Voters cast ballots in the Aug. 21, 2018, primary election at Glacier Valley Baptist Church in Juneau. Alaskans will be vote on the salmon habitat ballot initiative on Nov. 6. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO)
The group Stand for Alaska — Vote No on Oneis accusing organizations behind the fish habitat protection initiative of “flouting Alaska’s campaign finance laws” and misleading voters about their money.
In a complaint filed Thursday with the state, Stand for Alaska alleges a series of violations by the organizations Stand for Salmon, the Alaska Center and Yes for Salmon — Vote Yes on One.
“We believe the campaign disclosure laws aren’t being followed and Alaskans aren’t able to get a clear picture of who is financing the Stand-for-Salmon-slash-Yes-for-Salmon effort,” said Kati Capozzi, Stand for Alaska’s campaign manager.
Stand for Alaska was formed to oppose the ballot initiative, and the group gets much of its financial support from mining and oil companies. The initiative would toughen permitting for projects built in salmon habitat.
Stand for Alaska claims the three environmental groups are improperly reporting how they are coordinating the campaign, underplaying the Alaska Center’s role. Stand for Alaska also alleges they aren’t properly disclosing campaign contributions.
The groups “failed to report the true source of the dark money they have received from Lower 48 non-profit entities that are used to launder large Outside donations into respondents’ campaign in support of Ballot Measure 1,” the complaint reads.
In an interview, Stand for Salmon Director Ryan Schryver said the accusations are groundless.
“Stand for Salmon has taken many steps to make sure that we are fully compliant with all of the state and federal rules and laws and regulations. We take transparency very seriously,” Schryver said in an interview.
The Alaska Center, which supports the initiative, does raise money from groups outside Alaska like the Washington, D.C.-based League of Conservation Voters, as well as individual Alaskans, according to Meghan Cavanaugh, the center’s political director.
“The Alaska Center has been diligent in working with [the Alaska Political Offices Commission] throughout this process to ensure that we are in compliance with state election law. We believe strongly in public transparency in all elections,” Cavanaugh said in an email.
The complaint comes about a week after Stand for Alaska was fined by the state for leaving out the group’s opposition — the “Vote on One” — from its name. That fine came after a complaint filed by Stand for Salmon. Capozzi said Stand for Alaska’s complaint was not spurred by that fine.
Stand for Alaska’s allegations echo a common talking point in the debate over the salmon habitat initiative. Each side has repeatedly accused the other of receiving money from entities outside Alaska. Both sides have, in fact, received money from entities based outside Alaska, in addition to support from people who live and work in Alaska.
Chris Colbert stands atop a ladder while installing parts at Alaska’s first commercial-scale solar projects in Willow, just north of Anchorage, on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz / Alaska’s Energy Desk)
Alaska’s first commercial-scale solar farm is about to come online. Its builders say they want to move the world toward cleaner energy sources. But they’re not ready to renounce oil and gas just yet.
Jenn Miller is the project’s chief executive. She was working on her 400-panel commercial solar project north of Anchorage last week, with black flies buzzing and her dog, Ralfie, wandering around with a chunk of moose bone.
Miller was there with her husband, Chris Colbert. They both had drills and leather tool belts and were moving a ladder around, putting in some of the last few pieces before they can flip the switch. Miller said she’s excited about the outlook for solar power and its potential to slow global warming.
“The cool thing is, I don’t think renewables have to be a charity case. I think they can be a business case,” Miller said. “And the more you get to that point, I think the faster we are able to address the climate issue.”
The solar farm could power about 30 homes. The local electric utility, Matanuska Electric Association, will buy the power at wholesale rates. That could slightly reduce the use of natural gas in its existing power plant and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In a lot of ways, Miller fits the stereotype of someone trying to fight global warming. She has solar panels on her house in Anchorage. She bikes to work. She’s been on a river-rafting trip in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
But here’s something you might not expect: Miller works at BP, the oil company.
“When I went to go work for an oil company out of college, the way you hear about oil companies is like, everyone who works there is evil,” Miller said. But, she added, “they’re actually nice people and they’re pretty smart.”
The solar project is personal — it’s not endorsed or paid for by BP. But Miller is a project manager at the company, and her three partners are all current or former BP employees.
One is Sam Dennis. Dennis drives a Tesla, a pricey electric car. He thinks the future is in electricity. But he also has a pickup truck, and he thinks the future will be built on a foundation that the oil industry helped create.
