Erick Almandinger, right, enters a Palmer courtroom after a short recess in his trial Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media photo)
Jurors have begun deliberating in the trial of Erick Almindinger, one of several alleged accomplices in the 2016 murder of Palmer teenager David Grunwald.
Prosecutors presented evidence over about two weeks, and when Almandinger’s defense rested without calling any witnesses — not even Almandinger himself — it set the stage for closing arguments Wednesday.
Neither side disputed the basic facts in their final statements to the jury. They agree that the group of teenagers smoked marijuana in a camper parked at Almandinger’s house and that some of them beat and pistol-whipped Grunwald with Almandinger’s gun, then drove him to the Butte where one of them shot Grunwald.
At issue is whether Almandinger was a “willing participant.” That’s a legal definition that, if the jury agrees, would make Almandinger just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger.
But Almandinger’s attorney, Jon Iannaccone, said his client was not a willing participant, he was just too scared to say “no.”
“He was so scared he went along with them instead of piping up, and that continued while he was in the car,” Iannaccone told the jury. “He didn’t pipe up and say it out loud. It was in his own head. And this case is about what’s in Erick’s own head.”
Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak told the jury that seems implausible. Kalytiak said not only did Almandinger participate at every step of the way, but he thought of the others as family, idolized gang culture and partied with all of them in the days after Grunwald’s murder.
“But he was scared during that moment in time when David Grunwald was killed?” Kalytiak said. “Does that sound sincere? Does that sound truthful, that he’s scared during that moment in time?”
David’s mother, Edie Grunwald said outside the courtroom that it had been difficult waiting nearly two years and sitting through two weeks of trial, which might only be one of several trials over her son’s slaying. But she said she has faith that her family will get justice.
“It’s hard. It’s really hard,” Edie Grunwald said. “But we’ve got a lot of support. Sometimes are harder than others, but I have confidence.”
The jury of eight women and four men will be deciding not just the murder charges, but also charges of assault, kidnapping, arson and evidence tampering.
The state is running short on money for Medicaid. Until the next fiscal year starts in July, hospitals and other health-care providers won’t get paid for treating much of Alaska’s low-income population. But the state is trying to funnel what money is left to hospitals that could otherwise shut down.
The state is $20 million short of what it needs to make Medicaid payments until July 1st. Some healthcare providers are getting paid, some aren’t.
“We’re prioritizing those smaller providers, people that are the sole providers in their community, that heavily rely on Medicaid,” Shawnda O’Brien of the Department of Health and Social Services said. “We know that if we aren’t able to pay them they would have to shut their doors, and we certainly don’t want that to happen.”
Wrangell Medical Center checks off those boxes. It’s the only hospital in the island town. Most of its revenue comes from Medicaid. And it already has a hard time paying its own bills.
“We have less than 30 days cash on hand and that’s being very generous,” Aaron Angerman, the hospital’s development coordinator, said. “Usually the numbers are floating around nine to 15 days of cash at hand, meaning if all the money stopped coming in, and we still had to pay payroll and pay the expenses, benefits, things like that just to keep the lights on, that’s how long we could survive without getting more payments coming in.”
Other rural hospitals like Petersburg Medical Center, PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, Sitka Community Hospital are being prioritized as well.
The state will assess every week where it can and cannot pay, based on need. This can keep small, struggling hospitals afloat for the next month. But the money is still going to run out, most likely in mid-June.
Once July hits, everyone will take a breather. But the folks at Wrangell Medical Center know the struggle doesn’t end in July.
“As you can see at last year’s numbers we didn’t have enough. Come next year we’re going to have the same issue,” Angerman said.
Claims filed in June will be paid from next year’s budget, which is already funded $30 million less than the governor requested.
“That’s the scary part to me is it’s going to look the same next year, if not worse,” Angerman said.
A map of IFQ and CDQ fishing areas. BBEDC manages the near-shore small boat halibut fishery in the southern portion of Area 4E east of Cape Newenham. (Isabelle Ross/KDLG)
Bristol Bay fishermen have landed 8,700 pounds of halibut so far. This year’s quota for area 4-E is 33,900 pounds, significantly less than last year’s quota of 58,800 pounds.
“It is a reduction,” Gary Cline, the regional fisheries director at the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, said. “It’s basically because there appears to be less halibut abundance in the Pacific, not just in area 4-E, but stretching down to southeast and throughout the Bering Sea. And, because of this concern, the regulatory agencies have adopted a more restrictive catch limits for 2018.”
Those regulatory agencies include the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
The decrease in halibut could stem from a variety of factors, including fishing efforts, competition for the same prey by other species, such as the Arrowtooth flounder, and water temperature.
BBEDC requires halibut fishermen to deploy Hobo Temperature Loggers with their longline gear to monitor water temperature. (Isabelle Ross/KDLG)
In order to better understand the effects of water temperature on halibut, BBEDC implemented a regulation last year that requires halibut fishermen to deploy a Hobo Temperature Logger with their longline gear.
“It’s calibrated to take temperature every hour, and then we can set it at different intervals. The intent of it is to monitor water temperature within Bristol Bay, and to see if water temperature really correlates with halibut abundance and harvest rates within the region,” Cline said.
Cline does not expect this year’s lower quota to negatively impact fishermen participating in the industry.
“We do have some quota in area 4-D, which is further off-shore, also known as the northwestern Bering Sea. If our fleet catches the quota in 4-E, essentially they could fish some of the quota we have in 4-D,” Cline said.
