AlaskaDigest
Judge orders refund for nonresident fishermen
ANCHORAGE - State prosecutors are likely to challenge a judge's order to refund with interest thousands of out-of-state commercial fishermen who paid three times more for their annual permits than Alaskan fishermen.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski of Anchorage orders the state to pay plaintiffs in a 20-year-old class action lawsuit the difference plus interest for what they should have been charged based on a complex formula designed by the courts.
The amount of the refund and the number of plaintiffs eligible has yet to be calculated by the state, assistant attorney general Robert Nauheim said. Earlier estimates have put the cost to Alaska between $30 million and $50 million in back fees, interest and attorney fees, paid to about 11,000 plaintiffs.
Last week, Nauheim and Commercial Fisheries Entry Chairman Bruce Twomley said the state was considering an appeal of the order.
Nauheim said the state Department of Law's appeals committee was reviewing the judgment and has 30 days to file an appeal.
The lawsuit was filed in 1984 by nonresident commercial fishermen who paid three times what Alaska fishermen did to fish Alaska waters. For some permit holders, the nonresident fee would amount to $750 a year, versus $250 for residents.
The Alaska Supreme Court, which has ruled three times in the case, has said the state may charge somewhat higher fees for nonresidents.
Alaska contractors avoid cement shortage
FAIRBANKS - Alaska contractors have dodged a cement shortage hampering other regions but have not been as fortunate when it comes to steel.
Several factors have kept Alaska from experiencing the cement shortage that has generated headlines in the Southwest, Southeast and other parts of the country, said several Alaska cement suppliers.
Low interest rates leading to more U.S. construction and demand from China has increased the demand for cement, according to a report from the Portland Cement Association, which represents U.S. and Canadian cement companies. As of last month, 29 states were affected by a shortage or tight supply of cement, the report said. Several states have delayed road projects.
Alaska and much of the Northwest are not on that list in part because the region relies less on the imported cement supply that has been siphoned off by the Chinese, said Dale Morman, president of Alaska Basic Industries, one of the Alaska's largest cement suppliers.
Theft victim celebrates return of tricycle
ANCHORAGE - A woman who twice had tricycles stolen over the summer got one back and celebrated by riding around the lobby of police headquarters.
Anchorage police returned a stolen tricycle to Spenard laundry worker Nena Simunec, then watched as the 57-year-old Bosnian refugee pedaled the red three-wheeler around the lobby of police headquarters singing: "I love my bike. I love my bike. I am soooo happy."
Simunec lost her first tricycle, one with the motor and two baskets, to thieves in June. In early August, someone stole a replacement trike about two weeks after she had bought it.
Simunec doesn't drive, so the trikes gave her mobility.
She's a small woman who can't pedal up hills so a friend jury-rigged a little Honda motor on her first trike, a red motor on a black trike with two silver baskets. She said she "felt like a queen" riding around on it.