The Takshanuk Watershed Council and the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan have been working together to collect baseline water quality data in Glacier Creek and the Klehini River, which flow into the Chilkat River.

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The project is in response to ongoing mineral exploration in the area and the need to record baseline conditions in the waters before a large-scale mine is developed.

Ensuring that the Chilkat River, the traditional subsistence fishing grounds for her people, remains pristine, is a top priority for her community, Kimberly Strong, tribal president of Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan, said.

Klukwan partnered with local conservation organization Takshanuk Watershed Council to carry out baseline water quality testing.

“Since there was no baseline testing being done by DEC, there is baseline testing done by the mining company or the exploration company, we felt that there should be some testing done by non-mining interests,” Strong said.

The State of Alaska and the Bureau of Land Management does not collect baseline water quality data during mineral exploration.

Canadian mining company Constantine Metal Resources has been exploring at the nearby Palmer Project, a potential hard-rock underground mine for years and is collecting data for its own uses, but treats the information as proprietary, and has so far refused to make the data fully available to the public.

Klukwan wants to ensure ensuring that their traditional subsistence fishery remains strong as well as the regional economies of commercial fishing and tourism, Strong said.

“We need help protecting the Chilkat River,” Strong said. “And, though we have been doing the water testing for the last year and a half, it is still not apparent to everybody who lives in our Valley the importance of the Chilkat River as a renewable, sustainable resource and the economic base that it brings to our fishermen.”

Takshanuk Watershed Council science director Derek Poinsette coordinates the water quality testing partnership with Klukwan’s environmental department.

The water quality project began in 2016 and a final plan was approved and filed with the Environmental Protection Agency by the end of the year.

Water quality sampling started in December 2017.

“The plan now is to try to go out four times a year and to try to get the whole range of weather and flow conditions represented in those samples, and we need to go for five years to get a good solid set of data that then would be useful,” Poinsette said.

Three sites are being sampled: Lower Glacier Creek, the Klehini River upstream of Glacier Creek, and the Klehini River downstream of Glacier Creek at the 26-Mile bridge.

Parameters being recorded include both a dissolved and total metals analysis of 27 elements, including copper, silver, lead, zinc and mercury; also hydrocarbons (petroleum), sulfates, total organic carbon, total suspended solids and basic water quality parameters such as conductivity, pH, alkalinity, hardness, turbidity and dissolved oxygen.

Poinsette said gathering the baseline water quality data now is critical.

“Now is the time that we need to be out there getting the information before the impacts get too great,” Pointsette said.

All information will be shared publicly via EPA and DEC online databases.

Should industrial development occur, baseline water quality data could be used to set discharge permit limits, provide guidance in monitoring standards and practices, and it would provide a point of reference that can guide cleanup and restoration efforts in the event of a tailings spill or other accident.

The water quality testing will cost around $10,000 per year in lab fee alone.

In order to fund the endeavor, Takshanuk Watershed Council and Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan are soliciting donations from the public.

Democratic Rep. Justin Parish announced on Facebook this morning that he will not run for re-election.

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“I’ve said from the beginning, that I’ll run for re-election unless I’m able to find someone who can do it better than me,” Parish said in the video. “After many conversations, I think I have. My former chief of staff Robert Edwardson, who worked with me from the beginning, has agreed to serve, has agreed to put his name into the hat, and I hope that you’ll support him.”

Edwardson is a Democrat and a member of the Juneau Assembly.

Another assembly member, Deputy Mayor Jerry Nankervis, is running as a Republican for the seat.

House District 34 includes the Mendenhall Valley, the Juneau Airport area and neighborhoods to the northwest.

Two-time Yukon Quest sled dog race champion Hugh Neff of Tok has been banned from participating in the 2019 race for poor dog care. Yukon Quest organizers announced the censure today, along with final necropsy results for a Neff dog that died in this year’s race. Quest head veterinarian Nina Hansen says the four-year-old male husky named Boppy died from inhaling vomit. Hansen says that’s a somewhat common accidental cause of sled dog deaths, but Boppy had other preventable health issues.

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”There were stomach ulcers, intestinal inflamation, there were whip worms — so parasites — muscle necrosis and severe weight loss and muscle wasting,” Hansen said.

Boppy died while Neff’s team was resting at a trailside cabin located before the Quest halfway point at Dawson City, where Neff scratched from the race. Hansen says the dog should have been pulled from the race at the previous checkpoint at Eagle.

”It was a failure on the vet team, and I’m going to admit that,” Hansen said. “That dog was looked at in Eagle, and it was recorded to have a poor body condition. And that was not brought to my attention. It is noted in the vet book. I had left Eagle before Hugh got there so that it something I need to evaluate on the vet team as well.”

Hansen says mushers are ultimately responsible for care of their dogs, and the Quest rule committee and board decided to censure Neff. Neff cannot run in next year’s Quest, and will have to run the shorter Quest 300 before entering the 1,000-mile race in the future. The 50-year-old Neff has competed in the Quest 17 times, including wins in 2012 and 2016, and is also a regular top contender in the Iditarod. Neff has 30 days to request an informal hearing. He did not respond to messages requesting comment earlier today.

One of the diciest points in an airline merger is consolidating computer systems. That moment arrives Tuesday night for Alaska Airlines and its former West Coast rival, Virgin America.

