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Charges pending
for suspects in burglary of Seward Street photography business
Juneau police have forwarded charges to the District Attorney's
Office for three men in connection with the burglary of the Art
Sutch photography business on Seward
Street.
Once the men are formally charged their names will be released.
Police say two are Juneau residents and one is a Sitka resident.
The business was broken into early Sunday morning, January 10th.
The glass to the front door was smashed and photography
merchandise were stolen.
Through investigation at the scene and witness accounts, it's
believed two people entered the business according to police.
The next day, January 11th, police detectives following up on
leads, executed two search warrants.
Police say a Crime Line tip in another case was also instrumental
in the detective's investigation.
One search warrant was for a residence on Delta Drive where
detectives located some of the stolen
photography equipment.
The other search warrant was for clothing taken from a person of
interest in the burglary case.
That information led to a third search warrant served at a
residence on Churchill Way.
Detectives located four handguns, a rifle and a stolen computer.
One of the handguns and the stolen computer are believed to relate
to other cases detectives are continuing to investigate.
Friday, police forwarded charges to the District Attorney's
Office on the three suspects.
Charges include Burglary 2nd Degree, Theft 2nd Degree and Criminal
Mischief 3rd Degree, all class C Felonies.
Crimson Bears
women advance to state basketball tourney...men play
deciding game Saturday
The Juneau-Douglas womens' basketball team will contend for the
state championship at this months tournament in Anchorage.
The Crimson Bears defeated Ketchikan 58-48 Friday at the Southeast
Conference basketball tournament at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in
Sitka.
Meanwhile, the
Juneau-Douglas mens' basketball team lost to the Ketchikan K-High
Kings 58 to 52 Friday.
The Crimson Bears men will take on the K-High Kings in a
winner-take-all matchup Saturday in Sitka.
The game will be broadcast live on KINY. Tip off is scheduled for
8-45 p.m.
The state tournament is held at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage March
15-17.
Investigation
under way in Coast Guard crash
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Coast Guard investigators are trying to
find the cause of a helicopter crash in the Utah mountains.
The Coast Guard says a 20-member team is in Utah and already has
interviewed crew members from another helicopter that was
traveling with the one that crashed Wednesday about 50 miles east
of Salt Lake City.
A salvage crew reached the remote site in Wasatch County Friday,
despite a winter storm that swept eastern Utah.
A University Hospital spokeswoman said doctors Friday upgraded
Petty Officer 2nd Class Gina Panuzzi's condition to serious.
The electronics technician from Lacey, Wash., had been the last
crew member in critical condition.
Pilot Cmdr. Patrick Shaw of Juneau, Alaska, and co-pilot Lt. Cmdr.
Steven Cerveny of Lincoln, Neb., were upgraded from serious to
fair condition.
The crews had been on security duty at the Winter Olympics in
Vancouver and were returning to base in Elizabeth City, N.C., when
the helicopter crashed.
Parnell cites
concerns about spending draft
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sean Parnell says he's
"deeply concerned" by a lack of funds in a draft
spending plan for some of his priority projects.
A co-chairman of the House Finance Committee, Rep. Mike Hawker,
said that "might be a bit hysteric."
Committee work on an operating budget continues, and he viewed
Parnell's statement as lobbying for Parnell's initiatives.
Parnell said a recent draft strips funding for instate gas
development and a $400 million merit scholarship plan.
Hawker said it's inappropriate for lawmakers to approve funds for
a scholarship proposal that first needs statutory authorization.
Other bills pending could address that.
Hawker also said instate gas requests remain under consideration,
though some House members question the administration's commitment
to the project.
Game board eliminate wolf buffer
zones
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — State game officials have removed
buffer zones for wolf trapping near Denali National Park.
KTUU-TV reports the Alaska Board of Game, meeting in Fairbanks,
voted 4-3 Friday to eliminate the buffer zones.
The National Park Service has proposed increasing the no-trapping
zone for wolves on the northeast boundary of Denali National Park
and Preserve.
However, Cliff Judkins, the chairman of the Alaska Board of Game,
questioned the need for the 77-square-mile expansion on state
land.
