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Husband and wife indicted
for cab driver assault and robbery
A Juneau grand jury has returned an indictment in the case of a husband and
wife arrested on charges of assaulting and robbing a cab driver last month.
20 year-old Aaron St. Clair Jr. is charged with attempted murder and
tampering with evidence.
Aaron, and his wife, 18 year-old Violet St. Clair are both charged with
first-degree assault and robbery.
37 year-old Eric Drake was robbed and stabbed on the night of January 7th
after he says took the suspects to the Super 8 Motel.
The St. Clairs' were arrested December 4th after an intensive police
investigation and manhunt.
They are scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on the indictment next
week.
Aaron St. Clair Jr. faces up to 134 years in prison and $1 million in fines
if convicted.
His wife faces up to 40 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
Help to battle racism
offered to Juneau school district from Assembly
The Assembly Human Resources Committee is seeking to support the School
District as it addresses racism in the school system.
In a letter to School Board President Mary Becker, committee member Randy
Wannamaker says all available municipal resources are available to the
district in this endeavor, including the Juneau Human Rights Commission.
He says the first thing that must be done is to determine the extent and
nature of the problem, then identify resources and potential solutions.
He says the people of Juneau must be shown that racism is not allowed in the
community and that the appropriate steps will be taken. He adds a safe and
positive environment must be provided for all Juneau citizens.
Wannamaker, who is Tlingit, says these are the same problems that existed
when he attended high school in the late 50s and early 60s.
(The
current KINY Weekly Poll Question concerns the issue of racism in
Juneau
. Cast your vote at www.kinyradio.com/poll.html)
Testing scheduled at JDHS
A big week is in store at Juneau Douglas High School next week.
There's no school Monday, but Principal Deb Morse says they want students
there bright and early Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That's because the
High School Qualifying Exam will be administered those days for all
sophomores any juniors and seniors who still need to test.
The freshman class will take the Terra Nova exam next week.
Strange weather reported on
13th in Capital City and region
Friday the 13th brings a Spring like day to Juneau and Southeast Alaska.
Meteorologist Michael Mitchell says 16 record high temperatures were set all
the way from Ketchikan to Yakutat.
It hit 48 degrees by early afternoon at the Juneau Airport. That exceeds the
previous record of 44 set in 1977.
The Juneau airport is the official recording station, but it was in the
low-50s in downtown Juneau this afternoon..
The 46 in Hoonah set a new record high there. The old record of 45 was set
in 1986. It reached 55 in Kake smashing the old record of 49 set in 1977.
The warmest spot in the state was Annette where it reached 57 degrees, another
record for the date.
Down sloping winds coming off the mountains was keeping it warm in the
downtown Juneau today area.
A wind advisory for the downtown area and Douglas was issued by the Weather
Service.
Conference approves using
Fund's income on services and protecting dividend
Delegates
call on Legislature to consider broad based tax...Governor says taxes not on
table
The Conference of Alaskans completed work Thursday, endorsing
the use of Permanent Fund income for state services and approving a new way
of managing earnings from the Permanent Fund called Percent of Market Value,
or POMV.
The delegates agreed that Fund's income could be used for essential state
services under two conditions;
--dividends must be paid out before the Funds income is utilized.
-- the Legislature must take action to balance the state's books by
considering a state income tax, other broad-based taxes and quote “other
alternative sources of income.”
The Conference also recommended that annual dividend checks be protected in
the state Constitution.
And the delegates also supported a “prudent balance” for the state's
Constitutional Budget Reserve, but didn't specify a dollar amount.
In a written statement issued after the Conference adjourned, Governor
Murkowski applauded the Conference's recommendations except for the
conditions placed on use of the Fund's income for essential state services.
Murkowski's statement read... "I will forward the Conference report to
the Legislature so that the body can fully consider the outcome of the
Conference. The legislation which I will present to the Legislature will
only focus on the four key questions I asked the Conference to debate
regarding the Permanent Fund and the CBR."
The POMV plan would base the amount of money available for dividends, and
possibly some costs of state government, on the fund's total value.
The percent of market value plan has been a goal of the fund's board of
trustees, who say it will bring predictability to distribution of fund
earnings.
A change from the current method of spending will require a vote of
Alaskans.
Governor Murkowski called the conference during his State of the State
speech.
"Just Say No" pans
fund conference recommendations
A group organized to oppose changes to the Permanent Fund is saying
"no" to the resolutions that emerged from the conference.
Eddie Burke, the chair of "Alaskans Just Say No," says the
conference produced nothing new.
Committee member Jim Crawford says it was a "conference of the
elite". He said he didn't hear one suggestion in three days about how
to cut state spending.
Budget Director Cheryl Frasca did present a "B" budget which
contained over 400-million dollars in cuts to services.
Burke calls that a "scare tactic". He compares it to the
"B" budget Frasca prepared for anchorage when the city was faced
with a property tax cap initiative.
Crawford and Burke say the delegates' endorsement of a P-O-M-V plan to
change the management of the Permanent Fund is a "distraction".
they say the Legislature should focus on consolidating and privatizing state
services.
Bill would lower fisheries tax for direct
marketers
State Senator Bert Stedman has introduced a bill calling for a tax break to
fishermen who sell their fish directly to consumers.
Supporters of Senate Bill 286 say direct marketers are subject to taxes
designed for large processors. Currently, direct marketers and processors
pay a five percent fisheries business tax on the fish's retail value.