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Seattle-based Alaska Airlines bought San Francisco-based Virgin America a year-and-a-half ago. The process of merging the two carriers under the Alaska brand reaches “a crescendo” this week, in the words of Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden.

Beginning Wednesday, Virgin’s ticket counters, kiosks and signage will disappear. Travelers will deal with one reservation system, one call center, one website and one smartphone app — all Alaska’s.

Tilden told Wall Street analysts Monday that the company is now set to realize the benefits of its $2.6 billion acquisition.

“As of this moment we think we are 65 or 70 percent of the way through the merger. By the end of this quarter, by June 30, we think we’ll be 85 percent of our way through the merger,” Tilden said. “I think we are in a really good position today.”

The rebranding won’t be over right away.

Repainting all of Virgin America’s Airbus plans in Alaska colors and changing out the interiors will take until next year. That will eliminate the seat-back TV screens Virgin had. Alaska Airlines delivers in-flight entertainment by streaming content to passengers’ own devices.

As the Virgin America brand and its scrappy, hip culture flies into the sunset, the sting is somewhat salved for Virgin’s pilots and flight attendants by the significant pay raises they receive on Alaska’s more generous union contracts.

Tilden said Monday that the successful negotiation of unified contracts was another reason he is optimistic about the merger of different work cultures.

“We’ve got more work to do, but we do have 80 percent of our collectively-bargained payroll that has got new, market-based agreements,” Tilden said. “That is a great accomplishment. It sets us up to get integrated seniority lists, which sets us up to get the cultural stuff settled and moving forward.”

Alaska Joins “Basic Economy” Trend

During Monday’s quarterly earnings teleconference, Alaska’s management also announced that the company would follow the nation’s biggest three airlines in offering stripped-down, basic economy fares. Alaska said the new option, dubbed “Saver Fares,” would debut in late fall.

“This low-priced product will be limited to seats assigned at the rear of the aircraft, and guests will board last,” Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Harrison said. “Upgrades for elites will not be permitted and the tickets will not be changeable or cancellable.”

Unlike the legacy carriers’ versions of basic economy, Alaska’s offering will still include advance seat assignment for free.

Delta, United and American all introduced basic economy fares in the past year to better compete with low-cost carriers such as Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier. Those airlines each offer super-low fares while imposing a myriad of fees, many for things that air travelers used to consider standard, such as use of the overhead bin, seat assignments, snacks, more legroom and itinerary changes.

Alaska Airlines leaders said they expect the new Saver Fares to drive $100 million in incremental revenue in 2019. Some business travel departments already steer clear of basic economy and will only book higher fare classes.

“It is sad to see Alaska Airlines take up this practice of basic economy,” Seattle travel blogger Alan Waite wrote. “It is setting up the customer for disappointment as the average customer doesn’t fully understand these fares. Personally, I hope that Alaska will change this decision before implementation in Fall 2018. Alaska typically doesn’t offer the cheapest tickets but instead offers the best service. I hope this isn’t a sign of Alaska’s willingness to participate in the race-to-the-bottom.”

A roomful of people packed the Fairbanks City Council meeting room Monday for the last public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would place limits on marijuana businesses before the council considers approval next month. Most supported the ordinance and called for greater regulation of the industry. Opponents say the measure is unfair and heavy-handed, and would further unfairly treat marijuana and alcohol differently.

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Both supporters and opponents of the proposed ordinance told council members they should regulate marijuana like alcohol. That’s what marijuana advocates asked for in their successful 2015 ballot measure that legalized commercial pot growing and sales. And anti-marijuana activist Vivian Stiver emphasized the point by leading others in reciting it at the end of her testimony.

“We have one request – we would like you to regulate marijuana like alcohol,” Stiver said, along with some in the audience.

Stiver cited for example Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office guidelines that call for one type of liquor license to be issued for every 3,000 or so residents. Based on that formula, she says Fairbanks should only have nine retail marijuana shops.

“It’s nine,” Stiver said. “Your ordinance calls for 12. Based on population, it’s nine. That’s how that formula (works).”

But City Clerk Danyielle Snider told the council in January that Fairbanks had 41 liquor dispensaries, mostly bars, and 15 package stores. By way of comparison, the city now has six marijuana retail shops and five growing facilities.

Retailer Dan Peters also asked for equal treatment over the issue of on-site consumption, which the ordinance would prohibit. Peters says marijuana users should be allowed to consume it on-site, at either the point of sale or separate facilities, such as a smoking room.

“I feel like it’s a freedom issue,” Peters said. “If you’re willing to allow alcohol consumption on-site, I believe that it’s reasonable for people who want to consume cannabis.”

But the proposed ordinance would ban all marijuana consumption in any public establishment, which Kevin McKinley says is another example of unfairly regulating the two industries differently.

“It seems to me that they want to have it one way for part of the industry, but then they want to shift it away for another part of the industry,” McKinley said. “Which is it? Do you want to regulate it like alcohol or not?”

Ordinance supporter Blake Burley says he also wishes the city would regulate the two intoxicants equally.

“I think marijuana has no place in our community,” Burley said. “Just like I believe alcohol has no place in our community.”

Supporters said marijuana-smoking establishments would generate more odor and could expose more people to health-harming secondhand smoke. Others, like Christine Robbins, believe they’d lead to more crime.

“I think you’re going to see an increase in rape victims,” Robbins said. “I think you’re going to see an increase in violent crime. And we really don’t have the police force to help regulate this, and control it.”

