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Wrangell assembly approves new $9 million water plant

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The City of Wrangell declared a red alert water watch in March of 2018. (KSTK)

The Wrangell assembly approved a new $9 million water treatment plant last week. The current plant hasn’t met the town’s needs for several years.

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After a lot of talking about installing a new plant, the assembly unanimously agreed now is the time to go forward.

“We’ve been doing this for two and a half years. I’m sorry, I don’t want to wait,” Assembly Member David Powell said. “We owe it to the people of town and the canneries and other people working in this community to know what we are going to do here.”

The city approved a dissolved air floatation system. Wayne McHolland is the lead technician at the current plant. He says the new plant will be an upgrade in a number of ways. It’s almost two times faster and would have more storage.

“As far as water quality goes, it’s way better. As far as waste goes, it’s way better,” McHolland said.

The city has struggled with meeting water demands for years. In 2016, the city declared a water emergency. That forced a sea food processor to leave town and halted water sales to cruise ships. And just last week, the city declared an emergency water watch, because of a lack of rainfall.

Assembly members and city staff weighed their options during a three-hour meeting. Assembly members were concerned about the $9 million price tag. Federal monies would pay most of the cost, about half in grants and half in loans. That would cost the city $175,000 a year for 40 years.

But Wrangell’s water issues are so much bigger than biting the bullet and replacing an old plant. Lisa Von Bargen is the city manager.

“I think there’s no doubt that better a production alternative is the best thing we could do. But, we have issues from reservoirs to distribution system,” Von Bargen said. “Can the water fund and our rate payers afford what we are going to have to charge just to bring our water system up to where it needs to be?”

(Courtesy of the City of Wrangell)

City officials say that a third of the town’s water is lost before it even reaches people’s taps, most likely from plumbing leaks.

“Do we really have a production problem or are we wasting more water than we need to and that’s not really how much water Wrangell needs to use?” Von Bargen said.

Von Bargen presented conservation efforts. Those include fixing leaks, metering and upgrading the dam and reservoirs.

Assembly member Steve Prysunka pushed to focus on those measures.

“We can put in this new plant that has cost savings and be running water through like demons. But, if we don’t have water to put through our new shiny plant, we are really in trouble,” Prysunka said.

McHolland gave his final word to the assembly.

“Even if there are no leaks and everything was accounted for, this water plant will never, ever supply water fast enough to supply any amount of infrastructure,” McHolland said.

The assembly ultimately agreed that a new plant is necessary.

It will take three years for the plant to be fully installed. In the meantime, the city is replacing the current plant’s filters, which will cost $500,000.


At 2018 Finisher’s Banquet, tales from a difficult Iditarod

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A trophy of Joe Redington, Sr. — known as the father of the Iditarod — awaits the champion at the finisher’s banquet in Nome. (Photo: David Dodman, KNOM)

The 2018 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has come to an end, as 52 out of the original 67 mushers have crossed the finish line in Nome.

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Magnus Kaltenborn, originally from Norway, was this year’s Red Lantern, finishing in roughly 12 days and 20 hours, more than three days behind the winner.

According to the Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC), only the top 20 finishers will get a share of the $500,000 in prize money, while the remaining finishers, like Kaltenborn, will receive $1,049 each. This is a change from last year, when the top 30 mushers all received a portion of the $750,000 in prize money. ADN reported that, altogether, the 64 teams that finished the 2017 Iditarod won a total of $748,166. Iditarod chief executive Stan Hooley said in an interview that the race had to cut back on the prize amounts in 2018 so it could rebuild its savings.

“In a number of years, we paid out more prize money than our overall earnings generated, which means that we depleted reserves,” Hooley said. “We’re at the point that we need to make difficult decisions to improve the financial health of the organization.”

Last night, during the 2018 Iditarod awards banquet, this year’s race officially concluded as each finisher collected their winnings and took some time to say their thank you’s.

Although he didn’t finish this year’s Iditarod, veteran musher Scott Janssen was given the sportsmanship award for helping to rescue fellow musher Jim Lanier near the “blowhole” — a stretch of the Iditarod Trail leading into Nome notorious for its unpredictable, often intense winds. Janssen reiterated that all the thanks goes to his dogs.

“They all perked up their ears and looked to the left, and all I saw was the reflectors on the side of Jim’s sled,” Janssen said. “So I knew it was one of my friends, so I yelled out ‘is everything alright?’, and he said, ‘I need help over here.’ I had no idea who it was. I threw my snow hook down, and he yelled ’tip your sled over,’ and when I heard him yell ‘tip your sled over,’ I thought of the storm we had leaving Ophir, and I realized it was Jim. One of my lines is ‘when I grow up, I want to be just like Jim Lanier.’”

Janssen pulled Lanier’s team and sled off of a stump of driftwood, but the dogs did not want to continue on at that point. So, according to Janssen, both mushers made a call for help to Janssen’s wife, and then huddled together as they waited to be rescued. They stayed put for several hours before Jessie Royer, Nome Search and Rescue, and other individuals arrived to transport the two mushers and their teams safely back to Nome. Reportedly, three Iditarod Trail Invitational competitors, including Nome’s Phil Hofstetter, assisted Janssen in calling for help as the veteran musher was unable to dial his phone or GPS device.

From the Nome Recreation Center, last night’s Iditarod finisher’s banquet continued as awards of all kinds were presented to deserving mushers. One went to the community of Shaktoolik, which received the Golden Clipboard award; Aliy Zirkle felt the nod was well deserved.

