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Chukchi was found on the shore of the Chukchi Sea.

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News for Wednesday, Sept. 26

“Not guilty.” One of the Fort Richardson-based soldiers charged with murder in Iraq pleaded not guilty today, The Associated Press reports. Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval appeared in court on the opening day of a court-martial in Baghdad.

The prosecutor in the case, Capt. Sarah Rukowski, told the court it must decide “what was in the accused’s mind when he shot an unknown man cutting grass” and killed another “with a 9mm pistol from a few inches away.”

The story notes that the Army has denied the claims made by an attorney for one of the other defendants in the case that his client was acting under orders to “bait” targets with suspicious materials, then shoot whoever picked up the items.

***

Pete Kott’s conviction. Media across the country took note of the guilty verdict on Tuesday against the former Alaska lawmaker. Some of the stories:

Former Alaska lawmaker guilty of bribery (ABC News)
Jury finds Alaska rep guilty of bribery by Veco (TPMMuckraker)
Kott guilty on 3 counts; sentencing set Dec. 7 (ADN)
Alaska verdict has wider implications (The Associated Press)
Former Alaska lawmaker convicted of bribery and corruption (AHN)

***

Court of public opinion. KTUU reports that the results of its poll asking viewers if they agree with the guilty verdict in the corruption trial of former legislator Pete Kott shows 90 percent said yes. Seven percent said no, and 3 percent were undecided.

The station notes that the poll is unscientific.

***

Is Ted Stevens vulnerable? Some are confident he is, according to a short piece in the Washington Times. The story cites The Club for Growth – the Times calls it a “notorious pot-stirrer” – which asserts he could be vulnerable to a primary challenge from Gov. Sarah Palin.

“If Stevens goes, his pork goes with him,” notes one of the first comments on the story.

***

New school buses in town. A KTUU story says the Anchorage School Board has approved a new school bus contract with Forsythe Transportation. It seems First Student, which had the job, had to dump its contract with the district as part of its merger with Laidlaw, which presented monopoly problems.

Forsythe should be on the street by the end of the week, the story says.

***

Lawmakers want Veco probe. Two Democratic legislators – Reps. Harry Crawford and Les Gara – are calling for the state to investigate violations of campaign laws by Veco Corp., according to an APRN story. The two say some of the company’s involvement in Alaska politics – including paying for polls and campaign fundraisers – violate election laws.

Crawford says the one-year statute of limitations that the Alaska Public Offices Commission is required to follow should not apply in the case.

The Associated Press also has the story. The AP account says Gara and Crawford acknowledged that some Alaska lawmakers had tried to weaken APOC by shortening the deadline for civil violations.

***

Wayward young walrus. “Chukchi” – the name given to a young, apparently orphaned walrus that was found on the shore of the Chukchi Sea – is now at the Alaska SeaLife Center’s rehabilitation center, according to a story at the SitNews web site. The animal – 400 pounds and then some - was transported to Anchorage on chartered flights and then moved to Seward.

It was first spotted near the Red Dog Mine port facility south of Kivalina, the story says, and didn’t want to have anything to do with those who were trying to help it. “We then realized that the situation called for capture rather (than) rescue,” said Tim Lebling, stranding coordinator at the Alaska SeaLife Center, “and if you have to capture an animal, it may not need to be rescued at that time.”

***

Forest Fair woes. Overcrowding and security issues surrounding the Forest Fair in Girdwood are getting attention in the community. The Turnagain Times reports on a town meeting called to talk about them.

“Risks cited included, but were not limited to, danger to human safety from excessive substance use and resulting violence and accident potential, danger to property and life from uncontrolled campfires spreading to become wildfires, and environmental damage to Girdwood watersheds from feces, trash and other pollutants,” the story says.

The community is working on solutions.

***

Speaking of the weather … The Nome Nugget features a story and dramatic pictures on the first fall storm to hammer the community. “High surf pounded the region's beaches, depositing yet another headless walrus on East Beach in Nome, washing over the Nome-Council Highway at Safety, and sending beach miners and campers up to the high-water line for safety,” according to the story.

And a Fairbanks News-Miner story notes the appearance of snow in the Interior this week. The city itself was supposed to get snow mixed with rain this morning. Snow has been reported at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and other areas.

***

“Where the goods are odd.” Carl Pope’s blog at The Huffington Post web site has some observations on the state of politics in Alaska – which, he writes, “is almost as out-of-kilter as the climate is.”

Pope ranges across global warming, village erosion, Veco, Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Don Young – and then arrives at Gov. Sarah Palin. “On America's last frontier, where there are far more men than women, there is an old saying that goes: ‘Alaska, where the odds are good, but the goods are odd.’ Gov. Palin must recall that aphorism often these days as she cleans up after the state's alpha-male politicians and business leaders.”

***

“It bubbled. It boiled. It stank.” So reads the opening line of a Far North Science story about research into methane oozing into the atmosphere.

Accompanied by a National Public Radio crew, University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Katey Walter happened upon one lake near Barrow that had a “churning, bubbling spot” of methane. The “super-greenhouse gas” could cause bigger problems as more permafrost melts, according to the story.

***

Mystery appearance. “Something fell out of the sky over Kodiak just before 7 this morning,” reads the enticing lead on a story from KMXT in Kodiak. The story speculates in its headline that it might have been a meteor and in the story rules out an airplane.

One witness is quoted thus: “She said it got so bright, her son thought a helicopter was shining a light on them. Horning said she had to talk her son out of scrambling up the hillside to look for any debris.”

The event is still under investigation.

***

Veco’s new direction. Floyd Damron, CH2M Hill vice president, as quoted in a Reuters story published in The New York Times:

“I've told employees, if a manager ever says anything to you about your level of political commitment, you come to me and that manager will be disciplined.”

***

Bears and more bears. From the Juneau Empire police log:
• At about 9:50 p.m. Monday, a bear was reported in the 8900 block of Gee Street.
• At about 11:20 p.m. Monday, a bear was reported on a porch in the 3100 block of Bresee Street.
• At about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday, bears were reported in Dumpsters in the 11800 block of Glacier Highway.

Other headlines today:
Homeless shelter on hold (Peninsula Clarion)
Valley groups unite against Prop 1 (Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman)
Absent councilman’s ethics questioned (Homer Tribune)
My Turn: A former priest responds to charges (Juneau Empire)