A third provision of the ordinance would increase the buffer-zone distance 500 to 750 feet between marijuana businesses and residential neighborhoods, schools and other sensitive areas. Opponents argued that would stifle the industry and discourage investment. Realtor Ray Brazier says it would make it harder to find qualifying properties for marijuana businesses.

“The buffer should be left alone,” Brazier said.

But Christa Dyer was among those who supports the provision, because she says it would balance the two competing interests.

“I do understand that this is a growing industry, and that’s great for our community,” Dyer said. “But we need to remember that it also needs to co-exist with people (who) own homes in these communities.”

After the public hearing, Mayor Jim Matherly – who introduced the ordinance – said the council will formally consider adopting it, or an amended version, in its May 9th meeting.

Strong winds are “wreaking havoc” across much of Anchorage on Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for much of the afternoon, in effect until about 7 p.m., with gusts expected to continue into the night.

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One reading on the Hillside clocked winds reaching 91 miles per hour, according to a National Weather Service Twitter account for Anchorage. The day saw reports of property damage, road closures and downed power lines.

Crews from Chugach Electric scrambled to restore electricity to customers, with 7,500 of homes without power as of about 4:30 p.m.

Areas of Turnagain Arm and East Anchorage are also getting hit with punishing gales. Residents are being asked to secure loose property and watch out for flying debris.

Public comment on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s budget is underway, but the often contentious issue of local school funding is already decided.

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The Borough Assembly voted at its last meeting to give local schools a set percentage of area-wide property taxes, and the borough will provide education funding to the school district by Feb.1 each year, much earlier than in the past.

Instead of the more complicated annual calculations it had been using, the borough’s annual contribution to school funding will be set at 6.3 mills for the next five years. That would be $630 dollars on a $100,000 property.

It’s not a new tax or a tax increase, just a defined allocation of existing taxes. And while the borough says it amounts to an additional $2.5 million dollars, that represents an increase of less than half a percent of the borough’s total school funding from last year.

Still, 6.3 mills is a big chunk of what the borough collects in property taxes overall. The area-wide tax rate worked out to about 10.3 mills last year, and the Mat-Su Borough manager has proposed keeping it the same this year. But the Assembly also voted at its April 17 meeting to set the area-wide tax cap at 10.5 mills, doing away with another more complicated formula.

Meantime, Mat-Su residents can testify on the upcoming borough budget. After a public hearing in Wasilla on Tuesday, there are hearings scheduled for Thursday in Palmer and Monday in Willow.

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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Juneau Rep. Parish won’t run for re-election

Jacob Resneck, KTOO – Juneau

That sets up the race for House District 34 to be between two sitting Juneau Assembly members, Democrat Rob Edwardson and Republican Jerry Nankervis.

Legislature weighs permanent fund earnings draw as session nears end

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

The Alaska Legislature is still working on the state budget, nine days after the scheduled end of the legislative session under state law. The outcome could depend on the House and Senate resolving their differences over what to do with Alaska Permanent Fund earnings.

Offshore lease schedule for Beaufort draws flak

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

Democrats in Congress are raising the alarm about the Interior Department’s efforts to hold an offshore oil lease sale in the Beaufort Sea next year.

Arc of Anchorage to pay $2.3M to settle allegations of false Medicaid claims

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

An Anchorage nonprofit that provides services to people with developmental disabilities will pay $2.3 million to settle allegations that it submitted false Medicaid claims.

Strong winds batter Anchorage

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for much of the afternoon, in effect until about 7 p.m., with gusts expected to continue into the night.

Alaska State Legislature urges Congress to address state ivory bans

Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks

The resolution takes aim at state laws like those in New York, California, Hawaii and Washington. Those states have passed broad anti-ivory laws in an attempt to combat the poaching of African elephants.

Hugh Neff banned from 2019 Yukon Quest due to poor dog care

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Two-time Yukon Quest sled dog race champion Hugh Neff of Tok has been banned from participating in the 2019 race for poor dog care.

As Mat-Su mulls budget, school funding off the table

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The Borough Assembly voted at its last meeting to give local schools a set percentage of area-wide property taxes, and the borough will provide education funding to the school district by Feb.1 each year, much earlier than in the past.

Marijuana-regulating ordinance advocates flood Fairbanks city council hearing to urge passage

Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks

Most supported the ordinance and called for greater regulation of the industry. Opponents say the measure is unfair and heavy-handed, and would further unfairly treat marijuana and alcohol differently.

Klukwan, Takshanuk Watershed Council unite for baseline water quality testing

Daysha Eaton, KHNS – Haines

The Takshanuk Watershed Council and the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan have been working together to collect baseline water quality data in Glacier Creek and the Klehini River, which flow into the Chilkat River.

Virgin America merger with Alaska Air reaches logistical crescendo this week

Tom Banse, NNN – Washington

Virgin’s ticket counters, kiosks and signage will disappear begin to disappear. Travelers will deal with one reservation system, one call center, one website and one smartphone app.

Over a month of severe GCI outages causing headaches for city workers

Anna Rose MacArthur, KYUK – Bethel

City workers along the mid-Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta coast are frustrated. The extreme ice pack encasing a GCI tower has been slowing down, or simply cutting off their work for more than a month.

Democrats in Congress are sounding the alarm about the Interior Department’s efforts to hold an offshore oil lease sale in the Beaufort Sea next year.