In an interview at the site, Dennis pointed out that the solar panels at the site stand on a foundation of recycled oil drilling pipe. And that’s not all.
“The money came from our work with the oil industry. And our expertise in running projects came from our work with the industry,” Dennis said. “And I was thinking back, and I was like, how much of the development of oil 100 years ago was based on knowledge from coal?”
Dennis said he thinks oil companies and their workers can help with the transition toward renewables. Just like the partners in this solar project, big oil companies have expertise building things. And they have a lot of money.
It turns out that Dennis’ views aren’t that far off from the company he once worked for. Janet Weiss, BP’s top executive in Alaska, said her company has been boosting its renewable energy holdings after scaling them back following the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.
“What our company is doing is certainly taking some of the cash flow that’s been earned through the oil and gas and investing it into our renewables business,” Weiss said in an interview. “It’s a natural evolution of what we need to do here on the planet.”
To be sure, BP still produces a ton of oil — about 4 percent of global production. Its renewable investments are also small in relation to the company’s overall portfolio.
Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott talks in Sitka earlier this year. (Photo by Katherine Rose/KCAW)
Officials drafting Alaska’s new climate policy have also enlisted the oil industry in tackling global warming. Weiss last year was named to the state’s climate leadership team, which is chaired by a Democrat, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.
“If the energy industry, as it exists now, is an opponent of dealing with climate change, we have a steep hill to climb,” Mallott said in an interview. “My belief is that they are a partner. They will continue to be a partner. But they must be held to account, as all of us must be.”
Back at the solar farm, Miller was still drilling in parts, while Dennis fired up an excavator to fill in a trench. Miller said she wants people to understand that these climate change and energy discussions aren’t black and white.
“I think a lot of times there’s an image that people who work for the oil industry are of certain political views or putting a box over their heads about climate change and don’t think it’s happening,” Miller said. “But I think humans are much more sophisticated than that. I think humans can hold a much bigger picture in their head.”
The partners expect to get a 3 to 5 percent return on their investment, or roughly equivalent to bonds. Miller wouldn’t specify the exact cost of the project, but she said it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The project won’t generate much revenue in the winter — maybe $500 in the whole month of December. But some of the Alaska-specific challenges are offset by the high price that the project will get for its electricity, and the fact that solar panels actually operate more efficiently in cold weather.
“We started looking at the numbers and started researching what you get for revenue for wholesale power, and then we started looking at what an installation would actually cost,” Dennis said. “And it was like, ‘Wow. Looks like it pencils out.’”
Miller and her partners are already thinking about a second project. One option is to expand their existing site; another is to build a new one in a place with higher power costs than the Anchorage area, like Fairbanks.
In her short time as a Village Police Officer, between 5 and 7 percent of Mountain Village’s residents tried to kill themselves; Anna helped save them all. She also responded to active shooter situations, broke up assaults and was attacked several times herself. Anna responded to many of these calls alone.
“I was dispatching police phones 24/7 for the last eight months,” she told KYUK after turning in her resignation letter. “It is very exhausting.”
Anna reluctantly resigned last August, after eight and a half months on the job.
“I can finally breathe!” she said, then sighed. “But at the same time, I’m going to really miss what I did. I was really good at it.”
Anna loved her job. Her community supported her, and as a survivor of a suicide attempt herself, it was satisfying to help so many other people. But in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s villages, local law enforcement’s job can seem impossible. Due to a series of fiscal decisions at the state level, rural communities are making do with less money to pay for basic services, including policing. As a result, Alaska’s Village Police Officers are expected to arrest their own friends and family without adequate support and for very little pay. It became an impossible job for Anna to do.
To understand why Anna left, you need to know about the people she didn’t save. The trouble started last April when she received a call about a shooting.
“We entered the residence and… I was kind of in shock,” she said. An 18-year-old boy was lying on the floor inside. Anna recognized him; he was a little older than her own son, Ramond. He was also a good student, only weeks away from graduating high school.
Anna assumed that the boy had died from suicide. It was the first one she hadn’t helped stop.
“There’s always a question of why,” she said, “because they’re robbing themselves of their potential of why they’re here.”
