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Meet the companies testing self-driving vehicles in the Pacific Northwest

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Google spin-off company Waymo’s Firefly 1 reference vehicle. Waymo is one of seven companies that has notified Washington’s Department of Licensing that they plan to test self-driving vehicles. (Photo courtesy Waymo)

Seven different companies have notified Washington’s Department of Licensing that they plan to test self-driving vehicles on roads in the state. Oregon transportation officials have gotten notifications from two other companies.

A mixture of big tech companies and startups are expanding their test programs to the Northwest. The list includes Waymo, NVIDIA, Intel and TORC Robotics. Washington has minimal requirements and allows self-driving car testing either with a safety back-up driver or with no human on board.

“The industry, the private sector is pulling government along, whether we’re ready or not,” Washington Transportation Commission Executive Director Reema Griffith said at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit in Seattle last Thursday. “We’re trying to play catch up, but we do need a public policy framework.”

“The delicate balance is the challenge that we have to hit where we’re not suppressing innovation. We’re enabling it. We’re encouraging it and incentivizing it,” Griffith continued. “But at the same time we’ve got to look out for public safety and getting the public ready and comfortable with this notion. And helping human drivers as we think about a blended fleet that will probably be in existence for quite a while.”

At that same event, Lyft Self-Driving Product Lead Jody Kelman said “the autonomous future” is closer than people realize.

“If you were in Vegas today instead of hanging out with us here, you could actually open up your Lyft app at the Bellagio and request a self-driving Lyft ride today,” Kelman said.

Oregon has a voluntary notification process and no specific rules yet for autonomous vehicle testing. The Oregon and Washington legislatures have both authorized task forces to look into the safety, regulatory, liability, infrastructure and economic development dimensions of autonomous vehicles.

An Oregon Department of Transportation spokeswoman said truck maker Daimler and chipmaker Intel submitted voluntary notification forms for autonomous vehicle testing. ODOT’s Sarah Kelber said Daimler’s project involved a technology for truck platooning — electronically-connected semis closely following each other — which could increase the efficiency of highway transport. Intel is involved in multiple autonomous vehicle projects, but did not immediately respond to a message asking which it was bringing to Oregon.

The seven companies that have “self-certified” to Washington’s Department of Licensing that they can safely test autonomous vehicle technology on public roads are:

  • May Mobility – Michigan-based startup focused on self-driving shuttle fleets
  • Navya Inc – French robotaxi developer
  • NVIDIA Corporation – Established chipmaker that has branched into artificial intelligence and vehicle software and sensors
  • TORC Robotics – Blacksburg, Virginia-based, with significant defense contracting revenues
  • Waymo LLC – Self-driving car subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc.
  • Dooblai LLC – software company in Bellevue, Washington
  • Simple Solutions – California-based computer networking company

Google spin-off company Waymo has been testing on the roads of Kirkland, Washington, since 2016, starting with a single modified Lexus SUV. Google has a large office in Kirkland.

In total, Waymo reports it has logged more than 5 million self-driving miles across all its test locations, with the majority of those miles happening near its headquarters in California’s Bay Area.

May Mobility, based in Michigan, makes a self-driving mini-shuttle bus. It recently submitted a bid to the city of Bellevue, Washington, in response to a request for proposals for an autonomous downtown shuttle. May Mobility awaits word whether it was selected to provide a single transporter, which would circulate on a 1-2 mile loop through downtown Bellevue’s office and restaurant districts and pass the transit center.

The director of development for Navya North America, Chris Pauly, said the self-driving shuttle and robotaxi company does not have any vehicles operating in Washington yet, but anticipates having them before the end of the year or early 2019.

“Washington is an ideal state to test and operate shuttles in due to a variety of factors including varying environmental (weather) conditions, mix-use traffic patterns and a known regulatory environment which allows for autonomous vehicles to be deployed,” Pauly said in an email.

Virginia-based TORC Robotics posted pictures on its website from a cross-country road trip using a Lexus SUV equipped with its software and multi-sensor self-driving system. The car encountered rain in the Seattle area, a potential challenge to self-driving vehicles’ perception abilities. TORC proudly reported its system conquered the challenge.

The list of companies that have notified Oregon and Washington that they are testing in the Northwest does not include any that were involved in recent serious incidents involving cars operating in autonomous mode. A test sedan owned by the ride-hailing service Uber hit and killed a woman crossing a street in Arizona in March. Several Tesla drivers have been killed or injured when their cars with “Autopilot” software engaged slammed into stopped vehicles. The most recent such crash happened in Utah on May 11.


Wildwood Correction Center inmate dies

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An inmate at a Department of Corrections facility died yesterday morning.

Leslie Aveoganna, 57, passed away at the Wildwood Correction Center in Kenai, according to a statement from DOC spokesperson Megan Edge. Aveoganna began serving a sentence at the facility in 2015 for a kidnapping conviction.

There are no signs of foul-play or suicide, according to the release, and the death is under investigation by state officials.

DOC says this is the third prisoner death in a department facility this year.

State experiencing outbreak of Gonorrhea

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(Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Facebook logo)

Alaska is seeing an outbreak in a dangerous sexually transmitted disease. In a notice today, public health officials say an outbreak of Gonorrhea first reported in October 2017 led researchers to find Alaska’s rate of infection is 297 per 100,000 compared to the national average of 145.8 per 100,000.

Left untreated, Gonorrhea can lead to infertility, facilitate the risk of HIV and lead to problems with pregnancies. Nationwide, the number of cases reported to health officials is steadily increasing. But Alaska’s rates have shot up. In 2017, 2,190 incidents were reported, representing a 51 percent increase from the prior year.

The state’s Section of Epidemiology attributes the rise to several factors. Those include healthcare providers doing a better job screening for the disease, an increase in incidents principally among men because of risky sexual behaviors, diminished access to healthcare and fewer resources for prevention.

