The fate of toddies, sours and mules at Alaska distilleries is still uncertain. The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is struggling to decide whether the businesses should be allowed to serve cocktails. At a meeting Monday, the board revisited an advisory instructing distillers to stop mixing drinks. But, they didn’t come to any new conclusions.

“We’ve been doing this from the start,” Rob Borland told the board. “We’ve been making fine liquors. We’ve been squeezing our own juice for our cocktails, we’ve been doing all of that kind of stuff from the beginning.”

Borland is the owner of Ursa Major Distilling in Fairbanks. He’s one of several distillers who called into Monday’s meeting to oppose banning mixed drinks.

Last month, the ABC Board upheld an advisory prohibiting the sale of cocktails made with products not produced on-site.

Since then, some distilleries have continued to serve cocktails made with mixers they produce themselves. Things like syrups, tonic water, ginger beer and liqueurs. The state hasn’t issued any violations for this.

But in a memo ABC Board Director Erika McConnell said the cocktails distilleries are serving are not what she envisioned as ‘the distillery’s product’ when she sent out the advisory. So, she went back to the board for more guidance.

Jared Curé owns the Narrows Bar in Juneau. He told the board anything considered distillery products should be bottled and sold like their liquor.

“It’s just a slippery slope,” Curé said. “A lot of these people that are chiming in, I don’t think they’re bad actors but if we allow this kind of model to go on in certain ways without putting clear controls on it, people can push the limits even further.”

The board was split on what to do.

Ellen Ganley said they shouldn’t ban distillers from using non-alcoholic beverages.

“I think we have to be really careful here because we do have nine businesses that are in at least some respect having the rug pulled out from underneath them,” Ganley said.

Thomas Manning disagreed. He said for something to be considered a distillery product, it needs to be part of the manufacturing process.

“I think that someone standing behind a bar and pouring orange juice into the vodka is not manufacturing onsite,” Manning said. “That’s mixing a drink.”

Bob Klein recused himself from the discussion as the board’s chair. But, speaking as the CEO of Anchorage Distillery, he said regulating non-alcoholic products is a slippery slope.

“It’s just very, very dangerous ground we’re treading on,” Klein said.

Rex Leath asked whether the board is even allowed to have a say about products that don’t contain alcohol.

“I’m not comfortable trying to regulate anything that’s non-alcoholic,” Leath said. “I don’t feel like I have the authority to do that.”

While that is true, Assistant Attorney General Harriet Milks said once the drink is mixed, it’s a different story. Milks is counsel to the board.

“If you have a glass of orange juice in one hand and a glass of vodka in the other hand, the board cannot regulate the hand with the orange juice,” Milks said. “But if you pour them together, then the board can regulate that.”

After several failed motions, the board couldn’t come to an agreement. Instead, they’ll revisit the advisory at a November meeting. At that point, new draft regulations for distilleries should be available from Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office staff. Until the issue is clarified, the agency will not issue violations to distilleries selling drinks using products they make on-site.

A member of Governor Bill Walker’s cabinet is taking a key position at the Environmental Protection Agency.

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The agency confirmed Tuesday that Chris Hladick will become the regional administrator overseeing EPA’s work in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Hladick is currently commissioner for the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. The Walker administration announced that Hladick will step down from that post on November 1. He will take the reins at EPA Region 10 in December.

Before joining Walker’s cabinet, Hladick spent over two decades working for communities in rural Alaska. He was city manager for Dillingham, Unalaska and Galena.

While Hladick was Unalaska’s city manager, he was involved in reaching a settlement with EPA related to Clean Water Act violations from its wastewater treatment facility.

At EPA, Hladick will oversee regulation of a wide range of activities in the Northwest — from superfund sites to the proposed Pebble Mine.

Walker announced that outgoing Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre will take Hladick’s place.

The new PBS documentary by Ken Burns and Lynne Novak on the Vietnam War takes a look at a conflict fought decades ago that lives on for many veterans to this day. As part of the series, we’re looking at how Alaskans experienced the war.

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Former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles enlisted in the Army during the mid-60s, just as the war began escalating. Knowles’ opinion of the war began to change after he returned to civilian life, and the parallels he sees in today’s conflict in Afghanistan.

In the early ’60s, most young men in America expected that at one point or another they’d be drafted into military service.

“After I got to college I proceeded to get kicked out, both for academic and disciplinary reasons,” Knowles said.

During an interview with Alaska Public Media, Knowles said he was working on an oil rig in Colorado, and as winter started baring down he figured he might as well enlist.

“I’d always wanted to be a paratrooper, so I decided I’d join the Army, get in the paratrooper, and see the world,” Knowles said.

At 21 years old, Knowles served in an intelligence unit for the 82nd Airborne. He arrived in Vietnam in the fall of 1964, when there were only about ten thousand American military and civilian personnel in the country, serving mostly as advisers to the South Vietnamese. Knowles said his role was using satellite imagery, infrared, and other tools to figure out where to drop bombs.

“Initially what we were looking for was areas that could be bombed in the belief that we could win this war without committing a lot of ground troops,” Knowles said. “That didn’t turn out to be that successful.”

By the time Knowles’s tour was over, the military was gearing up for a very different kind of war in Vietnam. There were now 200,000 troops in the country, no longer just as advisers, but many directly fighting the North Vietnamese. Just as Knowles was leaving in the fall of 1965, a major operation in a combat zone revealed an extensive number of tunnels, caches of weapons, and enormous stores of food. Provisions for the enemy’s war effort. It made Knowles realize the Viet Cong were vastly more established than he’d been led to believe.

“It really brought into question whether technology could win the war,” Knowles said. “And as we found out it didn’t.”

As he transitioned out of the military, Knowles felt his confidence in the military’s mission and the country’s infallibility erode. At that point in the mid-60s, the nation’s attitude toward the war wasn’t yet as polarized as it would eventually become. But back at college, Knowles said the information coming in through the media and from the government about the war’s progress didn’t mesh with what he’d seen personally during his deployment.