Anna’s police partner at the time, VPO John Scott Hunter, stayed inside the house with the body. Anna sat on the steps with a friend and waited for the Alaska State Troopers, who are called whenever there’s a death in the community. The Troopers examined the victim’s body when they arrived, and Anna noticed they were being more meticulous than usual. She says that it became clear that the victim hadn’t committed suicide. Someone had killed him, and the Troopers wanted Anna’s help.
“They were asking, ‘Who all was involved? What do I know?'” she said. “‘What was I able to come up with?'”
Anna wasn’t trained for this; like many Village and Tribal Police Officers, she had never received any police training. The Troopers mobilized a team of officers from at least six different divisions to investigate the homicide. Officers flew in from Palmer, Fairbanks and Soldotna, and they spent hours questioning Mountain Village residents, including Anna’s son, Ramond.
A few days into the investigation, Anna was contacted by a close friend. She suspected that Ramond knew something about the murder, and Anna thought he might, too.
“I know his looks,” she said. “I know when he’s hiding something from me, and that’s when I knew. I called Trooper Moehring and informed him, ‘you know, I think you might want to talk to my son again.'”
She drove Ramond to the police station herself.
“I had to fight myself so hard,” she said. “As his mother, I wanted him to tell me everything. But as a police officer, I am not professionally trained enough to handle situations like this.”
Anna wanted to go into the interrogation with Ramond, but he was 16. In Alaska, that’s old enough to waive the right to be questioned with a parent present. Ramond asked Anna to wait outside and went into the room alone, without his mother or an attorney. Anna waited for a long time.
“I was just thinking, ‘what the heck is going on in there?'” she said. “‘Should I go home and get him some food?’ And then they finally came [out] and said, ‘we’re holding him. He’s being charged.’”
Ramond Landlord faces a first degree murder charge and is being tried as an adult. In an affidavit filed with the court, Alaska State Trooper Todd Moehring writes that Raymond confessed to killing the victim in a home invasion that went bad. Anna didn’t know about any of this until she read it on the news.
Anna says that she couldn’t leave her house for days. She couldn’t stop thinking about the crime scene, or what was happening to Ramond.
“I suffered really bad PTSD after that,” Anna said. “I had really bad dreams for a little while. Just the smells, and scene, and blood, and some really graphic images that are implanted in my brain.”
Anna never received treatment for her PTSD. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation’s Behavioral Health Department sent a counselor to Mountain Village for a week to help community members cope with the homicide, but Anna was too busy dispatching police calls to speak with him.
She used to visit Ramond at Bethel’s jail about once a month, whenever she was in town. He was transferred to a facility in Anchorage last weekend, where his attorney says that he’s being held in solitary confinement. In Alaska, juveniles charged as adults are generally sent to adult prisons and held in solitary confinement for their own protection. The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights organizations argue that such isolation can cause serious psychological damage, particularly to young adults.
Anna is convinced that Ramond is innocent, and while she admits to being biased, there is at least one worrying problem with the state’s case against her son. A few weeks after Ramond was arrested, Anna came down with pneumonia and was flown to Bethel’s hospital for treatment. While she was in the ER, she received a call from the Troopers.
“That’s when they had informed me about John,” she said, referring to fellow VPO John Scott Hunter. “They had picked him up and arrested him.”
After the murder in Mountain Village, VPO John Hunter was the officer in charge of watching over the victim’s body. Troopers now claim that he tampered with the crime scene.
Hunter is charged with stealing a cellphone from the victim’s body and is awaiting trial in Bethel. In the roughly eight months that Anna served as a Village Police Officer, she worked with seven different partners. Hunter is one of two who were later charged with crimes, which is not uncommon in Alaska’s rural communities. VPOs don’t undergo the same background checks that other law enforcement officials do, and although they are supposed to be held to the hiring standards of the Alaska Police Standards Council, this is not always the case in practice.
Anna continued working as a VPO for a few more months after all of this happened, but the homicide weighed on her and the job kept getting worse. An intoxicated man injured her knee this summer while he was resisting arrest. Anna kept trying to do her job, and for a few weeks she was Mountain Village’s only police officer. She says that workman’s comp ultimately penalized her for working while injured. By August, she says, it was a job she literally couldn’t afford to do anymore.
Anna is undergoing knee surgery later this year and depending on her recovery, she’s considering rejoining the Mountain Village Police Department. Even after everything that’s happened, she says she misses her job too much. And community members have begged her to come back.
