Capital move proponent says to leave Juneau alone
One of the leaders of the last effort to move legislative sessions to Wasilla says its time to give up efforts to move the capital.

Uwe Kalenka was the chief proponent of the 2002 ballot initiative.

In a conversation with KINY's News of the North today, said the issue is getting old and it is time to move on.

He said the issues is stirred up again by Juneau's desire to improve the capital city and Capitol building and "...prodded by some politicians grandstanding to improve their public image", as he put it.

Kalenka said he believes that Juneau is sincere in its efforts to build a new capitol building and it should be able to plan for that development.

He said that no city should be subjected to the type of continuous threat that Juneau has been subjected to for almost 50 years and no city should have to fight the same fight over and over again.

He added that "enough is enough" and sooner or later the politicians and the state's leaders need to heed the voter's decisions on this issue.

Lieutenant governor rejects video gambling initiative
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The head of the state Division of Elections -- Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman -- has rejected an application for a ballot initiative seeking to legalize video gambling at a south Anchorage location.

Leman says his decision is based on a recommendation by the state Department of Law, which determined the 15-page initiative would violate the Alaska Constitution because it calls for establishing a gaming district in a specific area.

Assistant Attorney General Sarah Felix wrote that state law prohibits the use of an initiative to enact local and special laws.

Anchorage attorney Ken Jacobus said today that the proposal calls for construction of a building on a vacant lot in south Anchorage to allow such games as video poker, bingo and slot machines.

Jacobus represents sponsors of the initiative, which include Darwin Biwer, owner of Darwin's Theory, a downtown Anchorage bar.

Jacobus says the concept could be expanded elsewhere in the state if it works in Anchorage.

Jacobus contends the state's interpretation was based on a technicality in the initiative language. He says the measure likely will be clarified and resubmitted.

Gambling bills moving quickly through Legislature
JUNEAU (AP) - Bills to expand legalized gambling in Alaska are moving quickly through the Legislature with less than two weeks before the end of this year's session.

A bill by Representative Pete Kott would legalize so-called card rooms.

Card rooms operate similar to casinos but only allow certain games of chance such as poker, rummy, bridge and cribbage.

And unlike casinos, the house is not allowed to play or bet on the games.

Kott, an Eagle River Republican, says the proposal would create jobs and establish a new source of tax revenue for the state.

The bill would allow card rooms in boroughs of at least 30-thousand residents. Only those 21 and older could gamble under the proposed law.

Those opposing the bill argued that card rooms would lead to full-blown casinos and the social ills that accompany them.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill today (Tuesday). It now heads to the House Finance Committee.

A similar bill by Anchorage Republican Senator John Cowdery is working its way through the Senate.

Operator of fishing boat that grounded near Auke Bay fell asleep at the wheel
The Coast Guard came to the aide of the fishing vessel Kibitzer on the backside of Coghlan Island near Auke Bay late last night. (Monday)

After receiving a call from a friend of the owner reporting the vessel had grounded and he had no communications with the vessel, the Coast Guard made radio call outs in an attempt to locate it.

The found out it was taking on water, listing and had all pumps operating while en route to Auke Bay.

A rescue boat was launched by Station Juneau which escorted the Kitbitzer into Auke Bay.

The operator aboard the fishing vessel Sea Dew, a 54 foot long liner, called in agreeing to remain near the vessel until the Kibitzer was safely moored.

The Marine Safety Office Juneau investigators determined the operator fell asleep at the wheel while attempting to tow a 30-foot cabin cruiser.

There were no reports of pollution from the vessel's on board fuel. 

Assembly loosens up dogs on trail rules
The Juneau Assembly has approved an ordinance amending the city code the will allow dogs at Twin Lakes during the months of July and August.

The measure also allows dogs to be under competent voice control or on a leash on CBJ parkland.

The vote was 8 to 1 with Assembly member Randy Wanamaker the lone dissenting vote.

He said he was concerned about competent voice control issue.

Wanamaker said he does not believe that the majority of dogs are really under competent voice control.

He says he walks quit often and has seen dogs constantly coming after people with owners yelling at them to stop and come back.

He said they are not friendly, but are dangerous dogs with owners that cannot control them....

