Alaska Digest
Police looking for snowboard burglars
JUNEAU - Police are looking for anyone with information about a downtown burglary discovered Tuesday morning, or anyone suspicious of someone with a new snowboard.
At about 4:50 a.m. Tuesday, the Poseidon Boardshop at 226 Seward St. was found to have its front window broken. Police determined that about $1,700 in snowboards had been taken from the business, they reported.
Anyone with information about the break-in or theft can reach the Juneau Police Department at 586-0600.
Man pleads innocent in sexual-abuse case
JUNEAU - A 20-year-old Juneau man pleaded not guilty Tuesday in his first court appearance after being indicted on charge of felony third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
Jonathan Boltjes, appearing before Juneau Superior Court Judge Larry Weeks, had been indicted by a Ketchikan grand jury. He also pleaded not guilty to an additional misdemeanor charge of attempted third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
The indictment alleges that Boltjes, when he was 19, had sexual contact in July or August with a girl 13, 14 or 15 years old in Juneau. The felony offense could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. The usual prison sentence someone with no felony record would be one year.
Weeks scheduled a trial for March 8. He released Boltjes on his own recognizance. Boltjes had not been in custody before Tuesday's hearing.
Ketchikan Assistant District Attorney James Scott, who appeared by telephone Tuesday as the prosecutor, said he had no objection to the release.
Juneau Assistant District Attorney Richard Svobodny said after the hearing that the case was sent to Ketchikan for prosecution because the defendant's father, John Boltjes, was a Juneau police sergeant heading the investigative division at the time. The elder Boltjes has since retired from the department.
Railroad plans to add first-class option
FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Railroad aims to take the "coach" out of passenger coaches.
Beginning with two new double-decker passenger cars, the company expects to add a costlier, first-class option for ticket buyers by the 2005 tourist season.
Railroad officials said the new cars will help update the fleet and increase passenger capacity. The railroad has not decided on a manufacturer, although Colorado Railcar of Fort Lupton, Colo., is a likely choice.
The new cars will carry about 70 passengers in a domed upper level, while a large galley, or kitchen, will fill the lower section.
Premium seating has been a common request, Alaska Railroad spokesman Pat Flynn told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
The railroad has not decided how much a first-class ticket will cost or what services will go along with it.
The Alaska Railroad is owned by the state of Alaska but not paid for through the state's general fund. Passenger services account for about 15 percent of its revenue. The company has 21 passenger-seating coaches and carried 113,284 passengers during the 2003 summer season.
Some of the coaches are at least 50 years old, and, at times during the summer, every piece of passenger equipment is in use, Flynn said.
"This will add some flexibility for when trains sell out. We can add more coaches," Flynn said.