Her PTSD is still untreated. As Mountain Village’s first responder, she watched her friends and neighbors struggle to get the mental health care they needed. Now she can’t get it either.
“There are times where my temper is really bad and I’m lashing out at the people that love me the most,” Anna said. “I’m venting to them the wrong way because I’m so built up inside about stuff that I’ve seen that I can’t tell them, even though I want to. It hurts.”
In the meantime, Mountain Village is searching for more Village and Tribal Police Officers. They had one for a few weeks in July, but she quit before school started. The stress was just too much.
WOODFORD: I came up here in 1981, when I was 20, and hitchhiked for two months around the state. Checked out much of the state. I landed in Anchorage and went to Tok and up to Fairbanks and down to Denali and around back to Fairbanks and all the way through Whitehorse to Skagway and down to Juneau. It was a great experience, and it completely convinced me that this was the right choice. So the day I graduated from college in 1985, I moved here.
The Department of Fish and Game hired me to write about science and write about wildlife research and the work we do at Fish and Game… and to edit our magazine, our monthly online magazine, Alaska Fish and Wildlife News… and to do a radio show, Sounds Wild — a very short, 90-second nature and science program about Alaska.
People said that’s too short, but I had a really good feeling that 90 seconds would be perfect for public radio. I called Ketchikan and Anchorage and all the different public radio stations one by one, and asked them individually if they’d take it and all the program that I approached, they listened to it and they talked to the staff and said, “Yeah, we’ll take it.”
So it’s been on about 30 stations all over the state for close to 15 years now.
Ideally, my perfect idea for a show is one that’s about the sound. So if I play something like a beluga making noise or a bird singing, I will talk about the bird or the beluga. But if you want to do a show about invasive species, like northern pike or large mouth bass, they don’t make much noise. And so, you kinda have to work around that. So I’ll get sounds of people fishing and then talk about fish, or if I want to doing something about sea urchins or sea cucumbers, I’ll record my children tide-pooling down at the water playing and saying, “Look at this! Look what we found!” And then you can work into something from there.
All kinds of stuff. Boy, we cover everything I can think of. I’ve probably done close to 900 shows.
The Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers Thursday night called off the search for a Kake resident who is believed to have fallen off the town pier and drowned.
State troopers in Ketchikan were notified shortly before 9 p.m. on Wednesday that 55-year-old Reginald Skeek Jr. had gone missing after last being seen in the Kake liquor store earlier in the afternoon.
Community members and two village public safety officers began a search for Skeek on Wednesday. On Thursday, officers reviewed surveillance video from the liquor store and observed an unidentified individual falling off the dock into the water behind the store at about 1 p.m. the previous day. Additional troopers and a helicopter from Air Station Sitka responded to search for Skeek, without success.
The Coast Guard announced it had suspended the search for Skeek on Thursday evening.
“It’s one of the hardest decisions we have to make,” mission coordinator Byron Hayes said.
Weather during the search was good, with light winds and seas of one to two feet.
A small group of Bethel citizens are organizing a campaign to rally support for a “yes” vote on the October 2, 2018 local option proposition. (Anna Rose MacArthur / KYUK)
In less than two weeks, Bethel residents will head to the polls to vote on representatives for Bethel City Council. They’ll also vote on a proposition asking residents whether Bethel should return to local option status. The change would end legal alcohol sales in Bethel but would still allow for limited alcohol importation. With voting day approaching, local option supporters have begun to mobilize their campaign. KYUK attended their first public meeting on Wednesday.
It’s a small group of 10 people getting together during lunch at the Bethel Teen Center. There are cookies and pizza, but most people don’t have time to eat. It’s just an initial meeting to get some face time with fellow supporters and answer a few questions. On a side table, meeting organizer Sharon Chakuchin churns out blue and white campaign buttons that read, “Vote Yes Local Option.”
“Voting yes for local option gives the community a voice and opportunity to have no liquor store here,” Chakuchin explained. “We saw the results of having a liquor store here.”
It’s these results, from when the AC Quickstop Liquor store was open, that haunt the people at this meeting and motivate them to campaign for a “yes” vote.
“Some people were just drinking way too much every day,” Bethel Elder Ruth Evon recalled.
“The ambulance crew was just going, going, going. The police were just going, going,” Rev. Wesley Russell added.
