Sunday's snow is record for date, 
A winter storm warning, issued Sunday evening, remained in effect until Noon today.

An additional 3 to 6 inches of snow was in the forecast for today, 2 to 3 inches tonight, and 1 to 3 inches tonight. 

The National Weather Service says 7.2 inches was recorded at the airport Sunday which was a record for the date surpassing the 6.4 in 1999.

Since July 1 there has been 137.9 inches of snow.  It amounts to 129.5 since December 1.

The snowiest winter ever in Juneau was the winter of 06-07 with 197.8 inches.

Thane Road reopened 
State DOT crews opened Thane Road at 4:30 Sunday afternoon following an avalanche that closed the roadway  just before one Saturday afternoon.

The department's Roger Wetherell says two bulldozers and two loaders started digging out at about 10:30 in the morning after an avalanche control work was conducted.

Avalanche control work was done before that work commenced, but Wetherell says they had nothing come down. 

The slide occurred  at the main avalanche chute near the one mile point.  Snow and debris was piled 15 feet high and 150 yards wide.  

The  perimeter of the avalanche  was searched and no evidence  was found that any vehicles or people were  hit by the slide.

A couple taking a ride out Thane at that time told us they saw the slide come down about two hundred yards in front of them.

When asked why avalanche control wasn't done last week, Wetherell said a control shoot was done January 13th.

He said they would with the city and borough and keep an eye on the situation and try to the work when it's necessary.

Wetherell said the information that they had gave them no indication that a slide was going to come down there this weekend.

The avalanche caused a brief power spike and power outage in some areas of Juneau.

Scott Willis of Alaska, Electric, Light and Power says electricity was restored within 15 minutes.

One line was knocked down. That's expected to be repaired by today.

The avalanche did not effect the Snettisham transmission lines.

Power outage hits part of Valley
A power outage is reported in part of the Mendenhall Valley this morning. (Monday)

Gayle Wood of Alaska Electric, Light and Power says crews found a broken insulator in a line that was probably caused by a tree or snow that unloaded on the line causing it to bounce.

She says the Mendenhaven Subdivision area was impacted due to a  break in the Loop One feeder.

The outage was reported at about 5:04 this morning. Power was restored to all customers in the area between 6:30 and 7.

Abandoned house collapses in Douglas
Capital City Fire Rescue responded to an out of the ordinary call Sunday afternoon.

A call of a collapsed house came in at 4:37 from Alder Court in Douglas, according to Captain Ed Quinto.

Investigation revealed there were no occupants.

The dome shaped house was abandoned and scheduled for demolition.

The cause of the collapse was not known, but may have had something to do with the heavy snowfall. 

Constitution delegate dies
By ANNE SUTTON -Associated Press Writer
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A moment of silence was held on the state House and Senate floors Monday to honor a delegate to the 1955 Alaska Constitutional Convention who has died.
George Sundborg Sr. died Saturday of pneumonia in Seattle, according to his family. He was 95.

A former newspaperman, Sundborg was in charge of the style and drafting of the Alaska Constitution.

Friends and colleagues remember Sundborg as a dignified and scholarly man who played a key role in making the Alaska State Constitution a model document.

George Sundborg Jr. says his father always described the convention as one of the greatest events of his life.

The elder Sundborg was one of four remaining delegates from the original group of 55 members.

Sundborg later worked as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ernest Gruening, D-Alaska.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Palin names new rural advisor
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has named a new rural affairs adviser. John Moller began his new post in late January.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister says Moller was hired before the state's current hiring freeze went into effect. The 47-year-old Moller will earn just over $89,000 annually in the position.

He is based in Juneau.

Alaska Native consortium gets federal grant
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium will use a $1 million grant to study Hepatitis B.

The National Institutes of Health grant is one of 12 offered nationwide.

The consortium treats about 1,350 Alaska Natives who have been diagnosed with Hepatitis B, which officials say puts them at risk for liver cancer.

The grant will help researchers detect those patients who need antiviral medications, evaluate markers for liver cancer at an early and treatable stage and find out which drug combinations are best for treating hepatitis.

Redoubt is puffing
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska's Mount Redoubt is puffing a steam plume out several hundred feet above the volcano's crater, but still hasn't erupted.

But volcanologist Dave Schneider at the Alaska Volcano Observatory says the steam Monday is largely due to atmospheric conditions, such as winds and humidity, that make steam more visible.

Stephanie Prejean, a seismologist at the observatory, says Redoubt's ongoing earthquakes have shifted in recent days to a higher frequency, which could signify actual rock breaking.

Two Assembly committee meetings on tap today
Assembly members are busy this evening with two different meetings.

One is a joint meeting of the Public Works and Facilities and Land Committees where the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority will make a presentation on its plans for the Subport property.

Those plans call for a multi-story building to house various state offices including the Departments of Labor and , Public Safety and Fish and Game offices that are now located in Douglas.

That meeting is at 4 p.m. followed an hour later by a Committee of the Whole meeting where there are a couple of agenda items.

