Whitehorse Daily Star from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada • 8

8 The Whitehorse STAR Wednesday December 4 2002 North vows reimewaJ AP PhotoSaanna O'Sullivan MURKOWSKI TAKES OVER Alaska Supreme Court Justice Walter Carpeneti left administers the oath of office to new Republican Gov Frank Murkowski while first lady Nancy Murkowski holds the Bible during the swearing-in ceremony on Monday in Juneau drat post was delivered to the US Senate by an aid just minutes before he took his oath The Republican governor has 30 days to fill the vacancy but must wait five days before naming his replacement Murkowski gave no indication about who would be named Soon after taking office Murkowski signed three executive orders that he said were part of the transition process One order instituted a hiring and out-of-state travel freeze for state employees and blocked the granting of personal service contracts for state government until Jan 3 1 Another ordered internal performance audits for all executive branch departments Murkowski also signed an order that would make Attorney General Gregg Renkes the lieutenant governor if Leman leaves office before his term is up- Outgoing governor Tony Knowles signed a similar order when he took office said Knowles spokesman Bob King Knowles attended the inaugural ceremony on Monday along with former lt-gov Fran Ulmer who lost in the Nov 5 election to Murkowski Knowles did not deliver a speech to the crowd and immediately after the affair ended he his wife Susan and former chief of staff David Ramseur left for a flight back to Anchorage Knowles a Democrat left office after serving two terms He is widely seen as a likely candidate in two years for the US Senate seat vacated by Murkowski But Knowles has never said whether he will run Murkowski is the Republican first elected governor since Jay Hammond in 1974 Hammond served two terms Hickel won his second term as an Alaskan Independence Party candidate but was a registered Republican at the time said Virginia Breeze spokeswoman for the state Division of Elections declares crazy In Fairbanks the temperature reached 7 on Nov 26 tying the previous record high set in 1 956 and continuing what has been one of the weirdest winters on record in Fairbanks Almost all of the nearly 38 cm of snow Fairbanks received in October is gone having melted or turned into ice a few days after most of it about 25 cm fell on OcL 19 That was followed by a 26-day snow drought through Nov 15 To top it off it rained Nov 26 turning area roads into sheets of ice So treacherous were the conditions that officials closed the schools All the while temperatures have remained well above normal The period from Oct 16 to Nov 15 was the fifth-warmest period for that stretch on record 1 JUNEAU (AP) Frank Murkowski was swom in as the eighth governor of Alaska during a ceremony here at Centennial Hall on Monday Shortly taking the oath of office administered by Alaska Supreme Court Justice Walter Carpeneti the Republican governor said the state is well situated to enjoy the fruits of GOP (Grand Old Party) control both statewide and nationally the first time in a long time there is unity in the House and Senate not only in Juneau but in Washington as Murkowski said never before have the stars been so in The 69-year-old Murkowski promised to restore the optimism of an earlier generation and said his administration will be experienced and accountable to all Harkening back to the campaign rhetoric of greater resource development to fuel the economic engine Murkowski said his administration will a rebirth and renewal of our we re-dedicate ourselves to an Alaska that lives up to the statehood promise of a productive government built on a foundation of resource Murkowski said Alaska provides about 17 per cent of the domestic oil supply and during the campaign Murkowski pledged to spur more oil development Oil accounts for about 80 per cent of the revenues and as production declines it is about half of its 1988 peak of two million barrels per day so too do state revenues Murkowski had pledged to pursue policies that lead to a three-per-cent increase in oil production beginning in 2005 North Slope oil production that is the oil flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline is expected to dip below one million barrels per day but prices are anticipated to be high according to a state Department of Revenue forecast released last week As governor Murkowski will have to submit his proposed state budget to the legislature by mid-December During a press conference on Monday he Gun law IQALUIT Nunavut (CP) A major aboriginal group has teamed up with the government of Nunavut in asking the courts to exempt Inuit from the new gun registration laws Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI) the agency that administers the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement filed a notice of motion Nov 26 in the Nunavut Court of Justice It seeks an injunction to stay the application of the registration provisions of the Firearms Act and Criminal Code The agency had launched a legal challenge of the law in June 2000 arguing that it violates Inuit rights under the land claim agreement Nunavut Land Claims Agreement explicitly States that Inuit have the right to hunt and harvest without any form of licence or permit and with gave no indication about what he will propose Murkowski took the oath of office with his wife Nancy at his side and former governor Walter Hickel nearby on the stage Lt Gov Loren Leman was also swom in on Monday Hickel who served a term as GOP governor from 1966-1969 and then another on the Alaskan Independence ticket from 1990-1994 said pledge to increase resource development comes at the right time Republicans control the legislature the Congress and the White House really think the stars have lined up both in America and Hickel said While the stars may be cooperating the weather did not as thick fog hung over Juneau International Airport keeping most aircraft from landing plane was diverted to Sitka last Sunday He finished the last leg of the trip in a chartered helicopter that arrived just hours before the ceremony he said had made arrangements to be inaugurated in Sitka I figured time was running Leman said Hundreds of well-wishers politicians and government workers attended the hour-long ceremony but empty seas were abundant Carpeneti administered the oath of exemption sought office in the place of state Supreme Court Justice Robert Eastaugh who was originally supposed to administer the oath of office but was kept out by the weather Also fogged out of Juneau were brother Butch and former governor Bill Sheffield Murkowski spokesman John Manly said Murkowski becomes governor after serving 22 years as junior senator The resignation from Warmth Alaskan ANCHORAGE AP) Anchorage Fairbanks and other parts of Alaska are reporting a very mild winter The two largest cities reported record-tying temperatures last weekand a stretch of unseasonably mild weather throughout November So far this has been the warmest November in Anchorage since 1917 the first year of local weather records according to the National Weather Service The daily average temperature this month has been 1 or 7 degrees above normal the agency said Nov 26 brought a high of 13 topping the record of 12 set in 1936 mild out meteorologist Bob Hopkins told the Anchorage Daily News out imposition of any form of tax or NTI vice-president James Eetoolook said in a news release Firearms Act and its regulations directly conflict with our treaty rights These rules make potential criminals of Inuit hunters who are trying to feed their families and live their Inuit people have long argued that it is difficult for them to comply with the registration laws and that registration fees may be prohibitive to many Inuit hunters Eetoolook noted that even those who have tried to comply have been hampered by the closure of the Nunavut firearms office and the lack 1 of forms and service in the Inuktitut language is disappointed that Canada has failed to initiate an exemption for Nunavut Inuit from the Jan 1 2003 deadline for registration despite our earlier court Eetoolook said the courts make the time to fully consider the extent to which the Firearms Act conflicts with our land claim it is only fair that Nunavut Inuit be protected from criminal prosecution for actions which we believe are constitutionally The government of Nunavut is named on the notice of motion as an intervener as it was on the statement of claim filed in 2000 Eetoolook said the latest move followed more than a year of fruitless negotiations between Itiuit organizations and the Canadian Firearms Centre our hard work was rejected and now we must tum to the courts for a solution'.