“You know, we talk to you about Shaktoolik and how miserable or crazy or windy it is. There are people there who it is their home, they love it there, it’s where they lived, their grandparents have lived, their great great grandparents, forever,” Zirkle said. “And they allow us to travel through their towns. Thank you so much for allowing us to travel through your world, because it’s very special to be out there.”

Before adjourning the more than four-hour-long awards banquet, veteran musher Jim Lanier continued his tradition of singing a song, even though he wasn’t a 2018 Iditarod finisher. Lanier says he dedicated this tune to those who didn’t complete the 1,000 miles this year.

“On the trail I’m sad and dreary, everywhere I roam,” Lanier sang. “Oh lordy, Jim Lanier grows weary, far from ye old folks in Nome.”

As the prize money was doled out, 2018 champ Joar Ulsom of Norway received $50,612 for his first place finish of 9 days 12 hours, in addition to his extra prizes. Runner up Nic Petit received $42,462.

2018 finishers’ payouts decrease incrementally with finishing order; 20th-placed Lars Monsen of Norway received $9,662.

New analysis adds to picture of how belugas are impacted by sea ice loss

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Beluga coming to the surface to breathe. (Creative Commons photo by Eva Hejda)

Warming temperatures are resulting in less sea ice out on the Arctic Ocean. But when it comes to if and how that change is affecting marine life — there are a lot of unanswered questions.

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Researchers have published a new paper that adds a little more to what we know about how beluga whales are navigating their changing habitat. It’s based on data scientists got from tracking two groups of belugas in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas during the summer and fall between 1993 and 2012. They learned where the belugas went and how deep they dove for food.

One of the things that changed in those 20 years is sea ice: in the earlier part of that period there was more, and in the later part there was less. 

Robert Suydam is one of the co-authors of the study, and a senior wildlife biologist for the North Slope Borough’s Department of Wildlife Management.

“The big results are that beluga whales like to use the same areas over, and over, and over again regardless of what the ice conditions are like,” Suydam said.

Suydam says the researchers think what that means is — so far at least — changing ice conditions aren’t changing belugas’ ability to get the food they need.

“Which is kind of a good perspective. You know if belugas aren’t negatively impacted at least at this point… the changes in the ice maybe aren’t going to negatively impact them as much as maybe some of us… thought they might,” Suydam said.

Another big observation scientists made was that the Chukchi group of whales did start diving deeper for food in later years when there was less ice. That could mean that whales are seeing more opportunities to feed, which is keeping them underwater longer. Or that their food is deeper than it used to be.

“We don’t know what that means; we don’t know if it’s a shift in their prey,” Suydam said. “We don’t know if there’s something else that’s going on that has caused them to do this.”

Either way, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Suydam says that even though this data suggests that belugas aren’t being negatively impacted by the loss of sea ice now, we really don’t know what things will look like in 10, 20 or 30 years. He says scientists will need to keep a close watch so they can help inform policies on everything from development, to shipping routes, to subsistence hunting in a changing arctic.

Alaska News Nightly: Monday, March 19, 2018

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Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn

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Legislature split on budget, taxes and use of Permanent Fund

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

The House and Senate finance committee co-chairs have reached an agreement that they’re going to talk about a long-term plan. That may be a step in the right direction. But it’s not clear how much reassurance Alaskans can take from it.

State puts out list of companies that got $75 million in cashable tax credits last year

Rashah McChesney, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

These cash-for-credits recipients used to be kept confidential, but a law passed in 2016 now requires that the state report them.

Feds to drop new habitat rules, ending state’s legal challenge

Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.

The Trump administration has agreed to rewrite rules that would have made it easier for the government to designate areas as “critical habitat” for endangered species.

Feds approve $1.7M to buy out homes in Newtok

Rachel Waldholz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

The state and federal government have announced almost $2 million dollars in funding to buy out homes in the eroding village of Newtok, in Western Alaska.

Snow blocks road to Hatcher Pass; 10 stranded at lodge

Associated Press

Two avalanches have stranded about 10 people at a lodge outside an Alaska state park.

The Cost of Cold: When the only option is diesel

Annie Feidt, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

There are a lot of heating options. Electricity, natural gas, wood, coal… even french fry oil. But in much of rural Alaska, and even some cities, the primary heating source is diesel.

The Cost of Cold: Keeping warm in Unalaska

Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska

For The Cost of Cold, we profile Unalaska resident Travis Swangel, who heats his small home on the island with a Toyo stove.

At 2018 Finisher’s Banquet, tales from a difficult Iditarod

Davis Hovey, KNOM – Nome

The 2018 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has come to an end, as 52 out of the original 67 mushers have crossed the finish line in Nome.

Wrangell assembly approves new $9 million water plant

June Leffler, KSTK – Wrangell

The Wrangell assembly approved a new $9 million water treatment plant last week. The current plant hasn’t met the town’s needs for several years.

New analysis adds to picture of how belugas are impacted by sea ice loss

Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks

Researchers have published a new paper that adds a little more to what we know about how beluga whales are navigating their changing habitat.

State budget advances, but how to pay for it remains unclear

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Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, comments on a state operating budget amendment in the House Finance Committee in the Alaska State Capitol on March 6. Guttenberg opposed amendments proposed by minority-caucus Republicans before the committee passed the budget on Friday. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

The Alaska House Finance Committee finished its work on the budget on Friday. Its budget includes $5.3 billion for the part of the budget that the Legislature directly controls each year. That’s $337 million more than this year, and $37 million more than what Gov. Bill Walker proposed.

