Heather Bryant

An Alaska Railroad spokeswoman says washouts of track and lost revenue likely will cost the line more than $1 million.

But Stephenie Wheeler says the state-owned railroad is progressing faster than projected repairing damaged track from a major washout north of Talkeetna.

About 500 feet of mainline track were left dangling Saturday near Gold Creek.

Wheeler says crews have been working round the clock to make repairs and the main line could open as early as Tuesday, a day earlier than projected.

The area is in a 70-mile stretch of rail corridor between Willow and Gold Creek where high water from heavy rain has affected track and several bridges.

Trains between Anchorage and Fairbanks have not operated since Wednesday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has not followed through on its findings that two species of seals should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.  The Center for Biological Diversity asked the Federal Courts on Wednesday  to order a specific date by which bearded and ringed seals be listed.

In documents filed with the courts on Wednesday morning  the Center said – quote – “this mandatory deadline is necessary to ensure the continued survival of ringed and bearded seals in the wild.”

The center originally petitioned the listing in 2008.  After several delays  the Marine Fisheries Service published its own findings that agreed with the petition  and proposed the listing.

Rebecca Noblin, the Alaska Director for the Center,  said that publication in December of 2010 set a one-year deadline for completion of the listing.

“In December of 2011, they issued a public notice saying they were going to take six more months to just make sure their science was right and to have more peer review.  So that would have put them out to June of 2012.  Since then, we haven’t heard any word for why the delay is,” Noblin said.

The court papers say that the lack of the endangered listing will result in irreparable harm to both species.

“Climate change is really, really altering the arctic quickly.  As we’ve seen, this is the lowest sea-ice year ever since we’ve been recording sea ice.  And sea ice is absolutely essential for these seals.  The time to act is now, and NMFS has said that’s it’s planning to act.  And under the Endangered Species Act it’s required to go ahead and finalize the listing decision so we can start getting some protections in place,” Noblin said.

Julie Speegle, with the National  Marine Fisheries Service,  said work on the listing is ongoing, but she is not allowed to comment on litigation.

An Alaska spokesman says a gasoline spill from a fuel barge being transported near the southeast Alaska community of Hoonah has caused a sheen in the water.

Environmental Conservation Department spokesman Ty Keltner said the crew of a tug transporting the Kirby Offshore Marine barge Leo noticed the sheen Wednesday. They traced it to a 2-inch fracture between the bulkhead of a raised cargo tank and the barge deck.

It’s not known how much gasoline spilled. The affected tank contained more than 340,000 gallons. Keltner says a temporary seal was put on the fracture and a small quantity of fuel still leaking is being contained on the barge deck. The spokesman says Kirby is developing a plan to transfer fuel from the affected tank to another tank on the barge.

Keltner says while a rainbow sheen has been reported at nearby Port Frederick, there have been no reports of impacts to wildlife or the shoreline.

Update – 10:25 a.m.:

UAS Vice Chancellor Joe Nelson said that Warden made threatening phone calls to staffers on Monday.

“It’s just an allegation at this point, but it was enough to rise to the level of security alert,” Nelson said.

“It was over the phone and of a nature enough that it caused us some concern and we need to stay on the safe side rather than be sorry,” Nelson said.

Warden, originally from Sitka, lives in Juneau and is a part-time student taking distance education classes.

Nelson said Warden was contacted by police at noon yesterday and was banned from campus. The security alert was then sent to UAS staff and later to students.

Nelson said that alerts like this are very rare.

“In my 8 years here I don’t think we’ve had anything of this nature that got to this level,” Nelson said.

Warden’s actions have triggered the UAS judicial process.

“He’s going to have the opportunity to have a hearing and go through the judicial process under our code of conduct and it may or may not result in a suspension or expulsion,” Nelson said.

The security alert and directions for students and staff to call 911 if they see Warden on campus will stand until the hearing concludes.

Original Story – 9:23 a.m.:

UAS officials emailed a security alert to students yesterday evening warning students to be on the look out for William Warden.

Warden has been temporarily banned from campus and university buildings for allegedly making threats.

Students are instructed to call 911 if they see Warden on campus.

According to the alert, campus officials and the Juneau Police have notified Warden to stay off campus and is “not aware of any reason to refrain from normal activity at this time.”

The email instructs people to call the campus at 796-6461 with specific concerns.

This is an ongoing story, check back here for updates.

 

Alaska Wildlife Troopers have been cracking down on illegal angling at a popular Juneau fishing spot.

The Juneau Empire reports troopers issued nine citations last week to people snagging salmon from a dock near the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery.

The hatchery is near Lemon Creek between downtown Juneau and the Mendenhall Valley.

Troopers say they had been receiving reports of people using weighted treble hooks to snag fish. Snagging is banned within 150 feet of the fishing dock.

Troopers say they’ve also taken complaints of people fishing at night in the spillway below the hatchery, which is closed to all fishing.

The citations ranged from $110 to $150. Troopers seized fishing poles in some cases and one headlamp used to spot salmon.

A jumbo cargo jet blew out most of its tires while making an emergency landing in Anchorage.

The Anchorage Daily News says the jet was operating only on backup power when it landed early Tuesday at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Airport officials say the Southern Air Boeing 747 was headed from the Lower 48 to Asia when the plane’s four main power generators quit working. Airport business manager Trudy Wassel says two backup generators kicked on, but they do not power a mechanism that keeps the jet’s tires from skidding.

The flight crew was forced to use manual brakes that had no anti-skid, and 14 of the jet’s 18 tires blew out. The plane landed at about 2 a.m. Nobody was injured.

The runway was reopened Tuesday afternoon.