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Munoz concerned
again about office building legislation moving from Senate Finance
The House measure authorizing funding for a new state office
building on the former Subport Lot in downtown Juneau owned by the
Alaska Mental Health Land Trust remains lodged in the Senate
Finance Committee.
The sponsor of House Bill 161 is Juneau Representative Cathy
Munoz.
Munoz wants Senate Finance to make one change to take advantage of
a federal bonding program to secure a lower interest rate.
The bill got stuck in Senate Finance at the end of last session.
Munoz told Murray Walsh on KJNO's Action Line Tuesday she's now
concerned about the same thing happening this session.
"I'm very concerned about getting a hearing," she said.
Munoz wants Senate Finance to make one change to take advantage of
a federal bonding program to secure a lower interest rate.
She's not worried about that since it would saves money for the
state.
The legislation authorizes $45 Million.
Half of the funding, $22.5 Million are trust funds, while the
other half would be raised through bonding.
House Bill 161 was approved unanimously by the House last session
before it was sent to the Senate.
When Kim Elton left to take a job with the Obama Administration,
Juneau was left without a Senator. Elton was a member of Senate
Finance.
Dennis Egan, who was sworn in on the evening of the last day of
the regular session last year, now sits on the committee.
Assistant high
school basketball coach dies
An assistant high school basketball coach has died.
The death was apparently of natural causes.
The School District's Kristen Bartlett says she believes the death
was not caused by an accident or any kind of foul play.
The person's name has not been released yet, but Bartlett says the
parent is a well respected youth coach in the community.
She says the schools that have been impacted are providing
counseling services to students and staff members.
Bartlett says there are many athletes, that also have been
impacted, who are attending the basketball tournament in Sitka.
She says the Juneau school district is very appreciative of the
Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka school district staff "who have made
themselves available to council students and coaches during this
difficult time".
No positive drug
tests so far in school district's mandatory testing program
The mandatory and voluntary drug testing programs are now in place
at Juneau's high schools.
Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich told the school board last night
(Tuesday) that as of last Friday in the mandatory program 367
students have been tested and none have come up positive for
banned substances.
The superintendent says more than 125 high school students are
participating in the voluntary testing program.
Students participating in the voluntary program become eligible
for a $50 pre-paid VISA card.
The first drawing was held last Friday and there was one VISA card
winner at each high school.
Gelbrich says that all three high schools reported that after the
three students won the VISA card, there was a "bit of a
rush"on the forms to sign up for the voluntary testing
program.
The superintendent says the district is grateful to the Juneau
business community who have made the VISA cards and other
incentives possible through their generosity.
School Board approves food
services contract
The Juneau School Board has approved a food services contract for next
school year.
Depending on the amount of food consumed by students, the contract
with NANA Management Services will amount to about $1,045,000.
The cost per-breakfast is $1.39, $2.70 per-lunch and 69 cents
per-after school snack.
The contract includes breakfast programs at Auke Bay, Mendenhall
River, and Harborview Elementary Schools.
The breakfast program will be also be extended to the Yaakoosgé
Daakahídi AlternativeHigh School.
Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich told the board at last night's (Tuesday)
meeting, that there are students who have a need for breakfast,
but don't participate in the breakfast programs.
He said many don't have the means or resources to provide for
their own breakfast at home.
The board had requested that the administration explore options.
The superintendent says NANA Management "stepped up" and
will provide a walk-up, simple and basic breakfast for any child
without any questions asked about whether or not the child
qualifies.
There are already individual breakfast programs at Glacier Valley,
Riverbend and Gastineau Elementary Schools,
as well as Floyd Dryden and Dzantik'i Heeni middle schools.
The contract also calls for snacks to be provided to the RALLY and
after school programs.
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The board also
approved the budget in first reading. Final action is scheduled
for its March 16 meeting.
