Senate passes largest capital budget in state history
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)-KINY-The Senate today [Wednesday] passed the largest capital budget in state history.

The bill includes $45 million for the Juneau access road and appropriates $19 million in federal funds for the Gravina Island bridge in Ketchikan and $93.6 million in federal money for the Knik Arm Crossing between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie.

The budget bill totals 2-point-4 billion dollars in state, federal and other funds.

The money will go for traditional public-works projects such as construction and maintenance. There are also hundreds of grants to individuals and municipalities for a variety of projects from soccer fields to theater renovations.

Plus, the bill approved 20-0 by the Senate includes another 694 million dollars to supplement state agencies' operating and capital budgets for this year.

That pushes the total cost to more than 3 billion dollars.

The Senate may take the bill back up again tomorrow before passing it to the House for consideration. 

School funding compromise passes House
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska House today (Wednesday) topped the Senate's 90 million dollar increase for public schools with a one-time addition of 41 million dollars.

House Bill 13 passed by a vote of 38 to two.

The bill also extends the program under which the state reimburses communities 70 percent of school construction costs.

But the measure does not add any more money to those rural school districts that depend wholly on state funding for their construction projects.

The funding hike was a compromise worked out between House and Senate leadership. It adds money under different formulas that take into account both the difference in costs that districts face and the number of students they serve.

Although the measure won broad support in the House, it came with some reservations. Several lawmakers said they would like to see more thought go into how the money is spent.

The bill goes to the Senate next.

House approves bill that includes funds for Valley recreational facility
The State House today (Wednesday) unanimously approved a bill that includes four million dollars for a recreational facility in the Mendenhall Valley.

HB 381, identifies projects to be financed with anticipated revenue from a tobacco litigation settlement.

The measure authorizes the Northern Tobacco Securitization Corporation to issue bonds with the use of the revenues to finance projects.

The corporation would be a subsidiary of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.

The bonding is expected to result in $140 Million in proceeds.

The majority of money, $90 Million, would fund university projects.

Juneau Valley Representative Bruce Weyhrauch authored the line item for the recreational facility.

He says the $4 million dollars will not have to matched by the City and Borough of Juneau.

Weyhrauch says the facility would have areas for soccer, basketball, and wrestling.

Weyhrauch says there's an opportunity for the facility to built in the near the Dimond Park recreational area near the new Valley High School.

HB 381 now moves to the Senate. 

Trident, Ocean Beauty call off acquisition
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Trident Seafoods Corporation says it will not be acquiring Ocean Beauty Seafoods.

The companies issued a joint press release today saying they could not reach an agreement on Trident's acquisition of Ocean Beauty's processing assets.

The acquisition would have created Alaska's largest salmon processing company.

The companies say they do not plan further discussions regarding the acquisition.

All Trident and Ocean Beauty processing plants will continue separate operations.

The companies announced the proposed acquisition in March.

Trident chairman Chuck Bundrant says he has tremendous respect for the owners and employees of Ocean Beauty and that they were simply not able to reach an agreement on the transaction.
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Mark Palmer is president of Ocean Beauty. He declined comment beyond the scope of the press release.

The proposed acquisition was announced March 28th.

Executives with Trident said at the time they had no plans to shut down any of Ocean Beauty's seven predominantly salmon packing plants around the state.

Ocean Beauty -- like Trident -- is based in Seattle.

HIV/AIDS conference targets needs of Native people
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Nearly one-thousand people are gathered in Anchorage for what is being described as the first national conference on AIDS for Natives in North America.

The conference started yesterday and runs through Saturday.

Keynote speakers addressed conference participants today.

One of the main messages was that American Indians and Alaska Natives need to be armed with the latest information about the H-I-V virus and AIDS. Conference organizers say they also need access to culturally-sensitive models of treatment.

Jack Whitescarver is a keynote speaker and director of the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health. He says most Native communities are unprepared to protect themselves against HIV and AIDS. And he says new cases are being reported in even the most remote places.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Indians and Alaska Natives account for less than 1 percent of new H-I-V diagnoses in the United States.

Conference organizers say the number of actual cases is higher because of misidentification, and underreporting because of lack of testing.

"Bong Hits 4 Jesus goes to U. S. Supreme Court...Starr joins litigation
The Juneau School Board has announced that it will take the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner case to the United States Supreme Court.

The board also announced that Los Angeles attorney Kenneth Starr, has agreed to represent the Board and former Juneau-Douglas High School principal Deborah Morse on a pro bono basis.

