Wednesday, February 7, 2001 © Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News
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JSB adopts calendar for 2001-02
Classes will start August 29th this year
Juneau students will begin the next school year August 29th and last day of school will be June 6th, according to the new school calendar approved by the School Board last night. Board President Mary Becker says there were at least four different proposals and the new calendar is a compromise. It maintains a two week December break, a one week spring break and the first semester will end before the winter break.
Over twenty parents attended last night's School Board meeting to protest summer student homework assignments. After the meeting, Board member Stan Ridgeway (right) said he's sympathetic to the views of parents with children in the sophomore Advanced Placement classes who do not want homework over summer vacation. He agrees with parents who say the students need a break. His motion banning summer homework, with the exception of reading assignments, was defeated by a vote of 5 to 2. Board member Alan Schorr defended the idea of summer homework for advanced students. He said the board should stay out of dictating homework policy to teachers. After much debate, the Board approved the recommendations of the Program Evaluation Committee. Under the plan, teachers, department heads and the principal will coordinate on summer homework for any course.
The School Board approved a new 3 year contract with the Juneau School Administration Association at last night's meeting. The vote was not unanimous. Chuck Cohen and Deana Darnall voted against the deal. Cohen is on vacation and participated in the meeting via telephone. After the meeting, Darnall said the negotiated settlement provides too much of a wage increase to school administrators. Darnall believes the Juneau Education Support Staff have been underpaid in the past. The administrator's new economic package includes a 3 percent payment to all members in the first year of the agreement based on current wages. In the second and third year a new salary schedule will be put in place that has 3 percent longevity increments.
The Assembly Finance Committee will continue work on proposed changes to current exemptions to sales taxes when it meets tonight. Some of the proposed exemptions include casualand isolated sales, construction services, and commissions on travel sales, according to Committee Chair Cathy Munoz. Also on the committee's agenda a request from the Airport Board exempting sales taxes that are currently collected on airport fuel sales. In its place would be a fuel flowage fee that could be directly appropriated to the airport if the Assembly approves of the change. The Finance Committee meets tonight at 5:00 in the Assembly Chambers.
A full agenda awaits the Airport Board of Directors when it meets tonight. The board will be formally briefed on the McDowell Group's Juneau International Airport Economic Impact Study. They'll also receive an update on the Gute property acquisition according to the airport's Pattie DeLaPruere. The Gute property is located off the west and north end of the airport. She says FAA money could be available to purchase the property. And under new business, board members will discuss curbside access, which she says has been a problem recently. The Airport Board meets tonight at 7:00 in the Airport's Aurora Room.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously approved developing a new commercial trail in the Outer Point area during its meeting last evening. Parks and Recreation Director Kim Keiffer says the board directed that work on a new trail begin as soon as possible. Keiffer says the proposal is in response to public testimony that another trail is needed so residents aren't displaced from using the area by tourists. The department received $35,000 in Cruise Ship Passenger Fee money last year to study the matter.
A request for bids for the construction of the Marine Park Traffic Circle Project will go out this week. CBJ Engineering Director John Stone says the traffic roundabout will actually be teardrop shaped and has three main goals. First, to improve the safety and flow of pedestrians in the area. Another is to improve the entrance and exit to the parking garage, making it easier for people leaving the garage to head north to town. The last is to provide for a turnaround, mainly for buses so they don't have to go all the way down South Franklin. Stone says the roundabout will be free of traffic lights.
The Coast Guard presented its highest public service medal to the US Attorney for Alaska yesterday. Robert Bundy and Assistant US Attorney James Barkely were honored for their support of the Coast Guard's law enforcement efforts in Alaska during the past 7 years. Bundy was awarded the "Distinguished Public Service Award." Barkely received a Coast Guard Public Service commendation. Bundy litigated 7 foreign fishing vessel incursions that resulted in nearly $3-million in civil penalties. He also prosecuted two major cruise lines for illegal oil and waste dumping in Alaska waters. (In photo, Rear Admiral Tom Barrett, left, Commander of the 17th Coast Guard District, presents US Attorney Robert C. Bundy with the Coast Guard's Distinguished Public Service Award medal at the federal building in Anchorage)
An Anchorage woman has won $1.2-million in compensatory damages in a lawsuit against the maker of a diet drug. Rosalie Talbert won the verdict against E'ola Products Inc. Talbert suffered a stroke in the mid 1990s, which doctors blamed on her use of a dietary herbal supplement that contains ephedrine.
Juneau Police responded to a report of an apparent suicide just before 8:00 last night in the parking lot of the Federal Building. Responding officers found the body of a 38 year old man inside a Ford pickup. Police say their investigation revealed what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his head. Captain Tom Porter says the man had recently moved to the Juneau area. His name has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
A man was arrested at about 10:00 last night after his vehicle collided with a parked car in Switzer Village. Police say 38 year old Patrick Evans was reported to be intoxicated and trying to leave the area on foot. He was located by members of the State Troopers Fish and Wildlife Division who assisted police. Evans was charged with Felony DWI, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving with a revoked license. He was lodged at Lemon Creek and his vehicle was impounded. No one was injured in the incident. Evans' vehicle and the parked car both sustained about $2,000 damage.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council opened its meeting today in Anchorage. And among the items on the agenda is discussion of proposals to divide up the halibut charter harvest among boat operators. Last year, the council set limits on the number of fish that could be harvested by the 1,100 charter boats that operate off Alaska. This year, the council is looking at a system of individual fishing quotas that would be assigned to each boat owner. The commercial halibut fleet current operates under a quota system.