The proposal marked the first time the service had formally asked
the state to enlarge or retain the Stampede Closed Area, one of
two areas of state land adjacent to the park closed to wolf
trapping.
Currently, wolf trapping is prohibited on 122 square miles of
state land around the park.
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Information from: KTUU-TV
$500,000 Alaska lotto delayed a
third time
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Insufficient sales are forcing the
Anchorage pull-tab parlor running a $500,000 statewide lottery to
delay the drawing a third time.
Originally scheduled for New Year's Eve, the drawing is now set
for March 31. Lucky Times Pull Tabs wants to raise at least
$40,000 for the nonprofit beneficiary, the Anchorage-based group
Standing Together Against Rape.
By law, at least 10 percent of what's leftover after the payout
goes to charity.
It's the third such sponsored event by Lucky Times. Drawings for
the first two six-figure lottos, eventually drawn in January and
November 2009, were also delayed.
Public employees
union criticizes data loss deal
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A union representing 8,000 Alaska
government workers is calling on the state to renegotiate terms of
an identity theft settlement with the firm responsible for losing
personal data of 77,000 current and former public employees.
In a letter to the administration sent Thursday, the Alaska State
Employees Association criticized the state's settlement with
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for being too passive and too limited.
Specifically, it wants the affected people to be automatically
enrolled into the firm's credit protection services, instead of
being required to opt-in.
The union also questioned why those services will only be
available for two years, though consequences of the data loss may
pop up long after the services expire.
State exports dip
8 percent in 2009
Alaska's exports last year were 8.1 percent lower than in 2008.
They totaled $3.3 billion, according to state officials.
2009 ranked as the state's fifth best year for trade in its
history.
At the end of 2009, Alaskan exports were up 12.3 percent from a
year earlier, despite having a slow start during the beginning of
that year, being nearly 30 percent under 2008's first-quarter
exports.
Red Dog Mine, in northwest Alaska, the world's largest zinc mine,
saw exports rise to $784.7 million, increasing 33.5 percent over
2008.
Precious metals exports, primarily gold, grew 6 percent to $152.6
million, coal exports rose 42.8 percent to $33.1 million, exports
of liquefied natural gas was $256.7 million, refined petroleum
product exports were $38.4 million, and forest products grew 5.5
percent to $87.8 million.
Alaska's seafood exports were $1.6 billion in 2009.
Plans call for back-to-back open
seasons
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Back-to-back open seasons are expected
for competing natural gas pipelines in Alaska.
Denali project hopes to begin courting potential gas shippers and
securing commitments in July, after a filing with federal
regulators next month.
If timelines hold, the open season would immediately follow one
planned by TransCanada Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Denali is a joint venture between BP and ConocoPhillips. It's
competing with a TransCanada project with exclusive incentives
from the state and an estimated pipeline cost at $20 billion and
$41 billion, depending on the route.
Both projects seek to bring gas from the North Slope to markets.
Denali spokesman Dave MacDowell says ultimately only one will be
built, and the market will decide which.
Denali expects to include cost and other details in its April
filing.
2 die in Parks
Highway crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers say a 56-year-old
Palmer woman and her 16-year-old granddaughter have been killed in
a Parks Highway Crash that injured five other people.
Killed Thursday afternoon were Donna Vaughn and her granddaughter
Coral Hammond. Vaughn's 60-year-old husband Donald and Hammond's
7-year-old sister Maizy were injured.
The couple and their granddaughters were in a Hyundai Sonata that
collided with a GMC truck driven by 68-year-old Ann Peeples of
Palmer in an area near Hurricane Gulch.
Peeples and her two passengers, Deborah Gilcrest of Anchorage and
Doris Thomas of Palmer, were also injured.
The wreck closed traffic in both directions for hours. KTUU says
one lane reopened shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday.
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Information from: KTUU-TV
Fairbanks man
convicted in cold case murder
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — A Kenai jury has convicted a Fairbanks man
for a murder committed in 1982.
The jury's verdict against 56-year-old Jimmy Eacker was announced
Thursday.
Eacker was charged in the death of Toni Lister, who was 29 when
authorities found her body on April 17, 1982, in the woods near
the Seward city dump.