Starr came to national prominence as the Independent Counsel investigating former President Clinton on charges that eventually led to his impeachment by the House of Representatives.

In April, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Morse violated a student's free speech rights by suspending him after he unfurled a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school.

Joseph Frederick, a former student at the high school displayed the banner, which refers to smoking marijuana, in January 2002 to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the school.

Morse seized the banner and suspended the 18-year-old for 10 days, saying he had undermined the school's educational mission and anti drug stance.

The appeals court said the banner was protected speech because it did not disrupt the school and was displayed off school grounds during a non-curricular event.

When Frederick sued, federal district court judge John Sedwick ruled in the school district's favor, but the appellate court reversed the decision.

Board President Phyllis Carlson says the Ninth Circuit's decision has left the board and school administrators with no guidance as to where and when the district can enforce it's policy against messages promoting illegal drug use.

New contract with school administrators okayed by board
The School Board has approved a new three-year contract with the School Administrators Association.

Under the contract, the district's administrators would receive a 2 percent increase this year and next year, a 2 and half percent increase the following year and a 3 percent increase in their salary schedule in the last year of the contract.

They would also receive increased payments into their health benefits.

The administrators are scheduled to vote May 10 on the proposed contract.

The optional program lottery was up for final action last night.

Superintendent Peggy Cowan says several recommendations from the Juneau Charter School and the Montessori program were incorporated into the final draft.

The board made the additional change of moving the date of the lottery from late to early August.

Cowan says the earlier date, the first work week in August, will allow families more time to plan to participate in the optional programs.

T-bone accident at Hospital intersection slows traffic
There was a T-bone accident at the Hospital Intersection on Egan Drive at about 12:30 this afternoon.

Police say a car outbound on Egan went through a steady red light striking a pickup truck turning on to Egan from the hospital side of the intersection.

The pickup was knocked over on to its side, but the occupants were not injured.

The driver was the car was transported to the hospital for observation. Police say that driver was also cited.

The car, valued at $10,000, was totaled. The pickup sustained between $6,000 and $7,000.
The accident slowed traffic through the intersection for a time. 

Tourism Best Management Practices in its 10th year in Juneau
Juneau's cruise ship season officially got underway early this morning (Wednesday) with the arrival of the Norwegian Wind.

This season marks the tenth year of the Tourism Best Management Practices Program created to deal with the industry's impacts on the community.

Kirby Day of Princess Cruises and Tours is involved in that effort. He thinks great progress has been made, but concedes there's still work to be done and specifically with flightseeing.

He thinks the operators, in general, are doing the best they can trying to make sure they're not impacting the areas they fly over. "Unfortunately, they still do have an impact. Although its better than in past years, its still something they're willing to stick with and willing to work on, he says.

The Tourism Hotline is 586-6774.

Or you can send an e-mail to tourism_hotline@ci.juneau.ak.us 

The web site is www.tbmp.info 

Suspected vehicle theft and drunk driver go to jail in separate cases
Juneau Police recovered a stolen vehicle and made an arrest in that case Tuesday night.

Sergeant Steve Hernandez says they were notified at about ten last night by the owner that their vehicle was missing from the parking lot of the Augustus Brown Swimming Pool.

The vehicle was located by officers at about 11:30 being driven in the Valley and found two people in the car.

The driver, 18 year old John Peters of Juneau, was placed under arrest for vehicle theft in the first degree.

The passenger, an 18 year old man whose identity was not released at this time, was released from the scene.

The sergeant says that person could be facing a charge of criminal trespass.

Peters was jailed at Lemon Creek.

There was an unusual drunk driving arrest at about one this morning. (Wednesday) The sergeant says they had a report of a vehicle that was stopped in the middle of the road at the intersection of Glacier Highway and Mendenhall Loop Road directly across the street from the Frontier Suites Hotel.

Officers found the driver passed out in the vehicle. After undergoing a field sobriety test, 19 year old John Corazza, was arrested for driving while intoxicated and taken to jail.

Anaheim soldier killed in Iraq
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Flags were flown at half-staff in the state Capitol in California Tuesday to mourn Army Private First Class Raymond Henry, who was killed in Iraq last week.

Military officials say Henry, of Anaheim, was killed April 25th when a roadside bomb exploded near the armored vehicle he was riding while on patrol in Mosul, Iraq.

The 21-year-old was stationed at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.

The military says three other soldiers suffered NON life-threatening wounds in the incident.

