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Nordstrand to be named
interim AG
JUNEAU (AP) - The governor's office says Scott Nordstrand will take over as
interim attorney general when Gregg Renkes steps down on Friday.
Nordstrand is a deputy attorney general with the Department of Law's civil
section.
Murkowski spokeswoman Becky Hultberg says Renkes and Nordstrand will have a
couple of days together to work out the transition before Renkes'
resignation takes effect.
Renkes announced his resignation last Saturday amid continuing questions
about his stake in a company that stood to gain from an international coal
deal he helped shape as attorney general.
Hultberg says Nordstrand will fill in as acting attorney general until a
permanent replacement is found.
SOB springs a big leak
Some workers reporting to the State Office Building found their areas soaked this morning.
(Wednesday)
A two inch water line in the ceiling of the State Library on the 8th floor burst before the start of work.
Vern Jones. the state's Chief Procurement Officer, says there was standing water and water damage on the 8th floor. There's also water damage in the library's area on the 7th floor and in Retirement and Benefits on the 6th floor.
There's
a water pipe replacement project ongoing in the SOB, but Jones says unfortunately they hadn't got to this particular area yet.
It will be
replaced eventually, but for now emergency repairs are being made.
The fire suppression system is fed by a different supply line, so Jones says its not a safety issue.
There is asbestos sprayed to
the building itself, but not in tiles that have fallen from the ceiling.
Jones says they are mitigating
against the possible spread of the substance including tenting the asbestos
area off so repairs can be made.
He says the main problem is one of convenience since they had to shut down water to the entire building
As a result the restrooms there aren't available for use. Jones says workers are directed to the Alaska Office Building next door or the Court Plaza Building.
In addition, he says there's a liberal leave policy, but they are not shutting down the building and not sending people home wholesale.
Coast Guard sends helicopter to boat on rocks at Akhiok Island
ANCHORAGE
(AP) - The Coast Guard says four crewmen of the fishing boat that hit rocks
south of Kodiak Island were rescued this morning. (Wednesday)
The four crewmen and a dog were picked up on a beach on Akhiok (AH-key-ock)
Island just before eleven a-m.
Coast Guard spokesman Roger Wetherell says the crew members from the
Kodiak-based vessel Adrianna were hypothermic and one had suffered a cut.
They were flown to a Kodiak hospital.
The 57-foot Adrianna sent a distress call at eight-40 this morning and crew
members said it was adrift in Alitak Bay near Akhiok Island.
The crew later reported the boat had hit rocks on the island and that they
were abandoning ship.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom McKenzie says the agency responded with an
HH-60 helicopter sent from Kodiak.
Packed house for Tulsequah Chief Mine forum
About 150 Juneau residents turned
out for last night's [Tuesday] forum on the Tulsequah Chief
Mine at Centennial Hall.
The mine is in British Colombia about 12 miles from the Alaska border and is alongside the Tulsequah River, about seven miles upstream of it' confluence with the Taku River.
Redfern Resources, the mine developer, has said
it hopes to get the required permits in the next 12 months and begin construction of the mine and
on a 100 mile access road in 2006.
Juneau residents are concerned about the possible pollution of the Taku River and resulting harm to fish stocks.
According to the Department of Natural Resources, the Canadian environmental regulations are very similar to the
State of Alaska's.
However, as local attorney Doug Mertz testified last night, if the Taku is polluted by the mine there is not much local residents could do about it.
He said there is no legal mechanism for a private person on the U.S. side of the border to sue to modify the mine or gain compensation for losses if the river is polluted.
Mertz
said Canadian agencies are taking a business as usual attitude toward dealing with the mine's issues with a result that they have lost their moral capital and political persuasiveness.
Charlie Williams, with the Douglas Indian Association, noted that the Canadian Tlingit First Nation is still in the process of settling land claims in the area of the mine.
Williams said the mine company is proceeding anyway.
Interior secretary Gail Norton's special assistant for Alaska, Cam
Toohey, said his agency has been involved for the last ten years focusing on the downstream effects on water quality and fish.
He
said over that time the department has shared its comments and concerns with the British Columbia and Canadian governments.
Toohey
said the Taku River Water Quality report is scheduled to be completed this spring to establish a base line database for selected chemicals for comparison when the mine begins operating.
