Tara Sweeney has been nominated for assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs. Photo: ASRC
Alaskan Tara Sweeney’s nomination to be Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs cleared a U.S. Senate Committee today with no opposition – though there may still be one hang-up.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the committee should listen to the many Alaska Native and Native American groups that wrote letters endorsing Sweeney.
“We’ve got supportive groups including NCAI (National Congress of American Indians), the United South and Eastern Tribes. Many many more,” Murkowski said. “There’s virtually no opposition from Indian Country and I think that is important.”
Sweeney was in limbo for months while the administration tried to figure out how to treat her status as a shareholder in an Alaska Native corporation. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said he’s satisfied.
“I was glad to hear Ms. Sweeney commit to recuse herself from any matters, and I quote now, ‘directly affecting or with respect to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation,’ including oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Udall said.
But Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she wants more clarification about the possibility of an exception to Sweeney’s conflict-of-interest recusal.
“I will be seeking (an answer) in writing, before a Senate vote, whether she does plan to seek a waiver in the future,” Cantwell said. “I’d like her to just answer yes or no in writing.”
The Indian Affairs Committee took a voice vote to advance Sweeney’s nomination to the Senate floor. No word yet on when it will come before the full Senate.
It looks like voters will not have a chance this fall to weigh in on a legislative ethics ballot measure. Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor and the attorney general’s office have determined a bill passed by the legislature this spring is similar enough to keep the issue off the ballot.
More than 40,000 voters last year signed a petition to put the Alaska Government Accountability Act on the ballot. It seeks to end per diem pay for legislators if they fail to pass a budget in the first 121 days of the session. It would also toughen state law on financial conflicts of interest for legislators, gifts from lobbyists, reimbursement for foreign travel and campaign spending by foreign corporations. House Bill 44, passed in May, would do many of the same things.
Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has backed both the ballot measure and the legislation. He prefers a public vote on the issue but called the reforms in the legislation a huge improvement over the existing situation in Juneau.
“You know the no-budget, no-pay concept which I think is a substantial disincentive to be in session for months and months and send out pink slips and all the dis-function that we’ve seen the last three years,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “Some reforms with lobbyists buying legislators hundred-dollar dinners at fancy restaurants which I think just disagrees with people’s sense of probity and propriety, particularly when by the way we do get per diem every day so we can buy our own meals, or should be.”
The attorney general’s office looked at the ballot measure and the legislation and concluded the two were similar enough that the measure should be bumped off the ballot and the lieutenant governor agreed. Prior to that decision, Governor Bill Walker in May said he’s likely sign the bill if it was found to be similar enough to the ballot measure.
“I like the idea of it going to a vote in some respects,” Walker said during a visit to Petersburg in May. “The advantage of that is it can’t be changed for a couple years. Once it goes to a vote that’s the advantage of that. So I like the people being able to say something about that but if it’s substantially similar, I think to veto it just so there could be a vote, I think that’s probably not in the best interest, but I do like the idea of people being able to vote on that, I do.”
Walker also proposed cutting off both salaries and per diem pay for lawmakers if they didn’t pass a budget by the 90-day session limit passed by voters in 2006. That successful ballot measure hasn’t impacted the length of sessions. Lawmakers have continued to meet well after that deadline, most recently last year, when it took multiple special sessions and the legislature waited until days before a shutdown of state government before passing a budget bill.
Nikiski Republican Mike Chenault was one of 15 in the House voting against the ethics reform bill this year and said he doesn’t know how effective it will be.
“We stay in Juneau a lot longer anymore but most of that’s not due to the budget cycle, most of that’s due to the governor calling us back for either additional revenue measures or some other piece of legislation, the gas pipeline, things like that,” Chenault said, also during a recent visit to Petersburg. “I think we can get our business done in 90 days. I don’t think we should be there any longer.”
Past legislatures have passed a bill, keeping an issue off the ballot, only to turn around and repeal that bill later. The constitution prohibits that within two years of the passage of a ballot initiative. Those who oppose the reforms say they’ll start making changes in next year’s session.
“I personally feel the restriction of no alcohol allowed to be purchased by a lobbyist in a dinner, you know, not a glass of wine, not anything, is a little ridiculous,” Sitka Republican Bert Stedman said.
Stedman is among the six voting against the bill’s passage in the Senate. He expects the legislative council, made up of House and Senate members, to address any ethical problems for lawmakers and he opposes the changes in the bill and the ballot initiative.
“So the legislature took action on it themselves so we’ll be back changing it next year,” Stedman said. “Frankly there’s some things in it that are just ridiculous. You know it’s a feel good type of bill. We don’t have the legislative ethic issues we had a decade ago, anywhere near that I’m aware of.”
Other lawmakers have said the reforms will make it so they can’t afford to continue to work in the legislature.
Supporters of the reforms including Kreiss-Tomkins say they’ll fight attempts to change or repeal the legislation next year. They can still challenge the ruling knocking the issue off the ballot.
Jodie Hettrick has been appointed to lead the Anchorage Fire Department, according to an announcement Wednesday from the mayor’s office.
Hettrick joined the department in 2012. She has served as acting chief since the previous chief, Denis LeBlanc, retired in May.
