|
Police
investigating incendiary device left near Mendenhall Glacier
Visitor Center
Authorities are investigating an incendiary device that was found
at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area at about 9-30 this
morning. (Monday)
Julie Speegle of the Forest Service says one their employees
discovered what appeared to be an explosive device on the bench of
the bus shelter.
She says they immediately contacted the police department.
The department's Cindee Brown-Mills says the Police Explosive
Disposal Team responded.
She says the device turned out to be three aerosol cans taped
together with a marine flare used as a fuse to ignite the cans.
The flare was not burning when EOD officers arrived.
Officers determined that the liquid in the cans was flammable but
not hazardous.
Brown-Mills says the device was brought back to JPD where officers
are processing it for any evidence that it may contain.
Anyone information on the device or who may have placed it, is
asked to call the department at 586-0600 or Juneau Crime Line at
586-4243.
Callers to Crime Line may remain anonymous and be eligible for a
cash reward.
Legislation
seeks change to energy update programs to allow up front funding
What is billed as bi-partisan energy rebate legislation has been
introduced in the State House.
Juneau Representative Cathy Munoz is among a half dozen sponsors
of House Bill 278.
She says Alaskans not eligible for the income based program
currently need to come up with funding for improvements up front
and get reimbursed by the state at the end of the process.
Munoz says this change would allow the money to be obligated
earlier allowing many more Alaskans to participate in the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation Energy Update programs.
The measure was referred to the Energy and Finance Committees.
Johansen: March 1
deadline for roads doubtful
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — House Majority Leader Kyle Johansen is
doubtful lawmakers will pass Gov. Sean Parnell's deferred
maintenance plan by March 1.
Parnell said he wanted his $100 million-a-year plan passed by that
date so work could begin on road and other infrastructure projects
this summer.
But Johansen told reporters Monday that's a "very accelerated
timeline" for a spending plan and he wouldn't count on
lawmakers meeting it.
The Legislature began its three-month session last week.
Separately, Johansen was noncommittal on the prospects for
Parnell's proposed suspension of the motor fuels tax.
The Republican said he's not big on taxing residents but it's
tough to talk with federal officials about transportation issues
when the state doesn't charge a gas tax.
House speaker
wants voter input on pipeline costs
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Should Alaska use earnings generated from
a multibillion-dollar investment account, built off oil riches, to
help fund construction of an in-state gas pipeline?
That's what House Speaker Mike Chenault wants voters to decide.
He proposed a measure Monday that, if it passes the Legislature,
could appear on the ballot later this year.
Chenault said this isn't an effort to "raid" the
Permanent Fund; he said he wants to ensure dividends that
residents draw from the more than $30-billion investment account
are secured and the fund is "inflation-proofed" prior to
earnings being drawn from it.
But he said it's time for the state to start making decisions on
its energy future, and he hopes the voters' answer will help focus
state spending.
Lawmaker
questions Parnell's anti-sex crime bill
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska lawmaker is questioning whether
the Parnell administration's proposals for cracking down on
domestic violence and sexual assault jibe with the governor's
description of the problems as epidemic.
Rep. Jay Ramras, a Republican from Fairbanks who is also running
for lieutenant governor, said the "remedy doesn't seem to
meet the rhetoric of an epidemic."
Ramras made his comments Monday, when the first of the bills that
Gov. Sean Parnell is proposing came before the House Judiciary
Committee that Ramras chairs.
The bill highlighted Monday included sentence enhancers and a
requirement that convicted sex offenders who move to Alaska
register here.
Annie Carpeneti, of the Department of Law, said additional bills
will more substantial changes.
Seawalk bid award
set for action
The Assembly is scheduled tonight (Monday) take up a bid award to
build a portion of the downtown seawalk from Taku Fisheries to
Miner's Cove.
City Manager Rod Swope says there are a lot of issues that need to
be addressed when a seawalk is constructed such as tideland leases
and adjacent private property owners.
Swope says those issues have been worked out.
North Pacific Erectors, Inc., submitted the low bid of $2,589,324.
That's about $225,000 under the engineers estimate of $2,806,500.
The Assembly meets tonight at 7 at City hall.
Assembly to shift sales tax funds
to three CBJ projects
The Assembly is scheduled to consider a resolution tonight
(Monday) that would place $2 million in 1 percent temporary sales
tax funds back into the CBJ Sales Tax Fund.
