JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE

By Chris Burns - kiny@ptialaska.net

Monday, January 29, 1996 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications

*The search continues for the 7-member crew of a 127-foot crabber which capsized and apparently sank in the Bering Sea Saturday. The F/V Pacesetter left Dutch Harbor Friday headed for the fishing grounds south of the Pribilof Islands. The Coast Guard has recovered 2 lifeboats and an EPIRB unit from the boat. It is not known if the crew had time to don survival suits.

*Marine navigation in Southeast Alaska gets appreciably better tomorrow as the Coast Guard brings the Differential Global Positioning Satellite system online. D.G.P.S. is a ground-based system of radio transmitters which send correction codes to differential-equipped G.P.S. receivers, thereby increasing their accuracy to around 10-meters. Stations at Gustavus and Annette Island will join others in Kodiak, Kenai, Cold Bay, Cape Hinchenbrook and Potato Point in providing the corrections for Alaska.

*A new coalition has been formed to represent all gear groups in Alaska's battles with Canada and the Northwest over chinook salmon allocations. Called the Alaska Salmon Coalition,' the group brings together commercial fishermen, sport anglers, seafood processors and Southeast Alaska communities. The group plans to intervene in a lawsuit which led to a Seattle federal court ruling against the state.

*The Juneau Borough Assembly's Committee of the Whole takes up a resolution tonight which is designed to ensure local hire in the building of Riverbend Elementary School in the Valley. The labor agreement requires the contractor to draw from the pool of local labor unions in selecting crews to build the school. The language in the agreement has passed court tests in other states.

*Mount Roberts Development Corporation says the tramway project downtown remains on schedule and will be ready to haul its first passengers in May. The company says workers have been able to spend more time building and less time shoveling snow that they normally would in the winter months, especially at the upper terminus. The lower terminus building is expected to be completed by the end of next month.

*There may finally be a break in the sub-freezing temperatures which have gripped the Capital City since January 12th. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Juneau says the coldest part of a dominating Arctic high pressure system has started to slide south into British Columbia -- that will allow temperatures to moderate throughout the week. The latest forecast calls for warming into the 30s with a chance of snow by the weekend.