True North mine gets nod

FAIRBANKS -- The Department of Natural Resources issued permits Jan. 19 for Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc. to begin constructing its True North mine about 30 miles north of Fairbanks.

Commissioner Pat Pourchot denied six requests to reconsider the action. None of the requests had new information that warranted a change, Pourchot said.

Fairbanks Gold plans to mine 180,000 ounces of gold a year for three years from the True North mine. It will employ 110 people and cost about $25 million to construct. The company estimates the cost of labor, power and support to be $14 million a year.

Rural Net access tallied

JUNEAU -- Nearly every Alaska community with more than 25 people has digital touch-tone phone service but more than half do not have local dial-up Internet capability, according to a report released Jan. 18.

The rural telecommunications report, prepared for the Denali Commission by the McDowell Group consultants, included 264 Alaska towns, encompassing rural communities with more than 25 residents.

The report found that 100 of those communities had local dial-up Internet service.

Residents of the other 164 settlements must pay long distance fees or other surcharges to access the Web.

Joblessness up a bit

JUNEAU -- Unemployment in Alaska increased slightly in December, mostly reflecting a normal seasonal pattern, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Jan. 18.

The jobless rate increased from 5.8 percent in November to 6.1 percent. The national unemployment rate for December was 3.7 percent.

The highest rate was in the Wade Hampton Census Area of Southwest Alaska, which reported 16.6 percent unemployment. Anchorage had the lowest rate at 4.1 percent.

The state lost 2,900 wage and salary jobs in December, mostly through normal seasonal declines.

Unemployment in Fairbanks increased from 5 percent to 5.4 percent, while the Matanuska-Susitna Borough saw its rate jump from 6.9 percent to 7.3 percent. On the Kenai Peninsula, unemployment increased from 9.5 percent to 10.6 percent, while Kodiak's rate dropped from 13.6 percent to 13.1 percent. Juneau's unemployment increased slightly from 4.5 percent to 4.6 percent.

Oil, gas leasing slated

JUNEAU -- Gov. Tony Knowles has announced a new five-year schedule for state oil and gas lease sales.

The schedule calls for 16 areawide sales through 2005 -- five each in Cook Inlet, the Beaufort Sea and on the North Slope and one in the North Slope Foothills. The Cook Inlet sales are scheduled each May, while the North Slope and Beaufort Sea sales are scheduled each October. The single Foothills sale will be in May.

The schedule is available at (www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil) on the Internet or from the Division of Oil and Gas at 550 West 7th Ave. in Anchorage.

Ex-creamery revamped

PALMER -- A downtown Palmer building that once housed the state's largest creamery may reopen soon.

Heritage Properties has agreed to buy and renovate the old Matanuska Maid Creamery. Heritage hopes to turn the building and an adjoining warehouse into office and retail space, or possibly apartments.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the Matanuska Maid creamery supplied half of Alaska's milk.

NATION

Sears' earnings slip 40%

CHICAGO -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. saw fourth-quarter profits slide 40 percent as a disappointing holiday season, store closures and continued struggles with apparel sales ended a transition year on a down note.

Still, the results beat analysts' expectations.

The nation's fourth-biggest retailer, which earlier this month announced it was closing 89 underperforming stores and laying off 2,400 employees, said the first half of 2001 will be difficult as it copes with an economic slowdown.

Sears' net profit for the quarter ending Dec. 30 fell to $442 million, or $1.32 per shares, compared with $740 million, or $1.98 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding a one-time charge of $197 million primarily from the store closures, Sears reported earnings for the quarter of $639 million, or $1.91 a share.

Boeing envisions new jet

SEATTLE -- Boeing Co., which developed the fastest jetliner, is mulling a new commercial airplane that could fly nearly the speed of sound.

Boeing spokeswoman Barbara Murphy confirmed Jan. 19 that the company is looking at the concept, referred to internally as "Yellowstone," but declined to give specifics. No decision has been made on whether to actually develop the aircraft.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources, reported that the jet would be capable of traveling at Mach 0.95. Mach 1 is the speed of sound.

The jet would carry 200 to 300 people as far as 6,100 nautical miles, similar to Boeing's two-engine 767s, the Journal said.

The fastest subsonic commercial jet is Boeing's 747-400, which can fly at Mach 0.92 but cruises at Mach 0.85, or more than 500 mph.

Compiled from business wire services.

WORLD

Yukon population falling

WHITEHORSE, Yukon --The Yukon's population has dropped by more than 500 people.

According to the latest figures released by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, the population of the Canadian territory in December was 30,553, about the same as the population of Juneau.

In December 1999, the corresponding figure was 31,070. That means a drop of 1.7 percent, or 517 residents.

It's a trend evident since 1997, when the population began moving downward. In December of 1996, the Yukon's population stood at 33,911. By December 1997, it had slipped to 33,390. By December of 1998, it had dropped further, or to 31,768.

Compiled from business wire services.