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[Friday, May 24, 2013 10TH EDITION 3:55 P. M.]
Docks & Harbors Board discusses next steps
on rejected Statter Harbor permit
The CBJ Docks and Harbors
Board of Directors approved three motions during its special meeting
Thursday night as it relates to the action by the Planning commission
to reject a permit for a two lane boat launch ramp and associated
parking at Statter Harbor.
One motion endorsed
efforts to address concerns of residents
about green space and access
The vote followed a discussion of how the Board could
support efforts to see the permit approved on a reconsideration vote at
the next meeting of the Planning Commission.
Notice of reconsideration of the permit was served after the Planning
Commission rejected the permit, so the question may be brought up again
at the Commission's next meeting Tuesday night. An affirmative vote to reconsider the
permit would void the previous rejection and allow the Commission to
consider whether to approve the application.
A second motion approved by the Docks and
Harbors Board calls on the commission to render a final decision based
upon the application before the commission.
If the commission does not approve the permit, the board passed a third
motion pre-approving a motion to appeal the decision to the Assembly.
Summer vacation is here for Juneau school kids
Friday was the last day of classes for students in the Juneau School
District.
District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett says they have lots of 5th
graders going through promotion ceremonies getting ready to enter middle
school and lots of 8th grade students preparing to enter high school
this week.
They've also got a couple hundred graduates getting ready to leave high
school, according to Bartlett.
Bartlett says graduation is set for this Sunday for all of the local
high schools.
Ceremonies start at 1:00 p.m. with commencement for students from
Yaakoosge Daakahídi Alternative High School at Centennial Hall,
according to Bartlett.
She says the next graduation ceremony will be for Thunder Mountain High
School in the school's gym at 4:00 p.m.
The commencements wrap up at 7:00 p.m. with students from Juneau Douglas
High School graduating in the gymnasium at their school, Bartlett says.
They've got about 140 students graduating from JDHS, Bartlett says, and
about 170 graduating from Thunder Mountain.
There are also 40 students graduating from the alternative high school
and Bartlett says they wish all of the graduates the best.
Bartlett says the district wants to say congratulations to each member
of the class of 2013.
As for everyone else in the school district, including incoming
kindergartners, they'll start school on August 20th, the first day of
classes for the next school year.
Juneau to mark Memorial Day with two ceremonies
Two Memorial Day observances are planned in Juneau on Monday.
One will be held at the Evergreen Cemetery downtown.
It will be sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Taku Post 5559 and
feature Mayor Merrill Sanford as the keynote speaker.
The Coast Guard 17th District Color Guard will be presenting the colors.
Taps will be performed by Adrienne Sypeck.
A ceremony at the Alaska Memorial Park Cemetery on Riverside Drive in
the Valley will be hosted by American Legion Auke Bay Post 25.
The keynote speaker there will be CBJ Port Director Carl Uchytil.
The Civil Air Patrol Cadets will be presenting the colors and Dave
Hurlbut will perform Taps.
Both will start at 11 a.m., the traditional 11th hour.
The public is welcomed to attend either ceremony.
Bankrate.com: Alaska 50th worse place to retire
in U. S.
Alaska is one of the worst places in the nation to retire.
That's according to Bankrate.com.
It looked at health, safety and costs in all the states and District of
Columbia.
It gathered statistics on cost of living, crime and tax rates, access to
medical care and average annual temperatures.
Alaska came in 50th, only b
eating out Oregon.
The top ten states were Tennessee, Louisiana, South Dakota, Kentucky,
Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Nebraska and North
Dakota.
Alaska also ranked 50th in cost of living besting only Hawaii.
Alaska did have the top rank for the lowest tax burden at 7 percent.
Alaska, of course, has the lowest average temperature at 35.90 between
1981 and 2010.
Read more:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/best-places-retire-how-state-ranks.aspx#ixzz2UEaXYADm
AP NewsBreak: Voter case under review
BECKY BOHRER,Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state election official says it appears someone
registered to vote in Alaska and another state cast ballots in both
states during the November election.
Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai (feh-NEW'-me-eye) says the
matter has been sent to the criminal division of the Department of Law
for review.
Alaska joined other states in doing a cross-check of voter registration
rolls. In April, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell's office announced more than
25,000 Alaska voters might also be registered in other states and that
14 individuals may have voted in two states during the election.
Treadwell cautioned those 14 might involve something like a father and
son with the same name.
Fenumiai said Thursday she's waiting for information on one other
person. Other than that, she says the review is finished.
Oil and gas group sues over bearded seal listing
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Oil and Gas Association is suing over a
federal decision to list certain populations of Arctic bearded seals as
threatened.
The trade association says there is no scientific evidence linking
climate change to adverse effects on the seals. It also says that
scientific data indicates the populations currently appear to be
healthy.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fairbanks, seeks to have
the listing rule set aside.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in December
announced that ringed seals and bearded seals in the Arctic Ocean would
join polar bears as species listed as threatened by loss of sea ice.
Young hunting in Africa as hearing is conducted
on NPRA bill
A committee in the U. S. House took up Congressman Don Young's bill to
speed up development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
But Young wasn't at the hearing.
Young's staff says he was in Africa on a hunting trip that had been
planned a year in advance.
The House Natural Resources Committee heard testimony Wednesday from
other Alaskans on the "NPRA Access act."
State Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan testified in favor of
the bill, as did North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower and Arctic
Slope Regional Corporation Vice President Richard Glenn.
Young's staff says the congressman expected to have the week before
Memorial Day off, but the House schedule was changed.
(KENI Radio - Anchorage)
Trooper kills Sutton man after he shoots first
SUTTON, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers on Friday say they fatally
shot a man who pointed a gun at them.
The shooting occurred in Sutton after troopers were in negotiations with
58-year-old Theodule LeJeune, who was ordered Wednesday via a
restraining order to leave a home. He refused, and pointed a gun at
troopers at the time.
Troopers consulted with a Palmer judge, and the decision was made not to
enforce the order if it couldn't be done without conflict.
Negotiations continued, and an arrest warrant was issued for LeJeune
Thursday. Troopers tried to execute the warrant Thursday, and say
LeJeune then exited the house with a firearm. Troopers say they tried to
disarm him with nonlethal means, but he shot at troopers. One returned
fire, killing LeJeune.
The shooting is under investigation.
Mangled car prompts reminder of bear awareness
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — A Sterling man's mangled vehicle has prompted a
reminder that bears are up and about.
The Peninsula Clarion says Norm Israelson discovered the damage Monday.
A brown bear tore off a side-view mirror on his Subaru, smashed a tail
light and rear window, ripped off the back windshield wiper and shoved
the car eight inches in the gravel driveway. Muddy claw marks were on
the car windows.
Israelson says the attack could have occurred as he watched TV Sunday night
with the volume turned up or it could have happened as he slept.
State area wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger collected samples at the
scene.
Selinger says it's that time of year when bears are leaving their dens
and people should begin bear-proofing their homes and thinking about
wilderness safety.
(Kenai Peninsula Clarion)
Kokhanok woman indicted in man's death
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 24-year-old Kokhanok (KUH'-kahn-uck) woman
has been indicted in the death of a man whose body was found in Lake
Iliamna last year.
State prosecutors say Brenda Nowatak was indicted Wednesday on charges
of second degree murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident
and driving under the influence of alcohol.
The body of 25-year-old Trefim Wassillie Jr. was found last September.
Prosecutors say an autopsy showed that Wassillie died as a result of
drowning and head injuries.
According to prosecutors, an investigation by Alaska State Troopers
found that Nowatak was driving an all-terrain vehicle and Wassillie was
a passenger when the ATV apparently struck a tree stump, ejecting
Wassillie.
It's unclear if Nowatak has an attorney.