One is a discussion on how to cover the cost of shipping mixed paper and cardboard out of town since the recycling center in Seattle, where it's gone in the past, is no longer paying for that material.

The other is the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council lease agreement.

The non-profit organization is seeking to extend its current five lease by one year at the former National Guard Armory near Centennial Hall.

Assembly members are also scheduled to tour the Juneau Arts and Cultural Center or JACC as it is known.

Another Democrat in bid for governor's seat
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Another Democrat has announced his plans to run for governor of Alaska in 2010.

Kenai resident Rob Rosenfeld says he hopes to win the Democratic nomination and run against Governor Sarah Palin, even though she hasn't announced whether she will seek a second term.

Democrat and former Administration Commissioner Bob Poe announced his candidacy last month.

A 20-year resident of Alaska, Rosenfeld is an adviser for and former director of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council.

Rosenfeld says he wants to address third world living conditions in rural Alaska.

He criticizes Palin for being absent from the governor's job and for being divisive, particularly during the vice presidential campaign this fall.

Palin's spokesman Bill McAllister says Palin has shown her commitment to the state through hard work and by reaching across the aisle to deal with major issues for the state.

Judge gives state education officials 60 days to improve struggling rural schools
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The state Department of Education has 60 days to improve conditions for students in struggling rural schools or risk having a judge step in with her own plans.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled last week that the state continues to deny students in some rural districts the education they are guaranteed under the Alaska Constitution.

She says the state must intervene when local school boards are not doing the job.

The 58-page decision came in an ongoing education lawsuit, Moore vs. State of Alaska.

Gleason says the state needs to provide pre-kindergarten education in schools that are turning out underperforming students.

Expert testimony in the case indicates some children in rural areas are three years behind in language development compared with Anchorage kindergartners as they enter elementary school.

Education experts link academic achievement to early literacy.

Former Education Commissioner Roger Sampson has testified that if reading skills are lacking by third grade, students' chances of catching up are slim and they are at high risk to drop out.  

Stimulus resolution rushed through the Legislature and sent to Governor
The State Senate today (Monday) approved a House resolution regarding the economic stimulus package now pending in Congress.

The resolution, asking for Alaska's "fair share" of any stimulus package was initially approved 16 to zero.

It was also taken up on reconsideration on the same day and passed by the same tally.

The House later concurred with Senate changes on a 32 to 1 vote and sent the resolution to the Governor.

Public Safety releases names of Troopers involved in shooting of Mat Su woman
Alaska State Troopers have released the names of the two Troopers involved in the shooting death of a Wasilla woman last Tuesday evening.

They are Alfred "Skip" Chadwell and Kevin S. Blanchette. Both Troopers are assigned to the Palmer Post.

It was reported that 38 year old Debra L. Torrey had fired a handgun inside a medical facility.

When Troopers arrived they ordered Torrey to drop the firearm, but she repeatedly refused to comply with those directions, according to the agency's Megan Peters.

Torrey continued to make threatening statements and motions which led to Troopers to fire their weapons.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting is under investigation by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation.

The Troopers were placed on administrative leave for three days, per department policy.

Investigators look into natural gas incident that threatened TAPS pump station, workers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Federal pipeline investigators say a massive release of Prudhoe Bay natural gas filtered into a trans-Alaska pipeline pump station and could have destroyed the building, endangering 60 people inside.

Damage to Pump Station One likely would have caused an extended shutdown of Alaska's North Slope oil fields.

The incident January 15th occurred as workers for BP PLC used pressurized natural gas to move a cleaning pig through a corroded 34-inch pipeline that was being prepared for decommission.

When the pig became stuck, a large volume of gas bypassed it and went to Pump Station One.

The rush of natural gas overwhelmed systems before escaping out of storage tanks into the atmosphere.

Officials at Alyeska Pipeline Service Company acknowledge that a fire or explosion could have endangered the station's 60-plus workers and caused a shutdown of oil fields.

Pigs typically are shaped like oversized bullets and ringed with discs that scrape the inside wall of a pipe as they slide through.

The potentially catastrophic incident alarmed regulators as well as BP and Alyeska workers.

Several agencies are investigating.

Price of gas up 6 cents across US
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - The average national price of gasoline rose 6.4 cents in the past two weeks, according to a national survey released Sunday.

Oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says the average price of regular gasoline Friday was $1.92 a gallon. The price of mid-grade was $2.04 a gallon and the price of premium was $2.16 a gallon.

Despite the increase, the price of regular gasoline is $1.02 below its year-ago level of $2.94 a gallon.

Of cities surveyed, the nation's lowest price was $1.57 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The highest price was $2.37 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Prices are higher in Juneau and other Alaska locations but are not included in the survey.

Anchorage toddler loses fingers in store escalator
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A shopping trip turned tragic for a 3-year-old in Anchorage over the weekend.

Officials say a 3-year-old girl lost three fingers when her coat got caught in the downtown escalator.

When the girl attempted to pull the coat out, the girl's hand got pulled into the escalator.

A J.C. Penney official called the incident a terrible thing.

Man killed by truck in Western Alaska accident
ALEKNAGIK, Alaska (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say a 62-year-old man in Aleknagik has died after being run over by a truck.