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Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Jared Huffman of California, wrote a letter to Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke Tuesday, urging the department to cease plans to schedule leases in the Beaufort in 2019.

Their letter says drilling there would be risky and unpopular and that there’s no effective way to clean up if a spill occurs in Arctic waters.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last month issued a formal call for information on which parts of the Beaufort should be open to drilling and which areas are sensitive or important to subsistence activities. That comment period ends Monday. The government has received more than 1,200 comments so far, many of them opposed to Arctic offshore drilling in general.

Drilling advocates say the outer continental shelf can be safely explored and that hundreds of wells have already been drilled in Arctic waters since the 1960s.

The Alaska Legislature still is working on the state budget, nine days after the scheduled end of the legislative session under state law. The outcome could depend on the House and Senate resolving their differences over what to do with Alaska Permanent Fund earnings.

The following is a rough transcript of Alaska News Nightly host Lori Townsend asking KTOO and Alaska Public Media’s Andrew Kitchenman about the process.

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What’s been happening with the budget?

The House passed its version of the budget and the Senate passed its version. But there are a lot of differences between the two versions. There’s a conference committee that’s met a couple of times. It’s been reaching agreement over the parts of the budget where the two chambers aren’t too far apart.

But we still don’t know what will happen with the parts where there are bigger differences. For example, the Senate budget includes $13.5 million less for the University of Alaska than the House. The part of the budget the Legislature directly controls will be $5.5 billion. Or maybe a little less.

How will the Legislature pay for the budget?

Well, this is the year the state will tap permanent fund earnings to pay for state government. Basically, no one sees an alternative.

But the big question is whether that draw from earnings will be done under the terms of a plan.

There’s a bill to enact that plan — Senate Bill 26 — where the legislature draws roughly 5 percent of the permanent fund’s market value each year. It’s been talked about for a long time, but there was some movement on it this week.

The Permanent Fund Corp. is urging the Legislature to pass a plan – so that they’re able to manage fund investments more effectively.

Until now, members of the House majority have said they would only agree to an earnings draw if there was also a tax on income or higher taxes on the oil and gas industry. But on Saturday, a conference committee met to discuss the bill to draw from the permanent fund. They have asked for the power to negotiate details of the draw.

What are they looking at?

One issue is how to address permanent fund dividends. The Senate version of the plan would devote a quarter of the earnings draw for PFDs. The House would spend a third of the draw on dividends. And Gov. Bill Walker proposed a compromise of 30 percent.

But the budget that both chambers have passed this year spends more than any of those proposals on PFDs. So there’s already a difference between the proposed budget and the proposed draw on fund earnings.

What other bills are lawmakers talking about?

The pace of passing bills has picked up since Day 90. Several bills to extend boards and commissions have passed. House Finance heard public testimony today on a bill to use bonds to pay for oil and gas tax credits.

A bill that would allow judges to use out-of-state criminal records to determine whether people charged with crimes will be released pretrial is still possible.

And lawmakers will likely turn to the capital budget once they have a clearer sense of what they’re doing with permanent fund earnings and the operating budget.

Is there any sense when the session will end?

There’s been some talk that it could end within the next week. Housing in Juneau is getting hard with the start of the cruise ship season. Lawmakers will likely be gone before the constitutional deadline to end the session. That’s May 16.

A crowd of determined well-wishers braved a wind-driven downpour to cheer the Ketchikan High School team’s return from Texas, where they took top honors at the national competition.

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The rain was coming down by the bucketful, and sideways because of all the wind. But that didn’t deter a big crowd from hanging around outside and waiting for Ketchikan’s Academic Decathlon – or AcDc — team to arrive.

It’s not often, after all, that a small island community in Alaska brings home a first place national win. This is a big deal. And in Ketchikan, that means bagpipes.

Before all the cheering and piping, KRBD caught up with the team at the airport and talked with a few members waiting in baggage claim.

Largim Zhuta is a senior this year, and said winning first place in the small-schools division is a great way to end his high school career.

“It’s still kind of settling in that we won,” Largim said. “It’s pretty fricking amazing that we were able to make history twice. Not only win state for the first time in Southeast history, but first Alaska team to get first place at nationals. That’s pretty huge.”

Zhuta said winning was especially gratifying because they were competing against all the top schools throughout the United States.

Kethickan High senior Lydia Sumrall has been with the Academic Decathlon team three years. She said the team has gotten stronger every year, and winning state proved that. Sumrall said they were just happy to be part of the national competition in Frisco, Texas.

“I think we went down there not necessarily expecting to win, but knowing that it was possible,” Sumrall said. “And so the fact that we went above and beyond and did win was really incredible for us. Over-the-wall happy.”

Sumrall said science is her best area, but she enjoys all the objective categories.

“The fact that the objective tests have such meticulous right or wrong answers gets me totally driven to study and to know the material,” Sumrall said. “So whenever I do well on one of those, it’s very fulfilling to know I got to that deep of a level to know what was going to be on the test.”

Sumrall said she hopes Ketchikan’s accomplishments this year will inspire other small schools in Alaska.

This year was the first year with Academic Decathlon for senior Adrian Ronquillo. He said he heard about the team last year from his cousin.

“I saw her working on something in her living room. It was a bunch of guides. This pertained to Academic Decathlon,” Ronquillo said. “I asked her what it was all about. And she’s like, ‘We study for fun.’ I was like, ‘Why?’”

