Quantcast
Channel: News - Alaska Public Media
Viewing all 17603 articles
Browse latest View live

Utqiaġvik barbecue connects people to scientific research next door

0
0
Residents attended a recent science-centered barbecue at the Barrow Arctic Research Center to hear about some of the research being done in Utqiaġvik. (Ravenna Koenig/ Alaska’s Energy Desk)

There’s a lot of science that happens on the North Slope. Some of it’s homegrown, like the wildlife research done by the North Slope Borough. But a lot of it is done by scientists who spend weeks or months doing field work here before heading home.

Listen now

So how does the community stay in the loop on the research being done in their own backyard?

Out on the edge of Utqiaġvik, people filter into the building that serves as the town’s science hub. Kids play on the floor, while adults chat over hamburgers and hot dogs. By the time the presentations get started, every seat is taken.

“Thank you all for coming to our first BARC-becue,” Kaare Erickson said. Erickson is the community science liaison for Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) Science, the arm of the village corporation that works on science logistics. “We call this building the BARC — it’s the Barrow Arctic Research Center… we’re just starting the BARC-becue series.”

Erickson grew up mostly in Unalakleet but his mom is from Utqiaġvik. Basically his job is to represent North Slope residents to the scientists who work up here, and vice versa.

In addition to food, there are also presentations from scientists who are trying to better understand some of the natural processes that affect climate by studying things like clouds and vegetation.

Fifty or so people showed up to the event, including Emma Kignak, who goes by Susie.

“I wanted to hear what was going on with the global warming,” Kignak said.

Kignak says that she’s seeing the effects of that warming with her own eyes, like changes in the sea ice. She came to this talk because she wants to understand why those changes are happening, and what might happen in the future. For example, she’s concerned about the warming of the permafrost that her town is built on.

“I always wonder… where are we going to go if all of a sudden the ice melt[s] and we all sink in?” Kignak said.

Leanna Mack is another resident who turned out for the event. She says she likes to keep tabs on the science being done in her hometown; it’s something she’s naturally curious about.

“I’ve been interested in science myself,” Mack said.  “And growing up, my grandmother — she translated for National Science Foundation.”

Mack says she was a little surprised that so many people came to the talk because it is a drive, albeit a short one, from the main town. But she also said it makes sense, given this community’s long history with research.

“A lot of people in the community have been engaged in all the science that’s been going on up here for like 30, 40 years already,” Mack said. “And so I think that’s why there are so many people who do come out here, especially older people, because they were involved in it when they were little as well.”

Throughout the summer, Kaare Erickson will be organizing several other science outreach events.

Though Erickson is an employee of UIC Science, about half of his work is funded by the National Science Foundation, which sponsors a lot of North Slope research.

Erickson says that some researchers are more invested in outreach than others, and he’s glad when he encounters people who want to engage with the public. Presentations like those at the BARC-becue do help the community stay informed about the science that’s happening in their home.

But Erickson also wants researchers to take a second look at when in the research process that outreach happens.

“Does it come at the very end when you’re all done with the research when you come back and share the knowledge?” Erickson said. “Or does it come in the middle where you’re doing the research so that some of that traditional knowledge might be incorporated into your results? Or does it come in the very beginning when you’re planting the seeds and creating the research questions?”

In the future, Erickson hopes that things will shift more toward the last.


The Big Thaw: Fishermen in Kodiak cope with record low cod numbers

0
0
Darius Kasprzak fishes for cod in the Gulf of Alaska. (Photo by Annie Feidt/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

A hint of optimism creeps into Darius Kasprzak’s voice as he pilots his boat, the Marona, out of the harbor in Kodiak on a calm day in early May.

“We’re in the morning, we’re at the start of the flood tide,” Kasprzak said. “This is where you want to be.”

On the screen of Kasprzak’s echo sounder he sees a dense cluster of dots on the ocean bottom.

“Let’s drop on it,” Kasprzak said. “That looks pretty darn good.”

Kasprzak kills the engine, leaps onto the deck and lowers one of his fishing lines into the water.

And then… nothing.

For years, Alaska fishermen like Kasprzak have worried that climate change would threaten their livelihoods. Now, it has. The cod population in the Gulf of Alaska is at its lowest level on record. The culprit is a warm water mass called “the blob“ that churned in the Pacific Ocean between 2013 and 2017.

This map shows the blob, (in green and yellow) in Aug. 2015. (Image courtesy of Rick Thoman/NWS Alaska)

At its peak, it stretched from Alaska to South America. In the Gulf of Alaska, the cod population declined by more than 80 percent.

Climate change didn’t cause the blob all on its own. But scientists say global warming made it worse, pushing warm ocean temperatures to the extreme.

Kasprzak says he used to think the rich ocean ecosystem he fishes was unshakable. But he’s mostly given up on finding more cod here.

“We’ve just seen now that even the mighty Gulf of Alaska, how fragile it actually is, when all you’ve got to do is warm it up,” Kasprzak said. “You don’t even have to warm it up that much, a couple of degrees. It doesn’t take that much.”

Since early 2017, the temperature of the Gulf of Alaska has been close to normal. Now everyone in Kodiak is asking: Will the cod come back?

Fisheries biologist Mike Litzow tosses kelp out of the net he uses to catch young cod. (Photo by Mitch Borden/KMXT)

Mike Litzow is trying to answer that question. He’s a fisheries biologist who works for the University of Alaska, based in Kodiak. With his wiry frame and thick beard, he looks more like a fisherman than a scientist.

Litzow does go fishing every few weeks in the spring and summer — for science, in search of young cod. He stands in shallow water on Long Island, near Kodiak, and uses a net called a beach seine to sweep up fish hiding in the eelgrass and kelp beds.

“There’s all kinds of information you can get over time, once you catch the fish,” Litzow said.

Litzow doesn’t find any cod in this net. But by the end of the summer, he hopes to catch enough tiny cod to provide clues on whether the population will recover. He doubts it will. He thinks the cod decline may have been so steep that other fish might fill its place in the ecosystem.

“When you push a population down really hard, the resources that population used to rely on can be exploited by other populations,” Litzow said.

Other scientists are more optimistic. But everyone seems to agree on one point — that the blob is a dress rehearsal for a future with climate change. Marine heat waves are expected to happen more often and, overall, ocean temperatures will warm.

Litzow says it’s hard to predict what kind of ripple effects that will have. If you had asked a bunch of scientists to predict how fish would do during the blob years in the Gulf of Alaska, Litzow says, “it would just be like drawing names out of a hat. It’s not like all of the scientists would say cod are going to be the ones that collapse.”

