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Juneau firefighters battle
house blaze
Capital City Fire Rescue responded to a house fire at 9165 Skywood Lane late
Monday morning.
The call came in 11:07.
Flames were showing around the chimney when firefighters arrived and people were seen running
out of the structure.
The fire originated in the
smoke stack according to Captain Beth Weldon.
The fire was extinguished. The attic and wood surrounding the chimney chase
was damaged by fire.
No one was injured.
Firefighters relied on their tanker since a nearby fire hydrant was
discovered to be frozen.
Winds making it frigid cold
in Juneau
Frigid, cold weather continues in Juneau today. (Monday)
Meteorologist Kimberly Vaughn says they're calling for continued sunny skies
and cold temperatures today with winds continuing northeast about 35 miles
per hour with gusts to 50. Gusts up to 80 miles per hour are expected
downtown and in Douglas. A high wind warning has been issued for those
areas. A wind advisory is in effect elsewhere.
She says they recorded gusts to near 70 miles per hour yesterday and
overnight at the South Douglas station.
The winds have made it very cold. A wind chill advisory was issued yesterday
and was cancelled at six this morning. Temperatures in the downtown area
were as low as three degrees with the wind chill to 40 below.
Wind chill temperatures from
20 to 40 below are in the forecast through Tuesday.
The low at the airport was six degrees.
Water pipe thawing not
available from CBJ
The city is not able to come to the aide of those whose water pipes are
frozen.
The CBJ Water Utility Division says its thawing machine is in need of repair
and out of service for an undetermined period.
Officials say its a specialized piece of equipment and parts are essentially
non-existent.
The utility is recommending that residents in need of such a contact a
plumber.
Lynn removal now complete
The State House formally stripped Representative Bob Lynn from his committee
chairmanships today.
The move was taken after the Anchorage Republican sided with Democrats
January 12th in their attempt to restore funding to the state's senior
citizen Longevity Bonus program.
Governor Murkowski vetoed funding for the program last year. Democrats were
calling on lawmakers to enter into a veto session to consider overriding
Murkowski's cut.
The House Committee on Committee, which typically takes up disciplinary
actions removed Lynn as chair of the Special Committee on Military and
Veterans' Affairs. He was also was removed as vice chair of the House Labor
and Commerce Committee.
The House voted 25 to 13 late this morning to accept the committee's
recommendation.
Representative Nick Stepovich was named head of the military and veterans
affairs committee and Representative Carl Gatto was named vice chair of
labor.
Teenager arrested after
assaulting his brother
A 14 year-old Juneau boy has been arrested after, police say, he assaulted
his 13 year-old brother.
The brother's parent called the police late Thursday night reporting the
assault saying that one son had attacked the other and then fled the
Mendenhall Valley area.
The 13 year-old victim told police that he was asleep and woke up to a sharp
pain in his neck accompanied by the sensation of being smothered.
Police say their investigation revealed that the victim had been stabbed in
the neck, chest, and the left hand by a steak knife.
The wounds appeared to be superficial.
The victim identified the suspect as his 14 year-old brother and said that
nothing occurred to provoke the attack.
The next day police located the suspect at a residence in the Mendenhall
Valley.
The 14 year-old was arrested for assault in the 1st degree, a class
"A" felony, and lodged at the Johnson Youth Center.
Search ends for man near
Prince of Wales Island
Friends and relatives have called off the search for a missing 48-year-old
boater in Southeast Alaska.
Greg Clark was en route to Craig around noon Thursday when he radioed for
help, reporting that his 32-foot boat had broken up on rocks northwest of
Prince of Wales Island.
Over the next few days, searchers recovered debris including a rolled-up
survival suit and a life ring.
But they found no sign of Clark or the two dogs that were with him.
The U-S Coast Guard called off its search just after 11 Saturday morning.
That was after launching 13 searches using Jayhawk helicopters and a
110-foot cutter based in Auke Bay.
Friends and family members, including a pilot, patrolled the water and
roamed beaches for a few more hours.
But the last group of volunteer searchers ended their efforts in early
afternoon.