Wanamaker said the revision decreases public safety.

The Dog Task Force recommended the revisions to the Park and Recreation Code.

Gangway transfer approved
The Assembly last night [Monday] approved ordinance appropriating up to $175,000 for a pedestrian walkway at the South Franklin Ferry Terminal.

However, language in the measure referring to the walkway as American with Disabilities Act compliant was stricken.

The Docks and Harbors Board of Directors had approved the transfer of funds, that were originally earmarked for a Harris Harbor gangway, to an ADA compliant gangway at the South Franklin Terminal.

Assembly member Stan Ridgeway noted that all new projects have to be ADA compliant.

He objected to the apparent excuse of making the walkway ADA compliant to justify widening it.

The project will be put out for competitive bids.

Swope to get pay hike
City and Borough Manager Rod Swope will receive a raise this year.

Swope has served as city manager  for two years and has not had an increase in salary.

During last year's budget process, he suggested that he forgo a raise in response to the budget deficit.

The chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Compensation for the CBJ Manager, Assembly Member Marc Wheeler, reported to the Assembly last night [Monday] that they had reviewed information put together by the Alaska Municipal League and the Waters Consulting Group.

Wheeler said the average salary of a city manager five years ago, in a comparable sized town located on the west coast was $113,610 dollars.

The Assembly unanimously approved raising Swope's salary to $114,000 per year.  The manager currently makes $105,000 a year.

What if they hold a budget hearing and no one comes?
No one showed at last night's [Monday] up to testify on the City and Borough of Juneau's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget.

The city's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning June 30th is just over $217,800,000.

With his five years on the Assembly Marc Wheeler said it always amazes him that hardly anybody testifies on the most important appropriation the Assembly makes every year.

With this year's property assessments, Wheeler thought here might be more public participation.

The appropriating ordinance was referred to the Finance Committee.

One shows up to testify on school budget
The CBJ budget has to be to finalized by June 15th.

The Assembly has tentatively approved funding the Juneau School District at the maximum allowed under the state cap, $19,792,000.

Only one person came to testify during the public hearing on the appropriating ordinance.

Former school board member Edith McHenry reiterated her opposition to the charter approved for the Borealis Montessori School.

She said she believes minority students will not have equal access to the school.

McHenry said the city attorney should evaluate the liability to the city and borough and school district in the event a lawsuit is filed.

She said she has requested the Civil Rights Section of Educational Opportunity within the U. S. Department of Justice to investigate Juneau. She reaffirmed that she is also prepared to litigate the matter.

McHenry asked the Assembly to direct it's attention to the needs of the students and staff of Yaakoosgé Daakahídi Alternative High School.

She says the alterative school receives a disproportionately small and inadequate funding allocation.

The appropriating ordinance was referred to the Finance Committee to be included with other budget items to be finalized by June15th.

School spending, retirement remain tied
JUNEAU (AP) - Next year's school funding will continue to be tied to overhauling the state's retirement systems for now.

A conference committee of state House and Senate members failed to unlink the two measures today (Monday).

The House and Senate disagree on whether paying school districts 4,919 dollars should be contingent on passing changes to the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems.

The Senate earlier this session tacked on the contingency after the House passed the education spending bill.

The House Finance Committee room was packed with teachers and school administrators from across the state who protested today's impasse. They say school funding is being held hostage to a bill that will hurt their ability to recruit and retain teachers in the future.

The three House members and Senator Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat, voted to unlink the two bills. But a vote from either Senator Gary Wilken of Fairbanks or Senator Lyda Green of Wasilla was also needed to pass the motion.

Anchorage Representative Kevin Meyer says the bill making the retirement changes is moving through the House and the issue may soon be moot.

Bill allows larger children's trust grants
JUNEAU (AP) - The state Senate approved a bill today (Tuesday) removing a $50,000 cap on grants distributed by the Alaska Children's Trust.

The trust, established in 1988, funds programs aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect.

Senate Bill 150 by Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, limits funding to organizations to four years.

It also requires them to submit their plans for sustainability from other funding sources after four years.