Litzow says fishing communities have to get used to the prospect of more frequent shocks to the ocean ecosystem. And Kodiak certainly isn’t the only place that’s seen them. Those changes aren’t all bad, he says. When one species declines, others do well. Right now, sablefish are booming in the Gulf of Alaska.

But the cod decline could be a disaster for fishermen, and for Kodiak. Already, cod boats are traveling more than a thousand miles away to find fish. That means crews aren’t stocking up at stores in town and boats aren’t paying the local fish tax.

Darius Kasprzak fills a tote with dusky rockfish. (Photo by Annie Feidt/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

Out in the Gulf, Darius Kasprzak has been on his boat for more than four hours. He sees some puffins, even a whale, but no cod.

Eventually, he gives up and decides to try to catch some dusky rockfish. He lowers his line over a promising spot and quickly reels one in.

It’s a nice one, too,” Kasprzak said, taking the fish off the hook and putting it on ice.

It’s not nearly enough to bring to a processor, but it will make several meals. Rockfish used to help Kasprzak supplement his cod earnings. Now it’s his main fishery. It doesn’t come close to making up for the cod income he’s lost, but he’s working with a local nonprofit to market rockfish directly to customers to get a better price for the fish.

Kasprzak has also considered trolling for salmon instead, but that would require an expensive new permit and gear, and many salmon runs have been weak, too. The blob could be a factor.

Kasprzak says he can’t believe how fast climate change has altered his life. He says he didn’t even know it was an issue until he watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in 2006.

“A dozen years later, not only is it real but the climate has warmed so much and the oceans have absorbed so much heat, my industry is gone because of it,” Kasprzak said.

Kasprzak is looking at other career options. But he says he wants to stay in Kodiak as long as he can. That way if the cod do come back he’ll be one of the first ones out on the water.

This story is part of a new season of the podcast Midnight Oil from Alaska’s Energy Desk. Season two is called The Big Thaw and looks at climate change in Alaska. New episodes begin August 9.

Crews continue to battle blaze southeast of Tok, now estimated at 730 acres

0
0
A view of the smoke column from the north side of the Taixtsalda Hill Fire taken during Monday’s initial attack. (Photo by Tim Whitesell/Alaska Division of Forestry)

There were five new wildfires detected across the interior on Monday, including one near Tok that’s drawing a major response. The Taixtsalda Hill Fire is 38 miles southeast of Tok, and 16 miles southwest of Northway.

Listen now

State Forestry spokesman Tim Mowry says the fire, suspected to be human caused, was attacked aggressively from the air Monday.

”Three water-scooping aircraft dropping water on it,” Mowry said. “We had a helicopter dropping water on it, and we had an air retardant tanker making multiple retardant drops on it. There are eight smokejumpers that were deployed on the fire.”

Mowry says three ground crews are joining the fight today, which as of last night, had burned an estimated 730 acres.

”To the size now where it’s gonna be pretty difficult to catch, so we’re looking to do point protection on Native allotments or any cabins, structures in the area,” Mowry said.

Three of the other new wildfires detected yesterday are in the Galena zone, and lightning caused. One is being fought. The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center reports that two smokejumpers are working the nine-acre Shungnak River fire, near the Bornite Mine.

Record or near record warm temperatures are expected again today for a swath of the interior, with highs in 80s. The hottest readings are forecast to be near the Alaska-Canada Border.

College students help keep Bristol Bay sockeye top tier

0
0
Maddie Vancuren looks over her paperwork between inspections. (Photo by Mitch Borden/KDLG)

Bristol Bay seafood processors pay millions of dollars to fishermen for premium sockeye. But how do companies make sure they’re getting their money’s worth? By using mostly college students to keep fishermen honest.

Listen now

Maddie Vancuren practically dives halfway into a bag filled with hundreds of sockeye. to find the coldest ones in the batch.

“I will literally have blood in my hair after the end of this, [which] really doesn’t gross me out at all,” Vancuren said.

Vancuren is doing this because she’s one of the many quality control technicians — or QCs — hired for the summer to assess the salmon being sold to seafood processors in Bristol Bay. They’re mostly college students or in their early 20s.

Maddie Vancuren unloads sockeye from a brailer. (Photo by Mitch Borden/KDLG)

Currently, Vancuren is on a salmon tender checking the sockeye boats are dropping off after a day of fishing near the Naknek River. Whenever a boat pulled up, she greets them with a standard list of questions.

“Bled? RSW? Floating?” Vancuren called out.

Then Vancuren examined a sample of the boat’s catch to see if the fish were stored in water if they were bled, and she also checked the salmon’s temperature. Going through a batch she called out the temps, then admired the fishermen’s work.

“They are doing a really good job,” Vancuren said.

If sockeye meet certain standards assessed by QCs like Vancuren, fishermen can get quality bonuses from the companies they’re selling to.

“They [fishermen] kinda look at us like the cops a little bit,” Vancuren said. “Some of them, you know, these people are getting so much money or not by what I’m writing on this piece of paper.”

Mark Buckley said a lot of money is spent on getting the highest quality of salmon in Bristol Bay. Buckley is the founder and owner of Digital Observer, the company that employs the majority of the QC’s in the region.

“This industry is paying fishermen tens of millions of dollars a year in quality bonuses,” Buckley.

Historically, Buckley said Bristol Bay processors and fishermen didn’t make it a priority to keep the fish they caught “fresh.” He can attest to that from his own personal experience as a fisherman.

“When I was on the boat and I wanted a fish for dinner I would pull a fish off the top of the brailer. I wouldn’t even reach down a few inches,” Buckley said. “We’d sell them to the companies but not eat them ourselves.”

For decades, fishermen crammed the sockeye they’d catch into unrefrigerated spaces for hours. Then they’d head to the canneries where the salmon would be stuffed and cooked in cans. But around the early 2000’s things started to change.

Brailer being lifted from a fishing boat.
(Photo by Mitch Borden/KDLG)

The Bristol Bay salmon market began transitioning from canning sockeye to selling fillets. This meant processors needed better meat.

“You can’t sell a badly beat up fish as a fillet,” Buckley explained. “It just doesn’t work.”

So, companies started paying fishermen to chill their fish, in ice or cold water, and bleed them to prevent bruising. These improvements dramatically raised the quality of the fish coming out of Bristol Bay.

To ensure they’re getting their money’s worth, processors use QCs on their tenders to keep fishermen honest, which sometimes can be a bit of a challenge.

