Waterman trial going to closing arguments Tuesday
Closing arguments are scheduled in the Rachelle Waterman case tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

Before the defense rested its case today, Judge Patricia Collins asked the defendant about her choice not to testify and whether it was freely made and not influenced by her lawyer or anyone else. Waterman responded that it was her choice.

The defense rested its case this afternoon after calling just two witnesses, including the girl's father Doc Waterman.

The prosecution rested its case this morning after seven days of testimony involving 30 witnesses.

Sergeant Randy McPherron, the investigator who interrogated Rachelle Waterman, was on a hot seat of his own this morning.

Defense attorney Steve Wells grilled the trooper about the methods he used to get a confession from the then-16-year-old.

According to Harriet Ryan of Court T-V, Wells asked if he lied a lot to Waterman. McPherron says "a lot" is a relative term, but he did use deceit. He added that lying to suspects is a "perfectly acceptable" technique.

Wells chastised him for approaching Waterman for an interview while her father was not present.

The trooper responded saying legally he did not have to get permission from her father to speak to her.

The Craig teenager is standing trial for murder and conspiracy in the November 2004 death of her mother, 48-year-old Lauri Waterman.

The prosecution says the teen plotted with two former boyfriends, Jason Arrant and Brian Radel, to have her mother killed while she was away.

Police questioned Waterman in two separate interviews.

Marty Beyer, a clinical psychologist, took the  stand later in the  morning as the first witness of the defense and discussed her psychological evaluation of Waterman.

In ticking off a list of traumas suffered by the defendant before the murder of her mother, Ryan reports that Beyer revealed something the jury hadn't heard before -  that the girl  was raped by a stranger when she was 13.

The psychologist told jurors that the impact of the sexual assault was magnified because Lauri Waterman did not believe it had occurred. "She responded with disbelief, according to Beyer, and didn't think that things like that happened in their small town." 

Oil tax proposal to come before Legislature soon
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Less than a month into the legislative session, House Speaker John Harris predicts lawmakers will stay in Juneau for a special session.

The Valdez Republican says extra time will be needed to pass a plan to restructure oil taxes and ratify a natural gas contract with three oil companies.

Harris says a proposal to create a tax based on oil companies' net profits should be introduced within the next three weeks.

Governor Murkowski has said that change is a necessary first step to closing a natural gas deal with B-P, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. That deal is a condition to moving forward with a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, which is estimated to cost between 20 billion and 25 billion dollars.
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Senate President Ben Stevens (an Anchorage Republican) says he believes the Legislature can still be finished by May 9. He says it depends on how quickly the bills are presented to them and how efficiently lawmakers work.

Murkowski spokeswoman Becky Hultberg said internal reviews are underway and there is no set timeline to introduce a net profits oil tax.
Index

Man suspected of rifling vehicles caught by police
A man suspected of rifling vehicles in the downtown area overnight is in jail today. (Monday)

Sergeant Steve Hernandez says they were notified at about 2:20 this morning (Monday) by a caller who reported a man had been seen in the area of Glacier Avenue and 12th Street illegally entering cars.

He says officers tracked shoe prints in the freshly fallen snow from 12th Street to Spruce Street.

The prints then continued on to Parks Street, Behrends Avenue and Ross Way. Along the way, officers noted that the suspect had entered over twenty unlocked vehicles.

After entering a parked station wagon near Ross Way and Highland Drive, officers contacted the suspect identified as 31 year old Ryan Merritt of Juneau.

The owner of the station wagon told officers at the scene that Merritt had no business being inside his vehicle.

Merritt was placed under arrest for three counts of criminal trespass. That includes two other parked vehicles officers had seen Merritt enter before he was arrested.

Merritt was jailed at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center.

Sergeant Hernandez says residents in the area are asked to contact the police department if they believe their vehicle had been illegally entered and have items missing.

And he says residents are reminded to lock their vehicles when parked on the street or in an open carport. 

Indigent legal services bill passes House
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska House today (Monday) passed a bill creating a special account to fund a nonprofit law group that represents poor Alaskans in civil legal matters.

The money would go to the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to indigent residents.

Two years ago the Legislature slashed its appropriation to the group and Governor Murkowski vetoed the rest.

The money now would come from the state's share of punitive damage awards in civil lawsuits decided in Alaska.

A 1997 law requires Alaska courts to award 50 percent of punitive damages judgments to the state's general fund.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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Also today (Monday), the Senate tentatively passed a bill that extends Alaska's protective orders for stalking victims to victims of sexual assault.

Bill sponsor Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Anchorage, said police officers have told him they sometimes have trouble persuading judges to issue restraining orders for against sexual assault victims. That's because state law does not specifically list sexual assault as an offense eligible for such an order.

The bill passed 18-0.

Murkowski on ferry trip with his cabinet
Governor Murkowski is on a ferry trip with his cabinet today. (Monday)

They boarded the Columbia at 9 a.m. for Haines and Skagway.

Murkowski Press Secretary  Becky Hultberg says the trip is part of the ferry's regularly scheduled run.

She says the governor and his commissioners will tackle a variety of issues, including oil and gas, mining and transportation.

