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Fairweather talks still at impasse
The Community and Regional Affairs Committee in the State House was updated on the talks on the operation of the fast ferry Fairweather during an overview of the Marine Highway System this morning.
The vessel is now laid up in Ketchikan after talks between the state and two of the three unions representing workers on the Fairweather have proved fruitless.
There were more talks Monday and Tuesday.
John Torgerson, a special assistant to Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Mike Barton, told the committee that in his opinion they are still at impasse following those bargaining sessions.
The state has asked the Alaska Labor Relations agency to order mandatory mediation. The agency has agreed to conduct a hearing, according to Torgerson.
The state wants to reduce the vessels schedule in the winter to four days a week, rather than seven.
Semester at Sea ship heads
for Hawaii
ANCHORAGE (AP) -The Coast Guard says a damaged Semester at Sea research ship
with 990 people is now on its way to Hawaii.
The 591-foot Explorer lost power in three of its four engines yesterday
(Wednesday) when a 50-foot wave broke bridge windows, damaged controls and
injured two crew members.
Crew members were able to restore power to a second engine but the vessel
continued to struggle in 35-foot seas.
The Coast Guard says weather conditions have calmed and the Explorer is
expected to reach Honolulu for repairs in several days.
The Coast Guard says the ship is about 690 miles north of Midway Island and
about 14-hundred miles from Hawaii.
The Explorer was en route to Korea and Japan from Vancouver, British
Columbia.
Of the 990 people aboard, 681 are students and 113 are faculty and staff.
The other 196 are ship's crew.
Semester at Sea is a global comparative study-abroad program for
undergraduate students. The program is academically sponsored by the
University of Pittsburgh.
A spokesman says the courses are designed to give students a more global
perspective.
The 100-day voyage began January 18th in Vancouver.
Travel snafu delays start of Bears game in Anchorage
The men's basketball team at Juneau Douglas High School is scheduled be at Bartlett High School in Anchorage beginning tonight for a tournament that is scheduled through Saturday.
They'll be a late arrival.
The Bears were scheduled to play Lathrop of Fairbanks beginning at four today. That's been pushed back to at least eight.
Their flight to Anchorage
over headed Juneau this morning.
They were in Ketchikan at about mid-day headed for Seattle and the flight back north to Anchorage.
The Lady Bears swing into action again this weekend when they host Ketchikan Friday and Saturday evenings.
Crimson Bears football program plan switch to Railbelt Conference
The Juneau Douglas High School football team will switch to the Railbelt Conference next fall.
The Crimson Bears have been playing in the Cook Inlet Conference which includes Anchorage teams.
The Railbelt Conference includes schools from the Interior and the Mat-Su Borough.
Karen Lawfer, President of the Juneau Youth Football League, said the decision is based on the importance they place on maintaining a viable junior varsity program. She says that was the main reason for the switch.
The last proposal that came from the Cook Inlet Conference called for 30 tickets to bring a team to Juneau. But there were no guarantees for junior varsity games.
That's when talks started with Railbelt Conference officials who agreed to 38 tickets with only 20 committed to the varsity.
Governor says oil tax agreements will be kept
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Governor Murkowski says the state will honor agreements made with North Slope oil companies prior to changing the tax structure for several North Slope satellite fields.
Murkowski made his comments this morning at the meeting of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance in Anchorage.
Murkowski was trying to calm the concerns of oil executives after announcing earlier this month that the state would group six satellite fields with the giant Prudhoe Bay field.
The change, which takes effect Tuesday, would amount to an estimated tax hike of 150 (M) million dollars per year.
Oil company executives say the tax increase creates economic uncertainty and could threaten future development in Alaska.
Statter and Harris Harbor matters before Docks and Harbors Board
There are three items up for action at tonight's meeting of the CBJ Docks and Harbors Board of Directors.
One is the proposed regulations for management of Statter Harbor, according to Port Director John Stone, who says the regulations address how the harbor is managed year round.
They've been out for public comment since the beginning of December.
There's already been two public meetings on the regulations and there will be a hearing to capture additional comment tonight.
Stone anticipates the board will take up several amendments based
on comments received so far before taking final action tonight.
There's a request for a tidelands lease in Statter Harbor. Stone says there's a company that wants to build a private dock that would primarily provide whale watching and sight seeing activities.