Area 4-E Fishery participants must be verified residents of communities in the BBEDC Community Development Quota. Ten fishermen are currently participating. That is fewer than applied to participate before the season began, so Cline expects that more may join the effort in the coming weeks. The fleet will likely continue fishing for halibut until commercial salmon fishing begins.
Brenda McFarlane shows off the information packets residents receive to participate in the 30-60-90 program. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)
The Solutions Desk looks beyond Alaska’s problems and reports on its solutions – the people and programs working to make Alaska communities stronger. Listen to more solutions journalism stories and conversations, and share your own ideas here.
When Linda Baker moved from Minto to Fairbanks a few months ago, she didn’t expect to end up in a homeless shelter.
“Things just kinda fell apart,” she explained. “We were gonna come up here to work, and life just life in the way.”
Their housing fell through. Their car broke down. She landed at the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, a sober facility that offered emergency housing, food, and showers. It’s a nice place. People chat companionably in clean, well-lit rooms. They have warm beds and hot coffee.
“And it’s safe here. It is really safe,” Linda emphasized.
For Linda and for hundreds of others over the years, being at the Mission felt relatively great. Which was part of the problem.
For years, some people would come to the Mission and never leave. It started to weigh on the staff, many of whom had been homeless themselves at one point. Morale was down and they began to complain at staff meetings, loudly and often.
The Fairbanks Rescue Mission (Photo courtesy of FRM)
“People we’re kinda like ‘I don’t want to come here every day and see people regressing or stuck. I want to see people moving forward,’” said Brenda McFarlane, the Mission’s transitional program coordinator.
People could stay at the shelter indefinitely, so some never made plans to leave. They worked in the summer, spent the winter at the mission.
The staff decided that if they really wanted to help people move on and find stability, the clients needed deadlines, structure, and more support. A new program was born.
Rodney Gaskins, the executive director, said now when people enter the Rescue Mission they’re given a clear message:
“’Your stay at the Rescue Mission is temporary. Our goal is to add value to you and send you back into the community. Don’t waste the time because you’re gonna be moving.’”
The next step lasts 60 days. Case managers help participants look for jobs and stay healthy. Rodney said they hold people to high standards and provide guidance to help them accomplish tasks on their own. When someone is struggling, he and Brenda tag-team the motivational talks.
A woman checks in to the Fairbanks Rescue Mission. (Photo courtesy of FRM)
Brenda, a former teacher, plays the tough love role.
“’Just so you know, you really to get on track. If you’ve been here this long, you don’t have much longer,'” she said she tells program participants who are falling behind. Then Rodney, a former military man, jumps into to the conversation, reassuring them they are capable. “He comes in [saying] ‘You’re all on a journey,’” Brenda recaps, laughing with her colleague.
They laughed and joked, saying they try to keep things fun to help keep people motivated. Together they try to get participants to the last 90 days, when they work on saving money and transitioning into permanent housing. They also take classes on how to be a good renter and how to handle grief, anger, and trauma.
Along the way, participants and staff come together for weekly meetings to talk about upcoming community events, share advice on job hunting, and discuss challenges such as transportation for people working the night shift. They celebrate the small successes.
At a recent meeting, Linda received a certificate for finishing the first four tasks. As she walked to the front of the room, everyone clapped and cheered. She said it felt good.
Since the program began in July of 2016, more than 300 people have earned certificates. About 170 have received case management. People who didn’t participate in the 30-60-90 program or other shelter programs were asked to leave the shelter once they hit their 30-day-per-year limit.
Rodney said they don’t have hard data about how successful the program has been because most people never come back to the Mission to give updates. Others leave the program before the 180 days are up. They do have anecdotal evidence that people are moving on, and participants say it helps.
Linda’s only been at the shelter a few weeks, and she says having to complete a set of tasks gave her the structure she needed when she felt lost.
“Because I never would have thought of having a deadline to go to Alaska Housing, go to the job service. Because you kind of lose yourself (when you are homeless),” she said. “Kinda drown in yourself.”
Now she’s looking for jobs in kitchens and trying to learn computer skills so she can find less physical work as she ages.
She said people at the Mission remind her that she does have the strength to stand on her own and move on. One little step at a time.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will lead an investigation of heavy oil extraction on the North Slope. The U.S. Department of Energy announced $7 million in funding for the project today as DOE research laboratory representatives gathered in Fairbanks for National Lab Day events.
DOE science undersecretary Paul Dabbar says the project follows agency backed extraction research that lead to the recent year’s Lower 48 oil and gas production boom.
”And, what we wanna try to do is to try to help the innovation here in Alaska for unique Alaska geography and geology,” Dabbar said.
“I think the future is heavy oil or viscous oil,” UAF petroleum engineering department chair Abhijit Dandekar said.
Dandekar says the DOE project, will explore a technique that could enable extraction of thick crude locked in frozen North Slope oil fields.
”We have some challenges, such as permafrost, so we cannot really deploy some of the typical techniques that we use such as heat to reduce the viscosity,” Dandekar said. “So this particular funding is focused on injecting polymer.”
Dandekar says the project is important because an estimated 25 to 30 billion barrels of heavy oil are locked in North Slope fields. The polymer injection technique will be tested at the Milne Point field. Four other universities are involved in the UAF project, which will be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, sent a letter to the U.S Assistant Secretary of the Army today in regards to the permitting process for the proposed Pebble Mine.