“It seemed to be that what you heard just didn’t represent the truth, so you said ‘well what are we doing there, and what is it doing to us with the Americans who are getting killed? How many Vietnamese were getting killed? And what is the purpose?’” Knowles said.

According to Knowles, what really changed the national opinion of the war was the draft. He said that spread skepticism across families in every part of the country, particularly when the lottery system was introduced in 1969.

“You were gonna be drafted,” Knowles said. “And so that made people think ‘now why are we there, and why is my son or my brother or my father going to that war?’ Without that, it distances the public from what the military is doing.”

That distance is one of the reasons Knowles thinks the U.S.’s war in Afghanistan, which has eclipsed Vietnam as the longest-running conflict, has consumed the better part of two decades. Whereas draftees generally did one tour in Vietnam, today’s volunteer military is filled with a smaller number of people deploying to combat over and over.

“We have people, and I know friends, who have served three and four, five tours,” Knowles said. “So you have a military that the general public doesn’t think about very much because they don’t have cousins and relatives and uncles involved in that war. It’s just a much smaller group of people who are doing that.”

Knowles sees many of the mistakes of Vietnam being repeated in Afghanistan: an over-reliance on technology, working with a corrupt regime, and a murky sense of what troops are actually fighting for.

For more Alaska stories about the Vietnam War, visit Vietnam Echoes.

President Trump has nominated an Arctic Slope Regional Corporation senior executive to be the assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs.

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Tara MacLean Sweeney, if confirmed, would be the first Alaskan to serve in the position, which oversees the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education.

Her nomination has Alaska’s U.S. senators literally cheering.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “What a fabulous, fabulous nomination.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan: “Historic. Super-well qualified.”

Sweeney is a graduate of Barrow High School and Cornell University. She’s now Vice President of External Affairs for ASRC and a past co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Until this spring, Sweeney also chaired the Arctic Economic Council. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says Sweeney led international efforts on broadband and shipping.

“She is at a level as an Alaskan that is just enviable,” Murkowski said. “And I think, again, we could not have identified an individual who has a broader perspective including that of coming from the ANC (Alaska Native corporation) side.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan sees the nomination as part of a trend that will put Alaskans at the helm of critical agencies for the state. Sullivan points to Joe Balash, nominated to be an assistant Interior secretary with sway over public lands, oil and mining. Also, Chris Oliver, head of NOAA Fisheries. And now Sweeney.

“A big part of our job (as senators) is educating our colleagues and some of the federal agencies on unique aspects of Alaska,” Sullivan said. “Now we have Alaskans running these agencies for the country. And Tara Sweeney is going to be phenomenal.”

David Solomon, a Gwich’in activist from Fort Yukon, is happy, too.

“Oh it’s awesome,” Solomon said, outside the U.S. Capitol. “It’s good to see our Native leader be in the front line now. We’ve been recognized.”

Solomon was in Washington, D.C. to rally opposition in the Senate to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. ASRC owns subsurface rights in the refuge and Sweeney has been a lead advocate in favor of drilling there. But Solomon takes a broader view and says Sweeney’s selection is good for Alaska Natives.

The position requires Senate confirmation.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has hired Larry Burton as Chief of Staff.

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Burton grew up in Alaska and worked in the offices of Congressman Don Young and the late senator Ted Stevens, as well as in the executive branch. He also worked for BP for 17 years.

Sullivan said Burton is well versed in Alaska issues and also understands Washington, D.C. Burton replaces Joe Balash who has been nominated to be an Assistant Secretary of Interior.

The Acilquq Dance Group performing an invitational song on stage to kick off the second day of this year’s Elders and Youth conference in Anchorage. The three-day gathering of more than a thousand people from across Alaska takes place just ahead of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention each fall.

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Today heard a keynote address from Clare Swan, a Dena’ina Athabascan elder from the Kenaitze tribe on the Kenai Peninsula. Swan’s speech focused on the changes she’s seen in her lifetime, including the effects of commercial pressure on subsistence fishing, and population growth in Southcentral Alaska. In spite of immense changes, Swan told the younger generation much of their work remains the same as decades ago.

“While this world is very different, and being a teenager is very different from the time I was, we all walk the same paths,” Swan said. “And you guys, wherever you go, wherever you build – there’s a Dena’ina word, that’s susten. It means ‘breaking trail.’ You will always be breaking trail for the rest of the people to come.”

The conference held break-out sessions focused on regional and language issues, as well as workshops on topics as varied as moose-hid tanning and cedar weaving to suicide prevention and college prep advice.

The audience also heard about a change in security protocols at this year’s AFN, which kicks off Thursday. AFN board member Georgianna Lincoln said there will be metal detectors at the entrances of the downtown Dena’ina convention center.

“The board wanted us to have a safe, and productive convention, but one where we know we’re in a safe environment,” Lincoln said. “And unfortunately with what’s happening around the world outside of our native communities we often don’t see that.”

AFN’s Director of Communications Jeff Silverman clarified that the decision to install metal detectors was made by the Dena’ina Convention Center. He added the move isn’t a response to any specific threat, but was a “sign of the times.” Items prohibited will include explosives, alcohol, drug paraphernalia, as well as noise-makers, signs bigger than 14 inches and large objects that could be used for demonstrations. Though there will be exceptions for elders and artists entering the building, attendees are warned there could be long lines on Thursday morning.

Today also saw the launch of a new political group meant to bolster native influence in elections and legislation. The new entity, Native People Action, “aims to ensure traditional values are reflected in tribal, local, municipal, state and federal government.” Executive Director Grace Singh said part of the groups focus is mobilizing new voters on issues of public safety, education and aspects of traditional life like subsistence — as well as providing information to voters ahead of the 2018 elections.

The 34th annual Elders and Youth conference wraps up Wednesday.

With a surge in vehicle thefts in Anchorage, some residents are taking matters into their own hands.