The Dimond Park Aquatic Center and the Downtown Transportation
Center were able to be completed with grant money, so the sales
tax money is no longer needed for either project.
CBJ sales tax revenue is down which is creating a shortage of
funds for several voter approved projects and is also contributing
to the budget shortfall.
City Manager Rod Swope says the $2 million will be go to several
other projects that are already underway.
The projects include the Airport renovation, the new CBJ
Maintenance Shop and the Statter Harbor renovation project.
Swope says even with the additional $2 million the projects will
not be fully funded.
Assembly to discuss Breakwater
bar liquor license renewal
The Assembly is scheduled to decide tonight (Monday) whether to
protest the renewal of the liquor license for the Breakwater Inn
Restaurant and Lounge also known as Troxel's.
The bar is under new management and caters to a younger cliental.
City Manager Rod Swope says its kind of an unfortunate situation
because as a result of the bar's success its had an impact on the
neighborhood.
He says there's a lot more noise and cars in the neighborhood than
in the past.
Swope says the neighbors have had some legitimate concerns and
have raised some issues with the Assembly.
Whatever the Assembly decides will be sent to the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board, which has the final say in granting liquor
licenses.
The Assembly meets tonight at 7 at City hall.
Grant application for Treadwell
Mine office building structure report before Assembly
The Assembly is scheduled to take up a resolution tonight (Monday)
authorizing submitting an application to the state for a federal
grant to prepare an historic structure report of the office
building at the Treadwell Mine Complex.
The report would detail the current state of the building with
recommendations for improvements that would be needed to
accommodate future use of the building as a museum, interpretive
center, or other public use as part of the overall long-range plan
to preserve Treadwell mining history.
The National Trust grant would provide $5,000 for the project and
require a $5,000 match from the CBJ for a total of $10,000.
The total project cost is estimated to be $35,300.
Fifty percent would be funded from a federal Historic Preservation
Fund grant administered by the Alaska Office of History and
Archaeology.
The remaining fifty percent of the project budget would funded by
cash, the CBJ and volunteers of the Treadwell Historic
Preservation and Restoration Society.
Divers find bodies of 2 pilots in
plane crash
SAND POINT, Alaska (AP) — The bodies of two pilots whose plane
crashed Friday near Sand Point have been found.
Megan Peters of the Alaska State Troopers says the wreckage of the
ACE Air Beechcraft 1900C was found off Sand Point Sunday.
Divers were able to identify the bodies of Ameer Ali and Emily
Lewis.
The Coast Guard says the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff
from the Sand Point airport. The plane had been bound for
Anchorage with a load of fish and mail.
A spokeswoman for the Lewis family says Emily Lewis grew up in the
Seattle area and was engaged to be married this year.
Ellie Materi says the family would like people to know that Lewis
"was a funny, sweet wonderful person who always loved
flying."
The 28-year-old Ali grew up in New York and came to Alaska after
serving as a flight mechanic in the Marines.
(KTUU-TV)
Man lying in highway
killed by car
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man was killed when he was struck by
a car on the Parks Highway.
Alaska State Troopers say 22-year-old Jerel Redfox of Mountain
Village was lying in the highway near Nenana on Saturday night.
Troopers say 55-year-old Janice Krenzke of Nenana was driving
south when she ran over the man.
Troopers say Redfox appeared to have been drinking.
(Anchorage Daily News)
2010
Census starts; first count in Alaska village
NOORVIK, Alaska (AP) — The director of the U.S. Census Bureau
has started the 2010 count of the nation's residents in a village
in Alaska's arctic hinterlands.
Bureau Director Robert Groves flew to Noorvik on Monday and
initiated the count in the Inupiat Eskimo community of 650.
Census workers and trained local aides will spend the next week
interviewing Noorvik residents, using the same 10-question form to
be mailed to most U.S. residents on March 15.
In the coming weeks, census workers also will visit 217 other
rural Alaska communities not linked by roads that have been the
first counted since the 1990 census.
Juneau is next site of
USDA's jobs forum
Juneau is the site of a forum Tuesday hosted by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture on job creation and economic growth.
It begins at 1:30 p.m. at Centennial Hall.
It's one of four such forums to be held in Alaska. Two have
already been held in Kotzebue and Fairbanks.