So, Ronquillo didn’t sign up that year, but he was recruited by some friends to try this year. He studied for fun and now he’s got a national championship medal hanging around his neck.

Sitting on the ferry, damp from a brief dash through the rain, team Coach Peter Stanton said the national competition experience was intense, but other than making sure the students were where they should be, he didn’t have a whole lot to do.

“I just had to sit back and watch and hope for the best,” Stanton said.

Stanton said they had an inkling by the time of the awards ceremony that they were going to do well.

“We knew what our competition was and what other small schools in the nation were closest to us,” Stanton said. “We heard Monmouth Academy from Maine, they got third place, we heard that. Then we heard DaVinci Academy from Utah, and at that point I think most all of us realized, ‘Wow, we actually did it.’ If those two took third and second, those were our closest competitors. And then they called us up and it was pretty amazing.”

Ketchikan is the first Alaska team to win at nationals. Stanton said a likely contributing factor is that previous state teams to attend that competition were from larger schools. They competed in Division II. Ketchikan is small enough to qualify for Division III.

At the same time, though, those kids worked hard and their success is well deserved. Just ask all those people waiting at the ferry terminal.

The Kethickan High team also won “Rookie of the Year” at nationals, and took second place in the Division III SuperQuiz.

• Charisma Manalo placed 4th in Music, 4th in Science and contributed the 3rd-highest score on the team, with an individual total score of 6,769.1.
• Largim Zhuta won a bronze medal in Science.
• Emme Andersen won bronze in Music and bronze in Literature.
• Adrian Ronquillo won bronze in Music, bronze in Economics and silver in Science.
• Megan Cornwall won a bronze medal in Science, gold in Speech and gold in interview.
• Mackenzie Fousel won bronze in Economics, bronze in Science, silver in Art, silver in Literature, gold in Music, gold in Mathematics and earned a $500 scholarship with the 3rd-highest varsity total score in Division III.
• Lydia Sumrall won bronze in Essay, bronze in Social Science, silver in Economics, silver in Music, silver in Science, gold in Art and earned a $750 scholarship with the 2nd-highest varsity total score in Division III.
• Max Varela won bronze in Science, gold in Art, gold in Economics, gold in Social Science and won $500 for being selected as the most valuable team member and having the team’s highest individual total score of 7,595.4.

(Individual team members’ information provided by coach Peter Stanton)

The state’s Legislative Council adopted an updated sexual and other workplace harassment policy. The committee unanimously adopted the policy on Monday.

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The new, six-page sexual harassment policy includes a more thorough definition of harassment than the 18-year-old, one-page policy. It also provides more details on how to report harassment. It sets out a timeline for investigations of harassment. And it allows for independent investigations of alleged harassment by legislators.

The council adopted a separate professional workplace conduct policy. It prohibits a variety of behavior. The policy bars legislators or supervisors from having consensual sex with their employees. It bars conduct that creates an “offensive workplace.” It also prohibits disruptive behavior, including “waving hands, arms or fists.”

Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman said he’s concerned the workplace conduct policy could prevent lawmakers from asking hard questions.

“There are a lot of things that are subjective that this policy touches on,” Eastman said.

Eagle River Republican Sen. Anna MacKinnon said the policy is an improvement. Until now, the Legislature hasn’t had a policy on conduct separate from the harassment policy.

“There were opportunities for clarity for both staff and legislators in understand what is a safe and professional workplace environment,” MacKinnon said.

The Legislature decided to revisit the harassment policy last year. Legislators cited concerns about harassment both inside the Capitol and nationally in seeking the review. Democratic Rep. Dean Westlake of Kiana resigned in December due to sexual harassment allegations. And Democratic Rep. Zach Fansler of Bethel resigned in February after a woman alleged he attacked her.

In order to create the next generation of learners, innovators and leaders, Alaska needs hardworking and capable teachers. It takes excellent instructors who create classroom environments that inspire excitement and passion for learning. Alaskans can honor the work of creative educators in their communities by nominating them to be the next Teacher of the Year.

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The nomination deadline for the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the year is coming up at the end of the month.

Bob Williams with the State Department of Education says that the selected educator will compete with 53 other teachers from all U.S. states and territories in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

“We’re looking for teachers that are an expert in their field who guide students of all backgrounds and abilities to achieve excellence,” Williams said. “We’re looking for a teacher that collaborates with colleagues, students and families to create a school culture of respect and success. And we’re looking for a teacher that deliberately connects the classroom and key stakeholders to foster a strong community at-large.”

Ben Walker, a science teacher at Romig Middle School in Anchorage, was the 2018 Teacher of the Year. Williams says Teacher of the Year nominees come from all corners of the state. He encourages Alaskans to nominate great teachers in classrooms of all sizes for the national competition. It’s been more than 20 years since an Alaska teacher won the national spot. Elaine Griffith of Chiniak Elementary was the 1995 National Teacher of the Year.

“So, I guess that one thing I really want to stress is that every day, there are absolutely amazing things happening in classrooms across Alaska,” Williams said. “And also, to your listeners out there, never underestimate the power and influence that you have by thanking or nominating a teacher that’s made an influence in your life, or the life of your child.”

Nomination forms for the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year can be found on the Department of Educations’s website.  The deadline for submission is April 30th.

