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STATE
FAIRBANKS -- If the weather cooperates and construction goes smoothly, the northern intertie, intended to deliver power between Fairbanks and Healy more efficiently, could be operational by October.
After a long wait for enough snowfall, Golden Valley Electric Association's contractors are working day and night to meet the goal, Golden Valley construction manager Greg Wyman said.
Work on the $69.5 million project resumed after Golden Valley received a Jan. 5 memo from the Bureau of Land Management authorizing construction.
Critics have argued the intertie's construction damages vegetation.
To minimize damage from heavy equipment, the Bureau of land Management requires that the ground must be frozen to a depth of one foot and covered by a foot of snow. Those conditions exist along some areas of the route.
If there's not enough snow cover along the entire route, Golden Valley may have to wait until next winter to complete the project.
"I think, optimistically, we can do it. But everything's going to have to fall in line," Wyman said.
Outlook uncertain for Interior summer tourism
FAIRBANKS -- Bookings for the Riverboat Discovery started well his year but have tapered off, leaving Interior tourist businesses wondering about the summer season ahead.
Last year, Interior businesses saw significant drops in tourism numbers, which many blamed on a slowed economy and cautious travelers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
But with riverboat bookings for this summer slowing, the success of the Interior's upcoming tourism season is a mystery, said Johne Binkley, Riverboat Discovery president.
"We're hoping it's better," Binkley said.
The company, which offers tours of the Chena and Tanana rivers, reports a slight increase in bookings over last year at this time, he said.
But talk of the U.S. going to war with Iraq and economic conditions may keep people at home in 2003, travel industry experts are saying.
Fewer belugas seen in Cook Inlet during June
ANCHORAGE -- The annual June count of Cook Inlet's beluga whales has produced an abundance estimate of only 313 animals, the lowest number ever reported, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
But that doesn't mean the number of whales has necessarily dropped sharply since the 2001 estimate of 386.
The population could range from 248 to 396, about the same number of whales estimated during the past four years, said federal biologist Rod Hobbs, who supervises the survey for the National Marine Mammal Lab in Seattle.
The new figure is not statistically different from previous years', Hobbs said. "It's inconclusive."
"I hope people don't take it that the population is going down, because it doesn't mean that at all," added Michael Payne, director of protected resources for the fisheries service in Alaska.
By tracking beluga numbers over many years, federal biologists hope to figure out whether the genetically isolated Cook Inlet whales have started recovering from a population plunge blamed on overhunting by Natives in the early 1990s.
NATION
Consumer confidence fell in January for the second straight month, largely because Americans feel less optimistic about the job front and any increases in their incomes, a private research group reported Jan. 28.
The New York-based Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 79 from a revised 80.7 in December. Analysts had been expecting a bigger decline in the index to a reading of 78.5 for January.
"Overall readings continue to reflect the country's lackluster economic activity," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Now, with the threat of war looming, consumers have grown increasingly cautious about the short-term outlook."
January marks the second consecutive decline for the Consumer Confidence Index, which has ticked up only once -- in November -- following a five-month-long summer decline. Since May, when the index stood at 110.3, it has continued on a downward spiral.
The Conference Board's index is based on a monthly survey of some 5,000 U.S. households. Wall Street closely follows the index because consumer confidence drives consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.
Existing-home sales rise 5.2 percent in December
NEW YORK -- Sales of previously owned homes rose briskly in December, helping to make all of 2002 the best-ever year for sales as home buyers took advantage of the lowest mortgage rates in decades and opted to make a big-ticket financial commitment despite the lackluster economy.
The National Association of Realtors reported Jan. 27 that existing-home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million in December, representing a 5.2 percent increase from November's level.
The annualized rate reflects how many homes would sell if the same number of sales in a month continued for all 12 months.
For all of 2002, sales set a new annual record of 5.56 million, shattering the previous record of 5.30 million reached in 2001.
The housing market has been one of the few bright spots for an economy struggling to regain its footing after being knocked down by the 2001 recession.
Low mortgage rates encouraged many people to buy homes last year or refinance the one that they already owned. The extra monthly cash that homeowners save by refinancing mortgages at lower rates has helped consumer spending remain the primary force keeping the economy going.
WORLD
NEW YORK -- The euro hit a new three-year high against the U.S. dollar Jan. 27, breaking above $1.09 in a rally that comes amid concerns over a possible war on Iraq.
The euro rose to $1.0907 after breaking the $1.08 mark on Jan. 24. It last traded higher on Oct. 15, 1999, when it reached $1.0912.
The rise is viewed by economists less as a spike in the euro than a decline in the dollar, which slumped also against the British pound and the Swiss franc as rising fears of military action in the Persian Gulf prompted selling across financial markets.
"If you compare this to what happened during the Gulf War a decade ago it's exactly the same," said Michael Schubert, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "If military action takes place, it goes in the other direction, but so long as there is uncertainty there will be a tendency for the dollar to depreciate."
Schubert said he could foresee the euro rising as high as $1.12 if the uncertainty continues through February.
Europe's common currency has gained more than 20 percent against the dollar in the past year.
-- Compiled from business wire services
