State Briefs
Valley House candidates win endorsements
JUNEAU - State House District 4 Democratic candidate Tim Grussendorf has received endorsements from the United Fishermen of Alaska, the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and the Alaska State Employees Association Local 52.
"I am truly grateful to receive these endorsements," Grussendorf said in a prepared statement. "All of these Alaskans contribute greatly to our communities and to our economy. In office, I will advocate for economic development and growth to the benefit of all Alaskans."
Republican candidate Bruce Weyhrauch has been endorsed by the Alaska Public Employees Association, Alaska Marine Pilots, the National Rifle Association, the Alaska Crab Coalition, the Public Safety Employees Association and the Alaska Public Employees Association Employee Political Information Committee.
"The most important endorsement to me is the endorsement I get from people going door-to-door and the endorsements from contributions of less than $100 and the endorsement of (retiring House member) Bill Hudson" Weyhrauch said.
Weyhrauch and Grussendorf are running to represent most of the Mendenhall Valley and neighborhoods out Glacier Highway.
Two assaults, no suspects
JUNEAU - Police are looking for two suspects wanted in connection with separate assaults against women over the weekend, according to information released Monday afternoon.
Police responded to a call around 11:06 p.m. Friday from an employee at a downtown hotel that a 35-year-old woman came into the lobby saying she had been raped. The victim's name wasn't released.
Capt. Tom Porter said the woman told police she didn't remember the incident. She said she had been walking from the Prospector Hotel. The next thing she remembers, Porter said, is finding her pants pulled down and feeling pain in her groin.
Porter said the woman could not give a description of the man who she said raped her. He also said the woman didn't know whether she had left the bar at the hotel with the man or if he accosted her on the street. Porter said alcohol may have been a factor in this incident.
Another assault took place Saturday morning in the Mendenhall Valley. Police responded to a call around 4:07 a.m. that a woman was being assaulted by a man with a knife. The victim's name and the names of witnesses weren't released.
When police arrived, a woman directed them to a 20-year-old man in an apartment complex who had a stab wound to his arm and a cut above his eye. He told police he heard a man and woman fighting in a neighboring apartment, went in to try to stop the fight, and the man stabbed him.
When police went to the neighbor's apartment, a 19-year-old woman, with red marks on her face and neck, said she was arguing with a man who had since left the apartment, police said. The woman said she didn't know who stabbed the other man and didn't know when the man she was arguing with would return, police said. Police searched the area for the man, but couldn't find him.
Police are asking anyone with information about either incident to phone them at 586-0600.
Three arrested on illegal fishing charges
ANCHORAGE - Three Metlakatla men are under arrest for illegally harvesting fish, including 10 halibut, Alaska State Troopers said Monday.
Fish and Wildlife Protection Troopers from Ketchikan on Sunday arrested John A. Scudero Jr., 45; Michael D. Bethel, 29; and Jonathan L. Capersen, 18.
The men were charged with fishing in closed waters and commercial fishing without a commercial fishing entry commission permit.
Troopers said the men were commercial long-lining from Bethel's boat Ramming Speed in Carroll Inlet northeast of Annette Island. The vessel was about two miles past the boundary line for the Annette Island Indian Reservation, troopers said.
Beside the halibut, the men had four rockfish and two black cod caught by commercial fishing gear. Troopers said more than 50 long line hooks were deployed.
The men were booked into the Ketchikan Correctional Center and their fishing gear was seized, troopers said.
Search suspended for Anchorage hiker
ANCHORAGE - A search for an Anchorage man missing near Hope has been suspended, Alaska State Troopers said.
Troopers called off their search Sunday for James Miller, 39, described as an avid outdoorsman. He has been missing since Sept. 22.
Miller's car was found in the parking area for Resurrection Trail. But troopers said they've found no other sign of him.
Friends and family members are expected to continue searching, troopers Sgt. Keith Mallard said.
UAA gets NASA space grant
ANCHORAGE - The University of Alaska Anchorage will use part of a $100,000 NASA grant to incorporate geographic information systems into an aerospace work force development program.
UAA professors Thom Eley and Cherie Northon - self-professed space junkies - are developing a course to teach students how to use remotely sensed data into GIS and to promote undergraduate research. Eley and Northon, who teach in UAA's Department of Geomatics, also want to enhance other GIS classes.
Compiled from staff and wire service reports.