Kauai indictment in former Alaska woman's murder
HONOLULU (AP) — Prosecutors will be able to pursue Hawaii's harshest
penalty against a former Alaska man charged with murdering a woman.
A Kauai grand jury on Thursday returned an indictment against
26-year-old Steven Wilson for second-degree murder in last month's
stabbing death of 21-year-old Kendra Lewis.
Police say Wilson and Lewis relocated to Kauai from Alaska at the
beginning of the year and were living together at the time of her death.
He is being held on $1 million bond.
The Kauai prosecuting attorney's office says grand jurors also found the
murder was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting
exceptional depravity." That will allow the state to seek an enhanced
sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lewis was found dead in her room at a condominium.
Soldier convicted of sexual contact in
hearing
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska-based soldier
from California will serve six months in a military prison and then be
dismissed from the Army after being convicted of abusive sexual contact
and other charges at a court-martial.
The Army says in a release that 33-year-old Chief Warrant Officer
Guillermo Castillo was convicted Thursday of the contact charge, twice
disobeying the order of superiors and driving under the influence.
He also will have to forfeit his monthly pay of $3,000 for a year.
Castillo joined the Army in January 2000. He was an enlisted soldier
until graduation from Warrant Officer Candidate School in November 2009.
He was assigned to the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry
Division, at the Anchorage base in 2010. He has served one tour in
Afghanistan.
Public comment on Pebble report nearing close
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The public comment period is scheduled to end next
week on a federal study of large mining impacts in the Bristol Bay
region.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set May 31 as the deadline
for comments on its revised watershed assessment. The report also is
expected to undergo a new round of peer review before a final report is
released.
The final report, expected later this year, could affect permitting
decisions for the proposed Pebble Mine.
The revised assessment found construction of a large-scale mine near the
headwaters of Bristol Bay could have major impacts even without a
mishap, including wiping out up to 90 miles of streams and altering
stream flows.
The CEO of the group behind the mine project has called the EPA
assessment flawed and unnecessary.
Pilots in fatal Alaska crash on different
signals
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says
the pilots involved in a midair collision in Alaska that killed a family
of four apparently were communicating on different radio frequencies
before the crash.
The NTSB says in a factual report that surviving pilot Kevin Earp, of
Eagle River, told investigators he did not hear the other pilot on the
frequency commonly used in that area.
Earp told the NTSB he didn't see the other plane carrying Corey Carlson,
his wife and their two children until moments before the collision on
July 30, 2011, near Talkeetna.
The NTSB says Earp told investigators he steered his plane up and to the
left, but it was too late.
He wasn't injured and was able to fly to an Anchorage airport.
No fatalities in I-5 bridge collapses in NW Wash
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say there were no fatalities when
an Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed.
The Thursday evening bridge failure dumped vehicles and people into the
Skagit (SKA'-jiht) River near Mount Vernon.
Marcus Deyerin (day-HER'-in), a spokesman for the Northwest Washington
Incident Management team, said there were no fatalities or suspected
fatalities. He said three people were rescued from the water and sent to
area hospitals.
Survivor Dan Sligh and his wife were driving their pickup truck when he
said the bridge disappeared before them in a "big puff of dust."
He said, "I hit the brakes and we went off the bridge."
The Washington State Patrol chief says the
collapse was caused by an oversize truck.
Chief John Batiste (buh-TEEST') told an overnight news conference that
the truck hit an overhead span. The truck made it off the bridge and the
driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
Two other vehicles went into the water Thursday evening as the bridge
collapsed. Three people were rescued and are recovering.
Tow vessel fuel problems preceded
Shell grounding
DAN JOLING,Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The chief engineer for the ship that attempted
to tow a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling barge across the Gulf of Alaska
in December says he doesn't know why all four of his vessel's main
engines failed but that a fuel additive is the chief suspect.
Carl Broekhuis (BROOK'-hise), who was on board the 360-foot Aiviq (EYE-vik),
testified Thursday before a Coast Guard panel investigating the
grounding of the Kulluk (KUL'-uk), a drilling vessel that operated last
year in the Beaufort Sea.