The rural community of Kotzebue is the site of Tuesday's statewide
forum on job creation and economic growth.
It's one of four such forums to be held in Alaska. Another is
scheduled for Anchorage next Monday, February 1.
Juneau sponsors include the University of Alaska Southeast,
Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, Southeast Conference, and the
Juneau Economic Development Council.
Ketchikan awarded federal
grant for business loan program
Ketchikan is receiving a federal grant to establish a revolving
loan program for small businesses.
The borough government in the Gateway city is one of 44 recipients
for more than $4 Million in grants to create jobs by starting or
expanding businesses in rural communities.
The stimulus funding administered by the U. S. Department of
Agriculture is provided under terms of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
The federal funding will leverage an additional $100,000 for the
revolving loan fund.
Count of homeless in Juneau
being conducted at
Centennial Hall
Project Homeless Connect, a national program sponsored locally by
the Juneau Homeless Coalition, is going on today (Monday)
It started at 8 a.m.
and is scheduled to continue until 4 p.m. at Centennial Hall.
The coalition's
Diane Slater and Brenda Hewitt of the United Way of Southeast
Alaska were on Capital Chat last week to talk about that.
They say the program
is designed to connect services to people experiencing
homelessness.
The annual
"Point-in-Time Count" will occur the same day which
involves a one day count of people locally experiencing
homelessness.
According to last
year's count, 70 families live on the streets, sleep in cars or
stay in shelters. Approximately 300 kids are homeless or are
couch-surfing.
The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation conducts the count, she
says, to provide data necessary to ensure federal and state
funding is available to address homelessness issues.
Anchor Point
woman sentenced for computer fraud
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 26-year-old Anchor Point woman has
been sentenced to three months in prison for 16 counts of computer
fraud that netted her more than $85,000 from a Homer store.
Heidi N. Adams pleaded guilty in September. She was sentenced
Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline (BISTE'-line)
and also ordered to pay restitution for the amount stolen.
Federal prosecutors say Ulmer's Drug and Hardware in Homer hired
Adams in April 2002 as an inventory and returns clerk.
From February through October 2006, on 16 occasions, Adams made
false entries into the computer at Ulmer's, fraudulently
indicating that an item had been returned and taking cash from a
register in the refund amount.
The court found that she had stolen at least $85,000.
The FBI and Homer police investigated.
Man sentenced for illegal Denali
hunt
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 56-year-old Anchorage man convicted
of illegally hunting bull moose in Denali National Park has been
sentenced to a year of probation.
David Talmadge Harger also was fined $1,000 Monday.
Federal prosecutors say Harger and an associate used a small
airplane to fly 1.5 miles into the park near the Kanikula and
Tokositna rivers. National Park Service wildlife officers flew in
to investigate.
Prosecutors said Harger carried an aircraft GPS, a topography map
and state game regulations but did not verify the location.
Federal officials say Harger would have faced higher penalties if
he had killed a moose within park boundaries and he was fortunate
to have his hunt interrupted.
Harger's associate has also been charged.
Statoil
increases Alaska holdings
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA said
Monday that its U.S. subsidiary has acquired a 25 percent share in
50 ConocoPhillips oil leases in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern
Alaska.
This in exchange for an undisclosed sum and shares in Statoil's
Gulf of Mexico operations.
The move makes Statoil the fourth largest offshore presence in
Alaska.
The region is of growing interest to oil companies as retreating
Arctic ice makes it easier to drill.
Statoil is the world's largest offshore operator, with 30,000
employees in 40 countries.
ConocoPhillips is the third largest oil company in the U.S.
University of Alaska regents to
go through initial applications to replace Hamilton as president
The University of Alaska Board of Regents plans a step this week
in the hiring of a new president.
Regents Chair Cynthia Henry says they gather in Anchorage Tuesday
and Wednesday.
At last report they have about 35 applications to replace Mark
Hamilton...
Henry says their consultant is very impressed with the level of
qualifications of the applicants.
In the meantime, Hamilton says he'll remain on the job until his
replacement is found.
She says their goal is to interview in March and have a new regent
on board in time for the next school year in the Fall.
In the meantime, Hamilton says he'll remain on the job until his
replacement is found.
----
University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Brian Rogers says he has
no plans to pursue the top job in the university system, despite
an endorsement from retiring President Mark Hamilton.