Cantwell asked that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expand scoping for its environmental impact statement. Scoping is the opportunity for the public to suggest concerns and alternatives to the proposed mine plan as the Corps weighs the environmental impact of the Pebble Project.
Specifically, Cantwell requested public meetings in the state of Washington and an extended scoping period.
“Due to the importance of Bristol Bay fisheries to our economy, Washington fishermen, suppliers and businesses have an enormous interest in ensuring that Bristol Bay salmon continue to thrive for generations,” Cantwell said in a statement.
Cantwell has opposed Pebble Mine since 2014.
There is one month left in the 90-day scoping period for the proposed mine. The U.S. Army Corps held nine public meetings in Alaska in April, where more than 900 people participated. People can still comment on the project online or by mail.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs aren’t good for Alaska and she’s frustrated with the inconsistency in the administration’s position.
“When you have kind of a suggestion out there today, and it turns into a promise the next day, and then after that it’s ‘never mind,’ that makes it difficult,” Murkowski said.
Alaska’s senior U.S. senator said the tariffs could drive up costs for the oil and gas industry, as well as construction projects at Alaska’s military bases. She told reporters in Anchorage that Trump and his team need to craft clear policies and agree to them before they’re announced.
“Then that’s what you go out and sell. And Americans understand it. The Congress understands it. Our friends understand it. Our enemies understand it,” Murkowski said. “But when we kind of go back and forth and forth and back, I think that that’s kind of confusing. It’s difficult from a governance perspective.”
Murkowski also said she’s frustrated that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt seems to be consumed by problems that she said are of his own making, or his staff’s.
“And I think that that limits then his ability to be effective on the issues that we care about,” Murkowski said, citing Alaska-specific matters like permits for ground fish waste and small remote incinerators.
Pruitt is facing multiple investigations into his spending, travel and transactions with lobbyists. Murkowski said he didn’t have good answers when she asked him to explain himself at a hearing she chaired in two weeks ago.
“I think that he knows that that is not sustainable, for him to be able to lead that agency,” Murkowski said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan is also critical of the tariffs. He issued a statement calling it a “bad move” to apply the import taxes on goods from U.S. allies like Canada and the European Union.
Almandinger found guilty on all charges in Grunwald murder trial
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
A Palmer jury today found Erick Almandinger guilty on all counts in the 2016 slaying of 16-year-old David Grunwald.
Native Corporations ask to start looking for oil in ANWR
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation have submitted a 3-D seismic exploration plan for the Coastal Plain, or the 1002 area.
Interior asking public not ‘if’, but ‘how’ to allow drilling in ANWR
Elizabeth Harball, Aalska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
At the meeting, officials said the Trump administration must move forward with oil lease sales in ANWR. About 100 protesters gathered outside.
Murkowski irked at tariffs, and Trump team
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs aren’t good for Alaska, Sen. Murkowski said. She’s frustrated with the on-again/off-again policy announcements, and with EPA Administrator Pruitt.
Sen. Cantwell asks Army to expand, extend Pebble scoping period
Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, sent a letter to the U.S Assistant Secretary of the Army today in regards to the permitting process for the proposed Pebble Mine.
New chancellor selected for UAA
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The University of Alaska Anchorage will have a new chancellor.
Local researchers try to understand why Pacific Cod stocks are crashing in the gulf
Mitch Borden, KMXT – Kodiak
On an island about four miles off of Kodiak, researchers are trying to figure out why Pacific cod stocks are crashing in the Gulf of Alaska. And, how climate change may be affecting the fish when they’re young.
In Norton Sound, expect strong salmon runs this summer
Gabe Colombo, KNOM – Nome
Salmon runs in the Norton Sound area are expected to be at least as strong as last year, with the exception of king, or Chinook salmon.
Rock strike suspends White Pass train service in Skagway
Abbey Collins, KHNS – Haines
White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad suspended service after a rock struck a bridge about seven miles up the railroad track from town.
After 50 years at Dillingham Elementary, Sophie Woods retires
Isabelle Ross, KDLG – Dillingham
Sophie Woods has worked at Dillingham Elementary longer than anyone else at the school. Over her 50 years as a teacher’s aide, she has taught students a variety of skills, from reading to native dancing. Now, she’s retiring.
TOWNSEND: Casey, give us a brief recap of the details in this murder trail that led up to today’s guilty verdicts.
GROVE: So, David Grunwald was 16 back in November of 2016 and he went missing. Nobody knew where he was for a couple weeks. They had previously found his burned-up Ford Bronco. And then, one of the four people that was charged in his murder ended up leading troopers to his body over in the Butte. And what came out through the investigation and what was presented in court was that a group of teenagers had beaten Grunwald and then driven him to this spot in the Butte and one of them — we still haven’t seen evidence of who actually saw him — but they allegedly worked together to kill him, left him there and didn’t tell anybody about it for a couple weeks. That all led up to this first trial for one of the alleged accomplices, Erick Almandinger, who, like you said, was found guilty on all counts; that includes murder, evidence tampering, arson, kidnapping and assault.
TOWNSEND: What was the scene in the courtroom like today?
GROVE: It was packed. There’s been a lot of attention on this case, and today what was a little different was we saw quite a few young people there that looked like friends and family of David Grunwald. There was also people watching a live feed from outside the courtroom because there were so many people there. A lot of the folks in the courtroom were hugging David Grunwald’s parents, including Edie Grunwald, his mom, after the verdict was delivered. And it was a big culmination, I would say, to a very high-profile murder case for Palmer, which is a pretty small community that doesn’t see these kind of things happen very often.
