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September 27th , 2006
Summer Doings Police Ride-Along Last Friday I was on patrol with Anchorage Police Department Officer Anderson in our neighborhood. I was taking advantage of APD's ride-along program whereby a citizen can spend a shift as a passenger in a patrol car to get a better idea about what our police force does on a day-to-day basis. I participated in the program years ago, when I was a state prosecutor, but I wanted to do it again to see if anything had changed. According to Officer Anderson, it was a typical shift. Here are just some of the highlights: Whenever Officer Anderson had a free moment, he was using his laptop computer in his car to type up reports from the previous calls. The ten hour shift flew by. I was very impressed by the police work that I saw. Officer Anderson and his colleagues with the police force are out patrolling the streets of Anchorage around the clock. It is not an easy job. Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity is building twelve town homes just off Spenard Road, south of the Spenard-Benson intersection. I spent a day there recently pushing a broom, cutting and installing insulation, and pounding nails. This is from Habitat's website: "Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit, financed with affordable loans. The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses. Habitat is not a giveaway program. In addition to a down payment and the monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor -- sweat equity -- into building their Habitat house and the houses of others." Habitat in Anchorage is always looking for volunteers , even through the winter months. If you are interested, check out their website: http://www.hfhanchorage.org/ I can personally attest that time volunteering for this organization is both fun and rewarding. The town homes should be an excellent addition to the community . I look forward to their completion.
Pebble Mine Tour I spent Saturday, September 2nd , on a tour of the area north of Illiamna Lake where the Pebble Mine is being proposed. Northern Dynasty is currently drilling delineation wells to determine the total size of the copper, gold, molybdenum and silver deposits under the ground. By most estimates, the deposits are some of the biggest in the world with an estimated 27 million ounces of gold and 15.5 million pounds of copper . It is likely that Northern Dynasty's proposal will be to dig an ‘open pit' mine there. Rock and ore would be brought out of the ground in enormous trucks, crushed and separated on site, with the ore then pumped in a slurry via a pipeline to the shores of Cook Inlet for shipping to smelters outside the state. The proposal is controversial for a number of reasons. Concerns about groundwater pollution, damage to sensitive salmon spawning grounds, and the sheer size of the development have created opposition to the mine. Additionally, local groups have been outspoken against Northern Dynasty's attempts to gain water rights in the area to possibly create a "tailings pond". The opponents of the mine point out that only two states in the US still allow open pit mines: Nevada and Alaska. The project is still very much in the preliminary stages. The next step is for Northern Dynasty to apply to the state for a permit, a process that will bring the debate into sharper focus. As always, I am very interested in hearing from you. Please visit my Web site or contact my office at (907) 269-0234. Sincerely,
Hollis French |
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![[signed] Hollis French](../../images/signatures/16.jpg)