Now that her position is official, Hettrick says there are some internal initiatives that can go forward. That includes expanding the management of their emergency medical services.
“Not that we were struggling there, it’s just that as we do more and more emergency medical service response, we should have more assets in place to manage that operation,” Hettrick said. “And it’s just a leap that we haven’t taken, and we’ve needed to take that for a very long time.”
The department has good staffing levels for its first responders but needs to build up other staff, Hettrick said. That might mean adding mechanics, inspectors and others, as well as promoting personnel into some command positions, she said.
As for her promotion, Hettrick said she’s proud and thankful to be the city’s first female fire chief. She said she wants to encourage more women to get into emergency services, and she hopes to offer guidance as a female colleague with more than 30 years of experience.
“Most of my mentors throughout the entire time I’ve been in the service have been men, because there weren’t any other women in these positions to be mentored by,” Hettrick said. “So I think that that’s why it’s a big deal. There should be more women in the fire service, so that more of them move up through the ranks and are given these types of opportunities.”
Hettrick was an assistant chief at the Anchorage Fire Department, then deputy chief in charge of day-to-day operations. Her past employers include the state Division of Fire and Life Safety, the Valdez Fire Department and the Central Mat-Su Fire Department, where she got her start in emergency services.
Alaskan Tara Sweeney’s nomination to be assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs cleared a U.S. Senate Committee today with no opposition – though there may still be one hang-up.
US, Russia agree on shipping standards for Bering Strait
Emily Russell, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
New standards were recently introduced to protect transiting vessels and the marine environment in the waters off Northwest Alaska. Those standards go into effect in the Bering Strait on Dec. 1.
Special audit finds Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority violated multiple state laws
Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority violated state statutes by investing nearly $45 million dollars in commercial real estate. The Trust’s board violated other laws by purposely trying to keep some board issues out of the public eye. Those are the findings of a special audit of the Trust released yesterday by the Alaska Division of Legislative Audit..
Legislative ethics bill will keep issue off fall ballot
Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg
It looks like voters will not have a chance this fall to weigh in on a legislative ethics ballot measure.
New Anchorage fire chief is first woman to lead the department
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Jodie Hettrick has been appointed to lead the Anchorage Fire Department, the first woman to be fire chief in Alaska’s largest city, according to an announcement Wednesday from the mayor’s office.
Anchorage Assembly member Tim Steele announces resignation due to ‘serious health issue’
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Early this morning, Anchorage Assembly member Tim Steele announced that he would be resigning from his position due to a “serious health issue.”
Newest megaship docks in Juneau for the first time
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
The newest megaship to ply Alaska waters arrived in Juneau Tuesday for the first time. The 4,000-passenger Norwegian Bliss was specially designed for sailing in Alaska and will be making weekly stops in Juneau through the season.
Totem pole represents long-delayed healing for descendants of Douglas Indian Village
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
Members of the T’aaḵú Ḵwáan gathered today at Savikko Park in Douglas for the raising of the Yanyeidì Gooch kootéeyaa, or Wolf totem pole.
Social media post criticizes Trident Seafoods, Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet for halibut bycatch
Daysha Eaton, KMXT – Kodiak
A fisherman based out of Homer posted images on social media of halibut bycatch headed for the grinder at Kodiak’s Trident Seafoods processing plant.
John Morris, a member of the Yanyeidí clan who once called the site home, raises his arm in triumph after helping to install the Gooch (wolf) totem pole at Savikko Park in Douglas. June 6, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Members of the T’aaḵú Ḵwáan gathered Wednesday at Savikko Park in Douglas for the raising of the Yanyeidì Gooch kootéeyaa, or Wolf totem pole.
What began as a somber, rainy event became a sunny celebration of resilience as the pole was raised into position where the Douglas Indian Village once stood.
The Yanyeidì Gooch (wolf) totem pole is raised in Savikko Park on June 6, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Clan members danced and sang around its base.
“This is great occasion for me. It’s been a long time coming,” John Morris said.
Morris was a young man in 1962 when the City of Douglas destroyed his village to make way for a harbor and park. He watched his home burn, along with the nets and fishing gear that were his family’s livelihood.
Now 78 years old, Morris said he and the other members of Yanyeidì have had to live with the pain of that day for the last 56 years.
“It represents the beginning of the healing for our people, and our people really appreciate the occasion today,” Morris said. “It has been a long time [since] our people have been able to gather together in such a way, and it’s a good way.”
The project to erect the 40-foot totem pole has been in the works for several years.
A similar totem pole went up last year in front of Sayéik: Gastineau Community School in recognition of Tlingit graves that were unearthed there during a construction project in 2012.
Goldbelt Heritage Association and the Douglas Indian Association sponsored the project.
The totem pole was funded in part by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Matt Maillelle practices with his basketball team ahead of this weekend’s summer Special Olympics. (Photo by Erin McKinstry, Alaska Public Media)
At the last practice before the 2018 Special Olympics Alaska Summer Games, Matt Maillelle leads his basketball teammates in a series of group stretches. He wears a Golden State Warriors jersey with star player Steph Curry’s number 30 on the back. He and his teammates start shooting layups and move through a series of warm-up exercises.