Persily's
nomination as gas line coordinator headed to full Senate
The name of Juneau's Larry Persily has been advanced by the Energy
and Natural Resoures Committee in the U. S. Senate to become the
Federal Coordinator of the Office for Alaska Natural Gas
Transportation Projects.
That word today (Wednesday) from committee member Lisa Murkowski
of Alaska.
Persily must now be confirmed by the full Senate.
If confirmed, Murkowski says he'll be responsible for integrating
the activities of federal agencies involved in the permitting and
construction of a pipeline to bring North Slope gas to Lower 48
markets.
Persily would report directly to President Obama, according to
Senator Murkowski.
Burglars spied by resident taking
off with "electronic item"
Juneau Police are investigating a burglary from early this
morning.
Sergeant Paul Hatch says they were contacted by a resident of the
5800 block of Glacier Highway after two o'clock.
The resident reported three males just entered his unlocked home,
took an electronic item worth about $1,500, and left the area.
Police aren't disclosing exactly what the electronic item is for
investigative purposes.
The resident said the suspects know of the home's occupants who
was currently away from the house.
The sergeant says officers collected evidence at the scene and are
following up leads in the case.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the
police department or call Juneau Crime Line at 586-4243.
Report faults
helicopter design in fatal crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Floor-mounted fuel controls likely
contributed to a 2008 helicopter crash east of Chickaloon that
killed four people on board.
A National Transportation Safety Board probable cause report
released Wednesday says an unauthorized teenage passenger on board
the aircraft likely bumped a fuel control lever with his foot or
backpack.
That would have caused engine overspeed and ultimately a loss of
power.
The report also says inaction by the pilot and its operator, ERA
Helicopters, contributed to the crash and the severity of
injuries.
Three state telecommunications technicians and the pilot died in
the crash.
The teenager, Quinn Ellington, who was 15 at the time, survived.
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Information from: KTUU-TV
Body of
boy ejected from snowmobile recovered from Chena River
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Emergency responders have recovered the
body of an 11-year-old boy who fell off a snowmobile and slipped
under the ice of the Chena River near downtown Fairbanks.
The body of Peter Demoski was recovered just before 3 this
morning. (Wednesday)
The boy and a 10-year-old friend were riding snowmobiles on the
river at about 6 p.m. Tuesday and hit a patch of open water.
Demoski was ejected from his snowmobile and fell into the water.
Fairbanks police Lt. Dan Welborn says the water is just 2 or 3
feet deep in that section of the river, but the boy was pulled by
the current under the ice.
A search party worked through the night. The boy's body was found
about 120 feet west of where he entered the water.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Man reclaiming
shotgun at Southeast Trooper post busted for pot possession
A 36 year old Thorne Bay man who showed up at the Klawock Post of
the Alaska State Troopers on Prince of Wales Island Tuesday to reclaim a
shotgun being held for safekeeping ended up being charged with two
crimes.
Anthony Heerema was asked to fill out the standard paperwork for
receipt of the weapon.
The form requires a person to attest that they do not use
marijuana or other drugs. When signed, a person is swearing that
the information is true. That's written on the form, as well as a
statement that any false information could lead to being charged
with a crime.
Heerema signed the form, but before the shotgun was returned, a
pat down search was conducted for what the State Trooper dispatch
says was for officer safety reasons.
During the search, a marijuana smoking pipe with burnt marijuana
inside was found.
Heerema was charged with misconduct involving a controlled
substance in the sixth degree and unsworn falsification.
There's no explanation in the Trooper dispatch as to why the
shotgun was being held for safekeeping in the first place.
Juneau
preparing application for Google demonstration project
The City and Borough of Juneau is preparing an application to
Google to participate in the Internet company's plans to show off
its ultra high speed demonstration project.
The company says it wants to provide that access to selected
communities across the nation to showcase what would be possible
if the United States had faster broadband networks.
Spearheading the application process for Juneau is the Juneau
Economic Development Council of which Brian Holst is the executive
director.
He says the request for information from Google is due by March
26.