“Well you know I’m a long time Alaska Fishermen myself. I fished here in the bay for 22 years,” Buckley said. “So, I can say this will a fair bit of authority — fishermen lie. We all will stretch the truth on occasion.”

For the most part though, Buckley said most fishermen have adapted well to the changes.

“No one is holding a gun to their head to do these things,” Buckley said. “It’s all because they want the extra money.”

Back on the boat, Maddie Vancuren is finishing up her shift. She says it looks like the fishermen had a good day.

“They had a lot of fish today,” Vancuren said. “People were coming in with 18 – 20 brailers. So popping day.”

With that, Vancuren is done with work until more boats begin to line up with their hulls hopefully packed with pristine Bristol Bay sockeye.

Will online sales taxes incentivize Alaskans to shop local?

0
0
Shops line Pioneer Avenue in Homer (Photo by Aaron Bolton/KBBI)

The U.S. Supreme Court changed course on taxing online sales this summer. Now, the Kenai Peninsula Borough is working towards taxing major online retailers, namely Amazon. While taxing those sales may help cash-strapped boroughs like the Kenai Peninsula, local retailers are also hoping the change will benefit their bottom line.

Listen now

Back in June, the Supreme Court overturned a 1992 decision preventing states and municipalities from taxing online retailers without a presence in their jurisdiction. Now states and communities that are not home to warehouses, stores or offices belonging to major online retailers can tax their sales.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is working towards taxing most online purchases, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is likely to take up the issue this fall. Its aim is to target consumers like Homer resident Danielle Meyers.

“I was born and raised in Alaska. So, I’ve resorted to online shopping most of my life, and it has varied, but now as a mother, most of my online shopping is through Amazon,” Meyers said as her one-year-son sat on her lap at the kitchen table.

Meyers and her husband mostly buy household items like cleaning supplies, diapers and wipes through Amazon’s subscribe & save program.

“I even get my quinoa and my rice through that program,” Meyers added.

Meyers said she would be happy to pay into the borough’s coffers through her online purchases, but local brick-and-mortar retailers hope taxing online sales will incentivize consumers like her to shop locally instead.

“I’m not sure how sensitive people are to the sales tax in the Homer area, especially with a $500 cap. The maximum impact on any transaction is $37.50,” Patrick Mede, co-owner of Ulmer’s Hardware Store in Homer, said. “Theoretically, you should see some change. How much of a change will it be for our business? I’d be interested to see. I don’t know.”

Mede has managed the store, which sells everything from firearms to gardening supplies, for the last two years. He said it’s difficult to say just how much business he loses to online retailers overall, but he said the largest impact he has seen is on high-end sporting goods like fishing rods and skis.

“People do more research online and they’re more apt to buy those online where they can get a deeper discount than here,” Mede explained. “Lower value items, items that they need immediately, we see much less decrease in sales due to online sales – at least we think so.”

But how online shoppers’ habits might change as a result of online sales taxes is hard to say and there are more factors than just price, according to Mouhcine Guettabi, associate professor of economics at the Institute of Social and Economic Research.

“There’s the big question of are people actually buying the same things they would otherwise buy in their community online or not,” Guettabi explained.

Guettabi said there isn’t a lot of data on what Alaskans are buying online and how many of those products are available in the communities they live in.

When it comes down to the fundamental question of whether consumers will be more apt to buy items from local retailers because of a sales tax, Guettabi said that will still largely depend on the base price of the product, though he does acknowledge taxes make a difference.

“When, for example, a community across the border from a state levies a tax, we do see people crossing the border to buy things that are not taxed,” Guettabi said.

On high-priced items like a fishing rod, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Homer’s combined 7.5 percent sales tax might not be enough to close the gap between what consumers pay online and locally.

It might make a difference on items such as paper towels and cleaning supplies purchased from Amazon where savings can vary and some items are actually more expensive.

But consumers like Meyers say they are still saving money.

“It’s still cost effective for me to keep shopping this way. I don’t think it will change the way that I shop online at all,” Meyers said.

Meyers adds that all those savings are delivered to her front door, providing a convenience local retailers may not be able to compete with.

Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, July 24, 2018

0
0

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

Listen now

Walker leads in fundraising and cash on hand, but other candidates have strengths

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

Counting the money Gov. Walker and Lt. Gov. Mallott have spent, it leaves the ticket with $445,000 in cash on hand.

Fairbanks Borough mayor seeks consolidation of fire commissions

Associated Press

A proposal going before Fairbanks North Star Borough officials seeks to consolidate the commissions overseeing emergency medical services and the fire service areas.

Crews continue to battle blaze southeast of Tok, now estimated at 730 acres

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

There were five new wildfires detected across the interior on Monday, including one near Tok that’s drawing a major response.

Legislation allows more immediate wildfire penalties

Robyne, KUAC – Fairbanks

Governor Walker signed a bill in Fairbanks Friday that changes the way penalties for causing wildfires can be imposed.

Will online sales taxes incentivize Alaskans to shop local?

Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer

The U.S. Supreme Court changed course on taxing online sales this summer. Now, the Kenai Peninsula Borough is working towards taxing major online retailers, namely Amazon.

As man is found guilty of 2015 shooting, victim and family hope to move on

Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Gun violence can happen anywhere. Chelan Schreifels knows that all too well. Her daughter Caia Delavergne was shot by an Anchorage man, Christian Beier, in October 2015. Beier was recently found guilty after a trial in Anchorage.

College students help keep Bristol Bay sockeye top tier

Mitch Borden, KMXT – Kodiak

Bristol Bay seafood processors pay millions of dollars to fishermen for premium sockeye. But how do companies make sure they’re getting their money’s worth? By using mostly college students to keep fishermen honest.

How little investments can lead to big community change

Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Seward used to host a lot of bake sales. It was the only way to raise money for small organizations. Now, instead of buying cupcakes, people can donate little bits of money that are invested and help the whole community go a long way.

Walker leads in fundraising and cash on hand, but other candidates have own strengths

0
0
The Alaska State Capitol in February 2017. Gov. Bill Walker has raised the most money of any candidate running for governor this year, but each of the other major candidates for governor can point to their own strengths in the latest campaign financial disclosures. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

Independent Gov. Bill Walker has raised the most money of any candidate running for governor this year. He also has the most cash on hand. But each of the other major candidates for governor can point to their own strengths in the latest campaign disclosures.

Listen now

Walker’s campaign had raised $498,000 through Friday.

