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News for Friday, Aug. 17

Here’s your money back. A South Florida planning board voted today to send back to Congress a $10 million earmark for an Interstate 75 interchange that would benefit a Florida developer who is also a major contributor to Alaska Rep. Don Young. The board meeting is going on now and is being blogged here by the Naples Daily News.

The Lee County Regional Planning Council is urging that the money be used for a different project. Allegations have arisen that the measure appropriating the money was changed after it was approved by Congress to steer the money to the interchange.

Church investigation. The Kodiak Daily Mirror says in a story today that the primate of the Orthodox Church in America has undertaken an investigation into allegations of misconduct within the church’s Alaska Diocese. The investigation is centering on the Kodiak clergy, the seminary there and the bishop who oversees it, according to the story.

A confidential letter written by the primate and quoted at length in the story notes that at least part of the allegations apparently involve sexual misconduct.

Bishop Nikolai, who heads the Alaska Diocese, has been asked to step aside during the investigation, the story says.

***

Down for the season. The state ferry Columbia, flagship of the of the Alaska Marine Highway fleet, will be out of service for the rest of the season, according to a story in today’s Juneau Empire.  The vessel threw a piston rod in one of its engines and has been sent to Ketchikan for repairs.

Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, is quoted in the story as saying that the loss of the Columbia emphasizes the need for investing in newer ships. “We need more funding to keep ships up and running,” she said. “The Marine Highway System is our highway, and all highways need to be subsidized.”

***

Go with the flow. With the Columbia sidelined, a Ketchikan Daily News editorial notes that travel plans for some in the community have probably been disrupted. The writer’s solution to any irritation that might arise:

“Let's keep smiling and empathizing and doing whatever we can to make our unwillingly overstaying guests as comfortable as possible, realizing that it's difficult to be tired and ready to go home with no immediate way to get there.”

***

On Stevens’ trail. A New York Times story reports on some of Ted Stevens’ activities in Alaska during the present congressional recess. The story says “fears of the unknown have been stirring in the outsize soul of the Last Frontier” as news of federal authorities’ interest in the senator and his son, Ben Stevens, has surfaced.

The story notes that Ted Stevens has apparently not been seen at his home in Girdwood, which was searched by federal agents in July. The story ends this way:

“Mr. Stevens has told friends that he was given notice that investigators were going to conduct a search and that he offered them a key. They declined and found their own way inside. On a recent afternoon, a white van from Action Locksmith was parked outside the house in a light rain. The man driving the van said he had come to change the locks on the house.”

***

And another view. The Los Angeles Times also weighs in today with a hefty piece – 1,500 words headlined “In Alaska, scandal flows like crude” – that starts with Bill Allen and Veco and goes from there to the “scandals – some overlapping, some stand-alone – (that) have shaken the state’s small political world to its core.”

***

A passion for hammers. A Haines man has turned his interest in tools and history into a museum that may boast the world’s premier collection of hammers, according to a story in the Juneau Empire. Dave Pahl has about 1,700 hammers but likes to think of himself as “collecting history.”

“Visitors to Haines can find his building easily enough: Just look for the gigantic hammer in the yard,” the story says.

***

Pricey business climate. A cost-of-doing-business index, developed by the Milken Institute and posted on its web site, lists Alaska as one of the three most expensive states for doing business. Hawaii and New York are the other two. The three were at the top in the last survey too, according to the institute.

***

Aiming to float a maritime museum. A story in the Peninsula Clarion takes note of the efforts of a  Homer man to create a museum that would tell the story of Alaska’s rich maritime history. Michael Neece envisions a place that would look back some 800 years.

“I haven't accumulated anything yet, but so many people have been offering things, including things like ship logs from the 1780s, plenty of vessels and other artifacts. But I can't accept anything until I have a physical location to store them and a curator,” Neece said.

***

Beluga issue boils. Comments keep pouring in on the proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, even though the deadline has passed for comments, a Homer Tribune story says. Gov. Sarah Palin has made known her administration’s opposition to the listing.

But federal officials insist their numbers show belugas are not increasing, according to the story, and critics take issue with the governor’s stand. “The governor and her staff are ignoring the facts and the science of this issue,” the story quotes Cook Inletkeeper executive director Bob Shavelson saying. “They’re politically motivated to support extractive industries.”

***

One view of ANWR issue. Treasure America web site has produced and put up a video, “Drawing the Line,” with some nice footage of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The point of the video, however, is political, not aesthetic. The video and accompanying information argue that maintaining the refuge in its “pristine state is a better economic move than opening it to the minor, short-term gains of oil exploration.”

***

Return of a fallen soldier. Daniel Reyes, a 24-year-old Fort Richardson soldier who died in Iraq, was taken home to San Jose, Calif. And a story at InsideBayArea.com tells the story of him being next to his younger brother, Roberto Esparza, who aspired to also join the Army but died when his bike was hit by a car.

Reyes was one of two Fort Rich paratroopers killed during an attack early this month. He was in Iraq when his brother was killed but returned home for that funeral, according to the story.

***

And on the other side of the country … A Washington Post story tells of the reaction of family members and friends to the death of Chief Warrant Officer Jackie McFarlane, one of five Fort Wainwright soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq this week.

McFarlane, who grew up in Norfolk, Va., was a member of the Victory Christian Faith Center church in Fairbanks, the story says. “Jackie’s priorities were God, his wife, his children and the Army,” a friend and church member is quoted as saying.

***

Spell it right, please. A letter to the editor of the Juneau Empire, “Put the apostrophe in the right place,” urges that those involved with a waterfront attraction in the city consult a dictionary:

“I was just down on South Franklin Street admiring the Peoples’ Wharf (their punctuation, not mine). The city of Juneau will obviously be providing Diamonds International, The Fur Factory and Venetian Jewelers with tremendous economic opportunities every tourist season. Therefore, I do not mind burdening these businesses with one simple request: Please move that apostrophe to the correct place (People’s).”