There are two ways to apply. He says they'll make application on
behalf of the local government. In addition, Holst says
individuals can go to the Google web site to explain why Juneau
would be a good choice.
He invites residents to go to the Google site via the council's
web site at www.jedc.org
Gates Foundation awards $900K to
Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
has awarded $900,000 to an Alaska foundation to support
educational programs for low-income and minority populations.
The money will be invested by the Rasmuson Foundation over the
next two years in organizations that promote college readiness and
support postsecondary success for rural and minority students.
Foundation President Diane Kaplan says the investment will let her
organization advance Alaska programs with proven track records and
test new ideas.
The money will be distributed to organizations and projects
selected by the foundation.
Unsolicited proposals are not being accepted.
Sen.
Kookesh dinged with ethics violations, responds to conclusion of
ethics probe
JEREMY HSIEH - Associated Press Writer
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP and KINY) — The Alaska Legislature's in-house ethics
body is dinging Sen. Albert Kookesh with two violations.
The violations announced Tuesday stem from comments the
Angoon Democrat made at a Jan. 7 meeting of the Craig City
Council.
The ethics committee found Kookesh inappropriately implied he
would trade his influence on state-funded Craig projects for a
favorable vote from city council that would benefit Sealaska Corp.
in a land deal pending congressional approval.
Kookesh is chairman of the Native corporation's board.
A third allegation was dismissed.
The ethics committee is ordering Kookesh to write letters of
public apology to the city of Craig.
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Kookesh called our
newsroom to offer response and stressed that the committee did not
find a direct threat, but rather an "implied" threat.
As a result there were no sanctions, just corrective action and he
says he wants people to understand the difference.
"If anybody knows me, they know I'm not a person who makes at
all. I never have. I didn't intend this one to be a threat."
Kookesh added he wants to put the matter behind him. He is
grateful the committee determined no direct threat was involved.
Kookesh says the individual from Craig who filed the complaint is
a former political opponent who ran against him in a legislative
race.
And when Dennis Watson was mayor of Craig for 11 years , Kookesh
says he never came into his office once.
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Meanwhile, hearings start next week in Southeast Alaska on the
measure pending congressional approval that would transfer about
85,000 acres of public land to Sealaska to complete its land
selections under terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
University president
finalists to make last campus stop in Juneau
The finalists to become the next president of the University of
Alaska make their final campus visits in Juneau today. (Wednesday)
UAS Vice Chancellor Bruce Gifford outlined the forums on the Auke
Lake campus while a guest on KINY's Capital Chat Tuesday.
The forum with Patrick Gamble is from 11 to 11:45. John Pugh's
forum is scheduled from 1 to 1:45 and Lisa Rossbacher will be from
3:30 to 4:30
Gifford says those are open to students, faculty, staff and
members of the public.
There's also a community forum at Centennial Hall in the evening
from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
During the program, host Sharon Gaiptman asked Gifford he would be
interested in being chancellor of the Southeast campuses if Pugh
is selected for the top university job.
Gifford would only say that that is "jumping the gun."
The university Board of Regents could name a new president on
March 15, when it will meet to discuss the candidates.
Campus visits were
made in Fairbanks Monday and in Anchorage Tuesday.
Today is last day
to comment on beluga habitat
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Today is the last day to submit
comments about the proposed critical habitat for beluga whales in
Cook Inlet.
Anchorage television station KTUU-TV says the National Marine
Fisheries Service is accepting written comments after holding
public hearings throughout Southcentral Alaska.
The government wants to designate more than 3,000 square miles of
Cook Inlet as critical habitat for the whales, whose population
has plummeted since the 1980s. The inlet's belugas were listed as
endangered in 2008.
(KTUU-TV)
Coast Guard
schedules open house to discuss oil seepage from old wreck near
Lena Point
The Unified Command for the Princess Kathleen assessment
operations will host an open house Thursday to discuss the pollution
risk caused by the ship that sank off Lena Point over five decades
ago.