Broekhuis says engine fuel injectors began to fail Dec. 27, six days
into the voyage from Dutch Harbor to Seattle, and that all four engines
shut down within hours.
Testing detected a yellowish gel in the fuel but Broekhuis says he's not
seen reports of what it was.
Fort Yukon flooding threat not over
FORT YUKON, Alaska (AP) — The threat of flooding in Fort Yukon appears
to be easing, but enough concern remains that spotters have been posted
near the community 150 miles northeast of Fairbanks.
The National Weather Service on Thursday afternoon said the threat was
mostly over.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the situation changed within
hours when water was seen flowing through the woods near the town. The
flooding was being caused by another upriver ice jam and was occurring
on the side of town opposite from the Yukon River.
Fort Yukon flood coordinator Velma Carroll says she has posted people at
certain points to monitor the flood waters. She says that way if the
situation worsens the community will know about it quickly.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Kivalina students miss 3 weeks of school
RACHEL D'ORO,Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Students in a remote Inupiat Eskimo village in
northern Alaska received three fewer weeks of school because of a severe
shortage of treated water.
The fall semester was postponed five weeks in Kivalina last year after
storms damaged a water supply pipeline that left the school without
clean water.
School district superintendent Norm Eck says students were able to make
up two weeks because school days were lengthened by 30 minutes.
Classes ended last week. Eck says little treated water remains in the
village tanks and the school would have soon run out anyway.
He says the school still met the number of days required.
Kivalina city manager Janet Mitchell says severe water restrictions
remain in place until tanks can be filled after the river thaws and
turbidity levels drop.
2nd bacteria outbreak reported on Kenai
Peninsula
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — State health officials say five people have become
ill after drinking raw milk from a Kenai Peninsula farm.
The Peninsula Clarion reports it's a similar bacterial infection that
sickened more than 30 people in February.
In both instances, state health department spokeswoman Laura Carpenter
says it started at Peninsula Dairy in Kasilof. Owner Kevin Byers
declined comment.
The farm is a raw milk-cow share operation that delivers to shareholders
on the peninsula, Anchorage and Sitka.
Health officials say Byers said he has informed shareholders of the
outbreak, caused by fecal contamination of a cow's raw milk.
The state cannot shut the operation down because he only distributes the
milk. The Clarion says the shareholders collectively own the cows.
Two people have sought medical attention in the latest outbreak.
(Peninsula Clarion)
Groundbreaking held for Kodiak High
renovations
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Ground has been broken on a project that will see
$80 million in renovations at Kodiak High School.
The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports the project will take about three years
to complete. It will add new classrooms, hallways, kitchens and
four-story tower in what is called the most expensive project ever in
the history of the Kodiak Island Borough.
The plan was originally a lot more expensive, at $115 million. But
borough voters vetoed that plan.
The district the revised the plan, scaling it back to about $80 million.
Voters approved the bond in 2009 and planning has been ongoing since.
(Kodiak Daily Mirror)
Landscape Alaska to move, not close
An Alaskan Brewing official stated on Action Line Thursday that
Landscape Alaska would close after the brewery expands to that portion
of Borrow Street which is being vacated.
That statement was made in error.
Landscape Alaska will reopen at another location which has not yet been
determined.
Arboretum features tours on Alaska Public Garden
Day
The Jensen Olson Arboretum will observe and celebrate Alaska Public
Garden Day this Saturday.
Horticulturist and Arboretum Manager Merrill Jensen said on Capital Chat
this week that they will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
He says the day will include two tours.
One on the history of the facility is at 11 a.m. The plants tour is
scheduled for 1 p.m.
The arboretum is just past Mile 23. There's at sign at that point.
'
News of the North' content copyright of Alaska Broadcast Communications
Inc. and Juneau Alaska Communications LLC. Any unauthorized use will be
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.