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Palmer
lawmaker raises capital move issue
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State Rep. Carl Gatto says it's a perfect
time to talk about moving Alaska's capital out of Juneau.
The Palmer Republican commented Tuesday during committee
discussion of a measure that could expand the size of the
legislature.
The bill calls for a ballot question and constitutional amendment
to increase the House and Senate to 48 and 24 members
respectively.
Sponsor Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, says she is shocked the capital
move came up. Her bill is intended to limit the geographic size of
rural districts in the upcoming decennial redistricting.
Legislative Affairs executive director Pam Varney says additional
lawmakers could be accommodated without building a new Capitol.
The cost would be $6.1 million initially and $4.4 million annually
after that.
Pugh
reports on big jumps in UAS enrollment
Enrollment at the University of Alaska Southeast is soaring.
Chancellor John Pugh said on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that
the final numbers for the Fall semester saw enrollment increase by
6.6 percent and student credit hours by 9.4 percent.
The head count in Juneau was up 7.2 percent while credit hours
went up 8.6 percent.
Sitka led with a 9.4 percent head count and 18.6 percent increase
in credit ours.
Ketchikan posted a 4.8 percent head count and 1.2 percent hike in
credit hours while nearly doubling its first time freshman
enrollment.
Preliminary numbers indicate enrollment is also up for the Spring
semester.
Juneau is up 20.4 percent and 20.7 percent in credit hours.
Overall, UAS is up 12.3 percent in head count and 15.1 in credit
hours.
In addition, Pugh says they're up 200 admissions so far for next
Fall compared to last year at this time.
Juneau to make
another bid for Arctic Winter Games
Juneau is once again planning to make a bid to host the Arctic
Winter Games here.
A bid made in 2002 to bring the 2006 games here lost out to the
Kenai Peninsula.
This renewed effort would be the 2014 games.
Former Assembly member Jim Powell spearheaded the effort last
time.
He thinks its a project the entire community can get behind.
A public forum arranged by Mayor Bruce Botelho is planned Thursday
evening with members of the Arctic Winter Games Team Alaska Board.
It's scheduled for 7 p.m. in Assembly chambers.
The games bring together nearly 2,000 athletes, coaches and
performers for sports competitions and cultural exhibitions.
Teams come from across the northern region including Russia,
Greenland, northern Scandinavia, and Alaska.
The games are
typically held over a nine day period during the first part of
March.
Alaska's
congressional delegation share state highlights in President's
budget
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said she has a few areas of concern
with the President Obama's proposed budget.
Murkowski says the budget calls for eliminating two U.S. Coast
Guard units in Alaska – the Medium Endurance Cutter Acushnet
homeported in Ketchikan, with 80 crew members, and the Marine
Safety and Security Team stationed in Anchorage, with 90
employees.
Murkowski says there were several bright notes in the budget, such
as $400 million for Alaska military construction projects and
increases in both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian
Health Service budgets.
Alaska Senator Mark Begich said the President's budget will lower
taxes for an estimated 300,000 families in Alaska and cut taxes
for small businesses.
He said there's $98 million for new funding in Pell Grants in
Alaska and $40 million for state and local educational initiatives
targeted at low-income areas throughout the state.
The budget proposal includes a $10 million cut in the health
facilities construction program of the Denali Commission, but the
commissions' level base funding of $11.9 million remains intact.
Begich said he's concerned about the president's proposal to end
$36.5 billion in incentives for oil and gas companies.
Begich and Murkowski are both concerned about the president's
proposed cut of $18 million to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's High Energy Costs Grant Program in the state.
Alaska Congressman Don Young said its Congress' responsibility to
evaluate and implement the country's budget, not the President's.
Young said while he's hopeful that President Obama wants to
"practice the fiscal responsibility he preaches, a token 3
percent spending freeze is like buying $200 in groceries at the
supermarket and then making the fiscal decision to not buy gum in
the check-out line."
Parnell proposes
supplemental spending bill
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sean Parnell is submitting a
supplemental spending bill that would forward-fund K-12 education,
repay a $400 million debt to a state reserve fund and set aside
$100 million for deferred maintenance.
The request follows a revised revenue forecast that Parnell's
office says projected a surplus of more than $2.2 billion for the
fiscal year ending June 30.