The Coast Guard helped rescue a man who fell off a crab boat 86 miles northwest of Cold Bay. Officials say 23-year-old Raymond Herzman fell off the Seattle-based Pacific Viking last Friday evening and partially severed his arm. Shipmates were able to pull him from the water. A Coast Guard helicopter took Herzman to a Cold Bay clinic and he was later flown to an Anchorage hospital. Part of Herzman's arm had to be amputated.
Alaska is getting more than $400,000 from the federal government to supplement the state's crime victim compensation program. The program helps crime victims with their medical bills and other crime-related expenses, such as lost wages and funeral expenses. All 50 states receive federal money for their programs. The money comes from fines and penalties collected each year by the US Attorneys Offices, US Courts and the Bureau of Prisons. The money is deposited into the Crime Victims Fund and then is available for grant awards the following year. In Fiscal Year 2001, the states, the District of Columbia, and 3 US territories are splitting a pot of over $91-million.
Pioneer Alaskan Marcus F. Jensen (right) of Juneau passed away last evening. Nephew Tom Jensen described it as a "peaceful passing" among family and friends at his Fritz Cove Home at about 6:30pm. Jensen was a former Mayor of Douglas, territorial and state lawmaker, and former Chair of the State Guide Commission. He was preceded in death by just a few days by his wife Mame. She was born in Douglas in 1906. She was 94. Marcus was 92. Services are scheduled for Mame at 2:00 Saturday afternoon at St. Paul's Catholic Church in the Valley with a reception to follow in the parish hall. Services for Marcus are scheduled for 2:30 Sunday afternoon at the Douglas Community Methodist Church with a reception to follow at Mike's Place. Visitation for Mrs. Jensen is Friday night from 6:30 to 8:30 at Alaska Memorial Park, and from 7:30 to 8:30 for Mr. Jensen. State flags will fly at half staff Thursday through Saturday in memory of Jensen.
Former state Senator Fred Zharoff of Kodiak has died after a lengthy battle with cancer. The 56-year-old former teacher and commercial fisherman served 6 years in the House and 12 in the Senate. He passed away yesterday morning. State flags will fly at half mast today through Thursday in memory of Zharoff. Close friend and fellow lawmaker, former Juneau Senator Jim Duncan, said when Zharoff left the Legislature, there was a real void. Duncan said he missed him then, and will surely miss him now. Several members of the House and Senate remembered Zharoff during speeches during today's floor sessions. Funeral services are scheduled at 1:00 Saturday afternoon at Kodiak's Russian Orthodox Church.
Legislation has been introduced in the State Senate aimed at insuring that men and women receive equal pay for equal work in state jobs. One of the sponsors is Anchorage Senator Dave Donley who has introduced similar legislation in the past. SB65, which was first referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee, is co-sponsored by Wrangell Senator Robin Taylor.
Media violence and its impact on kids was discussed on KINY's Capital Chat this morning by Diann Darnall (left) who refers to herself as a "Game of Life Coach." The former coach of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Women's Basketball Team, is working with a program called "Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media." She says young kids do not understand what's real or what's fake. They do role modeling, she explains. As an example, she cited a case where a 7 year old boy killed his 4 year old brother by using a "clothes line" technique he saw while watching wrestling on television. She says this country's culture is the most violent one on the face of the earth. She says young men between the ages of 14 and 24 do more violent crimes than any other country in the world. She says the media supports that "culture of violence" by telling young boys that to be a "real man" in our society, they have to be tough. The Juneau School District brought Darnall here from Fairbanks to speak to middle school students. She was at Floyd Dryden yesterday and is at Dzantik'i Heeni today.
One of the main events of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous is being canceled due to a lack of snow. Alaska Sled Dog and Racing Association officials announced yesterday they are canceling the Open World Championship sled dog sprint races.
While much of the state has seen very little snow this winter, the state's biggest snowmobile race is struggling with too much snow in part of Southcentral Alaska. Trailbreakers for the Tesoro Iron Dog Classic say they got bogged down in about 15 feet of snow near Finger Lake, on the south slope of the Alaska Range.
There's a nice blanket of snow across the City and Borough of Juneau today and more is on the way. National Weather Service Forecaster Bob Shontz says the snowfall was between 1 and a half to 2 inches overnight, although it was closer to 3 inches near the Mendenhall Glacier. He said this morning that another 1 to 2 inches was expected before the snow tapers off this afternoon. Police reported no major problems during morning rush hour traffic.(Captions for our photographs can be viewed by hovering over them with your mouse pointer)
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