Maillelle smiles and rebounds the ball with ease. He makes a difficult shot and his teammates cheer. This is his 23rd year competing in the Special Olympics. Both his parents played sports, and he started competing when he was eight years old.
“It’s about meeting new friends and competing against some other people,” Maillelle said. “I compete against some friends (that) I haven’t seen for a long time.”
Matt Maillelle shoots a layup at the last practice before this weekend’s games. Basketball events take place Saturday and Sunday at Dimond High School. (Photo by Erin McKinstry, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
Nearly 300 athletes and unified partners from across the state will compete at the games in Anchorage this weekend. Unified partners are people without intellectual disabilities that train and compete alongside Special Olympics’ athletes. Athletes will compete in basketball, track and field, gymnastics, power lifting and swimming.
The events kick-off on Friday, June 8 at East High School Auditorium with live entertainment and a speech from Olympic snowboarder Rosie Mancari. All events are free and open to the public.
“It’s about sports. Sports brings people of all abilities together,” Special Olympics Alaska director of communications and development Jessica Bjornstad said. “The athlete’s oath is let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics Alaska hosts four statewide events a year. Throughout the year, 11 communities also hold their own regional events. Athletes compete for a chance to head to state and later nationals. The games are about competition, but they’re also about bringing together athletes from across the state and fostering independence and inclusiveness.
This weekend athletes will also have an opportunity to get free dental, eye and fitness exams through the healthy athletes program.
“One of our core values at Special Olympics is health is our commitment,” Bjornstad said. She said the health screenings are provided by different health care professionals across Anchorage.
Ayesha Abdul-Jillil practices shot put ahead of this weekend’s summer games in Anchorage. (Photo by Erin McKinstry, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
Veteran athlete Ayesha Abdul-Jillil trains for the Special Olympics year-round. Abdul-Jillil has been competing since 2001 when she first got involved through a school program that brought together students with and without disabilities to play sports.
Abdul-Jillil competes in bowling in the fall, snowshoeing in the winter and track and field in the summer. She said playing sports has helped her gain independence.
“I’m excited about being out there competing, beating my times in my races and seeing all my friends from the different communities,” Abdul-Jillil said.
Abdul-Jillil will be reading the athlete’s oath in front of a crowd of hundreds at the opening ceremonies. And then, in July, both she and Maillele will head to nationals in Seattle as part of a team of 25 Alaskan athletes and unified partners.
“I’m looking forward to bringing home the gold and doing my personal best,” Abdul-Jillil said.
After that, it’s time to start training for the fall.
One of three buildings that make up Kachemak Selo School. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KYUK)
Voters in the Kenai Peninsula Borough will decide in October whether the small Russian Old Believer village of Kachemak Selo, also known as K-Selo, will get a new school. The roadless village near the head of Kachemak Bay serves roughly 45 students in three deteriorating houses that were converted into classrooms over 30 years ago.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved putting the roughly $5.4 million bond proposition on the ballot Tuesday. The state would pay for a majority of the school, which is estimated to cost about $15.5 million total.
Antonin Murachev attends high school in K-Selo, and he reminded assembly members why the village needs a new school before they voted.
“You can just look in the ceiling and you will see the clouds and blue,” Murachev explained. “We have buckets under a few other cracks, and we have duct tape in the corners where you can see the outside through. We blocked off other gaps with just plywood so the rain can’t get in.”
Not everyone spoke in favor of approving the bond. Nikiski High School teacher Jesse Bjorkman questioned whether the school would attract new residents to the peninsula and the village.
“I look forward to hearing that conversation from the community,” Bjorkman told assembly members. “Hopefully they can provide some reassurance to the rest of the voters in the Kenai Peninsula about what they’re community will look like and how the infrastructure of this school will pay its own way.”
Several people pushed back against Bjorkman’s comments, including assembly member Kelly Cooper. Cooper told Bjorkman and others that because the state would fund most of the project, it also decides how large the facility would be if approved by voters. Cooper added that the borough is required to provide access to education and safe facilities in remote communities such as K-Selo.
Borough residents would pay for the bond via property taxes. Property owners would pay $4.95 per $100,000 of assessed value on their property. That’s a point School Board member Debbie Cary drove home.
“Just because there’s only 40 or 50 kids in the village doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve an education, and in order for them to get a school, this is where we need to proceed,” Cary said. “An average home is about $200,000. On your property taxes, it’s going to be about $10, but those kids deserve an education and a safe building.”
The Legislature approved covering 70 percent the project’s price tag in 2016. The state reduced that number by 5 percent, but it increased the maximum amount it’s willing to spend on the school, increasing the borough’s required 30 percent match.
This is the borough’s last chance to ask tax payers to help fund the school. State funding for a new facility is set to expire in 2019. Borough residents will vote on the bond proposition during the regular election in October.
Hydro One’s logo on a tower at its headquarters in Toronto on May 20, 2015. Hydro One says it’s Canada’s largest electricity transmission and distribution service provider. (Public domain photo by Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine)
One of Canada’s largest power companies is another step closer to acquiring electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest, including one in Juneau.
The sale hinges on multiple states’ regulatory authorities granting approval. This week, Alaska became the first state to give the okay.
