May 10, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

It’s Official: Texting While Driving Is Illegal in Alaska

Ban Signed Into Law Today

Today, thanks to legislation led by Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) and Representative Bill Thomas (R-Haines), Alaska’s strong anti-texting law is officially back on the books. Last year, a number of judges questioned whether the law at the time covered texting while driving, but the new law is clear—it is illegal to text while driving in Alaska.

 

“The Legislature intended to ban dangerous conduct like texting while driving. Rather than wait for appeals, we’re sending a clear message to the public, now, that texting, and typing on personal and computer devices can cause death and serious injury. In an average text you drive the length of a football field before paying attention to driving. We don’t want cars to be moving weapons,” said Rep. Gara.

 

“This is a public safety issue. When people type or text while they’re driving, they are endangering people’s lives. That’s not acceptable,” said Rep. Thomas, the bill’s other prime sponsor.

 

The Department of Law has said for first time violators, the usual sentence has been a fine or community service, but no jail time. That is consistent with prosecutions before some courts called the law into question last year.

 

“Prior reports threatening that the bill will result in jail time for someone with a clean record may sound great but are inaccurate and only scare people,” said Rep. Gara who believes texting while driving is dangerous but should not result in jail for first-offenders who do not hurt anyone.

 

Gara and Thomas introduced the bill so the public would not have a mixed message while courts are split on this issue. Last year a tragic case resulted in death while a driver was texting.

 

Representatives Peggy Wilson (R-Wrangell), Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage), Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage) and the late Carl Gatto (R-Palmer) were all co-prime sponsors on the bi-partisan legislation.

 

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May 9, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

House Democrats Call on NOAA to Assist With Tsunami Debris

“Tsunami debris threatens Alaskan coastal resources, communities and economies”

 

JUNEAU – Today, eight members of the Alaska House Democratic Caucus called on the federal government to create an aggressive plan to protect Alaska’s coastline from the threat posed by debris from last year’s tsunami in Japan. 

 

“This debris could cause serious ecological, health and safety concerns for our coastal communities, not to mention significant economic impacts that could ripple throughout the state,” said House Democratic Leader Beth Kerttula (Juneau). “We know it’s coming—the first of it is already here. We need federal resources to get an idea of what we’re up against so we can develop the best way to deal with these waves of debris that could keep coming for months or more.”

 

In a letter to Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the legislators outline some of Alaskans’ concerns about the tsunami debris and ask her to allocate the resources necessary to assess the potential impacts and develop an aggressive plan to minimize the risks to Alaska. House Democrats stand ready to work with federal, state and local entities to protect Alaskans from any negative effects from the tsunami debris.

 

“We request that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration make the necessary resources available to assess the potential magnitude of what could be a prolonged torrent of debris littering Alaska’s coastline. We also request the agency to set in place an aggressive plan to minimize and mitigate the damage to Alaska’s coastal resources,” states the letter.

 

According to the Homer Tribune, observers have documented unprecedented amounts of debris on Montague Island and other islands in the Gulf of Alaska including hazardous materials and containers of fuel and other toxins.

 

Read the letter: http://www.akdemocrats.org/docs/050912_Tsunami_Debris_Letter.pdf

 

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