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Fairbanks Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg opposed cuts proposed by minority-caucus Republicans.

“If we had taken some of those cuts, we would have done exactly what this state doesn’t want to do,” Guttenberg said. “And that is: hinder economic development through the Department of Natural Resources with permitting and public information on our resources.”

The Senate budget still has to take shape. The Senate did pass the bill known as the fast-track supplemental last week. That includes $45 million of the Medicaid increase.

But more than 60 days into the 90-day session, how the Legislature will choose to pay for the budget remains unclear.

Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, speaks during a Senate Majority Press Availability on April 3, 2017. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

The Senate majority would draw a higher percentage of the permanent fund’s market value at slightly less than 5.25 percent. Of that draw, three quarters would go to government and a quarter to permanent fund dividends. The House majority budget includes a draw of a little less than 4.75 percent. Their draw would be split two-thirds to government, one-third to PFDs.

Eagle River Republican Sen. Anna MacKinnon said there’s a concern that election-year politics could affect the talks over a plan.

“Each body will craft their own message to try to convince the public that they’re doing the right thing,” MacKinnon said. “And, inside of each body, there’s a majority position and there’s a minority position. And so it does make it difficult, when you’re trying to score political points, to do what’s right for Alaska.”

For her part, MacKinnon said she’d solve the problem by focusing on a permanent fund earnings draw backed by rules to control spending.

The House and Senate finance committee co-chairs have reached an agreement to talk about a long-term plan.

The Cost of Cold: Keeping warm in Unalaska

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Unalaska resident Travis Swangel heats his small home with a Toyo stove. (Photo by Zoe Sobel / Alaska’s Energy Desk)

In Unalaska, it can cost more than $500 a month to heat a typical home in the winter. Because the treeless island is 1,000 miles from Anchorage, everything is shipped in — including heating oil. It’s the source of heat for the vast majority of houses in the city.

Unalaska resident Travis Swangel heats his small home on the island with a Toyo stove.

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The Cost of Cold is a series from Alaska’s Energy Desk about how Alaskans around the state heat their homes. Reporter Zoe Sobel produced this story.

New state Forest Service leader has Alaska experience

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A timber sale sign is posted in the Tongass National Forest on Prince of Wales Island. The new Forest Service regional forester for Alaska, who takes over in April, was a district ranger on the island. (KRBD photo)

The U.S. Forest Service controls 22 million acres in Alaska, including most of Southeast. It’s overseen by a regional forester, whose staffers manage logging, mining, recreation and fish habitat.

The agency is getting a new top official in April. David Schmid will have to deal with a particularly controversial land management plan that’s under attack.

Schmid began his Forest Service career in Alaska. He and his wife moved here in the early 1980s for his first agency job, in Southcentral’s Chugach National Forest. Later, he worked in the Tongass in Southeast.

“Over the years I think we spent 23 years together in Alaska and just having an opportunity to come back and re-engage with folks and work on Alaska issues has just been a dream of mine,” Schmid said.

David Schmid (Department of Forestry photo)

Schimd is leaving his post as deputy regional forester for the agency’s Northern Region, based in Missoula, Montana.

Schmid will take over the Juneau-based Alaska Region job from Regional Forester Beth Pendleton, who’s retiring after eight years in the position. She’s spent about 30 years in the Forest Service, two-thirds of it in Alaska.

Pendleton served as acting associate chief of the nationwide agency during the transition to the Trump administration. And recently, the agency’s chief stepped down amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Despite shakeups at the top, Pendleton said there was no pressured to leave.

“My plans to retire were in 2018. So this is per my choice to retire at this time,” Pendleton said.

Pendleton oversaw the Forest Service’s Alaska region during development of the most recent Tongass Land Management Plan. It’s been challenged in court and in Congress, largely because it begins the phase-out of old-growth logging.

Pendleton believes the plan will survive because it’s flexible and can absorb change.

Beth Pendleton (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

“We’ve been really focusing on that transition to young-growth harvests and renewable energy. There is an adaptive management component that’s associated with the plan, where there’s room … to further amend the plan in the future if needed,” Pendleton said.

Pendleton said she’ll bring her replacement up to speed before she leaves the office.

Schmid hasn’t been part of this version of the Tongass planning battle. But he’s familiar with the issues from his days as district ranger for Thorne Bay, on Prince of Wales Island. Before the big mills closed, it was a center of Alaska’s timber industry.

Schmid said he’s dealt with similar conflicts in his current job.

“I think I’ve had something like 75 or 80 objection resolution meetings here in Montana and Northern Idaho and North Dakota. And often times, mostly around tribal planning or large vegetation management, I would say it was almost identical to my experiences in Alaska with some very polarized issues,” Schmid said.

A March 15 Forest Service press release announcing the transition said Schmid will be acting regional forester. But he said he’ll be here for the long haul.

The Forest Service has nine regional offices. Not a lot are overseen by women.

But Pendleton said she’s not unique.

“I would say in the last 10 to 15 years we’ve seen more women and minorities come into some of these leadership positions. And I have had nothing but support and encouragement as I have worked in the agency and as I have served here in Alaska,” Pendleton said.

recent investigation showed a pattern of gender discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment and assault against women in fire crews and some other sections of the Forest Service.

