Juneau Daily News Online

Wednesday,  May 8, 2002

Backside of Douglas proposed  as heliport site in public testimony
A proposed heliport near Thane dominated the public testimony at Tuesday night's hearing on the final draft of Juneau's long range tourism plan.

Thane residents testifying during the Assembly work session said locating a heliport near Sheep Creek or Dupont is moving the problem from one neighborhood to another. The backside of Douglas was suggested by some as an alternative site.

After the hearing, Committee of the Whole Chair Ken Koelsch said that the heliport situation is key to the tourism plan and they'll have to deal with the noise issue one way or another. But he said he's not sure about locating a heliport on the other side of Douglas.

Koelsch said he wants to see how much it would cost to punch a road through and wondered if tourists would buy a tour that included a long bus ride to get to the heliport.

The deadline for submitting comments on the draft tourism plan is Monday, June 3rd. The tentative date for final action by the Assembly is June 24th

Drought conditions possible in Juneau and Southeast
The record dry weather continues in Southeast Alaska and for the first time the word "drought" is being used.

Its been a drier than ever Spring in Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Petersburg, Sitka and Yakutat, according to the National Weather Service.

There's been less than an inch of precipitation in Juneau so far this Spring. It amounts to 99-hundredths of an inch between March 20th and May 6th. Skagway has received a quarter of an inch and Haines, 34 hundredths of an inch during that period.

Chris Maier, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service Office in Juneau, says if precipitation stays below normal into June, they will actually be talking about drought conditions in the region.

He says the National Drought Mitigation Center in Nebraska is now calling the situation in Southeast an "abnormally dry spell." Maier says the next stage is "moderate drought." That usually develops if precipitation stays less than 70 percent of normal for at least three months.

Overnight low in Juneau ties record
A record low temperature for this date was set this morning. National Weather Service Forecaster Bob Shontz says it got down to 27 degrees at 5 a.m. That ties the record for the date set in 1945.

Open burning banned in Southeast
Fire danger is considered high in Southeast Alaska which is leading to restrictions announced today in a joint statement issued by the U. S. Forest Service and the Alaska Division of Forestry. The agencies have ordered a restriction on open burning.

Mike Weber of the Forest Service says they're playing it cautious. They're requesting that camp fires be limited to fire rings in designated camp grounds.

The warning goes beyond campfires. He says people using chain saws and riding all terrain vehicles should make sure their spark arresters are working properly. Even the catalytic converter in the exhaust system of a car of truck can cause a fire if its parked in heavy, dry vegetation, he says.

Twenty wildfires have been reported so far this year. There were only eleven during all of last year.

Weber says those responsible for wildfires may face both criminal and civil penalties. Fines may reach $5,000 per incident.

Gold medal wrestler visits Juneau
The victor in the Olympic Greco - Roman Gold Medal match in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was the last speaker in this year's Pillars of America Freedom Series.

Rulon Gardner spoke over the Noon hour at Centennial Hall. He was a guest on KINY's Capital Chat in the morning.

His victory over a Russian wrestler was considered a long shot. He says it was his second match of the day, but the Russian's third. His says their game plan was to go on the attack since they figured the Russian would be tired. Rulon also thinks the Russian panicked when he was down in the scoring toward the end of the match.

Gardner has snubbed the professional wrestling circuit even though he's been offered a million and a half dollars a year. He graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Nebraska and says he doesn't want to sell him self short by selling out for the money. He says he doesn't want to promote the violence and what he called "moral lapses" by some of the people involved in professional wrestling.

The annual speaker series is sponsored by the Glacier Valley Rotary Club.

School board deals with a variety of issues
Personnel issues and math books were on the School Board's agenda last night.

Board President Mary Becker says the panel a discussed a classification study for district Juneau Education Support Staff. The study will survey salaries of support staff in comparable areas of the country.

Superintendent Gary Bader updated the Board on the $2.7 Million overbid on the high school renovation project. The project team will meet again to discuss the issue.

The Board discussed and approved a math curriculum for grades K though 5 and authorized the purchase of the math books for next school year.

And the Board recognized student representative, high school senior Doug Jones, who served on the panel for a year and half.

Budget work continues by Assembly panel
The Assembly Finance Committee continues work on the city's fiscal year 2003 - 2004 budget tonight.

Committee Chair Jim Powell says they will hear presentations from the Juneau Economic Development Council and the Juneau Alliance for Mental Health.

In advance of next weeks meeting, when the Assembly will meet as the Board of Equalization to hear tax assessment appeals, members will get a refresher course this evening from the assessor on how the process works.

The Finance Committee meeting starts at 5 p.m. in Assembly Chambers in City Hall.

Murder sentence in death of Juneau woman upheld by high court
The Alaska Supreme Court says a Superior Court Judge acted properly in sentencing a woman to 99 years without parole. Justices last week ruled that Judge Elaine Andrews properly sentenced Maureen Malloy for the 19-95 kidnapping, torture and murder of Kathryn Harms of Juneau.

House bill seeks to move food inspections to local jurisdictions
An attempt to eliminate the state's food inspection program is taking a different approach.

House Finance Co-Chair Bill Williams introduced a bill today to remove food inspections from the responsibility of the Department of Environmental Conservation. His office says the bill lets local governments take over the job of food inspections.

Janice Adair, director of the Environmental Health Division, says eliminating the program won't save much money. She estimates the amount at $200,000 and points out that most of the program's $1.4 Million budget is covered by fees paid by the operators they inspect.

Even without food inspections, Adair says her agency would continue to regulate drinking water, solid waste and pesticides. Currently, Anchorage is the only municipality with its own health inspections for restaurants, and would not be affected by the bill. The measure also covers inspections of barbers and hairdressers and a variety of other businesses.

House Bill 532 was scheduled for a hearing this afternoon in the House Finance Committee, just as members review the department's budget.

Health insurance pool okayed by State House
Legislation aimed at lowering insurance costs for small businesses, non profits and self-employed people has passed the House. The House voted 35-to-4 yesterday in favor of the bill. It would have the state help set up an insurance pool that small groups and small businesses could join.

Alaska's personal income level ranked fourth in nation
The U-S Department of Commerce says Alaska is doing better among states in terms of personal income growth. The department says Alaska ranked fourth best among states for personal income growth in 2001. That's a big turnaround from two years ago when Alaska came in dead last.

Forty-one pound plus King turned in to Juneau derby
The fish just keep getting bigger in the Spring King Salmon Derby underway this month in Juneau.

A new first place fish was turned in Tuesday night, according to Archie Cavanaugh of the Tlingit - Haida Central Council. Its a 41 pound, eight ounce King entered by David D. Julian. He caught it at outer point. The entered weight is gutted and gilled.

The derby sponsored by Tlingit - Haida continues through May.

Six will share ice classic jackpot
The Nenana Ice Classic's jackpot of 304-thousand dollars will be split by six Alaskans. Ice classic director Cherrie Forness says six individuals correctly guessed that ice would move out of the Tanana River at Nenana at 9-27 Alaska Standard Time last night. Each wins 50-thousand-666 dollars.

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