The Toronto-based power company, Hydro One, calls the decision a “milestone.” The company has spent the past year going through the process of trying to buy Avista, which is the parent company of the electric provider in Juneau.
But Hydro One will still need to get the go ahead from regulatory authorities in other states where the utility operates, like Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana.
If one of those states declines, the entire sale could fall through.
In Juneau, there have been concerns over the prospect of a foreign company owning the hydroelectric dam that helps power the city, which was constructed by the U.S. federal government. Right now, the state of Alaska owns it.
One of the stipulations laid out between Avista and the City and Borough of Juneau is that things will essentially stay the same.
A spokesperson for Hydro One says — with all the states on board — it hopes to close the transaction by the end of the year.
Meghann O’Brien talks about her pieces during a break from the weavers’ presentation Wednesday at the Walter Soboleff Building. (Photo by Tripp Crouse/KTOO)
Artisans from Southeast Alaska and British Columbia displayed blankets, aprons and other items Wednesday at a weaving presentation.
Weavers and weaving historians were among the about 50 people who attended the event in the Shuka Hit clan house in the Walter Soboleff Building.
One presenter, Della Cheney, stressed the importance of learning those traditions.
“There’s those things that I enjoy about our ways of life that are so rich and so dynamic because it’s life,” Cheney, who is Haida and Tlingit, said. “It’s our way of life that creates these things that are with us today.”
This was Cheney’s second year presenting at Celebration. Cheney hopes communities invest more in cultural education.
“We have to find ways to teach our families and continue our way of life and help our self be economically present in our own communities with the things we make and the way we live so… we can celebrate our way and be who we are, Tlingit, Haidas and Tsimshian people,” Cheney said.
Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida weaver Meghann O’Brien of Alert Bay, British Columbia, first started weaving in 2007, making baskets to collect berries.
Dorica Jackson talks about a robe she spent almost 15 years working on during a weavers’ presentation Wednesday, June 6, 2018, at the Shuka Hit clan house in the Walter Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau. (Photo by Tripp J Crouse/KTOO)
“I really consider spending time on the land harvesting food to be the main source of where it came from for me,” O’Brien said. “I think that’s where it came from for our people, too, is just for a really practical purpose.”
O’Brien later had several mentors who helped teach her different styles, including her Ravenstail teacher William White.
“When he opened the door for that and began teaching me the techniques, I felt really honored and privileged and that the knowledge was so sacred,” O’Brien said. “My personal thing that I’m more drawn to is much more utilitarian. I just really like the plain work baskets more than anything. I just think being able to use things is really important.”
O’Brien was attending her first Celebration.
“Even just at this gathering with the few presenters who are here, the different teachings we’ve received, the similarities and differences between those, there’s a lot of similarities obviously,” O’Brien said. “It feels very close to this place. It just feels very close to that handing of knowledge that occurred with Jennie Thlunaut. And it’s really powerful and really special.”
The U.S. Interior Department today announced the first construction projects to prepare for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Alaska officials dispute some findings in election memo
Associated Press
A recently released memo says Alaska fell short in training election workers for the 2016 elections and in providing adequate staffing of bilingual poll workers in areas where additional language assistance for Alaska Native voters is required.
Donlin Gold advances in permit process
Krysti Shallenberger, KYUK – Bethel
Donlin Gold is advancing through the permitting process for its proposed mine in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Donlin would be one of the biggest gold mines in the world.
New UAF research could help scientists develop an early warning system for earthquakes
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
There may be a way to predict some earthquakes.
Kachemak Selo School bond proposition up for voter approval
Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer
Voters in the Kenai Peninsula Borough will decide in October whether the small Russian Old Believer village of Kachemak Selo, also known as K-Selo, will get a new school.
No bids on controversial old growth timber sale… again
Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau
The agency received zero offers on the Kuiu Island timber sale before its closing deadline on Tuesday.
Alaska’s regulatory authority OKs Hydro One acquisition
Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau
One of Canada’s largest power companies is another step closer to acquiring electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest, including one in Juneau.
Gillnet disposal underway in Wrangell
June Leffler, KSTK – Wrangell
Fishermen in Wrangell can properly dispose of gillnets they no longer want. The environmental arm of Wrangell’s local tribe is collecting and recycling this waste.
Fairbanks airfields convert to alternative firefighting foam over contamination concerns
Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks
Fairbanks International Airport and Eielson Air Force Base no longer use a type of firefighting foam containing a chemical compound that’s contaminated groundwater around the city, and that poses a potential threat to human health.
Weavers share traditional knowledge, stories behind textiles
Tripp Crouse, KTOO – Juneau
A weaving presentation displayed blankets, aprons and other items made by practicing artisans from Southeast Alaska and British Columbia. About 50 people attended the presentation Wednesday by weavers and weaving historians in the Shuka Hit clan house in the Walter Soboleff Building.
Special Olympics Summer Games foster independence and inclusiveness
Erin McKinstry, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Around 250 athletes from across the state will compete this weekend at the Special Olympics Summer Games in Anchorage. The games are about competition, but they’re also about bringing together athletes from across the state and fostering independence and inclusivity.
A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher has discovered unusual precursor activity along the Minto Fault west of Fairbanks. UAF associate professor of geophysics Carl Tape says seismometers in the region recorded minor shaking before an earthquake.