City workers along the mid-Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta coast are frustrated. The extreme ice pack encasing a GCI tower has been slowing down, or simply cutting off their work for more than a month.

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Lori Hill is worried. She’s the bookkeeper for the City of Hooper Bay, and her deadline for submitting a quarterly grant report is coming up.

“The internet has been going on and off, and it’s ruining our paperwork,” Hill said.

If that paperwork isn’t submitted on time, that could hurt Hooper Bay’s ability to get funding in the future.

Chevak has a similar headache. The internet sometimes connects for only 15 minutes out of the work day. City Administrator Dennis Jones says these constant internet outages are threatening the mayor’s ability to submit a grant application on time. The funding would convert their old health clinic into a hotel.

“What should have taken him less than three or four hours,” Jones said, “went on for, like, I don’t know how many days.”

Interruptions to phone and internet services started in mid-March. Thick ice began building up on the nearest GCI tower, causing services to go on and off for landlines, cell phones, data and internet. The outages have grown more frequent, and when the internet and data are working, they’re slower than usual.

Last Wednesday, the tower completely shut down communication in and out of Chevak and Hooper Bay. Scammon Bay City Administrator Larson Hunter said that weird effects continued throughout the week when people called the city office.

“We’d get dead air and on their end it’d be, like, a screeching,” Hunter said.

Cell phones could only connect with cell phones and landlines with landlines, which caused problems.

“The majority of the businesses are landline based,” Hunter explained. “And most of the customers or residents are cell phone based.”

The Scammon Bay clinic and school have been improvising by using VHF radio to announce cell phone numbers for people to call.

Lori Hill in Hooper Bay is concerned about people’s ability to call for help in an emergency. She says that for the last couple of days, her cell phone has been able to text, but not make or receive calls or use data.

“The only way we can call for help is through a VHF,” Hill said. “Or we just run to wherever the closest landline phone is.”

But few people have these reliable communication methods in their homes, and being dependent on only one provider increases their vulnerability.

GCI says that they’re working to fix the problems by installing a satellite dish as a temporary fix until technicians can approach the iced-over tower.

A $9 million oil spill cleanup is winding down on the southern end of Shuyak Island in an area that’s critical habitat for marine mammals like sea otters and Steller sea lions.

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The spill happened in late February, when a dock at Port William collapsed, causing a building and a container filled with fuel to fall into the water, releasing an estimated 3,000 gallons of oil.

Commander James Binniker of the U.S. Coast Guard is helping lead the cleanup. He says spill responders have met the Coast Guard’s goals for the response.

“We wanted no oil left on the rocky surfaces or the pilings that we could access where oil would come off when rubbed, so we don’t want anything that’s gonna oil a bird or any marine mammal or any wildlife that gets on that beach,” Binniker said.

Besides using booms to contain the oil, responders also cleaned up debris from the fallen structures and pressure washed harder surfaces. The unified response includes contractor Alaska Chadux and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

According to the latest DEC situation report, responders have collected more than 1,800 bags of oiled absorbent material so far including from heavy oil called Bunker C fuel, in addition to oils like diesel and gasoline.

Binniker says there is still some oil in the remaining two structures on the water and the person currently managing the site agreed to allow the responders to remove a portion of it.

But Binniker says at this point it’s out of the Coast Guard’s hands.

“The remaining pier structures are not unlike many throughout Alaska, and it’s not our determination at this point that it poses an imminent threat of collapse and pollution,” Binniker said.

While the response is winding down, Geoff Merrell of DEC says the state is also going to check out tanks held in a structure further up the property.

DEC has an open, ongoing case related to the tanks. According to the Coast Guard, in 2013 one of the tanks was shot, and that led to a leak of oil onto the property.

Merrell says that’s what they’re going to look into as part of their next steps.

“What we’re going to investigate is the impact of that leak on the ground and soils and potential contamination,” Merrell said.

Chugiak resident Mark Krall says he’s the effective manager of the land. He explains he took on that role in 2012 in light of the poor health of the owner, who he says is a friend of his, and he says he was running a lodge in the area until last year.

Krall says vandalism led to the leak on the property, and he flew to Shuyak Island to take care of it.

“There was a slight sheen, but not much of it evidently got to the water when the vandals shot it,” Krall said. “Actually, most of it absorbed into the soil on the hill above the water.”

Krall says, at the time, it was either clean up the land or else the property owner would deal with more expensive fines from the Coast Guard.

He says he shipped in oil response equipment and footed the bill himself, which he says ended being a little more than $40,000, a cost which he says contributed to him closing the lodge.

Krall says he stored the remainder of the oil from the tank in a container in one of the buildings at the docks. That’s where it stayed until strong winds knocked it into the water in February, causing the most recent spill.

Krall was employing a caretaker for the property at the time. He says the caretaker emailed him the day the container carrying the fuel fell into the water.

Krall was unclear about what he intends to do with oil still stored there. He also indicated he was trying to end his involvement with the property. Krall did not respond to further emails seeking clarification by deadline.

A representative from DEC says that the state is still investigating who might be the responsible party.

The state Department of Transportation is gearing up for another busy construction season on Southcentral highways, and delays for motorists could be felt most acutely on two popular thoroughfares.

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The heavily-trafficked Glenn Highway will see work resume on multiple projects. One is resurfacing north of Anchorage to remove ruts in the pavement. Closer to Palmer, a new project will likely overlap with ongoing construction on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, the only other route into Palmer for commuters between the cities.