Since there seems to be interest in the tidelands by several parties, Stone says the board will probably entertain a motion
calling for a competitive lease procedure.
The last item is the Harris Harbor stall reassignment procedure. The harbor will be rebuilt next summer. Stone says there will be a discussion on how the stalls will be reassigned after the work is completed.
He says that's necessary since the new harbor will not be configured as it is currently.
There was a public meeting on that subject at Centennial Hall last evening. Stone says another meeting is scheduled for ten Saturday morning at the same location.
Tonight's Docks and Harbors Board meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Assembly Chambers at City Hall.
Ruling expected in April on evidence in Forster trial
KENAI (AP) - A ruling in Kenai Superior Court is expected in April on the admissibility of some evidence in a murder trial scheduled for spring.
Thirty-five-year-old David Forster is accused of killing Kenai Police Officer John Watson on December 25th, 2003.
Defense attorney John Murtagh has moved to prevent statements Forster made after being taken into custody from being used at trial.
Murtagh contends Forster's mental status at the time was questionable and that allowing the statements as evidence would violate his constitutional protections.
At a hearing Wednesday, Kenai District Attorney June Stein called five witnesses to testify that Forster was mentally sound after he was arrested and that he understood he was waiving his constitutional rights by speaking with investigators.
Judge Donald Hopwood is expected to rule on the motion in mid-April. Trial is scheduled to begin in May.
Zobel passes away
ANCHORAGE (AP) - An Anchorage attorney whose lawsuit shaped the delivery of Alaska Permanent Fund dividends died yesterday (Wednesday). Ron Zobel was 60.
Zobel's wife Penny says her husband died of pneumonia brought on by complications of cancer.
Zobel was a long-time assistant attorney general. He had retired in May.
The Zobels came to prominence in the late 19-70s when they sued over the original configuration of the permanent fund dividends.
The Alaska Permanent Fund was created in 19-76 by an amendment to the state constitution as a means of preserving part of the vast North Slope petroleum wealth that was to become available to state government.
Then-Governor Jay Hammond and state legislators devised a law to distribute a percentage of earnings to residents in dividends.
As originally conceived, the amount of each dividend would have depended on how long the recipient had lived in Alaska.
The Zobels filed a lawsuit saying the concept was unconstitutional and the U-S Supreme Court agreed.
A backstop plan called for giving each Alaska to receive the same size check and dividends have been paid every fall since 19-82.
One dead in Parks Highway crash
ANCHORAGE (AP) - One person is dead after a single-vehicle accident on the Parks Highway.
Alaska state troopers say the crash happened about 8:30 Tuesday night, near milepost 185, at a bridge over the east fork of the Chulitna River.
Troopers say 44-year-old Howard Hafner of Anchorage was taken to Trapper Creek by a passing motorist but died about 10:45 p-m.
Elections appropriation to cover overruns accelerated
JUNEAU (AP) - An appropriation to cover cost overruns of the Division of Elections is on the fast track in the Legislature.
Lawmakers are considering a 694-thousand dollar appropriation to cover overruns from the 2004 election.
Nearly one-third of the money will cover the cost of 517-thousand ballots ordered reprinted because of biased summary language approved by Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman.
The language was placed with an initiative requiring elections to fill U-S Senate vacancies.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Morgan Christen determined that the four-sentence summary overestimated the amount of time a U-S Senate seat would remain vacant while waiting for a special election.
Reprinting and redistributing the ballots cost the state more than 243-thousand dollars.
Leman continues to disagree with the judge's decision.
He says the division decided not to appeal the ruling because the November 2nd general election was rapidly approaching.
Leman says the request for supplemental funding is not all negative.
The division processed 25-thousand more votes than it did in the last statewide election and a record 61-thousand absentee ballots were requested.
The division spent 304-thousand dollars hiring additional staff to handle the increased workload.
Alaska Airlines formulating back up plan for baggage
handling
Alaska Airlines is putting plans together in case negotiations with baggage handlers fail.
Alaska Airlines is asking managers to volunteer to load and unload baggage at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The airline is in contract talks and discussions with it's baggage handlers on whether to outsource the union's work.
Negotiations with the union are approaching a deadline at the end of this month and the company is lining up management volunteers who are ready to load and unload passenger bags at
Sea-Tac.
