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This is Wanamaker's second term as deputy mayor. He replaces Merrill Sanford, who stepped down last month after his resolution to place a one-year moratorium on a city building project failed. Sanford said the move allowed him more freedom to speak openly during Assembly sessions.

The Assembly elected Wanamaker to fill the position through October.

Juneau Assembly denies Hood's appeal

JUNEAU - Following an executive session, the Juneau Assembly announced its decision to adopt the Board of Adjustment's rejection of Dixie Hood's appeal of an after-the-fact variance granting Secon construction company the right to build a truck scale near Lemon Creek within the required 50-foot setback for a salmon stream.

Hood opposed the Assembly's move into executive session to discuss the final outcome of her appeal. The decision was made behind closed doors.

"Transparency with this issue is lacking," Hood said.

The Assembly, acting as an appeals board, voted 6-3 to reject the appeal, with Assembly members Jeff Bush, Jonathan Anderson and Bob Doll in dissent. Doll and Anderson were expected to offer their reasons for dissent in writing.

The Assembly upheld the rejection of the appeal because building the truck scale to meet setback requirements would have been too expensive.

Anderson said his dissent is largely based on the fact that no one representing Secon or city staff could say what the extra costs were to build the truck scale 50 feet from the stream as normally required.

"The fact is, in the record, there is no discussion of cost," Anderson said.

Hood can appeal the decision to the Juneau Superior Court.

Many Alaskans file early for dividends

JUNEAU - The Alaska Permanent Fund Division says a quarter of the Alaskans expected to be eligible for dividends have already filed.

The division says it received 35,121 online applications Jan. 2, shattering the old record of 25,083 set last year on Jan. 3.

By midday Monday, more than 157,500 online applications had been filed.

Applying online in January gets applicants a direct deposit Oct. 2.

Other direct deposit dividends will be paid Oct. 16.

The division will begin mailing checks to all other eligible applicants Nov. 14.

The 2008 application period closes on March 31. The 2008 dividend amount will be announced in mid-September.

Ketchikan mulls sale of phone division

KETCHIKAN - Two Denver brokerage firms have clients interested in purchasing Ketchikan Public Utilities Telecommunications Division.

The two firms are Falkenberg Capital Corp. and Alpina Capital Partners.

Neither firm has named its clients, Assistant City Manager David Martin said. However, they will be identified if the Ketchikan City Council moves forward with the sale.

Mayor Bob Weinstein said under the right circumstances, selling the Telecommunications Division could be good for the city.

Martin said the firms plan presentations to the Council on Jan. 16. He said they will discuss the process of a potential sale, including a timeline and any potential issues that would need to be negotiated.

It's not clear yet how such a sale might affect the city's finances, or those of the remaining city-owned KPU divisions, Martin said.

Rifle range looks to reduce lead dust

FAIRBANKS - Upgrades are being put in place at the indoor rifle range in Delta Junction to protect shooters, including the members of the town's high school rifle team, from toxic lead dust.

"We've got a whole new ventilation system going in," said Mike Bender, the president of the Delta Sportsman's Association, the organization that owns and operates the rifle range.

The members of the Sportsman's Association began upgrading the facility earlier this year after tests in March revealed several members of the Delta High School rifle team had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood. State health officials said the students were dry-sweeping the range, sending the toxic dust into the air.

Lead can hurt the brain, nervous system, digestive system, kidneys, reproductive system and can make it difficult for the body to produce blood. The affect of lead poisoning is especially acute in children and infants.

Attorney enters plea on child porn charge

ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage attorney and political activist has pleaded no contest to one charge of child pornography.

Fifty-one-year-old Kevin Morford entered the plea Monday. Four other counts were dismissed.

Morford was arraigned in August on five felony counts of possessing child porn.

Employees at a computer store called police after finding sexual images of children between the ages of five and nine on Morford's computer when he brought it in for repairs.

Morford is scheduled to be sentenced in mid-April to four years in prison with two suspended.

Morford had been active in the Alaska Center for Public Policy and the Green Party of Alaska.

Smoke detector saves mother, child

FAIRBANKS - Fire officials in Fairbanks are crediting a smoke detector for saving a mother and child.

University Fire Department firefighters received a 911 hang-up call at 6:03 a.m. Sunday from a woman living about a mile from their station.

They arrived to find the woman and her 4-year-old son standing outside a home in their slippers while flames ate away at plywood siding.

Battalion Chief Phil Rounds says the smoke detector woke them up or the department would have had its first fatalities of the year.

He says the woman and child barely got out before they would have been overtaken by smoke inhalation, which is why she didn't stay on the line when she called 911.