Researchers say the data suggest Alaska has the second highest rate of Gonorrhea in the country. However, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, current national rates are still significantly lower than recent periods during the 70s and 80s.

This old growth timber didn’t sell last time. Can it attract a buyer now?

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The Tongass National Forest. (Creative Commons photo by Xa’at)

controversial old growth timber sale in the Tongass National Forest has undergone a few changes before coming back on the market. The U.S. Forest Service removed some of the more sensitive watershed areas included in the original offer, which received zero bids back in 2016.

Owen Graham, with the Alaska Forest Association, says he chuckled when he saw the forest service was being sued by conservation groups over this latest version of the Kuiu Island timber sale.

“If somebody did buy it, I hope they could make it work,” Graham said. “But I’d be surprised. It looks like a loser to me.”

A “loser” — in Graham’s words — that he thinks wouldn’t pencil out for a buyer in the domestic or export market.

Kuiu is extremely remote. Plus, the sale is now almost half the size of what the forest service originally planned.

Those factors, Graham says, make it difficult to turn a profit. He thinks the forest service  is trying to supply the last few remaining timber jobs.

But increased regulation has limited what areas can be logged, and he says the Kuiu sale reflects that.

“Now, the industry is in jeopardy,” Graham said. “And so, they’re scrambling around to find anything they can to keep the industry alive.”

Buck Lindekugel with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council agrees with Graham on one thing: this latest attempt by the forest service looks like a scramble.

Lindekugel is a grassroots attorney, and his group is suing the forest service over the sale on Kuiu island. He hopes it discourages a buyer.

“Any purchaser is going to know that we filed this lawsuit before they decide whether they’re going to bid on it,” Lindekugel said.

The forest service started preparing the Kuiu Island timber sale 11 years ago, and it’s original plans probably wouldn’t fly today. The agency has since moved away from selling trees in valuable watersheds next to salmon streams. It dropped those some of those areas in the sale this time around.

But Lindekugel says it didn’t update its environmental analysis.

“The previous environmental analysis they did for this over eleven years ago is stale,” Lindekugel said. “[It] doesn’t reflect current conditions and therefore, could not possibly evaluate the effects of this sale in today’s world.”

Lindekugel says the north end of Kuiu island has become a popular spot to take in the scenery for small cruise ships.

Lindekugel thinks tourism is a better investment for the future of the Tongass.

The forest service is accepting bids on the Kuiu Island timber sale until June 5.

Social media records brought in for evidence as alleged Grunwald murder accomplice stands trial

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David Grunwald (Photo courtesy of Erin Grunwald)

The Palmer trial of Erick Almandinger is in its second week. Almandinger is one of several teenagers who are accused of murdering 16-year-old David Grunwald in 2016. Heather Hintze is a reporter with Anchorage TV station KTVA and has been in Palmer court every day of Almandinger’s trial. She spoke to Alaska Public Media’s Lori Townsend, saying that David Grunwald’s parents are there every day.

HINTZE: The witness testimony is varied from very emotional from Grunwald’s girlfriend to the pretty technical things. We had one of the investigators yesterday talking about how they were able to trace the phone calls and how they recovered stuff from Facebook and Snapchat. So, it runs the range of emotions throughout the days.

TOWNSEND: I wanted to ask you about that. Yesterday, there was testimony from troopers regarding deleted messages from Almandinger’s social media accounts. Tell us about what they were able to recover and what it may reveal about his actions.

HINTZE: Troopers made sure they put out a “preservation letter” to Facebook on Nov. 15 which is two days after Grunwald went missing. That meant that anything they’d ask for — I think they asked for records from Nov. 13th and 14th — that not of that stuff could be deleted. So Facebook basically took a snapshot of that and was able to email them a digital record of the conversations. And there’s a conversation at around 8:00 the night Grunwald went missing where Dominic Johnson had asked, “Hey, can you bring me that .40? Hey can you bring me the gun?” And it kind of discussed the actions that led up into the trailer. And then the investigator testified that when he did a manual search of the tablet — I think it was in December, a couple weeks later — he did a manual search of the tablet, which meant he had access to Almandinger’s Facebook account itself. And he went on and looked for those messages, and those messages had been deleted.

TOWNSEND: Heather, how would you characterize Erick Almandinger’s defense so far in this case?

HINTZE: Jon Iannaccone is his defense attorney and got up the first day of the opening statements and said, “This isn’t going to be your typical case. I’m not gonna come with some big fancy argument. I’m not gonna dispute any of the DNA evidence. I’m not gonna dispute any of the facts that troopers are saying.” He said, “I think troopers did an excellent job in this case, and we’re not arguing any of those points.” He even went to say, “my client is guilty of crimes committed after Grunwald was killed. He’s guilty of burning the Bronco, he’s guilty of lying to police.” This is what Jon Iannaccone told the jurors, that his client is guilty of those crimes. But he said Almandinger is not guilty of murder because he did not pull the trigger. “He didn’t have murder in his mind,” is kinda how he phrased it.

TOWNSEND: It seems like Palmer residents and others have really struggled with the apparent senselessness of this murder. As the trial has progressed, is there any indication as to a motive among this group of teenagers accused of killing David Grunwald?

HINTZE: There’s really nothing that I’ve been able to see from what’s come out of the evidence. You know, I talked to Edie and Ben [Grunwald, the victim’s parents] and asked, “Do you think you’ll get an answer as to why this happened?” They said no. They don’t think they’ll ever get an answer. The only thing that we can say right now from the evidence — we’re listening right now to the December 2 interview that Almandinger had with troopers. That was the day, he was arrested right after that interview; that was the day they found Grunwald’s body. and the only thing he said in that interview was that, “Dominic was mad that David Grunwald had smoked all of their weed.” The troopers say that’s why Dominic ended up pistol-whipping Grunwald, and I think troopers have said the pistol-whipping was so bad that that’s when they decided to murder him, to cover up that crime.