One group mobilizing through Facebook is reuniting stolen vehicles with their owners. Members of the A Team, as they call themselves, say they are filling a void left by overworked police.

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Anchorage police, though, say the A Team has raised concerns about vigilantism that has the potential to be unsafe for its members and the public.

On a recent afternoon, the A Team watched over a stolen pickup in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes on Cobblecreek Circle, waiting for police officers to arrive.

“We’ve been sitting on a stolen Chevy truck that was stolen last night, early this morning,” Floyd Hall, the heart of the A Team, said.

Hall, 52, sports a dark gray beard and a baseball cap. Some call him a hero. Others say he’s a vigilante. Either way, he’s got this down to a science.

“We’re sitting across the cul-de-sac from it, so we try to stay in sight of it, so we can watch it,” Hall said.

There are only five people on the A Team — the A stands for Anchorage, by the way — but many, many more people feed them tips via Facebook. There is plenty to keep them busy: Police say there have been more than 2,000 stolen vehicles in Anchorage so far this year, already surpassing the number stolen last year and more than double previous years.

The A Team has recovered about 30 vehicles in the past 18 months or so, Hall said.

The case of the maroon Chevy Silverado on Cobblecreek Circle is a perfect example of how the group works: The owner posted a photo of the pickup to the Facebook group “Stolen in Alaska.” Less than 24 hours later, a woman who follows the page saw it parked in front of her neighbor’s house. She called police and also, in her own post, let the Facebook group know.

The pickup’s owner saw the post and messaged Hall. Hall arrived a half-hour before the police, and since then has been “sitting” on it, as they say.

“If someone’s in it, we call APD, 911, and let ’em know it’s occupied, but most of the time they’re not occupied and we let ’em know that we’re close by watching,” Hall said.

Hall saw a man run away from the house earlier, he said, but the man is gone. By the time the police arrive, there was nobody for them police to question or arrest.

Hall was low-key, but it sounded like he’s been in some pretty hairy situations before.

“We try not to confront anybody. It’s about getting the vehicles back, you know? Let the cops confront the people,” Hall said.

But do confrontations happen?

“I was shot at, probably a month ago. But I had followed a stolen vehicle,” Hall said.

As Hall was talking, an officer walked over to his fellow A Team member, Chad Martin. The officers reminded Martin that, by law, he was supposed to tell them about his handgun, the one in a holster on his hip.

“What I want, just put you hands on the car for me,” the officer said. “I’m just going to take that firearm off you for right now, OK? Because you know you’re supposed to tell us about it.”

“I forgot,” Martin said.

Police Sgt. Jason Allen took Martin about 20 feet away from Hall to talk. Martin seemed confused.

“What’s this all about sir?” Martin asked.

“I’m a little concerned about your group. And about the fact that you guys are armed and you’re not notifying police officers about it,” Allen told Martin.

The discussion goes on for a few minutes, and Sgt. Allen eventually let Martin off with a warning.

Their conversation, though, got at something bigger. Remember the car chase Hall described? Well, the only charges in that case are for reckless driving, and they’re filed against him.

According to the charges, Hall chased the car going more than 60 mph in a 25 mph zone on a one-way street, heading the wrong way. It was near where a kids’ soccer team was practicing. The charges don’t mention any gunshots.

Still, that’s the conundrum with the A-Team: They’re helping get back stolen vehicles, but police say what they’re doing is risky for themselves and innocent bystanders.

After he said all this to Martin, Sgt. Allen refused an interview request. But Police Chief Justin Doll sat down for an interview later.

“Chasing down suspects is not helpful. It actually, in a lot of ways, creates a lot more work for the police department,” Doll said.

Doll said he understands the frustration over vehicle thefts and why people might support what the A Team is doing.

“But I don’t think that support’s going to last if one of those people hurts or kills some innocent people who are going about their daily routine and aren’t involved at all,” Doll said.

Tips on stolen vehicles or other property should be sent to the police, so they can handle it, Doll said.

The department is growing its ranks, Doll said, and that’s aimed at least in part at decreasing response times. Still, he said, even with more officers on the streets, police will always respond to crimes that threaten people before crimes that threaten property.

“I get that,” Hall said. “I’d rather them go to be on a shooting or a domestic violence (call) than an unoccupied stolen vehicle. They’re doing what they can, you know. I’ve got nothing against APD. They’re great guys. They’re doing their jobs.”

But, Hall said the police simply cannot keep up with the volume of stolen cars and trucks.

Why does Hall feel like he’s the one that needs to do this?

“Why not? You know, I mean, do what you can. I was raised to do what’s right, I guess,” Hall said.

A judge Tuesday ordered that independents can run in the Alaska Democratic Party primary, ruling in the party’s favor.

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It’s not clear whether independent Gov. Bill Walker will run in the primary.

Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg wrote in his order that political parties have the right to associate themselves with the candidates of their choice, regardless of their party registration.

The Alaska Democratic Party tried last year to allow nonpartisan or undeclared candidates to run in its primary, but the state election officials rejected the change. The party filed a legal challenge this year, which led to Pallenberg’s order.

Party Executive Director Jay Parmley said he’s pleased with the order.

“We’ve long believed that we have the right to allow people to associate and participate in the party, regardless of registration – and today the judge confirmed that,” Parmley said.

Walker said when he and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott filed for re-election in August that they weren’t planning to run in a primary. But the order could make it an option.

Lindsay Hobson is Walker’s daughter and campaign spokeswoman. She said the campaign has no comment on the order.

“Gov. Walker and Lt. Gov. Mallott have an ongoing duty to uphold the laws of the state,” Hobson said. “And since this is a pending legal matter, to which the state is a party, the candidates can’t comment at this time.”

Lawyers for the state had defended a law that requires primary candidates belong to the party holding that primary. Pallenberg wrote that the state failed to place sufficient faith in the ability of voters to make informed decisions.