Family member say Henry joined the Army last year when he learned it could help his chances of becoming a firefighter.

While in Iraq, Henry played in a basketball tournament and raved about it to his mother during their final phone conversation.

Siren sounds in Nenana, signaling spring ice breakup
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - The siren has sounded in Nenana, signaling the release of ice on the Tanana River.

It also signaled the winners of this year's annual Nenana Ice Classic.

Eight people held winning tickets in Alaska's annual spring guessing game.

They correctly guessed the ice would break at 5:29 p-m Tuesday.

Officials say the jackpot is more than 270-thousand dollars, so each tickets' share would be almost 34-thousand dollars.

The 90-year-old Ice Classic is an annual tradition in Alaska. Each spring, thousands of Alaskans plunk down two dollars and 50 cents per ticket to guess what day and time to the minute the ice will begin to break up.

Officials would not name any winners.

State to investigate actuarial's role in shortfall
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The state wants to examine the role a former consultant may have played in an almost seven billion dollar shortfall in Alaska's pension systems.

The Senate Finance Committee has appropriated 400-thousand dollars to hire a law firm to investigate the state's unfunded liability.

In particular, it will examine the advice from Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which served as the state's actuary company for about 30 years until it was replaced by Buck Consultants last year.

The firm will study the state's legal options as well.

The state faces a growing gap between the public employee and teacher retirement systems' assets and the amount in benefits that would be required to pay all the people in the system.

Skyrocketing medical costs, poor investment returns, employees retiring earlier and living longer have led to a chronic under funding of the retirement system.

But state retirement officials say serious miscalculations by Mercer may have also contributed to the problem.

Revenue surplus dwindles with high spending
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - This year's one-point-four billion dollar revenue is going fast.

In fact, the Legislative Finance Division says it will shrink to just 52 million dollars once legislators finish spending and shuffling around the oil-wealth money.

Some 865 million dollars of that money has gone into the state's public education fund for the next two years.

Another 300 million dollars went to the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation for still-undefined public-works projects.

Most of the rest of the cash is marked for state agencies' supplemental operating and capital budgets.

That leaves 52 million dollars in excess cash. And that's not nearly enough to meet the appropriation amount approved by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday (Monday) for a subsidy program meant to account for the higher energy costs in rural Alaska.
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The capital budget bill, which is on the Senate floor tomorrow (Wednesday), makes a 183 million dollar appropriation to the state's power cost equalization endowment fund.

The appropriation is contingent on that much money being available in the state's general fund on June 30th, the end of this fiscal year.
(An AP special report by Matt Volz)

Murder trial opens in woman's cliff side death
HOMER, Alaska (AP) - Defense lawyers say a woman who fell to her death from a cliff near Homer bluff was taking heartburn medicine that could have made her dizzy and unable to keep her balance.

Her husband's defense lawyer made the remarks at the opening of his murder trial yesterday (Tuesday).

Wanda Darling died almost nine years ago and prosecutors believe her husband, Jay Darling, pushed the 23-year-old off the bluff.

The trial in Homer is expected to run about three weeks.

Jury selection begins in old murder case
KENAI, Alaska (AP) - Jury selection is under way in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Soldotna woman 21 years ago in an apparent robbery.

Barry McCormack Senior is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the 1985 slaying of 65-year-old Opal Fairchild in her home.

McCormack, who is now 55 years old, has been in custody at Wildwood Pretrial Facility since March 2003.

Authorities also believe he shot and wounded a man during a robbery at a Sterling store, but the statute of limitations has expired in that case.

Jury selection began today (Wednesday) in the Fairchild case and will continue tomorrow (Thursday) at Kenai Superior Court.
(Peninsula Clarion)

Avalanche danger is high in the Juneau area
Look out for avalanches in the area. That's the word from Bill Glude of the Southeast Alaska Avalanche Center.

He says just before 5 Tuesday afternoon the Snowslide Gulch Path across from the Perseverance overlook released a large slab avalanche that put a huge debris pile in the creek bottom. This path is often an indicator of the beginning of avalanche cycles.

He says the area now has enough new snow to produce large avalanches that can reach lower elevations.

Glude says backcountry travelers should avoid avalanche terrain, limiting activity to small and less than 35 degree slopes, until the cycle is over.

Glude says people should avoid the urban run out areas and minimize exposure time, especially below features like gullies that channel the main flow.