Troopers say Johnnie Westcoast died after he fell or lay down in the roadway on Friday night.

Troopers suspect Westcoast had been drinking.

An investigation is continuing.

Alaska Airlines near bottom for on-time arrival rate
ATLANTA (AP) — Alaska Airlines had the second worst on-time arrival rate in December.

Officials say the unit of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc. was on time 58.4 percent of the time, while American Eagle — a unit of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corporation — had the third lowest on-time arrival rate in December, at 59.3 percent.

Scientists turn to cameras to catalog Cook Inlet belugas
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Scientists are individually cataloging Cook Inlet's endangered beluga whales through photographs that show the distinctive marks of the animals.

The photos document shading, scars and other distinguishing features.

Tamara McGuire, a wildlife biologist, discussed the process Saturday at a symposium hosted by Defenders of Wildlife.

McGuire was among more than a dozen experts on belugas who shared their knowledge at the event.

Among other speakers was a beluga hunter who has given it up for the good of the species and an Alaska Pacific University professor who is studying the whales' acoustic world.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Justice delayed: Woman arrested on DUI charge finally put on trial 13 years later
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Thirteen years after she was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in Anchorage, a suspect finally went to trial last week in Anchorage.

Diana Arrington was convicted by an Anchorage jury last week of felony driving under the influence charge.

She was originally arrested in September 1995 but she made bail and flew to Florida.

Prosecutors say Arrington for more than a dozen years stayed in Florida and Georgia while Anchorage police held a warrant for her arrest.

But in December 2007, she was back in Anchorage and stopped for making an illegal turn and the arresting officer noted the warrant for her arrest.

At her trial last week, Arrington acknowledged she was intoxicated when she was pulled over in Alaska but she contested two previous DUI convictions in Georgia.

An Anchorage jury decided they were hers and convicted Arrington.

She also pleaded guilty to failure to appear. Her sentencing is set for May 18.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Railbelt corporation considered
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Governor Sarah Palin plans to introduce a bill calling for the creating of a joint corporation of the six Railbelt electric utilities.

Palin says such an entity could unite a "fragmented group of rival utilities" and could save rate payers $40 million annually.

The utilities are Fairbanks-based Golden Valley Electric Association, Homer Electric Association, Anchorage's Municipal Light and Power, Chugach Electric Association, the City of Seward and Matanuska Electric Association.

Golden Valley cooperative President Brian Newton says the utilities are far from agreeing on a structure after months of talks.

Joe Balash, special assistant to the governor, says the administration believes people would be better served by spending more on a large project that could meet all power needs, rather than on smaller-scale works.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Crimson Bears' hockey season comes to end with playoff loss
The Juneau Douglas High School Crimson Bears' hockey team got a taste of playoff action for the first time,  but  the experience ended with a sour taste.

The Lathrop Malemutes shutout the Bears 7 to 0 in 4A Mid-Alaska Conference playoff action Friday.

Men's basketball squad sweep Eagle River
The men's basketball team at Juneau Douglas High School earned a sweep of two games this weekend over Eagle River.

Saturday's score was 75 to 58. Friday's tally was 74 to 53.

The Bears host Sitka next weekend.

Lady Crimson Bears drop one game in four game road trip
The Lady Crimson Bears' basketball team lost to defending state champion Colony Saturday night 45 to 40.

It was their only loss on a four game road trip in Southcentral.

The Bears defeated West Anchorage Friday 61 to 25 and collected victories earlier in the week against Service and Wasilla.

The Bears play next when they host Ketchikan February 20 and 21.

Racers complete in Iron Dog
BIG LAKE, Alaska (AP) - Seventy drivers and 35 teams are competing in the Iron Dog snowmachine race, including Todd Palin, husband of Governor Sarah Palin who was on the winning team in 2007.

The governor was on hand Sunday to officially wave the starting flag for the racers. The race began from Big Lake and will end in Nome.

The Iron Dog is the world's longest snowmachine race. Todd Palin has won the race four times.

His partner this year is Scott Davis, the same person Palin teamed up with in 2007 to win.

The Palin-Davis team is expected this year to face stiff competition from at latest two of Palin's past teammates.

Last year, Palin broke his arm while racing near Galena when he hit an oil drum hidden under the snow. He continued anyway, but did not win.

Widow told recently deceased husband failed to qualify for last dividend check
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - Kasilof resident Carole Okamoto lost her husband last November -- but expected to receive his 2009 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check despite his death.

She reasons that Bob Okamoto was eligible for that final check since he met requirements like the length of time spent in Alaska in 2008.

Turns out she was wrong.

Deborah Bitney, the director of the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, says a person who died during 2008 does not qualify for a 2009 dividend.

Bitney says that in order to apply for the dividend check Bob Okamoto would have had to have been alive at some point during 2009.

She says a person has to be a resident of Alaska the entire year of 2008 to qualify.

Bitney says that if a person dies during the application process then a family member can apply for them on their behalf.
Okamoto says it's time to change the law.
(Peninsula Clarion)