It’s still unclear how long Palmer drivers will be navigating both of those construction zones in their area. The state is still soliciting bidders for the Glenn Highway project near Palmer, DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy.

“This is the time of year people are concerned about construction in their area, so I’d definitely say that we’ve heard from folks wanting to hear construction plans, and we’ll know more once we have a successful bidder on board,” McCarthy said.

To the south of Anchorage, there are massive construction projects starting on the Kenai Peninsula, as well as on the Seward Highway, which is getting a new look closer to Girdwood, McCarthy said.

“That’s gonna be widening the (Seward Highway), big shoulders, passing lanes, which everyone will like when they’re finished, and then some dedicated two-way left turn lanes so that folks can get safely to some of the attractions in the area,” McCarthy said. “And then when you get down to the Kenai, it’s actually a huge construction year for the Kenai. There’s two large projects on the Sterling and then of course the Kenai Spur Highway, so a number of projects.”

That’s just to name a few. McCarthy said the best way to keep on top of when and where various projects might cause traffic delays is by checking alaskanavigator.org.

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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Legislative Council adopts new sexual harassment policy

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

The council adopted a separate professional workplace conduct policy. It prohibits a variety of behavior.

Complaint alleged unwanted contact from Parish

Associated Press

A newspaper reports that outgoing Alaska state Rep. Justin Parish faced a sexual harassment complaint earlier this year and was ordered by the House speaker to take additional training.

Senate joins House in recognizing Alaska Native languages emergency

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

A report by the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council said the state should make it policy to promote Alaska Native language schools wherever possible.

Alaska to house 6 new cutters, Coast Guard says

Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The U.S. Coast Guard announced today it will homeport four of its new Fast Response Cutters in Alaska. Two of the cutters will go to Kodiak. Seward and Sitka will each get one, and Ketchikan will retain the two new cutters previously stationed there.

Response wraps up on Shuyak Island oil spill

Kayla Desroches, KMXT – Kodiak

A $9 million oil spill cleanup is winding down on the southern end of Shuyak Island in an area that’s critical habitat for marine mammals like sea otters and Steller sea lions.

Southcentral Alaska road construction ramping up for summer

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The state Department of Transportation is gearing up for another busy construction season on Southcentral highways, and delays for motorists could be felt most acutely on two popular thoroughfares.

Deadline for Teacher of the Year nominations at the end of the month

Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The nomination deadline for the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the year is coming up at the end of the month.

The climatology behind the Nenena Ice Classic

Annie Feidt, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

The most famous river break up event in Alaska has ticket holders on edge. The Nenana Ice Classic tripod is still upright on a mushy layer of Tanana river ice.

Ketchikan High Academic Decathlon team gets a hero’s welcome

Leila Kheiry, KRBD – Ketchikan

A crowd of determined well-wishers braved a wind-driven downpour to cheer the Ketchikan High School team’s return from Texas, where they took top honors at the national competition.

The Alaska Senate joined the House on Wednesday in asking Gov. Bill Walker to recognize that the decline of Alaska Native languages is an emergency.

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The Senate passed a resolution urging Walker to work with lawmakers and Alaska Native organizations to make the continued use of the languages a priority.

The state government recognizes 20 Alaska Native languages as official languages of the state, along with English.

A January report found that all the languages could lose their last speakers by the end of the century.

The report recommended the state declare a linguistic emergency.

The House passed a resolution urging the Walker to do that in March. And the Senate acted Wednesday.

Sarah Dybdahl was among those who witnessed the vote. The cultural heritage and education manager for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska said people have dedicated their lives to the languages.

“The Senate today in passing that recognizes the work of those individuals and also sends a clear message to the governor that action needs to be taken,” Dybdahl said.

The resolution doesn’t spell out what that action will be.

The report by the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council said the state should make it policy to promote Alaska Native language schools wherever possible.

For much of the 20th century, the federal and state government promoted policies that suppressed Alaska Native language and culture. Those policies included forbidding the use of Alaska Native languages in village schools and boarding schools.

Dybdahl said the resolution is progress.

And she has some ideas on policies Walker could promote: “immersion schools, geographical signage of our place names getting our place names back on the land. There’s … multiple opportunities that could be outlined.”

The advisory council report also called on the state to create an Alaska Native school board to promote Alaska Native tribal and charter schools. And to direct all University of Alaska branches to provide high-quality instruction in the language of the region.

Dybdahl noted that one of the 20 languages – Eyak – lost its last fluent speaker in 2008.

“To lose a language is to lose a way of thinking,” Dybdahl said. “Our values and our culture and our protocols are all tied into our language. And when you start to lose that, those other aspects of who we are go with it.”

The Walker administration has been watching the resolutions progress.

“When you say the word ‘emergency,’ there’s a sense of immediacy to that,” Barbara Blake, Walker’s senior adviser for tribal affairs, fish and game and marine resources, said. “The governor’s office definitely recognizes the sense of immediacy and the urgency behind any language initiative.”

Blake said the administration will work with the council to follow up on the resolution, which could include steps like expanding the use of Alaska Native geographic names on signs.

It may also support legislation for other steps that require changes in state law.

Council member Lance Twitchell welcomed the resolution. He said at some point, the state must move from saying it’s a priority to changing the way it does things.

