Juneau Daily News Online

Monday,  February 4, 2002

Tourism money approved by state representatives
The State House approved a measure today appropriating emergency monies for the Alaska Travel Industry Association.

The supplemental appropriations measure authorizes an expenditure of $6 Million. The initial funding request from the industry was $12.5 Million. The Governor proposed $10 Million.

Tourism industry executives have told lawmakers that travel bookings have declined drastically since Septembers terrorists attacks.

Proposed amendments to forward fund part of next year's budget for tourism and to increase the funding level and add money for fisheries marketing were defeated during today's deliberations.

House Bill 359 was adopted 25 to 10 and sent to the Senate

Carnival meeting with Princess shareholders as part of takeover attempt
The hostile takeover battle in the cruise ship industry goes on. The chief executive of Carnival Corporation began meeting with Princess shareholders in London today to lobby for their support.

Micky Arison is trying to overcome opposition to Carnival's five billion dollar takeover bid for Princess. Carnival officials are hoping to torpedo a merger deal between Princess and Royal Caribbean.

Princess' board has repeatedly rejected Carnival's takeover offers saying they are inadequate and likely to run into regulatory problems.

All three cruise companies operate in Alaska waters. And all are looking to cut costs in the wake of a drop in business after the September eleventh terrorist attacks.

Alaska salmon industry needs radical change, according to university official
A university economist says the salmon industry needs radical change if it is to survive and become competitive on the world market.

Gunner Knapp says the industry is facing a crises brought on by globalization and salmon farming overseas. He says the people of the state need to debate the future of the resource.  He says Alaskans need to decide if they want to watch the industry slide downhill, or make radical changes.

Knapp says Alaska wild salmon is at a disadvantage on the world market because of farmed fish, but he says wild fish can become competitive if the costs of catching them come down. He adds that the state needs to end what he called the "race for fish."

Ultrasound to help with Kenai fish count
Fish and Game biologists will be using ultrasound technology to count fish on the Kenai River this summer. Engineers at the University of Washington have developed the long-range ultrasound video system and will test it on the Kenai River in July.

Work proceeds on new math curriculum
A school district committee is now in the process of selecting from four programs for a new math curriculum for grades K to 5. The first of two public meetings was held last week. Another is scheduled for next week.

Stephanie Hoag [Hoig], the district's Curriculum Coordinator, said on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that the goal is to make a selection by the end of March. Final approval rests with the School Board.

She said they would like to start purchasing material by May and have them in the schools by the first of August to give teachers some time to review the material prior to the start of classes.

Next week's public meeting is Wednesday, February 13th beginning at 6:30 at the Riverbend School Library.

Man jailed on sexual abuse charge
An arrest was made by Juneau Police Friday after receiving a report of sexual abuse. Police say their investigation led to the arrest of 46 year old Stanley F. Brown on a charge of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the First Degree. Brown was jailed at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center. No other details were released.

Kidnapping - torture case in Anchorage results in five arrests
Anchorage police say a 16-year-old boy was held against his will and tortured over the weekend. The boy managed to escape from an East Side trailer yesterday after chewing through the duct tape that had been used to tie him to a bed.

Police have arrested four men and a 17-year-old girl in connection with the incident. The arrests were made after a seven-hour standoff at the trailer.

Investigators are still trying to sort out exactly what happened. But they say the boy went with a friend to the trailer Friday night to watch movies and play video games. The victim was pistol whipped, knocked unconscious and duct-taped by his hands and feet to a bed.

Police say the boy was assaulted throughout the day Saturday. At one point, someone carved initials into his back with a knife. He managed to escape while those in the trailer slept early yesterday morning. Police say a 21-year-old woman in the trailer had also been beaten and has been hospitalized.

Police surrounded the trailer at about 9-30 a-m yesterday. At mid-morning the 17-year-old girl surrendered. She has been charged with first-degree assault and kidnapping and is being held at the McLaughlin Youth Center.

The four men in the trailer surrendered at 4-30 p-m. They were identified as 19-year-old Nathan Carroll, 21-year-old Nicholas Stevens, 21-year-old Joseph Shank and 20-year-old Allen John. All have been charged with kidnapping and assault and are being held at Cook Inlet jail.

Maad trail gets underway
Jury selection began this morning in the federal fraud trial of an Anchorage print shop owner. Mike Maad, who owned the now defunct Frontier Printing Services, is facing felony charges of falsifying financial documents, wire fraud and lying to the government.

Tulsequah mine permit put on hold
A Canadian appeals court has upheld a ruling that a permit for the Tulsequah Chief Mine near Juneau is invalid because it does not address the concerns of Natives.

Alaska officials have said they're concerned about potential damage to Taku River salmon from the mine 40 miles northeast of Juneau.

Anchorage's airport among 15 in nation to undergo study
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is among 15 airports whose security will be studied in the next six weeks by the federal government's new Transportation Security Administration.

The agency will use its findings to develop new procedures at all of the country's 429 commercial airports. The agency takes over airline security on February 17th.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says the government recognizes that each airport is unique. But he adds that there needs to be consistency in security and in the way travelers are treated.

In the study, outside consultants and government employees will look at how passengers and cargo move through security at the airports. The consultants will then recommend changes to make the procedures more effective and more convenient.

Report released on last year's crash of an Alaska pilot in the Yukon
A Canadian coroner says the recovery of an Alaska pilot who crashed on a frozen Yukon lake last year was delayed because his plane's emergency locator transmitter was turned off. Coroner Sharon Hanley says the delay caused Gregory Smith of North Pole to succumb to blood loss and hypothermia.

In a report released last week, Hanley said Smith died from external blood loss and inhalation of blood from the multiple injuries he suffered in the plane crash March 30th.

Smith was flying his new Cessna 210 home from Kansas, where he'd been visiting family three days after celebrating his 43rd birthday. He was a former U-S Air Force air traffic controller in Alaska and had flown the route from Alaska to Kansas several times before.

Smith crashed on Teslin Lake while trying to follow the Alaska Highway the last 99 miles from Teslin to Whitehorse during a snowstorm.

His last communication with the Whitehorse control tower was at 6-44 p-m. A search started three hours later after the control tower staff decided Smith had run out of fuel if he was still in the air. Smith's plane wasn't found until 8 the next morning.

Economic development grants awarded across the state
Twenty-eight Alaska communities will share 600-thousand dollars in economic development grants. The grants come from a partnership of the federally funded Denali Commission, the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development and the U-S Forest Service.

The grants are aimed at creating jobs and helping to diversify local economies. They range from ten-thousand to 30-thousand dollars.

Among the recipients, the Kenai Peninsula is getting 21-thousand dollars to study the feasibility of developing a livestock slaughterhouse; Thorne Bay is getting 26-thousand dollars for the development of an R-V park; Seldovia is getting 30 thousand dollars for a feasibility study on a cannery project and Mountain Village is getting ten thousand dollars for a community and economic development plan.

Aurora subject of lecture series
"Watching the Aurora from Earth and Space" is the title of a lecture to be presented by University of Alaska Professor of Physics and Geophysical Institute Director Roger Smith in Juneau this evening.

Smith will present video and still images of Earth's auroras' as seen from the ground and satellites. He will also show images of aurora's on Jupiter and Saturn as captured by the Hubble Telescope.

The lecture is the first of four weekly presentations included in the "2002 Science for Alaska" lecture series.

Tonight's lecture is free and open to the public and starts 7-30 at Centennial Hall.

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