Much of that is due to oil prices trending higher than earlier
expected.
Senate confirms
US marshal for Alaska nominee
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mark Begich says he's pleased
that the full Senate has confirmed former Anchorage Police Chief
Rob Heun as the next U.S. marshal for Alaska.
Begich suggested Heun for the job and he was nominated by
President Obama.
Heun retired as chief in August. He had been chief since 2006 and
on the force for 26 years.
In his retirement announcement, Heun said that with a new mayor,
Dan Sullivan, taking office, the decision to leave made sense.
Woman accused in
Sitka cold case murder to be arraigned
A former Sitka woman accused of murdering her husband 22 years ago
in that town is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday on a charge of
first-degree murder.
Jane Limm, also known as Jane Reth, was extradited from Illinois
several days ago according to cold case prosecutor Pat Gullufsen.
A grand jury returned an indictment on the 45-year-old January
8th.
Limm, a physical therapist who was living outside Chicago, is
accused of killing husband Scott Coville in 1988.
The couple, in their mid 20s, had met at a California Christian
college.
She followed him up to Alaska after graduation.
They had only been married and living in Sitka less than a year
when Coville disappeared from the Southeast fishing town.
His family says the vanishing was not considered suspicious at
first. But no one ever heard from him again and his body was never
found.
Prosecutors are releasing little information about what evidence
they have.
They have only said that they found the spot where he was
allegedly killed, but other details have been withheld.
Limm's bail is currently set at $250,000 cash.
Anchorage Daily News)
Murkowski reports $1.7M on hand
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The latest campaign finance report from
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski shows the Republican raised $263,145 in
the last three months of 2009.
Those net contributions, coupled with expenses of about $72,250,
left Murkowski with $1.7 million in cash on hand at the end of the
reporting period.
The details come in a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Murkowski hasn't formally announced but is expected to seek
re-election later this year.
Begich reports
$44,000 in net contributions
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — He doesn't stand for re-election until
2014, but U.S. Sen. Mark Begich still reported $44,000 in net
contributions during the last three months of 2009.
In a filing with the Federal Election Commission, the Democrat
also reported net operating expenditures of about $46,050 during
the period ending Dec. 31.
He reported having nearly $167,570 on hand at the end of the
reporting period.
Lawmakers
to shoot for March 1 for maintenance
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A co-chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee says lawmakers will try to get the governor's deferred
maintenance proposal passed by March 1.
But Republican Sen. Bert Stedman said that will be difficult, and
he made no guarantees.
Gov. Sean Parnell has urged passage of his $100 million plan by
that date so work can begin on infrastructure projects this
summer.
In his supplemental spending bill, released this week, more than
half the funds requested are earmarked for the University of
Alaska system and the state Transportation Department.
Stedman, who's part of the Senate's bipartisan working group, says
lawmakers share Parnell's goal of getting projects let in time for
the summer construction season.
He says they'll "shoot" for passage by March 1, and will
try to get it done before the end of the session, in mid-April.
Forward funding education bill
introduced in House
The Education Committee in the State House has introduced legislation that
would forward fund education for the next three years.
Committee member Juneau Valley Representative Cathy Munoz says House Bill
317 would increase the base student allocation for each student by
$125 dollars.
Munoz says if the legislation passes, the Juneau School District
would receive an additional $1,149,000 in per student funding.
The bill also increases funding for vocational education
statewide.
She says that amount for Juneau would be about $550,000.
Munoz says forward funding allows school districts to approve
contracts in the Spring and provides stability.
She says forward funding makes the business of providing quality
education statewide much easier.
A hearing for the bill in the House Education Committee will be scheduled in the next week or two, according to the Juneau
lawmaker.
HB 317 will then move to the House Finance Committee.
Legislation
addresses the delivery of state e-mails
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Public employee e-mails related to state
business would need to be sent on state-run systems under a bill
proposed by Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis.
The measure filed
Monday comes amid a legal dispute over e-mails sent during the
Palin administration.
A 2008 public
records request filed by Andree McLeod showed that
then-Gov. Sarah Palin and members of her staff used private e-mail
accounts.