Rogers is a former state lawmaker who served on the board of
regents before becoming UAF chancellor.
(Fairbanks News-Miner)
Voluntary
furlough saves UAF thousands
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A voluntary furlough saved the
University of Alaska Fairbanks tens of thousands of dollars.
Officials say the campus saved at least $80,000 in payroll and
energy costs during its voluntary furlough before the holiday
break last year.
UAF encouraged employees to take a three-day unpaid leave just
before Christmas. The three days were at the beginning of the
regular break.
Some departments either shut down or had reduced hours during the
closure.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
McLeod to ask judge to
reconsider e-mail ruling
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An attorney for Andree McLeod
said he'll ask an Alaska judge to reconsider a ruling last week
that state law doesn't forbid the use of private e-mail accounts
to conduct state business.
If the judge refuses, attorney Don Mitchell says McLeod could
appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court.
The case stems from a 2008 records request by McLeod, which showed
then-Gov. Sarah Palin and members of her staff had been using
private e-mail accounts.
Bridge to nowhere
supporters regroup
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Sarah Palin is no longer governor and
supporters of the so-called "bridge to nowhere" are
regrouping.
The bridge would connect Ketchikan with its airport, and a huge
area of land on Gravina Island ready to be developed.
The project got the attention of politicians outside Alaska who
criticized it as a waste of money. Palin then told Alaskans she
was stopping work on the Gravina Access Project because Alaska's
delegation could not get enough earmarks to build it.
Later, she told the Republican National Convention she opposed it
because it was funded by earmarks.
Now that the bridge is no longer getting bashed on a national
stage, Ketchikan has renewed hope that it will go forward.
It has
supporters, including Bert Stedman, co-chair of the powerful
Senate Finance Committee.
(Juneau Empire)
New police
chief on the job in Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) —
Mark Mew pins on the badge today as the 29th police chief for the
Anchorage Police Department.
He's the former deputy chief of the department who left in 2003 to
become security director for the Anchorage School District.
The Anchorage Daily News reports Mew was appointed chief by Mayor
Dan Sullivan to shift to a community policing approach to law
enforcement.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Fish board to look at
Yukon kings problem
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Board of Fisheries will be
meeting in Fairbanks this coming week, and the big issue will be
Yukon River king salmon.
The federal government last week declared the 2008 and 2009 Yukon
River king salmon runs disasters.
Mike Smith, subsistence resource director for the Tanana Chiefs
Conference in Fairbanks, says the conference hopes some
conservation efforts will be implemented.
TCC represents dozens of villages on the upper and middle Yukon
and Tanana rivers.
Smith says many fishermen in those villages report that both the
size of the Yukon king run and the size of the fish themselves are
getting smaller.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Open house
planned at JPD
There will be an open house at the Juneau Police Department this
evening. (Monday)
It's scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.
Department staff will be offering tours of the building,
specialized equipment will be on display and officers will provide
demonstrations.
The open house is to celebrate the fact that the department
recently achieved accreditation, making Juneau Police the only
department in the state that is accredited.
A department release says some refreshments will be provided.
The police department is located at 6255 Alaway Avenue off of
Glacier Highway in the Lemon Creek area.
Latest in high
school hoops action...
In high school basketball action over the weekend, the men's team
at Juneau Douglas High School defeated Haines 68 to 60 Saturday
night.
The Lady Crimson Bears ended a successful road trip in Colorado
Saturday with two victories. The Bears defeated East Peublo 51 to
36 and Pueblo South 70 to 45.
The Bears will entertain West Valley Friday night during
homecoming.
---
The Thunder Mountain Lady Falcons lost three games at the T-Bird
Tournament at East High School in Anchorage.
They lost to Palmer 53 to 25 Saturday night. Friday's game was a
56 to 43 affair against Soldotna. The Falcons dropped their
opening contest Thursday night to host East 60 to 25.
JV hockey team at
JDHS loses two outside in frigid temperatures on the road
The Junior Varsity hockey squad at Juneau Douglas High School took
on the varsity Su Valley team in Talkeetna over the weekend and
dropped two close games outside in frigid conditions.
Friday's score was 4
to 2 and Saturday's 3 to 1.
Assistant Coach Tom
Rutecki says Alaska is the only state that permits high school
hockey to place outside.
He says it dipped
below zero for Friday's game, but reached a balmy ten above for
Saturday's contest.
|
