Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 3

No Evidence Found On Mackay Papers FAIRBANKS (AP)-The Fairbanks District Attorney says he still doesn't know how unauthorized documents got into the jury room in the Neil Mackay murder trial. And Superior Court Judge Meg Greene says MacKay can be released from jail if he posts $1 million bail. Mackay, 63, is charged with first- degree murder, accused of paying an Anchorage strip club owner $10,000 to arrange the 1985 death of Robert Pfeil, an Alaska Airlines pilot and Mackay's former brother-in-law. The case was Police Investigate After Ex-Sen. Sackett Falls 111 ANCHORAGE (AP) Police are investigating circumstances that led to former Sen.

John Sackett being rushed to a hospital with a medical emergency last week while he was in Juneau. Juneau Police Chief Michael Gelston said Saturday that police served two search warrants Tuesday night one to collect evidence in the hotel room and the other to collect blood and urine samples from Sackett, Results of the medical tests will not be available for about a week, he said. Police had accompanied the ambulance crew toSackett's hotel, Gelston said. After they obtained the search warrants, they seized "a number of items from the hotel room that indicate there may have been some drug involvement," Gelston said. There was no evidence of large quantities of drugs, he said.

Sackett, a Republican from Ruby, retired from the Legislature last year after 18 years as a lawmaker. He is a University of Alaska regent and lobbyist for rural school districts. Gelston said a desk clerk summoned an ambulance Tuesday night to the Prospector Hotel, where Sackett had been staying. Fire Chief Alan Judson said Sackett complained of a rapid pulse and profuse sweating and thought he might be having a reaction to a prescription drug he took for a back ailment. Three other people were with Sackett, including his long-time friend Chuck Gibson and two others whom Gelston could not identify.

Sackett was out of the hospital by Wednesday and met with Gelston in the law office of Avrum Gross, Gelston said. Gross said Saturday his firm was not representing Sackett and declined comment. Anchorage Climber Dies ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) An Anchorage man who watched helplessly as his climbing partner fell to his death earlier this year has been killed in an avalanche near the summit of Mount Hunter, the National Park Service reported Sunday. Ben Bensen and Frank Jenkins were climbing the west ridge of Mount Hunter, a peak near Mount McKinley, when they were swept away by an avalance early Thursday, said Nancy Stromsem, a park service Jenkins was partially buried but uninjured. Stromsem said by the time Jenkins could dig himself out and reach Bensen, Bensen was dead.

Bensen in March was the climbing partner of Anchorage student Brian Zelenka, 28, who died in a fall on foot Pioneer Peak, near Palmer, Stromsem said. The two had been practicing for an ascent on Mount Hunter. After Bensen's death, Jenkins descended alone to about the level, where he found a four-member climbing party, Stromsem said. The group had a radio and called for help Saturday afternoon, she said. The climbers reported Jenkins was dehydrated and exhausted, and that they expected to move him down the mountain in the next few days.

Stromsem said it will be a few days before the park service decides whether rangers will try to recover Bensen's body. At least two other climbers were killed by an avalanche earlier this month on Mount Foraker. In addition, two Canadian climbers were listed as overdue Sunday on Mount Foraker. Authorities fear they also may have fallen victim to the same avalanche. AMERICAN MOVIE-i MCCflW CflBLEVISION 208A Lake Street 747-3535 WILDfSTRAWBERRY TiiccnAv Jambalaya $11.00 TUESDAY: Chicken Parmesan $10.50 'New Mexico Style Enchilada $10.00 WEDNESDAY: CLOSED FOR PRIVATE PARTY.

THURSDAY: Lasagne with Clam Sauce $11.00 Chicken Riesling $10.50 $10.00 FRIDAY: Blackened Redfish $11.00 Chicken with Currents and Apricots $10.50 $11.00 SATURDAY: Poached Salmon with Dill Butter $12.00 BeefBpurguignon $10.50 Chicken la Orange $10.50 'Pasta Pesto $10.00 Cup of Soup and Salad Bar with Entrees ('Can be prepared as meatless dinner) Featuring Homemade Pasta, Bread and Desserts Dinner served 5:30 pni to 9:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday 724SiginakaWay Telephone: 747-DINE(3463) moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks to escape possible prejudice from pretrial publicity here. The unauthorized documents turned up in the jury room on April 27, in the third day of jury deliberation after three months of testimony. The discovery led to a mistrial. "I have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to determine who caused these unadmitted materials to be submitted to the Mackay jury," District Attorney Harry Davis said Friday. Davis said he will not present the matter to a grand jury because investigators can't even determine if the papers were intentionally or accidently provided to the jurors.

