Police I.D. man found dead near Basin Road
Juneau police have identified the man was found dead near Basin Road last Sunday.

The body of 67 year-old James Demmert was found about two-tenths of a mile down the closed access road to the right of Basin Road.

Demmert was reported missing by a family member at about 9-06 that Sunday morning.

The a family member reported that Demmert had left his downtown residence the previous night and had not yet returned home.

On Sunday at about 2:58 p.m. police received a report that a body had been located in the snow near Basin Road.

Officers arrived and the deceased person was identified as Demmert.

Police say about 2 inches of undisturbed snow covered his body.

Demmert was lying face up and was dressed appropriately for the weather conditions.

Police say there were no signs of trauma to Demmert's body.

The State Medical Examiner's Office has decided not to do an autopsy.

Police say fluids were drawn for a toxicology screening.

Flood of water results from water main break from Cope Park
There was a water main break in Cope Park this morning.

We were contacted by listeners before ten a.m. including Henry James, the Salvation Army Thrift Store Manager on Willoughby Avenue.

He reported a flood of water coming down Capital Avenue that was rising in front of the Malaspina Apartments and the Salvation Army's Church.

James credited the snow berms for channeling the water flow.

Another man called from the Federal Building at about that time to report people were being asked to move their vehicles out of harm's way from water coming down 9th Street there.

City Manager Rod Swope and Public Works Director Joe Buck went out to survey the area. Swope called us to report they found a major, 12 inch water main line break in the park.

Swope described it as a "little river" flowing from there down Capital Avenue and on to Willoughby.

At its maximum, Buck says there was about a six inch deep stream of water.

Buck says they were notified at about 9:25. It took them about ten minutes to isolate it, and they had it shut off and contained within 20 minutes.

Buck figures the 50 year old cast iron pipe cracked as the frost line got down deep enough to put pressure on it.

Repairs are expected to take several days. The entrance to Cope Park will be closed during that time. And Buck says they'll look at replacing the line this summer.

Any loss of service would have been temporary. Buck says they were able to continue service to the area by back feeding water from the Mill Tunnel Reservoir system from Salmon Creek.

Residents may notice discoloration, but Buck says the water remains safe to drink. He recommends running faucets until the water appears clear. He says that's best down in bathtubs so particulates won't clog up the screen in kitchen faucets.

He says they're keeping an eye on other old water lines. One is the one down Douglas Highway that feeds Douglas and the other comes down Egan Drive in the downtown area.  

Windy winter weather disrupting ferry traffic
The weather is disrupting state ferry voyages and will do so for the balance of the week.

Roger Wetherell of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities says the LeConte had to turn around and come back to Juneau this morning rather than proceed to Angoon.

He says the vessel encountered some strong winds to over 60 miles per hour just off of South Shelter Island and later to 70 miles per hour with gusts to over 90 between Point Retreat and Hump Island.

He says those winds created a very dangerous and heavy freezing sea spray.

The LeConte was safely moored back in Juneau at about 9:30. There was no damage and no injuries to passengers or crew.

He says the voyages of the LeConte and Fairweather will be suspended temporarily until the strong winds die down and the seas are more stable.

Wetherell says they hope they're past this situation after Saturday.

Parking garage ready for permitting
It appears the parking garage and transit center project at Egan and Main Streets is on track.

That was the subject of a joint Planning Commission and Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting Wednesday evening.

City Manager Rod Swope says staff wanted to know if they had sufficient detail in the design to begin processing permit applications.

It was felt that more work was needed on flushing out the transit facility, but that it shouldn't be too difficult to complete.

Swope says the direction they received was to start preparing the paperwork and proceed with submitting the applications to the Planning Commission.

A suggestion by some Planning Commission members to add retail space was rejected.

Swope says the suggestion was rejected since retail space would displace more parking and would increase the cost.

As a result of that direction, Swope says they're optimistic site work can begin this spring or early summer followed as soon as possible by construction.