TOWNSEND: Did Erick Almandinger’s lawyer say anything after the verdicts were announced?
GROVE: No. His attorney, Jon Iannaccone, left pretty quickly afterward. Interestingly, the prosecutor, Roman Kalytiak, also did not comment. He said he din’t want to prejudice any potential jurors in the future. And that’s because there are three other people who potentially could still stand trial for this murder.
TOWNSEND: Casey, David Grunwald’s parents Edie and Ben have been in court every day of this trial. What was their reaction to the verdicts?
GROVE: Edie was pretty subdued. She said that this never should’ve happened. We were standing just outside the courtroom and she said that a couple times. “This never should’ve happened.” She did say that law enforcement should’ve gone after these guys earlier, maybe for other alleged criminal activity. she said that some of their small-time criminal activity had just escalated to this point — that nobody had nipped this in the bud, as she put it. I asked about the prospect of having to sit through two or even three more trials. She said it had been tough; admittedly, very hard to sit through two, two-and-a-half weeks of this trial. There may be more trials to come. And she expects that’ll still be tough. But she plans on being there. She said that they’re in it for the long haul, that they need to do their part to hold these guys accountable. She also thanked the community for their support.
EDIE GRUNWALD: I hope that the other three are shaking in their boots, because they should be. They should’ve never ever, ever did anything like this.
TOWNSEND: What about the other alleged accomplices?
GROVE: So that’s Dominic Johnson, Austin Barrett and Bradley Renfro. I believe Johnson is the next one scheduled for a trial; that would be in September, but those dates are often pretty fluid. Those things can changes. It’s hard to say who will be up next, or if there may be plea agreements in the future, now that these guilty verdicts have been entered. And it’s also still unclear if they’ll be tried separately.
Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, responds to a question from a reporter during House Majority press availability in the Alaska State Capitol, April 3, 2018. The conversation centered on House Bill 286, the state operating budget passed by the House or Representatives the day before. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
House Rep. Paul Seaton of Homer is taking a new route this election cycle.
Seaton has represented House District 31 on the Kenai Peninsula as a Republican since 2002, but he filed Thursday to run as an independent in the Democratic primary.
The party argued it had the power to exclude the lawmakers because of a court decision that allows independents to run in Democratic primaries.
The state Division of Elections ultimately denied the party’s request. Party leaders have targeted the lawmakers since they joined a bipartisan coalition made up of mostly Democrats in 2016, which took control of the House away from Republicans.The party also sanctioned Seaton and the other two lawmakers that year.
Seaton now is taking advantage of the very same court decision Republicans tried to use against him.
He is the only candidate to file for the Democratic primary so far.
Sarah Vance of Homer, John Cox of Anchor Point and Henry Kroll of Soldotna have all filed to run in the Republican primary.
Mike Litzow and Alisa Abookire clearing kelp out of their seine. (Photo by Mitch Borden/KMXT)
On an island about four miles off of Kodiak, marine scientists working with the University of Alaska are trying to figure out why Pacific cod stocks are crashing in the Gulf of Alaska. And, how climate change may be affecting the fish when they’re young.
Mike Litzow and, his wife, Alisa Abookire are stuck.
“We have to get some kelp out Liz,” Litzow said.
They’re trying to pull in a beach seine on a soggy gray day on Long Island. But, they’re catching more seaweed than fish as they slowly sink deeper into the shore’s mud.
“Oh no, it’s the freaking mother load,” Litzow said. “This will be our day right here if we aren’t careful.”
This isn’t a normal fishing trip. Litzow and Abookire are both marine scientists and they’re collaborating on a study for the University of Alaska Fairbanks to figure out why Pacific Cod stocks are declining in the Gulf of Alaska and how warming waters may be affecting the species when they’re young.
But to do that, they need cod to study, which is why they’re currently struggling to pull in a net. When the seine’s finally on shore, Litzow begins counting up the catch.
There aren’t any cod among the small flopping fish, but every specimen is still inspected and recorded before they’re tossed back into the water. Litzow says he isn’t surprised they’re not catching any cod today because it’s probably too early for them to come into shore. As it becomes warmer though, more and more fish will begin to appear, including the small cod they’re looking for.
“So, over the winter and we’d set five sets and get like at the low point, 15 fish,” Litzow said. “And then in the summer, if you hit a big school fish you can get like 15,000 in one set.”
Once juvenile cod begin to show up in their net, Litzow says he and Abookire will measure them. Examine the fish to figure out what they’re eating. And, he says, collect the small ear bones, or the otoliths, of the cod, which will be used to determine the temperature of the water the fish grew up in.
“There’s all kinds of information you can get over time once you catch the fish,” Litzow said.
The reason it’s important to collect this data is the Gulf of Alaska has been unusually warm for the past few years. In that time, cod populations have crashed. Cod is an important commercial fishery in the gulf and the quota was recently cut by about 80 percent for 2018.
Litzow says the unusually warm water in the gulf is connected to climate change. And, he believes, the reason the cod population declined so quickly is that juvenile cod couldn’t find enough food to sustain themselves in these warmer temperatures.
But, that’s only a hypothesis right now, which is why Litzow and Abookire are trying to collect as much information that will help explain the collapse.