Assistant Attorney General Cori Mills said the Department of Law would decide whether to appeal the order.

“We are still reviewing the decision, but we will engage in our normal appeal evaluation process,” Mills said.

This decision to appeal can take three to five weeks.

One major question is how the name of an independent candidate who wins a party primary will appear on the general election ballot.

Pallenberg wrote that state law requires the general election ballot “inform voters” that an independent primary winner is the Democratic nominee. He also wrote that state officials will ultimately determine the design of general election ballots.

The Democrats had changed their party rules so it appeared possible their primary winner could be on the general election ballot without the party’s name.

Now Parmley said the ballot should reflect both the candidate’s party registration – or lack of registration – as well as the fact they won a primary.

“I think they’ll be able to work to work this out pretty effectively, (in a way) that satisfies all concerned here,” Parmley said.

Alaska Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock said he’s glad the decision upholds political parties’ freedom of association. He added he believes the Democrats hoped to nominate independents without having the party’s name listed next to the candidate on the ballot.

“I mean, if they want people to seek the Democrat nomination, there should be some recognition on the general election ballot that that’s what the person did,” Babcock said.

The deadline to register for the August primary is June 1.

Gastineau Community School has been renamed Sayéik Gastineau Community School. The Juneau School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to add the traditional Tlingit name, which loosely translates to “spirit helper.”

The Douglas Indian Association said the word reflects the original Tlingit name of the land the school stands on and a need to acknowledge historical trauma the T’aaku Kwáan of Douglas Island experienced.

Several Tlingit community members at the Juneau School Board meeting asked the board to go further. Some suggested simply changing Gastineau’s name to Sayéik. The board ultimately decided to augment the name.

Douglas Indian Association Vice President Paul Marks, or Kinkaduneek of the Lukaaxh.ádi clan, spoke during public comment and said emphasizing Sayéik would be more meaningful for students and the community.

“Whenever we speak our language, our ancestors are listening and become present with us. And so with that understanding then they start to guide us,” Marks said. “We believe that our language is taught to us by our Creator, so our language is a language to strengthen, encourage and to give comfort to each other and to one another.”

The idea to change the school’s name first came up in 2012, when workers renovating Gastineau unexpectedly unearthed the remains of five people buried on the grounds. Gastineau was built on the site of a T’aaku Kwáan graveyard in 1957.

Construction was halted, the remains were reinterred elsewhere and the city asked the Douglas Indian Association to choose a name to better reflect the site’s history. The association finally brought their suggestion back in August.

Barbara Cadiente-Nelson coordinates Juneau schools’ K-12 Native Student Success program and is an executive member of the Douglas Indian Association. She said the tribe considered several names, but ultimately settled on Sayéik. She said elders who first responded to the unearthing of the graves did not want the incident to be forgotten.

“This significant event unearthed many, many things for us to address and resolve,” Cadiente-Nelson said. “‘Do not let it ever be forgotten.’ And so by putting the name first, Sayéik, I believe really honors their intent. And again it was a dynamic process. Very authentic in presenting the voices of several and the board being responsive to that.”

Juneau Schools Director of Teacher and Learning Support Ted Wilson said the school’s website and signage will be updated to reflect the new name. But the school nameplate may take a bit longer.

“Because that is concrete, so I don’t know what they’re going to do about that at this point,” Wilson said.

A renaming ceremony is expected to take place sometime in the spring.

Igiugig is looking to the forces of nature to tamp down the cost of running diesel generators to power the village of 69 people. Specifically, they are working on harnessing the winds that sweep the region and the swift flowing Kvichak River.

The village is piloting two wind energy projects, horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. Both projects have required design improvements to allow turbines to withstand high winds and harsh winter conditions. Further, the village is working with engineers to identify the source of frequency fluctuations on the village power grid, which disrupt the turbines’ operation. Though progress is slow, they have had some success.

“We do have some turbines that are operating fairly well, and we do believe we have a good wind resource here,” village administrator, Karl Hill said. “We’re testing right now.”

Horizontal axis wind turbines are the most common type of turbine, propeller-like blades attached to the top of a tall pole, similar to a windmill. Igiugig has installed six. Two are operating correctly, one at the village greenhouse and one at a residential home.

Two vertical axis wind turbines sit on a small hill overlooking the Kvichak River. Their vertical blades spin as a fixed cylinder around a center pole like a spinning lampshade. Stanford and the University of Alaska Anchorage are collaborating on that project, utilizing a grant of about $2 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The experimental design allows engineers to install a group of turbines in a small area.

“The conventional industry standard was that you think of each of the wind turbines as an isolated unit, and it just tries to generate as much energy as it can without worrying about the consequences for the air around its neighbors,” John Dabiri said. He’s a professor at Stanford University, who is working on the Project.

On that model, turbines must be spread far apart to create an efficient wind farm.

“In many applications like this village, that’s not really an option,” Dabiri said. “This is pristine land, and you don’t want to dedicate your entire village to energy generation.”

This winter, designers hope to test and improve the robustness of their design before installing more vertical axis turbines.

Igiugig had high hopes for a RivGen run-of-the-river hydropower system. The Ocean Renewable Power Company worked for three summers on developing the floating device that they estimate could have offset half of their diesel consumption. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded them $392,500 in 2016 for testing and design improvements. The grant was competitive, and Igiugig applied for the next phase of funding this summer. However, they were not selected, so work on the hydroelectric project is stalled.

“It’s a viable technology, and we think that it could still benefit our village,” Hill said. “The funding source did say that if further funding came down, they would definitely fund our project. The likelihood of that, to be realistic is fairly slim with the way budgets are these days.”

Igiugig has not given up. Finding another source of funding for that project is a top priority in their continual effort to rely on alternative energy

An engineer was in the village last month to work on the electronics that undergird the wind energy projects. Robert Wills is the president of Intergrid, a power electronics consulting company. In addition to working on the wind energy systems, he has also been involved in the RivGen system. The way he sees it, running Igiugig on alternative energy is possible and cost effective in the long run.

