Airport Board agrees on parking rates
The Airport Board of Directors took action on parking rates at its meeting last night.

Business Manager Patty deLaBruere says the panel resurrected the proposal that was tabled last month.

The proposal that passed last night calls for 15 minutes of free parking in the short term lot, rather than the currently 30 minutes.

The charge for the next 45 minutes will be one dollar and then two dollars for each additional hour.

There's no daily maximum rate since deLaBruere says people should be parking in the long term lot after that period of time.

The motion tabled last month called for a one dollar charge for the first half hour and 2.50 for the first hour.

Under the new plan, the first two hours in the long term lot will be three dollars and a dollar for each additional hour. The daily maximum will be 12 dollars and the weekly rate, 75 dollars.

The rate for a lost ticket is increased to 35 dollars.

The new rates take effect April 1st.

LeConte back in service
The State Ferry LeConte has returned to service.

The vessel's gyro compass went out near Hoonah yesterday. (Wednesday)

It turned around at Hoonah and came back to Juneau.

John Manly of the State Department of Transportation says a technician flew in from Seattle today to fix the gyro compass which, as it tuned out, had a problem in a circuit board.

The LeContre is scheduled to depart Juneau for Hoonah at 7 p.m. tonight. (Thursday)

The ferry was out of service for much of December due to problems with its drive shaft. That came after about a six-week overhaul in October and November.

The vessel serves Petersburg, Kake, Sitka, Angoon, Tenakee Springs, Hoonah, Juneau and Pelican

Weather forces closure of Seward Highway
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Seward Highway has been temporarily closed from Girdwood south to Seward because of extreme weather condition and avalanche concerns.

Officials say avalanches have occurred at mile posts 33 and 84.

The avalanche at mile marker 33 is reported to be 40 feet across the road and up to 18 feet deep. Anchorage police say there are trees mixed in with the snow.

Police say one vehicle was caught in the avalanche, but both occupants escaped unharmed.

Troopers are patrolling the highway and the Turnagain Pass area looking for others who may be trapped.

The prevailing weather conditions - including two feet of snow at mile marker 12 - increase the possibility of further avalanches.

The department will keep the highway closed while crews work to relieve the avalanche potential and clear the highway of snow.

The department hopes to have the highway reopened by noon tomorrow (Friday). 

Coach denies Olympian Randall doped her blood
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Kikkan Randall's cross-country ski coach says there's absolutely no likelihood that she's involved with blood doping.

Jim Galanes says it's likely dehydration or a change in elevation pushed the Anchorage Olympian's hemoglobin levels above acceptable standards.

The International Ski Federation says Randall is one of eight cross-country skiers competing in the Olympics who have been suspended for five days because of excessive hemoglobin levels.

The timing means the athletes will be barred from competition until at least Monday.

That will keep the Randall and six skiers out of the first cross-country events of the Olympics -- the men's and women's pursuit on Sunday.
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Hemoglobin is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to all cells and can increase endurance.

Illicit strategies such as the use of synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions have been used by some athletes to increase oxygen in muscles.

Galanes is a three-time Olympian who coached for the U-S Ski Team for six years. He says he has worked with Randall for five or six years and spoke with her today.

Galanes says the testing used by the International Ski Federation is flawed in part because athletes can't appeal.

And he also says more sophisticated tests exist to determine whether hemoglobin levels are elevated because of abnormal, illegal methods.

He says if Randall were dehydrated from traveling, she easily could flunk the test.

State settles lawsuit in trooper shooting
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - The state has reached a 310-thousand-dollar settlement with a family who filed a lawsuit in the case involving an Alaska State Trooper who shot a Nikiski man to death two years ago.

The civil lawsuit claimed trooper Arthur Jesse Osborn was either negligent or used intentional, excessive force in the January 2003 shooting of 30-year-old Casey Porter in a pullout off the Sterling Highway.

The lawsuit named Osborn, as well as the state, and sought more than one million dollars in damages.

It was filed on behalf of Porter's estate, which was represented by Danielle Gordon, the mother of one of Porter's children.

A second lawsuit -- filed on behalf of Porter's parents -- is still pending.
(Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska State Trooper arrested on domestic violence charges
WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska State Trooper has been arrested on domestic violence charges.

Wrangell police officers arrested 29-year-old Clinton Songer on Sunday after he allegedly forced his way into a woman's apartment.

Dominique O'Connor told police Songer knocked on her door Saturday evening, entered the apartment and grabbed her by the neck.

Troopers' spokesman Greg Wilkinson says the alleged incident occurred while Songer was on pre-approved leave. Wilkinson says the Wrangell-based trooper will remain on leave until March.
(Thanks APRN)

Seabulk Pride headed south
The tanker Seabulk Pride left Kachemak Bay last evening (Wednesday).

The tanker which broke free of an ice floe and grounded in Cook Inlet had been anchored in the bay since last Friday where it was inspected and underwent repairs.

