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Skating
begins this week
The Treadwell Ice Arena at Savikko Park in Douglas opens this Thursday.
That according to CBJ Parks and Recreation Director Kim Kiefer. She says a
complete schedule for February was due out this afternoon.
The department will start taking reservations on Wednesday from Noon until
6 at the arena.
Arena Manager Myiia Whistler said on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that
they will have 225 pair of figure and hockey skates available for rent.
A grand opening ceremony is planned on Saturday, February 22nd.
Man accused of filing vehicles
arrested
Police caught a suspect this morning accused of rifling vehicles.
Sergeant Kevin Siska says they were notified a few minutes before four am.
that there was a person going through vehicles in the Switzer Creek area.
Officers found a person matching the description of the suspect and
arrested 19 year old Ross H. Sparks.
He was charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree, a felony. He also faces the
misdemeanor charges criminal trespass and misconduct involving a
controlled substance.
Sparks was also charged with failing to comply with the conditions of
probation on a theft charge. That charge was made in connection with a
State of Alaska warrant.
A lap top computer valued at a thousand dollars was among the stolen
items.
Sparks was lodged at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center on no bail.
Education study to get look by
state lawmakers
A new study on how much it costs to educate kids in different parts of the
state will be just the start of discussions this year on school funding.
That's the word from the House Republican majority leader. North Pole
Representative John Coghill spoke at a news conference this morning.
The new district cost study came out in January. It found that the cost of
education in rural Alaska is not as high as previously thought. It also
found that costs were lower in the Mat-Su.
But the study determined costs were higher than previously thought in
Fairbanks, Juneau and the Kenai Peninsula.
Coghill says legislators will listen to public concerns about the study.
And he noted it is just one part of a formula that determines how much
state money schools get. He says other parts of the formula will also
probably be discussed.
Governor covers cost of jet ride
to Scotland
Governor Murkowski has reimbursed former Alaska banking executive Ed
Rasmuson for a ride in Rasmuson's private jet.
Murkowski Press Secretary John Manly says Murkowski paid Rasmuson nearly
28-hundred dollars for the flight from Glasgow, Scotland to Anchorage last
month aboard Rasmuson's Gulfstream jet.
Murkowski and his wife joined Rasmuson and other friends for a pheasant
hunting trip to Scotland.
Murkowski and Rasmuson are old friends. The governor says they've taken
the hunting trip to Scotland for several years with their wives.
New York Express probe continues
in Seattle
Federal agents have raided a cargo ship docked in Seattle following a
report that a crew member was missing in Alaska.
The F-B-I says it's investigating the disappearance of a Romanian man who
was reported missing and possibly overboard early Thursday.
The Coast Guard says crew members on the Greek-flagged New York Express
found his bunk empty and bloodstained.
The ship arrived in Seattle from Tokyo over the weekend. Authorities
aren't saying what the ship's cargo is. It will remain docked until
investigators complete their work.
Probe into taking of crab in
Russian waters ongoing
The National Marine Fisheries Service is continuing its investigation of
alleged illegal crab fishing by U-S vessels in Russian waters.
Five vessels were ordered to Dutch Harbor by the Coast Guard after a Coast
Guard aircraft and cutter allegedly saw crews hauling in crab pots during
the week of January 19th.
Coast Guard officials say the vessels were on the Russian side of the
maritime boundary line.
The crab, worth an estimated 350-thousand dollars, has been seized.
Construction begins on second
Alaska fast ferry
There was a ceremony late last week at Derecktor Shipyard in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, in conjunction with a fast ferry being built for the state.
It was traditional plate cutting ceremony for the second of Alaska's new
fast ferry, the Chenega.
That word from the General Manager of the Alaska Marine Highway, Captain
George Capacci who says the vessel is scheduled to begin service in Prince
William Sound in the Spring of 2005. He says the vessel will cut travel
times between Cordova, Valdez and Whittier in half.
The Fairweather is already under construction. Its scheduled to begin
service next Spring between Juneau and Sitka.
Sun Princess hit by sickness
An Hawaiian cruise has been less than idyllic for nearly 250 passengers
and crew of the Sun Princess who have come down with a gastrointestinal
illness.
Princess Cruises says it's not known yet if it's the Norwalk or
Norwalk-like virus which afflicted more than 15-hundred cruise ship
passengers in recent months.
The viruses, which cause diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting for up to 48
hours, are spread by close contact with infected people or the things they
have touched.
Victims aboard the Sun Princess weren't allowed to take shore excursions
as the cruise line set to work sanitizing the ship after it arrived in
Honolulu Harbor yesterday.
One passenger says he was quarantined and could only get food through room
service.
The first illness was reported shortly after the vessel left Los Angeles
on January 25th.
The Sun Princess visits Juneau and other Alaska ports in the summer.
Bush spending plan includes ANWR
An interior official says President Bush's new budget anticipates
two-point-four (b) billion dollars in oil lease sales in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge by 2005.
Rebecca Watson, assistant interior secretary for land and minerals
management, says half the money would be spent to research solar, wind,
geothermal and other alternative energy.
Watson says the proposal to spend one-point-two (b) billion in lease sales
on research of renewable energies should help temper opposition to
drilling in arctic Alaska.
Drilling opponents have denounced the idea.
Watson says it's the first time the administration had proposed spending
the proceeds from the oil sales directly on alternative power research.
Last year, the Republican-led House approved opening ANWR to drilling but
the proposal died in the Democratic-run Senate. This year, both chambers
are controlled by Republicans and the measure is back on the White House's
agenda.
Military exercise will include
Marine Highway vessels
Two vessels of the Alaska Marine Highway will participate in the statewide
military exercise, Northern Edge 2003, next month.
Captain Jack Meyers is the system's operations manager. He says the
exercise involving the Bartlett will occur on March 12th. He says that
will consist a day time exercise in the Port of Valdez.
That part of the exercise involving the Kennicott will start on March 12th
in Seward. It be carrying National Guard troops and equipment to Valdez.
On the next day, t he Kennicott will provide the platform for exercises to
take place between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The Kennicott sailings March 11th and 12th from Homer to Kodiak and back
are cancelled. The captain says when the Kennicott returns to Valdez the
morning of March 13th, passengers will be given the option of disembarking
for the day or remaining on board.
The vessels will participate in the Homeland Security portion of the
exercise.
Warm temperatures in January
hinders snow level
Above normal temperatures and below normal snowfall marked January in
Juneau.
Meteorologist Pete Rahe of the Juneau Forecast Office says the average
temperature of 32 degrees was six degrees above normal. He adds last month
was the fourth month in the row with above normal temperatures.
He says the domino effect of higher temperatures was less snowfall. There
were15 point 1 inches reported last month. That's nearly 14 inches below
normal.
He says the seasonal total is well under the average. The norm at the end
of January is 63 inches, but there's only been 32 point 8 inches at that
point this season.
Rahe says total precipitation was close to normal with five point 68
inches collected. He says that's not quite an inch above the average.
The peak wind at the airport in January was 52 miles per hour, but the top
recorded wind was 68 miles per hour at the Rock Dump downtown.
Airport in Anchorage in line for
federal dollars to finance improvements
Anchorage International Airport will receive over $51 Million for
improvements from the U. S. Department of Transportation.
The funding announced today in a letter of intent signed by the department
and airport officials is contingent on passage of the Fiscal Year 03
Omnibus Appropriations bill.
It will be used to construct a taxiway and upgrade an existing runway and
taxiway.
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News) |