McLeod argued that
use of private accounts obstructs the public's ability to inspect
public records.
However, a Superior Court judge last month ruled that state law
does not forbid the use of private e-mails to conduct state
business and that the Legislature has given agencies discretion in
determining which e-mails are worth being preserved.
McLeod is looking to appeal that decision to the State Supreme
Court if the lower court judge doesn't reconsider his decision.
Game Board shoots down predator
control provision
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Board of Game has shot down
a provision that would have prevented nonresidents from hunting in
predator control areas where subsistence needs aren't being met.
The seven-member board voted against the proposal Monday brought
to the board by the Anchorage Fish & Game Advisory Committee.
Supporters of the proposal said it would have reserved moose and
caribou for Alaska residents in areas where predator control is
operating.
Supporters pointed out that Alaska law mandates that moose and
caribou be a priority subsistence resource for Alaska residents.
But the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said it is an
allocation issue the board should decide on a case-by-case basis.
Man gets 16 years
in death of 2-year-old
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 27-year-old man has pleaded guilty in
the beating death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, and has
been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Alaska State Troopers say Shaka Levshakoff entered his plea in
Anchorage Superior Court on Monday. He was charged in the June 24,
2007, death of Anne Marie Nimmo of Whittier.
Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says Levshakoff pleaded guilty
to manslaughter and interference to official proceedings.
Peters says he was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five
suspended for manslaughter. He received three years, with two
suspended, for the interference charge.
The sentences will be served consecutively.
Anchorage
man charged in connection with murder in the Philippines
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — U.S. marshals arrested an Anchorage man
accused of a killing 15 years ago in the Philippines.
The 58-year-old, Armando Olde Y Balangatan, was arrested Thursday
getting off a plane at the Anchorage airport.
He had been working on a merchant marine ship at the island of
Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Anchorage driver
acquitted in double fatal
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A woman accused of manslaughter in a
crash on the Seward Highway in which two people were killed has
been acquitted of all charges.
Twenty-four-year-old Danielle Jennett of Anchorage was acquitted
Monday in Superior Court.
Jennett also was seriously injured in the 2008 accident and
remained hospitalized for two months.
Jennett's friend, Riley McVitty, was killed. The driver of the
vehicle in the oncoming lane, 42-year-old Jeffrey McClure, also
died.
Jennett apologized for the accident and said she did not remember
what occurred.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Man tasered
by Trooper in during traffic stop on Interior road
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska state trooper Tasered a
Fairbanks man who threw snow at a trooper and interfered with a
field sobriety test on the man's girlfriend on the Parks Highway.
Troopers say the 34-year-old man was repeatedly warned Sunday not
to interfere.
Now he's charged with assault, resisting arrest and disorderly
conduct.
The girlfriend was charged with drunken driving.
(Fairbanks News-Miner)
Report:
'Deadliest Catch' captain suffers stroke
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle-based captain of the "Deadliest
Catch" fishing vessel Cornelia Marie has been flown to
Anchorage after suffering a stroke while the boat was in port at
St. Paul Island, Alaska.
According to the vessel's Web site, Capt. Phil Harris was stricken
Friday night.
Harris was flown to Anchorage and underwent surgery over the
weekend. His sons Josh and Jake joined him there.
The Web site account says it may be some time before
"anything substantial" is known about Harris' condition.
The Discovery Channel reality show depicts the crab fishing
industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.
The Web site reports a family friend, Derek Ray, has flown to St.
Paul to take over the role of relief skipper for the rest of the
opilio crab season.
----
Information from: KIRO-TV
Officials
warn Sitka to leave sea lions alone
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — Marine mammal officials in Sitka are
warning residents not to harass Steller sea lions.
Witnesses told the Sitka Harbor Department that a sea lion had
hauled out on a city harbor float last week and that residents
hazed the animal back into the water, then set off a seal bomb, a
small explosive device used to frighten mammals away from fishing
grounds.
Harbor Master Stan Eliason says that's not only unwise but
illegal. Sea lions are a threatened species.
Eliason says the sea lion was probably looking for food.
The harbor master says sea lions may not be fed or disturbed.
(Daily Sitka Sentinel)
Alaska congressman raises
$130,000 during quarter
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska congressman under federal
investigation reported no legal fees in the last quarter of 2009.