Toohey
said Canada's Project Approval certificate reaffirms B.C.'s intentions to consult with relevant agencies during the final design and implementation of the project.
He
said the Department of the Interior's focus during the review phase is to insure that Alaska's resources are fully protected.
He
emphasized they will continue to work closely with the state of Alaska and the B.C. and Canadian governments prior to the issuance of the permits.
The British Columbia government
has given the project the go ahead, however the Canadian government is still reviewing the proposal.
Action on proposal for industrial subdivision in Lemon Creek delayed
The Planning Commission last night
(Tuesday) took up a preliminary plat to subdivide the Juneau Ready Mix site into 16 industrial zoned lots.
Community Development Director Dale Pernula says that matter
was postponed. The Planning Commission continued the discussion, he says, possibly to the next meeting, so it can resolve issues related to traffic in the area.
The applicant is Locano Investments, LLC.
At one point, Home Depot was interested in that site in the Lemon Creek
area for a new store here. It is now pursing land as part of the current city owned gravel pit near Costco.
Additional money for Elections Division okayed by State Senate
The State Senate approved a measure today
(Wednesday) providing additional funding for the Division of Elections to cover the costs of the 2004 statewide election.
The division is asking for 694-thousand dollars in additional funding to pay for the election, in part blaming the high voter turnout in November.
Nearly one-third of the money will cover the cost of 517-thousand ballots ordered reprinted because of biased summary language approved by Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman.
The language was placed with an initiative requiring elections to fill U-S Senate vacancies.
Reprinting and redistributing the ballots cost the state more than 243-thousand dollars.
The division spent 304-thousand dollars hiring additional staff to handle the increased workload.
The vote on Senate Bill 62 was reconsidered by Minority Leader Johnny Ellis which means it could come up for another vote during the next floor session.
State Senators approve ANWR resolution
The State Senate today
(Wednesday) approved a resolution endorsing oil and gas leasing in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The vote was 15 to one with Juneau Senator Kim Elton the lone dissenter.
Hollis deer tries to board ferry for Ketchikan
KETCHIKAN (AP) - A young Sitka black-tailed deer apparently wanted a ride to Ketchikan yesterday (Tuesday).
Passengers on board the Inter-Island Ferry Authority vessel Prince of Wales at Hollis say a buck repeatedly tried to board the ferry, which was loading passengers for the morning ride to Ketchikan.
Passenger Kurt Morin says the deer swam to the Hollis ferry terminal, climbed the bank and walked on board.
He says the animal did not seem bothered by the presence of people or vehicles.
Crew members tried several times to shoo the deer back up the ramp to shore.
Morin says that after each partial retreat, the deer would return.
Ferry operations manager Stu Vincent says the animal might be someone's pet. He says it remained on the ramp when the ferry departed.
Assembly work session to take up hospital audit and port development fee
The Assembly Committee of the Whole meets this evening.
(Wednesday)
On the agenda is the audit for Bartlett Regional Hospital.
Also up for further discussion is the port development fee to be levied on the cruise ship industry that's been proposed by Mayor Bruce Botelho.
The work session gets underway at 5 p.m. in Assembly Chambers at City Hall.
Budget to be presented to airport board
The Airport Board of Directors meets this evening.
(Wednesday)
Airport Business Manager Patty deLaBruere says the meeting will be dominated by committee reports.
The Finance Committee will present the board with a balanced budget for Fiscal Year '06 for
approval.
The committee is also seeking the board's approval on six project fund transfers, appropriations and, in one case, a
deappropriation.
deLaBruere says most are housekeeping matters that will officially close out the projects.
She says the board will be asked to approve additional funding for the Delta One ramp construction which is currently underway.
The Goals and Objectives Committee is also scheduled to present its report to the board.
The Airport Board meeting gets underway at 7 p.m. in the Aurora Room at the airport.
Anchorage economy ranks high in
national magazine survey
A national business magazine ranks Anchorage number one when it comes to a thriving economy.
In its winter issue, business development outlook gives top marks to Anchorage for overall economic health.
The ranking looks at taxes, employment, and cost of living.
Bob Poe, president of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, says the city comes off favorably in that contest.
He says the magazine recognizes the city's steady growth and future potential.
Poe says the ranking will help anchorage compete with other cities for business opportunities.
