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Juneau man survived flesh-eating bacteria, faces extensive rehab

A Juneau man is recovering from a horrific attack from flesh-eating bacteria, and will keep his badly damaged arm, his wife told the Empire.

Ruben Pereyra cut his left hand in what appeared to be a relatively minor accident a month ago, but somehow developed a case of necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacterial, said wife Ana Pereyra.

They had feared Pereyra was going to lose his arm, and he had even given doctors at Harborview permission to amputate if they needed to stop the progression of the disease, she said.

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History celebrated at Governor's House

Former governors Bill Sheffield and Frank Murkowski joined Gov. Sean Parnell in celebrating something on which all of the state’s leaders can agree:

Alaskans should treasure the Alaska Governor’s House, now celebrating its 100-year anniversary, and with recent renovations that should enable it to serve the state for many more years.

The building of the house in 1912 was a sign of confidence in the future of Alaska, which was just about to become a territory and was still decades away from becoming a state in 1959.

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An executive mansion or an Alaskan house?

Does Alaska’s governor live in a house, or a mansion?

The big white structure on Calhoun Avenue is big enough to be considered a mansion, and when Congress appropriated money for its construction in 1912 the funds were designated for an “executive mansion.”

But Gov. Sean Parnell, the current occupant, and First Lady Sandy Parnell, think the current usage of “Governor’s House” might be the best way to go.

“We call it the Governor’s House, but it started out an executive mansion,” said Sandy Parnell.

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How much does UAS value its freshmen?

Some of the best views in town will soon be going to some of its poorest residents: college freshmen.

The University of Alaska Southeast has picked one of the highest points on its picturesque campus for its new dorm, next to the Noyes Pavilion. That location will give the residents there, who are intended to be incoming freshmen, views of the campus, Auke Lake, the Mendenhall Glacier, and even the Mendenhall Towers and other mountains when the weather is agreeable.

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Parnell says 'no' to an Alaska-run health insurance exchange

Gov. Sean Parnell said Tuesday that Alaska will not develop its own health insurance exchange, but will instead rely on the federal government to do that.

Alaska had been one of the plaintiffs in a failed lawsuit attempting to block President Obama’s health care reform efforts, a key part of which was establishing locally run health insurance exchanges where Alaskans could go online to compare and purchase insurance.

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Alaska Governor's House ready for public

It’s been years in the making, but Gov. Sean Parnell and First Lady Sandy Parnell say the Alaska Governor’s House is ready for its most important birthday.

Thursday, current and former governors and first ladies will be at the house to celebrate the 100th birthday of what’s been home to the state’s top leaders all though statehood, and before that during territorial days.

“It really does represent Alaska — there’s a lot of history here,” said Parnell Monday.

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Retirement board gets appointments

Two new public employee representatives have been appointed to the Alaska Retirement Management Board, while a long-time advocate of strengthening the state’s retirement plans has been reappointed.

Juneau’s Tom Brice, business representative for the Alaska District Council of Laborers, has been appointed to a seat on the board reserved for a representative of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS).

Brice represents Public Employees Local 71, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

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Alaska looks at some bold moves to cut medical bills

Cutting Alaska’s health care costs by sending employees out of state for cheaper treatment might work to trim budgets, but even so it may not be in the state’s best interest, say some who would have to deal with the proposals.

“I can understand why they want to control costs, but this is an approach that’s going to have an economic impact on our providers and our doctors, especially in Juneau where you’ve got so many state employees,” said Jim Duncan, business manager of the Alaska State Employees Association.

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Ocean Beauty to shift Petersburg work to Excursion Inlet

Ocean Beauty’s Petersburg fish plant typically hires 160 to 180 workers for the season, but company managers say it is difficult to determine the impact of the plant’s closure for repairs following collision by the ferry Matanuska with its dock.

Some of the fish that would have been processed in Petersburg will instead be tendered to the company’s plant at Excursion Inlet, 25 miles west of Juneau, off Icy Strait.

Legislators look at costs, cures of energy woes

Alaska legislators heard Wednesday some of the reasons for the state’s high gasoline fuel oil prices, and learned that they face difficult challenges in reducing costs for Alaskans.

Some of the high prices are due to the state’s small population and lack of the kind of competition that can mean lower prices.

“When you have these small markets here there just aren’t a lot of competitors and that kind of oligopoly behavior happens,” said Ed Sniffen of the Alaska Department of Law.

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