“As you get a number of years together you can start to understand something about how environmental changes are affecting the population,” Litzow said. “That’s the ultimate goal, but it does take a few years to get enough data to be able to answer questions like that.”
Which means Litzow and Abookire will hopefully be taking a lot more trips to cast their net to see what more they can learn about how cod are being affected by the changing climate in the Gulf of Alaska.
The Antler Fire burns in grass in a tidal flat area Thursday, May 31, near Berners Bay north of Juneau. U.S. Forest Service personnel are working to suppress the fire. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)
The U.S. Forest Service is fighting a 56-acre fire along Berners Bay. It doesn’t pose a significant threat to anyone or any buildings and the fire itself isn’t moving.
Tongass National Forest spokesman Paul Robbins Jr. said the fire, located on the flats where the Antler River meets the bay, was reported Thursday.
“A lot of what’s burning is not actually trees or the forest. It’s the beach grass or downed trees along the beach,” Robbins said.
An Alaska Seaplanes operations manager said their pilots haven’t even noticed the fire. Still, Robbins said it’s unusual for Southeast.
“It’s definitely significant for here,” Robbins said. “I mean, around Juneau this year, we’ve had six fires so far, including this one. But the largest one up until this point was one and half acres, the Lucky Me fire in April. And the rest of them were about a tenth of an acre. So 56 acres is pretty significant for Southeast Alaska.”
Robbins said the Forest Service sent eight firefighters from Juneau and Hoonah, who are putting out hot spots and smoldering fires.
Robbins said campfires cause most forest fires he’s aware of in Southeast Alaska. But the cause of this fire isn’t known yet, he said. There will be an investigation.
Robbins noted the weather’s been dryer than usual and urges people to be careful with campfires and to extinguish them properly.
The Safari Quest tied up at Petersburg’s South Harbor the day before its first trip of the summer. (Photo by Alanna Elder, KFSK – Petersburg)
A cruise ship that used to stop in Petersburg will be using the small town as its home port this summer. Its tour company is the latest of several to add the town to an itinerary peddling the authentic Alaskan experience.
Sally Dwyer and Brian Lynch are Petersburg tour guides but on Friday they were the ones waiting to receive a tour. They were standing in front of the Safari Quest, which for a cruise ship is tiny. It has room for just 22 passengers and 10 crew members. Dwyer was actually inside, years ago, when her mom was running a tour company.
“I’ve been down for cocktail parties on the after-deck,” Dwyer said. “It’s just nice to know they’re back.”
In 2010, the company American Safari Cruises ended the route that used to pass through Petersburg. Other companies have come and gone over the years, most running relatively small ships that leave milder impacts on local amenities and environment compared to big ones. Dwyer says the simplicity of these cruises creates more opportunity to talk to people about their lives.
“One of the most oft asked questions is what’s your cost for building? How many kids are in your school? What percentage go on to college? I mean they’re interested in your community – how you live on the island,” Dwyer said.
Lynch is a retired biologist. He said he uses tours to teach people about Alaskan commercial fishing and wildlife, describing “what the boats do and how we manage fisheries here and whatnot. Anything they want to know.”
The two local guides swapped stories about conversations they have had with cruise passengers over the years. Eventually, a man in a blue vest spotted us from the boat and invited us aboard.
The top deck of the Safari Quest. (Photo by Alanna Elder, KFSK – Petersburg)
We walked into a low-lit parlor with cushioned walls and a bar nearby. Many handshakes ensued as local food suppliers, travel agents, and tour guides mingled with staff. I lost Dwyer and Lynch in the group and follow 2nd Captain Maiwenn Beadle on a tour of the ship.
One level up from the main deck, a map of Pacific islands hangs above a low bookshelf. Big windows look out on the Wrangell Narrows, which the boat will travel through tomorrow. Beadle showed me the four luxury bedrooms, with sliding glass doors that open onto balconies over the water. There are seven more rooms on the floors below.
Voices from the parlor drifted up a spiral staircase between the rooms and the bridge, where the captains operate the boat.
“So the bridge is open at certain times of the day – it’s not open at night – but the guests can come out and hang out in the bridge,” Beadle said.
We walked up to the top level of the boat, which held a rack of two person kayaks, a raft and a hot tub. On the main deck, there were stand up paddle boards and several more places to watch whales and other wildlife. From Petersburg, the boat would head to the native community of Kake, three wilderness areas, and a national monument.
Captain Denee Blanchard said the purpose of the Safari Quest is to take people off the beaten track.
“We’re taking this to a lot of little places that our other boats don’t go to, and doing a turn day in Petersburg where we pick up and drop off guests is kind of a perfect opportunity for that,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard has personal ties to this area. She lived in Petersburg when she was young. Her father Dan Blanchard used to head American Safari Cruises. He’s now CEO of UnCruise, the company running this boat. She has been captaining for three years, and says while it is still rare to have a woman in charge of a cruise ship, the industry is changing.
“On the airplane today I heard a couple talking and they’re like, ‘we’re going on a 22 passenger vessel out of Petersburg.’ And there is no other 22 passenger vessel so I was like, ‘hi, are you guys going on the Safari Quest?’ and they’re like, ‘yes’,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard told them, “I wanted to introduce myself, because I’m the captain,” and for a few awkward moments, they did not understand.
