JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE
Monday, February 3, 1997 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*An apparent bomb threat forced the evacuation of workers at the
State Office Building. The threat was apparently made around 11
o'clock this morning. Doogan Petty with the Department of
Administration says that the building is closed to the public for
the remainder of the day, and employees should listen to KINY or
KSUP for information on when to return to work. Also, anyone
with a vehicle still parked in the building needs to go to
Centennial Hall before trying to remove it from the parking
garage. Under no circumstances should anyone enter the State
Office Building until official notice is given.
*Senator Frank Murkowski says the Clinton administration has
reached a deal to supply sawmills in Ketchikan and Metlakatla
with timber for at least three years to keep the mills running.
That came in an address made this morning to a joint session of
the Legislature. Murkowski also said an agreement must be
reached between the Legislature and the Knowles Administration
regarding changes to federal subsistence laws, or the state could
lose control of fish and game management.
*Biologists are predicting a pink salmon harvest of only 37-million
for this year, down drastically from last year's harvest
of 65-million. The low figure is a result of early cold weather
that hit the region last winter. But the lower number of fish
should mean higher prices for fishermen, who took a big hit last
year with low prices and processors who couldn't handle the glut
of fish. Biologists say that despite the low harvest estimate
for this year, the runs are still healthier than they were in the
1960 and 70s.
*The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man in Hobart Bay
who was thrown overboard yesterday afternoon after his skiff hit
a submerged object while traveling at a high rate of speed.
Lanny Hotrum apparently was tending crab or shrimp pots when his
skiff overturned. A helicopter from Air Station Sitka and a 41-foot
utility boat form station Juneau assisted in the search.
The search was suspended pending further development.
*A model for logging in the Tongass was worked up by the
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, and they determined that
logging 100-million board feet would support over 18-hundred
jobs, if secondary manufacturing were implemented. SEACC arrived
at the figures after studying the timber industry in Oregon,
Washington and British Columbia, where they employ up to 12
people for each million board feet logged, compared to 5 jobs per
million board feet in Alaska.
*Juneau's very own Hilary Lindh, three-time Olympian, will lead a
group of eight women, along with Megan Gerety of Anchorage, who
will compete this week in the World Alpine Championships in
Italy. Lindh and Gerety were selected as leaders last night.