Man who claimed he had a bomb pleads guilty
ANCHORGE, Alaska (AP) - A man who falsely claimed to have taken a bomb onboard an Alaska Airlines flight has pleaded guilty to threatening to destroy aircraft with an explosive.

Kirk Frederick Forest of Wyoming changed his plea in federal court Thursday morning, just two months after initially claiming he was not guilty.

Passengers on the flight from Seattle to Anchorage say the 39-year-old began frantically pacing the aisles of the plane clutching a Bible. He mumbled religious phrases, and eventually told a flight attendant that he had a bomb.

Forest will be sentenced to federal prison on April 18th. Prosecutors are asking for a sentence of about 18 months.
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Information from: David Shurtleff/Alaska Public Radio Network,

Ex-missionary files complaint against Russian Orthodox officials
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An attorney says former Russian Orthodox missionary has filed a sexual harassment complaint against the faith's second-highest ranking church official in Alaska.

The complaint, filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleges that Chancellor Archimandrite Isidore sexually harassed Paul Sidebottom while he was working on the island of Kodiak.

That's according to James Spencer, a lawyer with the Wichita, Kansas, law firm Hinkle and Elkouri.

The complaint also accuses Bishop Nikolai, the highest ranking official of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska, of helping Isidore fire Sidebottom for filing a complaint with national church officials.

Nikolai has previously said Sidebottom's position had been slated for elimination as part of budget cuts and had nothing to do with the alleged incident in May 2007.

Sidebottom, now 31, had been a teacher of religious classes and assistant to the seminary dean at St. Herman's Theological Seminary on Kodiak.

Spencer says the alleged harassment happened one time and involved "unwanted touching of a sexual nature."

He says the EEOC and the Russian Orthodox Church are conducting two separate investigations.

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Although The Associated Press doesn't generally identify alleged victims of sex offenses, the lawyer said his client did not object to his name being published.

Church officials didn't immediately return messages left Thursday by The Associated Press.

Game Board nominee turns down appointment
A woman named to the state Board of Game has turned down the appointment.

Teresa Sager-Albaugh of Tok says she's withdrawing because of the controversy over Governor Palin's choices for the board.

Last week, the governor tapped Sager-Albaugh and Lew Bradley of Palmer to join the board. She decided to not reappoint Paul Johnson of Unalakleet, the only Alaska Native on the Game Board. His absence would mark the first time the board has not had a Native member since 1976.

Angoon Senator Al Kookesh, who also chairs the Alaska Federation of Natives, suggested the legislature should refuse to confirm the governor's new appointees.

Governor Palin said Tuesday that she made her choices without regard to race.

Sager-Albaugh, a former president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, had not applied for the job; her name was recommended by the Department of Fish and Game.    

Governor Palin says she'll submit another name to the Legislature within two weeks.
(Anchorage Daily News)    

UA regents approve three-year ACCFT contract
The University of Alaska Board of Regents approved academic offerings and three-year union contract as it
wrapped up a two-day meeting in Juneau yesterday. (Thursday)

The panel approved a three-year contract for 324 members in the Alaska Community Colleges' Federation of Teachers, one of three university unions.

The regents approved an associate of applied science degree in dental hygiene at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and graduate certificates in language education and adult education at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

The board approved a schematic design for a roofing and siding project at the Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel.

The board approved funding for the $4 million project last year.

Board members also approved a reorganization of the Cooperative Extension Service, moving it to the provost's office from the College of Rural and Community Development.

The Cooperative Extension Service director will serve in a vice provost position, elevating the status of CES within the campus structure.

The regents' requested budget includes $350,000 in increased funding for CES.

Regents also approved the naming of a tract of land at UAF, between the UA Museum of the North and the Paul Reichardt Building, Troth Yeddha' Park.

Troth Yeddha' is the Athabascan name for "the site where the wild potato is gathered." The area is to be considered a tribute to Alaska Native culture and history.

It will serve as a gathering place for Native students and also be used by other diverse groups, such as Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre.

Alaska Native leader and elder Walter Soboleff, 99, personally came to the board meeting at the UAS campus Thursday morning to speak in favor of Troth Yeddha'.