“To do what we really need to do for the village here, it has to involve battery storage,” Wills said. “It’ll involve the hydrokinetic turbine in the river and some wind turbines—maybe a vertical axis array and some maybe larger horizontal machines. If you add all that up, it’s probably more than a million [dollars]. But do you know how much they pay for fuel here a year? It’s about a quarter million.”

That’s the primary driver for all these projects—fuel costs. Diesel has to be flown in. As the village continues to pay between $5.75 and $6.33 for every gallon of diesel, they are committed to finding another way to keep the lights on.

Eielson Air Force Base opened its doors Tuesday to local, state and federal officials to give them a chance to see an F-35 fighter up close and to learn about its capabilities. The Air Force sent the warplane there for a few weeks for testing in anticipation of the arrival of two squadrons beginning in 2020.

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The road to Eielson was coated with ice Tuesday, but the Air Force officer in charge of testing the F-35’s ability to operate on icy runways said he can’t use the natural stuff that comes from precipitation.

Lt. Col. Tucker Hamilton commands the 461st Flight Test Squadron out of Edwards Air Force Base in California. And he said the controlled testing the F-35A Lightning II is undergoing at Eielson requires consistent ice thickness, in order to get valid test data.

“We have to clear the ice, then we have to put some ice down, so it’s consistent and we control the test.” Hamilton said. “So today, it’s literally just starting with steering. At five knots, how does it turn? Is it skipping at all? And then we’re going to his the ice and slam on the brakes at different ground speeds.”

Hamilton said the Air Force has been testing F-35s for years, and he says the icy-runway tests are among the last that the state-of-the-art warplane will undergo before two squadrons begin to arrive at Eielson in 2020. He said most of the cold-weather testing at temperatures as low as 50 below took place in a climate-controlled facility at Eglin Air Force Base – in subtropical Florida.

“Does the engine start? How was the maintenance on the jet? Are people’s hands too cold? Are there things freezing, with the helmet? Y’know, we did all that testing in the lab itself,” Hamilton said.

Lt. Gen. Ken Wilsbach, who heads up the Air Force’s Alaskan Command, said all that testing has proven the F-35 is well-suited for operations out of Eielson. He said the location is ideal, because it’s next door to vast expanses of airspace above the 65,000-square-mile Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex. And he said in real-world situations, the 54 F-35s that will be stationed at Eielson will be able to take advantage of Alaska’s key global position to get to most any potential trouble spot between here and the equator within 12 hours.

“So that’s why we say Alaska is a really important, strategic location,” Wilsbach said. “Because of the technology that we have, with air-refueling, we can be in a lot of places really quick.”

The general said that’s why Tuesday’s event held inside a cavernous hangar included a KC-135 air tanker like those used by the Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Air Refueling Wing that’s based at Eielson. And parked next to the F-35 was another stealthy advanced fighter, an F-22 Raptor out of Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. Wilsbach said the F-22’s air-to-air combat capabilities combined with the F-35’s advanced sensors and air-to-ground armaments will deliver a potent punch against adversaries.

“And so when you put them together, which is typically how we would plan to go into a fight, it’s a pretty awesome capability,” Wilsbach said. “And there’s no threat currently in the world that would probably be able to handle these two, because of their synergies when they’re put together.”

Congressman Don Young said that capability shows the value of bringing the F-35s to Eielson.

“This aircraft will put us within nine hours of Korea, if there’s a conflict that occurs; 12 hours between us and the Middle East,” Young said. “It is the most advanced aircraft, but we have the right location for it to be stationed.”

Young called Tuesday’s event a “celebration” of the buildup at Eielson, which includes 18 construction projects worth more than half a billion dollars that are being built around to support the F-35s.

With Alaska Day comes a flurry of visitors — some carrying musical instruments. The Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums landed in Sitka on Saturday and their first stop was the historic cable house, home to Raven Radio, for a live performance.

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When Alaska Day rolls around in Sitka, you’ll hear the Seattle Firefighters before you see them. At both formal events and the late night bar scene, the skirl of bagpipes and rumble of drums quickly announces their arrival.

The Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums group has been flying to Sitka to take commemorate Alaska Day for over a decade. Their trip is covered by locals and they lend a lot of ceremony to the occasion, which Drum Major Tyson DePoe said is exactly what a pipe band is for. The ensemble has roots in Celtic military history.

“We try to honor the regimental tradition of the history of where pipes and drums came from,” DePoe said.

While in Sitka, the group has also regaled residents of the Pioneer Home and long term care facility, the Coast Guard Base, and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Nearly half the group – which has 30 members – flew into town. They’re all active duty or retired firefighters and get together once a week to practice. Membership is voluntary.

“It really calls those firefighters within the department that are looking for something extra – something above and beyond the normal scope of what we do – to give back to not only the department, but the community,” DePoe said. Pipes and Drums plays at events throughout the Seattle and every year, raises money to perform at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Colorado Springs.

The group was established in 2004 to honor fallen firefighters. DePoe said the key to a good performance is knowing your audience and in his case, as drum major, setting things off on the right foot. He’s the loud voice you hear at the beginning, calling the band to attention and setting the tempo for the song.

“‘Green Hills. Battles over,’ and then I’ll say, ‘By the right, quick march.’ So you can hear the tempo there and they know,” DePoe said. “There’s the boom boom of the bass drum, left right, left right, and they march in and play at the same time.”

It’s almost as though DePoe is conductor and metronome at the same time.

And I’m not so good at walking and talking and chewing gum at the same time,” DePoe said. “It’s fairly challenging but this is a great group firefighters here.

DePoe then turns to the group and leads them in the Amazing Grace march.

The potential for a La Nina weather pattern this winter is looking more and more likely. The latest forecast says there’s a 66 percent chance for La Nina, a figure that’s been steadily rising for the last few months.

That’s according to Brian Brettschneider, with our Ask a Climatologist segment.