Campaign manager John-Henry Heckendorn noted that Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott has raised another $257,000. Counting the money they’ve spent, it leaves the ticket with $445,000 in cash on hand.

“You see donations from 3,800 Alaskans – Democrats, Republicans, independents – from Kotzebue to Ketchikan, quite literally, and that’s more than any other candidate or even potential candidate team in the race,” Heckendorn said.

But Democrat and former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich has been raising money faster than Walker since he entered the race. He has $96,000 in cash on hand.

Begich said he feels good about how much he’s raised in seven weeks.

“At the end of the day, we knew we were going to be outraised, and will continue, I’m sure they’ll outraise me, but we’re going to outwork ‘em by the work we do on the ground, by talking to voters and ensuring that we talk about the issues that people care about,” Begich said.

Republican candidate Mike Dunleavy has raised the second-most of the candidates. He’s also spent the most, so his cash on hand is lower, at $43,000. An independent expenditure group supporting Dunleavy has $42,000 on hand.

Dunleavy campaign manager Brett Huber noted Dunleavy leads in the polls. And Huber said the former state senator will be holding several campaign events that will add to his fundraising totals this week.

“I think Mike’s message is resounding with people,” Huber said. “I think that people have responded nicely. And I see it continuing down that road.”

Former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell also is competing for the Republican nomination. He raised $113,000 since he entered the race at the filing deadline, and has $71,000 cash on hand.

Treadwell campaign manager Mike Robbins said the campaign feels pretty good about its fundraising success.

“We just got into the race June 1, and so we haven’t had six months to raise money as our competitor has,” Robbins said.

No other Republican candidate for governor has raised as much as $10,000 this year.

The candidates’ fundraising has been eclipsed by the campaign for Ballot Measure 1, which increases protections for salmon and other fish that migrate to spawn in Alaska’s rivers. Opponents of the initiative have raised $9 million. Supporters have raised just $1 million.

The reports were required 30 days before the Aug. 21 primary.

As man is found guilty of 2015 shooting, victim and family hope to move on

0
0
Caia Delavergne (left) and her mother Chelan Schreifels (Photo courtesy of Chelan Schreifels )

Gun violence can happen anywhere. Chelan Schreifels knows that all too well. Her daughter Caia Delavergne was shot by an Anchorage man, Christian Beier in October 2015. Beier was recently found guilty after a trial in Anchorage.

Caia had started freshman classes at UAA and had known Beier for three weeks before Beier shot her and a friend at a home in Anchorage’s Bootlegger’s Cove neighborhood. Caia lost her left eye in the shooting. Beier was found guilty on all charges. He will be sentenced later this fall.

Schreifels lives in Japan and she traveled back for the trial to support her daughter. Schreifels told Alaska Public Media’s Lori Townsend it’s been a long road of recovery for the family but she says Caia is thriving.

Listen now

SCHREIFELS: Caia is doing amazing now. She is, to use her words, she’s living her best life. She is working full time at the Washington Capitol visitor’s center. She’s gotten to do backstage tours of the Senate halls and tours of the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress and absolutely loves that job. And then she’s also attending school online, and she’s just doing absolutely amazing. She’s so strong and composed through when she had to testify. And she’s done so much healing, cause it’s been almost three years, so she was probably at her best now, and has a lot of self confidence and has kinda put that all behind her, as far as what happened those three weeks after she met Conor and Christian to the time when Christian shot them both, and then basically tried to end her life.

TOWNSEND: Caia lost an eye. Has she struggled with anger and bitterness about that?

SCHREIFELS: That’s a tough question. So obviously, her life changed forever in a very dramatic way. Sometimes I put my hand over my eye and imagine how she feels and what she sees, missing an eye. And it can be pretty emotional for me, but her… I’ve seen her just pick up her bootstraps and soldier on and resume normal life. Within about eight weeks after that happened, we went to Japan, and within 12 weeks, she was riding her bicycle regularly again. And then about 16 weeks after she was shot in the face and lost her eye, we played in our first hockey game with our women’s team in Japan, and Caia scored the game-winning goal. So I think she’s come back with a vengeance. After she got shot, one of my hockey teammates in Alaska gave her a bracelet that said “Resilient” on it, and she wore that bracelet every day for about eight weeks and during the initial healing period. And I think that pretty sums it up in a word, that she’s resilient.

TOWNSEND: So you came back from Japan. Caia came back from Washington D.C. for this trial. Tell me about that.

SCHREIFELS: So, Caia testified, and she had a really tough day on the stand. Her testimony was the longest besides Christian himself, when he testified. She testified for about two and a half hours. And it was intense cross examination by the defense and a lot of slandering and victim-shaming and trying to make it seem as though something that Caia had done had brought this upon her. And it was really enraging to have to witness that and stay calm and try to believe that this is the process of justice that we need to go through in order to make sure that Christian gets put behind bars.

TOWNSEND: Christian was eventually found guilty on all charges. How does that feel? What do you think of when you think about the fact that he was found guilty? He hasn’t been sentenced yet but how was that moment when the verdicts were read?

SCHREIFELS: It was a sense of relief and feeling just a huge sense of a weight being lifted off our shoulders. It was a major milestone in our healing process, and then I also felt incredible sadness for Christian and for his family because they lost their son and, just by some miracle, my daughter is still with us, and it’s hard to reconcile those feelings of this person tried to kill my daughter and shot her all the way through the head, looked her in the eye and did it deliberately with a 40-caliber gun, which is a big bullet. And trying to reconcile those feelings that I have of happiness my daughters still here , relief that the trial is finally behind us after almost three years of waiting, and then some anger but also a tremendous amount of pity and sadness for the fact that Christian was 21 when he did that crime, and his life is gone as well. But then also, in that same respect, I’m concerned about the sentencing and how long will he be put away for, because the judge has a lot to work with with his discretion, but even if he gets 60 years, in 20 years he could be out of jail, and he still would have a lot of life ahead of him, and I didn’t hear any remorse for what he did or ownership of what he did, which was really concerning, thinking that he’s not healing. He’s not moving forward. He’s not making himself a better person either, so it was really hard.

TOWNSEND: Chelan, is there something you would want coming out of all of this horrific experience for your family? Something that you would want other parents to know, other young people to know?