Anchorage tops the list, with
Wilmington, Delaware; Casper, Wyoming; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Fargo, North Dakota rounding out the top five.
The top twenty includes larger cities like Nashville, Memphis, and San Antonio.
Poe observes that Anchorage is the only west coast city on the list.
Prosecutors rest case in ex-officer's murder trial
NOME (AP) - The state has rested its case against a former Nome police officer charged with murder and evidence tampering.
The state rested Tuesday in the trial of Matthew Owens, who is accused of killing 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff in August 2003.
The 29-year-old Owens also is accused of stealing a patrol vehicle to divert attention from himself as a suspect.
Prosecutors have produced no motive or direct eye witnesses to the crimes. But they've spent almost three weeks telling jurors there is substantial circumstantial evidence against Owens.
Ivanoff's body was found on the outskirts of Nome on August 13th, 2003. She had been shot in the back of the head.
Defense attorneys are set to call their first witness Thursday.
Bill highlights slavery, but business would be unchanged
JUNEAU (AP) - A bill by Senator Fred Dyson would restrict the state's financial dealings with companies that do business in countries that support slavery.
But the measure would likely have little or no effect on trade or on the state's dealings with companies in Alaska.
The Eagle River Republican's bill would use an annual U-S State Department list to determine the worst offending countries when it comes to supporting or ignoring human trafficking.
The state's administration, courts and Legislature would be able to restrict their dealings with companies that do business in those countries listed.
But Dyson's measure stops short of cutting off those companies and countries. The language of the bill would allow state government to ``restrict'' financial relationships instead of severing them.
The biggest effect the bill would have would be to require companies that bid on state contracts to produce a human trafficking policy, according to Vern Jones, the state's procurement officer.
Just six countries are listed as worst offenders by the State Department: North Korea, Venezuela, Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Sudan. Of those six, only Venezuela has any significant level of trade with Alaska.
Anabolic steroids made illegal in Alaska under terms of newly filed bill
A measure has been introduced in both bodies of the Legislature to outlaw the possession and use of anabolic steroids in Alaska.
The sponsor in the upper chamber is Anchorage Senator Hollis French.
He says Alaska is one of two states in the nation that does not make anabolic steroids illegal without a prescription.
French says they're not saying there's rampant steroid abuse in Alaska schools, but he says there's an oversight in state law for which his bill would close the loophole.
Under terms of the bill, possession would be a misdemeanor and distribution and sale a felony.
Anchorage
Representative Ethan Berkowitz introduced similar legislation in the House.
Rural justice commission member to protest appointment
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A member of the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission has resigned in protest.
Ross Schaeffer Senior of Kotzebue resigned in late January after the rest of the nine-member commission agreed to seat Anchorage attorney Don Mitchell on an advisory working group, representing the Legislature.
Schaeffer is mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough and a former president of NANA Regional Corporation.
He tells the Anchorage Daily News that the appointment of Mitchell a slap in the face to the state's indigenous people.
Mitchell holds the stance that Alaska tribes do not have the same status as tribes in the Lower 48.
He has opposed increased tribal authority in Alaska.
Mitchell had no comment on Schaeffer's resignation and referred questions to leaders of the Legislative Council, who keep him on retainer.
North Pole Republican State Senator Gene Therriault says he's surprised by Schaeffer's reaction.
Therriault says he has known Mitchell for several years and does not perceive him as anti-Native.
IRS says thousands of Alaskans owed unclaimed refunds
ANCHORAGE (AP) - More than eleven (m) million dollars await Alaskans who failed to file an income tax return for 2001.
The Internal Revenue Service says the unclaimed refunds apply to 81-hundred Alaskans.
In order to collect, people must file a return for that year with the I-R-S no later than April 15th.
Refunds will be held by the I-R-S, however, for those who have not filed tax returns for 2002 or 2003.
Thief steals expensive
fishing equipment
FAIRBANKS (AP) - Police in Fairbanks are looking for a thief with a taste
for expensive fishing equipment.
J&L Sports owner Jim Masterson says someone stole 20-thousand dollars
worth of fishing gear over the weekend.
He's missing high-end fishing manufactured by Loomis and as many as 60
Loomis, Accurate and Shimano fly fishing reels.