He said La Nina typically brings cooler and drier conditions to Alaska. And because of global warming, that may mean a more typical winter.

Interview Transcript:

Brian: Since we’re comparing against the 1981 to 2010 climate normal period, we’re already a couple of degrees warmer than that. So we’re starting off, all things being equal, as being pretty far above normal. La Nina, and it’s not a done deal, generally it’s going to tilt us toward cooler temperatures. So more than likely it’s going to send us back a couple of degrees, which would put us close to the normal range.

Annie: We had a La Nina last winter. How unusual is it to have back-to-back La Nina’s?

Brian: It is unusual, but it’s not unprecedented. It’s not one La Nina- we had a La Nina last winter and it faded away, but now we’re transitioning back into a new La Nina, so they are separate events. Again, it’s not unprecedented, but it is pretty uncommon. Normally, they’re going to be spaced a couple years apart.

Annie: Do we know why we would have two in a row?

Brian: Actually, we don’t. With El Nino’s and La Nina’s, we kind of understand how they work, but we don’t have a good understanding of what initiates them or why they occur. So that’s an area of intense research. But for now, we watch the progression of it and don’t understand why they occur.

Annie: How does the La Nina work and why does it bring drier, cooler weather to Alaska?

Brian: El Ninos and La Nina’s- they’re a measure of what the ocean temperatures are in an area of the central tropical Pacific Ocean within five degrees of the equator. And it’s curious as to how that affects things in Alaska. The reason it does is because it’s where these warm pools of water set up. In El Nino, they set up more towards South America. In La Nina years, they set up much more towards the west, say towards Indonesia. So you have these tropical thunderstorms sending heat, air movement, masses of air, and that affects large scale atmospheric patterns, called Walker Cells. And it also influences which direction the wind is coming from at upper levels. So in that La Nina year where the warm pool is set up to the west, and that’s where the tropical storms are, we end up with a kind of northerly flow across Alaska which drags in colder air from farther to the north and limits the amount of moisture that comes in.

The Iditarod Trail Committee Board of Directors has named Joseph “Joee” Redington, Jr. the 2018 Honorary Musher. Redington passed away in August and was the oldest son of Joseph Redington, Sr., often called the “Father of the Iditarod.”

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The Honorary Musher traditionally begins the race as the first across the ceremonial start line in Anchorage. In 2018, the position will be reserved for Redington Jr.’s wife, Pam. According to a press release, she said she’s honored by the selection and that “her husband would have been honored, too.”

Redington Jr. competed several times in the Iditarod in the 1960s and 70s. His top finish was in 1975, when he took third place. He and his wife were better known, however, as champion sprint mushers.

The Redingtons lived in Manley Hot Springs, west of Fairbanks. Redington Jr. worked to help the community transform into the third Iditarod Trail checkpoint in 2003, 2015 and 2017. In those years, the race restart was moved to Fairbanks because of poor weather conditions.

Pam Redington will begin the ceremonial start of the 2018 Iditarod on March 3^rd.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is securing water rights along Alaska’s major rivers. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is currently taking public input on water reservation rights applications covering two stretches of the Tanana River near Fairbanks.

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Kimberly Sager is the sole person handling water rights applications for the DNR.

”A water right is when you are removing water from a river for one purpose or another,” Sager said. “In this case, this is a reservation of water where you’re retaining water.”

Sager said Fish and Game has primarily focused on water rights reservations on the Kuskokwim, Yukon and now Tanana Rivers, to protect habitat for salmon and other fish.

”So this is just one tool in the box that they can use to help manage the fisheries,” Sager said.

According to the DNR website, water is a common property resource in Alaska, and landowners do not have automatic rights to it. Sager said all known water uses are taken into account during the water reservation right application process.

”If something does come up like a mine or a project, a hydropower dam or something that major, we can always take a look and we will account for them if we are aware of what’s going on at the time of adjudication,” Sager said.

It’s not always Fish and Game seeking water rights. Sager said in recent years, developers and critics of the proposed Chuitna coal mine project near Cook Inlet both applied for water reservation rights along the Middle River. Sager said the state has increased its rate of application from four or five a year, to between 20 and 30 annually, in light of what’s happened in other states.

“In the Lower 48, as many people know, the water has fully been appropriated and allocated for different uses,” Sager said. “And they’re actually buying back water now in order to save water for fisheries purposes. In the state, we’re trying to be proactive.”

Sager said more than 130 water right reservations have been issued so far, noting that the rights are reviewed every ten years after issue, allowing reconsideration in light new issues or project proposals. Public comment is being accepted on the water reservation right applications for the Tanana River near Fairbanks through October 23rd.

Kevin Paul of the Swinomish Indian Senate, sang at the close of the Elders and Youth conference in Anchorage today. The three-day event aims at strengthening cultural knowledge and indigenous identity, and takes place each year just ahead of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention.

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Through simple voice votes, delegates passed all seven of the resolutions brought to the floor. Proposals included broad-ranging calls for equity in rural education, protecting subsistence fishing rights, and a commitment to inclusivity for LGBTQ Alaskans. There were more narrow, specific policy changes, such as adding an inflation adjustment to the $2,000 dividend tax-exemption first put into place under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. From the stage, First Alaskans Institute President Liz Medicine Crow called for the vote.

“All of those in favor of this resolution signify it by saying aye.” Elders and Youth president Liz Medicine-Crow put to the crowd.

The crowd responded, “Aye!”

“All those opposed, same sign,” Medicine-Crow asked.

The crowd was silent.

“And again it passes with unanimous consent,” Medicine-Crow said.

The conference also passed a resolution that calls for a change in regulations over hunting sea otters. The animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. That law requires that hunters meet a federally designated blood quantum and be at least a quarter Alaska Native. Supporters of the resolution say that disqualifies a growing number of potential hunters and providers, and ask that the eligibility be determined by tribal membership among direct descendants.

