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Propane
explosion destroys van, resident not injured
The fire and police departments responded to a report of a vehicle fire
out Thane Road this morning. It was reported at about 7:15 near the A-J
Mine Mill ruins.
Officials found a 1980 Ford Van fully involved in flames, according to
Sergeant Ben Coronell of Juneau Police, who says a propane stove in the
van exploded. He says a man, who was living in the van, was attempting to
make coffee on the stove. He was not injured.
The fire put up a big plume of smoke. Traffic was disrupted through the
area for awhile this morning.
Juneau and Southeast provisions
included in appropriations bill
The FY03 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report approved by the U. S.
Senate Thursday and sent to the President includes line items for Juneau
and Southeast Alaska.
There's $910,000 for the City and Borough of Juneau dispatch and evidence
processing center; and $300,000 for the City and Borough.
There's $350,000 to prepare on Environmental Impact Statement for a
helicopter landing site in Juneau.
$300,000 is earmarked to restore the Wickersham House in Juneau.
Other appropriations include...
·400,000 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Anchorage, Fairbanks and
Southeast Alaska to implement a five-year program to monitor at-risk
children in Alaska schools.
· $250,000 to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to fund the
Blanket of Wellness program of the Tlingit-Haida Central Council that
promotes healthy baby development in Southeast.
-$45,000 for a Skagway Harbor modification feasibility study.
-$50,000 for a Skagway River flood control feasibility study.
-$250,000 for Haines Harbor.
There's money for Southeast energy projects. Those line items include $5
million for Swan Lake-Lake Tyee Hydro serving Ketchikan, Petersburg, and
Wrangell, and $5 million for Upper Lynn Canal Hydro project which includes
Haines and Skagway.
Money for fisheries included in
spending bill
The Omnibus Appropriations Bill that was sent to the President earmarks
$100 million for the Department of Commerce to administer fisheries
disaster assistance.
Senator Ted Stevens says $35 million of that amount will be given to the
State of Alaska. He says the funds are to be spent on payments to persons
or groups which have experienced significant economic hardship due to
salmon fisheries disasters.
For the first time, $10 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Fund is included to market Alaska
seafood.
The legislation creates a new entity, the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board
to administer eighty percent of the marketing funds. The the remaining 20
percent of the funds will be provided directly to the Alaska Seafood
Marketing Institute to further its marketing program.
At the request of Senator Ted Stevens, the bill includes $22.35 million
for Steller sea lion research, spread throughout various agencies and
programs, including the Alaska SeaLife Center, the Alaska Fisheries
Development Foundation, the University of Alaska, and the State of Alaska.
$300,000 is earmarked for chinook salmon research at Auke Bay.
Tongass addressed in federal
spending bill
As reported earlier, there's a provision in the FY 03 Omnibus
Appropriations bill to protect the Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Tongass Land Management Plan
from lawsuits.
The provision will allow the Forest Service to more forward with the
Tongass Land Management Plan and comply with the Alaska National Interest
Land Claims Act, according to Senator Stevens.
Appropriations related to the Tongass include...
-$1 million for reconstruction of log transfer facilities in the Tongass
forest They include five facilities at $200,000 each.
-$1.1 million for a harvesting and wood utilization laboratory in Sitka.
-$4 million for timber road and trail improvements in the Tongass to
better the economic viability of timber sales.
-$4 million in continued funding for the timber pipeline. These funds are
used to conduct required environmental studies needed to prepare and
expedite timber sales.
Another line item calls for $1 million for the last installment of funding
for the Kake Tribal Council to implement the Kake Tribal Corporation Land
Transfer Act.
Mayors wrap up meeting in Capital
Mayors from around the state met in Juneau this week for a gathering of
the Alaska Municipal League and to meet with administration officials and
lawmakers.
League President and Anchorage Assembly member Fay Von Gemmigan identified
their top priorities as a balanced long range revenue and spending plan,
and support of the Millennium Investment Plan which focuses on maintaining
infrastructure.
Von Gemmigan outlined other league objectives during a news conference
yesterday citing fisheries, timber and minerals redevelopment, opening
ANWR and a natural gas line.
She said the mayors want continued local control of sales and property
taxes but said the state should consider other revenue sources.
The mayors agreed that the state should provide sustainable local tax
relief and local services through stable municipal revenue sharing or the
creation of a community dividend.
Von Gemmigan suggested that it may be time, for what she called, a
reasonable state spending limit that controls the growth of state
expenditures for public services, but allows for federal mandates and
emergencies.
The Alaska Municipal League meeting wrapped up yesterday in Juneau
SEANET
announces drug arrests
Details on two recent and separate arrests in Juneau for possession of
cocaine were disclosed Thursday by Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Investigators from the
Southeast Alaska Narcotics Enforcement Team contacted 34 year old Douglas
W. Harris at Juneau's airport on the afternoon of Friday, February 7th, as
he arrived from Seattle.
They presented a search warrant
and seized about eight ounces of cocaine that was hidden under his
clothing. A search of his Lemon Creek area residence was also made, but
the dispatch doesn't say if anything else was found.
In the other case,
investigators met the State Ferry Matanuska on the morning of February 3rd
as it arrived at Auke Bay. They were responding to a report of a passenger
in possession of cocaine.
Officers seized about five
ounces of cocaine from 23 year old Kyle Nalan. A search of his Auke Bay
area residence the next day resulted in a small amount of cocaine.
No other arrests have been made in either case, but the investigations are
continuing.
Mayen
arraignment today
The man arrested for making a threatening telephone call to the Department
of Labor's Unemployment Insurance Call Center Thursday morning was
scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.
27 year old Getano L. Mayen is charged with Terroristic Threatening, a
class C felony.
He was born in Sudan and has been in Juneau for two months. He was just
convicted on a driving while intoxicated charge following his arrest on
December 23rd. Mayen also apparently has a crime record in the Lower 48.
He reportedly was unhappy with information he was given during that
telephone call and allegedly threatened to kill the department employee, a
44 year old woman, and her co-workers.
That's when department officials placed the building in lock down status
and called police which is per established policy.
The lock down was lifted after police arrested the suspect at his Valley
home at about 11:30 Thursday morning.
Flag crime spree grows
Four more cases of stolen flags have come into to the Juneau Police
overnight. Two were reported missing from homes on Rivercourt Way.
A resident on Meander Way says hers was taken around Christmas. In the
other case, a man who lives on Tongass Boulevard says his was taken within
the last few days.
It brings the documented cases to 13, although police officials believe
there are many more that have not been reported.
"We Love Snow Weekend"
set at Eaglecrest
Eaglecrest is open again this weekend on a very limited basis. The ski
area's Pauline Higdon says since their mountain crew made snow during
cooler temperatures they are able to open the Platter slope.
She says the Ski and Snowboard School is calling it the "We Love Snow
Weekend." There will be discounted lessons Saturday, Sunday and
Monday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Races are scheduled Saturday from 11 to 2 and on Sunday beginning at one
p.m. She says both events are free and open to all boarders and skiers of
all ages and abilities. In addition, the lift tickets are free.
The Eaglecrest buses will not running and the Tubing Hill is closed. The
rental shop and cafeteria will be open.
Meanwhile, the Eaglecrest Board of Directors continues to deliberate on
how to compensate season ticket holders. Members have been discussing a
credit for future years. Another meeting is planned Monday evening.
The ski area opened for a few days over the Christmas holiday, but was
forced to close due to a lack of snow.
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News) |