State wants to stop billing homeowners for tech support after spills

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A NORTECH crew works on a Gastineau Channel beach on Thursday to clean up heating oil spilled from a vandalized tank at the Prospector Hotel. The state helps homeowners with heating oil spills too, at a cost. A new bill in front of the legislature would allow the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to provide tech support for residential spills, without charge. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)

When a home heating oil tank leaks, costs can add up quickly.

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Depending on the size of the spill, everything from hiring contractors to buying cleanup supplies and even calling the state to report the spill — gets billed.

Alaska’s lawmakers are considering a bill to help with those costs.

In 2010, Fabienne Peter-Contesse’s family found a cork-sized hole in the bottom of their underground heating oil tank in Juneau.

Peter-Contesse told a House Resources committee last month that as soon as they discovered the leak, the family immediately called the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation for help.

A spill expert came out, gave them some advice on what to do and the family started the cleanup.

“So we went out, spent a lot of money on a lot of boom,” Peter-Contesse said. “A lot of absorbent pads… sloshing through our property. Disposing of the free product and pads, etc. in an environmentally responsible way.”

It wasn’t cheap.

“We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on this effort. Cleanup, hiring the contractor. We’ve spent several thousand dollars on soil testing. And, none of this is covered by homeowners insurance,” Peter-Contesse said. “So that is all out of pocket.”

Peter-Contesse said that DEC’s staff has been a great resource for technical support and answering questions.

But then, in 2017, the family got their first bill from the state.

“And as you can imagine, the blood pressure shot through the roof,” Peter-Contesse said.

They didn’t want to keep paying that bill — in addition to all of the other other ones — so, the family stopped talking to state spill response staff.

State Spill Prevention and Response Director Kristin Ryan said that’s a common response.

“We have had several situations where a homeowner is talking to us, everything is going well. Then, several weeks later they get our bill — which is an automated process — and all of the sudden, they don’t return our phone calls. They won’t let us on their property. They don’t want to talk to us, because they don’t want another bill,” Ryan said.

Right now, staff at the Department of Environmental Conservation are required by law to recover their costs when they consult on spills. On average, getting technical support from employees in the state’s Division of Spill Prevention and Response can cost between $100-$150 an hour.

But, Ryan said she doesn’t think that when the statutes were written — lawmakers were considering individual homeowners and heating oil leaks.

“They were thinking about Exxon. They were thinking about BP. They were thinking about big companies that are making money off of oil. And they didn’t think the state should have any expenses associated with that industry,” Ryan said.

Right now, there are about 150 homes that have heating oil spills that the state is consulting on.

The bill is pretty narrowly defined to cover just spills from equipment or fuel that is used solely to provide space heat or electric power for residential homes.

It wouldn’t take away any of the cleanup costs — which is typically the bulk of the cost in a situation where heating oil is spilled. But, it would allow the state to provide, essentially free “tech support” when something does go wrong.

Ryan says spill response experts do everything from help homeowners draft bids for contractors to show them where to buy supplies to cleanup the spills themselves.

“Or go out with a meter that helps them see if the vapors are strong enough in the house that perhaps they should move or leave while they’re doing cleanup, things that are — to us — are really important to do,” Ryan said. “We’d like to do it without burdening them with a bill.”

If the bill passes, Ryan’s department estimates that it’ll lose about $60,000 a year in revenue. 

Ryan said she’s confident the state can absorb that cost — especially if it entices homeowners into reporting spills and getting help to clean them up.


Feds approve $1.7M to buy out homes in Newtok

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The nearest homes are now just 40 feet from the edge of the Ninglick River. The village could lose that amount of land in just one or two storms. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

The state and federal government have announced $1.7 million in funding to buy out seven homes in the eroding village of Newtok in Western Alaska.

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Newtok is threatened by a combination of thawing permafrost, flooding and coastal erosion. Residents worry the village could be uninhabitable within a few years. The community has been trying for years to relocate to a new site upriver, a process the Army Corps of Engineers has estimated could cost $130 million.

The new grant comes just months after the state refused to submit a previous application from Newtok for federal disaster funding, saying it was incomplete. The Newtok Village Council protested that decision and accused the state of blocking access to much-needed aid.

The grant is funded by both the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. It’s part of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, a special fund aimed at reducing the risk of future disasters.

In a statement, Mike Sutton, the new head of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the program is not designed to move whole communities. But, he wrote the fund is crucial because the erosion threatening Newtok and other Alaska villages does not qualify for traditional disaster relief.

Without this grant, he wrote, “it is likely the residents would see their homes taken by the river without any financial help.”

Ask a Climatologist: The spring equinox doesn’t mark the start of spring

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The spring equinox occurred at 8:15 this morning in Alaska. And no, that doesn’t mean you can balance a raw egg on end.

It does mean that the sun is directly over the equator, giving equal amounts of daylight and darkness around the world.

Brian Brettschneider is a climatologist based in Anchorage with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He says the March equinox is often confused with the first day of spring.

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Interview Highlights:

It’s not the first day of spring, in terms of climate. It’s the 20th day of spring. In climate terms, spring is March, April and May in the northern hemisphere.

It’s a lot colder on the spring equinox than the fall equinox, even though there’s the same amount of daylight. That’s because of something called thermal lag. The earth is about two-thirds ocean water and that water takes a long time to heat up in the summer. So the warmest temps occur after the summer solstice. It also takes a long time to cool down after the fall equinox.