SCHREIFELS: So for my self personally, I wish there would be change. So I got involved with Moms Demand Action, which is a grassroots group that is trying to pass responsible gun legislation such as a red flag bill which can remove a gun from somebody that’s dangerous based on a report by a family member or concerned friend or something. And the night before Christian shot Caia and Conor, they had actually taken his gun away from him. He was a person that carried a gun with him, everywhere he went on his hip, and he had threatened to hurt himself the night before. They took the gun away from him, and then he came back the next day and took the gun back from them. They gave it back. But maybe if there had been a red flag bill, or something that they could’ve done to keep that gun away from him when they knew he was dangerous at least to himself, that would’ve been huge, and could’ve prevented this whole thing form happening.


Body of Togiak fisherman who fell overboard found

0
0
Togiak Commercial Fishing District (ADF&G graphic)

The body of a fisherman who fell overboard on Monday in Togiak Bay was found yesterday.

Listen now

According to Alaska State Troopers, Anthony Active, 39 years old from Togiak, fell from a 26-foot boat while checking a set net Monday afternoon. He was not wearing a personal flotation device. The captain of the boat tried to throw Active a life ring. However, he also fell into the water. The captain was able to swim to shore with the life ring and wave down a passing fisherman for a ride back to his boat.

Alaska State Troopers, the United States Coast Guard and a local rescue effort searched for Active by air and land. The Coast Guard located Active at 11:30 yesterday morning by air, and troopers recovered his body. It had washed onto the beach about seven miles southwest from Togiak Village.

Active’s next of kin have been notified and his remains are being transported to Anchorage to the State Medical Examiner.

This is the second fisherman to fall overboard in Bristol Bay in less than a week. On Thursday, Grant Hildreth Jr. fell off the F/V Cape Greig in Ugashik. The search for Hildreth was suspended on Friday afternoon.

Tender capsizes near Clark’s Point

0
0
View of Nushagak Bay from the Dillingham boat harbor, facing Clark’s Point on the morning of July 25, 2018 (Photo by Austin Fast/KDLG)

A commercial fishing vessel has capsized in the Nushagak Bay close to Dillingham.

Listen now

The United States Coast Guard received a report Wednesday morning that the F/V Pacific Knight capsized near Clark’s Point. The 58-foot long liner has been operating as a tender in Bristol Bay this summer.

The good samaritan vessel Amanda C reportedly rescued two people from the water. A third person who went overboard is still missing. It is unknown whether this person was wearing a personal flotation device.

A MH60 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is on scene searching for the missing person.

As lands uplift, a wetland refuge in Juneau is losing ground

0
0
Frank Rue stands in his backyard. The Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge was established in 1976. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

You’d think with all those glaciers melting around Southeast Alaska, sea levels would be rising. But that’s not the case.

Listen now

Some parts of the region are actually gaining ground at a pretty astounding pace. But as the tideline moves, a protected wetland in Juneau is shrinking.

The view from Frank Rue’s house overlooking the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge in Juneau didn’t always look like this. He lives in a neighborhood called Sunny Point. But he says his kids used to come in from playing outside covered in mud.

“The story was, and I don’t know if it was true, that it was originally called Mud Point,” Rue said. “Because there was a lot more mud out here and even a gravel beach and then it was renamed Sunny Point.”

Sunny Point sounds like a safer real estate investment. Today, this neighborhood mostly lives up to that namesake.

From Rue’s back porch, you can see a field of long grass that stretches across to the Gastineau Channel. The tide only makes it up to this spot below Rue’s house a couple times a year. So, technically this is still a wetland.

“You know, I see ducks using these little ponds here. Eagles are using this edge to hunt,” Rue said.

But the land right outside Rue’s house is fairly new. And there’s a geologic explanation for why the view has changed so much since his kids were small.

Juneau is rising by about a half an inch a year. That rate differs from place to place. But overall, across the region the uplift is fast.

“As far as we know, these are the fastest rates in the world,” Roman Motyka, a retired glaciologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, said.

Motyka says what’s causing the land to rise up is a phenomenon known as isostatic rebound. As glaciers retreat, the absence of pressure from the ice causes the land to spring up.

“All you have to do is walk out to Mendenhall Glacier and see what’s going on,” Motyka said. “As a glaciologist, I hate to see my poor glaciers wasting away but that seems to be the future.”

Motyka says when researchers first started looking at this back in the 1960s, they thought that isostatic rebound was likely due to the glacial melt which occurred hundreds of years ago. But today, the scientific models suggest it’s also happening now.

“Isostatic rebound, in this case, is directly related to climate change,” Motyka said.

As the tide moves farther back from places like Sunny Point, property owners like Frank Rue can go through a legal process with the state to essentially claim ownership over these new lands.

Normally, the state owns everything up to the ordinary tideline. But with rebound, those tidelines shift.

Isostatic rebound in Southeast Alaska is occurring between Yakutat and Sitka, and it’s especially apparent in relatively flat wetlands. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

Rue points to two stakes with orange flagging that indicate his new property boundary. Together, with his neighbor, he was able to claim roughly nine acres of the new land.

But Rue’s not keeping it. He’s selling it to the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, a conservation group that plans to make this new land part of the Mendenhall wetlands.

Rue is also a Southeast Alaska Land Trust board member. When he sold his property back to the trust he recused himself from the board.

Allison Gillum is the group’s director.

“Our long term plan is to re-incorporate them into the refuge and basically preserve the refuge boundary,” Gillum said. “So future landowners can’t continue to take land out of the refuge and make the refuge smaller.”

In fact, Gillum says the Mendenhall refuge could become bigger than its original acreage.

The land trust has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for 32 acres with Bicknill Inc., whose lands were not originally part of the refuge. Although, that agreement doesn’t include all the company’s property in the area.

Separate from that deal, the land trust has also been able to procure over 50 acres that were originally part of the Mendenhall refuge.

In a couple of years, pending the approval of the Alaska legislature, all of this wetland could be protected — in some some cases, once again.

Frank Rue’s kids might not come back with muddy boots anymore, but he thinks this refuge is still ecologically important for birds and people alike. Even after he’s gone, no one will be able to build here.

“That’s was my concern,” Rue said. “I don’t plan to do anything. But I don’t know what the next owner or the next owner after that would do.”

But now, all of the homes along Sunny Point will continue to enjoy their view and have protected wetlands as their backyard.

Fire crews continue battle with Taixtsalda Hill fire, estimated at 4,700 acres

0
0
A map showing the location of the Taixtsalda Hill Fire (#357). The red dots signify heat detected by satellite. (Alaska Division of Forestry graphic)

Hot, dry weather in the Interior is bringing wildfires to life. The Taixtsalda Hill Fire near Tok is estimated at 4,700 acres, after being started Monday by an unknown cause. It’s burning on Tetlin Village Corporation land.