Receptions are planned in Skagway and Haines this evening.  The Columbia is scheduled to return to Juneau Tuesday morning at two.

Satellite detects ash cloud from Cleveland Volcano
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A volcano in the Aleutian Islands coughed up an ash cloud today.

The eruption prompted the Alaska Volcano Observatory to raise Cleveland Volcano's threat level to code red.

Satellites detected the 22-thousand-foot high cloud after it detached from the summit of the volcano.

It's located near the Aleutian chain's halfway point.

Code red, the highest threat level, means a significant eruption is occurring.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction near the volcano.

Scientists say people on the ground shouldn't be affected.

Cleveland is the second volcano to erupt in Alaska this year.

Augustine Volcano in south-central Alaska began spewing ash in mid-January. 

Road access to Costco area, downtown park before Assembly committee
The Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee is scheduled to take up road access to businesses in the Lemon Creek area today. [Monday]

Also on the agenda is a downtown park that's seen it's share of ups and downs.

Gunakadeit Park, also known as Pocket Park, may not be getting a major makeover.

City Manager Rod Swope says they've been working on the park for a long time trying to make it a more interesting area.

Swope says they've found it's a very difficult area to work in and design anything into.

He says there are all kinds of buried utilities, transformers, sidewalks and right of way easements to adjacent property owners

As a result, they've gone through a number of different design ideas for the park.

Swope says they've come to the conclusion that to try to do something in the park that will be of much use, will be very expensive.

He says it's going to exceed what they initially thought the cost would be to put in some bathrooms, landscaping and a smaller bus stop.

Swope says the current estimate to do what he considers a fairly minimal amount of work would be over $700,000.

He says most likely, he'll recommend to the committee that the park project be dropped and use the money elsewhere.

The second item on the agenda is a second access route in and out of the Costco commercial area.

Swope says in the discussions about the approval of the new Home Depot store, one of the issues identified was access.

Right now, there's one access point in and out of the area.

Swope says, given the amount of traffic now, with the addition of Home Depot a second access route will have to be examined.

The committee will consider recommending to the Assembly an appropriation of funds for preliminarily planning for alternative access routes into the area.

The Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee meets at noon today at City Hall.

Tsunami warning inadvertently sent to Alaska radio, TV stations
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A National Weather Service worker inadvertently sent a tsunami warning to Alaska radio and television stations this morning. The error came as employees were reviewing procedures to issue such alerts.

A National Weather Service spokesman says officials suspect the warning was transmitted when someone accidentally double-clicked the cancel button with their computer's mouse.

After the cancel button is clicked once, the screen disappears.

But once it goes away, the screen behind it has the transmit button in the same location as the cancel button.

The service says rapidly clicking the mouse twice may have unintentionally sent the tsunami warning. There's also NO confirmation screen when the transmit button is clicked; it just goes.

Officials are working with programmers to make sure some type of fail-safe measure is added to the software.
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On the Net:
National Weather Service, Anchorage: http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/ 

Freezing rain leaves Anchorage streets icy
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Freezing rain has made Anchorage streets dangerous.

Schools in the Anchorage School District are closed today because of icy roads.

Alaska Air National Guard Major Mike Haller says workers shouldn't try to report to work at Kulis Air National Guard base until nine o'clock.

Some Alaska villages crippled by effects of cold
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Some of Alaska's rural communities are dealing with the after-affects of frigid temperatures.

The temperatures late last week shut down water and sewer lines in at least two villages, and cut power in a third.

On Saint George Island in the Bering Sea, frozen water mains cut water service to about 30 homes, several businesses and the clinic.

In Nondalton, between Lake Clark and Iliamna Lake, cold was blamed for problems in the power distribution system.

And in Northwest Alaska about 300 residents from Selawik went back to the old ways after their sewer and water pipes froze. They are using honey buckets instead of toilets and chopping ice from the nearby river.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Diving team examines fuel tanker
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Divers are inspecting the Seabulk Pride for damage in Kachemak Bay.

Seabulk official Jim Butler says experts are on hand to make sure the hull wasn't compromised when the tanker went aground Thursday morning.

The 575-foot vessel arrived in Kachemak Bay Friday after it was refloated in Cook Inlet.

The Coast Guard is investigating whether winter ice rules were followed in loading the tanker before heavy ice floes broke its moorings at the Nikiski dock.

Tesoro Alaska leases the double-hulled tanker.

The Tesoro dock will remain closed until inspections and repairs are completed, but the Coast Guard says the other two docks in Nikiski have been reopened on a ship-by-ship basis.

Bank robber nabbed in Anchorage
Police arrested a 23-year-old man over the weekend suspected of robbing a Alaska U-S-A Federal Credit Union branch in Anchorage.

Authorities say Travis Reyes gave a teller a note demanding money on Saturday.

He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and was arrested a short time later.

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake reported on Kenai Peninsula
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Residents in several Kenai Peninsula communities reported an earthquake Sun morning   at about 7:15.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says the temblor registered at a magnitude five-point-three.

The center says it hadn't received reports of damage.

The quake occurred about four miles south of Seldovia.

The Tsunami Warning Center says the temblor won't generate a tsunami.

