|
Charges pending
in case of man approaching girls near middle school
Juneau police have a suspect in the case of a suspicious man
asking girls if they wanted a ride in the area of Floyd Dryden
Middle School.
Late last month, three girls reported that a man driving an SUV
asked them if they wanted a ride.
After they declined,
the man drove away.
The department's Cindee Brown-Mills says Friday
police received a tip about the possible identity of the man.
She says officers prepared a photo lineup and the young ladies
identified the man who had approached them.
Criminal charges are pending.
The investigation is ongoing.
Brown-Mills says the department would like to thank the community,
because the tips they received were instrumental in helping
police to continue the investigation and ultimately identity the man.
Palin
e-mails suggest husband's role in governing
BECKY BOHRER - Associated Press Writer
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — E-mails obtained by The Associated Press
suggest Todd Palin was intimately involved in decisions related to
state government when his wife was governor of Alaska.
The e-mails show Todd Palin was included in messages on a wide
range of government and political issues. Aides to then-Gov. Sarah
Palin regularly sought Todd Palin's advice on such things as state
board appointments.
In one e-mail, Todd Palin advocates having an Alaska newspaper
removed from a press release list after Sarah Palin complained
about an editor's fairness.
The e-mails, released to AP after a public records request, were
accompanied by a 19-page list detailing those withheld, citing
executive privilege, privacy or other reasons.
Palin cabins not
noted in tax assessments
RACHEL D'ORO -Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Cabins have gone up on two backcountry
properties owned in Alaska by Sarah Palin, her husband and a
partner, but the land shows zero value for building assessments,
according to property tax records.
It's unclear how long ago the structures were built, but the local
borough assessor says an aerial survey of the area was being
conducted for the first time in five years on Thursday.
Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, says it is not the property
owners responsibility to report structures or assess themselves.
But Dave Dunivan, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough assessor, says
owners are required by state statues to report any omissions or
errors in their tax assessments.
The properties are located along Safari Lake, an undeveloped area
located near Denial State Park, and owned by the former Alaska
governor, her husband Todd and a friend, Scott Richter.
Palin
relative sentenced to jail
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Anchorage Daily News reports a
half-sister of Sarah Palin's husband Todd reached a plea deal with
prosecutors in a burglary case.
At the sentencing last week in Palmer Superior Court, 35-year-old
Diana Palin was given a 15-month sentence.
She has already served five months and will be allowed to finish
her sentence at a drug treatment center.
Appeals court
grants former stripper new trial
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Prosecutors say they will review an
Alaska appellate court ruling before deciding whether to appeal
the decision that awards a new trial to a former
stripper-turned-soccer-mom who was convicted of plotting to kill
her former fiance for money.
The Alaska Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the trial judge
wrongly allowed prosecutors to introduce a letter written by
Mechele Linehan's former fiance shortly before he was fatally shot
on an isolated Alaska trail in 1996.
Deputy Attorney General Rick Svobodny says the state will either
appeal the case or retry it.
Linehan's attorney Susan Orlansky says Linehan and her husband,
Colin, were very pleased by the ruling and asked many questions
about what happens next.
Linehan will remain in custody until at least a bail hearing.
ConocoPhillips denied NPRA permit
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has
denied ConocoPhillips a permit that would have given the company
access to the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The idea was to build a bridge over the Colville River to access
what would have been the first oil and gas lease in the reserve.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office says the corps is insisting instead
that ConocoPhillips use directional drilling to access the oil.
Murkowski, R-Alaska, says while one oil deposit may be in reach,
the next in line for development is more than 10 miles away.
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, says he also is very disappointed the
project has gotten knocked off-track.
He says in coming months he hopes the company and the permitting
agencies can work together.
Officials
identify man killed in Sitka fire
Officials have released the name of man who died in a fire in
Sitka early Thursday morning.
Killed in the fire was 53 year-old Edwin L. Haynes.
He was lone occupant of lower level apartment of a residence at
804 Lake Street.
Sitka Fire Chief Dave Miller says when firefighters arrived there
was heavy smoke coming from the first story and the lower story,
with a one bedroom apartment, garage and storage area, had just
erupted into flames.
Residents of the upper story escaped the fire and were uninjured.
The resident of the apartment was missing.
The Chief says, after fighting the fire for about an hour and a
half, the blaze was knocked down enough for firefighters to gain
access into the apartment.
