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Wednesday, August 18, 1999 © Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News
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Cruise line head to face community
Haines residents protest toxic dumping
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will hold a series of community meetings in Southeast Alaska next week. Company President Jack Williams and Senior Vice President of Safety and Environment Nancy Wheatly will make presentations surrounding the illegal dumping of waste and chemicals into Alaskan waters. The public meeting in Juneau with the company executives will be Thursday August 26th, from noon until 2:00pm in the Assembly Chambers at City Hall. The officials will also hold public presentations in Haines and Skagway on Wednesday August 25th, and Ketchikan on Friday the 27th. (In photo at right, Haines residents protest arrival of RCCL ship on Tuesday evening). Meanwhile, the Juneau Assembly meeting in executive session over the noon hour yesterday received an update from the Law Department on possible litigation the City could file against the company, although Mayor Dennis Egan says that possibility is doubtful since the city doesn't have pollution laws on the books.
Royal Caribbean could be thrown out of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Acting Chief Ranger Chuck Young says that's one possibility under consideration as part of the company's guilty plea to federal criminal charges, although some of the company's vessels continue to operate in the preserve for now. Earlier this month the cruise line entered a guilty plea in Alaska as part of the agreement with federal prosecutors and agreed to pay 18 million dollars in federal fines. Six point six million dollars is connected to seven felony violations in Southeast waters. Sentencing in connection to that guilty plea is scheduled for October 21st in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.
Senator Ted Stevens (left) said yesterday he's convinced that if a subsistence solution were placed before the voters of Alaska it would pass overwhelmingly, but Stevens expressed doubt that the legislature would act. He told reporters he's quit trying to convince state lawmakers of the merits of that idea. Governor Knowles is expected to call the legislature into special session in late September to deal with the subsistence issue. The federal government is scheduled to take over management of subsistence fisheries in Alaska October 1.
The University of Alaska Board of Regents will be meeting in Seward tomorrow and Friday. University official Bob Miller says the regents will begin making budget preparations and they'll be taking up several initiatives including approval of a new Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree program at the Fairbanks campus similar to the one offered at UAS for students preparing for a career as an elementary school teacher.
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly has given Louisiana-Pacific Corporation a $2-million grant to study the feasibility of building a veneer plant in Ketchikan. L-P also is in line to receive a $7-million loan from the borough to build the plant.
Friday is the start of the 53rd Annual Golden North Salmon Derby in Juneau. Tickets are $35. This year there's also a special $10 ticket for kids 12 and under. They're available at Alaska Ship Chandlers, the Alaskan and Proud Market, Fishermen's Bend, Fred Meyer, Harry's Plumbing and Heating, Big K-Mart, Outdoor Headquarters, Rayco Sales, Valley Tesoro, and Western Auto. The specially tagged $100,000 fish has already been released, according to Derby Co-Chair Patty Ann Polley. Maggie Hall netted a $100,000 tagged fish during the 50th annual event in 1996. That's the only one ever caught in the derby's history. Top prize this year is $15,000. Michael Scott Kelley caught the biggest fish in last year's derby. It weighed in at 30.4 pounds. The biggest fish ever caught in the derby was 59 pounds, 8 ounces, reeled in by Dr. Gary Hedges in 1971. Polley and fellow derby co-chair Mike Barton are guests on KINY's Capital Chat tomorrow morning beginning at about 8:20. (In photo, Tom Karpstein, left, and Captain Dave Hansen of the "Accessible One" holding the number 10 fish from the 52nd Golden North Salmon Derby). Get the latest on the Derby here.
At the stroke of midnight on Sunday morning, Global Positioning System satellites will reset their central clock. State Administration Commissioner Bob Poe says some GPS receivers could experience a range of problems from incorrect date information to possible failure. He suggests checking with the manufacturer of your device to see if it will handle the rollover. He also suggests an alternative means of navigation, like a compass and map, just in case. For more information from the manufacturers of GPS receivers, and to check the status of your unit(s), go here.