TOWNSEND: The trial seems to have involved an examination of the teenagers lifestyles. You talked a little bit about that with the social media aspect. The differences in their home lives, things like whether they were attending school or not or partying. What has the testimony revealed about them and who they sort of aspired to be?

HINTZE: The testimony about Almandinger has said he really glamourized or idolized Crips’ gang lifestyle. He had Google searches for blue bandanas, Crip jewelry. He even searched Etsy for unique Crips items. I think the overall thing we’re getting from a lot of these kids is there was really a lack of adult supervision. Erick Almandinger didn’t go to school regularly. It wasn’t uncommon for Erick just not to come home. He had spent that summer living in “trap houses,” or drug houses. Just a lack of adult supervision and these kids just running around doing kind of whatever they wanted.

Heather Hintze is a reporter with Anchorage station KTVA. She says closing statements could happen mid-next week, with jury deliberations expected to start by the end of the week. 

Drawing on historical strengths to prevent problems in the future

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Community members join together for a qasgiq in Hooper Bay. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)

Ten-year-old August Seton sat in a small crowded community building in Hooper Bay surrounded by people of all ages, from little kids to elders. He clutched a piece of brightly colored fleece in his hand, slowly stitching the ends together.

“I’m gonna sew this way, and then turn it around and then go back that way,” he explained, pulling the thread taut.

He was making a face mask for his mom to block the cold coastal wind when she travels on a snow machine through their village and other parts of southwest Alaska.

For August, learning to sew isn’t just a practical skill. “I like about it because it reminds me of my grandma,” he said. “She used to like to sew. All the time.”

August was doing more than taking a sewing class. He was connecting with the people around him and remembering his family and his culture. He was participating in Qungasvik, a community-driven program that uses culture to help young people feel safer and more connected with their community.

Lawrence Bunyan sews a kuspuk during a Qungasvik activity. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)

The research the led to the development of Qungasvik started in the early 1990s in response to a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles by the Anchorage Daily News about alcohol abuse and suicide in rural Alaska. It told the story of a “People in Peril.”

Qungasvik project manager Cyndi Nation said those articles, and more recent ones, only tell part of the story of Alaska Native peoples.

“How many times do we hear about historical trauma? ‘You people are all drunks. You’re all this, you’re all that,’ she said. “And for a long time, we didn’t hear about the strengths that we all have.”

So Yup’ik elders from two communities in southwest Alaska invited researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help them develop interventions based on Yup’ik culture that would reduce the rates of suicide and substance abuse. The result was Qungasvik, which means toolbox in Yup’ik.

Unlike other suicide and substance use prevention programs that focus on the effects of trauma and looking for warning signs, Qungasvik focuses on the strengths that have helped people thrive in the region for millennia. It’s a framework developed by Yup’ik people for Yup’ik people, and it is adapted by people in each village to fit their local needs.

[Related: To prevent suicide, little words can make a big difference]

At the center of the model is the qasgiq, a traditional Yup’ik gathering space where in the past, people used to come together to make tools, discuss issues, and pass on knowledge. Each month, community leaders recreate a modern simulation of the qasgiq by sitting together in a circle around a pile of logs and a barrel of water. In this modern-day version, people from the tribe, local organizations, and others sit together to discuss what they want to teach their young people in the upcoming month. It varies significantly, depending on the season and what’s happening in the village.

In late winter in Hooper Bay, the group started talking about smelt fishing and ice conditions.

“It’s kinda slushy,” said Jan Olson, the tribal administrator. “It’s from the overflow. It’s still there. It doesn’t freeze because it’s salty. You need boots.”

The conversation wove together jokes about childhood games and information about gathering wood. It ends with a plan to teach young people how to make ice scoops and weave grass baskets, things that are useful in a coastal community when ice conditions start to change.

[Related: After a tragedy, a Yup’ik dance group in Hooper Bay keeps dancing]

But Qungasvik doesn’t just teach hands-on skills and craft making. During each session, elders provide advice on how to succeed.

As August sewed a face mask, elder Joseph Bell spoke to the group about safety in both English and Yup’ik.

Joseph Bell, a Hooper Bay elder. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)

“When you’re working with tools, any needles. You have to be aware of safety. Try not to hurt yourselves,” he said.

Elder Maria Bell reminded the young people that they are not in this alone — if you have a problem, tell someone about it.

“If you keep it to yourself, it’s going to create something in your head, making you feel down or feel like nobody wants you,” she said. “So it’s always best to have somebody.”

Surveys with young people show that participating the Qungasvik project makes them feel more like they do have somebody to tell. The young people take surveys before joining in activities and then again every six months. The data, collected at various points from six different villages over 10 years, shows that Qungasvik helps young people feel more connected to their communities and that life has meaning. Those are factors that reduce their suicide risk. The more the youth participate in activities, the more effective the program is. The published data show that the program isn’t as effective for reducing alcohol use.

Jorene Joe directs the project in her home community of Hooper Bay. She said one of the main challenges she faces is recruiting adults to participate. Other local programs face the same problem.

She said overall Qungasvik seems to be making a difference for the young people, though data collection in Hooper Bay isn’t as advanced as in other areas. She said she thinks it works because it doesn’t require people to do specific activities.

“It’s community driven, so we don’t have people coming in telling us to do certain things and we can just figure things out on our own as a community,” she said. “We have several entities that come together, we talk about issues that we’re having here, and then we resolve them amongst ourselves. Because who knows your community better than you?”

By focusing on reasons for living and lessons from elders, the young people are learning they are much more than a people in peril.

Want to hear more Solutions Desk stories? Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or NPR.