The seven resolutions will go for a vote before delegates at the full AFN convention held in the downtown Anchorage Dena’ina Convention Center this Thursday through Saturday.

The state’s top law-enforcement officials are rolling out a new initiative aimed at curbing violent crime in Alaska. At its heart is more collaboration between federal, state and local officials. But the majority of policy measures are aimed at crime in Anchorage, without many new measures for rural Alaska or areas outside the state’s largest city.

At a press conference in the downtown Anchorage Federal Building, acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder stood side-to-side with the heads of several state and federal law agencies. Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes was there, and joined Lori Townsend to talk about what to expect in this new initiative.

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TOWNSEND: So, first of all, what new measures were announced today?

HUGHES: “Alaska Anti-Violent Crime Strategy.” There are a few different steps. But basically it’s an effort between a lot of federal agencies that have a presence in the state – DEA, ATF, Homeland Security – and getting them into closer coordination with state and local partners on violent crime.

As far as specifics, we heard about a couple of initiatives. For every murder and shooting that happens in Anchorage, there’ll be what’s called a Federal Duty officer sent out to the scene, the idea being that they can help with intelligence or general assistance. Likewise, a ballistics task force is going to be reviewing evidence from shootings to look for patterns and potentially aid with prosecutions. There are also going to programs aimed at identifying violent offenders for federal prosecution, a new partnership between State Troopers and a federal prosecutor, along with some expanded re-entry and anti-recidivism efforts.

TOWNSEND: And what about the timing of this? It seems like there’s been a lot of news lately about reorganization within the police department, and talks of re-legislating Senate Bill 91. Where does this initiative fit with other efforts happening around the state?

HUGHES: Well, Acting District Attorney Schroeder says this strategy has been in the works for months. But it dovetails with an announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the Justice Department wants U.S. Attorney’s office all over the country to come up with plans for combating a nationwide uptick in crime. Part of that is the revival in something called “Project Safe Neighborhoods,” which was introduced 15 years ago, and has since kind of ebbed. But it’s a bit of a playbook for collaboration between law enforcement.

Likewise, the state’s attorney general, Jahna Lindemuth was there at the press conference, also making a statement and taking questions. And it’s really state law enforcement and prosecutors that have seen a big drop in resources as a result of diminished budget appropriations by lawmakers the last few years. So the Troopers, the state’s department of law, they’re struggling to keep up with delivering justice just as most state, federal and local officials will say there’s more crime happening. And this is one of those multi-pronged strategies that seems like it’s meant to try to close gaps and get more efficient with handling violent crime.

TOWNSEND: The new initiatives that were announced – are those focused primarily on Anchorage, or cities, or spread state-wide?

HUGHES: This new strategy is very Anchorage-centric. At this point in time, there are no new dollars coming into the state from federal agencies or the Justice Department. So everything here is about leveraging existing capacity. And that capacity is overwhelmingly in Anchorage. So, I don’t want to downplay that these measures could make a difference. The ballistics expertise and addition of a federal duty officer seems designed to help with bigger investigations and connecting dots. But there’s not much here for rural Alaska. A prosecutor will be designated to help with “anti-violence efforts in rural Alaska,” specifically working on federal prosecution of “violent felons and domestic abusers” in possession of fire-arms. But that seems fairly narrow and targeted. Likewise, identifying what Schroder called “the worst of the worst” when it comes to violent offenders, and targeting prisoners that present a risk of re-offending upon re-entry – those seem like sensible ideas, but it’s hard to tell at this point in time how you quantify those policies or measure success.

TOWNSEND: Lastly, does anyone have any clear explanations for what’s driving the uptick in violent crime?

HUGHES: Less violent crimes committed by street-level users, but more so towards traffickers and people higher up the chain when it comes to importing and distributing opioids and heroin. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll was also at the press conference today, he’s called this very line of inquiry the department’s million dollar question. Members of the Anchorage Assembly have taken public testimony on this and heard people ascribe it to drugs, the state’s recession and a general erosion of morals. So lots of explanations. However, most people say they think it’s multifaceted, not any one particular driver. And this is happening outside of Alaska, as well, with most of the reliable longitudinal indicators showing a modest upward trend in serious crime.

The city of King Cove is working closely with the Trump administration to find a way to build a road to Cold Bay through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. But city leaders are taking issue with a recent Washington Post article that describes the administration attempting to conceal a behind-the-scenes deal to build the road.

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Gary Hennigh has been working for the City of King Cove for decades and he’s focused on making the road to Cold Bay a reality. He said the community needs the road to provide access to Cold Bay’s all weather airport, so people aren’t left stranded in medical emergencies.

Hennigh acknowledged that the Department of the Interior is working on an agreement to allow the road with the King Cove Corporation. But he said it isn’t a backroom deal.

“It’s not like we’ve said, ‘oh, let’s meet in a dark alley at some point late at night,’” Hennigh said.

When Donald Trump was elected president last November, Hennigh said community leaders representing the City of King Cove, the Aleutians East Borough, the King Cove Corporation, the Agdaagux Tribe and the Native Village of Belkofski immediately started discussing ways to reach out to the new administration. The conversation with the Interior Department got underway at the beginning of this year.

Like other proposals, this deal would involve swapping land, this time between the King Cove Corporation and the federal government. The Corporation would then own a land corridor where the road through the refuge could be built.

Other deals have included some element of Congressional approval. In 2013, after Congress directed then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to look into the road, Jewell rejected the idea saying it would irreversibly damage the Izembek Refuge and the wildlife that depend on it.

This time around Hennigh thinks the deal could avoid Congress entirely.

“We’ve come to be realistic, to know that the legislative world is a pretty big challenge,” Hennigh said. “If we don’t have to go there, we don’t want to. We want to see if that administrative agreement will work for us”

That administrative agreement Hennigh mentions would be between the Interior Department and the King Cove Corporation. As he understands it, Congress approved administrative power in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) that could allow for land exchanges between the federal government and eligible Alaska Native Corporations. So there would be no need for additional congressional approval.

