer questions.
Crab boat crew busted for fishing pots of doomed vessel
State law enforcement officials have busted the captain and crew of a crab boat for using the crab pots of the Big Valley which was lost in the Bering Sea on January 15th.
The captain of the Big Valley and four crewmembers were lost when it sank.
State Troopers received information on January 15th that the Sea Warrior had transported about 15 commercial tanner crab pots belonging to the doomed boat to the fishing grounds in addition to its own legal limit of 70 pots
Greg Wilkinson of the Department of Public Safety says the Patrol Vessel Stimson with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and the vessel monitoring system, was able to locate where Sea Warrior was fishing.
The Stimson inspected the Sea Warrior's gear and seized 14 pots that were being fished illegally.
On Saturday, January 22nd a search warrant was obtained, and served on the Sea Warrior. Evidence from the investigation confirmed that the Sea Warrior had fished extra pots belonging the Big Valley in addition to their own legal limit of pot gear.
Arrest warrants were obtained and served on the crew of the Sea Warrior Monday. They include the captain, Brett Robinson, 45, of Seattle, Washington; 40 year old David Fisher of Anacortes, Washington; Clint Johnson,
42, of Kodiak; 22 year old Erik Hinkle of Kodiak; and Joseph
Leatherman, 28, of Brewster, Washington.
Wilkinson says the men were charged with use of
excessive gear, unlawful possession and unlawful sale of crab, violation of gear marking requirements, and the use of untagged pots. All charges are misdemeanors.
The men were transported to Unalaska jail with bail set at $2,500.00 each.
Troopers also seized the approximately 150,000 pounds of crab onboard the Sea Warrior which is valued at approximately $270,000.00.
The crab was turned over to the processor and receipt will be held pending a decision by the court.
Wilkinson says the investigation is continuing.
Levy appointed to Juneau
District Court
Governor Murkowski has appointed Keith Levy to the Juneau District Court.
Levy, 47, currently serves as an Assistant Attorney General representing
state agencies in civil litigation, appeals and administrative proceedings.
He was one of eight applicants for the seat vacated by Judge Peter
Froehlich, who retired earlier this month.
Murkowski says Levy's background gives him the ability to both listen well
and make sound decisions that best serve the public.
Levy has lived in Alaska for 17 years and has worked in private practice and
government.
He served as Legislative Counsel to the Alaska Legislative Affairs Agency
from 1983-1987 and has also served as staff attorney to the Alaska Court of
Appeals.
Levy received a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York at
Binghamton in 1978 and a law degree from the University of Santa Clara Law
School in 1982.
Assembly allows McConnochie to remain on Planning Commission
The Assembly last night (Monday) went along with the recommendation of it's Human Resources Committee and has allowed Peggy Ann McConnochie to keep her seat on the Planning Commission.
McConnochie has missed eight regular commission meetings within the last 12 months.
Under current ordinance, her seat would be made vacant pending an explanation of her absences submitted to the Assembly.
The committee reviewed McConnochie's letter that explained that she missed the meetings due to job related travel.
The committee recommended, and the Assembly agreed, that the vacancy requirement be waived in McConnochie's case and that she remain on the panel.
In addition, Committee member Jeff Bush says, it should be noted in every other board that he's aware of, that once the pre-determined number of absences occurs,
the vacancy is automatic.
He says the panel recognized that the process is ambiguous and is also recommending that the vacancy ordinance be standardized across the various boards and commissions.
The Assembly directed the city attorney to draft that ordinance.
Parking garage repair funding okayed
The Assembly approved an ordinance last night
(Monday) appropriating $293,000 for repairs at the downtown parking garage.
City Manager Rod Swope
says most of the work is general maintenance and includes replacement of sprinklers,
restripping, and concrete repairs.
The Assembly delayed final action on an ordinance appropriating $1,480,590 for partial funding for construction of a mental health ward for adolescents and adults
at Bartlett Regional Hospital.
Assembly member Stan Ridgeway wanted clarification from hospital administrators whether they had, in fact, decided to include facilities for adolescents.
The ordinance will be rescheduled for the next regular Assembly meeting.
Port development fee hike delayed
The Juneau Assembly postponed action on a resolution last night increasing by one
dollar the port development fee imposed on cruise ships and other vessels carrying passengers.
Under the proposed resolution, revenue would be deposited into the Port Development Fund for projects outlined in the Long Range Waterfront
Plan.
Don Habeger of Royal Caribbean Cruises told the Assembly that the resolution is a huge departure from historical
industry- community relationships in project identity and building.
He told the Assembly that its setting up a funding mechanism that
may disenfranchise the industry in project identification. He thought there might be a tendency for committees to get ahead of cooperative relationships and the end result may be projects that aren't as good as they could be.
With user groups involved in the process from the beginning, Habeger said,
"you end up with significantly better projects."
Mike Windred with Alaska Travel Adventures said he'd like the Assembly to continue with the method that has worked. He said that involves sitting down with the industry to come up with an agreed upon way to raise the money to fund specific projects.
John Hansen with the Northwest Cruiseship Association told the Assembly that that his group opposes the resolution because it does not identify a specific project for funding, as has been done in consultation with the industry in past years.
City officials say the proposed increase would generate about $900,000 in 2005 and $950,000 in 2006.
The resolution will be taken up
by the Assembly during a work session scheduled for February 9th.