“And they were like, oh gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know what a captain of a boat should look like,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard says she’s inspired by the chance to spread the word about issues affecting Alaska, like glaciers melting due to climate change. The boat may also spread the word about Petersburg. More immediately though, it will bring money to the local government in the form of moorage payments and taxes and to the private sector in exchange for hotel rooms and food.
LEE: The Tiglax is a Fish and Wildlife Service research vessel, and we service the Alaska National Maritime Refuge, which is essentially the Aleutian Islands. There’s some pieces in Cook Inlet and around Kodiak, but we primarily work in the Aleutians. We are a platform for research for marine mammals, seabirds, contaminants, whales… yeah. The work we do is dictated by the charter.
I’m doing my job from April to October, four out of those six months. So far, we’ve gone about 14,000 miles, nautical miles… so, longer than land miles. 14,000 nautical miles since April. (Note: This interview was done in August of 2017)
I guess it wasn’t such an obvious thing right when I started working on the water. I didn’t know I wanted to do that, but as I got older and kept looking for work, I was always gravitated towards jobs that put you on the water in adventurous remote places.
My least favorite part of the job is setting the rat traps. Every port we go into, we have to set rat traps. It’s a good thing to do, but I really don’t like doing it. They’re very powerful and bite your fingers pretty good.
I’ve never seen a rat on the ship; only very rarely seen them on the docks. But that’s one of the big issues that the refuge takes on is rat eradication for seabird health, seabird recovery. So we can’t very well be bringing rats from Dutch Harbor to these islands where we’ve worked so hard to get the rats off of them.
So we have to close all the doors right as soon as we get in, put rat traps right at the base, tie up lines, just keep everything safe. This year in Dutch Harbor, we didn’t almost get a rat, but I was working nights and looked up on the dock, and there was a cat that wanted to come on-board. So we’re cat deterrents as well.
(From left to right) former State Senator Mike Dunleavy, businessman Scott Hawkins and Gov. Bill Walker at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Anchorage. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage)
Governor Bill Walker’s challengers in the upcoming election are criticizing his policies toward China and the proposed Alaska LNG project.
Walker, former State Senator Mike Dunleavy and businessman Scott Hawkins faced off in a debate yesterday at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Anchorage.
Dunleavy questioned whether the state is able to handle its lead role in pursuing the gas line.
“I’ve got to be honest with you that I don’t have faith in the administration that they are going to be able to pull this off with the folks they have in place and the expertise,” Dunleavy said. “And that greatly concerns me and I think it concerns folks in this room and folks outside this room.”
The Walker Administration is negotiating with Chinese entities to help finance the gasline, and the governor just returned from a trade mission to China. Hawkins said China is a geopolitical rival of the United States and argued the nation shouldn’t get too involved.
“We have to be very careful what role they play in the project,” Hawkins said. “It’s well and good that they buy LNG from us, it’s okay if there’s a small minority role that they play in the project. To give them much control or much influence on the project would be a grave strategic error, I believe.”
Walker defended China’s involvement in the project, saying it will have a minority role in AK LNG and noted the nation is the state’s top trading partner. The governor said he’s proud of how his administration has handled the project.
“We’ve made historic progress on the gasline. And I know I get accused of being a little fixated on the gasline,” Walker said. “You know, it’s the opportunity. It’s an incredible opportunity for the state. And if we let that opportunity go by and we don’t monetize that gas, shame on us.”
The wide-ranging debate also touched on topics like crime, education, the opioid epidemic and tax policy. Candidate and state representative Mike Chenault was slated to participate, but did not attend. The Associated Press reports that Chenault has dropped out of the Republican primary race for governor.
The fast ferry Fairweather docks at Juneau’s Auke Bay Ferry Terminal in 2013. It’s been sailing since 2004, but could be retired later this year. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
The Alaska Marine Highway System appears to be phasing out its fast ferries. One is in long-term storage and the other will join it this fall.
Sitka resident Mim McConnell’s family car has an ignition problem. The dealer is in Juneau and only way to get it there — the ferry system – doesn’t sail very often anymore.
“I cannot affordably get that car over to Juneau to get it repaired and then get it back here,” McConnell said. “There’s no quick turnaround, for one thing. So I haven’t even bothered getting it fixed.”
The realtor and former Sitka mayor is one of many coastal Alaskans dependent on the marine highway system. She’s among those who’ve come to appreciate the fast ferries, which shorten sailings, allowing such a trip to happen in a day or two.
McConnell said that’s helped sports teams, school clubs and others needing a quick turnaround, which saves lodging and meal costs.
“Having affordable access on and off an island, that’s huge,” she said. “That can have a tremendous economic impact on a community.”
Fast ferry service has become less frequent in recent years.
Soon, it will be gone altogether.
A pair of slower, short-run Alaska Class Ferries will begin sailing next year.
“Once we have two new ships, it’s very difficult budget-wise to maintain the existing fleet,” Capt. John Falvey, general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System, said.
The ferry system reduced sailings because of funding cuts.
The fast ferry Fairweather will sail its usual Southeast routes this summer, connecting Juneau to Sitka, Haines and Skagway, he said. It will switch to Prince William Sound in the fall, linking Whittier, Valdez and Cordova.
A draft fall-winter-spring ferry schedule released Thursday shows it leaving service mid-November. It will be tied up for the winter with no plans for its return.
Falvey said nothing is final.
“We’ll have to see, budgetary-wise, where we are once we get at least one (Alaska Class Ferry) running on May 1, 2019. That’s our goal,” Falvey said.
