JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE
Wedneday, February 7, 1996 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*The Juneau Board of Education has adopted a new affirmative
action plan and policy. Board President Phil Smith says it will
now be easier for qualified women and minorities to obtain
employment in the school district. The board has also started
reviewing the student dress code. A proposed amendment on the
table now would prohibit sexually provocative clothing, and
apparel with language which would be prohibited under the current
board speech policy.
*Five finalists have been chosen for the position of C.B.J.
Community Development Director. One of the five is acting
Director Cheryl Easterwood, another is Gretchen Keiser who is on
the
C.B.J. Planning Commission. Two of the others are current and
former Community Development Directors in Ketchikan, and the
fifth is the Planning Director in Longmont, Colorado. The five
will be in Juneau for several days of interviews and assessment
beginning March 3rd.
*Juneau Representative Caren Robinson has been listening to the
complaints of expectant mothers who are upset over the policy of
insurance companies to get new moms and their babies out of the
hospital within 24-hours after delivery. The companies won't pay
for any more time unless there are complications. Robinson has
added a rider to a bill which would require insurers to pay for a
2-day stay for normal births, and up to 4-days for c-sections or
other complicated deliveries.
*The Southeast Regional Subsistence Council kicks off a 3-day
meeting in Wrangell tomorrow. A spokesman says there are several
proposals for changes in subsistence hunting and fishing
regulations in Southeast. The Council will produce a set of
recommendations which will then go to the Federal Subsistence
Board for consideration.
*Governor Tony Knowles is back in Juneau after attending the
annual meeting of the National Governors Association in
Washington, D.C. While in the nation's capital, Knowles met with
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to discuss Tongass timber
contracts for K.P.C. and other timber companies. Meanwhile,
giving more of the Tongass to timber companies may be a hard sell
in other parts of the country. A new national poll conducted via
the Internet on
Votelink 96 shows 80-percent of respondents oppose increased
logging in the nation's largest national forest.
*It was a slow deer season for hunters in Southeast. A wildlife
biologist says he's not sure if the lack of snow cover kept the
deer up high, away from the beaches, or whether the lack of large
bucks was due to severe weather in previous years. The winters of
1990 and 1991 are suspected of slowing deer herd growth.