”A low, building-up process that becomes an earthquake,” Tape said.
Tape says that type of warning signal has never been detected anywhere else in the world. Tape says the motion and another type of pre-quake movement, were picked up on two occasions prior to moderate earthquakes.
”Three-and-a-half and four. These events would be felt by lots of people in Fairbanks, and yet we have to remind ourselves in 1995, there was a magnitude six on this fault zone,” Tape said.
Tape cautions that the preliminary shaking doesn’t prelude many other earthquakes which occur along the Minto Fault.
”If people remember, in 2014 there was a magnitude five out toward Minto and some magnitude four-and-a-halves,” Tape said. “Those were just regular earthquakes. Nothing special happening before them.”
Tape says understanding the pre-cursor signal is valuable because the fault will most likely continue to generate similar activity in the future.
”That’s one thing exciting about seismology, and also a little scary, is that what happened in the past will very likely happen in the future,” Tape said.
Tape says precursor shaking is likely particular to the Minto Fault, which has unique characteristics. Tape’s research is being published this month in the journal Nature Geoscience. It’s funded by the National Science Foundation.
Caribou graze on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with the Brooks Range as a backdrop. (USFWS)
The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday announced it is undertaking a series of construction projects to prepare for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The department says it will spend $4 million on six projects it’s calling “the 1002 Area Oil Exploration Readiness Project.” Most of the projects are in Kaktovik, a community within the 1002. That’s the coastal part of the refuge that Congress opened to oil exploration last year, over decades of objections from environmental groups and their allies.
The Kaktovik projects include an aviation fuel storage facility, a garage and a bear-proof storage building. Some of the money is slated for two cabins far from the 1002 area – a new one in Arctic Village the department says will support field operations, and an addition to an existing cabin at Galbraith Lake. Galbraith Lake is on the west side of the Dalton Highway, just outside the refuge.
Since 1999, Icy Waves Surf Shop has outfitted the surfers of Yakutat with wet suits and boards. The unlikely location has attracted big wave surfers and surf enthusiasts to the community of 600. Many come away with a t-shirt. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)
Summer is here and with it, the siren call of the ocean waves. That’s certainly the case in Yakutat, home of the Icy Waves Surf Shop.
Like all great surf spots, this surf shop is a little hard to find. Icy Waves Surf Shop caters to a surfing community in a rainforest on an island that is 200 miles away from any other town.
Jack Endicott is sporting Carhartts, an improbable tan and a big grin. It all began in 1999, when the Endicott family went to Oahu. Jack and Laura have seven kids.
“And they said, you know, ‘Dad, the waves are just as good at home as they are here. Can you get some wetsuits and boogies boards?’ And I thought, ‘Uh, how are we going to do this?’ Endicott said.
Endicott called up a company in Santa Cruz and asked for wet suits wholesale, not just for his kids, but for the surf-curious in Yakutat. Water temperatures hover in the 50s in summertime. But in wintertime, when the waves are biggest, the temperature can drops below 40. The shop printed 300 shirts, which Endicott found excessive.
But after a year or so, word got out in the press, CBS News visited. And then it just went boom!
“So we’re getting flooded with calls and people wanting t-shirts and do you really surf in Alaska and… blah blah blah,” Endicott said. “So it was really a big deal.”
“Alaska. There is big surf in Alaska. It took me awhile to believe in that, but I think it’s true, you know?” Brazilian surfer Carlos Burle said in a video shot by Red Bull in 2009 when Yakutat’s waves were 16 feet high. Endicott thinks they were even 20.
Endicott then pulls out boards scribbled with black signatures like yearbook pages, signed by famous big wave surfers: Garrett McNamara, Michael Ho, Layne Beachley.
Endicott’s business supports about a dozen local surfers and has helped put Alaskan surfing on the map. And the funny part? He knew nothing about surfing when he began. He jokes, “I look more like a farmer than a surfer.”
“Actually, I came here from Alliance, Nebraska from a weather service radar site and before that I was in Salt Lake for a year and before that I started my career in Kodiak,” Endicott said.
And Endicott went on to be a meteorologist for the National Weather Service for 36 years. Icy Waves is pre-retirement gig that breaks even and lets his family travel. They sell surfboards and wet suits, but make most of their money with trademarked t-shirts. One has a surfer riding an ATV.
“Beautiful place and when the sun’s out and the winds not blowing, it’s pretty special,” Endicott said.
Canon Beach is covered in sculptural driftwood. The sand green black. There’s no surfer at the moment, but plenty of waves. And though Endicott prefers paddle-boarding these days, he gets the appeal of surfing completely.
“It’s that 30 second, one minute ride, you’re just at one with nature that you’re focused, you’re not thinking about your problems or money or anything else,” Endicott said.
It’s fast and silent, he adds, and the power of nature is pushing you.
The Endicotts plan to retire soon. Jack wants to spend more time fishing and less time manning the shop. But they hope that whoever owns Icy Waves next will keep prices low so anyone who wants to catch a wave, can.
Nellie Vale of Yakutat (Photo by Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau)
This week, Celebration 2018 kicked off. The festival is held every two years to celebrate Southeast Native culture, and it begins with canoes arriving into Juneau representing various tribes. This week we’re hearing from Nellie Vale who arrived in the Yakutat canoe. 10-year-old Vale decided to introduce herself with her Tlingit name.