Nancy Hoshor can't remember losing the tag to her golf bag but she won't forget how it was found. A fish cutter at Shelter Cove Lodge in Craig on Prince of Wales Island discovered the tag in the belly of a 160-pound halibut. Mrs. Hoshor says she didn't even know she lost it. She believes that happened while she was vacationing in Hawaii a decade ago and 2,600 miles from where the fish was caught. The lodge returned the tag along with a letter explaining how it was found. Mrs. Hoshor says she's grateful that the lodge took the time to return the tag to her. But she says she'd rather have had the halibut.
An emergency closure to camping has been put into effect for the eastside of Reid Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Acting Chief Ranger Chuck Young says a bear approached the camp of a man and attempts by the camper to scare the bear away proved futile. The camper retreated to his kayak and paddled into the inlet until the bear wandered away. Meanwhile, Bartlett River remains closed to camping, but the closure of Blue Mouse Cove and Hugh Miller Inlet has been lifted. Young reminds campers and kayakers planning to visit Glacier Bay Park and Preserve to contact the park's Visitor Information Station for the most up to date bear information.
The state fish and game department has issued an advisory after a fishermen had a close encounter with a brown bear and her three cubs at Sweetheart Creek near Snettisham Sunday afternoon. The department's Neil Barton says the man was frightened for his life and fired at the sow. She apparently only suffered a flesh wound, but a cub behind her was struck and killed. The two remaining cubs ran off with the sow, he says. Things are quieter here in town but there are still bear hot spots, according to Barton. One is a bear that's been haunting Abby Way above Twin Lakes. Barton says he's putting out a trap in hopes of catching that bruin.
A Nova Scotia teenager who was mauled by a black bear in the Yukon last month has returned home. Nineteen-year-old Carrie Fair of Dartmouth was transferred to a Halifax hospital from Vancouver over the weekend. Fair, a varsity basketball player at Dalhousie University, was at a campground in Dawson City when she was attacked by a young bear. She received serious injuries to one leg and her buttocks after being bitten and clawed. The bear was beaten off by a man wielding a shovel.
A helicopter collided with trees before crashing in a narrow mountain gully, killing the pilot and four Vancouver-area tourists, according to an investigator. A search for the helicopter began Sunday after it failed to return from what was to have been a 30-minute tour to Lake Lovely Water, a glacier range in the Tantalus mountains northwest of Squamish, which is about 30 miles north of Vancouver.
Six Coast Guard vessels and the Canadian vessel Narwhal are in town for the annual buoy tender roundup. The Canadian tender is based in Victoria, British Columbia. The U. S. vessels are from Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Kodiak and Juneau. The crews take a break from training for what is called the Buoy Tender Olympics which is a competition involving job related skills. Tours are available through Friday from 8 to Noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
Free back to school immunizations are available this week. Colleen McNaulty of the Juneau Public Health Center says certain vaccinations are required before a student can attend school. Immunizations are being offered for newborns on up to 18 year-olds. The free immunizations are available at Harborview and Riverbend Schools today through Friday from noon until 5 P.M. and be sure to bring your shot records.
Renowned Alaska Artist John Van Zyle is in Juneau this week. He explained on KINY's Capital Chat this morning that he's in town to unveil a new book he's illustrated entitled "Baby Whale Journey." He's now illustrated about a dozen children's books. Van Zyle will be at the Rain Song Gallery from 1:00 to 7:00pm each day through Friday. The famous artist has also completed a special Millennium painting which features a still-life of his own work area at his home near Eagle River. The painting features a note to the effect that he did this work just for you, and each print will be personalized with the name of the buyer on that note.
The California little league team that eliminated Juneau's Junior Leaguers from the regional tournament in New Mexico last week dropped their first contest at the Little League World Series in Taylor, Michigan. The team from La Verne, California, lost to the East representative 6 to 5. They're scheduled to play the team from Canada today.(Captions for our photographs can be viewed by hovering over them with your mouse pointer)
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