The site historically was where elders held council regarding the state of affairs of Native nations in Alaska's Interior.

When the elders learned that Troth Yeddha' was to become the site of the Agricultural College and School of Mines, the forerunner to the University of Alaska, they placed an eagle feather on a pole to let the Athabascan people know that the ridge would no longer be used for meeting or picking wild potatoes but for a new, formalized type of education.

As the campus evolved over the years to its present-day configuration of UAF, Native students, particularly those from rural Alaska, have remarked on the need for an open space to serve as a gathering place honoring their heritage.

The idea behind Troth Yeddha' is to help bridge the gap between the reality of urban college life and the rural, traditional homes left behind.

Alaska Native leader and elder Walter Soboleff, 99, personally came to the board meeting at the UAS campus Thursday morning to speak in favor of Troth Yeddha'.

Soboleff said dedicating the area sends a powerful message to students and will enhance their academic success.

In other business, board members met with individual legislators regarding the university's budget, met with Governor Palin and toured the University of Alaska Southeast campus.

Regents also approved a $2.3 million supplemental budget to cover the higher than expected costs of heating fuel.

Bill under consideration to revise coastal management
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The sponsor of a bill revising the state's coastal management program says the Palin administration is not working fast enough to iron out the problems.

Sen. Donny Olson of Nome says residents of his district feel they have no say in large scale projects like oil development in the Chukchi Sea.

Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin says it could take a year to complete a review and determine if regulatory changes are needed to coastal management.

The program, which allows coastal communities some oversight over development projects, was overhauled by former Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2003 who said it was a burden on developers.

Sixteen of 28 districts have new plans in effect but many say they are dissatisfied with the program.

Group seeks Endangered Species Act protection for walrus
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A conservation group wants to see Endangered Species Act protections extended to Pacific walrus.

The Center for Biological Diversity today petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list walruses as threatened because of global warming and oil and gas development throughout the animals' range.

Shaye Wolf of San Francisco is the lead author of the petition.

She says that as sea ice recedes, so does the future of Pacific walrus because the animals will have access to progressively smaller areas to forage.

Walruses off the coast of Alaska -- especially females and their calves -- ride the sea ice edge north in spring and summer to reach rich offshore feeding areas.

Sea ice last summer receded to 1.65 million square miles, the lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979.

Sea ice was 39 percent below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000.

Sea ice in the Chukchi Sea receded well beyond the shallow outer continental shelf over water too deep for walruses to dive to reach clams.

As many as 6,000 walrus in late summer and fall abandoned ice over deep water and congregated on Alaska's northwest shore.

Wildlife biologists worry that if current ice trends continue, and walrus are based on coastlines every summer, they will overgraze on near shore foraging areas.

Wolf says walrus also are likely to be affected by petroleum development on both the U.S. and the Russian sides of the Chukchi Sea.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service yesterday (Wednesday) accepted high bids on 2.76 million acres of Chukchi Sea ocean bottom.

Cutter delayed in getting to area where balloonist was last reported
Weather in the North Pacific is hindering the search for Japanese hot air balloonist Michio Kanda.

The Coast Guard cutter Jarvis was originally scheduled to arrive in the search area 435 miles south of Adak Island today (Thursday), but Petty Officer Jesame Statesir in the Juneau Command Center tells us the cutter has been delayed due to weather.

She says the cutter doesn't expect to be on scene now until Monday.

Statesir says they'll continue to use a Coast Guard C-130 to conduct searches.

Kanda disappeared on a flight from Japan to Portland, Oregon a week ago today. (Thursday)

After leaving that day, he was reported missing that night after he failed to respond to communications checks.

Education funding increase ready for floor fight
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The House Finance Committee Wednesday passed a three-year education funding proposal hammered out by a task force this summer.

The bill does not incorporate Gov. Sarah Palin's proposed base student allocation increase. That issue is sure to generate a lot of debated when the bill arrives on the House floor.