However, a summary of a three-week investigation by the Alaska State Troopers has been given to Fairbanks Presiding Judge Jay Hodges so he can decide if he wants to convene an investigative grand jury to look into the matter. Davis released his statement after a court hearing in which the state lost a motion to raise Mackay's $1 million bail to $7 million. After the mistrial on April 28, Greene lowered Mackay's bail from $7 million to $1 million. Mackay, a lawyer and businessman reputed to be a multimillionaire, claims to be broke and his lawyers said last month he could not afford even the lower bail. Prosecutors accused Mackay of lying about his finances.

A trooper who took Mackay back to jail the day after the mistrial said Mackay bragged about having $1 million, despite his poverty protestations in court. The state then asked the original bail be restored. Trooper Steven Foster testified that Mackay praised Greene's abilities and said he wasn't surprised that his trial ended in a mistrial. Mackay then offered Foster some "economic advice," said the trooper. "When you have money and people see it, it always causes problems," Foster quoted Mackay as saying: Greene said she believed Foster's testimony, but said it didn't change matters.

She indicated she never believed Mackay's claim of poverty and set bail at $1 million assuming he would be able to make it. Davis was named Friday as the prosecutor in Mackay's retrial, now scheduled for mid-August. Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Tuesday, May 20,1987, Page 3 Wildlife Biologist Finds Good in Fire Warning Repeated on Cheese, Flavored Ice ANCHOBAGE (AP) While firefighters were putting the finishing touches on containment of a blaze that covered more than 33,000 acres of the Tanana Valley, the biologist in charge of wildlife in the area was rejoicing. "My guess is that it's been real good for wildlife," Dave Johnson of the Alaska Department of Fish Game in Delta Junction said Tuesday. "Fortunately, peopledidn't suffer from it." While the fire raged through thick stands of black spruce, firefighters managed to keep it away from homes and property.

A member of the local volunteer fire department, Johnson said the situation Friday night and early Saturday was frightening. But once it became clear the threat to structures had abated, Johnson could sit back and contemplate the positive aspects of the blaze. Johnson said the spindly black spruce that provided most of the fuel for the fire is of very little value to wildlife. If the fire burned hot enough, and Johnson said initial reports are that it did at least in some areas, the black spruce will be replaced by deciduous species such as willow, birch and aspen. The growth of those species will be a bonanza for moose in the area, Johnson said.

Parts of the area burned in this fire were burned in the early 1950s and provided very valuable moose habitat until about 5 or 10 years ago, Johnson said. Then the trees grew to a height beyond the reach of browsing moose. The ideal vegetation situation is a mixture of ages and species of plants for a variety of animals, Johnson said. "We've had a total rehabilitation of an area that in a few years should again become very productive for moose," he said. The famed bison herd which roams the Delta area did not suffer, and probably benefited from the fire, Johnson said.

There may have been a few bison in the area of the fire, but most of them are congregated along the Delta River this time of year, he said. The fire should help bison by stimulating the growth of grasses in new areas, he said. Contrary to popular perception, a forest fire does not trigger a panicked exodus of animals, Johnson said. "It tends to be a more casual shambling out of the way," he said. "I'm sure wildlife was killed in the fire, but probably not any big game species," he said.

ANCHORAGE (AP) A doctor whose patient delivered a stillborn child this month is urging Alaskans to clear their refrigerators of cheese and flavored ice containing a potentially lethal bacteria. Dr. Claire Heriza of the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic said blood drawn from the mother and infant contained the bacteria listeria monocytogenes. Listeria normally is killed during pasteurization, but products manufactured by Darigold Inc. of Seattle and distributed in Alaska have been found to contain the bacteria.

The desserts have been withdrawn from grocery shelves. "The bottom line is this: We know there's an organism in frozen desserts in refrigerators in Anchorage. It's very important that pregnant women know that these products they may have bought and stored would be dangerous to them. They shouldn't eat them." Reactions to listeria range from no effect in some adults to fever and chills in others: However, the bacteria may be lethal to people with diminished immune systems and pregnant women and fetuses. The stac also warned against eating Fromageries Bel cheeses called Mini Bel and Mini Gouda.

Heriza said her patient had about a week of pregnancy left when she came to the clinic complaining of fever and chills. Heriza said the bacteria commonly enters the blood stream by food, but may be transmitted through sexual intercourse or by the respiratory system. Fire Crews Winning In Valley DELTA JUNCTION, Alaska (AP) Hundreds of firefighters Monday worked to completely contain a wildfire that has charred 33,500 acres in the Tanana Valley. Firefighters said the blaze was about 40 percent contained, with complete containment expected sometime Thursday if winds in the area do not pickup. Winds gusting to 35 mph whipped the fire out of control Friday.

