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JUNEAU - Police are on the trail of a juvenile crime ring responsible for a multitude of thefts from vehicles in the last month, officials said today.

Officer Paul Hatch said police apprehended two of eight suspected thieves, all juveniles, around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The names and ages of the youths are not being released.

Hatch said the juveniles do not appear to be responsible for other thefts in the area, such as those at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School, or for the spike in graffiti around town.

Police said the thefts, mostly from unlocked vehicles in the Mendenhall Valley, were highly organized and plotted.

"There was definitely planning in these crimes," said Hatch. "They would plot out where they would go and when. ... They didn't have a car; they would do this by walking around. I would say they stole 200 to 400 items. They stole everything from stereos to CDs to junk to sunglasses - pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down."

Police are asking anyone who has had property stolen in the last month and has not reported the crime to phone the department. Those people should leave a name and phone number, and an officer will call for a description of the property and the date of the theft.

Regional organizations oppose session move

CRAIG - Juneau's campaign against a legislative session move received a shot of regional support this week.

The Southeast Conference on Thursday unanimously voted in opposition to a November ballot measure that would move legislative sessions to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The organization of community and business leaders met in Craig this week.

The resolution cited the cost of a session move and a decline in the region's political influence as reasons to oppose the measure. The Southeast Conference of Mayors approved a similar resolution Wednesday.

Juneau Assembly member Jeannie Johnson, who attended the Southeast Conference meeting with Mayor Sally Smith and Assembly member Jim Powell, said the region's support is a good sign.

"Everybody that I have talked to was in total support of Juneau and not moving the Legislature," she said. "I think they really realized it's a regional issue."

Labor group opposes moving Legislature

ANCHORAGE - The state's largest labor group is opposing a ballot initiative to move the Legislature to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Mano Frey, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, said its member unions voted unanimously Wednesday to oppose Ballot Measure 2.

Frey called the measure "a back-door attempt to move the entire capital with no reliable estimate of the costs of such a move." The ballot measure also would repeal the requirement that voters approve all bondable costs of such a move before the state can spend money on a switch.

Troopers investigate death of Alakanuk woman

ALAKANUK - Alaska State Troopers are investigating the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman in Alakanuk as a homicide.

Troopers said Kathryn Buster died Wednesday of a gunshot wound to the head. Buster was drinking with her husband, John, and his sister, Martha, in their home when the shooting occurred, troopers said.

The death originally was investigated as a suicide, but troopers have shifted it to a homicide investigation.

Buster's body was being sent to the state medical examiner's office in Anchorage for an autopsy.

Anchorage hotel shut down in bankruptcy case

ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage businessman mired in bankruptcy has lost control of the Northern Lights hotel and it has been shut down.

Bankruptcy Judge Herbert Ross converted Mike Cusack's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 and assigned William Barstow as the company's trustee.

Under Chapter 11, Cusack could have reorganized his debt with the hope of emerging from bankruptcy. But Chapter 7 requires the sale of assets, effectively ending Cusack's run as owner of the hotel.

The hotel was shut down Tuesday. Customers were asked to leave and the locks were changed on the doors.

Two months ago the same court ordered that Cusack's hockey team, the Anchorage Aces, be sold.

Anchorage pioneer Oro Stewart dead at age 85

ANCHORAGE - Anchorage pioneer Oro Stewart died Thursday of congestive heart failure at Alaska Regional Hospital. She was 85.

Stewart and her late husband Ivan opened Stewart's Photo Shop in downtown Anchorage in the early 1960s. Each year, during the Fur Rondezvous winter celebration, Stewart would invite Anchorage residents to her store for a wild-game barbecue.

Stewart also liked to travel the world looking for special rocks, gems, minerals and fossils.

For many years, she kept pet reindeers that were popular with tourists. All of them were named Star. The last one, a 5-month-old, died suddenly earlier this month.

Earlier this year, Stewart donated 50 acres in Potter Valley to the Alaska Botanical Garden. She said she hoped her donation will encourage other people to give land to organizations like the garden.

Stewart and her husband homesteaded in Potter Valley in the 1950s. The property still features the poppies, strawberries and Shasta daisies Stewart planted decades ago, as well as wildflowers.

State fair nets thousands of pounds for recycler

ANCHORAGE - The Alaska State Fair produced thousands of pounds of recyclable materials, according to recycling promoter Green Star.

The company said recycling efforts at the fair resulted in 24,098 pounds of recycled materials. That was 8.5 percent of the waste stream.

Of the total, Green Star said 15,440 pounds were corrugated cardboard, 6,000 pounds were glass bottles, 1,350 pounds were plastic bottles and more than 1,300 pounds were aluminum cans.