Small cracks found in the hull were patched.  Coast Guard Petty Officer Sara Francis says the tanker was held in Kachemak Bay until it was confirmed that the patch work held.

The Seabulk Pride was being loaded last week with unleaded gasoline and a thick residual oil product when it broke free of the dock in Nikiski. About 84 gallons of fuel spilled into Cook Inlet. An inspection showed the double-hulled tanker did not leak, even though it was creased by a boulder.

An official for Seabulk Tankers says the tanker will likely go to dry-dock for repairs after delivering its cargo to Tesoro's Puget Sound refinery.

Voters to decide cruise ship passenger tax
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Anchorage judge has ruled that a ballot measure to tax cruise ship passengers should go before voters in November.

Superior Court Judge William Morse  Tuesday ruled in favor of the Division of Elections in a lawsuit challenging the state's process for verifying voter signatures on proposed ballot measures.

The NorthWest CruiseShip Association and a dozen tourism groups sued the state last January after it approved the initiative.

The plaintiffs argued that sponsors did not have enough qualified signatures to make the 2006 ballot.

The judge acknowledged the state's methods of determining a signer's registration are imprecise. But the judge said stricter measures would place a burden on a citizen's right to the initiative process.

The measure would impose a 50-dollar-per-passenger fee, tax gambling proceeds and create new environmental monitoring requirements for cruise ships.

Waterman jury makes requests and seeks guidance in notes to judge
Attorneys and the defendant in the Rachelle Waterman murder trial were called back to the courtroom twice yesterday (Wednesday) to respond to jurors' requests.

Judge Patricia Collins turned down a request for tapes of police interviews with confessed killers Jason Arrant and Brian Radel.

The tapes had not been admitted into evidence.

Likewise, a request for the timeline of events surrounding the crime that the defense drew on an easel during closing arguments was also rejected.

Collins did grant the jury's request for colored flags and yellow sticky notes.

Another note from the deliberation room was sent to Judge Collins in the afternoon, according to Court T-V Extra's Harriet Ryan.

The note had two questions

The first asks for a definition of "intended."

Judge Collins says she will send a note back echoing the definition of "intentionally" — a definition the jury already has.

A person acts intentionally, the instruction reads, when her "conscious objective is to cause that result."

The second question asks if all 12 jurors have to agree on the elements of each crime or "is the majority sufficient?"

All 12 must agree on each element, the judge wrote back.

The Juneau jury began deliberations earlier Wednesday in the trial of the Craig teenager accused of conspiring with two older men to have her mother killed.

Lauri Waterman's body was found in a burned vehicle near Craig in November 2004. Arrant and Radel confessed to beating and suffocating her.

The jury ended its deliberations for the day at about 5 p.m. Wednesday and resumed again this morning.

Another lawsuit alleges abuse by a Catholic priest
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - Officials say another lawsuit has been filed alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest.

The suit was filed yesterday (Wednesday) in Bethel Superior Court.

The suit was filed by attorney Ken Roosa against the Society of Jesus and the Fairbanks Diocese. It alleges that two priests molested a boy who attended Catholic schools in the village of Holy Cross.

The suit says the Reverend Andrew Eordogh -- a Jesuit -- molested the boy in the late 1960s. The other priest died in 1992 and is not named as a defendant.

Roosa has now filed ten damage suits against priests.
(Anchorage Daily News) 

Airman serving in Iraq calls hometown radio station in Juneau
Senior Airman Helen Coleman of Juneau is now serving in Iraq.

She's working as anti-terrorism force protection analyst and serves with members of the U.S., Iraqi and Italian armies.

Coleman's been with the Air Force unit in an area near Nazarea for a month. She says people in her job class spend four months there at a time, so she's scheduled to rotate out in May.

Her mother and father are John and Alberta Hanlon of Juneau. She's a 2001 graduate of Juneau Douglas High School and joined the Air Force following graduation.

She's married to Senior Airman Brandon Coleman who's based at the Air Force Base in Little Rock, Arkansas.

What seems to be a common theme among military members who have seen Iraq first hand, their take is different than the media's.

During an interview with KINY Radio, Coleman says in her personal opinion, which she points out in no way reflects the Air Force view, the media focuses on the "bad" and "sad" stories because they sell better than the "good" ones.

The impression she's received from the Iraqi citizens she's met is that they are happy the American military is there.

She's kept abreast of events in Juneau and how the town welcomed back the Alaska Army National Guard unit that returned last month. She found the support for the troops here amazing and was moved by the their reception home.

Coleman plans on coming home on leave herself when she takes leave at the end of May after departing Iraq.

Conference committee to decide drug bill's fate
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A legislative conference committee will try to come up with a compromise on a disputed drug bill.

The Alaska Senate today (Thursday) rejected a motion to rescind the changes it made to the bill last month.