Also scheduled for that work session is a proposed ordinance that would impose port dues at a market rate on vessels carrying passengers for compensation
The fee would be adjusted annually with the Anchorage CPI.
State plans to defend cruise ship initiative
ANCHORAGE (AP) - State officials say they will defend a cruise ship initiative.
The North West CruiseShip Association is fighting the ballot measure.
The association sued the Alaska Division of Election in Superior Court last week. A dozen Alaska-based tourism businesses and groups have joined the lawsuit.
The ballot initiative, among other things, would tax each cruise ship passenger 50 dollars.
The suit alleges that the state can't ensure that only registered voters are signing the petition booklets to get the issue on the ballot.
Laura Glaiser, director of the Division of Elections, says she's confident the more than 23-thousand signatures certified are valid.
The state has until the end of February to respond.
School sports field on
Planning Commission agenda
The Planning Commission takes up the Juneau School District's plan for a sports field and additional parking during tonight's meeting.
Up for approval is site work for the field where the Alaska Marine Highway building used to be. Parking would also be added there.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Assembly Chambers at City Hall.
Trial continues in Nome killing
NOME (AP) - A Nome man who was initially a suspect in the murder of 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff in August 2003 took the witness stand yesterday (Monday).
22-year-old Daniel Koonuk Angusuc indicated in Superior Court that he was a friendly acquaintance of
Ivanoff's, but that was as far as their relationship went.
Police focused their attention on Angusuc in the days following Ivanoff's death. They seized his pickup truck and searched his person for signs of physical contact with her.
Angusuc testified that he was moose hunting much of the time between August 10th and the 14th. He said he last saw Ivanoff walking early on the afternoon of August 8th, when he passed by in his truck.
Angusuc testified that he did not kill Ivanoff.
Former Nome police officer Matthew Clay Owens is charged with Ivanoff's murder. Witnesses last week told the jury they saw Ivanoff get into a patrol car early on August 11th. Her body was found two days later.
Owens told investigators that he did not pick Ivanoff up in his patrol car or kill her.
Man arrested in Anchorage homicide
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage police say they've arrested a man suspected of killing one man and shooting another early Sunday.
Police say 21-year-old Alando Modeste has been charged with second-degree homicide, two counts of evidence tampering and first-degree assault.
Modeste is being held on 250-thousand dollars bail. He was arrested last night at a home in Wasilla.
Modeste is suspected of killing 40-year-old Aaron Roberts. He also is charged in the shooting of 21-year-old Daquan Stinson, who is recovering from his injuries.
Police took a second person into custody. 22-year-old Natasha Merriouns has not been charged.
Ramey Smyth's lead dog stomped by moose
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Iditarod musher Ramey Smyth's lead dog was stomped to death by a moose.
Smyth says the dog was killed on a trail along the Denali Highway earlier this month.
The dog's name was
Fido. He took the lead to pull Smyth's team to a victor in the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race on the Kenai Peninsula a few years ago. Ever since then, Fido had been one of Smyth's lead dogs.
Smyth says he did not have a rifle with him when the moose attacked. And the moose was too quick for him to get out some flares he was carrying.
After the moose stomped the team, Smyth says he could see that Fido was down, and was dying.
Smyth says he's back home now training his team near his Big Lake home.
Tsunami Center slated for upgrades
PALMER (AP) - The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in will be getting some much-needed upgrades.
NOAA administrator Conrad Lautenbacher visited the center in Palmer yesterday. He says the center is poised for a major upgrade.
U-S senators Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii this week introduced legislation to upgrade tsunami warning centers on both the East and West coasts.
The bill would authorize 35
million dollars to the effort.
The money would allow the Palmer center to switch to 24-hour staffing. And it would add ocean gauges to make tsunami detection more accurate.
Legislature fast tracks prison revisions
JUNEAU (AP) - The Senate Monday passed a bill that would trade in fixed prison sentences for felony convictions for sentence ranges.
But after the Senate passed the bill, Democratic Senator Hollis French of Anchorage filed a motion to reconsider it. The Senate will decide whether to take up the bill again on Wednesday.
Lawmakers are speeding prison sentencing revisions through the Legislature to bring Alaska into compliance with a U-S Supreme Court ruling on the constitutional rights of defendants.
The House Judiciary Committee took up a version of the bill yesterday.
Senator Ralph Seekins, Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the bill adjusts Alaska law to conform to the Supreme Court's ruling in Blakely versus Washington.
In that decision, the court said only a jury can increase a sentence above the term set by statute, not a judge.
In Alaska, a judge can determine whether aggravating factors can be applied to the length of a sentence.
Under the Senate bill, supporters say, judges would have more flexibility in sentencing convicted felons without going above the range, making Alaska's sentencing structure fit with the Blakely decision.
Food safety sent back to kitchen
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking public comment on new rules for restaurant food handling.
The new food safety rules -- planned to take effect early next year -- place more responsibility on restaurants. Managers would have to receive national food safety accreditation.
Douglas Cafe owner Cisco Ramos says his Juneau restaurant may need to close for at least a day as managers take the required eight-hour training session.
State director of environmental health Kristin Ryan says the D-E-C will continue inspections and ensure that food is safely prepared.
A public hearing on the rules is scheduled in Ketchikan on Thursday. Other public hearings are scheduled through early March in Juneau, Soldotna, Fairbanks, Palmer, Bethel, Anchorage, Glennallen and Valdez.
(Details are available from the D-E-C at 907-269-7583.)
(Copyright ©2005 Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
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