Officials said Lister had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in
the chest. Seward police investigated after Lister's husband
reported her missing.
Eacker was identified early on as a suspect, but was never
charged.
Officials said investigators began reviewing the case last year,
re-examining physical evidence and again interviewing witnesses.
Lab results and physical evidence allegedly linked Eacker with the
murder.
(Peninsula Clarion)
Officers in fatal
Anchorage shooting identified
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Police have identified the three
officers involved in the fatal shooting of a west Anchorage
resident.
They are Sgt. Jared Tuia, and Officers Kevin Armstrong and Gina
Burington.
The Anchorage Daily News reports all three fired their weapons
Monday at 45-year-old Frederick Jones after police say he refused
orders to put down a shotgun.
The officers had responded to an apartment building where a woman
said she had been assaulted by her husband. Jones came out with
the shotgun.
The officers have been placed on a three-day administrative leave.
The Department of Law is investigating.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Golovin man shot
and killed by State Trooper
Alaska State Troopers say one of their officers shot and killed a
man Wednesday in the village of Golovin 70 miles east of Nome on
the Seward Peninsula.
The Trooper responded at about 4 p.m. to contact 38 year old
Joseph Amaktoolik regarding an exparte order for transport.
Amakoolik confronted the Trooper at the door of a residence
brandishing a firearm. That's when the Trooper fired upon the man.
The Trooper was not injured in the incident.
Members of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation are traveling to the
village to look into the circumstances of the incident.
In accordance with department policy, the Trooper was placed on
administrative leave for three days. His name will be released
after that time.
Police seek
'person of interest' in shooting death
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage police are circulating the
photo of a man who may be connected to a fatal shooting at the
Alaska's busiest mall.
Police on Thursday named 28-year-old Terence Gray as a
"person of interest" in the shooting death of
29-year-old Edwing Matos at the Dimond Center mall.
Matos on Sunday was shot multiple times in front of a barber shop
in the mall's west wing.
Witnesses told police the shooter may have been wearing a wig and
fake mustache.
Gray is 6 feet tall and 215 pounds.
Police say Gray was last seen driving a 1989 blue and white Chevy
Suburban bearing with Alaska license plate CDE869.
Man in Alaska
prison suspected in Colo. death
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Boulder police say a man serving time in
an Alaska prison is suspected in the death of a woman whose
decomposed body was found in a shallow grave in 2006.
Boulder detectives say DNA samples taken from things near the
woman's remains matched DNA taken from 40-year-old John Angerer.
The information comes from an arrest affidavit unsealed Thursday.
Angerer was at the Anchorage Corrections Complex for a probation
violation charge when authorities issued a warrant for his arrest
last month.
He is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder for the
death of 38-year-old Angela Josephine Wilds.
Hikers found her body a the South St. Vrain Canyon.
Authorities say they believe Angerer and Wilds had dated.
Alaska fugitive
returning after 15 years
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A former Fairbanks man who has been a
fugitive for nearly 15 years is expected to return to face
sentencing for drug charges in Alaska after his arrest in
Thailand.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that 59-year-old Claude
Lavallee fled the state shortly after he was convicted in January
1996 of providing marijuana to two teenagers doing carpentry work
for him.
Lavallee was acquitted of one count of child pornography
distribution.
The newspaper said he was able to live openly abroad until he was
picked up on a warrant late last month in Thailand.
Fairbanks District Attorney Mike Gray said he does not know when
Lavallee will be sent back to Alaska.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Valley resident
says her Great Dane was shot with pellet gun
A Mendenhall Valley resident wants to make sure nothing liked what
happened to one of her dogs Tuesday night ever happens to other
people's dogs.
Rick and Linda Smith live on Dudley Street with two Great Danes
named Daisy and Tikka.
There's a fenced yard in back that borders a greenbelt area which
separates the home from the ball field at Floyd Dryden Middle
School. There's a walking path there.
Linda says she let the dogs out at about nine that night. She
heard Daisy yelp a few seconds later and both dogs barking at the
back fence.
She called them in and put Tikka in her cage. Daisy curled up on
the couch and Linda went to bed.
Her husband got home from work at about 2:30 Wednesday morning.