Then, a slim majority approved tacking Governor Murkowski's ``must-pass'' marijuana bill onto a measure meant to curb the manufacture of methamphetamines.

Senate President Ben Stevens (an Anchorage Republican), appointed a conference committee comprising Senators Ralph Seekins, a Fairbanks Republican; Con Bunde, an Anchorage Republican; and Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat.

They will attempt to come up with a compromise bill with House conferees Representatives John Coghill, a North Pole Republican; Bill Stoltze, a Chugiak Republican; and Harry Crawford, an Anchorage Democrat.

A meeting of the conference committee has not yet been scheduled.

The marijuana bill would add harsher penalties for possession and lists a series of findings in an attempt to overturn a 31-year-old Alaska Supreme Court decision allowing small amounts of marijuana in the home.

The House rejected the Senate's changes to the methamphetamine bill on February 1. 

Couple released after dozens of charges dropped
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Dozens of charges have been dropped against a Mat-Su couple.

Patrick and Sherry Kelley were at the center of a child abuse case. They were released yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading no contest to greatly reduced charges.

Forty-five year old Patrick Kelley spent nearly 17 months in jail. He has served all the time required in the deal with the Palmer prosecutor's office.

Thirty-six-year-old Sherry Kelley also was released on a lowered bail.

The couple was accused of mistreating five adopted children.

All but three of the charges were dismissed.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Man killed in avalanche in Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Authorities say a Michigan man out snowshoeing with a companion was killed last (Wednesday) night in an avalanche near Anchorage.

Alaska State Troopers have identified the victim as 32-year-old Brian Mulvehill of Clarksville, Michigan. Troopers say he's lived in Anchorage for the last five months.

His body was found by searchers using probes and dogs. It was located in an area known as Boy Scout Gully beside Flattop Mountain.

Officials say it appears the two snowshoers were en route back to a parking lot and were about 100 feet apart when the avalanche occurred. The slide appeared to be about 200 feet wide.

High winds in recent days has loaded snow in the slopes of the gully, which is between Blueberry Hill and Flattop.

Officials say the snowshoers carried no rescue gear with them, including no avalanche beacons, shovels or probes.

Authorities said the two were the only ones who appeared to be in the area when the avalanche occurred.

Over 282 thousand apply for PFD on-line in January
The Permanent Fund Dividend Division's plan to offer an earlier direct deposit date for those applying on line in January worked.

Director Sharon Barton says they received over 282 thousand - 400 applicants file on line last month.

That's more than the 211,000 that filed on-line all of last year.

Barton says they're very pleased with the response.

Those applicants will receive their dividend this year October 4th.

For those applying for direct deposit between February 1 and the March 31st deadline, their direct deposit date is October 19th.

Checks will go out in the mail this year November 14th.

Barton says the pace has slowed to about a thousand applications a day coming in to their offices since the first of the month.

Chief justice: Too few qualified judicial candidates are applying
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Bryner (BRE'ner) says too few qualified candidates are applying for the state's rural judgeships.

He says one way to attract the best in the legal profession is to raise judges' pay and their cost-of-living adjustments.

Bryner made his remarks yesterday (Wednesday) in his annual State of the Judiciary Address to a joint session of the Alaska House and Senate.

He says the lack of qualified judicial candidates could become a problem, considering the 50 percent turnover rate the state judiciary has experienced over the past six years.

Two bills have been introduced in the Legislature that would raise the salaries and cost-of-living adjustments for Alaska judges.

Man held without bail on federal weapons charge
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Bail was denied to a man facing a federal weapons charge.

U-S Magistrate John Roberts ruled yesterday (Wednesday) that Rob Kane posed a significant flight risk.

Roberts rejected offers by an Anchorage police sergeant and an active-duty Army officer to supervise Kane if he were released. Both the policeman and the Army officer have moonlighted for Security Aviation -- the company closely associated with Kane.

The 37-year-old man was arrested February 2nd after raids by federal agents on Security Aviation's hangars in Anchorage and Palmer, and company offices.

Kane is charged with illegally possessing two rocket launchers designed to be mounted on trainer jets owned by Security Aviation and its related companies.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Anchorage set to buy historic theater
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The city of Anchorage is set to acquire the historic 4th Avenue Theatre.

The city is offering businessman Robert Gottstein four (M) million dollars for the 58-year-old theater. The amount is Gottstein's asking price.

The Anchorage Assembly and voters will have to go along with the deal.

The Anchorage Assembly next week will take up a recommendation that the city put a two million dollar bond proposal before voters on April 4th to help buy the building.

If the Assembly agrees -- and if voters approve -- the city will have to raise the remaining millions from other sources before it can it authorize the bond.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Territorial Sportsmen to hold annual meeting
The Territorial Sportsmen conduct their annual meeting this evening.

Dinner will be served beginning at 6 p.m. at the Yacht Club.

The program starts at seven.

The meeting will include the election of officers.