And Glude stresses, "This is NOT a good time to walk the Flume or run or bike down Thane Road."
He says further snow load, wind transport, or rain to higher elevations is likely to trigger more slab avalanches in the area. Some could be large slides reaching the lower portions of the run out zones.

Bush Administration releasing bird flu response plan
WHITE HOUSE (AP) - Surgical masks and college dorms play a part in the bird-flu response plan the Bush administration is releasing today.

The plan catalogs steps that the government, businesses and citizens should take if a deadly strain reaches U-S shores.

So far, bird flu has claimed human lives only among those who've handled infected poultry. But experts fear a more virulent strain could cause devastation worldwide.

A draft of the Bush plan says a worst-case outbreak could kill as many as two (m) million Americans.

The draft recommends colleges be ready to select dorms to quarantine the sick. It also suggests airlines put masks on suspect passengers and that employers place workers at least three feet apart.

However, the draft does not foresee a closure of U-S borders. It says that's impractical and wouldn't be very effective.

Expert: World should mount 'pre-emptive' strike against bird flu
SINGAPORE (AP) - A leading bird flu scientist says that while the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 40 (m) million people caught the world by surprise, experts are informed enough today to mount a pre-emptive strike.

The H-Five-N-One virus has emerged as a possible candidate to become the next pandemic flu strain. Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that easily spreads from person to person.

But John Oxford, a professor of virology at Queen Mary's University of London, says the world has more knowledge and resources than in 1918 or even the smaller pandemics of 1957 and 1968.

He points to new antiviral drugs, new vaccines and at least some understanding of how the virus is transmitted. Oxford spoke at the opening of a major bird-flu conference in Singapore. But he notes that pre-emptive action will require greater resources.

Number of bagged wolves lower than officials expected
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Wildlife officials say the number of wolves collected in the state's aerial wolf-control program this winter were less than half of what was expected.

Officials say aerial gunners so far have reported taking 153 wolves in five areas of Alaska this winter.

State wildlife officials were aiming for a harvest of up to 400 wolves this season.

The program ended on April 30.

There are still two days to report wolves taken.

Officials say the high price of fuel, bad weather and a court ruling that halted the entire program for a week in January likely contributed to lower-than-expected numbers.

They also had to close an area west of Anchorage during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to planes tracking wolves.

This is the third year in a row the state has issued permits to shoot wolves from airplanes or to land and shoot them in five areas.

A total of 564 wolves have been killed through the program in the past three years.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Social services grants and senior tax exemption before Assembly Finance 
The Assembly Finance Committee takes up several requests for funding and will hear reports on marine passenger fees and the senior sales tax exemption at it's meeting tonight. [Wednesday]

The Social Services Advisory Board is recommending funding for 18 non-profit agencies totaling just over $579,000.

The board received $1,163,300 in grant requests.

The amount in the city manager's fiscal year 07 recommended budget for SSAB block grants is $600,000, the same as fiscal year 06.

The Juneau Economic Development Council is requesting $200,000 for FY-07, a $25,000 increase over FY-06.

The committee will hear a report on marine passenger fees.

The panel will hear the report from the Senior Exemption Sales Task Force.

Juneau's seniors, 65 years and older could keep their sales tax exemption under the final recommendation of the Task Force.

Current recipients eligible as of December 31st, 2006, will be grandfathered into the program.

Under the proposal, the age at which seniors, new to the program, become eligible will be raised one year, every year for the next ten years topping out at age 75 in the year 2016.

The Finance Committee meets today at 5 in the Assembly Chambers.

Baby beats fire department to scene
A new born baby arrived before the fire department Tuesday morning.

Captain Ed Quinto of Capital City Fire Rescue says they got the call at just before 8:30. He says the woman was only in labor for about ten minutes and arrived minutes before they did.

They transported mother and child to the hospital with no complication, he says.

The woman's identity was not released. 

Daylight Saving Time Initiative sponsor says Legislature gave them no choice
One of the prime sponsors of the initiative seeking to exempt Alaska from Daylight Saving Time says the Legislature gave them little choice but to launch the effort.

The group's application was certified this week by the Lieutenant Governor's office

Lynn Willis is from the Anchorage suburb of Eagle River. He says both HB 176 and SB 120 have been held up in various committees since last year. "You've got committee chairmen who won't hold hearings," he says.

House Bill 176 is in the House Finance Committee and Senate Bill 120 is lodged in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.

At one point there were five time zones in Alaska, but most of the state was unified into one time zone years ago.

Willis says that's part of the problem. He explains that except for Southeast Alaska, the rest of the state advanced its clocks permanently. In the summer, he says most Alaskans go two hours ahead of sun time.