He says the thief also stole boxes of Rio and Ace fly fishing line, fly
tying vises and sunglasses.
The tackle shop owner says he believes someone slipped into the shop
Saturday afternoon while he was busy and hid in a back room, possibly behind
a boiler.
He says he found both back doors unlocked when he opened the shop Monday
morning.
Mat-Su principal suspended
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A Matanuska-Susitna Borough elementary school principal has been placed on indefinite leave following allegations that he punched a high school student.
Pioneer Peak Elementary School principal Patrick Mayer is accused of punching a Colony High Junior in the mouth January 29th.
Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak
(KAL'-chak) is reviewing assault charges proposed against Mayer on February 2nd by the Alaska State Troopers.
Mat-Su Borough School District spokeswoman Kim Floyd says Mayer was placed on leave for an undetermined amount of time and that the school district is conducting its own internal investigation.
The 46-year-old Mayer has been principal at Pioneer Peak since 2001.
Boy caught blowing up Ketchikan mailbox
KETCHIKAN (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say a 14-year-old boy used a small explosive to blow up a mailbox near his home.
No one was hurt in the blast Monday afternoon.
Trooper Patrick Nelson says the mailbox was among a stand of mailboxes along the road. It had belonged to a house that burned down some time ago and was not being used by anyone.
The explosion of the seal bomb -- used to drive mammals from fishing grounds -- rattled the windows of a nearby house.
Nelson says the resident saw the boy running away and described him to the trooper, who went door-to-door until he reached the teen's house.
Nelson says the boy eventually admitted blowing up the mailbox.
No arrests have been made.
Expert says "noise" from Northern Lights
could be real
JUNEAU (AP) - If the northern lights speak to you, it may not be all in your head.
An aurora borealis expert says people have been reporting sounds made by northern lights for centuries.
Dirk Lummerzheim, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, says scientific knowledge may cast doubt on the ability to hear the aurora.
But at the same time, he says, reports over the years have been too similar to be ignored.
Lummerzheim says people who claim to have heard the aurora describe a crackling, hissing, rustling or swishing sound.
The noise reportedly coincides with movement of the aurora. Most only hear it once or twice in their lifetime. Sometimes, one person hears it, while a person standing next to them doesn't.
Lummerzheim says one of the problems with the claims is that sound does not travel fast enough to jibe with reports of the aurora making noises as it moves.
Thorne Bay Ranger Montana bound
Thorne Bay District Ranger Dave Schmid has been selected to lead the Custer National Forest’s Beartooth Ranger District in Red Lodge, Montana.
That word in a release issued by the Tongass National Forest today.
Schmid, who served as Thorne Bay’s ranger for five years, begins his new job February 22.
Anchorage adds enrichment courses to summer school schedule
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage middle- and high-school students will have more choices in summer school selections this year.
The Anchorage school board has approved expanding the summer school program to include enrichment courses
The additional courses will cost the district 283-thousand dollars this year.
Summer school has boomed in recent years at the high school level, and the increase is largely due to students taking remedial classes to make up for failed courses or to prepare to pass the high school exit exam in reading, writing and math, district officials said.
The new summer school classes will include middle school courses in writing enrichment as well as computer skills courses.
The high school program will include offerings in Alaska studies, art, drama, music, math, language arts, social studies and science.
UAA hires volley ball coach
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The University of Alaska Anchorage has hired a new
volley ball coach.
Michelle Earl replaces Kim Lauwers, who resigned in December after nine years with the program and seven as head coach.
Earl formerly coached at Georgia Southwestern State University, where she compiled a record of 212 wins and 91 losses.
She started that program from scratch in 19-95.
Earl played for the University of Iowa in 19-91 and 19-92.
Tsunami threat includes both U-S East and West coasts
WASHINGTON (AP) - The world was caught off guard when an underwater earthquake triggered the tragic tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, killing tens of thousands of people.
Now experts are alerting residents on this side of the globe that giant waves also pose a serious threat to the United States. The possibilities were the topic of discussion today by a panel at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Experts noted that a tsunami struck the Virgin Islands and killed 23 people in 1867, while there is also evidence that massive waves also struck 35-hundred years ago in what is now the U-S Northwest.
George Maul of the Florida Institute of Technology says it's more a matter of when another tsunami will strike -- ``not if.''
(Copyright ©2005 Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
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