Tuesday, February 10, 1998
B.C.
fisherman approve pact
A settlement has been approved by a Canadian judge between Prince Rupert fishermen and the
State of Alaska. The settlement of the state's $3-million lawsuit means Canada must
pay to promote tourism in British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska, and the state will get a big
break on lease payments for their Prince Rupert ferry terminal. Governor Knowles'
spokesman Bob King says all but 26 fishermen have agreed to the deal, and of those
remaining, half are Vietnamese, and a language problem exists in explaining the terms of
the settlement. King says once a translator is brought in he is confident those
remaining fishermen will sign off on the deal.
Move
bill moves
Legislation that would move the state Legislative sessions to Anchorage has moved out of
the House State Affairs Committee, and is now in the hands of Labor and Commerce, a
committee chaired by Representative Norm Rokeberg, one of the measure's sponsors.
The bill will have one hearing on the condition of the current Capital Building, and will
then be handed over to a subcommittee chaired by Representative Bill Hudson, where it is
expected to die.
Kennicott
expected on schedule
On time and on budget is the latest update on the motor vessel Kennicott, the new state
ferry that is still under construction. Bob Doll, general manager of the Alaska
Marine Highway System, says at 382 feet, the Kennicott will be the largest ocean-going
passenger vessel built in the United States to be operated by a U.S. crew since the launch
of the S.S. United States in 1952. Doll also says that he has done preliminary
calculations on an offer by Skagway last week to berth the Malispina for free during the
upcoming winter, and while he isn't denying the offer, he's not accepting right now
either.
Capital
School agreement unsettled
Five additional conditions have been placed on the transfer agreement between the
Legislature and the CBJ regarding Capital School. The Assembly last night voted
unanimously to the addendum, and will meet Thursday with Legislative Counsel to hear any
objections to the agreement. The Assembly also amended the zoning map for Capital
School from residential to mixed use, contingent on upgrades to the playground, and to the
Planning Commission maintaining the current building height.
Haines
keeps kids from Net porn
School officials in Haines will be installing software on computers to make it more
difficult for students to log onto Internet sites that may have sexually explicit material
on it. The district expects to spend $5-thousand on the new software, but one
computer teacher says the filtering won't be foolproof.
Child
support payments halted
From February 25 through March 2, the state's Child Support Enforcement Division will stop
processing payments from parents who owe child support. The reason is the division
needs to bring a new computer system on line that was mandated by Congress.
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