VALE: My dad had me go on it once, and the first time I went on it was really fun. And also, I wanted to learn how our ancestors traveled and what it was like for them.
The first day we were on the canoe, it was super fun, and we only had to go nine miles. We practiced a bunch before we went, so we got to get there quickly because whenever we practiced, we tried going as fast as we can.
It was really fun. On the first night, we had to build a campfire. And there was one big campfire, and somebody’s socks got burned. It was so funny. Oh yeah, and somebody put their sweater by the fire, and it was literally steaming because it was drenched.
The first we camped out at my cousin Alejandre’s teacher that teaches kids how to carve. And he’s white, so that’s pretty good cause their trying to learn our culture.
The rest of Celebration… I’m probably just gonna be hanging out with my family when I have free time, and the rest of the time I’m going to be dancing at Centennial Hall and on the streets when we’re doing the parade. There’s a couple other places, I think. I forgot.
I think it’s just trying to keep our cultural spirit alive and making sure we don’t forget it. So I’m happy we get to do this every two years.
World Trade Center Harbin, developed by the Hua Hong Group, is seeking possible economic opportunities with Alaska. (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
This morning, a group of Chinese business delegates from the northeastern city of Harbin visited Anchorage to foster discussions over future endeavors the two entities can work together on.
Harbin is part of the Heilongjiang province in China and serves as a major agricultural hub for the country.
The delegates visiting Anchorage from Harbin were part of the Hua Hong group, a company specializing in real estate, agriculture, tourism, airlines and other interests. Suijin Kon with the World Trade Center Harbin, developed by Hua Hong, says the area is quite similar to Anchorage, and both cities would benefit from increased commerce.
“Obviously, we share a lot of commonalities in terms of latitude, in terms of climate, and there’s a huge opportunity in terms of short transit time between Harbin and Anchorage,” Kon said.
Kon says the approximate travel time to Anchorage from Harbin is about 6.5 hours. She says that short transit opens the door for trade opportunities, and WTC Hardin wants to capitalize on the location benefits.
One of the main business ventures the Chinese visitors were excited about was the prospect of shipping live seafood to China. In recent years, Kon says that the demand for wild sourced food has increased in China.
“There’s a push for non-farmed, non-GMO-type products. As you know, health risks exist and these are very important to Chinese consumers,” Kon said. “And they are willing to pay a fair amount of money for non-farmed seafood.”
Due to Harbin’s position as a major player in China’s agriculture economy, Harbin officials say that opening trade between Anchorage and the city could spread Alaska products across China.
Increasing economic ties to China has been a major platform of the Walker administration for the past few years. Recently, Walker took a delegation of Alaskans to China in order to foster future partnerships. Kon says the governmental support that WTC Harbin has received from both sides is very beneficial to the whole process.
“Having the governor set the stage for business connections to take place obviously helps,” Kon said. “It helps us to meet with all of you really quickly. And it also enables us to get government support from our end as well. As you heard, the mayor and the vice mayor of Hardin are very keen to get this trade relation going.”
Lindsey Whitt works with Matson, an Alaska-based freight shipping company, and she was one of the delegates traveling with the governor. Her company is looking to expand its routes — which currently travel from Anchorage, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor to Tacoma, Washington — to China. Whitt says the company isn’t looking at any particular part of China to establish a route.
“Well, we’ll cast a wide net. We’re in the research phase right now. So the trip over there was very eye-opening,” Whitt said. “Opportunities are fantastic for Alaskans and for China, and so we’re going to look into that now.”
Whitt says while seafood is by-and-large the hottest Alaska product in China, she’s hoping that the state can become large scale producers of a variety of products.
“We have some people from the Mat-Su Valley that are looking to export pork and logs and hay. We have excellent beer with the 49th State brewery and the clean, clear water that they use makes a great product,” Whitt said. “So Chinese folks are very interested in that product.”
Recently, the United States and China have had a contentious trading relationship, with both countries disagreeing over various tariffs.
Suijin Kon with WTC Hardin says that she’s aware of the various political obstacles that may arise in the Alaska-China economic future, but she is confident that it won’t upend work being done to foster the relationship.
“I would say that we have to be aware of all of the political ramifications of whatever we do, but that’s just business,” Kon said. “I think we will work through all of these issues because whatever it is, people have got to eat.”
The Harbin delegation is will be in Alaska through the weekend, meeting with various businesses in Anchorage, as well as visiting Girdwood. While many of the opportunities and prospects between China and Alaska are in the early stages, both sides seemed optimistic that through these partnerships, Alaska and China could reap large economic benefits.
Defendant Reuben Yerkes (l.) sits by then-public defender Jude Pate in Sitka Superior Court in May of 2017, shortly after confessing to killing his girlfriend of two months, Ali Clayton. Yerkes subsequently was transferred to the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, where he has remained for the past 13 months. Yerkes will appear in person in Sitka Court on September 4 for sentencing. He’s accepted a plea deal and a sentence of 45 years, with a discretionary parole review after 15 years. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
A Sitka man accused of killing his girlfriend last year has taken a plea deal, and now could face up to 45 years in prison.
