- First annual Ted Stevens Day well received
The fourth Saturday of this month was much more than just a warm sunny day in the capital city. It was the first annual day set aside to honor the late senator who changed the landscape of a territory, and Alaskans throughout the resulting state celebrated Ted Stevens Day.
Stevens was a senator for 40 years, representing Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1968 until 2009. He was revered for bringing home billions of dollars in federal money and projects to the state and was the longest-serving Republican senator in history. He died Aug. 9, 2010 in a plane crash in southwest Alaska.
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- CCFR investigating 2 Friday fires as arson
The fire department is investigating two separate fires on Friday that officials say were intentionally set.
Capital City Fire and Rescue officials said in a release someone set a Porta-Potty on fire at Harris Harbor, which is near the Juneau-Douglas Bridge.
CCFR responded to the scene after receiving a call at 6:05 a.m., the release states. Damage is estimated to be at $2,500.
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- JPD: Boat operator of unmanned skiff presumed missing at sea
Police say the man who was operating a skiff that was found unmanned with the engine running Thursday is presumed missing at sea.
Police identified the man as 65-year-old Juneau resident Glen Charles “Chuck” Craig, according to a police statement.
Foul play is not suspected, and the family has been notified, Lt. David Campbell of the Juneau Police Department said in a release Friday.
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- The hard sell is dead, Juneau Chamber told
International Speaker Paul Weyland gave an animated speech titled “Think Like andAdman and Sell Like a Madman” to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
Weyland said the days of the hard sell are over and a soft sell doesn’t work.
Weyland gave the example of a television ad he’d heard for a mortuary business. The ad ended with “We want to urn your business.” This is the kind of hard sell Weyland said he wants to get rid of. Insincerity no longer flies with customers, he said.
“It’s this ad speak,” Weyland said, “it’s goofy. Let’s just talk like real people.”
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- Photo: Duets at the Depot
Linda and Paul Rosenthal react to the audience response to their duet at the Alaskan Brewing Company's Downtown Depot on Wednesday. Other musicians involved in the Juneau Jazz & Classics' Duets at the Depot were cellist Jeffrey Solow and pianst Yoni Levyatov.
- Power outage closes Labor Dept. building
A power outage forced the closure of the offices of the departments of Labor & Workforce Development and Fish & Game buildings for several hours Thursday morning. A bad cable termination caused a partial outage at the West Eighth Street facilities a little after 9 a.m., Debbie Ferreira, spokesperson for Alaska Electric Light & Power said.
An AEL&P line crew identified the problem and cut power to the building to make repairs, Ferreira said. They restored power by 11:01 a.m.
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- Blumer named new Labor commissioner
Gov. Sean Parnell has named one of his aides to be the new commissioner of the Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
Parnell announced Thursday that Dianne Blumer would be the new commissioner, replacing Click Bishop, who retired two months ago.
Blumer currently works out of Parnell’s Anchorage office, were she is a special assistant responsible for policy and regulation for the departments of Administration, Revenue and Commerce, Community & Economic Development.
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- Senator seeks answers on Douglas P.O.
With the Douglas Post Office in limbo, neither facing imminent closure nor guaranteed to remain open, its advocates are seeking answers.
One of those, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has been pressing the U.S. Postal Service for answers.
So far, she hasn’t gotten any, and local officials don’t know much either.
“As of this point we have had no word,” said Postmaster Susan Johnson of Juneau, who is responsible for the Douglas Post Office as well.
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- Death in Bergman Hotel not considered suspicious
Police say a 54-year-old woman died Tuesday in the Bergman Hotel.
Juneau Police Department spokesman Lt. David Campbell said police and medics responded at about 4:30 p.m. when they received a 911 call from the woman’s fiance, who found her in the room cold and unresponsive.
Paramedics declared her dead at the scene, Campbell said.
The death is not considered suspicious, and no foul play is suspected, Campbell said.
Campbell said the medical examiner’s office in Anchorage declined a request for an autopsy.
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- Police & Fire for Friday, May 18, 2012
This report contains information provided to the Empire from law enforcement agencies. This report includes arrest and citation information, not conviction information. Anyone listed in this report is presumed innocent.
Assault
• At 2:15 a.m. Thursday, the Juneau Police Department investigated a reported assault in the 700 block of Gold Street.
Conditions violation
• At 12:28 a.m. Thursday, a 38-year-old woman reported a 54-year-old man violated a domestic violence protective order.
Domestic violence
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- Volunteers wanted to disassemble The Moving Wall
Organizers who brought a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to Juneau this week are asking volunteers to help disassemble it on Monday.
Aaron Schroeder of the Veterans Caucus Staff said about eight people so far have agreed to help disassemble it, but he needs about 15.
The task will take about two hours, half of what it took to assemble it, he said.
If you’re interested in volunteering, he said, just show up at 10 a.m. at Vintage Business Park across the street from Safeway.
For more information, call Schroeder at his office at 465-6579.
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- Coast Guard finds unmanned skiff; search underway
The Coast Guard began a search for one or more passengers of a 16-foot skiff that was found unmanned with the engine running about 15 nautical miles north of Juneau in Favorite Channel.
Another recreational boater found the unmanned skiff and reported it to the Coast Guard at about 1:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon, said Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosely, a Coast Guard spokesman in Anchorage.
The Coast Guard deployed an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Sitka and a response boat from the Juneau to assist in the search, Mosely said.
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- Money dispute prompts early a.m. gunshots in the valley
A man was arrested Thursday morning after allegedly firing three rounds from a 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol in the 400 block of Slate Drive a little before 2 a.m.
Police said there were no reported injuries.
“Nobody was hurt and it appears as though no property was damaged, but we are still investigating the case,” Juneau Police Department spokesman Lt. David Campbell said.
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- Parnell veto may delay Coastal Management's startup
A veto by Gov. Sean Parnell of funding for a new Coastal Management program, should voters opt to create one in August, will delay implementation by almost a year, supporters say.
“You need to have money there to get that program up and running,” said Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, a supporter of Coastal Management.
“To cut that seems spiteful to me,” she said.
“I’m disappointed,” said Mayor Bruce Botelho, chairman of the Alaska Sea Party, the main group backing the ballot initiative.
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- Coeur metal production up, stock prices down in 1st Q
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. recently released its first quarter results. Coeur, owner of the Kensington Mine, expects it will see increased production in 2012.
Mitchell Krebs, president and CEO, called his company’s first quarter of 2012 “solid” with a strong start to the year by its mines in Palmarejo, Mexico and San Bartolomè, Bolivia.
Kensington spent the quarter upgrading its facility with a subsequent planned reduction in production.
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