Juneau Daily News Online

Wednesday, February 9, 2000  ©  Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News

Knowles puts subsistence back on the burner
  Asks lawmakers to reconsider constitutional amendment
Governor Tony Knowles asked the Legislature today to pick up where it left off on the subsistence issue during last fall's special session. The House adopted a measure then that would ask Alaskans to vote on whether the constitution should be amendment to allow for a rural priority. The Senate fell 2 votes short of the 14 needed to send the question to voters. The Governor (left) introduced that same measure today in just the Senate. As a result of its defeat in the upper chamber last fall, the federal government took over the management of subsistence fisheries management on federal waters in Alaska effective October 1.

Taylor uncertain about Knowles measure
Wrangell Senator Robin Taylor (right) was 1 of the 8 senators to vote against the proposed constitutional amendment on subsistence during last fall's special session. Taylor says there apparently is not a firm certainty that Interior Secretary Babbitt supports the constitutional amendment Knowles is asking lawmakers to approve. Senator Taylor points to what he feels is a contradiction by the Governor with his administration's recent action to appeal the Katie John case, which Knowles says would render the entire issue moot. Taylor says the effect would be to end federal management.

Subsistence protesters go on trial next week
One of the women who participated in the protest of laws that bar subsistence fishing in Alaska's urban areas said on KINY's Capital Chat today that trial in Juneau Superior Court is scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Wanda Culp (left) says the date was set during a hearing Monday. The women used an illegal net to catch 5 sockeye in a pond near Mendenhall Glacier last August that's been closed to salmon fishing since 1962. Culp along with Desa Jacobsson, Jackie McLean, Tracey Gonzales and her daughter, Renee Culp, were charged originally. The charge against Culp's daughter was dropped during Monday's hearing since she didn't actually participate in setting the net. Culp says they a $300 fine if convicted.

Jacobsson goes to DC
Desa Jacobsson, who was scheduled to be on KINY's Capital Chat today, is headed to Washington DC for a series of meetings with Clinton Administration officials. She started a hunger strike last month and vowed to continue it until the law was changed. She was convinced to end the effort by the Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka last Friday evening. The Federal Subsistence Board is now accepting proposals to change regulations for subsistence fisheries. When asked if they have made suggestions to the board or the Knowles Administration or state lawmakers, Celina Everson, Chair of the Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand Camp's Subsistence Committee, said on today's program that they are not being brought to the table where subsistence laws are being enacted. She said they are being left outside the loop. It's been corrected somewhat recently, she added, but not to their satisfaction.

NPFMC begins halibut catch review
How much halibut should charter-boat fisherman be allowed to catch? That's the lightning-rod question before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council at its meeting in Anchorage, which started today. The issue is the latest pitting commercial fishermen against sport fishermen on the subject of allocation. One option on the table would potentially devastate the tourist-powered charter business -- cutting the daily catch limit from 2 fish to 1. Other options include putting a moratorium on new charter boats, banning boat crews from catching fish and confining charter boats to certain areas.

Boat turned around for lack of safety gear
The Coast Guard stopped a pleasure boat near Portland Island and ended up escorting the vessel to North Douglas. The Coast Guard was patrolling Southeast Alaska waters yesterday when it decided to conduct a safety equipment check. It found that 25-year-old Raymond Caldwell and 24-year-old Stephen Caldwell, both of Juneau, failed to carry some essential safety gear. The Coast Guard says the boat failed to have 2 adult personal floatation devices, a fire extinguisher, flares, a signaling device and a registration certificate.

Stevens has words for FTC
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (left) clashed today with Robert Pitofsky, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. At a US Senate hearing on reauthorization of the FTC, Stevens argued that the agency has overstepped its legal authority in reviewing the BP-Amoco/Arco merger and has refused to engage in fair settlement talks with the oil companies. Stevens called the merger "a matter of survival" for Alaska. But Pitofsky says the BP/Arco bid has been handled no differently than other mergers. He says the FTC has the authority to factor in how much concentration is taking place in the oil industry.

Session move moves ahead
The legislative finance committees met jointly today to formally receive the recommendations of the commission charged with coming up with suggestions on privatizing some government services. Twenty recommendations were forwarded to the Legislature for its consideration including one that calls for moving legislative sessions to Anchorage.

Lost musher back at work
Musher Rod Boyce was back at his job at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner yesterday, guided to his desk with fluorescent orange trail markers posted by his co-workers. Boyce was found Friday after being lost for six days in the Caribou Hills of the Kenai Peninsula. He got lost after straying off the trail of the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race during a blizzard.

 (Captions for our photographs can be viewed by hovering over them with your mouse pointer)

maps.expedia.com

Photographers/Public Information Officers:
KINY is actively soliciting photos of timely local news events. Please email us for details.