We move slower around the sun during the time from the spring equinox over to the fall equinox. The warm half of the year is 186 days, while the cold half of the year is about 178 days.

Rep. Sam Kito III will not seek re-election

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Rep. Sam Kito III addresses the Alaska House of Representatives on April 7, 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

The Juneau Empire reports that Rep. Sam Kito III will not run for re-election this fall.

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Kito represents House District 33, including Skagway, Haines, Klukwan, Gustavus, downtown Juneau and Douglas.

Kito could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He told the Empire he made his decision Friday due to financial concerns. Last week, the Legislature let the State Officers Compensation Commission cut per diem payments for lawmakers living within 50 miles of the state capitol.

That means Juneau’s three state lawmakers will not receive a daily allowance on top of their annual salary during regular or special sessions. Lawmakers had 60 days to pass legislation rejecting the commission’s recommendation, but did not act.

Kito spoke about the recommendation at a meeting of the House Labor and Commerce Committee on March 7. The single parent said he had saved money during his career as an engineer for his daughter’s college tuition. He said his job as a legislator was forcing him to draw from his savings.

“With this reduction I am in a situation now of having to choose whether I run again or whether I take money out of my daughter’s college account to continue this job, and I’m not prepared to do that,” Kito said.

Kito said the increasing length of regular and special sessions has made it a nearly full-time job. He said he has not been able to bill hours through his consulting job for three years due to the time commitment.

“If the choice or the decision of the compensation commission was to pressure legislators to not run, they’ve succeeded, at least if this goes forward,” Kito said.

Kito, a former civil engineer and legislative lobbyist, was selected from among nine other applicants to former Rep. Beth Kerttula’s open seat in 2014. He’s been re-elected twice.

So far, Democrat Sara Hannan and independent Chris Dimond have filed to run for Kito’s seat.

KTOO’s Jacob Resneck contributed to this report.

Pilot sentenced for ‘buzz job’ that leaves co-worker severely injured

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Travis Finkenbinder stands with his wife Samantha, daughter Alyssa and son Taylor. This photo was taken in early June 2014, before he suffered severe head trauma. (Photo Courtesy of Samantha Finkenbinder)

Flying recklessly is illegal and the consequences can be devastating — that was the central message of victim Travis Finkenbinder’s family and the assistant district attorney, Allison O’Leary, at Benjamin Hancock’s sentencing hearing last week.

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In 2014, Hancock and Finkenbinder were working together to move skiffs from one section of the Mulchatna River to another for their employer. Hancock was providing air support, piloting a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver float plane. Hancock took off from the river, heading in the same direction as Finkenbinder, who was driving a boat. Hancock flew low over the boat, and the ski of Hancock’s plane hit Finkenbinder in the head.

Finkenbinder survived, but suffered extensive, permanent brain damage. He remains in a minimally-conscious state, unable to hold up his head, speak or eat. He can respond to basic questions inconsistently with a thumbs up. Doctors have said his condition will not improve.

At the hearing, Captain Scott Quist, an Alaska State Wildlife Trooper and veteran pilot who was stationed in King Salmon when the tragedy occurred, took the stand as the state’s expert witness. Quist said that he saw “no reasonable explanation” for Hancock not clearing Finkenbinder and his boat by hundreds of feet.

“Based on everything that I read, from interviews, from the performance data [of the aircraft], from the weather conditions, everything I know about it, I think Mr. Hancock intentionally flew the aircraft at extremely low altitude and did a buzz job,” Quist said.

A “buzz job” or “buzzing” is slang in the aviation community for intentionally making a low pass over something or someone.

The head injuries Finkenbinder sustained when the ski of Hancock’s plane hit his head have rendered him permanently minimally conscious. This photo was taken March 14, 2018. (Photo Courtesy of Samantha Finkenbinder)

Travis Finkenbinder’s father, Arthur Finkenbinder, provided a victim impact statement at the sentencing.

“The incident involved the destruction of an extraordinary human being, beloved son, faithful and loving husband, loving father and brother and friend to numerous people… I would say to buzz a person with an airplane is stupid, no matter the height of an airplane. To buzz closely is insane…and to buzz and hit another human being is criminal assault and battery, arrogant, insane and stupid,” Arthur Finkenbinder said.

As a part of a plea deal with the state Hancock will avoid jail time. He pleaded guilty to felony assault in the third degree and agreed to pay restitution of $6,100 to Travis Finkenbinder’s family.

Superior Court Judge Christina Reigh ordered Hancock to pay a fine of $25,000 to the state. However, she expressed doubt that a sentence without jail time will send a strong message to the aviation community. If active jail time were on the table, she said she would have ordered it.

“Buzzing is a problem, and we all know it. And it’s something that can end very badly, which it did in this particular situation. So I think sending the right message, especially in bush Alaska, where we are all flying all of the time, I think that is really important,” Reigh said.

Hancock was tearful throughout the testimony and victim impact statements of Travis Finkbinder’s wife and father. During his own statement, he apologized to the victim’s family.

“I know there’s nothing I can say to take away the pain Samantha, Travis and the family have endured, nor ease the burden moving forward. And for that I am truly sorry,” Hancock said. “I intend to make this lesson guide me in the efforts to become a better person and not to be the person I was on June 25, 2014.”

Hancock, who now lives in Colorado, was given three months of unsupervised supervision and 18 months suspended jail time in addition to the fine and restitution he was ordered to pay.