According to a report in the Seattle Times, Menzies Aviation Group, a U.K.-based subcontractor of air-terminal services, is holding a recruiting drive for eight-week temporary, full-time nonunion baggage-handler positions in Seattle.
Union members believe that Menzies is recruiting a temporary work force for Alaska Airlines to cover any disruption.
Alaska Airlines has acknowledged it is considering outsourcing the baggage handlers' work.
Because of labor laws that govern the airline industry, the union does not have an option to strike.
The airline is in negotiations with all its unions and has asked employees for a total of $112 million in wage and benefit concessions.
Alaska Air Group posted operating losses of $88.9 million in 2002 and $11.1 million in 2003.
In 2004, its earnings again have been hit by low fares and high fuel prices. The company will report the year's earnings figures tomorrow. (Friday)
Stevens: Homeland Security Department won't get budget boost
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alaska Senator Ted Stevens says the Department of Homeland Security should not (not) expect an increase in its 32 billion dollar budget.
Stevens is the immediate past chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and now chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
He said in Washington today that officials in the Department of Homeland Security need to find ways to get the job done better with the money they have.
Stevens' comments on the agency's new budget followed testimony by a number of homeland security experts who urged that the department be restructured and some changes in priorities be made.
The experts testifying in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs agreed that the agency has made progress in protecting the country since its creation two years ago.
But they also described a number of inefficiencies -- from unclear policy goals and terror prevention plans to understaffing and shoddy office space.
D.A.R.E Culmination set for this evening in Juneau
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program or D.A.R.E Culmination for fifth grade students in Juneau is this evening (Thursday) at Centennial Hall.
Juneau Police Officer Paul Comolli, who's the president of the Alaska D.A.R.E Officers Association, says its recognizes the "culmination" of their efforts.
Over the span of nine weeks, the focus of the program is
to give children skills to overcome pressure to use drugs and alcohol.
Comolli expects about a thousand people will attend the program which is scheduled from 6 to 7
p.m. Again, its at Centennial Hall.
He says Juneau has the largest
D.A.R.E. program in the state.
Anchorage on track for 17th year of job growth
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage is on track for the 17th year in a row of job growth.
Bob Poe, president of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, said yesterday that Anchorage employers are likely to create 21-hundred new jobs this year.
Poe says more than half of those will be in health care and social services.
The state labor department estimates there were 144-thousand-800 jobs in Anchorage last year.
While the job growth averages only about two percent a year, Anchorage employers have consistently added jobs each year since 1989.
Wasilla council rejects seeking resignation from legislative staffer
WASILLA (AP) - The Wasilla City Council says member Diana Straub can remain on the panel even though she's in Juneau working as a secretary for a legislator.
Council members this week voted four-two rejecting a call for Straub's resignation.
Straub is working during the legislative session for freshman state Representative Mark
Neuman.
Fellow council members decided she would not exceed limits for absences by participating by teleconference for half of the ten council meetings scheduled while she is in the capital.
Councilman Rob Sande proposed the resignation.
He says teleconferencing five meetings over four and a half months constitutes participation outlawed by the city code.
Sande says the public wants face-to-face, eye-to-eye contact from their elected representatives and there's no substitute.
Chugach sites up for management bids
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Bids are being accepted for the private management of a half-dozen sites in the Chugach State Park.
Those people who want to run a public campground or scenic overlook may want to make a bid for a state permit.
Bid packets and permits are available at the state parks office in the Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage, as well as online at
www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks
People needing more information can call park superintendent Jerry Lewanski at 345-5014.
The deadline for applications is 4 p-m Friday.
Chicago company recalls oil-filled electric heaters due to burn risk
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Chicago company is recalling some oil-filled electric heaters that may be too hot to handle.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the heater's welds can rupture, spewing hot oil that can burn people nearby.
Lakewood Engineering has received 28 reports of incidents -- with one report of a burn injury from the expelled oil.
The recalled heaters are portable electric radiator-style heaters with six fins. The units are grayish-white in color and have the name ``Lakewood'' printed below the handle indentation on the control panel. The model number ``5101'' is printed on the Underwriters Laboratories' label.
Consumers should immediately stop using these heaters, unplug them and contact Lakewood to determine if their heater is part of the recall. Consumers can contact Lakewood at 888-858-3506 for more information.
(Copyright ©2005 Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
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