Listen now

State forestry spokesman Tim Mowry says Tuesday was spent assessing what’s at risk. He says three crews are assigned to the fire, and getting them into the locations targeted for protection, requires helicopter transport.

”It becomes a major operation when you’re dealing with 60 firefighters, three different crews that need to be shuttled in,” Mowry said.

Two other fires are also getting attention. An Alaska Fire Service crew is working the 25-acre Hughes Mountain Fire. AFS spokeswoman Beth Ipsen says it’s burning in volatile black spruce about four miles from the village of Hughes.

”There’s a continuous fuel between the fire and Hughes,” Ipsen said. “Even though the village of Hughes is on the other side of the river, we just don’t want to risk it.”

AFS Firefighters are also back on the long-burning Zitziana River fire south of Manly Hot Springs. The lightning-caused blaze battled since early June has now consumed nearly 47,000 acres. Ipsen says that includes a 20,000-acre run Monday and Tuesday toward Kindamina Lake, where there are cabins, and protection measures have been a priority for weeks.

”All the cabins on the east side, we put in protection measures. They’ve got blackline around the cabins, so they’re safe,” Ipsen said. “Now we’re working on the west side and putting blackline around the cabins on the west side. We feel that we’re in a good spot right now to where we don’t have to worry about the structures around Kindamina Lake.”

AFS crews are also tracking several lightning caused wildfires in the Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve. Ipsen says one of the blazes, the Dome Creek Fire, is being worked. She says firefighters are focused on protecting the Coal Creek Mining camp, 65 miles northwest of Eagle.

”Doing structure protection because there’s a lot of historical cabins,” Ipsen said.

The National Park Service has closed its Coal Creek and Slaven’s Road House facilities, which firefighters are using to stage operations.

Summer camp promotes Alutiiq culture on Afognak Island

0
0
Dig Afognak camp on June 30, 2018. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KMXT)

The island of Afognak, near Kodiak, was devastated by the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, which scattered its indigenous people to other parts of Alaska and the Lower 48.

Listen now

Many lost touch with their culture and language. But today, Afognak descendants are making sure a new generation has a connection to Alutiiq culture, language and the land where their ancestors lived — through a summer camp.

Two young Alaska Native women who work at a nearby weir counting fish during summer are teaching the kids at the camp about salmon.

“How many species of salmon are there?,” one of the women asks. The children respond: “Five!”. “Can you name them,” she asks, and the campers start naming them.

“This is Dig Afognak on Afognak Island and its a kids cultural camp,” Taletha Gertz explained.

Gertz has spent the past seven summers working at the camp, which was previously the site of an archaeological dig, and before that, the home of her ancestors. The village was destroyed after the 1964 earthquake and tsunami.

“After the earthquake and tidal wave, they decided not to rebuild on Afognak and some of the villagers went to Port Lions and the rest dispersed throughout the United States, Kodiak and Alaska,” Gertz said. “To me, I’ve realized that Dig Afognak… it’s a place where we can all come together and talk about those original roots of Afognak.”

Dig Afognak camp on June 30, 2018. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KMXT)

The land on which the camp sits was owned by Afognak Native Corporation, and after an archaeological dig was completed, the camp was turned over to the tribe. Later the land was donated as well. Then the Native Village of Afognak turned it into the kids cultural camp.

They host four week-long camps with themes like subsistence hunting and survival skills and Alutiiq music and dance and language immersion. Kids, Native and non-Native, learn about science, the arts and the outdoors through the lens of Alutiiq culture.

Gertz says visiting the place where her ancestors once lived helps her feel connected. And she says it is also important for her three kids. 16-year-old Skylar Gertz is the oldest.

“If it wasn’t for this camp I probably would have been like, completely oblivious to who I am, I guess,” Skylar Gertz said.

With light hair and eyes, Skylar says growing up in Kodiak people didn’t always recognize her Native identity. But at the summer camps, she feels like she is part of a big family. Now she works here as an intern, helping out in the kitchen and mentoring younger campers. Sometimes she tags along to help out on excursions to forage for plants or to hunt and fish.

Dig Afognak camp on June 30, 2018. (Photo by Daysha Eaton/KMXT)

It also immerses campers in the Alutiiq language. Signs with Alutiiq words for household items are posted around the camp.

Susan Malutin teaches Alutiiq culture and language at the camp.

“The language is a big part of it because as we learn the language and go into the different concepts we learn about tradition, why this word is what it is, when it was used by the elders, the different kinds of ceremonies they had, the different kinds of family structures they had. And these words describe those things and they learn those things,” Malutin said.

Nancy Nelson is the camp manager. She says the camp is critical for boosting the next generation’s skills and confidence.

“It’s mostly building their self-esteem, making them have that self-confidence in themselves because they’re our future leaders,” Nelson said.

James Dunham is a member of the Afognak Tribal Council, which he says views the development of the camp as one of their most important accomplishments.

Dunham says the camp is very important to him because, like many Afognak descendants, his grandchildren are growing up in the Lower 48, and he doesn’t want them to forget their roots.

Dig Afognak camp on June 30, 2018. (Photos by Daysha Eaton/KMXT)

“We want to make sure our kids are able to hold their heads up and be proud of who they are and where they come from,” Dunham said.

And it seems to be working. Skylar Gertz, whose mother is a descendant but whose father is not, says she cannot participate in some cultural activities, like hunting for otters and seals during camp, because of the way the government defines her eligibility through blood quantum. However, she says the camp has taught her to feel confident in who she is.

“Being Native isn’t about how much Native you are,” Skylar said . “It is just about your ancestors and how you live up to that today.”

Dig Afognak summer camps run through the end of July.

Nome Nugget newspaper under new ownership

0
0
A front page of a Nome Nugget issue (Photo by Gabe Colombo/KNOM)

The Nome Nugget newspaper is officially under new ownership. As of last week, managing editor Diana Haecker and her husband, advertising manager Nils Hahn, now own the Nome-based newspaper.

Listen now

The pair purchased the Nugget from the estate of Nancy McGuire, who owned, published and edited the paper from 1982 until her death in 2016.

According to a press release, Hahn joined the staff in 2012, and Haecker has worked for the Nugget as a reporter, and later editor, since 2002.

“That’s our life, you know. That’s what we do,” Haecker said.