Essential oils company drops support for Seavey

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Mitch Seavey mushes on the outskirts of Nome during the 2017 Iditarod. (Photo: David Dodman, KNOM)

Young Living Essential Oils has ended its support for three-time Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey. And while an animal rights’ group is claiming credit for the coup, the company denies the connection.

Young Living has been a prominent sponsor of Seavey since 2014. In an emailed statement, Blake Rhodes with the communications firm representing Young Living wrote the company conducts an annual review of its sponsorships, and decided to discontinue its support for “any activities related to the sport of mushing.” Rhodes declined an interview request or to answer any further questions.

Earlier this month, company founder Gary Young passed away. A Facebook post from Seavey’s kennel on Thursday referenced the musher’s personal connection with Young as a major factor in the sponsorship arrangement. In light of Young’s passing, Seavey wrote, “I will no longer be a brand ambassador for Young Living.”

Seavey added that the loss of support will not alter plans to continue racing.

Utah-based Young Living has a multi-level marketing structure that has faced criticism for exploiting lower-level sales representatives, as well as scrutiny from federal regulators over unproven medical claims it has made about the health benefits of essential oils.

Earlier this week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed that the change was a result of its ongoing campaign to pressure sponsors to end their support for mushing. But in its statement, Young Living said that the company made the decision prior to being contacted by PETA.

Correction: an earlier version of this story identified Blake Rhodes as an employee of Young Living. He is Senior Vice President at Ketchum, a public relations firm.

Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, May 24, 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

Listen now

As China trade mission moves to Beijing, a few agreements and more talks

Rashah McChesney, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

It is the fifth day of the Governor’s trade mission in China. The group, which includes Alaska officials and representatives from companies in the state, is now in Beijing, after spending three days in Chengdu.

Social media records brought in for evidence as alleged Grunwald murder accomplice stands trial

Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The Palmer trial of Erick Almandinger is in its second week. Almandinger is one of several teenagers who are accused of murdering 16-year-old David Grunwald in 2016.

Appeal challenges Alaska’s exclusion of village residents from juries 

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The Alaska Court of Appeals heard arguments today in a case that could have huge implications for how Alaska village residents are included – or excluded – as jurors in trials.

Wildwood Correction Center inmate dies

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

An inmate at a Department of Corrections facility died yesterday morning.

This old growth timber didn’t sell last time. Can it attract a buyer now?

Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

The U.S. Forest Service removed some of the more sensitive watershed areas included in the original Kuiu Island sale, which received zero bids back in 2016.

State experiencing outbreak of Gonorrhea

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Alaska is seeing an outbreak in a dangerous sexually transmitted disease. In a notice today, public health officials say an outbreak of Gonorrhea first reported last fall led researchers to find Alaska’s rate of infection is more than double the national average

Homer’s first pot shop set to open Thursday

Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer

Uncle Herb’s joins the roughly 30 marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and retail businesses in the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Meet the companies testing self-driving vehicles in the Pacific Northwest

Tom Banse, NNN – Washington

“The industry, the private sector is pulling government along, whether we’re ready or not,” a said Washington transportation official said. “We’re trying to play catch up, but we do need a public policy framework.”

Community in Unity: Life in Limbo

Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

What’s it like to sit in prison for an undetermined amount of time, awaiting trial or a sentence? That’s the situation for nearly half of the 4,000 people who are currently incarcerated in Alaska.


Appeal challenges Alaska’s exclusion of village residents from juries

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The Alaska Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in a case that could have huge implications for how Alaska village residents are included — or excluded — as jurors in trials.

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At the center of the dispute is an appeal by Teddy Kyle Smith, 50, who was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison for shooting two men near his home village of Kiana in 2012.

Smith’s trial was in Kotzebue, the closest courthouse to Kiana but still more than 50 miles away. In general, Alaska jurors are only assigned to criminal trials from communities within 50 miles of the courthouse where the trial is held.

Smith’s lawyers say he was not tried by a jury of his peers, because the trial judge denied their request to expand the jury pool.

Smith’s attorney for the appeal, Kelly Taylor, was in court Thursday in Anchorage and argued that decision infringed on villagers’ rights as well.

“This court will have to decide whether the right to participate in jury service of village residents is violated by their categorical exclusion from the jury panel in this case, and whether Smith’s right to a fair cross-section was violated, where the people who share his experience of living day to day in a remote village location was violated,” Taylor said.

Taylor and others, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Native American Rights Fund, say there is also a racial inequity component to jury selection in Alaska, because villages tend to have a higher proportion of Alaska Native residents.

“Alaska Natives are underrepresented on juries and it means that non-Native residents are over-represented on juries,” Taylor said. “Being on a jury means applying the law. Your vote is an application of the law, and that discrepancy means Alaska Native residents get fewer votes.”

Among other claims, Smith’s lawyers say villagers would have better understood his comments when he said he thought he was shooting at enukin: a name for the “little people” of some Alaska Native legends.

But state attorney Ann Black argued that legend is also shared by people who live outside of villages, including some Kotzebue residents. Likewise, Black and the state court system say jurors from Kotzebue are not so different from residents of villages as to be unfair to a defendant.

The state also says the cost of getting jurors to a courthouse more than 50 miles from where they live presents a logistical and financial burden for the court system.

In court Thursday, Black argued that selection of jurors in Smith’s case was fair according to a past decision by the Alaska Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court recognized mile radiuses need to be drawn. It’s going to happen,” Black said. “And so long as those lines are drawn in a manner that does not deny a defendant a fair cross-section of the community on his jury venire, then they’re constitutionally sound.”

A three-judge appellate court panel heard both sides’ arguments. It’s unclear when they will hand down a decision.

Wasilla teen dead after canoe capsizes

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Photo via WikiMedia Commons by ShakataGaNai.

A Wasilla teen is dead after his canoe overturned in Finger Lake.

