JUNEAU DAILY NEWS MINUTE
Friday, February 9, 1996 (c) Alaska Juneau Communications
*Governor Tony Knowles unveiled his fiscal year 1997 Capital
Budget this morning at the Johnson Youth Center in Juneau.
Knowles picked the center for his announcement because his budget
contains $3-million to turn it from a holding facility into a
permanent treatment center. The Capital Budget also includes
funding for extending the Back Loop sewer system, fixing Juneau
school building roofs, upgrading the Auke Bay Fire Station,
planning and design money for a new National Guard Armory, and
$3.3-million for 28 new housing units at Riverbend.
*Alaska Senate Minority Leader Jim Duncan of Juneau introduced
legislation this morning that Democrats say will close the
state's budget gap, while at the same time provide funding for
public education and increase Permanent Fund Dividends. The
cornerstone of the plan is an education endowment designed to
eventually fully fund grades K-12 statewide. The Democratic plan
also calls for state budget cuts and increased revenues.
*While the Southeast community of Pelican reels over the loss of
its major employer, Pelican Seafoods, preliminary evidence from
the state
Labor Department shows more Alaskans are working in the
seafood industry. A new Seafood Unit in the Department has been
working with processors to train residents for jobs in the
industry. In 1994, non-residents made up over three-quarters of
the seafood industry workforce in Alaska.
*The State Board of Forestry is meeting in Juneau today and
tomorrow to review the Forest Resources and Practices Act, and to
look at current funding levels. The state's chief forester
believes if the Legislature agrees with the budget offered by the
Governor, the Forestry Division will be able to function
effectively. The Division is currently involved in ongoing
research and monitoring of state forest lands.
*Angoon will host the 98th Congress of the Alaska Salvation Army.
The annual meeting is set for March. A spokesman says the
meetings have been held in Southeast every year since shortly
after the Gold Rush. The Salvation Army first came to Alaska when
it arrived to help spiritually ailing miners in Skagway in 1898.
*Just one day after Alaska Senator Ted Stevens announced that he
now has a home page on the Internet's World Wide Web, Senator
Frank Murkowski's page is online. Murkowski officially announced
his web site today. Both of the Senators' sites are available
from the KINY home page News Center.