Boom: Gun tax sends $33M to Alaska

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Photo: USFWS

Americans have spent a lot of money on guns and ammunition in recent years, and that has sent revenues pouring into Alaska’s budget for wildlife conservation. The money flow is due to the Pittman-Robertson act, a 1937 law that imposes a tax on firearms and sends it to the states for wildlife projects.

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Tuesday, the U.S. Interior Department announced Alaska’s share of the tax revenues is $33 million, more than double what the state got just six years ago.

The allocation formula takes geographic size into account, so Alaska is getting more from the fund than any state besides Texas.

“Pittman-Robertson funds account for the majority of our funding, of our division’s funding,” Maria Gladziszewski, deputy director of Alaska’s Division of Wildlife Conservation, said. “It is the core funding for wildlife conservation, and it has been for decades.”

Gladziszewski said the revenues have gone up so steeply that it’s hard to make full use of them. The state has had to give back about $3 million since 2016. Pittman-Robertson money can only be used on certain types of projects, and there’s a two-year deadline. Gladziszewski said Alaska has spent some of its money on things like road pullouts and trails, to give hunters better access.

“We are doing our best to obligate all those funds and do good projects for Alaskans and Alaska wildlife,” Gladziszewski said.

Also, it’s been a challenge for the state to come up with the required 25 percent matching funds. Last year the Alaska Legislature boosted state revenues by increasing the cost of hunting and fishing licenses, with instructions not to leave federal money on the table.

Gladziszewski credits hunters and fishermen for supporting the bill.

“It’s because hunters and anglers care about wildlife conservation,” Gladziszewski said. “They are the only constituency that has stepped up to say, ‘We value this service. We want to pay more money.'”

Nationally, gun sales shot up during the years Barack Obama was president. Some indicators show they dropped sharply in the months after President Trump took office.

Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, March 20, 2018

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House holds floor debate on budget

Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO – Juneau

At this hour, House lawmakers are holding floor debate on the Alaska state operating budget.

Boom: Gun tax sends $33M to Alaska

Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.

Americans have spent a lot of money on guns and ammunition in recent years, and that has sent revenues pouring into Alaska’s budget for wildlife conservation. This year’s allocation is more than double what it was in 2012.

State wants to stop billing homeowners for tech support after spills

Rashah McChesney, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

On average, getting technical support from employees in the state’s Division of Spill Prevention and Response can cost between $100-$150 an hour.

Rep. Sam Kito III will not seek re-election

Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau

Rep. Sam Kito III is not running for re-election in the fall. Kito told the Juneau Empire he made his decision Friday due to financial concerns.

Pilot sentenced for ‘buzz job’ that leaves co-worker severely injured

Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham

A former Anchorage resident was sentenced Thursday in Dillingham for recklessly flying low over a boater several years ago.

Halibut quotas for 2018 come in slightly lower than expected

Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer

The total allowable catch for the 2018 Pacific halibut season in the Gulf of Alaska and Southeast will be set slightly lower than what U.S. commissioners on the International Pacific Halibut Commission had asked for.

The Cost of Cold: Staying Warm in Sitka

Emily Kwong, KCAW – Sitka

Richard Parmelee warms his house with vegetable oil, donated by a local Chinese restaurant and McDonalds.

This halibut hook is an innovation for the past, present and future

Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

Few people still use the hand-carved halibut hook. But there’s a push to make sure the tradition sticks around.

Ask a Climatologist: The spring equinox doesn’t mark the start of spring

Annie Feidt, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

The sun is directly over the equator, giving equal amounts of daylight and darkness around the world.

The Cost of Cold: Staying Warm in Sitka

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Richard Parmelee warms his house in Sitka with vegetable oil, donated by a local Chinese restaurant and McDonalds. (Photo by Emily Kwong / KCAW)

In Sitka, about half of residents use heating fuel to keep warm in the winter. Another 40 percent use the electricity, produced by hydropower from a local dam. And there’s plenty of grumbling in town about an electric rate increase to pay for a recent hydro expansion project.

But one man in Sitka who has contentedly tinkered away at his own homegrown solution. Richard Parmelee warms his house with vegetable oil, donated by a local Chinese restaurant and McDonalds.

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The Cost of Cold is a series from Alaska’s Energy Desk about how Alaskans around the state heat their homes. Reporter Emily Kwong produced this story in Sitka.


Mentoring program to close in Haines, Homer, Hoonah, Sitka

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska will no longer make new matches between youths and volunteers in four Alaska communities: Haines, Homer, Hoonah and Sitka.

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The organization, which matches volunteers and youth for one-on-one mentoring, says it’s a matter of reduced federal and state grant funding.

Rosalie Loewen opens a filing cabinet at the Big Brothers Big Sisters office in downtown Haines, filled with file folders for hundreds of mentors and youths they’ve served.

“Well, it’s packed in there so tight that I can’t actually fit any more in there,” Loewen said.

As she’s getting ready to close the office, Loewen says she’s been reflecting on all the lives that have been touched by the program over its 15 years in Haines.

“I remember that it is not just the names that are in that filing cabinet but their siblings and their parents and all of the other kids in their classroom and just, it’s just a big piece of the way the fabric holds together for this community,” Loewen said.

Loewen is the community director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haines, where for the past two years she has been responsible for all aspects of the program.

The non-profit specializes in helping kids connect with adult mentors.

Loewen said the program serves about 10 percent of youth in the Haines School.

The change was announced Friday and goes into effect after May 31, 2018.