One reason for daylight saving time is to save energy. In Alaska, Willis says the extremes of daylight and temperature are what control the use of energy and not what time of day it is.

He also notes that the change this year was the Sunday prior to "test" week at many schools, which had an effect on students and their biological clock.

In his letter to sponsors, Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman says the Department of Law has concluded that the initiative application may have some post-election issues in terms of compliance with federal law.

Willis says his read of the federal law is that states can elect to opt out of Daylight Saving Time. He adds a state cannot change time zones without federal approval.

Sponsors have one year to come up with the signatures of at least 31,451 qualified voters, or ten percent of those who voted in the 2004 general election. The signatures must also come from 30 of the state's 40 election districts.

At this point, the initiative would appear on either the primary or general election ballot in 2008 if the required number of signatures are gathered.

Additional information on the effort is available at www.endalaskadaylight.com 

House OKs Traffic Safety Corridors
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - There will be more police and higher fines for violating traffic laws on certain Alaska Highways.

Under a bill that passed the House  Tuesday, the state could increase fines and step up traffic enforcement on dangerous sections of highway.

The state Department of Transportation wants to designate at least ten high accident routes around the state as ``traffic safety corridors.''

Possible candidates include sections of the Knik-Goose Bay Road, the Parks Highway and the Seward Highway.

The bill also doubles traffic fines within the corridors, similar to those in highway work zones and allows signs to be posted warning drivers of the special designation.

The bill also adds a two-point penalty on drivers licenses for illegal passing in a safety corridor.

Senate Bill 261 now goes to the governor's desk for his signature.

Senate votes to change terminology for disabled
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Legislature has approved a bill striking the term ``handicapped'' from Alaska code and replacing it with ``disabled.''

Senator Fred Dyson (an Eagle River Republican) says Alaska is just one of a handful of states that still use ``handicapped'' in its state laws.

Replacing the term with ``disabled'' or ``person with a disability'' would bring the language of Alaska's statutes in line with federal code, he said.

Bill sponsor Representative Peggy Wilson (a Wrangell Republican) says in a written summary of the bill that ``handicapped'' is an archaic term with negative and demoralizing connotation.

The Senate approved the bill 20-oh. The bill now goes to Governor Murkowski for his signature.

Two men charged with illegally killing Katmai bears
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Federal authorities say two men have each been charged with illegally killing two brown bears in Katmai National Preserve nearly two years ago.

The U-S Attorney's Office today (Tuesday) said 27-year-old Stephen John Nowatak, and 22-year-old Travis J. Kernak, both of Kokhanok, were charged with taking wildlife in a national preserve.

Troy Hamon is the acting superintendent at Katmai National Park and Preserve. He says the deaths of the four bears in July 2004 was the largest known number of brown bears killed by poachers in a single incident in Alaska's national parks.

Authorities say the four bears were illegally killed along Funnel Creek near Mirror Lake and were left to rot, in violation of federal regulations.

Court records indicate no meat, skulls or hides were salvaged.

Hunting is allowed in the national preserve, but National Park Service regulations incorporate the hunting laws and regulations of the state of Alaska to control it.

The charges against both men are based on regulatory violations for hunting the bears during a closed season and failing to salvage skulls and hides.

The case also involved two juveniles that were previously prosecuted by the state Department of Law for offenses including the illegal killing of a different bear in the preserve.

Alaska Air Group announces April passenger rates
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Airlines' says it carried about one-point-four million passengers this April, compared to about one-point-three million during the same period last year.

But the airline says the number of miles traveled per passenger for April increased about seven percent to one-point-five billion revenue passenger miles.

Horizon Air, which is a second subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, says its April passenger numbers were about 555-thousand passengers, compared to 505-thousand in April 2005. 

Post office seeks hike in stamp prices
WASHINGTON (AP) - How many stamps would you buy if you knew the price would never go up?

Even as the Postal Service's governing board voted today to seek a three-cent increase in the price of a stamp to 42 cents, it's proposing a ``forever'' stamp that could always be used to mail a letter no matter how much postal rates go up.

The price of a stamp just went up to 39 cents in January. The earliest a rate increase would go into effect is next May, if approved by the Postal Rate Commission.

The forever stamp would help soften the blow of a rate increase by allowing customers to stock up. Here's how it would work. It would sell for the first class rate and, once purchased, would remain valid for whatever the first-class rate is, regardless of the price of a stamp.