The move puts an end to over a year of legal wrangling between the state and the City of Sitka over privileged evidence, and spares the grieving community a lengthy trial.
40-year-old Reuben Yerkes appeared via video conference in Sitka Superior Court Thursday afternoon. He’s been held in Juneau at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center since shortly after his arrest in May of 2017.
Yerkes was charged with two counts of murder in the first degree, and one count of murder in the second degree, in the shooting death of 28-year-old Ali Clayton, his girlfriend of about two months — crimes carrying penalties of up to 99 years in prison.
In his settlement with the state, Yerkes agreed to plead guilty to a single reduced count of Murder in the Second Degree, and take a sentence of 60 years in prison, with 15 suspended — for a total of 45 years.
Presiding Judge Trevor Stephens wanted to make sure that Yerkes understood that he was waiving his rights to a trial — and to an appeal — by accepting the deal.
Stevens — Mr. Yerkes, has anybody made you any promises to get you to plead guilty to the reduced charge on count 1 of Murder in the First Degree, other than what’s been discussed here in court today?
Yerkes — No, Your Honor.
Stevens — Has anybody made any threats to get you to do this?
Yerkes — No, Your Honor.
Stevens — Have you had enough time to talk this over with counsel?
Yerkes — Yes, Your Honor.
Stevens — Do you need any more time now?
Yerkes — No, Your Honor.
The pair met while both were working in City Hall in Sitka: Yerkes as a paralegal, and Clayton in the Finance Department.
As part of the criminal investigation, the state seized the computers used by both — but the City claimed privilege over the contents of much of Yerkes’ computer, since he had been actively involved in other outstanding municipal legal cases — most notably, legal action surrounding a landslide in 2015 which took three lives.
But now, that trial will not happen. Judge Stephens — who has been covering the Sitka Court since the retirement of Judge David George in April — said that he would take time to familiarize himself with the case, and to review a pre-sentencing report where he hoped to learn more about Yerkes.
Stephens told the many friends and supporters of the Clayton family present that it was relatively rare for a judge not to accept all the terms of a plea agreement at sentencing. But then he turned to Yerkes on screen and said, “I don’t know enough about you that I would commit to go along with this.”
Stephens ordered Yerkes to appear in person for sentencing at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 4.
If Judge Stephens signs off on the 45-year sentence, Yerkes would have a discretionary parole review after 15 years — the first third of his sentence — and a mandatory parole review after 30 years.
Brother Francis Shelter in Anchorage. (Staff photo)
Police are investigating the spreading of chlorine pool cleaner Thursday alongside a street in the vicinity of an Anchorage homeless shelter and soup kitchen.
A hazardous materials crew responded to reports of a white powdery substance on a Karluk Street sidewalk between 3rd and 4th Avenue at little before 6 p.m. Thursday, Assistant Fire Chief Erich Scheunemann said.
Dozens of Anchorage’s homeless congregate in the area, and the city had recently cleaned up tents and other items next to the street.
Ron Alleva, the owner of a nearby auction lot in a long-running dispute with the city over the concentration of homeless near his property, told the Anchorage Daily News he had spread the pool cleaner. Alleva did not respond to calls seeking comment Friday.
The hazmat crew found an empty five-gallon bucket indicating the substance was pool cleaner and guessed between 50 and 75 pounds of it had been spread around on the ground, Scheunemann said.
“It can cause skin burns. If it’s inhaled it can cause respiratory depression,” Scheunemann said. “So there is some concerns with cleaners in general. It’s just not something that you want to be exposed to.”
The Daily News reported a woman at the scene Thursday said her husband had laid down in the substance and woke up with holes burned in his jacket.
Scheunemann would not confirm that. While the hazmat crew was at the scene, he said, a man approached them asking for medical assistance and was taken to a local hospital in stable condition. Scheunemann said it was unclear if that was related to the pool cleaner and that there were no other reports of symptoms of chemical exposure.
The city hired an environmental cleaning company to remove the powder, and it took about three hours to clean up, Scheunemann said.
A police investigation is underway but no charges had been filed as of Friday, according to a spokesperson for the Anchorage Police Department.
Conoco’s big plans for NPR-A are getting even bigger
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Conoco thinks it’s sitting on so much oil that the company is considering building a major new project in the Reserve, a processing facility.
Can a Northeast Chinese city be Alaska’s next big trading partner?
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
This morning, a group of Chinese business delegates from the northeastern city of Harbin visited Anchorage to foster discussions over future endeavors the two entities can work together on.
Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation votes to support Yes for Salmon
Isabelle Ross, KDLG – Dillingham
Last Friday, the Board of Directors for the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation voted unanimously to support the Yes for Salmon ballot initiative.
An Alaska geologist returns from the lava scene on Hawaii’s Big Island
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
A state geologist has returned to Fairbanks after a three-week deployment helping to monitor, analyze and document activity at and around the Kiloheah Volcano in Hawaii.
Anchorage police investigating chlorine powder near homeless shelter
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Police are investigating the spreading of chlorine pool cleaner Thursday alongside a street in the vicinity of an Anchorage homeless shelter and soup kitchen.