According to a release, Alaska State Troopers were notified around 2 a.m. Friday that a man was screaming on one of the islands in Finger Lake. His canoe had capsized and the man he was boating with had disappeared.

A little after 6 a.m., the body of Bryce Adams, 19 of Wasilla, was found. An initial investigation found that neither boater was wearing a life jacket and alcohol does appear to be a factor.

Next of kin was on scene when Adams’ body was recovered.

EPA administrator Pruitt pledges to combat PFAS groundwater contamination

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt (EPA)

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt has pledged action to address PFAS ground water contamination.

”This is a national priority that we need to focus upon as a country,” Pruitt said Tuesday at an EPA national PFAS leadership summit. .

PFAS is a category of chemical compounds long used in a range of products: from non-stick cookware to firefighting foam, which have contaminated ground water at many locations, including Alaska.

Pruit listed actions the EPA is initiating to address the issue, starting with a legal threshold for what concentration of the chemicals is dangerous in drinking water.

”We will take the next step, under the Safe Drinking Water Act process, to evaluate the need of a maximum contaminant level PFOA and PFAS,” Pruitt said.

The EPA currently only has a lifetime exposure level for PFAS compounds, a threshold some studies indicate is too high, putting people at risk of health effects, including cancer. Pruitt also identified other steps the EPA’s is taking.

The burn pit was lined with plastic, but firefighting foam was splashed outside the pit during training. That gave the PFAS and related chemical compounds a means to infiltrate groundwater.
(City of Fairbanks)

But according to a recent Politico report, the EPA blocked release of a federal assessment of PFAS that showed the compounds to be dangerous in drinking water at lower concentrations than the current standard. Politico reports that one of Pruitt’s aides stopped the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from releasing the assessment earlier this year, after a White House official warned it would be “a public relations nightmare.”

Alaska Community Action on Toxics Executive Director Pam Miller says the blocked assessment follows peer reviewed studies, which confirm health effects at concentrations well below the current federal and state health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion.

”We’ve seen, in the last couple of years in particular, just kind of a burgeoning of evidence about the health effects of these chemicals at the very low part-per-trillion level,” Miller said. “Things like immune system dysfunction, certain types of cancers, kidney and testicular cancer can occur at very low levels of exposure.”

Miller says the public has a right to see the new federal assessment, and it’s deeply concerning that the Trump administration has blocked its release.

Some states have lowered their health advisory contamination level, but Alaska Department of Health assessor Stacey Cooper says no immediate action is planned.

”Until the report is actually published, and we can see it and review it, we’re just going to be following the current national guidelines,” Cooper said. “So no, there’s nothing official that the state is doing. You know, we’re looking at studies and we’re trying to understand the situation ourselves, but at the moment, we’re just waiting for national advice.”

Fairbanks, however, is not waiting. Fairbanks City Councilman David Pruhs recently directed staff to draft a plan over the next 90 days on how the city will respond to the growing problem of groundwater contamination caused by PFAS in firefighting foam.

This story has been updated with information from the Alaska Community Action on Toxics as well as the state Department of Health. 

Pebble Mine loses funding from First Quantum Minerals

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A major business deal has fallen through for the proposed Pebble Mine. A Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals, will no longer back the controversial project.

Northern Dynasty Minerals, the sole owner of the Pebble Limited Partnership, announced in a press release late last night that the two companies could not reach an agreement on First Quantum joining the partnership.

Back in December, Northern Dynasty said that First Quantum would buy into Pebble at $150 million over four years. At the end of those four years, First Quantum was to have the option to become a 50 percent owner of the mine. According to Pebble, the initial $150 million would help fund the permitting phase of the proposed gold, copper and molybdenum mine in Bristol Bay.

However the companies delayed finalizing the agreement in April. Now they’ve scrapped the agreement altogether.

Groups opposed to the mine are celebrating.

Robin Samuelson of Dillingham has been fighting the mine for 14 years. He is president of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, a tribal chief for the Curyung Tribal Council.

“Four major financing companies pull out of the Pebble Mine. Bristol Bay has spoken. Alaska has spoken,” Samuelson said. “The United States has spoken through the EPA process and the Corps process. I don’t think there’s going to be another big finance company in mining that’s going to come in and help these people out. I think the end is very near for them.”

Since the Pebble Limited Partnership was formed, three other companies have pulled out—the Mitsubishi Corporation, Rio Tinto and, most recently in 2013, Anglo American.

First Quantum Minerals and Pebble Limited Partnership did not respond to a request for comment in time for this story.

Northern Dynasty’s stock dropped sharply this morning. It is down more than 30 percent from yesterday, bringing its stocks to the lowest point since October 2016.

AK: Sublime summer rafting down the Klehini River

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Jimmy McNevin (left) Wylie Betz (right) and other rafts in the group ahead. (Photo by Daysha Eaton, KHNS – Haines)

The Klehini River near Haines is about 42 miles long, from its source in British Columbia to its mouth at the Chilkat River, of which it is the largest tributary. It is also one of the most accessible and sublime summer rafting experiences to be had in Southeast Alaska.

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On an overcast afternoon, eight passengers and two guides are ready to push off the bank into the waters of the Klehini River which weave like strands of ribbon through a rocky plain between steep, snow-capped mountains.

Jimmy McNevin is an expedition raft guide for Chilkat Guides out of Haines.

Originally from Minnesota, McNevin says several years ago he left a good paying job in a cubicle in Denver to work seasonally on Southeast Alaska rivers.

“This is a glacially fed river, so the water is very, very shallow. It is also very cold. Uniquely this time of year, it is also clear,” McNevin said. “It is beautiful, it is kind of an emerald green color. Later in the summer when the Jarvis Glacier starts to melt, there will be a lot more silt in the river and it will be kind of a chocolate milk color.”