The bill would assess direct marketers a three-percent fisheries business
tax on the wholesale value of their fish.
Numerous fishermen from all over the state testified yesterday (Thursday)
before the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. They say such a break is a
needed boost to the salmon industry.
The bill creates a new license specifically for direct marketers.
Stedman says that would improve accountability for direct marketers to pay
the fisheries business tax.
Hilary back in town to
conduct lessons at Eaglecrest
Olympic medalist and former women's downhill champion Hilary Lindh of Juneau
is in town this weekend to conduct work shops at the Eaglecrest Ski Area.
Lindh has just completed her master's degree at the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver. She now lives in the small British Columbia community
of Pemberton which is near the world class ski area at Whistler.
She'll conduct a workshop for
women Saturday, couples on Sunday and there are two sessions for kids
Monday.
Unless there are more people signing up for the couple's workshop Sunday,
she says it could be cancelled.
Lindh told Chris Burns during an interview on KINY Radio this morning that
people who learn to ski at Eaglecrest can ski anywhere.
Lindh is in town until Tuesday.
Advertising out for new
Juneau fire chief
The search for a new fire chief in Juneau is ongoing.
CBJ Manager Rod Swope says the city is advertising nationwide. Applications
are due by February 29th.
Swope wants to narrow the field to three for an extensive interview process
that will be conducted over two or three days in Juneau. He says there will
be an opportunity for the public to meet the candidates.
Swope wants to have a new fire chief on board by late April or the first of
May.
The vacancy was created with the resignation of Mike Doyle late last year.
Land transfer bill settles claims at a cost
Critics of a land-transfer bill by U-S Senator Lisa Murkowski say it would
cancel legitimate individual claims by Alaska Natives and improperly muffle
public comment.
Others at a Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday said that giving the state
of Alaska and Native corporations the federal land they were promised
decades ago is a worthy goal.
The Alaska Statehood Act, passed by Congress in 1958, promised 103-point-5
million acres. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 created the
Native corporations and promised them 44 million acres.
In addition, the Alaska Native Allotment Land Act of 1906 promised small
chunks of land to individual Alaska Natives who proved they had used and
occupied it.
The state still lacks title to 60 million acres. Native corporations lack
title to 29 million acres. And 2,500 individual allotments have yet to be
approved.
Murkowski's bill would create a streamlined system separate for Alaska so
the final titles can be delivered to all within five years.
Ed Thomas, a president of the Central Council of Tlingit (KLING-it) and
Haida Tribes says they want the process rushed but not at the expense of the
applicant.
Thomas says the bill would allow the federal Bureau of Land Management to
ignore about 500 lost allotment applications. Other provisions, he says
would end applicants' rights to reinstate improperly closed cases and to
reclaim allotments that the government wrongfully nullified.
Anchorage Police bust gambling clubs
Anchorage police raided four illegal gambling houses and seized dozens of
slot machines, cracking down on what police describe as a widespread
underground business.
Police say complaints from the public spurred the raids yesterday. Three
people were arrested and 34 slot machines were seized, valued at up to
one-thousand dollars each.
Some of the after-hours clubs are established inside homes. Police say they
draw customers at all hours of the night and sometimes are the sites of
fights and drug deals. Many require a code word or an invitation to get in.
Police Vice Unit Sergeant Kathy Lacey says there are more gambling places in
town than police have time to deal with.
Lacey told the Anchorage Daily News that Gambling houses often move around.
These arrests came after a two-month investigation. Lacey says police did
not have the manpower to raid the houses in the peak gambling hours when
there could be dozens of people inside.
It took 19 patrol officers and four detectives to do the simultaneous raids
yesterday.
Probation for soccer coach
A 53-year-old soccer dad has been found guilty of harassment for
disciplining an eleven-year-old boy by yanking down his shorts at a
practice.
Mark Weaver, a former Division of Agriculture chief, was convicted
Wednesday. But the Palmer jury acquitted him of fourth-degree assault.
Weaver represented himself during the two-day trial.
During his testimony in court, Weaver said he regretted his actions at a
Matanuska-Susitna Competitive Soccer Club practice last June.
He said he intended it to be a lighthearted attempt at discipline when the
players were acting up and not paying attention.
Weaver has a son on the same team. He was helping coach that day.
District Court Judge Gregory Heath sentenced Weaver to two years' probation.
Google bans environmental group's ads from
site
Online search engine Google has banned the ads of an environmental group
that criticize a major cruise line's sewage practices.
The company claims that ads from the Washington D-C-based group Oceana
criticized Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, whose ships ply Alaska waters each
summer.
Oceana paid to have their ads appear when words like ``cruise vacation'' and
``cruise ship'' were inserted into Google's search engine.
The text-based ads say ``Help us protect the world's oceans.''
But Mountain View-based Google pulled the ad last week. It sent an email to
Oceana saying that it doesn't accept ads that criticize other groups or
companies.
Google denied there was any pressure from Royal Caribbean to remove the
Oceana ad.
Crimson Bears down Eagles
The Lady Crimson Bears defeated the West Anchorage Eagles 56 to
40 Thursday night.
Tasha McCoy was the Bears high scorer with 14 points. Mary Rehfeld
contributed 12.
The Crimson Bears conclude their road trip Firday in Palmer against the
Moose.
(Copyright ©2004
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio)
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