The two new ferries are being built at the Ketchikan Shipyard.
The Hubbard and the Tazlina will connect Juneau, Haines and Skagway, one of the routes the Fairweather sails.
While it will be laid up, the fast ferry will be kept ready for use. Its sister ship, the Chenega, was also tied up about two and a half years ago. The state paid about $160,000 for the first year the Chenega was in storage.
The state sold another tied-up ship, the Taku, for scrap earlier this year for $170,000.
But Falvey said it has no immediate plans to sell either fast ferry.
“We let all the certificates and everything lapse on the Taku, whereas we’ve got all the high-speed code certificates and things like that in a frozen-type mode on the Chenega,” Falvey said. “We could pretty quickly activate that ship and do the same thing with the Fairweather.”
The first fast ferry began operations in 2004, followed by the Chenega in 2005.
They sail faster because they are compact, lightweight and have more powerful engines than other ships their size.
But they burn more fuel, so they also are more expensive to run than the system’s other small ships.
Mark Begich filed to run for governor of Alaska about 30 minutes before the deadline in Anchorage on June 1, 2018. (Photo by Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media)
Two big names in Alaska politics have jumped into the race for governor on today’s filing deadline.
The cutoff for candidates hoping to run in this fall’s elections was 5 p.m. Joining the list of gubernatorial hopefuls getting in just under the wire today were former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich and former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.
Begich and Treadwell are among 10 others hoping to unseat incumbent Gov. Bill Walker, who is running as an independent.
Begich, a Democrat, was mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009, when he won a seat in the U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating longtime Sen. Ted Stevens. Begich served one term, losing his reelection bid to current Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2014.
But now Begich is getting back into Alaska politics. He showed up at the Anchorage office of the Division of Elections to file for the race at 4:29 this afternoon, pointing out he had 31 minutes to spare.
“I see huge opportunity, but I don’t see a vision, I don’t see where we’re headed in the next 20 years,” he said. “And I believe I can bring a new voice and a fresh voice to the Governor’s race that is desperately needed.”
Begich’s late Friday filing to run in the Democratic primary convinced Walker, the incumbent governor, to not run in that primary election. Despite winning a court battle over whether he could enter the Democratic primary at all, Walker’s campaign spokesperson says he is, quote, “staying the course” and running only in the general election.
That sets up what will ostensibly be a three-way race between Walker and the winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries.
The list of Republican candidates includes former Mat-Su state senator Mike Dunleavy, Anchorage businessman Scott Hawkins and – as of today – former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.
Treadwell describes himself as a conservative businessman and was the state’s second-in-command from 2010 to 2014. He also ran for U.S. Senate but lost to Sullivan in the 2014 Republican primary.
In a letter to Alaskans announcing his run, Treadwell said, “I’m more than a one-issue candidate, but let me say up front: I will protect your dividend.”
Both parties’ primary elections will be held August 21, with the general election set for November 6.
This story has been updated to reflect that Mead Treadwell is also running for governor.
Randy Howard (left) and Brian Shumaker of Beaded Stream, a company that sells technology to monitor permafrost temperatures. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
A few steps outside his warehouse in Anchorage on a chilly, late March day, Brian Shumaker gave a product demonstration that required a little pretending.
“Imagine for a moment you’ve just landed in a helicopter out on the tundra and you’re about a hundred miles from anywhere. And it’s costing you a dollar a second to be here,” Shumaker said.
We pictured ourselves on the remote North Slope, near Alaska’s biggest oil fields. There, every winter, companies build hundreds of miles of ice roads — roads literally made of ice and snow — essential for moving the massive equipment used for oil exploration.
But environmental regulations don’t allow oil companies to build ice roads until the fragile tundra is sufficiently frozen. And scientists say freeze-up is happening up to two months later than it did in the 1980s.
That’s where Shumaker’s startup, called Beaded Stream, comes in. Shumaker has developed technology that monitors when the ground freezes, pinpointing exactly when ice road season can begin.
To show how, Shumaker drilled into the frozen soil and inserted a blue and yellow temperature monitoring cable. He hooked it up to a small, solar-paneled box installed on a nearby pole — a data logger that sends temperature readings to the internet via satellite. Using this device, companies can squeeze the longest possible oil exploration season into steadily shrinking winters. According to state regulators, Shumaker’s technology has actually helped lengthen ice road seasons in recent years.
“Usually with our technology we can get folks out there days to weeks early, so it translates into huge cost savings,” Shumaker said. “But most importantly, sometimes it makes projects that weren’t even doable, doable.”
Arctic Foundations President Ed Yarmak in his Anchorage warehouse, next to the thermosyphons his company manufactures. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
Beaded Stream isn’t alone. Alaska’s oil industry has specially designed its operations for freezing conditions. But as temperatures rise, companies are starting to pay a price for climate change — and some Alaska businesses are making money off of it. Oil companies now help support a cottage industry of consultants and product manufacturers, all providing workarounds for the fact that the frozen ground they rely on to produce oil isn’t as frozen as it once was.
Although Shumaker said when he talks to customers, he doesn’t bother discussing why temperatures are rising.
“I’m not debating what’s happening,” Shumaker said. “What are we going to do about it.”
