Anchorage looks at water safety

Anchorage (AP) -- The Sunday drowning of a young boy at Jewel Lake has prompted Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch to launch a review of water safety in lakes and swimming pools throughout the city.

Four-year-old Jesse Prather vanished at about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at Jewel Lake. His body was discovered more than an hour later, with his foot entangled in a floating buoy line.

The review will take a broad look at how to make swimming in Anchorage lakes and pools safer, said Jim Posey, the city's director of parks. One possibility is to put emergency telephones at lakes so that people without cell phones can summon help quickly to the scene.

For the rest of the summer, the city will have lifeguards at both Jewel Lake and Goose Lake at least six days a week during the daytime hours, Posey said.

Jewel Lake is now only staffed by lifeguards on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On weekends the guards have been moved to the more popular Goose Lake, near University of Alaska Anchorage.