It’s not hard to see why he never went back.

“We’re surrounded by a lot of cottonwood trees. We’ve got a lot of black cottonwood trees, a lot of coniferous trees, primarily Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce, the state tree of Alaska,” McNevin said. “We are sandwiched in between two mountain ranges, the Takeensha and the Takshanuk. The Takeensha is basically what separates us from Glacier Bay and the ice fields that flow down into Glacier Bay National Park. So, we’re right on the edge of a whole world of ice here.”

The river follows the northern boundary of the Chilkat mountain range. McNevin explains that the Klehini actually starts in Canada.

“It’s a river that’s headwaters are in British Columbia,” McNevin said. “The Jarvis Glacier flows from right off the AlCan Highway. If you ever were to drive to Haines you would see it right after you cross the Canadian border into the Haines Highway, you will see the Klehini River right on the right.”

The lower portion of the Klehini, where we’re headed today, passes through The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The area is called the “council grounds” because it is where thousands of the white-headed raptors congregate annually in late fall and early winter to feast on salmon. There are quite a few bears in the area as well.

“Well, it’s pretty early in the season so mostly just eagles so far. I’ve been really craving a bear and moose sighting,” guide Wylie Betz said.

Betz, originally from Tacoma, Washington, also left a more traditional job for one on the river.

“I had a pretty good job as a warehouse manager, but I was really stressed out and had a really bad car accident basically as a result of that stress and one of my best friends has worked up here for nine years now and he invited me on a Grand Canyon trip for the third time,” Betz said. “After my accident I called him up and was like hey is that still open, cause I’m there.”

Betz says he can’t imagine doing anything else.

“There is nothing I enjoy more than boatin’,” Betz said.

With all those glaciers fueling its flow, the Klehini’s channels can change overnight. It is braided river, so that means it’s always changing, which can be a challenge for guides.

Before taking off, Betz gives a safety talk.

“If I say duck I’m not pointing out wildlife, I want you to duck into the boat not out of it. We might be going over an obstacle hanging over the boat,” Betz said. “And don’t grab onto any branches or anything like that as we are going underneath. Also, you might hear me say highside. If we come into an object sideways, the river will want to push us up onto it and we’re just going to go onto the highside of the boat and that weight will help us get off of that object and keep going down river.”

This is one of the first rafting trips of the season which starts in early May and runs until October. Before cruise ship season gets going, the company has invited local people who live in the Haines area for a free ride down the river; people like Nene Wolfe, who’s never done this before.

“I’ve lived here going on three years, but I’ve been coming up to work here for the last 20 years maybe,” Wolfe said.

We push off into the river in the 18-foot-raft weighing 2,000 pounds.

Its early spring, so there are still patches of ice along the shoreline. Sometimes to avoid a downed tree or a large rock, guides jump out of the boat and onto the bank with a rope bringing the raft to a quick stop then walking it along river’s edge around the obstacles while passengers traverse the river’s pebbled shores.

And in the shallow water, there are bumps. Here and there the raft gets stuck on a gravel bar, requiring that everyone on board bounce up and down until the raft breaks loose.

Taking a break on a gravel bar, passenger Nene Wolfe is taking it all in.

“It’s so beautiful! And it is a lot of fun watching our boat guide,” Wolfe said. “From the perspective of the river instead of the road it is absolutely beautiful.”

Passengers pick up polished river pebbles as souvenirs then pile back into the raft and the guides push off downriver. A lone eagle surveys this stretch of the Klehini from his perch on a nearby cottonwood tree.

McNevin with Chilkat Guides says when people ask him why he keeps coming back he tells them:

“It’s the place, It’s the place,” McNevin said. “It’s Haines. It’s glacially fed rivers, it’s the scenery, it’s the people.”

49 Voices: Nancy Murphy of Anchorage

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Nancy Murphy in Anchorage (Photo by Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk)

This week we’re hearing from Nancy Murphy in Anchorage. Murphy’s husband is in the Coast Guard, so she’s lived all over. She is a local jazzercise instructor.

Listen now

MURPHY: I had a friend, when we were stationed in California of all places, who decided we were just gonna try jazzercise as members, as friends and go and try it. I got hooked and she quit. Then I moved and ended up becoming an instructor because the area I was moving to didn’t have jazzercise.

I’ve been an instructor since 1987. I think the thing I like the most is the people. You get to have a part of everybody’s lives, even for just that one hour a day that they’re here. That’s what’s kept me doing it for so long.

My son was a year and a half old when I started teaching and now he’s 32 years old. My daughter did until she went back to work, but my son never really jazzercised. It’s usually a women’s activity. There are a few male instructors and customers, but most of them are female.

Actually next year is going to be its 50th anniversary year, so it’s been around a very long time. It is something that has been based on dance, and through the years, it’s incorporated both dance as an aerobics base as well as adding strength training so you’re getting a complete workout in your one hour that you’re here.

There really isn’t just a typical person that comes in. We have such a wide age group that walks in the door. Like the class that I just taught, I’ll have somebody that’s mid-20s and the oldest woman who’s almost 85 in my class. So, there are all types of fitness levels, every shape and size.

Usually we’re busier in the wintertime. We have a little bit of a slack-off during the summer because people are more willing to go outside and do things, but wintertime we see quite a few people come in the doors just because it’s being convenient and you don’t have to be out and freeze yourself. And plus I encourage people, because it is so dark and so cold, that you have to have to get out there and fight the blues by doing something.

How long will I do jazzercise? I don’t know. I have no idea. Everybody asks me that and I say when my body fails me, I just that’s when I’ll quit.

SEARHC looking to pay between $25 to $40 million for new Wrangell hospital

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Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is continuing forward in acquiring Wrangell’s hospital. The Native nonprofit plans to build and operate a new hospital in the island town within the next three years.