Haecker says she got her start in reporting when she was 20 years old and attending school in Frankfurt, Germany, near where she grew up. Since then, she’s worked in TV, radio and at magazines and newspapers.

But Haecker says the independently-owned Nugget is “a reporter’s dream,” because of its nature as a community paper.

“You are embedded in the community, you live in the community, and you report on the important things that affect the community,” Haecker said. So we’re not having to obey any corporation rules that sometimes skew reality.”

Haecker says she sees herself as a “caretaker” of the paper during what she calls a “significant time” for the Arctic.

“It’s in the spotlight because of climate change,” Haecker said. “So we are right here at ground zero for reporting on Arctic issues. We are here. And we report from right here.”

According to Haecker, that reporting will mostly stay the same under the new ownership. She says they’re not planning any formal changes to the paper besides possibly bringing back the Village News column, formerly reported by Janet Ahmasuk.

“Just what’s going on in the communities around us,” Haecker said. “And that’s not always the bad news, but just the regular news: Hey, are the berries ripe? How are the moose doing? Or what’s going on in your community?”

Haecker and Hahn will also now be keeping tabs on sled-dog racing around the world. In March, they purchased the bimonthly Mushing magazine.

The Nome Nugget is one of Alaska’s oldest newspapers, with continuous publication since 1899.

From Congress, a call to help fishermen caught in trade war

0
0
Pollock photo by NOAA Fishwatch

Democrats in the U.S. House are urging President Trump to give fisherman caught in the trade war with China the same benefits announced Tuesday for farmers.

Listen now

The Trump administration said it will provide $12 billion in emergency aid to American farmers. Producers of soy and other crops are facing stiff import taxes on products they send to China, now that China has retaliated in response to President Trump’s first round of tariffs.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a statement yesterday calling the aid to farmers an admission that “tariffs are hurting, not helping, our country.” She said American fishermen are also caught in the crossfire.

Four U.S. House Democrats, including Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter Wednesday addressed to the president and the Commerce Secretary. They say America’s fishermen are hurt coming and going. First, they wrote, fishermen were disadvantaged by the U.S. tariff on imported steel and aluminum, which raises the cost of boats, crab traps and other metal gear. Now China has slapped a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American seafood.

Alaska companies export about $1 billion worth of seafood to China annually.


After further review, gasline corp still prefers Nikiski over Port Mac

0
0

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation still prefers Nikiski over Port MacKenzie as the terminus for a proposed natural gas pipeline, according to an analysis the AGDC recently sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Listen now

The review came after a Matanuska-Susitna Borough complaint to FERC that its port had been overlooked as an alternative.

But the FERC-ordered review identified problems with Port MacKenzie that the gasline corporation says are not present in the plan to build a liquefaction plant and other facilities in Nikiski. Among them, the AGDC review says, are issues with Port MacKenzie’s greater tidal range, heavier buildup of ice and more potential for disturbing endangered Cook Inlet belugas.

The gasline corporation also says land at the port that the borough has identified for a liquefaction plant is not suitable and would conflict with other development plans for the port’s future use.

In its own letter to FERC, the Mat-Su Borough says it disagrees with some of the AGDC’s findings and plans to file further comments highlighting what it called “incorrect information” in the gasline corporation’s review.

When prisoners own the store, everyone profits

0
0
Spring Creek Correctional Center store manager Randy McDaniels stands near some of the food items. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)

Nick Showers-Glover, an inmate at Spring Creek Correctional Center, walked past shelves of coffee, creamers, and candy to a couple of well-stocked freezers inside the prison’s store.

“We sell the single pizzas, which are $1.30, Hot Pockets for a $1,” he said. The freezers are filled with everything from single frozen burritos to whole ham slabs. Stuff that can be cooked in a microwave, even if it takes a while.

He moved on to the shelves lined with hygiene products, such as deodorant, toothpaste, and shampoo. Like stores outside of prisons, they offer a variety to fit everyone’s needs. Cheap bars of soap are 70 cents but Dove runs a $1.25.

Showers-Glover said it’s an extravagance. “Some people want it. It’s soft on your skin, and you get the smoothness, I get it. I understand. But for me, Irish Spring does the job.”

[Related: Community in Unity: Spring Creek]

Spring Creek’s store is owned and operated by the prisoners. They choose what to sell and what to charge. It’s set up as a co-op and different inmate-run organizations, like the Barbell Club and the Alaska Native Culture Club, each has a share in the profits. Spring Creek superintendent Bill Lapinskas said when the prison opened 30 years ago, it was set up differently.

“They started a store that was run by the state,” he said. “It didn’t work out. Funny thing is, you put criminals in a store and they don’t own the product, they steal the product.”

Money spent at the store didn’t stay in the prison, and inmates couldn’t see the benefits of protecting the resource. But for the past three years, all of the profits from the store have been reinvested in the prison to buy things like equipment for the gym and hobby shop and microwaves for the housing areas. Inmates vote to donate some of the funds to charities outside of the prison, too.

Members of Spring Creek Correctional Center’s Restorative Justice Initiative stand inside the prison’s store. From left: Nick Showers-Glover, Michael Lawson, and Jason Vukovich. (Hillman/Alaska Public Media)

“I can pull an inventory on that store at any given time,” Lapinskas said. “And with a $100 on the table, I bet you they aren’t a candy bar off. ‘Cause it’s their store, they have the investment, it’s their community.”

Items in the store come from Keefe Group, a private company that sells specialty products for prison commissaries across the country. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, prison commissaries are a $1.6 billion per year industry. In some facilities, the for-profit companies directly operate the commissaries and reap all of the profits. In others, the state runs the store. In Seward, the store manager buys from the company in bulk, marks up the prices a little bit, and the profits stay in the institution. The model is very unique.

[Related: Painting an Oasis in Prison]

Store manager Randy McDaniel said they want to make money, but they also want to help out their fellow inmates.

“We try not to charge people a lot, like certain guys working the kitchen. They only make 50 cents an hour, which maybe comes out the $40 a month. If unless you got to pay for cable or child support or restitution,” he said. “So we don’t want to rip people off. So we try to make things as low as possible so they can afford it.”

They also want to provide things that make people feel good, like Lucky Charms, nacho chips, and hamburger patties. McDaniel said the shelves are filled with things people request, not just what he wants, and people get excited to have access to soda and sausages. Inmates celebrate accomplishments, like passing tests for the GED, by sharing high-end items such as chicken wings. They make state-provided meals more palatable by purchasing hot sauce and spices.

“It feels good to treat people, you know?” McDaniel said.