For an industry that’s often blamed for climate change, talking about coping with it is an awkward topic. Multiple oil companies contacted for this story turned down interview requests. But climate change is so present in Alaska today that the industry’s top lobbying group acknowledges it’s creating problems. Josh Kindred with the Alaska Oil and Gas Association said there’s a lot of concern about shrinking ice road season. He also noted the industry is having more frequent run-ins with polar bears due to declining sea ice.
“It is ironic, and it’s challenging for a state that is so dependent on resource extraction but is also really feeling the impacts of climate change,” Kindred said.
But for Kindred and many other Alaskans, the idea of stopping the state’s oil production to address climate change is unthinkable.
“It’ll be interesting to see how we navigate this…I don’t want to call it a conundrum, because I do think there’s an opportunity for success here, but what is our role and how do we do it? Those are very difficult questions,” Kindred said.
Meanwhile, oil companies keep finding ways to adapt.
Ed Yarmak runs a company called Arctic Foundations, which makes devices that literally refrigerate the ground. They’re used across Alaska — for roads, water tanks and schools. But Yarmak says now, about half his business comes from oil companies on the North Slope.
Arctic Foundations was founded in the 1970s — the oil industry has always had to incorporate special engineering to work around permafrost, because infrastructure alone can cause it to warp and thaw. But Yarmak said rising temperatures mean his product is really starting to come in handy.
“To be honest, climate change is pretty good business for our company,” Yarmak said. “Because we’re in the business of making things colder, and climate change is warming things up in Alaska.”
On the North Slope, oil companies have built a vast network of roads, pipelines and buildings on top of permafrost. But permafrost temperatures in the Arctic have been rising for decades. Yarmak said for buildings on the North Slope, thawing ground can start to cause problems.
“The doors start to stick. The sheet rock cracks…the floor isn’t level any more. Things aren’t the way that they planned them,” Yarmak said.
Arctic Foundations’ products help protect against these issues. In the company’s Anchorage warehouse, employees in protective glasses manufacture thermosyphons, long metal tubes filled with a refrigerant. When finished, thermosyphons are partially buried in permafrost to keep it frozen.
Yarmak pointed out the top part of a thermosyphon, which is covered with a dense array of tiny fins:
“This part is the condenser…it’s where the heat comes out and goes to the air,” Yarmak explained.
Yarmak said each is custom made, and the ones for use on the North Slope and can cost roughly $10,000. He said oil companies have installed thousands of them across Alaska’s Arctic.
And if the state continues to warm as projected, Yarmak expects to be in business a long time to come.
Begich and Treadwell throw their hats into Alaska Governor’s race
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
After days of rumors and speculation, Mark Begich has announced that he is running for governor in the Democratic primary. Mead Treadwell, former Lt. Gov. under Sean Parnell, announced his candidacy in the Republican primary.
In AOGA gubernatorial debate, Dunleavy and Hawkins grill Walker on China, gasline prospects
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Gov. Bill Walker, former State Senator Mike Dunleavy and businessman Scott Hawkins faced off in a debate yesterday at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Anchorage.
Three Democrats running to unseat Don Young
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
Several challengers had filed for the seat held by Congressman Don Young. Young is running for re-election and had about half a million dollars in his campaign account as of April 1.
Former House District 38 Rep. Zach Fansler to plead guilty to harassment
Teresa Cotsirilos, KYUK – Bethel
Almost six months after he was accused of slapping a woman in his hotel room, former House District 38 Representative Zach Fansler is pleading guilty… though not to assault.
Alaska businesses find a niche: helping oil companies cope with climate change
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Alaska’s oil industry has specially designed its operations for freezing conditions. But as temperatures rise, companies are starting to pay a price for climate change — and some Alaska businesses are making money off of it.
Fast ferry’s future sailings uncertain
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
The Alaska Marine Highway System appears to be phasing out its fast ferries. One is in long-term storage and the other will join it this fall.
Breakfast, horses, and other wisdom from retiring uber-reporter Ed Schoenfeld
Robert Woolsey, KCAW – Sitka
After three decades in media in Alaska (almost 15 of them as CoastAlaska’s regional news director), Ed Schoenfeld retires.
AK: Safari Quest returns to Petersburg
Alanna Elder, KFSK – Petersburg
A cruise ship that used to stop in Petersburg will be using the small town as its home port this summer. Its tour company is the latest of several to add the town to an itinerary peddling the authentic Alaskan experience.
49 Voices: Marin Lee of Homer
Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska
This week we’re hearing from Marin Lee in Adak. Lee grew up fishing in Homer and is a deckhand on the research vessel Tiglax.
Former House District 38 Representative Zach Fansler will plead guilty to one count of harassment. (Katie Basile/KYUK)
Almost six months after he was accused of slapping a woman in his hotel room, former House District 38 Representative Zach Fansler is pleading guilty, though not to assault.
In a conversation with KYUK this afternoon, State Ethics Attorney Maria Bahr said that Fansler has agreed to plead guilty to one count of harassment in the second degree, a misdemeanor charge.
“Under that particular provision he’ll be pleading to the charge of subjecting another person to offensive physical contact,” Bahr said.
Bahr added that this particular charge applies to “offenses against public order,” whereas an assault charge applies to an offense against a person.
A rising star in Alaska’s Democratic party, Zach Fansler resigned his seat in the state house after a woman accused him of drunkenly hitting her and rupturing her eardrum. Alaska’s Office of Special Prosecutions has been reviewing the incident for several months. Maria Bahr says that Fansler doesn’t have a court date yet, but that his change of plea will take place in Juneau.