That's when they found the body.
The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Police
believe body of man found in Ketchikan is teen who disappeared
last Fall
Ketchikan Police believe they know the identity of the man whose body
was found Wednesday morning.
Based on clothing and personal effects identified by family
members, Deputy Chief Josh Dossett says they believe it may be 19
year old Michael Abt.
He was reported missing by his family on November 22 of last year.
The family had just recently moved from Sitka and they say he was
depressed about the move and they were afraid he was going to hurt
himself.
The body was shipped to the Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage
where dental work will be used to make a positive identification.
The body was found by city workers near one end of a utility
catwalk crossing Ketchikan Creek.
Arrest made
in Anchorage cabbie hit and run death
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Police arrested a man last night
accused of running a stop sign last Saturday and killing a cab
driver in Anchorage.
Thirty-nine-year-old Lawrence A. Brewer is scheduled to be
arraigned today on charges of manslaughter and drunken driving.
The crash killed Yellow Cab driver Dale Polkarney.
(KTUU)
Girdwood man dies
nearly a week after accident
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 43-year-old Girdwood man has died,
nearly a week after being involved in an accident on the Seward
Highway.
Alaska State Troopers say Paul C. Wiersema died late Wednesday at
an Anchorage hospital.
He was involved in a collision Jan. 29 with a trailer pulled by
another vehicle that served into his lane.
Troopers say the other driver lost control of his trailer, which
held a full-sized pickup.
The trailer clipped a guardrail and fishtailed sideways into
Wiersema's lane.
The left side of the trailer collided head-on with Wiersema's
pickup.
Troopers don't believe alcohol was a factor, and everyone reported
wearing seat belts.
No citations were issued, but troopers continue to investigate.
Legislative
proposal calls for creation of transportation fund
A proposed constitutional amendment calls for the establishment of
the Alaska Transportation Infrastructure Fund.
Wrangell Representative Peggy Wilson is the sponsor of House Joint
Resolution 42.
She's also sponsored House Bill 329 which would designate the fund
to generate from a $1 Billion endowment and receive revenue from
the fuel tax and vehicle registrations pending voter approval of
the constitutional change....
Wilson warns there will be a federal Transportation
Reauthorization bill in the next year which may prove unfavorable
for states with small populations, like Alaska.
Right now, she says approximately 890 of Alaska's transportation
funding comes from the federal government.
HJR 42 and HB 329 were referred to the House Transportation
Committee.
UPDATE -
Brelsford released from Miami hospital
The young Anchorage woman who had her foot amputated in Florida
after the earthquake in Haiti has been released from Jackson
Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Christa Brelsford was discharged from the hospital in a wheelchair
Wednesday after four surgeries.
She told reporters that "every day she's thankful to be
alive."
Brelsford has created a nonprofit to raise funds for the school
that crumbled during the quake and to give a scholarship to one of
the "angels'" who helped pull her from the rubble
She credits Wenson Georges with saving her life.
Minutes after the earthquake hit, Georges, a friend and
Brelsford's brother Julian began lifting the large concrete slabs
that had fallen on top of her.
Once free, Georges cradled her in his arms on the back of a
motorcycle as they rushed to a U.N. Peacekeeping Mission.
Brelsford, a graduate student at Arizona State University, was one
of the first Americans airlifted from Haiti to Florida after the
January 12th earthquake.
Her injuries were so severe that surgeons were forced to amputate
her right leg below the shin.
Caribou hunters
convicted
Three men accused of wasting caribou on the North Slope were
convicted Thursday.
A judge in Point Hope found the three men guilty of failure to
salvage edible meat during the hunt in the summer of 2008.
The charges are not criminal violations.
Eight men had been charged for killing 37 caribou and leaving the
carcasses on the tundra.
Charges against one were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Four other men pleaded guilty in exchange for fines and community
service.
What was originally planned as a jury trial was instead decided by
a judge after two days of testimony.
Local and regional leaders raised defense funds, calling the case
an attack on traditional practices.
Anchorage man faces weapons
sentence
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 30-year-old Anchorage man will be
sentenced Friday for his conviction on a felony weapons misconduct
charge.
A jury in August convicted Tracy Hutton of the May 31, 2008,
drive-by shooting of another car after occupants of that car shot
at Hutton's vehicle.
The jury also convicted Hutton of being a felon in possession of a
concealable firearm.