The 369-foot ship, a Canadian Pacific Railroad vessel built in
1925, went aground and sank in 1952 carrying an estimated 155,000
gallons of fuel.
The shipwreck is leaking trace amounts of oil.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam Baylor says the ship has become a
source of pollution.
He says over the last couple of months there's been an increase in
oil sheening.
The Coast Guard, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the
contracted diving company, Global Offshore Divers, are assessing the
wreck to see if it's possible to remove the oil that's aboard the
ship.
During the open house representatives from the Coast Guard, DEC
and Global Offshore Divers will be available to answer questions.
The vessel now rests on a slope in 80 to 140 feet of water.
The open house is from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mendenhall Glacier
Visitor Center.
Tug aids
powerless container ship near Neah Bay in Washington State
NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) — The Coast Guard says it took a rescue tug
based at Neah Bay just 15 minutes to reach a container ship that
lost power in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (FEW'-kuh).
Petty Officer Eric Chandler in Seattle says the tug Hunter
responded at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 712-foot Horizon Tacoma
that radioed for help about three miles north of Neah Bay.
The tug has the ship under tow and it's expected to reach Tacoma
Wednesday afternoon. The ship is coming from Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
Alaska
conditions could produce Chilean type earthquake
The Director of the U. S Geological Survey points to Alaska as the
closest copy to Chile on U. S. shores for earthquake danger.
Marcia McNutt was quoted in an a USA Today article following the
8.8 magnitude earthquake in the South American nation.
The fault along the Pacific Northwest is capable of producing the
same type of mega earthquake as in Chile.
Bill Knight, who is a Tsunami Warning and Science Officer for the
West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, explains
that there is so called destructive plate boundaries in both
locations.
McNutt is also quoted as saying that with a very active fault in
the Aleutians and a population hugging the coasts, Anchorage and
Juneau are susceptible to similar subduction earthquakes as
occurred in Chile.
Knight says the case of Anchorage might be unique since the city
is built on fairly soft soil which tends to magnify any shaking
induced by an earthquake.
He says Juneau is in a slightly different tectonic setting. There
are the same two plates at work, but they're sliding side by side
rather than one diving underneath the other.
So, he says, the types of earthquakes you might expected in Juneau
will be different. "That doesn't mean they're going to be
safer, but the truly great earthquakes tend to be subduction zone
quakes which I don't think can be found anywhere near
Juneau."
What did occur near Juneau in July of 1958 was an 8.0 earthquake
in Lituya Bay in Glacier Bay National Park. Knight says that was
one of the largest strike slip earthquakes of which he knows.
He says it produced a number of land slides one of which produced
the highest known tsunami wave, measured at about 1,720 feet.
The tsunami inundated approximately 5 square miles of land along
the shores of Lituya Bay, sending water as far as 3,600 feet
inland, and clearing millions of trees.
Two people in one of three fishing boats caught in the wave were
killed.
When asked if what happened in the bay is something Juneau might
be susceptible to, Knight said it's conceivable since the
topography is ripe for land slides.
The biggest concern for U. S. officials is the Puget Sound area.
Knight says there's a subduction zone off the coast of northern
California extending through Washington and British Columbia.
Alaska tops
UK list of cruise destinations
Alaska has been selected as the world's greatest cruise
destination by a jury of the United Kingdom's leading cruise
writers and industry experts.
The panel of 13 experts were asked to nominate their favorite
destinations by The Cruise Show, U-K's only exhibition dedicated
to cruise travel which is scheduled for March 27 and 28.
Lorene Palmer, the President and CEO of the Juneau Convention and
Visitor's Bureau, calls Alaska's selection very gratifying. She
says it was interesting that others topping the list for
wilderness type destinations.
Second on the list was the Galapagos Islands. The Arctic was the
third top destination followed by the Antarctic Peninsula in
fourth.
The Black Sea was fifth.