Sitka man takes plea deal in murder of girlfriend; will serve 45 years
Robert Woolsey, KCAW – Sitka
A Sitka man accused of killing his girlfriend last year has taken a plea deal, and now could face up to 45 years in prison.
AK: The tucked-away Icy Waves Surf Shop on the island of Yakutat
Emily Kwong, KCAW – Sitka
Summer is here and with it, the siren call of the ocean waves. That’s certainly the case in Yakutat, home of the Icy Waves Surf Shop.
49 Voices: Nellie Vale of Yakutat
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
This week we’re hearing from Nellie Vale who arrived to Celebration 2018 in the Yakutat canoe. 10-year-old Vale decided to introduce herself with her Tlingit name.
ConocoPhillips’ Alpine facility on the North Slope. Conoco’s Scott Jepsen said a new processing facility in NPR-A would be about the same size. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/AED)
During an especially upbeat quarterly earnings call this spring, a top ConocoPhillips executive gave a special shout-out to Alaska.
“This was our largest exploration program in Alaska since 2002, and a successful one,” Al Hirshberg, Conoco’s vice president for production, drilling and projects, said.
Hirshberg noted that after drilling a half-dozen exploration wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska area this past winter, Conoco made three new oil discoveries. And, Hirshberg said, the company confirmed the discovery it announced last year, called Willow, holds quite a lot of oil — 300 million barrels.
Then Hirshberg teased investors with this:
“I think we can see from the appraisal work in Willow that it’s looking more and more like it’ll be able to justify a standalone facility,” Hirshberg said.
Translation? Conoco thinks it’s sitting on so much oil that the company is considering building a major new project in the Reserve, a processing facility. The company’s already big plans for this remote, federally-managed Arctic wilderness are getting even bigger. And environmental groups are watching closely.
A new processing facility would be a major investment for Conoco and a major addition to the landscape. A processing facility is like the nucleus of an oil development: fed by a handful of drill sites, it would be the first stop for oil before it gets sent to the trans-Alaska pipeline. On the North Slope, processing facilities are also like self-contained towns, serving as a home base for a few hundred workers.
Scott Jepsen, Conoco’s vice president for external affairs in Alaska, said if the company built a new processing facility in NPR-A, it would be about the same size as the nearby Alpine facility, located just outside NPR-A. Alpine puts out about 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
But Jepsen said Conoco hasn’t made a final decision on whether to build the project. He said that will come after the federal environmental review process.
“We still have more evaluation work to do. We still have a permitting process to go through,” Jepsen said. “But all the signs that we have seen so far point to the fact that it’s large enough, the rates are going to be high enough, that we can most likely justify a standalone facility out there.”
Conoco has firmly established itself as the dominant oil company in NPR-A. It may be called a “Petroleum Reserve,” but it wasn’t until 2015 that this massive, federally-managed portion of the North Slope first started producing oil. That project was ConocoPhillips’ CD-5 drill site. Since then, Conoco has steadily advanced a series of projects in NPR-A. Its next drill site there, Greater Mooses Tooth 1, is set to start up later this year. The federal permitting process for a third drill site, Greater Mooses Tooth 2, took a major step forward in March.
And in May, Conoco sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management, the agency that oversees NPR-A, asking to start the environmental review process for what it’s calling the Willow Central Facility.
The Trump administration is eager to help Conoco achieve its goals. During a speech at a recent oil industry conference in Anchorage, top Interior official and former Alaska Department of Natural Resources commissioner Joe Balash said his agency is about to turn its attention to Willow “in a big way.”
Then Balash reiterated one of the Trump administration’s promises to industry: it aims speed up and simplify the environmental review process for projects like Willow.
“As you all know, the process to date has been taking too long, it costs too much money, and it is too complicated,” Balash said.
But environmental groups that keep close tabs on NPR-A see it differently. David Krause with the Wilderness Society in Anchorage said the faster Conoco’s footprint in NPR-A grows, the more difficult it is for the company to understand how environmental impacts are adding up in what was, until recently, mostly untouched wilderness.
“We certainly have significant concerns about the rate of development,” Krause said.
Conoco’s processing facility wouldn’t be far from the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, a biologically rich part of NPR-A the Obama administration put off-limits to oil development. It’s important habitat for migratory bird species and caribou.
But geologists also think there’s significant oil potential there, so the Trump administration is taking a second look at whether the area should be off limits — a move Conoco supports. Krause said that makes his organization nervous about what a big development at Willow could mean in the future.
“The fact that this development is knocking on the door of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area is very concerning,” Krause said.
But Krause said the Wilderness Society isn’t coming out against the project; Conoco hasn’t released many details at this point.
Those details will become clearer when the Trump administration kicks off the environmental review process, which Conoco anticipates happening later this year.
The Office of Children’s Services Building in Bethel. (Photo by Lakeidra Chavis/KYUK)
Working with families in crisis is stressful and social workers have a high burn out rate. A new program within the Office of Children’s Services aims to help OCS field workers by providing mentors who can help them learn the skills they’ll need to not only survive, but thrive in a challenging occupation. How will that ultimately help children and families?
HOST: Lori Townsend
GUESTS:
Tandra Donahue – Social Services Program Officer, OCS
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).