When he got up at about Noon he noticed Daisy's chest was red and
wet from where she had licking it all night.
He noticed a small hole that they figure was caused by a pellet
gun. They took Daisy to the vet and called police.
She says they don't want something like this to happen to
any more
Juneau dogs, or people.
Smith says there neighbors have five young children that play in
the yard next door..
She says Daisy will be on pain medication and antibiotics for
awhile. She's suffering some discomfort yet and whining off and
on.
Smith says Daisy is now wearing a T-shirt to keep her chest
covered so she can't lick the wound.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the
police department.
Alaska picked to host one of
eight climate science centers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has been chosen for the first of
Interior Department's eight planned regional climate science
centers.
Secretary Ken Salazar said today (Thursday) that with rapidly
melting Arctic sea ice and permafrost, and threats to Native
Alaska coast communities, Alaska is ground zero for climate
change.
The center will be based at the University of Alaska.
Alaska wolf hunts to use
helicopter for 2nd year
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A helicopter will be used to hunt
wolves for the second year in a row in the Fortymile region near
Tok as part of a state predator control program.
In a report to the Alaska Board of Game in Fairbanks on Thursday,
biologist Jeff Gross said the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
will take to the air as soon as there is fresh snow to help track
and find wolves.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported the state shot and killed
84 wolves during six days last March using fixed-wing aircraft to
find the wolves and a helicopter to shoot them.
But Gross said aerial hunters haven't come close to killing the
number of wolves the state wants to cull this year from the
Fortymile region to boost moose and caribou numbers.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Alaska bison hunters can use
radios, cell phones
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Bison hunters in Alaska will be allowed
to use cell phones, two-way radios and satellite phones to improve
their success rate and help reduce damage to crops in the Delta
Junction area.
The Alaska Board of Game voted Wednesday to allow radio
communications for bison hunters, a change that board members told
the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner would legalize what was likely
already a common practice.
A Delta bison permit is the most coveted drawing permit hunt in
Alaska. The hunt attracts approximately 15,000 applications each
year at $10 apiece and the state issues only about 100 permits,
depending on herd size.
The game board is holding a 10-day meeting in Fairbanks to change
hunting and trapping regulations in the Alaskan interior.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Home Show is this weekend
The 31st annual Home Show sponsored by the the Southeast Alaska
Building Industry Association is this weekend at Centennial Hall.
It kicks off this evening with a wine tasting from 4:30 to 8:30.
The price of admission to the wine tasting is $20 in advance and
$25 at the door.
The show itself is 10 to to 6 Saturday and 11 to 4 Sunday. A 5
dollar admission is good for both days.
Association officials say there will be w over 70 vendors this
year.
Seminars are also scheduled both days.
Bib numbers drawn for Iditarod
start
Linwood Fiedler will be the first musher to hit the trail when the
Iditarod begins this weekend with a ceremonial start Saturday in
Anchorage and the official start Sunday in Fiedler's hometown of
Willow.
Three-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey will be the 49th musher
to leave Fourth Avenue on Saturday.
Fiedler drew the No. 2 bib and Mackey drew the No. 49 bib Thursday
night at the annual race banquet at Anchorage's
Dena'ina Convention Center, where a crowd of 2,000 was on hand to
watch mushers draw their starting spots.
Mitch Seavey won the race in 2004.
He drew bib number No. 19.
Other notable racers, and their bib numbers, are No. 15 Jeff King,
No. 32 DeeDee Jonrowe , No. 37 Martin Buser and No. 57 Rick
Swenson.
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Before the draw, Iditarod officials announced that Orin Seybert,
the retired CEO of PenAir, will be this year's Leonhard Seppela
Honorary Musher.
He will wear the No. 1 bib on Saturday and will ride in a sled
driven by Junior Iditarod champion Merissa Osmar of Nikiski.
Kodiak plans Fish to School
program
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A group in Kodiak is starting a program to
use local seafood in the school lunch program.
Kodiak High is expected to start the "Fish to School"
program later this month with a "fish Friday."
The group "Healthy Tomorrows Kodiak" is working with the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game and local canneries so fishing
families can donate fish to a processor to package for school use.
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