No injuries reported after loose rock fell underground at the Kensington Mine Sunday, damaging a water line.
Coeur d’Alene Mines Vice President Wendy Yang says crews were doing routine maintenance in a main access drift – stabilizing an excavation by bolting rock – when some of the loose rock fell. No one was trapped and both the primary and secondary access routes remained open.
Yang says the water line has since been repaired, and normal operations were not disrupted.
Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho is one of three local elected officials from around the state spearheading an effort to resuscitate the Alaska Coastal Management Program.
Before shutting down at the end of June, coastal management worked with developers, local residents, and state and federal permitting agencies to review proposed projects along the state’s coastline.
Botelho says it was disheartening to see the program go away after the governor and legislature couldn’t agree on terms to reauthorize it. Now a citizen’s initiative, sponsored by Botelho – along with Kodiak Island Borough Mayor Jerome Selby and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assemblyman Mako Haggerty – would revive the program.
Botelho says an application for the initiative petition, signed by more than 200 people, was delivered to the lieutenant governor’s office on Friday.
“Our initiative is intended to encourage our state leaders to redouble their efforts to create a credible coastal management program during the 2012 legislative session,” says Botelho. “And if they are unable to do so, Alaskans will have an opportunity to express their support for Alaska’s coastal program in November 2012.”
The proposed initiative differs from a bill to reauthorize coastal management that was on the table during this year’s legislative sessions. It reverts to the way the program was run prior to 2003, when Governor Frank Murkowski implemented sweeping changes to it. Many local communities opposed those changes.
“What we’ve tried to do here is design a program that we think is most suitable for Alaska,” Botelho says. “And part of that is looking and making sure that the permitting process is streamlined, that it encompasses all programs done by our resource agencies, and that it be done in a coordinated, collaborative way.”
Hagerty says he was disappointed with the legislative process, and thinks the initiative is a better alternative.
“We’re not just going to be delivering signatures. We’re going to be delivering a message that this is a program that the state needs to participate in,” says Haggerty.
Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell has 60 days to determine whether the initiative meets the legal framework to go before the public. At that point, the sponsors can begin collecting the nearly 26,000 signatures needed to qualify it for the ballot.
Botelho says the goal is to finish before the legislature begins next year’s session in January. That would give lawmakers the option of passing a substantially similar law or allowing it to proceed to a vote.
The CBJ Assembly meets tonight as Committee of the Whole.
It’ll be the last meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor Merrill Sanford, who is nearing the end of his third consecutive term on the assembly. Due to term limits, Sanford will leave the panel next week when new members are sworn in.
On the agenda for tonight’s meeting is a presentation from the Alaska Department of Transportation on the new Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan. City Engineering Director Rorie Watt will also be on hand for ongoing discussion of the AJ Mine issue. Watt will give an update on the public outreach he’s doing as part of a study of the city’s water supply. The old mine, which the city and borough partially owns, is located in Last Chance Basin, Juneau’s main source of drinking water.
The Committee of the Whole meets tonight at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers.
The Juneau Douglas Crimson Bears football team narrowly won a defensive battle in their first playoff game Saturday, edging the East Anchorage Thunderbirds 7-6 at Adair-Kennedy Field.
With all-state senior starting quarterback Philip Fenumiai sidelined with a leg injury, the Bears were forced to turn to freshman backup Brady Mallinger.
Head Coach Rich Sjoroos kept the offense simple for Mallinger, sticking to the ground for most of the game. The Crimson Bears only touchdown came on a two-yard run by Lah Fafita in the first quarter. Adam Soto kicked what would prove to be the decisive extra point.
East scored its only touchdown in the second quarter on an eleven yard pass from quarterback Jesse Vanilau to Tyler Rowles. But the extra point failed.
Both teams sputtered offensively in a scoreless second half.
The Crimson Bears take on top-ranked Service next Saturday in the semifinals of the state’s large-school division. The undefeated Cougars got a scare from the Palmer Moose in their opening round playoff game Saturday. Service needed a late touchdown run from quarterback Amu Aukusitino, and a game clinching interception from Alan Busey to squeak past Palmer, 34-32.
South Anchorage will take on West in the other semifinal matchup.
Meanwhile, an injury-plagued season is over for Thunder Mountain.
The Falcons lost their opening round playoff game to Homer Friday night 46-6 in front of a home crowd. It was the first time Thunder Mountain had hosted a playoff game. Unfortunately it came against the Mariners, who earlier this season trounced the Falcons 84-20.
The score was closer this time, but the result was the same. Thunder Mountain’s only touchdown came in the second quarter when quarterback Camden Thomas hit Ben Jahn for a 15-yard scoring strike. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
Homer running back Dyllan Day had three touchdowns for the Mariners, who will take on Kenai next Saturday in the inaugural championship game for the newly formed medium-school division.
Carlton Smith has been elected to the Juneau Assembly.
The race for an area wide seat was the only one in doubt after this week’s local election. Tuesday night, Smith held a slim 53 vote lead over Loren Jones, with Geny Del Rosario in distant third place. After nearly 14-hundred absentee and questioned ballots were counted this morning (Friday), Smith had expanded that lead by 21 votes.
The final tally was Smith 2,777; Jones 2,703; and Del Rosario 946.
Smith says he’s ready to get to work. He says the assembly’s priorities will be balancing the budget and searching for a new city manager and finance director to replace Rod Swope and Craig Duncan – both of whom plan to retire in 2012.
“Both of them have timing issues connected with them,” says Smith. “The budget, of course, that shows a 7.3 million dollar deficit, that’s in front of the assembly right now. And as far as the search for both the finance officer and the manager, since those processes take several months, we’ve got to get going on that right away.”
Jones says he expected a close race. And while the result was disappointing, the first time candidate wouldn’t rule out another run for office.
“I might. This wasn’t that bad. But that’s down the road a ways, at least a year or two,” says Jones.
No other outcomes from the municipal election changed significantly with today’s count. The results will be certified on Tuesday. Smith and new assembly members Jesse Kiehl and Randy Wanamaker will be sworn in on Monday October 17th.
Voter turnout increased to 30.8 percent from 25 percent on Election Day.
