Alaska Digest
Flags to be lowered to honor Native leader
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JUNEAU - Gov. Sarah Palin has ordered state flags be lowered to half-staff in memory of the Rev. David Salmon, the first traditional chief of the Athabascan people of the Interior.
Salmon, the father of state Rep. Woodie Salmon, D-Beaver, died Wednesday. He was 95.
State flags will be lowered on Monday, the day of Salmon's funeral in Chalkyitsik.
Palin said, "Alaska has lost a true treasure." She also said he will be remembered as an inspiration to all Alaskans.
Salmon was a Gwich'in elder who was born in Salmon Village and raised in Chalkyitsik.
The governor's office said he was first made chief of Chalkyitsik at the age of 29 and helped shape the community.
Two charged in vehicle fires set by fireworks
ANCHORAGE - Two people blamed for using fireworks to ignite fires in cars and trucks over the summer have been charged with felony criminal mischief.
Rickie Eugene Schmoe Jr., 20, and Corena Elena Bell, 25, used Black Cat Tasmanian Devils and Black Cat Disco Spinners in some of the 22 vehicles parked on Anchorage streets and torched, according to police. They have also been charged with criminally negligent burning and failing to control or report a dangerous fire.
The series of fires caused more than $100,000 in damage. A boat and a mobile home also burned.
Bell is a customer service representative with the Anchorage Daily News. She also worked last summer delivering telephone directories. Some of the vandalism may have occurred then, court records indicate.
Police and fire investigators enlisted the cooperation of a fireworks stand in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to solve the case, they said.
"We were pulling out all the stops because it was clear this was not a one- or two-time incident," said police Lt. Paul Honeman. "There are likely other persons that might be suspects and there may be more charges coming."
The fires took place from late May to July 18. Most were between midnight and 6 a.m. in Mountain View and Fairview.
Bail for Schmoe was set at $20,000. A public defender was appointed to represent him. Schmoe told Judge Alex Swiderski at his arraignment Thursday that he is unemployed, though he had expected to start work at a downtown restaurant this week.
Bail was set at $10,000 for Bell.
Alaska counterfeitersentenced in Chicago
CHICAGO - Apparently a vow made by Arthur Williams Jr. to reform after he served a three-year prison sentence for making counterfeit bills in Alaska was as bogus as the money he was passing along to unwitting recipients.
Williams on Thursday was sentenced to more than seven years in prison by U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
In 2005, after completing his sentence, Williams, 34, detailed his counterfeiting skills in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He told the magazine that he had produced millions of dollars in counterfeit cash during a career that stretched back to his teenage years. But he asserted during the interview that he now was on the straight-and-narrow.
But with the profile still fresh in the memories of law enforcement officials, he was producing at least $89,000 in counterfeit bills before he was arrested in Chicago in summer 2006, according to prosecutors.
Addressing the court Thursday, Williams said he was saddened to recall both the publicity generated by the magazine article as well as his remarks to 600 federal agents in New York about his talents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maggie Schneider pointed to the magazine article as proof that Williams is anything but sorry. He's proud of his abilities, Schneider contended.
While sentencing Williams to prison, Der-Yeghiayan refused to bar Williams from profiting on book or movie deals.
Alaska Airlines now flying to Hawaii
HONOLULU - Alaska Airlines marked its inaugural service to Hawaii on Friday.
Alaska Native dancers and Hawaiian dancers were on hand when the flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport arrived at about noon at Honolulu International Airport.
Alaska Airlines will also offer service between Seattle and Kauai beginning Oct. 28 and between Anchorage and Honolulu starting Dec. 9.