``It really gets the children's trust back in the business of providing startup and transition money for worthy organizations dealing with children's issues,'' Dyson said.

The bill was approved 19-0, with one senator absent. It now heads to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

Bill lets insurers change rates without approval
JUNEAU (AP) - Alaska insurance companies could change their rates without approval by the state Division of Insurance under a bill that passed the House today (Tuesday).

House Labor and Commerce Chair Tom Anderson says property and casualty insurers whose rate changes are now approved by regulators would be able to shift their rates up or down by up to 10 percent every year.

The Anchorage Republican says the change would lead to a more competitive insurance market, which could attract new insurers to Alaska and keep those operating in the state from leaving.

The changes would not apply for workers' compensation, medical malpractice and assigned risk plan rates.

The bill passed 32-3. Representative Max Gruenberg, an Anchorage Democrat, gave notice of reconsideration, meaning the House could take the measure up again tomorrow.

Gruenberg says the change would allow insurance companies to raise their rates every year without notifying policyholders.

He says the bill raises serious consumer protection implications and he wants more information on the bill's effects.

Anchorage police locate potential witnesses to shooting
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage police say they have located two witnesses sought in a shooting homicide yesterday (Monday).

Police were seeking two teenagers who may have witnessed the shooting of 19-year-old Viphat Knotprathoum (VIE'-fat NOT'-pray-thum).

No one has been arrested in this case.

But one of the witnesses, 17-year-old Xonesane Sophasath, (ZONE'-eh-sane SOP'-ah-saph) is being held at McLaughlin Youth Center on an unrelated probation violation.

Police also were looking for 17-year-old Jasmin Del-Prado.

Police at about six a-m Monday were called to a trailer court at 15-45 South Hoyt and found the injured young man.

Knotprathoum was taken to a hospital and died three hours later.

Crash kills motorcycle driver
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage police say a man driving a motorcycle was killed last night (Monday) when his bike left a roadway in South Anchorage.

Twenty-seven-year-old Matthew Hodgdon died in the crash.

Police say Hodgdon was traveling west on Dimond Boulevard west of Sand Lake Road at a high rate of speed when he left the roadway on a slight curve and lost control of the bike.

The motorcycle went airborne and tumbled through a ditch on the north side of the roadway, leaving
motorcycle debris for several hundred feet before coming to rest.

Police say Hodgdon was wearing a helmet but died at the scene from injuries.

Alcohol is not (NOT) suspected as a factor in the crash.

The accident closed Dimond Boulevard for about three hours.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call their traffic investigators.
(With help from Meghan Stapleton, KTUU)

Nome man injured driving off bluff
NOME (AP) - Alaska State Troopers say a Nome man drove his snowmobile off a 40-foot bluff, damaging his ribs and lung.

Twenty-eight-year-old Clayton Johnson was flown by a volunteer to Nome for treatment.

Troopers say Johnson and three others were driving snowmobiles Saturday morning to Pilgrim Hot Springs and all four drove off the unseen bluff.

Clayton's ribs struck the handlebars of his snowmobile and he was knocked unconscious.

He was taken to a nearby cabin. Another riders used a satellite phone to report the incident.

Nome Volunteer Search and Rescue sent five riders by snowmobile to the cabin and volunteer Larry Eggart flew over in his Maul airplane.

Clayton was flown back to Nome. He suffered several broken ribs and a punctured lung in the accident.

Two escape residential fire in Kwethluk
Fire destroyed a residence in the western Alaska village of Kwethluk Monday afternoon.

State Troopers say two people, Anthony Daniels and a step son, were able to escape the fire. Anthony Daniels received burns to his forehead and four fingers. His step son was not injured.

The damage figure was estimated at $150,000.

The State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the fire. 

Mat-Su at risk of losing teachers
WASILLA (AP) - The loss of 57 teachers, an increase in classroom sizes and the end of programs that serve at-risk students could be seen in the Matanuska-Susitna School District if the borough assembly approves a budget cut.

District officials say borough manager John Duffy intends to cut the school budget by more than four (m) million dollars.

The school board will present its budget to the assembly at a meeting tonight (Tuesday) in Palmer.