Palin wants to increase the $5,380 per pupil base by $200 a year. The bill that passed out of committee on Wednesday would raise the amount by $100 a year.

Democrats support the governor's proposal and they have some support from Republicans.

House Speaker John Harris of Valdez said majority members are divided on the issue.  

Only Native member on Anchorage School Board moving to Juneau
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Anchorage School Board is losing its only Alaska Native member.

Mary Marks is finishing her second term on the board and says she plans to move to Juneau to work on statewide education issues on behalf of Natives, although she does not have a specific job.

She says she wants an Alaska Native or other minority to take her place on the board.

Lawmakers eye cost escalation of fish hatcheries
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A state representative from Anchorage and a state Senator from Sitka are asking Governor Sarah Palin to stop state spending on a fish hatchery under development in Fairbanks.

Cost estimates for hatcheries planned in Fairbanks and Anchorage have escalated since 2005.

Representative Kevin Meyer and Senator Bert Stedman, who oversee capital project spending in their respective Finance Committees, say the administration has not developed a plan that would allow both projects to go ahead.

Meyer and Stedman suggested in a letter to Palin that one facility in Anchorage could meet the needs of both communities.

The Fairbanks hatchery initially was estimated at $25 million but the estimate has risen to $43 million.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Federal judge denies Kohring's request
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A federal judge has refused former House Rep. Vic Kohring's request to have the judge overseeing his case step down.

Kohring was convicted on federal bribery and extortion charges in November and is seeking a new trial. He was found guilty of demanding and accepting at least $2,600 from VECO Corp. executives for his support on legislation. He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Kohring's attorney John Browne argued that U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick should step down because he has a conflict of interest. Browne claimed that Sedwick should never have presided over the trial because Kohring introduced legislation that cost Sedwick's wife, Deborah, her state job.

In court papers filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland said that in cases such as this, a judge has to disqualify himself where his impartiality might be reasonably questioned and this didn't qualify.
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Information from: David Shurtleff/Alaska Public Radio Network,

Regents receive tour of Auke Lake campus and look at Anderson Building project
Prior to the start of this week's meeting in Juneau, the University of Alaska Board of Regents met with the trustees of the University of Alaska Foundation and received a tour of the Auke Lake campus.

One stop of the tour led by Chancellor John Pugh was the Anderson Building

The Anderson Building will be vacated by the School of Fisheries when the new facility at Lena Point is opened.

At that point, current plans call for the building to be renovated for use by UAS students.

University official Kate Ripley says Governor Palin has included $10 point 2 Million in her budget to renovate the building. The project also includes a crossing to the building across Glacier Highway from the main campus.

Alaska's Interior dips to near-record lows
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Alaska's Interior has dipped to near record lows.

The National Weather Service reports the coldest spot in the state yesterday morning was minus 67 at O'Brien Creek -- a spot on the Taylor Highway nearly 200 miles east of Fairbanks.

There was also an unofficial reading of minus 70 in Tok. But residents there treated it as just another winter day.

Sergeant Freddie Wells at the trooper post in Tok says it is generally pretty close to that this time of year.

There doesn't appear to be any warming in immediate sight. The weather service says the extreme cold should stick around until early next week.

Troopers are placing a priority on responding to calls from stranded motorists, and there is heightened concern for the community's older residents.

Otherwise, Wells says it seems people are staying inside more.

Wind chill to dip as low as 25 below in Capital City
Juneau will experience wind chills from 20 to 25 below through Saturday.

The high today will be around 16 with lows tonight ranging from 6 below to 6 above zero.

Friday's high will be around 13 with the lows at night from 2 to 10 above.

It's suppose to start warming up a bit Saturday with the low that night pegged at around 18.

Committee substitutes appointed for ill House members
The Committee on Committees in the State House Wednesday appointed substitute members to two panels to fill in for representatives who are ill.

Speaker John Harris will fill in for Nome Representative Richard Foster on the House Finance Committee.

Foster is recovering in Seattle from a stroke.

Representative Mike Doogan will fill in for fellow Anchorage Democrat Max Gruenberg on the House Judiciary Committee.