Prosecutors say Hutton is a two-time convicted felon who was not
entitled to possess a concealed firearm.
His prior record includes convictions for burglary, drugs and
weapons possession as a felon.
Diana
Tillion remembered on floor of State House
Alaska artist Diana Tillion is has passed away at the age of 81.
The wife of former state lawmaker Clem Tillion passed away at her
Halibut Cove home on the Kenai Peninsula Wednesday.
She was remembered on the floor of the Alaska State House of
Representatives by Juneau's Beth Kerttula who knew Tillion when
she was a child
Kerttula called for a moment of silence to remember Tillion
following her comments under special orders.
Decision on legislative use of
social networking sites postponed
A lot of people use computers at work to access social networking
sites -- but should the legislature be allowed to do the same?
The Legislative Council -- a group of 14 House and Senate members
who manage internal business -- discussed the question of social
networking at a meeting Thursday.
It's not a question of whether lawmakers might waste time on
Facebook or other sites; it's whether using the site would be
considered political campaigning.
Lawmakers are not allowed to campaign using state computers, which
is one reason social networking sites are blocked in the Capitol.
Some legislators have asked to have access to the sites so they
can communicate with constituents.
The Legislative Council postponed a decision on the matter.
History will be made this weekend in Juneau basketball history.
Bears and Falcons to clash for
first time
History will be made this weekend in Juneau basketball history.
The Juneau Douglas High School Crimson Bears and the Thunder
Mountain High School Falcons play for the first time tonight and
Saturday.
Tonight's game takes place at Juneau Douglas. The Falcons host the
Bears Saturday.
Tip off for both games, which will be heard on KINY Radio, is 8
p.m.
Bears' hockey squad face playoff
contest
The Juneau Douglas High School Crimson Bears' hockey team
participates in its first playoff game tonight.
The Bears meet West
Valley in Fairbanks.
The puck drops at
7:30.
A victory would put
the Bears in the state tournament in Wasilla next weekend.
Yukon Quest
starts Saturday
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Yukon Quest mushers begin the
1,000-mile sled dog race at 11 Saturday morning in downtown
Fairbanks.
The favorite is four-time winner Lance Mackey who is back after
skipping last year's Yukon Quest.
The finish line this year is in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
(Fairbanks News-Miner)
Coast Guard hoists stricken man
off fishing boat
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted a
40-year-old man complaining of chest pains from a fishing boat in
the Bering Sea.
The Coast Guard Juneau office took a call just before 5 p.m.
Wednesday that the man was on the Alaskan Leader, a Kodiak-based
longliner 265 miles northwest of St. Paul Island.
The Coast Guard has two helicopters on St. Paul during the opilio
crab season. They reached the ship at about 9:30 p.m. but winds up
to 35 mph and waves of 20 feet prevented a rescue.
The helicopters tried again Thursday and Chad Smith was lifted off
the vessel just before noon.
The Coast Guard said the helicopters would head to St. Paul, where
Smith could take a commercial medical flight to Anchorage.
Cooperative
Extension Service looking for public input
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Fairbanks
Cooperative Extension Service is looking for opinions from state
residents to aid in long-range planning of programs and services.
Extension director Fred Schlutt says results from the online
survey will help the service focus its work in six areas: health,
energy, climate change, food security, economic development, and
youth and families.
Runners careful navigating icy
Alaska roads
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaskan Scott May ran over 1,500 miles in
2009. Many of his strides were taken on dirt and asphalt during
summer months, but a significant amount of his mileage was
completed on snow and ice.
So May has learned what kind of snow and ice is conducive to the
sport. He says he avoids running on loose, unpacked snow and finds
he can get decent footing in regular running shoes along the sides
of roads that have been sanded.
One of May's favorite winter spots is on the frozen surface of
Auke Lake, especially when there is fresh snow atop the ice.
On extremely slimy days, May employs ice cleats on his running
shoes to aid in traction. He also recommends installing screws
into the bottom of shoes to create built-in grip.
May only uses his grippers a few times each winter, but some other
winter runners swear by them.
As the seasons change, other outdoor enthusiasts change with them.
Scott Fischer is a runner, cyclist, skier and co-owner of the
Foggy Mountain Shop.
He runs on plenty of icy surfaces during shoulder seasons, but
when winter is in full swing he simply switches to Nordic skiing.
|