U.S. Rep. Don Young is running for his 20th term this year.
The Republican is facing federal investigations of connections to
an Alaska businessman convicted of bribing state lawmakers and a
spending bill earmark that benefited a campaign supporter in
Florida.
Young previously spent more than $1 million in legal fees.
But spokeswoman says the campaign has not spent money on legal
fees since the second quarter reporting period. However, those
payments were spread out over two quarters.
In a Federal Elections Commission filing Monday, Young reported
net contributions of nearly $131,000 and expenditures of about
$54,000, over a three-month period ending Dec. 31.
That leaves Young with a war chest of about $200,000.
Palin's PAC reports raising more
$1.4M
RACHEL D'ORO -Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A new report filed with the Federal
Elections Commission shows Sarah Palin's political action
committee raised about $1.4 million in the second half of 2009,
most of it following her resignation as Alaska's governor.
SarahPAC paid publisher HarperCollins almost $47,800 for copies of
"Going Rogue," Palin's best-selling memoir featuring her
2008 run as the GOP vice presidential candidate.
With the book's November release, SarahPAC offered signed copies
to people who donated $100 or more. SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford
says the $47,800 covered books and shipping them to HSP Direct, a
direct mail fundraising company.
HSP Direct, based in Herndon, Va., was paid more than $15,700 by
SarahPAC for its services.
Crawford says the publisher was paid nearly $12 per copy.
Palin endorses
Rand Paul in Kentucky Senate
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has
endorsed Republican Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate race in Kentucky.
Palin said in a written statement that she's "proud to
support grassroots candidates like Dr. Paul."
The Bowling Green eye surgeon is running for the seat now held by
retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, who opted not to seek a
third term. Paul will face Kentucky Secretary of State Trey
Grayson in the May primary election.
Palin says she's lending her support because Paul, the son of
former presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, wants to
"shake up the status quo in Washington."
The Paul campaign released the endorsement on Monday, calling
Palin "a giant in American politics."
Fairbanks survey
to gauge gang problem
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Officials in Fairbanks plan to conduct
a survey later this month to determine the extent of gang
activity.
The survey will be mailed to 500 homes and given to students in
seventh to 12th grades, if the parents agree.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that by late March a task
force will have a better understanding of gang activity and how to
counter it.
The project director for the Fairbanks Gang Reduction and
Intervention Network, Shea Daniels, says the survey asks questions
to determine why youngsters join gangs.
Police Chief Laren Zager says the survey also should help law
enforcement.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Reid
Building sold
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — The Reid Building, the former offices
of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, has sold for $350,000.
The Ketchikan Borough Assembly on Monday unanimously voted to sell
the building to Coastal Alaska Properties for $350,000.
Coastal Alaska Properties consists of a group of local investors
who plan to remodel the building, then develop it.
The borough's asking price was $420,000. However, no offers were
received since the borough vacated the building and moved its
office to the White Cliff building.
Subtracting closing costs and commissions, the borough is expected
to receive $336,200 from the sale.
(Ketchikan Daily News)
Gas drilling in Appalachia
yields a foul byproduct
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Energy companies racing to unlock a huge
Appalachian gas reserve are facing pressure to keep polluted
drilling water out of public waterways.
Experts say the Marcellus Shale field could become the largest
natural gas field in the country and the first where drilling
water is widely recycled or reused.
The drilling process
involves blasting millions of gallons of water into the earth to
break up the shale. Water treatment plants have trouble handling
the particle-filled brine left over after the drilling.
Many companies are experimenting with different methods. Range
Resources Corp. says it generates savings by reusing wastewater at
its wells in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Snow scarce in Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — There's not much snow this winter in
Fairbanks, and now the National Weather Service has acknowledged
it overestimated what fell last month.
The service says that because of a clerical error, it subtracted
one-tenth of an inch of snow from what fell on Jan. 21. Weather
service meteorologist Rich Thoman says someone just put the wrong
number on a form.
That means only 1 inch of snow fell in January — the
second-lowest snowfall for the month in Fairbanks since the
service started keeping records in 1904. The total snowfall at
Fairbanks this winter is 20.7 inches.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
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