Thursday, February 8, 2001 © Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News
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Perkins sentenced
No jail time, fined $1,000
Former Juneau Assembly member Dwight Perkins (left) was sentenced on a charge of harassment in a Juneau courtroom this morning. He won't have to spend any time in jail. The sentence is the result of charges against him by two women who claimed he inappropriately touched them. District Attorney Rick Svobodny told the Juneau Daily News Online that Judge Peter Froehlich handed down a sentence of 90 days in jail with 60 days suspended. The judge allowed Perkins to serve the remaining 30 days by doing community work service. The judge determined that community service work done between the time of the offense and now would count toward that time. The judge did impose a $1,000 fine which is the maximum monetary amount allowed for the offense. Perkins had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of harassment. He changed his plea from innocent to guilty to one charge of harassment during a pre-trial hearing January 2nd. The charges surfaced shortly after Governor Knowles appointed Perkins as Legislative Director. The appointment was withdrawn in the wake of the charges. Perkins returned to the Department of Labor as a special assistant where he had served as Deputy Commissioner prior to his appointment in the Governor's Office.
The State Senate adopted a resolution today urging Congress to repeal the marriage penalty in the federal income tax code. The sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 12 is Anchorage Senator Loren Leman. He said during comments on the floor that the marriage penalty is estimated to effect 67,000 Alaskans. The resolution was adopted 17 to 0 and now moves to the House. Senators also approved another resolution calling on President Bush to deploy a national missile defense system and to build it in Alaska.
The next Super Shot Saturday is this Saturday. Dr. Amy Dressel (left in photo), who is an advisor to the Juneau School District, said on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that it will be held at Valley Medical Care on Hospital Drive from 10:00am until 2:00pm. She said parents and guardians should remember to bring their child's shot record. Gastineau School Nurse Janet Capito (right in photo) joined Dressel on the program. Capito said new regulations take effect in July in advance of the next school year. They will require the chicken pox vaccine and children under 4 will need the HIB vaccine which combats meningitis. She said t he new requirement also applies to all licensed day cares. Learn more about immunizations here.
Traffic concerns highlighted last night's meeting of the Airport Board of Directors. Patty DeLaPruere of the Airport Manager's Office says one motion dealt with curbside access and traffic configuration along the front of the airport. She said the matter was referred to the Operations Committee. That panel will consider alternatives to the staging for taxis, tour buses and general curbside drop offs and pick ups. Another motion dealt with a road that leads to the airport. She says the board supported the concept of making all of Yandukin Drive a two way road. The Finance Committee was charged with finding funding for the project in the Fiscal Year 01 budget. The committee will take that matter up during its meeting February 13th. The board also approved a motion to request up front funds from the city for purchase of the Gute property adjacent to the northwest corner of the airport. The airport would in turn apply to the FAA for funds to cover the cost.
The Assembly Finance Committee continued its discussion and debate on the issue of modifying and eliminating current sales taxes at last night's meeting. The city currently collects about $29.5-millionfrom the 5 percent sales tax, according to Committee Chair Cathy Munoz. However, Munoz (left) says there is another estimated $29-million not collected due to sales tax exemptions. She says the Assembly is going through a process of reviewing those exemptions that are deemed appropriate for change. The committee decided not to pursue a proposal to do away with the sales tax exemption on residential rentals. Munoz says tax equity and making sure that the tax burden wasn't unfairly placed on those who can least afford it played a part in burying the proposal. The committee did approve a proposal to implement an airport fuel flowage fee in place of the current jet fuel sales tax. If the full Assembly approves, the revenue generated by the fuel flowage fee could go directly to the airport operations. Munoz says at their meeting next Wednesday they'll consider a recommendation from the Mayor's Fiscal Task Force to phase out the senior sales tax exemption over a period of time.
The Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee dealt with two action items at its meeting yesterday. One concerned a re-appropriation of federal funds that were to develop the West Douglas Road. Committee Chair Ken Koelsch says the request will go to the full Assembly for its direction on how to use the federal money for other projects. The other item related to procedures employed when a street needs to be closed for construction or other reasons. Police Chief Mel Personett briefed the committee on regulations that would need to be promulgated. Koelsch says says an ordinance is in the process of being drafted to be sent on the full Assembly for its consideration.
State Troopers are investigating a fatal, fiery head-on collision last night on the Parks Highway near Trapper Creek. Troopers say a pickup truck was traveling southbound in the northbound lane when it struck a sedan at about 7:10 last night. The truck burst into flames and the driver was trapped inside. Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson says the victim was burned beyond recognition and has not yet been positively identified. The driver of the car, 36-year-old Keith Robson, of Trapper Creek, was taken to Providence Hospital in critical condition.
The state fire marshal's office says the fire that killed an Eagle Village woman Saturday probably was caused by a cigarette. Forty-one-year-old Debbie Stevens died in the fire in the Yukon River village several miles east of Eagle. Deputy state fire marshal Tom DePeter Junior says Stevens was found close to the door, indicating that she was trying to get out of the house or that she knew about the fire.
