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The Heart of the Community
Award- recognizes the
efforts of an individual or organization within the tourism industry
who have demonstrated support for programs that benefit local
needs. The award was presented to Rob and Zella Scheer, Sarah
Verharen and Erin Swanson of the Great Alaskan Lumberjack
Show for their ongoing support for a variety of programs including
the Salvation Army, WISH, the 4th of July Logging Show and the
Visitor Industry Charity Walk.
The Golden Totem Award- presented to the individual
or business that has demonstrated outstanding leadership, new
ideas and cooperative efforts in working with Ketchikan's visitor
industry was awarded to Norma McGinnes, owner of Latino
Tour en Alaska. Norma was nominated "as the first dedicated
foreign language tour operator in Ketchikan and possibly southeast
Alaska opening a new avenue to visitors whose ability to enjoy
Ketchikan due to a language barrier could limit their enjoyment".
- More...
Tuesday - March 06, 2007
Alaska: Palin
unveils gas pipeline legislation By SABRA AYERS - Gov. Sarah
Palin unveiled her much-anticipated gas pipeline legislation
Friday and set the framework for what incentives she would give
potential pipeline builders in exchange for their commitment
to get Alaska's huge store of natural gas to market.
The bill, dubbed the Alaska
Gas Line Inducement Act, or AGIA, offers to give a developer
as much as $500 million, which the developer would need to match,
as seed money for the multibillion-dollar project.
If the Legislature passes it,
AGIA would also provide incentives to North Slope gas producers
to put their gas into the pipe. It would offer a tax exemption
for those who promise to use the gas line to ship their product
to market. The tax exemption would be valid for 10 years and
would include any reimbursements to the producers if lawmakers
raise taxes.
"We are trying to remove
as many risks to the builders as possible, and create stability
and predictability," said Marty Rutherford, the deputy commissioner
of the Department of Natural Resources and a key member of Palin's
gas line advisory team.
Palin's proposal replaces legislation
introduced by former Gov. Frank Murkowski. The former administration
reached a deal with the three biggest North Slope producers last
year on state tax and other terms if they built a pipeline to
the Lower 48, a project now estimated to cost roughly $30 billion.
Murkowski's contract was widely criticized for being too generous
to the producers - BP, Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil - and
it died when Murkowski lost a re-election bid last August.
- More...
Tuesday - March 06, 2007
Alaska: Alaska
soldiers rescue Iraqis from torture house, execution By DON
HUNTER - Fort Richardson paratroopers searching for an enemy
munitions site in Karmah rescued two Iraqi men from an al Qaeda
torture house last week, their commander said.
One of the two prisoners freed,
an Iraqi police officer, had been shot in both ankles, Lt. Col.
Valery Keaveny said Monday in a teleconference call from Iraq.
The other, an Iraqi citizen, had been strung up and whipped with
cable.
he two men said their captors,
with al Qaeda in Iraq, told them they would be killed and offered
them the option of being shot in the head or beheaded, Keaveny
said. Their executions were postponed because a video camera
wasn't working.
The captors said they would
return the next day to execute the men, but the paratroopers
showed up in the meantime, Keaveny said.
Soldiers with the 4th Brigade
(Airborne), 25th Division were acting on a tip from an Iraqi
citizen about the location of a munitions site when they found
the torture room behind a locked door, he said. A similar tip
last week led members of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry
Regiment to a huge bomb factory.
This time, paratroopers found
another big complex with stockpiles of chemicals and other materials
- including 1.1 million pounds of aluminum sulfate, 28,800 liters
of formaldehyde and 168 boxes of sugar, Keaveny said. - More...
Tuesday - March 06, 2007
Alaska: Moose
takes on helicopter -- both lose By KATIE PESZNECKER - A
routine flight to tag a cow moose took a bizarre turn when the
tranquilized animal charged the tail section of a hovering helicopter,
collided with the rear rotor and brought down the aircraft.
The injured animal was euthanized
at the scene.
The incident happened near
the southeast Alaska town of Gustavus Saturday afternoon, and
baffled officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and
the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
"I have never personally
seen or heard of an injury of this type, caused to an animal
by an aircraft," said Doug Larsen, regional supervisor for
the Division of Wildlife Conservation. "It just had to be
one of those quirky circumstance."
Neither the pilot nor biologist
Kevin White, who was aboard the helicopter, was injured. But
Larsen said the moose was hurt badly enough - its snout collided
with the chopper's tail rotor - that it had to be put down by
White. Biologists typically use a lethal injection to euthanize
moose, Larsen said.
White was aboard a Hughes 369D
helicopter, owned and operated by Temsco Helicopters. The identity
of the chopper pilot wasn't immediately available.
Ketchikan-based Temsco provides
flightseeing trips, charter services, and also contracts with
government agencies. Larsen said the company has worked closely
and successfully with the Division of Wildlife Conservation on
outings to collar moose and capture brown bears. - More...
Tuesday - March 06, 2007
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