Hennigh is hopeful this approach will work. But environmentalists, like Nicole Whittington-Evans of The Wilderness Society, are angry.

After so many public processes that all concluded the King Cove Road would significantly impact wildlife in the Izembek Refuge, Whittington-Evans is frustrated it’s up for discussion again.

“The federal government has exhaustively studied this numerous times and always concluded the road would have significant impacts to the refuge and it’s wildlife, which the refuge was established to protect,” Whittington-Evans said.

Whittington-Evans believes because Congress decided the Izembek Refuge should be a designated wilderness area, the highest level of conservation given to federal lands, it’s only right that Congress would have to review any proposal to build a road.

“For an administration to come along now and ignore congressional action and disregard all the public input on this issue to now,  shows a brazen disregard for existing laws and our nations framework around public input,” Whittington-Evans said.

Whittington-Evans is worried the potential deal could undercut bedrock environmental laws like The Wilderness Act, The National Environmental Policy Act and ANILCA.

The Interior Department did not respond to a request for comment. Alaska’s congressional delegation has advocated for a road to Cold Bay over the years. But if a deal is imminent, Senator Lisa Murkowski isn’t dropping any hints.

“Have you been hearing anything about it that was going to break this week?” Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin asked the Senator.

“I’ve been hoping that it would break months ago,” Murkowski said.

Hennigh also isn’t giving any indication of when a deal may become public. But he said the community is optimistic that a deal under this administration represents their best shot at the road in a very long time.

A Bristol Bay seafood processor has been fined by the EPA for violating the Clean Air Act.

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There were no incidents that triggered the penalties, but rather an alleged failure to report storage of anhydrous ammonia, which is commonly used for refrigeration at food processing plants.

“Any facility in the United States that has above a threshold amount of anhydrous ammonia on site needs to have a plan in place that protects its workers were there an accidental release, and that protects nearby citizens and emergency responders,” Bill Dunbar, a spokesperson at the EPA’s Seattle office, said.

The EPA determined that the Red Salmon Cannery in Naknek, owned by Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods, had not reported it had at least 10,000 pounds of the anhydrous ammonia. The “hazardous chemical” is “dangerous to life and health,” and “flammable and can explode,” according to EPA.

“North Pacific came to our attention because they were missing from a database that tracks facilities that we know are large enough to store that threshold amount,” Dunbar said.

North Pacific agreed to settle the Clean Air Act case with the EPA. The company will pay $45,743 in penalties and spend another $175,000 on “environmental projects that will help their energy efficiency at the facility,” Dunbar said.

Those will include installing a solar power system and upgrading lighting to LEDs at the cannery in Naknek.

A Skagway resident narrowly elected to a seat on the borough assembly violated state disclosure laws three times. That’s according to Alaska Public Offices Commission staff. They determined Dan Henry has failed to disclose his income, debt, and now, gifts from a private company.

Henry did not disclose gifts he received during trips to negotiate a major waterfront lease on behalf the Skagway Borough.

In 2013 and 2014, Skagway was in talks with the parent company of White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. The tourist railroad has leased a significant share of Skagway’s tidelands since the 1960s. The city entered negotiations on a new lease because it wanted to renovate the port, on property White Pass controls.

Henry was on a municipal negotiating team. The team traveled to Florida multiple times for talks with TWC Enterprises. The Canadian corporation operates the White Pass railroad.

The trips included stays at a Florida golf resort owned by TWC. City records show that TWC covered accommodation and meals for the Skagway negotiating team. Henry told APOC that TWC also provided golfing free of charge, but he did not recall on how many occasions.

This investigation was sparked by a citizen complaint from Skagway resident Roger Griffin. Griffin estimated the “gifts” from TWC to Henry to be worth between $4,000 and $8,000.

APOC staff said Griffin was correct that Henry should have disclosed the lodging and entertainment provided by TWC. But they could only confirm about $500 worth of expenses. That’s based on three hotel stays in February, October and December of 2013.

Still, $500 in gifts is enough to warrant reporting on the disclosure forms required of candidates and public officials. On Henry’s 2014 disclosure form, he did not report any gifts over $250. APOC staff say that is a violation. The staff were not able to find enough documentation to determine whether Henry’s 2015 form should have included gift disclosures.

The maximum fine for the 2014 violation is more than $12,000 — $10 a day. But APOC staff recommend a 90 percent reduction of the penalty, to $1,276. That’s based on the fact that the amount of gifts Henry received was under $1,000, according to the APOC investigation.

APOC staff also recommend Henry correct his disclosure form and attend a financial disclosure statement training within one year.

In determining a penalty, staff reference Henry’s previous violations. Less than a month ago, APOC fined Henry $220 because he did not report substantial debt on his most recent disclosure form. In 2016, Henry was ordered to pay a much more hefty fine of $22,000. He hadn’t reported his income on multiple disclosure statements. Henry appealed that decision. He said not disclosing his income was a misunderstanding and not disclosing debt was an oversight.

All three of the APOC investigations into Henry resulted from citizen complaints.

Henry’s checkered candidate disclosure record was discovered when he pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes in early 2016. Henry hadn’t paid income tax for a number of years. He was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to the IRS.

Henry finished his prison sentence and returned to Skagway in time to run public office. He previously served in Skagway government for 19 years. It was a close election. Henry won an assembly seat by just five votes. He was neck-and-neck with a write-in candidate.

The Alaska Public Offices Commission still has to make its official decision on this latest complaint against Henry. The commission could agree with the staff recommendation to fine Henry about $1,300. Or it could make a different decision. The commission’s next regular meeting in February.

The years of negotiating with White Pass railroad owner TWC resulted in a proposed 35-year lease. But Skagway voters resoundingly rejected the agreement in 2015. Now, the assembly has another lease proposal on the table. This one would prolong White Pass’ hold on key tidelands for 15 years.