A contract isn’t set in stone between SEARHC and the City of Wrangell. But both parties are eager to strike a deal.

Last month, SEARHC made the offer to build and operate a new hospital. And SEARHC would take over the liability and operation of current Wrangell Medical Center until the new hospital is finished.

Since that announcement, SEARHC scoped out the liabilities of the current hospital. It’s falling apart, a number of electrical, sewage and foundation issues are at the brink of failure. If everything went out all at once, it could cost up to $24 million. But SEARHC’s Vice President Dan Neumeister says that isn’t scaring them off.

“What we anticipate might fail over the next couple of years is fairly small compared to that $20 million,” Neumeister said.

SEARHC says it is looking to pay between $25 to $40 million to build the new hospital, which will connect to the current search clinic in town. It would span 44,500 square feet, and incorporate all the services Wrangell is used to, like emergency, primary and long-term care. The property could also provide more space for other services down the road.

City officials and assembly members support the acquisition, saying it is a life boat for the city-owned hospital that is financially struggling to meet operation costs, let alone paying for a new facility that is desperately needed.

Neumeister believes it’s a win-win situation. Small, city owned hospitals are struggling across the nation. Merging with larger organizations spreads more resources around.

“Small hospitals that are independent, standalone facilities just don’t have the critical mass to sustain either reimbursement challenges or facility needs,” Neumeister said. “So the idea of becoming part of a larger system spreads that risk, and also allows the system to move their monies around to make sure that these small communities are successful and thrive.

The next steps include a formal buy-in from the city, which could happen mid-June from the assembly. Then SEARHC’s board would need to do the same, and then spend three to four months drafting building designs and management plans. SEARHC could take over the current hospital in October of this year. A new hospital could be built by the beginning of 2021.


Improving the foster care system

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Photo from Alaska Public Media’s Community In Unity program entitled Fostering Our Future, which discussed the foster care system.

Alaska’s foster care system has problems. Caseworkers don’t stick around for long. It can take years for young people to find permanent homes or be reunited with their families. But new legislation could provide solutions that will help everyone involved with the system.

HOST: Lori Townsend

GUESTS:

  • Rep. Les Gara – sponsor of HB 151
  • Amanda Metivier – Facing Foster Care in Alaska
  • Sarah Redmond – Facing Foster Care in Alaska
  • Christy Lawton – Director of the Office of Children’s Services
  • Call 550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast
  • Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air).
  • Send email to talk@alaskapublic.org (comments may be read on air)

LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.

SUBSCRIBE: Get Talk of Alaska updates automatically by emailRSS or podcast.

Alaska News Nightly: Friday, May 25, 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

Listen now

Pebble Mine loses funding from First Quantum Minerals

Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham

A major business deal has fallen through for the proposed Pebble Mine. A Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals, will no longer back the controversial project.

EPA administrator Pruitt pledges to combat PFAS groundwater contamination

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt has pledged action to address PFAS ground water contamination.

Judge orders higher-calorie meals for Alaska Muslim inmates

Associated Press

A U.S. judge has ordered Alaska corrections officials to provide Muslim inmates with nutritionally sufficient, pork-free meals when they break their Ramadan fasts at night.

Indictment adds charges for ex-trooper accused of attempted sex abuse

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Former Alaska State Trooper Vance Peronto, 57, was charged with attempted sexual abuse of a juvenile. A grand jury has now also indicted Peronto for alleged exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Wasilla teen dead after canoe capsizes

Emily Russell, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

A little after 6 a.m. Friday the body of Bryce Adams, 19 of Wasilla, was found. An initial investigation found that neither boater was wearing a life jacket and alcohol does appear to be a factor.

Army officer charged with fraudulent insurance claims

Associated Press

A 40-year-old Army officer assigned to Alaska has been charged with making false insurance claims and pocketing nearly $400,000.

SEARHC looking to pay between $25 to $40 million for new Wrangell hospital

June Leffler, KSTK – Wrangell

Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is continuing forward in acquiring Wrangell’s hospital. The Native nonprofit plans to build and operate a new hospital in the island town within the next three years.

CVRF distributed record amount of heating oil this winter

Gabe Colombo, KNOM – Nome

The nonprofit distributed about a third more heating oil than last year to over 2,000 households in the Kuskokwim Delta.

Alaska police chief: War on weed a ‘waste of time’

Associated Press

The police chief recently named to the board that regulates Alaska’s legal marijuana industry says the fight that has long been waged against pot in this country has been a “waste of time” and law enforcement resources.

Essential oils company drops support for Seavey

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Though an animal rights’ group says the change is the result of a campaign against musher, the company says it made the decision prior to being contacted.

AK: Sublime summer rafting down the Klehini River

Daysha Eaton, KHNS – Haines

The Klehini River near Haines is about 42 miles long, from its source in British Columbia to its mouth at the Chilkat River, of which it is the largest tributary. It is also one of the most accessible and sublime summer rafting experiences to be had in Southeast Alaska.

49 Voices: Nancy Murphy of Anchorage

Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Bethel

This week we’re hearing from Nancy Murphy in Anchorage. Murphy’s husband is in the Coast Guard, so she’s lived all over. She is a local jazzercise instructor.

Indictment adds charges for ex-trooper accused of attempted sex abuse

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Vance Peronto, 57, covered his face in Anchorage Jail Court on Monday, April 30, 2018. Peronto, an Alaska State Trooper, is charged with attempted sexual abuse of a minor. (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media photo)

A former Alaska State Trooper charged with attempted sexual abuse of a juvenile has now also been indicted for alleged exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Listen now

Vance Peronto, 57, was still a trooper and based in Soldotna when he was initially arrested last month. Peronto is no longer employed by the troopers, but the agency refuses to say how his employment ended.

On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Peronto on the attempted sexual abuse charge and added eight new felony counts of exploitation and possession of child pornography.

