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Medevac service stationing turboprop in Juneau

Airlift Northwest is adding a turboprop aircraft to its Juneau-based fleet Wednesday.

The medical transport service, which flies critically ill or injured people from outlying communities to medical centers in Anchorage and Seattle for treatment, is stationing a Turbo Commander at Juneau International Airport.

According to Airlift Northwest, the Turbo Commander will be better suited to serving communities with small airports and short runways, such as Gustavus, Haines, Hoonah, Kake and Skagway, than the Learjet it currently operates.

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Board floats utility rate hike at Assembly worksession

Members of the Utility Advisory Board presented a recommendation to members of the Borough Assembly, sitting Monday evening as the Committee of the Whole for a worksession, to increase water and sewer utility rates by 5 percent.

If the board recommendation were approved by the Assembly, rates would go up for all users effective July 1, when the next fiscal year begins.

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State again extends snow tire deadline

Alaska drivers will have an extra two weeks to dismount the studded tires from their road vehicles, the Alaska Department of Public Safety announced Monday.

The deadline of May 1 has been pushed back to May 15.

The state’s decision to extend the date by which cars and other road vehicles must not be fitted with studded tires comes days after a late-season snowstorm dumped more than four inches of snow on Juneau last Friday.

Other parts of the state have also experienced significant snowfall, with Fairbanks receiving snow Monday.

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Mayors split on Juneau Access Road at Skagway summit

Officials from the City and Borough of Juneau, Municipality of Skagway Borough and Haines Borough met in Skagway Friday for a summit on regional cooperation, but devoted much of their time to discussing a subject on which they emphatically do not agree.

Discussion of the Juneau Access Road, a proposed extension of Juneau’s road system north to Katzehin, consumed much of Friday afternoon’s Northern Lynn Canal Neighbors Summit at Skagway City Hall, with Juneau Mayor Merrill Sanford defending the project and assembly members from Haines and Skagway criticizing it.

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Walker will run again for governor

Republican attorney Bill Walker, who was defeated by Gov. Sean Parnell in the Republican primary election in 2010, announced Thursday that he will run again for governor of Alaska next year.

Walker, a former mayor of Valdez who now lives in Anchorage, criticized Parnell’s approach to Alaska’s oil and gas sector in his declaration of candidacy Thursday, referring to Senate Bill 21 as a “tax giveaway” — the same language Democrats and some Republicans used in unsuccessfully opposing the bill’s oil tax cuts during this year’s legislative session.

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Juneau legislators recap 2013 session at Chamber

Juneau’s three-person legislative delegation addressed the Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon at the Moose Family Center Thursday, discussing the major actions of this year’s legislative session and other topics.

In their remarks, House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, Rep. Cathy Muñoz and Sen. Dennis Egan focused on the local impact of the legislative session, which ended April 14, and offered mixed reviews.

“I think we did, overall, very well for Juneau and for the region,” said Muñoz, a Republican.

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Longtime Johnson Youth Center volunteer receives award

A Juneau woman is among seven people being honored by Alaska’s first lady as 2013 Volunteers of the Year, Gov. Sean Parnell’s office announced Tuesday.

Sandy Parnell is recognizing Earline Smith, 92, for her 21 years of volunteering at Johnson Youth Center, the youth detention, treatment and education facility near Bartlett Regional Hospital.

“I’m speechless,” said Smith, reacting to the news Wednesday.

Smith was nominated for the award by Jo Dahl, a teacher at the youth center.

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Canoes leave Douglas for Wrangell

Twenty people left Douglas early Wednesday afternoon aboard two canoes headed to Wrangell for the rededication of the Chief Shakes Tribal House, a historic clan house that has been undergoing extensive renovations.

The teams of canoers from the Native organization One People Canoe Society loaded up their boats and departed Douglas Harbor in the wind and rain shortly after noon.

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UAS campus to host Spring Carnival Fri.

Students were already hard at work Tuesday making signs and assembling booths for the second annual Spring Carnival at the University of Alaska Southeast, which will fill Mourant Courtyard Friday with food, games and other activities.

The event is being held to celebrate the end of classes for this school year at UAS, and it is open to members of the UAS community.

Sister Cities Committee surprised by summit with Whitehorse

Members of the Juneau Sister Cities Committee expressed surprise Tuesday at news of a summit this week that will see members of the Borough Assembly meet with elected officials from Whitehorse, Yukon, which shares a sister city relationship with Alaska’s capital city.

Committee member Maria Uchytil, calling in to the meeting in the downtown public library by telephone, told fellow members that she had heard about the event from a newspaper report over the weekend.

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