It started about five miles east of Donnelly Dome, about 20 miles southeast of Delta Junction. Driven along by southerly winds, the blaze quickly grew to 5,000 acres by Friday afternoon and to 15,000 acres by Saturday. At one point, the wall of flames stretched more than 15 miles Juneau Fire Finally Out Sentence in 6 Killings Upheld ANCHORAGE (AP). The Alaska Court of Appeals has upheld the 594- year sentence given a computer programmer who killed six McCarthy residents and wounded two others in 1983 as part of a plan to blow up the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Superior Court Judge Ralph Moody had sentenced Louis D.

Hastings to six consecutive 99-year prison terms after Hastings pleaded no contest to six charges of first-degree murder. The judge had discounted Hastings' claims of mental illness. Montana Crash Kills Homer Man By The Associated Press A Homer man was killed when hs car overturned on an Interstate 15 frontage road about six miles south Cascade, the Montana Highay Patrol said Saturday. Robert Curtis Martinson, 21, died about 10 p.m. Friday when his car veered off the right side of the road, rolled several times and landed on its top with the victim pinned beneath, the patrol said.

Martinson was alone in the car and apparently was driving at a high rate of speed, the patrol said. His death was Montana's first reported traffic fatality of the Memorial Day weekend and raised the state's 1987 highway death toll to 81, compared with 53 through the same period a year earlier, the patrol said. Body Identified ANCHORAGE (AP) A body found floating in Trapper Lake earlier this month has been identified as that of a boater missing since last fall. The Alaska State Troopers said Friday James W. Martin, 35, of Anchorage, is presumed to have drowned when his boat tipped over Sept.

19. A companion managed to make it to shore. Guides Arrested ANCHORAGE (AP) Two Anchorage guides were arrested over the weekend for a variety of illegal bear hunting activities, the Alaska State Troopers reported Tuesday. Spokesman Paul Edscorn identified the men as Dana Patterson, 44, and He said they were charged with hunting the same day as airborne, illegally aiding clients, using radios for hunting, herding animals with aircraft and transporting illegally taken game. Hastings appealed the sentence, claiming his case was not handled quickly enough.

The appeals court found Moody had made no error and upheld the murder sentences. However, the court said 20- year sentences for the two counts of attempted murder were excessive. The judges recommended a seven-year term on each count. The appeals court found that Hastings was disturbed about the influx of oil money into Alaska and decided to blow up the pipeline to halt the trend. "Having decided to blow up a pump station on the pipeline, Hastings concluded thai it was necessary to kill all of McCarthy's residents to eliminate them as possible witnesses," said Judge RobertG.

Coats. Hastings killed three women and three men in the remote hamlet about 60 miles from Chitina. Hastings was arrested as he tried to flee on a snowmobile. ANCHORAGE (AP) Weary firefighters late Monday afternoon finally doused a smoldering fire that had burned 37 hours, destroying an empty Juneau fish-packing plant. The Juneau Cold Storage building was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at 3:30 a.m.

said Assistant Chief Larry Fanning. Flames were shooting 30 feet above the huge tWo-story building. No other structures were involved and no injuries were reported. As the fire burned, flames got into cork insulation between 12-inch concrete and gypsum walls. "That's been a real bugger," said Lt.

Jerry Godkin. By early Monday, firefighters still were putting out small fires in the building. Its roof had collapsed in places, trapping fire beneath the rubble, and an 80-foot crane worked to clear the debris, Godkin said. Fire Chief Alan Judson said more debris had to be dug away before inspectors could begin to look for the cause of the fire. FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC Dr.

James Morrison announces the OPENING OF FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC AT 310 Lake Street. Open 9-6 CALL 747-5540 FOR APPOINTMENTS where are you going to live when you wear out your body?" Anniversary Sale! Wednesday, May 27 thru Saturday, May 30 TEXACO PRODUCTS Sitka Fuels Inc. 613 Katlian Avenue 747-8460 747-5320 Heating Fuel Delivered Bottles Filled Station and Marine Dock Owned and Operated off FABRICS: Tubular Knits Sweatshirt Quilted off Selected Books and Patterns Super Prizes: Signup for our to be held off Selected Handmade Items Specials: Selected Fabrics 51.00 yard. Plngouin Mousse and Plngouin FilDecosse each Free Refreshments Saturday 1pm 3pm and it's all at Knit 'n Things 210 Lake Street, across from the Fire Hall..