Rounding out the top ten were St. Petersburg, Venice, The
Mediterranean, the Corinth Canal, and the Middle East.
The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic
Gulf in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece.
Anchorage Police
release name of man shot by officers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage police have released the name
of a man shot to death by two officers responding to a domestic
violence call.
Police say the man was 45-year-old Frederick Jones.
A woman called police Monday saying she had been assaulted by her
husband. She fled to a neighbor's home.
Officers found the man barricaded inside his apartment. When they
tried to go in, the suspect came out with a shotgun.
Police say he refused repeated commands to drop the weapon, and
when he approached officers, two fired.
Jones was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Names of the officers have not been released. They are on
administrative leave.
Southeast hoops tournament
underway
The Southeast Conference Basketball Tournament opened Tuesday
night at Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka with an overtime
game between the men's teams at Juneau Douglas Crimson and Thunder
Mountain High Schools.
The Bears came out on top, pulling out a 78-73 win and improving
to 5-0 against the Falcons this year.
The bears play next tonight against Ketchikan at 8:15. The falcons
will play the loser of tonight's game tomorrow at 4:45pm.
thanks to the overtime between JDHS and Thunder mountain, the game
between the Ketchikan Lady Kings and Thunder Mountain didn't end
until 10:30pm. Ketchikan won 64-14 and will play the Lady Crimson
Bears at 6:30 tonight.
Thunder mountain awaits the loser of tonight's contest tomorrow at
3pm.
Sarah Palin's new gig: late-night
comedian
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Sarah Palin says she's going to play Tina
Fey in an upcoming Las Vegas show.
Just kidding.
The former Republican vice presidential nominee turned into a
standup comic on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" stage
Tuesday, dropping one-liners about the White House, Congress and
Tina Fey — the "Saturday Night Live" star known for
her impression of the former Alaska governor.
Palin says the White House health care plan reminds her of
acrobatic flips done on a snowboard. And she jokes that it's so
cold in Alaska it's "5 degrees below Congress' approval
rating."
And she poked fun at herself too.
Palin told Leno's audience she planned to speak at a gun-rights
convention and warned them, "Be there or else."
Housing for
alcoholics okayed by Anchorage Assembly
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Anchorage Assembly voted Tuesday
night to approve so-called "housing first" facilities
for alcoholics.
New rules would permit housing where alcoholics would be allowed
to continue to drink. A similar project in Seattle cut down on
police and medical costs.
The Anchorage Daily News reports the Rural Community Action
Program is trying to buy the Red Roof Inn in the Fairview area for
alcoholic housing.
(Anchorage Daily News)
Deal allows start
for new Fairbanks medical center
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Tanana Chiefs Conference officials say
they are moving ahead with a $75 million medical center project
after the Native nonprofit reached a land deal with the city of
Fairbanks .
Conference President Jerry Isaac tells the Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner that the deal last week to buy 9.5 acres near the Big
Dipper Ice Arena will allow construction to start on a new Chief
Andrew Isaac Medical Center.
The new facility will be more than four times larger than the
current medical center.
Officials say the 100,000-square-foot complex will allow more
services, such as radiology and physical therapy, for Alaska
Natives and American Indians.
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Jamaica?
Iditarod? Mush mon!
RACHEL D'ORO - Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A musher from tropical Jamaica
competing in a sled dog race? Yes, many thought the idea
ridiculous when an adventure tourism operator there decided to
build a team five years ago.
No one is laughing now except the creators of the Jamaica Dogsled
Team, which is sending Newton Marshall to the pinnacle of
world-class competitions, the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog
Race.
It's not as strange as it sounds, really. Look at the Jamaican
bobsled team in the 1988 Winter Olympics that inspired the movie
"Cool Runnings."
And FYI to those who snort at Marshall as a publicity stunt: last
year he completed the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled
Dog Race. Out of 29 mushers, the rookie placed a respectable 13th.
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