Showers-Glover, who’s been in prison for about a decade, said it also feels good to be treated like an adult who can be responsible for buying his own things. The store sells clothing and shoes that are nicer than what the state provides and that have not been worn by other inmates.

“It goes a long way with just feeling confident about yourself,” he said. “You want us to reform and turn into a better person? Well, allow me to buy something that makes me feel secure. And that’s a new coat, that’s new shoes. That’s a new pair of underwear. Underwear and socks – as mundane as that might seem. A clean pair of your own socks and drawers goes a long way.”

He said people take good care of the things they buy for themselves or are gifts from their families through the prison store. They take pride in them, just like the prison community now takes pride in the store.

Next week we’ll be talking about prison clubs that provide opportunities for education and recreation. Want to make sure you don’t miss it and other Solutions Desk stories? Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or NPR.

Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, July 25, 2018

0
0

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

Listen now

From Congress, a call to help fishermen caught in trade war

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

Democrats in the U.S. House are urging President Trump to give fisherman caught in the trade war with China the same benefits announced Tuesday for farmers.

The Big Thaw: Fishermen in Kodiak cope with record low cod numbers

Annie Feidt, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

The cod population in the Gulf of Alaska is at its lowest level on record. The culprit is a warm water mass called “the blob” that churned in the Pacific Ocean between 2013 and 2017.

After further review, gasline corp still prefers Nikiski over Port Mac

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The AGDC review says issues with Port MacKenzie include its greater tidal range, heavier buildup of ice and more potential for disturbing endangered Cook Inlet belugas.

State officials weigh shift to more voting by mail

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

Along with considering a replacement, state officials are looking at a new election system in which many more voters would cast their votes by mail. But rural Alaskans don’t want a system that entirely relies on mail.

Tender capsizes near Clark’s Point

Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham

The United States Coast Guard recieved a report this morning: The F/V Pacific Knight, a 58-foot longliner operating as tender in Bristol Bay, capsized near Clark’s Point. One person is missing.

Body of Togiak fisherman who fell overboard found

Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham

The body of a fisherman who fell overboard on Monday in Togiak Bay was found yesterday.

Fire crews continue battle with Taixtsalda Hill fire, estimated at 4,700 acres

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Hot, dry weather in the Interior is bringing wildfires to life. The Taixtsalda Hill Fire near Tok is estimated at 4,700 acres, after being started Monday by an unknown cause.

As lands uplift, a wetland refuge in Juneau is losing ground

Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau

The land right outside Rue’s house is fairly new. And there’s a geologic explanation for why the view has changed so much since his kids were small.

Summer camp promotes Alutiiq culture on Afognak Island

Daysha Eaton, KMXT – Kodiak

Afognak descendants are making sure a new generation has a connection to Alutiiq culture, language and the land where their ancestors lived — through a summer camp.

Nome Nugget newspaper under new ownership

Gabe Colombo, KNOM – Nome

As of last week, managing editor Diana Haecker and her husband, advertising manager Nils Hahn, now own the Nome-based newspaper.

State officials weigh shift to more voting by mail

0
0
Bill Ferguson exits a voting booth at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center, one of two available precincts in Bethel in November 2016. State officials are considering replacing the voting system as they replace voting equipment and software. (Photo by Katie Basile/KYUK)

The state’s election equipment and software is outdated.

Listen now

Along with considering a replacement, state officials are considering a new election system in which many more voters would cast their votes by mail. But rural Alaskans don’t want a system that entirely relies on mail.

work group that’s advising Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott on election policy met by phone Wednesday to talk about possible changes to the system.

Virgene Hanna of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, or ISER, presented survey results from Southwest Alaska. Residents there prefer the current system, but are open to having the option of voting by mail, once they hear about it.

“Not surprisingly, the more dissatisfied they were with the mail service, the more likely they were to respond that they wanted to keep voting the way it is now,” Hanna said.

Any changes would not happen this year. State officials are aiming to replace the equipment and software by the elections in 2020.

If the new system is like that used by Anchorage this year, all voters would receive their ballots in the mail. They would have a choice whether to return them by mail or take them to a polling place.

The state hired the consulting company Resource Data Inc. to advise the Division of Elections on potential changes to state law to allow more voting by mail. Dennis Wheeler is leading this work.

“Just as an example, currently on the books, there’s a statute that says the division director can hold elections by mail as long as they’re not coinciding the general, the primary or any municipal election, so obviously that’s a hurdle that makes vote by mail not much of an option at this point,” Wheeler said.

State officials said one of their goals is to maximize the accessibility of the voting system. The first Anchorage municipal election that was primarily vote by mail had the highest voter turnout of the past decade.

Division Director Josie Bahnke said the state must replace its outdated equipment. She said any change to the current voting system must work well across the state. That’s why the state asked ISER to survey Southwest Alaska.

“One of the guiding principles of the group is that if it doesn’t work for rural Alaska, then it won’t work for Alaska,” Bahnke said. “And so we’ve been very cognizant of that.”

The overall cost of replacing the election equipment and software is $4.8 million. The state has received a $3 million grant from the federal government to replace them.

State allows 90-hour dip net opening at Chitina following strong sockeye return

0
0

Late-run Copper River sockeye continue to come in strong, and the state has scheduled a 90-hour dip net opening at Chitina beginning Thursday. A weaker than expected early run shut down fishing last month, but the return has been improving in recent weeks.

Listen now

Department of Fish and Game area management biologist Mark Somerville says it now appears escapement will be met.

”Tremendous spikes here of fish later in the season. A good portion of those are probably hatchery-bound fish,” Somerville said. “So we’re seeing strong returns probably there and we’re also seeing some good late stocks, seem to be performing better than the earlier stocks.”

Cautioning that the overall run is still weak based on historic numbers, Somerville says over 680,000 fish have passed a sonar counter at the river’s mouth. He says that’s enough to ensure the minimum escapement goal for wild salmon and to allow normal management of the dip net fishery.

”Now we’re at a point where we feel very comfortable with making that escapement goal,” Somerville said. “So hopefully, we can go right back to just the management plan and manage on a weekly basis based on weekly sonar passage.”

Somerville notes that while this summer’s early run sockeye were small, the later fish are a little bigger.

”We’re definitely seeing some larger fish coming in which just strikes me to say that we’ve got some healthier stocks coming in and probably the reason why we’re seeing strength in these later stocks,” Someville said.

Somerville says hot weather has seen the Copper River come up, but so far not enough to significantly limit fishing.

Viewing all 17603 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images