“The devastation that we experienced was really too much,” Chakuchin said.
Local option isn’t a perfect solution, and the folks at this meeting will be the first to tell you that. Bethel residents voted to leave local option in 2009. People didn’t like that the state was maintaining a database of all the alcohol ordered by residents. People didn’t like that if you brought in a certain volume of alcohol on a plane, you had to clearly label the contents on the outside of your tote or suitcase in precise, two-inch high letters with an attached, itemized invoice. It was a headache.
“It’s a very confusing code, and it’s not well written,” Bethel City Council member Leif Albertson said about Title IV, the Alaska statute that governs local option.
Albertson has been a vocal opponent of alcohol sales in Bethel. But like most people, in 2009, he also voted to leave local option status. What tipped the scale for him is the same thing that turned many people away.
“It was the felonies,” Albertson explained. “You know, 18-year-old kids getting felonies over bootlegging, and that really affected them for the rest of their life.”
Albertson saw mostly young males who suddenly couldn’t get a job in education or health care, the region’s largest employers, because of these convictions.
The stakes are high and can be devastating if you mess up under local option, which is easy to do. Charges that are Class A Misdemeanors suddenly rise to Class C Felonies under local option. Giving alcohol to a minor becomes a felony. Bootlegging becomes a felony, and the definition of bootlegging broadens under local option. Possessing more than a certain amount of alcohol is classified as bootlegging, because possessing a certain amount indicates intent to sell. A bootlegging felony can carry a sentence of up to five years in jail along with a fine of up to $50,000.
Nevertheless, there’s support to return to local option after the frightening conditions that legal liquor sales brought to Bethel and to surrounding communities. The petition to put local option on the ballot gathered 297 signatures.
Many of those people share Albertson’s view: “I think of the choices we have, this is the best option that we have.”
Some supporters see local option as an immediate stopgap solution for Bethel alcohol sales, but not one they want for the long term. Returning to local option would shut down alcohol sales and prevent new alcohol stores from opening, but there is the potential in the future for Bethel to vote to enter a different local option status than what will be decided in the next election. There could be an option that perhaps restricts alcohol sales just to restaurants while prohibiting alcohol stores. Or Bethel could pass stricter city alcohol laws itself and leave local option altogether.
Municipal elections are Tuesday, October 2, 2018. If you want to vote before then, you can cast an absentee ballot at City Hall during business hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kusko Cab, Fili’s Pizza and a group of private citizens will be sponsoring free cab rides to and from the polls on Election Day.
A moose hunting brochure from the Alaska Dept of Fish and Game. (Photo by Jillian Rogers)
Since Saturday, hunters around Haines have been out in the woods in search of moose. Hunting the large animals is not only good outdoor recreation but a great source of meat to harvest before winter sets in.
However, the elderly and people with disabilities may have a difficult time taking advantage of the local bounty. Hunting and butchering a moose is no small task. That’s why Alaska Department of Fish & Game sometimes allows people to hunt on behalf of those who may not be physically capable.
Nathanael Motes moved to Haines four years ago from Louisiana. He has been an avid hunter his whole life and was excited to take advantage of the game that Alaska has to offer. He said Alaska presents some unique challenges.
“Man, everything is different here,” Motes said. “You got bears that’ll eat you. You’re walking through the woods and it’s a lot more nerve-wracking. That and the terrain. I thought moving to Alaska there would be vast openness and flatness, but it’s been a surprise how much everything is at an incline here. That and the devil’s club and the impenetrable alders. Hunting in Alaska is definitely a lot tougher than anywhere else I’ve ever hunted. There is a big difference between hunting here and down in the Lower 48.”
Motes said he is particularly keen to hunt moose, but he hasn’t been able to since he arrived.
“I’ve never moose hunted because of the fact that since I’ve been here I haven’t been able to get a moose tag. There’s kind of an algorithm that the Department of Fish and Game run where you get points taken away or points added to you for how long you’ve lived here, how much game you take every year for subsistence living, stuff like that. I haven’t met the criteria mainly because I haven’t been here long enough,” Motes said.
Priority for moose hunting permits is given to hunters who have lived in Alaska for a longer period of time.
But in some cases, someone who has depended on meat from these hunts for years may reach an age where they’re unable to hunt anymore. Haines resident Sally Reno has found herself in that situation.