Big Brothers Big Sisters will close their offices in the four communities and consolidate them to Anchorage or Juneau, where a dedicated staff specialist will focus on serving existing matches.

Loewen said the closure is unfortunate.

“It’s a little frustrating to see the program close now because research is showing us more and more that kids who experience developmental trauma, one of the most important things that you do that will create more positive outcome in their lives and help them overcome that challenge, is to match them with an adult mentor with a stable, healthy, positive relationship,” Loewen said.

Loewen said that relationship creates a buffer for the child and it can mean that a level of stress for a child is manageable rather than toxic.

That buffer is sometimes hard to find in rural communities.

Divorce, death, incarceration, addiction — those are the big four reasons that a parent is unable to be involved with their kids and which create an opportunity for mentors to fill the gap.

Even though serving rural kids through Big Brothers Big Sisters is expensive, like just about everything in rural Alaska, Loewen said it’s critical.

“It’s a mistake to close this program down because in the rural areas the kids don’t have other programs that can fill in,” Loewen said. “Sometimes it’s a geographical issue where the people who sit on the statewide board are located in Anchorage and it’s hard for them to get that perspective.”

In 2017, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska served more than 580 youths across the state.

The organization has an annual budget of $1.6 million and 20 employees.

Big Brothers Big Sisters currently serves 19 matches in Haines, 19 in Hoonah, 14 in Sitka and 26 in Homer.

The organization will continue making new matches in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and the Mat-Su Valley.

The organization gets about half of its funding from federal and state grant monies, which are disappearing, Heather Harris, CEO for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska, said.

“We’re in a difficult financial place and we have to make incredibly difficult decisions. And this is not a decision that was made lightly by any means,” Harris said. “These communities and the youth that are in them are incredibly important to us and to the organization as a whole and we know we’ve done life-saving work in those communities.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been working in Alaska since 1972.

Harris is hopeful the organization will eventually be able to reopen their offices in the communities.

Although she’s heartbroken about the Haines office closing, Loewen is also realistic, saying the days of big grants and free-flowing funds to solve the state’s social problems are over.

“Things will have to be homegrown, come up from the bottom. But I feel not entirely pessimistic about that because, in my mind, that’s what Alaskan’s are really good at, pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and being independent and making things work,” Loewen said. “We’ve gotten used to a lot of top-down economics and now it’s time for a little bit of bottom-up work.”

Staff in the four communities have been given the opportunity to continue on a part-time basis.

Loewen will not be one of them.  Loewen has one more young person on the waiting list for a mentor match and she plans on making that connection before she closes the Big Brothers Big Sisters office door in Haines one last time on April 13.

Proposed Fairbanks ordinance would squelch ‘free market’, marijuana business owners say

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(Creative Commons photo by Brett Levin)

Owners of local marijuana businesses told the Fairbanks City Council Monday that the free market should decide how many retail pot shops the city should allow. The owners and other advocates told council members a proposed ordinance that would limit the number of shops and impose other regulations on the industry could stifle the economic benefits it’s generating.

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The marijuana-business owners and their allies did everything but quote Adam Smith in explaining why they oppose the restrictions in the proposed ordinance.

“It’s a free market. It’s capitalism. It’s the American Dream,” Mason Evans said. Evans was one of several cannabis capitalists who turned out for Monday’s two-hour work session.

Evans says they all invested heavily in their businesses because they saw opportunity. He says the limit of 12 retail shops in the city that the ordinance would impose would be unfair to a handful of those whose applications are still pending – and to others who want to get into the business.

“You guys don’t need to pick winners or losers,” Evans said. “Limiting licenses will limit the growth of Fairbanks. You’re saying, ‘Alright, this number of people is all that’s going to be here.’ Y’know, what happens if Fairbanks booms?”

Councilman Jonathan Bagwill, who opposes the marijuana industry and supports the ordinance, says he doesn’t understand why the business owners don’t like the idea.

“From a business standpoint, I don’t even know if that makes sense to me,” Bagwill said. “If I had a business, I wouldn’t want there to be 140 businesses like mine in the same business. If I’m in a business, it’s to make money.”

But Dan Peters says that’s not how he and his fellow retailers see it.

“My business will benefit, either way,” Peters said. “I am good enough at my business to hold my own against any other business that comes along. So I’m not worried about other licenses and license caps.”

Vivian Stivers, a former councilmember who also opposes the industry, reminded the business owners that the ordinance would set the number of retail shops according to population. That would be about one shop per 3,000 people, just as alcohol licenses are allocated, she said, encouraging the council to hold to that.

“It’s been said since day one – the number that you have on your retail and other stores, like you saw, are set in the alcohol regulations,” Stivers said, “and I believe you’re on the right track. Those should be followed.”

Councilman Jerry Cleworth followed up on that point a few minutes later, when pressing Evans on why he and the others now don’t want to adhere to that.

“So, what’s happened here?” Cleworth said.

“What’s happened here is everybody, like I said, is sailing in uncharted waters,” Evans replied.

Evans and others say regulating marijuana like alcohol was just a starting point. They said they’re obviously different substances, so city officials should resist calls to place additional  restrictions on the marijuana industry that may turn out to be unnecessary.

The point was underlined in an exchange between Councilman David Pruhs and Ray Brazier, a local real estate agent who’s worked with the businesses and who says a shortage of qualifying commercial real estate in Fairbanks may settle the issue of how many retail shops the city can support.