National Guard members returning from Middle East
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Members of the Alaska Army National Guard were scheduled to arrive home Sunday evening.

The members of Echo Company have been part of the war effort in Iraq and Kuwait for the past year.

Major Mike Haller of the Alaska National Guard says the group has had a challenging time flying hundreds of missions in the Middle East.

About 30 members are due back in the next month, with the first group arriving last night.

Alberta residents getting $349 prosperity checks
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Alaskans aren't the only ones getting free money. Some Canadians are also collecting a big payout.

Checks worth almost 350 dollars in U-S currency were mailed to every Alberta man, woman and child who qualifies for a program reminiscent of the Alaska Permanent Fund.

The checks were mailed out late last month as part of a plan to distribute some of Alberta's huge energy-fueled budget surplus.

Since then, Albertans have been besieged by businesses and charities looking for a piece of the bounty.

Some retailers have even offered to double the windfall.

Anchorage homeless increasing
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The problem of the homeless in Anchorage is getting worse, despite efforts to tackle the problem.

Officials say more homeless kids are showing up in Anchorage schools, and there's less money to help families with housing.

Hundreds of people who should have been able to get into subsidized homes, but can't because the federal money has run out.

Mayor Mark Begich set up a task force more than a year ago to tackle the problem. The task force created a ten-year plan to reduce homelessness.

The task force met again last week, and found that progress had been made but the problem remains serious.
(Anchorage Daily News) 

Objects from Northwest Indian tribes featured in new exhibit
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alaska Tlingit (KLINK'-it) art is on display in a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.

The exhibit features ceremonial and everyday objects used by Indian tribes from Washington state to Alaska.

The exhibit is called ``Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life along the North Pacific Coast.''

It features the work of Coast Salish tribes in Washington state, the Tlingit in Alaska and eight tribes from Canada's British Columbia.

The exhibit runs through January 2nd, 2007, and showcases more than 400 objects, including ceremonial wooden masks and ladles shaped from sheep horns.

Tribal musicians, dancers and story tellers also are participating in the exhibit.

Senators push for gas pipeline project to move forward
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two U-S senators are pushing for a resumption of a natural gas pipeline project in Alaska.

Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin have sent a letter to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In the letter, the two call for a hearing on the status of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Snowe says construction of the pipeline has been stalled while consumers continue to pay record prices to heat their homes.

Snowe says the project should go forward as soon as possible, because its completion will help to increase supplies of natural gas and ease prices.

The letter was sent Friday to energy committee chairman Pete Domenici.

Anniversary attracts flag back to state
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A piece of Alaska history is returning to Fairbanks.

An Alaska flag that flew over the building where the state constitution was created was donated Saturday to the University of Alaska.

The donation is timed to be part of Creating Alaska, the three-year project to research and commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Alaska's Constitutional Convention.
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Delegates in late 19-55 and early 19-56 gathered at the building now known as Constitution Hall on the U-A-Fairbanks campus.

Louise Slee -- now a Florida resident -- was a typist in the building in the early 1960s.

The flag was going to be replaced and she asked if she could have it.

The flag stayed in the family through moves around the country and eventually was given to a friend.

Retired Anchorage elementary school teacher David Schwantes (SHWAHN'-tis) has held the flag for six years.

Schwantes hopes it will eventually be displayed at Constitution Hall.
(Anchorage Daily News) 

Study finds warming trend in Kenai Peninsula salmon streams
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - A study found salmon stream temperatures on the lower Kenai Peninsula have increased steadily over the past six years.

The temperatures have reached levels considered unhealthy for the state's most popular sport and commercial fish.

State standards say water at 55 degrees Fahrenheit is considered unhealthy for spawning areas.

Measurements taken last year found water temperatures above that mark more than 80 days for each of the streams.

Warm water can damage salmon egg and fry incubation, resistance to disease, and the availability of oxygen and nutrients. It can also slow the travel of migrating adult salmon.

The study was funded by a state grant to the environmental group Cook Inlet Keeper and the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Montana musher wins 300-mile sled dog race
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - Montana's Melanie Shirilla won the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race in Park City, Utah.

Shirilla walked away with ten-thousand dollars for winning the eight-day stage race.

The race ended Saturday after covering nearly 300 miles from its start in Jackson, Wyoming.

Shirilla is married to four-time Iditarod champ Doug Swingley, who finished third.

Organizers say this contest is the second richest in sled dog racing behind the Iditarod.

Crimson Bears men claim win over Ketchikan
The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears' men basketball squad defeated Ketchikan Saturday night to earn a split of their weekend series.   

Saturday's score was 66 to 52.  The Bears were defeated 82 to 65 Friday night.

First female wins state title in high school wrestling
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A Soldotna high school student has become the first female wrestler in the nation to win a state title.

Michaela Hutchison of Skyview High won the 103-pound weight class of Alaska's big school wrestling championships yesterday (Saturday).

Hutchinson told the Anchorage Daily News she doesn't care about the significance of beating the boys.

She was --quote-- ``excited to get done with the season.''

Last year, 17 girls nationwide qualified for high school state championships that included boys.
(Anchorage Daily News)