Juneau Daily News Online

Thursday,  February 14, 2002

Slide knocks out power and blocks Thane road
The area wide power outage early this morning was caused by an avalanche out Thane Road.

The slide knocked out an Alaska Electric, Light and Power line from the Thane Substation to the Valley and blocked the roadway. It occurred in the so called "Snowslide Gulch" area, according to Police Sergeant Dave Wrightson.
(Click on photo at left for three larger views of this morning's avalanche.)

DOT started an avalanche shooting operation at about 9:00 Thursday morning in advance of clearing the roadway. We're told that was completed before 11:30. 

Thane road opened late Thursday afternoon
DOT crews cleared enough snow and debris to open Thane Road this afternoon. Juneau police say it's slow going and drivers should be careful traveling through the slide area.

Helicopter pilot gets birds eye view of slide area
Temsco Pilot Paul Kirschel flew over the slide area and said it was about a third of a mile wide. It was estimated at between 20 to 30 feet deep. In addition, another big slide was shot down during DOT operations late Thursday morning. DOT crews had conducted an avalanche shoot in the area Monday.

Temsco made several trips flying Thane residents over the slide while the road was blocked.

A car that was struck on the outskirts of the south side of the slide was removed from harm's way before DOT started the shooting. Kirby Wright is the Juneau Station Foreman. He said the man drove in to the outskirts of southern side of the slide after it had already come down. He says the man got out safely.

David Stone of A-E-L and P says some of their workers flew over the area and discovered serious damage to the upper transmission line. That includes a transmission tower he says was pretty much destroyed. He doesn't now how long repairs will take.

Power went out at six minutes past midnight. It was restored to most customers shortly after one. The last to come back on line were Thane Road residents at 2:36.

The line from Snettisham itself was not impacted, so diesel generation was not employed.

New subsistence proposal put on the table
Governor Knowles unveiled the latest proposal for resolving subsistence this morning. The process for coming up with the latest idea was rooted in last year's Subsistence Summit called by the Governor.

A working group was empanelled afterwards to develop the language that the Governor says enshrines a rural subsistence priority, addresses local use within rural areas, and allows a secondary priority to urban Alaskans.

Angoon Representative Albert Kookesh, the co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, said without a
resolution, the state will never regain management of fish and game.

Rosita Worl, the chair of AFN's Subsistence Committee, said they would seek amendments during the legislative debate. One would call for a co-management system between the state and natives.

One person usually not in attendance at such ceremonies hosted by the Governor, was Anchorage Senator Jerry Ward, a member of the Senate Republican Majority. He said his group would also pursue various amendments. Ward said he was at today's event because Senator Ted Stevens personally asked him to help resolve the issue.

The Governor wants an amendment put before voters in the November General Election that would change the state constitution to comply with federal law. Any constitutional amendment needs a two-thirds vote in each chamber of the Legislature to be placed before voters for consideration.

Alaska's two major political parties discuss legislative move initiative
The Republican and Democratic Party's Central Committees, in separate meetings this past weekend, discussed the legislative move initiative.

If the initiative is certified by the Division of Elections and approved by voters next November, legislative sessions would move to the Mat-Su Borough, or to Anchorage, until a suitable facility is available in the Mat-Su area.

The initiative also seeks to repeal the Frank Initiative passed by voters in 1994.

The law says before the state can spend money to move the legislature, voters must know how much it would cost and then have a chance to vote on a bond to pay for the move.

Democratic Party Regional Vice-Chairman Rich Listowski says the resolution they approved unanimously, clearly states the Democratic Party's official position against the legislative move. Listowski says Democrats consider the initiative nothing more than a "back door capital move".

Meanwhile, Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich says the Alaskan Republican Party has not taken an official position on moving the legislature --only that voters have a chance to vote on the costs associated with the move.

Ruedrich says the motion that Republicans approved, did not directly address the move initiative, but states that Alaskan voters should have the right to approve any State expenditures related to relocating government functions such as the legislative move.

Income tax bills discussed at House hearing
The House State Affairs Committee took up income tax bills this morning. The measures are sponsored by Unalaska Representative Carl Moses and Juneau Representative Bill Hudson.

Hudson had a bone to pick with the fiscal note attached to his bill by the Knowles Administration. He disagreed with the $12 Million price tag in the first year and $7.5 Million in subsequent years. Hudson pointed out that the fiscal note on the Governor's own bill was about $3.5 Million.

Hudson said that as a member of House Finance, he'll ensure that the cost of enacting and collecting the tax is not inflated. He added that he's not the case, but its a suspicion.

He also told the committee that it was time to tax earnings taken out of Alaska by non-residents. Hudson said there were 65,000 non-residents who worked in the state in 2000 who made in the neighborhood of $905 Million.

The committee plans more hearings over the next week on proposed taxes and a proposal to use Permanent before taking any actions.

Ruling nullifies Tongass logging permits
A federal appeals court has nullified about one hundred logging permits for tree harvesters in the Tongass National Forest. The Ninth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals says environmentalists and others should have been given a legal forum to protest the new rules.

Truck driver cited for knocking out light
The driver of the truck that hit the McNugget intersection traffic light, knocking it out of commission yesterday afternoon, was cited by Juneau Police.

The flat bed truck with a crane had been hauling crab pots. The driver, 63 year old Delmont Martinson, told police that he had the boom of the crane resting on a stack of pots and didn't realize it was that tall. He was cited for operating a vehicle of excessive height.

The light was knocked out of commission at about 12:30. Repairs were made by State D-O-T crews by about five. The light was hanging by the wiring and the intersection was not illuminated during that time.

Everything comes up Daffodils in Juneau March 5th
The annual Daffodils Days Sale sponsored by the Juneau Unit of the American Cancer Society is coming up.
Pre-sales will go on over the next two weeks in advance of the March 5th delivery.

Beth Bellflower, who was among the members of the organization on KINY's Capital Chat this morning, said
its an important fundraiser for the organization each year. They raised $29,000 in Juneau last year.

To arrange for an order call 789-2595.

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