The Coast Guard is keeping an eye on a fully loaded logging vessel experiencing trouble in high seas. The Leo Forest is in the Bering Sea about 160 nautical miles northwest of St. Paul. Petty Officer Randy Holloway in the Coast Guard Command Center in Juneau says the skipper reports stability problems. The starboard collapsible stanchions have broken away causing a lot of the cargo to shift around. Its headed north and at last report can't turn around to head back because of high seas. A C-130 monitored the vessel's movements this morning and was replaced by another C-130 this afternoon. A helicopter is also standing by in St. Paul. Holloway says there are 20 people on board, but only four survival suits. There are also three life rafts on board. The Japanese Coast Guard notified the US Coast Guard via a fax that it had received a distress call from the vessel. The vessel was en route to Japan from Longview, Washington.
The search has been suspended for a 37-year-old Crooked Creek man who fell through the Kuskokwim River ice near Sleetmute. Alaska State Troopers say rescue workers have been unable to locate Allen Fredericks. He was on a snowmachine when it fell through the ice nearly two weeks ago.
The US Chamber of Commerce has identified opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as an important issue to its members. Bill Morley is theorganization's Vice President for Congressional Affairs said they would work with Alaska's congressional delegation on the issue. Morley's comments came today as he presented Senator Stevens a "Spirit of Enterprise" award from the US Chamber of Commerce. The award was for his support of pro-business policies and legislation during the second session of the 106th Congress. Meanwhile, a Washington, DC based environmental group says opening the ANWR (left) to oil development is not negotiable. Adam Kolton of the Alaska Wilderness League says politicians and oil interests can expect a big fight over the issue in coming months.
Alaska Congressman Don Young presided as chair over the first organizational meeting yesterday of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. During his opening remarks, Young called for full funding of the Coast Guard. Young also joined the leading Democrat on the committee, Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, in signing a letter to the President asking him to correct a $568-million shortfall in funding for aviation projects and FAA upgrades and safety programs.
Three bounty hunters have filed a lawsuit in federal court in which they allege that state officials violated their civil rights. The suit alleges that Alaska State Troopers conspired with state prosecutors to portray the three men as criminals in an attempt to discourage bounty hunting in Alaska. State Assistant Attorney General Stephanie Galbraith is reviewing the case. She says she will file a reply in the next few days. The three -- 54-year-old Ronald Williams, 28-year-old Seth Oehler and 45-year-old David Cameron -- were acquitted last April of charges of assault, accomplice to assault and criminal trespass. A judge dismissed other charges, including kidnapping. The three had been hired to catch a man wanted for skipping bail in Washington state on felony gun charges. Williams and Cameron worked as guards at Wildwood Correctional Center in Kenai. They lost their jobs after their arrest. Oehler was an oil field hand who wanted to become a state trooper. The three want more than $100,000 each in compensation and punitive damages.
Thirteen producers of value-added salmon products are receiving grants managed by the state, the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service. One for $25,000 goes to Kake Foods for production of a salmon sausage pizza topping. Kake's Duff Mitchell (right) says the worked up the recipe for a company back east that asked for their help and liked what they came up with. It's already in production. Mitchell says he sent some to Bullwinkles in Juneau and a pizza parlor in Petersburg. Pelican Seafoods received a grant for $24,500. That's for marketing pin bone out, pink salmon fillets to a network of East Coast brokers. Wards Cove Packing is receiving a grant of $34,500 for promoting pink salmon caviar to Russia and Eastern Europe. A $50,000 grant goes to AquaCuisine to promote salmon burgers in 350 club stores and a retail promotion of Salmon Seafood Classics. That's a microwave pasta dish that won top honors at the Symphony of Salmon.
The Juneau Raptor Center plans to release "Thud on Thane" this Saturday. That's the name of a Western screech owl that was hit by a Juneau Recovery Hospital van on Thane Road last December 3. The center's Sandy Harbanuk says the 8.5 inch bird flew up from a ditch as the van rounded a corner. She said EMT's in the van administered oxygen and transported him to the center. They dubbed him with the name "Thud" because of the noise made when he flew into the van. The release is scheduled for 3:00 Saturday afternoon from the Sheep Creek Trail head parking lot Harbanuk says the public's invited. She says the owl is rare in this area. Juneau is at the farthest reach of its range.
The Juneau Douglas Crimson Bears Men's basketball squad hosts Service of Anchorage this evening. Tip off on Hometown Radio KINY is 7:00pm with the pregame show at 6:50pm. Listen live here.
A Yukon Quest musher plans to run the race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, then continue on to Nome to raise money for a man disabled in a car accident. Thirty-six-year-old Dario Daniels of Homer is seeking per-mile pledges for a man he briefly worked with last summer and who was paralyzed in a car accident in California last October. The Yukon Quest starts Sunday in Whitehorse.
A wind advisory is in effect for Juneau. Gusts to 40 miles per hour are expected by the National Weather Service. The winds are expected to calm down to about 15 miles per hour by about 9:00 this evening.(Captions for our photographs can be viewed by hovering over them with your mouse pointer)
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