According to the initial charging document, it all started with a traffic stop.

Prosecutors say Peronto pulled over a 16-year-old girl, let her go with a warning and later struck up a relationship with her through social media. He’s accused of soliciting nude photos and videos from the girl before arranging to meet up with her at a hotel.

According to the charges, Peronto showed up in his trooper vehicle with underwear he’d bought for the girl. But his fellow troopers and Anchorage police officers were there instead and arrested him.

In a written statement Friday, prosecutors said that investigators later found the photos and videos during a forensic examination of the victim’s computer device and online account, the basis for the new charges.

Court records show Peronto paid $5,000 and obtained a bond to bail out of jail earlier this month. His next court hearing, an arraignment, is set for Wednesday.

Bill would increase health care price transparency for Alaskans

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(Creative Commons image by tOrange.us)

It could soon be easier for Alaskans to know how much they’re going to pay out of pocket for healthcare. The Legislature passed a bill requiring doctors and hospitals to provide cost estimates before patients receive services.

Listen now

Deciding whether to undergo a medical procedure can be difficult. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Ivy Spohnholz said not knowing how much you’re going to pay makes it tougher.

“When you go to buy a car, you find out,” she said. “There’s a list on the car that says exactly what the car’s going to cost. But there’s no other market where you really have no idea what a service is going to cost you before you consume it, except for in health care.”

She sponsored the bill, which would require doctors, hospitals and other providers to list prices for common services. The bill also would require providers to give their best estimate of what a patient would pay out of pocket.

The bill received support from employers that provide health insurance and the insurance brokers that help them purchase it. The measure is modeled on similar rules enacted in Anchorage last year.

Anchorage city manager Bill Falsey said many have welcomed the new price transparency.

“We certainly heard some concerns from some health care providers, but we were able to work through the vast majority of those,” he said. “And we received a lot of enthusiastic response from a lot of insurance groups, some consumer groups — folks who are worried about the cost of health care in Alaska.”

Doctors argue that listing the prices before any potential discounts can be misleading. For example, consumers may actually pay less out of pocket for services at one practice with a higher listed price than they would at another at another with a lower listed price. That’s because out-of-pocket costs for patients with insurance depend on the rates their insurers negotiate with providers.

“This … is one of those cases where a little bit of information is almost worse than no information at all,” said Dr. Joseph Roth of Juneau. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the bill may lead providers with lower listed prices to raise their prices.

“Posting prices by physicians actually leads to an increase in overall health care costs, as physicians are then  able to see what other providers are actually charging,” he said.

Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, D-Anchorage, addresses the Alaska House of Representatives on April 12, 2018. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

Hospitals also expressed concern with posting the undiscounted prices. Jeannie Monk represents the industry as the vice president for the Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association.

“There isn’t necessarily a correlation between high cost and the highest quality, but sometimes in patients’ mind there is that,” she said. “So sometimes if patients see something costs more, they think that it’s better.”

This can be a problem. For example, public workers don’t pay much directly. That’s because their insurer covers most costs.

“Most of Alaska’s public plans still have low deductibles for their employees,” Monk said. “However, private-sector plans are increasingly adopting high deductibles and that’s where price transparency becomes more important for those employees that are more engaged.”

Spohnholz said the patients who benefit most from the bill include those without insurance, as well as those with high deductible insurance.

“Those plans are designed to incentivize wise consumption of services, and you have to know what they cost if you’re going to be a wise consumer,” she said.

Doctors and hospital leaders alike said insurers are in a better position to tell patients what they’ll have to pay. But insurers said providers know more about how complicated a treatment might be, which will affect the cost.

Spohnholz said both insurers and hospitals support patients knowing what procedures will cost. But she said neither wants to be the bearer of bad news regarding out-of-pocket costs.

“There’s definitely a hot-potato element in the health care price transparency and in the cost element of health care, with insurers and providers throwing the hot potato back and forth – and both pointing fingers at the other one, saying the other one is the problem,” she said.

Spohnholz and other lawmakers said the bill would be a good  first step. They said future legislation could focus on making the potential value of health care services to patients more transparent.

The legislation was added as an amendment to a separate measure — Senate Bill 105 — on the last day of the legislative session, to allow it to pass before the session’s end. The House passed the amendment, 31 to 8, with all eight no votes coming from the Republican minority caucus. The Senate agreed to the change, with all 19 senators present voting for it. Republican Sen. Bert Stedman of Sitka was absent.

The bill hasn’t been sent to Gov. Bill Walker yet.

Y-K Delta residents must repair electric equipment soon or go without power

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AVEC customers have until August 15, 2018 to repair their electric equipment or else the utility will shut it off for safety reasons. (Photo by Krysti Shallenberger / KYUK)

Hundreds in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta could have their power disconnected in the coming months. A letter from the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative warns residents that if they don’t repair their aging electric equipment soon, they won’t have electricity. And the customers have to foot the repair bill.

Listen now

Most of the repairs mean installing ground rods or replacing a meter base. It can cost as little as $25 for a new ground rod, or as much as $500 for a new meter base. At least 450 Bethel residents have gotten these letters from AVEC. According to the utility, a “few hundred” more were sent out to most of the 58 communities the co-op serves.

AVEC CEO Meera Kohler says that the co-op is keeping a tally of customers who need to repair their electric equipment for safety reasons. AVEC is required to do this under the National Electrical Code, a federal standard. That standard outlines how electric wires and equipment must operate safely.

The news may come as a shock to those living in the region, since customers have to pay for the equipment upgrades. The co-op is only responsible for connecting the wires to the home or business. AVEC advises customers to contact an electrician for the repairs instead of doing it themselves. The utility does not have funds available to help subsize repairs for customers who can’t afford them on their own. It’s also unclear how people can get funding from other places.

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