Gruenberg is recovering from surgery in Anchorage.

Alaska villagers say rural law enforcement sorely lacking
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A state task force has taken a long, hard look at the Village Public Safety Officer program that was created in 1979.

The panel released its recommendations last week that call for hefty raises from the current base pay of $16.55 an hour to $21.

Among its recommendations, the task force also wants to boost the VPSO force from 51 officers to 111 over four years.

Every village with more than 150 residents would get one VPSO. Communities with more than 500 residents would get two.

The task force says its recommendations would go a long way in recruiting and retaining what is often a stressful job.

It's now up to legislators to decide whether to fund the proposed changes.

Jury finds Anchorage man guilty on drug and theft charges
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Anchorage jury has convicted a man of drug and theft charges stemming from incidents in 2004 at Anchorage's largest airport.

Prosecutors say Yuri Berezyuk stole a camera at Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and when he returned the next night, he was confronted by police and was found to be carrying $100,000 worth of heroin.

He will be sentenced in May.

Passing of former state lawmaker to be marked by lowering of state flags
State flags are at half-staff  today (Thursday) in memory of former state lawmaker Bernard Bylsma.

The Anchorage businessman was elected to the State House in 1980 where he served one term.

He died Saturday in Arizona at the age of 85.

A memorial service will be held in Surprise, Arizona Thursday where he lived for the last 15 years. A second memorial service will be held in Anchorage at a later date.

He owned Turnagain Chevron in Anchorage.

Recycling surprise unveiled in Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Municipal officials in Anchorage say a curbside recycling plan put together by a private company, Alaska Waste, took them by surprise.

The municipality has been working on its own plan.

Alaska Waste officials say they want to test the Anchorage market in hopes of crafting a long-term curbside recycling plan.

Anchorage renewable resources manager Kevin Harun says the company may be trying to head off potential competition.

Soboleff documents posted on-line by SHI
Sealaska Heritage Institute has posted online more than 1,000 historical papers donated by Dr. Walter Soboleff.

Soboleff is a Tlingit Elder and chair of the institute's board of trustees.

The papers, some of them hand written, mostly document the Alaska Native Brotherhood from 1929 to 1995.

He says papers of that nature are as near possible to the people of whom the articles have been written.

Some are hand-written letters telling of historic events of the people.

Institute President Rosita Worl says the collection is important because it shows Native people were trying to resolve the issues they faced in the context of an unfamiliar western system.

Worl says historical and anthropological studies very often portray Native people as passive recipients of cultural change.

She says it provides documentation that portrays the Native point of view, and you don't always get that in publications.

Worl says that researchers who look at the collection will begin to write the history as Native people were perceiving it, as they were living that historical period.

Soboleff has been a member ANB for decades.

The nonprofit fraternal organization founded in 1912.

Soboleff currently serves as Grand President Emeritus.

He considered donating the collection to several universities, including the University of Dubuque in Iowa, his alma mater, but ultimately he decided it should be closer to home.

The collection includes issues of the ANB periodical “The Voice of Brotherhood,” ANB meeting minutes, correspondence, working files, camp files and papers that show how the ANB fought to improve the lives of Alaska Native people and to secure Native lands prior to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

The institute digitized the collection through a two-year federal grant received in 2005 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

It is posted online at www.sealaskaheritage.org/collection/index.htm 

BLM settles dispute with five Alaska residents
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A federal agency has settled a 2-year-old dispute with five Alaska residents.

The dispute was over the use of a tracked vehicle during a 2005 moose hunt in the Mosquito Flats area north of Tok.

Alaska Department of Natural Resources policy restricts off-highway vehicles weighing more than 1,500 pounds.

The vehicle -- which weighed substantially more -- traveled about 35 miles on state lane, then trespassed on about five miles of wet, boggy lowlands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, damaging those lands.

Richard Ballow, Connie Ballow, Daniel McCabe, Robert Dodge and John Bradshaw have agreed to pay $2,500 each to cover the damages.