75 cents SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014 newsminer.com

T H E V O I C E O F I N T E R I O R A L A S K A S I N C E 1 9 0 3

SOURDOUGH JACK:

“I’d call that looking on the bright side.”

The weather.It will be cold, but skies should be clear today.

High today ............. -19Low tonight .......... -35

WEATHER » A9

GOODMORNING

Classified » B8 | Comics » B6 | Dear Abby » B5 | Nation » A7 | Markets » B7 | Obituaries » A5 | Opinion » A6 | Weather » A9INSIDE

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Temperatures plunge this weekend with lows of 30 below to 40 below forecast. » A4Inside Today

Aurora forecast.Auroral activity will be low. This information is pro-vided by aurora forecasters at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Traffic flows along Airport Way near the Cowles Street intersection as seen looking west from the pedestrian overpass by Lathrop High School on Friday evening. ERIC ENGMAN/NEWS-MINER

CITY LIGHTS

Interior lawmakers back pipeline plans

By Matt BuxtonMBUXTON@NEWSMINER.COM

Interior lawmakers welcomed news that Gov. Sean Parnell is moving for-ward with plans to can the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act and become

a partner in the large North Slope natural gas pipeline.

Lawmakers with seats on the House and Senate finance commit-tees said the 2007 AGIA tied the state to a dead-end gas project to the Low-er 48 and that the governor’s plans will bring the state closer to seeing a big gas line.

“We need affordable gas, and if this gives us affordable gas, I’m all in favor of it,” said Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-Fairbanks. “We cannot build the type of pipeline that we want as long as AGIA is in place. If the (governor)

believes that this will make the pipe-line economical, then we should go for it.”

The governor’s proposal will require a number of legislative changes to be passed this session to allow the Alas-ka Gasline Development Corpora-tion and commissioners of the state departments of Revenue and Natural Resources to sign agreements with Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips and Tran-sCanada.

“As a partner in the gas line project, Alaska will control its own destiny,” Parnell said in Anchorage. “Owner-

ship ensures we either pay ourselves for project services or negotiate and ensure the lowest possible costs. As a partner, Alaskans stand to gain more.”

The three major North Slope pro-ducers and TransCanada have been moving forward with the export-fo-cused project for two years, complet-ing a mapping of the route north of

Livengood last summer.The 800-mile pipeline has an esti-

mated price tag of between $45 bil-lion to $64 billion. It would run from the North Slope to a large export facility in Nikiski, with five take-off points for in-state use.

Parnell ditching AGIA, investing in natural gas line

AGIA died because it was associated with a project that just didn’t work.”Sen. Pete Kelly

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GAS » A5

Witnesses nab man accused of snatching woman’s purseStaff ReportNEWSROOM@NEWSMINER.COM

A group of good Samaritans in Fair-banks chased down an alleged purse snatcher at Walmart on Thursday.

David Compton, 23, of North Pole, was arrested by Fairbanks police on felony robbery and theft charges about 7:30 p.m. after a 63-year-old woman called police to report that he had sto-len her purse and that witnesses had him in custody.

The woman told police she was sit-ting in her vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart when Compton walked up, opened the door and grabbed her purse off the floor.

The woman chased after Compton as far as she could, yelling “thief ” as she did so, which drew the attention of others in the parking lot, said Lt. Dan Welborn with the Fairbanks Police Department.

A half-dozen people ran after Comp-ton and caught up to him in the park-ing lot of the nearby Lowe’s store. One of the witnesses wrestled Comp-ton to the ground and held him until police arrived, Welborn said. Compton claimed the purse belonged to his girl-friend.

Compton also was charged with dis-orderly conduct and violating condi-tions of his release in a harassment case.Contact the newsroom at 459-7572.

Fairbanks-area legislators introduce bills ahead of sessionBy Matt BuxtonMBUXTON@NEWSMINER.COM

With less than two weeks before lawmakers are scheduled to gavel in for the 2014 session, Interior law-makers pre-filed 18 bills ranging on everything from aerial drones and taxes on military facility zones to genetically modified food labeling and alcohol consumption at golf courses.

The bills were the first wave of bills filed before lawmakers will gavel in on Jan. 21. The second wave will be released Jan. 17.

Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fair-banks, introduced bills that would add a voluntary disability desig-nation to state identification cards and drivers’ licenses. He said people with disabilities that lead to limping or slurred speech have been unfair-

ly arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

“ T h e y ’ v e b e e n p l a c e d u n d e r arrest ,” he said. “This would show that you’re hand-icapped so police don’ t mis-accuse anybody.”

A n o t h e r b i l l Thompson intro-duced would allow municipalities to grant 10-year property tax exemp-tions for military zones, which he created with a separate bill in 2012. Thompson’s final bill would per-mit golf courses to serve alcohol in addition to beer and wine as well as allow alcohol beverages to be taken onto the golf course.

Rep. Pete Higgins, R-Fairbanks, lead the Interior delegation in most

bills pre-filed with six bills. His bills include regulations for drones and requires a warrant for any evidence obtained by them; one that improves the grievance pro-cedure for mental health pat ients; one that repeals the secondary student competency exam-ination and related requirements; a bill relating to the State Commis-sion for Human Rights; a new law that would require the Alaska Pub-lic Offices Commission maintain confidentiality of certain proceed-ings related to complaints; a final bill would expand the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.

BILLS » A5

Thompson Higgins

Surprisingly weak job report puzzles economists

WASHINGTON — It came as a shock: U.S. employers added just 74,000 jobs in December, far fewer than anyone expected. This from an econ-omy that had been adding nearly three times as many for four straight months — a key reason the Federal Reserve decided last month to slow its economic stimulus.

So what happened in December? Economists struggled for explana-tions: unusually cold weather. A sta-tistical quirk. A temporary halt in steady job growth.

Blurring the picture, a wave of Americans stopped looking for work, meaning they were no longer counted as unemployed. Their exodus cut the unemployment rate from 7 percent to 6.7 percent — its lowest point in more than five years.

Friday’s weak report from the Labor Department was particularly surpris-ing because it followed a flurry of data that had pointed to a robust econo-my: U.S. companies are selling record levels of goods overseas. Americans are spending more on big purchas-es like cars and appliances. Layoffs have dwindled. Consumer confi-dence is up and debt levels are down.

By Christopher S. RugaberAP ECONOMICS WRITER

JOBS » A5