“I know some people don’t believe that the government should have any role in language revitalization,” Twitchell said. “But the difficult is that the government had an active role in language destruction.”

The House must decide whether to agree to changes the Senate made before the resolution is adopted.

An Alaska Native corporation will soon provide support services for the U.S. Navy in Guantanamo Bay, on the island of Cuba. Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corp. won the $18 million contract earlier this month.

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It’s another step in the growth of the profit-making arm of the state’s largest tribal government.

Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corp. is owned by the Juneau-based Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The council lists more than 30,000 tribal members in Southeast, the rest of Alaska and around the nation and the world. Its business operations are separate from those of Native corporations formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Business corporation subsidiary KIRA announced the Guantanamo contract April 12. It will manage maintenance services, port operations and waterfront administration for the base.

The corporation announced a similar, $44 million contract about a week earlier for the U.S. Marine Corps air station in Beaufort, South Carolina.

The contracts are among more than a dozen providing military and other government support services from Florida to Alaska.

CEO Richard Rinehart said the corporation continues to seek more work.

“I look at it as it’s like longlining. We have all these lines out with lots of hooks. And we’re out there fishing and by having more lines in the water, we’re hopeful to bring more home,” Rinehart said.

Rinehart and others discussed the business corporation’s progress at the central council’s recent tribal assembly in Juneau. He said sales were $57.7 million in 2017, close to twice the amount of the previous year.

Rinehart projects about 30 percent more sales for the current year.

Net income last year was only $865,000. But it was a third more than the previous year. Rinehart said the amount will increase as startup costs are paid off.

General Manager Bob Hamilton said military and other contracts are due, in part, to the corporation’s 8(a) status. That’s a provision in federal law that gives minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses a bidding preference.

Hamilton said the corporation began with janitorial contracts.

“And now we’re in IT, security, aircraft logistics as far as support and services for aircraft and we’re actually in port management. So we’ve really come a long ways,” Hamilton said.

Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corp. officials say it employs about 600 people.

Most of the jobs are in other parts of the country. But the corporation’s hiring policy includes a preference for tribal members.

Tlingit Haida Central Council President Richard Peterson made business development part of his platform when he ran for office four years ago. He told this year’s tribal assembly it’s still a top priority.

“We’re only as sovereign as we can afford to be. We need economic sovereignty. We need to be able to manage ourselves sustainably, not so dependent on the federal government, so that we can exercise true self-determination and do what we see fit for our tribal citizens,” Peterson said.

Peterson was re-elected president at the tribal assembly, which was held April 18-20.

Alaska has reported its first cases of a strain of E. coli bacteria related to a national outbreak going on this month. Statewide, all eight confirmed cases are inmates currently residing in Nome’s Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (AMCC).

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According to a press release from the State, the investigation of the outbreak is ongoing. But as of yesterday, no additional E. coli cases have been reported by AMCC or elsewhere in Alaska.

Louisa Castrodale is one of the epidemiologists with the infectious disease program at the state section of epidemiology under the Department of Health and Social Services. She confirms that all eight inmates contracted a specific strain of the bacteria through eating romaine lettuce served at AMCC.

“What we’re talking about here is a type of E. coli, a shiga-toxin-producing E. coli, and so it can be pretty damaging to people,” Castrodale said. “It can cause some severe illness, vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody diarrhea. So generally, when we think about E. coli O157 infections, it’s a gastrointestinal infection.”

State and national entities are investigating more than 50 E. coli cases across 16 states. Castrodale says by collaborating with those entities, they have determined that the infectious lettuce came from Yuma, Arizona, but don’t know which specific farm.

“We also work very closely — because there is a food product suspected here to be the cause — with our partners in Food Safety,” Castrodale said. “So the Department of Environmental Conservation, they’re working with FDA and the CDC to help figure out: where did this lettuce come from? What farm, can they trace it back? How far can they trace it back? And to sort of look at all the distribution loops to see why certain states are seeing it and certain venues.”

In order to control the outbreak within AMCC, a spokesperson with the Department of Corrections (DOC) says their staff and medical support implemented rigorous hygiene requirements earlier this month, like more frequent hand-scrubbing.

“Outbreaks like this in a prison setting can be a little stressful, because everybody lives so close together; everybody interacts so closely all the time,” Castrodale said. “So we really do have really good medical staff, and really good staff at Anvil, because they had to go into overdrive to make sure that this incident was contained. That meant just a really good scrubbing of everything in the facility.”

Megan Edge is the public information officer with DOC. She says lettuce was taken off the menu temporarily, but AMCC will start serving the leafy green vegetable from another grower, to avoid further infections.

“And we aren’t just going to use the product that we have from Arizona; we’re going to follow the CDC’s recommendations ourselves and just not risk it,” Edge said. “We are still looking at the logistics of where we will continue to get products from, but there are other options outside of Arizona. And we do have a correctional farm out in Mat-Su that we’re getting ready to head into growing season, and that’s always a huge relief for us, because we can take a lot of products that we are growing ourselves and use them at our facilities.”

According to Edge, none of the eight patients with confirmed E. coli cases were hospitalized, and all of them are back within the general population of 117 residing at AMCC.

The Department of Health and Social Services will provide more updates on the investigation when it is available. For now, the Center for Disease Control recommends Alaskans avoid eating any romaine lettuce unless you can verify it is not from Yuma, Arizona.