The borough assembly will hold public hearings on the budget on May 5th and May 12th.
(Ed Russell-KMBQ)

McKinley climbers face higher fees
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Climbing season has begun at Mount McKinley, and with it come higher climbing fees.
About 12-hundred climbers are expected to tackle the mountain between now and mid-July.

The park has raised the fee it charges climbers of McKinley -- and nearby Mount Foraker -- from 150 dollars to 200 dollars.

The increase is the first since the fee was established in the 1990s.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Donation goes to purchase bullet proof vest for police pooch
KENAI (AP) - A Nikiski man has donated more than 12-hundred dollars to buy a bulletproof vest for the only police dog on the Kenai Peninsula.

David Shoemaker says he made the donation in memory of his late wife, Dawn Shoemaker, who died of cancer three years ago.

The widower says animals were his wife's passion and she would have approved of the gift that benefits Kazan.

The dog -- a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois -- has been stationed at the Soldotna post of the Alaska State Troopers since 2001.
(Peninsula Clarion)

Regional jails receive budget increase; Kotzebue jail reopens
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The only regional jail in Northwest Alaska is open again.

The jail at Kotzebue was reopened after city officials received a promise from the state Department of Corrections for additional money.

Fourteen other community-owned jails around the state also will receive additional operating money.

Kotzebue had closed its 14-bed jail in July 2003.

City officials said the community would no longer subsidize what it considered a state obligation.

Alaska State Troopers were forced to house prisoners 190 miles away in Nome and to fly them back and forth to Kotzebue for court hearings.

Kotzebue officials and the Corrections Department last week signed a new contract that gives the city much of what it originally wanted, along with a promise to seek another increase next year.

Kotzebue City Manager Herman Reich says the contract falls short of meeting the city's costs but that it's an improvement over the state's initial take-it-or-leave-it offer.

The community jail program constitutes about half a percent of the department's 196 (m) million dollar operating budget.

Communities operating the jails have complained in recent years that the state had not (NOT) raised its rates in a decade, even as their operating costs had grown.
(Anchorage Daily News)

Aces advance to conference finals
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The Alaska Aces are on their way to the National Conference finals of the E-C-H-L hockey league.

The Aces won the E-C-H-L Western Division Finals last night (Monday) by defeating the Long Beach, California Ice Dogs three-one (3-1) on home ice at the Sullivan Arena.

Aces goaltender Peter Aubry made 23 saves to lead the Aces to their first win of a second-round series in the ten-year professional history of the franchise.

The Aces scored two second-period goals.

On a pass from Charles Linglet, Chris Minard scored the Aces first goal with just more than seven minutes gone.

Mike Scott gave the Aces a two-oh (2-0) lead with a power play goal at 13-24.

Following a third-period Ice Dogs goal, Kimbi Daniels scored an empty-netter in the final seconds.

The Aces will have a week off before facing their next opponent in the National Conference finals, either the Reading, Pennsylvania Royals or the Trenton, New Jersey Titans.

Frontier Business systems wins SBA honor
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Two Anchorage entrepreneurs have won an honor from the U-S Small Business Administration

Greg and Lenora Niesen have been named Alaska Small Business Persons of the year.

The Niesens are co-founders of Frontier Business Systems.

The couple started Frontier in 19-81 on the brink of a major economic boom in the state.

They survived the mid-19-80s when the price of crude oil dropped and many Alaska businesses hit the skids in the ensuing economic hard times.

Over time Frontier expanded from Anchorage into Fairbanks, Kenai and Kodiak and today it has 42 employees.

The couple says their customers want stability when they buy big-ticket items such as Frontier's copiers.

The Niesens say they have not focused on large growth numbers but on customer value and making sure total sales and profits grow together. 

Australian officials announce wild camel cull
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australian officials have announced a plan to reduce the country's camel population by hunting them from helicopters.

Scientists have estimated as many as a-half (m) million wild camels are now roaming the country's vast deserts.

The population exploded when the animals were released into the wild with no natural predators and plenty of grazing land.

Authorities say they want the population reduced because the animals are encroaching on ranch land and draining a limited water supply.

Critics of the plan say previous aerial shootings of wild horses and goats have resulted in a ``bloodbath.''