“It’s certainly getting more and more difficult to find areas that meet all the restrictions, both the state and well as the borough ordinance setbacks,” Brazier said. “Whether we’ve reached full saturation – y’know I do think we’re approaching that.”

Mayor Jim Matherly has said he intends to set up additional meetings, including one with marijuana-industry opponents, before the council revisits the measure for final amendments and possible approval in its May 7 meeting.

Response to oil spill in the Shuyak Strait continues

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Around 3,000 gallons of oil were released into the Shuyak Strait after this building collapsed. (Photo Courtesy of the Coast Guard)

At the end of February, 3,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Shuyak Strait about 50 miles north of the City of Kodiak. The oil was in a building that collapsed because of a severe windstorm. Since then, a response has been underway to contain the oil, clean it up and prevent future spills.

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When asked how long it’s going to take to clean up the oil spill in the Shuyak Strait, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s on-scene coordinator Geoff Merrell says longer than weeks, but less than years.

“Can’t mark a date on the calendar says we’re going to be done by here,” Merrell said.

The spill happened when a building on Shuyak Island collapsed and a fuel bladder in it, filled with about 3,000 gallons of bunker C oil, released its contents into Shuyak Strait. The oil’s been contained, but clean-up efforts have been impeded because the wreckage of the building is blocking the initial spill site. A crane has been ordered to the area to help remove the structures remains.

Merrell says it may seem like the clean-up is taking a long time, but he says the operation is complicated.

“It can be a delicate tricky thing on a removing the oil without destroying everything else there in the process which really doesn’t serve any purpose at all,” Merrell said.

The building that collapsed was a part of a bigger compound made up of structures of all shapes and sizes. Some of which date back to before World War II. The site’s been used for all sorts of things like a steamship fuel depot, a fish processing plant, and a float plane terminal. Merrell says the site doesn’t seem to be used for much at the moment and currently there’s an investigation into who all owns the property.

Merrell says the spilled oil isn’t the only problem facing the area. There’s another estimated 3,000 gallons of fuel, oil and other lubricants stored in buildings near the water that could collapse in the future. Clean-up personnel are carefully making their way through the old structures looking for these petroleum products.

“So that they don’t become either an additional pollutant or a pollutant down the road where we just be out to the same sight in the future cleaning up something that we left behind this time,” Merrell said.

So far, there hasn’t been any signs the oil spill has affected local wildlife. Merrell says his team is keeping an eye out for oiled animals, especially those that call the strait their home.

“Aquatic mammals specifically sea otters, sea lions and river otters,” Merrell said. “And then very shortly we’re are going to start the annual bird migration so there will be an increasing presence of waterfowl in the area, which we are concerned about.”

Recently, an in-depth environmental and structural analysis was done at the spill site.

According to a recent Coast Guard press release, the study will help personnel safely conduct further clean-up efforts. Around 240 bags of oily waste has been removed from the Shuyak Strait so far.

In thwarted home invasion, Alakanuk shooter stopped by daughter’s boyfriend

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Leroy Patrick tried to shoot his way into his daughter’s house on March 17, 2018. (Google Maps)

In a violent attempted home invasion last weekend, an Alakanuk man allegedly tried to shoot his daughter and infant granddaughter with a semi-automatic rifle. He was stopped in the arctic entryway by his daughter’s boyfriend, who armed himself, tackled the shooter and held him down until State Troopers arrived.

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According to State Trooper William Connors’ affidavit, the incident began early Saturday morning. Leroy Patrick, age 42, loaded his semi-automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine and walked to his daughter Shari Andrew’s house, where she was asleep with her boyfriend, Greg Konst, and their 18-month-old daughter.

Andrew and Konst told State Troopers that Patrick fired a round into their home from outside. Then he walked up the steps and forced his way into their arctic entryway. He fired another round into the main doorframe.

“Open the door,” Konst remembers Patrick saying repeatedly, “or I will shoot again.”

The family hit the floor, and Konst grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun. He said that Patrick fired two more rounds into the house. Bullet fragments hit the side of Konst’s face, and he said he could feel it burning. Lying on the ground, Konst managed to load a single round and fired it through the front door. It hit Patrick below the knee, and then Konst rushed him. He said he disarmed Patrick and pinned him to the floor until the Troopers came to take him away.

Trooper Connors reported finding bullet damage inside the home. There were still 14 rounds of live ammunition in Patrick’s rifle. Connors also wrote that alcohol was involved in this incident.

Patrick was arraigned on four counts of assault in varying degrees, in addition to burglary and other charges. He has been convicted of assault four times in the past five years. The court set his bail at $150,000 and set his next court appearance for March 28th.

Perryville man arrested, charged with murdering his grandfather

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(Google Maps)

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of 70-year-old Marvin Yagie in Perryville.

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Witnesses told troopers that they saw Yagie’s grandson, 21-year-old Brandon Yagie, attack Marvin Yagie twice early Sunday morning. The witnesses allege that Brandon Yagie threatened them when they tried to intervene, so they fled for their own safety. Later Sunday morning, witnesses said they found Marvin Yagie dead and made a report to AST.

Troopers were unable to fly to Perryville until Monday due to poor weather conditions. Upon arriving in the village, they arrested Brandon Yagie on charges of murder, assault and evidence tampering.

Brandon Yagie was taken to the King Salmon jail. Marvin Yagie’s body will undergo autopsy in Anchorage. According to AST, alcohol was a factor in the incident. Troopers will continue to investigate and expect to file additional charges related to the case.

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