Alaska population increases
in 2003
There were 648,818 people in Alaska last year. That's up over 7,000 from the
2002 estimate, according to Demographer Greg Williams in Alaska Department
of Labor.
He says the main change was slower growth last year than in 2002.
He says about the only areas showing increases were Anchorage and the Mat Su
Borough and a little bit in Kenai. The Anchorage - Mat Su region was up over
8,000 with 341,476.
Southeast was down about hundred at 71,841. Williams says Juneau is the only
bright spot for the region. The Capital City's population was up about 300
at 31,283.
The Interior was down, but Williams says part of that is military cutbacks
in the Fairbanks area. Some rural to urban movement is seen in much of the
rest of the state, according to Williams.
The Anchorage - Mat Su region was up over 8,000 with 341,476.
Water metering ordinance on Assembly agenda
An ordinance up for action at tonight's Assembly meeting appropriates
$225,000 for the Water Utility metering system upgrade project.
CBJ Manager Rod Swope says this matter has really come to the forefront
since the city increased utility rates. He says some people think they're
paying too much and want to be metered.
Some commercial buildings and duplexes, the larger units, were metered a few
years ago, according to Swope. He says the system developed by a German
company allows the use of a transmitter to read the meter as you drive by
rather than walking up to it..
The replacements are necessary since the current meters have worn out and
the company that made them went out of business. It was using the same
frequencies as a taxi cab company. The cab filed a lawsuit and won.
The funds from the Water Fund Reserve Earnings account will replace the
existing 1,029 meter radio transmitters and install 810 new meters and
transmitters.
Swope says the goal in the future is to provide meters to all customers. Its
estimated that would cost seven million dollars.
The funds from the Water Fund Reserve Earnings account will replace the
existing 1,029 meter radio transmitters and install 810 new meters and
transmitters.
There are a number of other appropriation ordinances up for action.
There's $400,000 of general obligation bonds approved by voters for capital
improvements a Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School. Landscaping improvements and
exterior painting account for half of the total.
There's $50,000 of Marine Passenger Fees for Collaboration Juneau.
And $18,000 is earmarked for the Community Emergency Response Team program.
Another measure up for action reduces the fine for parking in loading zones.
Swope says the $100 fine imposed was excessive. He says the court was
reducing or throwing out the fines for anyone who appealed. He's
recommending to the assembly that the fine be reduced to $50. A regular
parking ticket is $25.
The meeting begins at seven Monday evening in Assembly Chambers at City Hall.
Budget work schedule questioned in the
House
The House Finance Committee goal for closing out its work on the budget for
next fiscal year is February 19th.
Anchorage Representative Eric Croft, a minority member on the committee,
says that schedule is worrisome.
Croft adds that is an aggressive schedule, about a month early. He says the
committee takes the risk of not doing an appropriate level of analysis.
The committee reportedly is trying to complete its work prior to the special
session that Governor Murkowski is suggesting begin March 1st.
Group aims to defend
dividend
A citizens' coalition calling themselves ``Alaskans, Just Say No,'' will
file papers this morning with the Alaska Public Office Commission in
Anchorage.
The coalition opposes what it calls any raid on the Permanent Fund, or the
dividend, to fund state government.
Many of the coalition organizers were involved in the 1999 special election
opposing the use of the dividend for state government.
The coalition says 83 percent of Alaska voters last time rejected efforts to
raid the dividend, and agreed with the coalition.
Eddie Burke, a leader in the 1999 effort, is behind the new effort.
Burke says the state does not have a fiscal problem. He says it has a
political problem.
Gas pipeline bills before lawmakers this
week
State lawmakers will consider two bills this week dealing with the gas
pipeline proposals that surfaced last week.
The Senate Resources Committee will consider an administration bill that
helps streamline the natural gas pipeline right of way application process.
The bill would allow applicants to reimburse the Department of Natural
Resources for preliminary work on oil and gas pipeline right of way lease
applications.
The committee also will consider a bill that would allow the Alaska Natural
Gas Development Authority to consider a gas pipeline route that parallels
the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, or the Alaska Highway to the Canadian
border to connect with the Trans Canada line.
Halibut Commission
increases limit in Southeast
The International Pacific Halibut Commission says Southeast halibut
fishermen will have a higher catch limit this year.
During its meeting in Juneau Friday, the commission allocated ten-point-five
million pounds to the Southeast fishery, up from eight-point-five million pounds last year.
The halibut commission staff had recommended an allocation of
eleven-point-three million pounds for Southeast. But commissioners said
they didn't want to approve such a large jump.
The season will run from February 29th to November 15th.
Last year it ran from March 1st to November 15th and fishermen have been
pushing for a longer season.
They hope to stem the growth of halibut farming by providing fresh, wild
halibut year-round.
Leman sticks by guns on marijuana
initiative decision
Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman is standing by his decision to place a
marijuana legalization initiative on the November general election ballot
instead of the August primary.
Leman says in an interview with the Sitka Sentinel that he made the correct
call.
Leman was responding to a lawsuit filed this week by backers of the
marijuana initiative, who say the measure should appear on the primary
ballot.
Leman says state law requires initiatives to be placed on the first election
more than 120 days after the end of the last legislative session that
occurred after the initiative was filed.
And he says he takes that to mean when the matter was ``properly'' filed.
Leman determined the original initiative request was not properly filed.
After a lawsuit, he was ordered by a Superior Court judge to count petition
books he had previously rejected.
He says the judge changed the rules and made the books eligible for
counting.
Leman claims that was according to the judge's rules, not according to
Alaska laws or regulations.
Leman says he's mystified by the objection to a November vote.
He says historically the state general election has much higher
participation than the primary.
Reckless endangerment charge pressed after
children left in cold
A Homer man is facing charges of reckless endangerment and misdemeanor
assault after leading his underdressed children into cold, wet conditions.
Alaska State Troopers say 45-year-old Geoffrey Seneff told them he had taken
his children Thursday into the mountains to pray.
Troopers found Seneff and his five children in wet, freezing clothing as
they sat in deep snow.
Seneff was charged with five counts of reckless endangerment and one count
of misdemeanor assault related to domestic violence.
Trooper Sergeant Jim Hibpshman told the Anchorage Daily News that the
children were chilled but other wise O-K in the 25-degree temperatures.
They ranged in age from three to 14.
A search was triggered after a resident found an unknown car parked in her
driveway and called police about seven-30 p-m.
Troopers traced the registration to Seneff and his wife.
The woman told troopers that Seneff had taken the children earlier in the
day and that an incident of domestic violence had occurred.
Troopers followed tracks leading away from the car in the deep snow and
found Seneff and the children sitting a few hundred yards away.
Conservation districts told to keep track
of federal money
Alaska's soil and water conservation districts will have to do a better job
of tracking federal money.
That comes from Shirley Gammon, state conservationist with the Natural
Resources Conservation Service, an agency that is part of the U-S Department
of Agriculture.
The conservation districts were organized to help local landowners take care
of natural resources on their property through projects such as water
quality monitoring.
The districts get up to two million dollars a year in federal funds.
The agency has threatened to withhold the districts' funding if they don't
comply.
Bears finish fourth in
Anchorage tournament
The Juneau Douglas Crimson Bears defeated the Chugiak Mustangs in overtime
Friday 54 to 45.
The men's team lost to Colony in overtime Saturday, 60 to 55.
The Bears finished fourth in the East T-Bird Classic Tournament.
Biggest cruise ship
completes maiden voyage
The Queen Mary Two has completed its maiden trans-Atlantic voyage.
The world's biggest and most expensive cruise ship arrived at Port
Everglades, Florida, this morning.
Led by a tugboat that shot red and blue water into the air, the ship pulled
into port, two weeks after it left a British port.
About 26-hundred passengers took the first trip, paying from about
28-hundred dollars to more than 37-thousand dollars.
Coast Guard and Navy vessels protected the Queen Mary Two, while hundreds of
people lined the shores and nearby high-rises to get a look at the 800
million dollar ocean liner.
(Copyright ©2004
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
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