“Well I’ve been hunting since I was 14 years old, you know. Not just for moose here, I lived in Michigan and hunted deer there and, of course, took home lots of meat. Well, my legs don’t want to do it anymore. This getting older thing,” Reno said.
But Reno has a better chance of getting a moose permit than Motes. She has lived in Alaska for 35 years and applies for a moose permit every year. This racks up points in her favor.
So, Motes is an avid hunter ready for his first Alaskan moose hunt but unable to get a permit. Reno has no problem getting a permit but can’t hunt the way she used to.
Both found a solution through the ADF&G’s proxy hunting system. Alaskans who are over the age of 65, blind or at least 70 percent disabled may find an eligible hunter to hunt for them by proxy.
Carl Koch is the assistant area management biologist for ADF&G’s Douglas Office. He helps manage the Tier II moose hunt for the Upper Lynn Canal.
“This is designed for someone to get meat,” Koch said. “So the proxy has to destroy the antlers of both the beneficiary’s moose and his or her own moose while proxy hunting. So in other words, proxy hunting is not meant to be trophy hunting. It’s meant to help somebody who is unable to get out there get meat in their freezer.”
Koch said both the beneficiary and the proxy hunter must have their own hunting licenses. The proxy must keep both licenses while hunting.
The Tier II moose hunt has strict specifications for the type of moose that can be taken. Hunts are limited to one bull moose with spike-fork antlers, antlers wider than 50 inches or antlers with at least three brow tines on one side. Reno said these characteristics can be difficult to determine while hunting.
“You really have to know what you are doing. It’s like you almost have to go out there and tie it up and measure the antlers and then shoot,” Reno said.
Koch says that is why it is very important to choose a skilled proxy hunter.
“If the beneficiary selects a proxy and that proxy goes out and shoots an illegal animal, that animal is confiscated and the bag limit is filled. That beneficiary cannot go and find some other hunter to go hunt again for them. Their season is over.”
This year Motes will be hunting on behalf of Reno. He said he has been preparing by searching the woods for scat and prints. He’s also set up three stands in the trees to shoot from.
“Pretty much that’s it. Just get in the woods. It’s a numbers game. The more you’re in the woods, the more chances you get of finding a moose. So you just got to get out there and do it,” Motes said.
Tier II moose hunting for the Upper Lynn Canal ends October 7th. So far 11 moose have been taken since the hunt opened on Saturday.
Federal prosecutors Friday unveiled theft and conspiracy charges against Gary Boyd and Martin Elze. The two were also charged with breaking a federal fossil theft law, and Elze faces a fourth charge of witness tampering.
A photo of the 100-pound mammoth tusk released by the Bureau of Land Management to help identify the tusk if found. (Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management)
Charging documents allege that in March, Boyd, Elze and an unidentified accomplice visited the BLM-run Campbell Creek Science Center in East Anchorage. The accomplice asked questions about the tusk’s type and weight, the documents charge.
The documents allege that the next day, Boyd and Elze went back to the center, where Boyd used a rock to break into a window and door. Boyd is charged with taking the 100-pound tusk, and prosecutors assert that Elze waited outside.
They also allege that Elze later defaced the tusk by cutting it.
Elze is already being held in the Anchorage jail on another charge. A spokeswoman for federal prosecutors in Anchorage didn’t immediately respond to a question about Boyd’s whereabouts.
The BLM had offered a $500 reward for information leading to the tusk’s recovery.
Man receives no jail time after being charged with felony assault, prompting outrage
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The state Department of Law is defending its plea deal with an Anchorage man – originally charged with kidnapping and assaulting a woman to whom he offered a ride. He was let off this week on time served, with some suspended. And that has angered some, including a group organizing to campaign against retaining the judge in the case.
Vandal prevents landing of medical flight at Alaska airport
Associated Press
Lights broken by a vandal in a southwest Alaska village prevented an emergency medical flight from landing.
State revises PFAS action level
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The state has lowered the water contamination threshold for perfluorinated, or PFAS, compounds. The manmade chemicals, once commonly used in a variety of products, from non-stick coating to firefighting foams, are highly water soluble, and increasingly found in groundwater worldwide, heightening concerns about human ingestion of the chemicals linked to health problems.
Two men charged as feds crack case of missing Anchorage mammoth tusk
Nathaniel Herz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Prosecutors are charging two men with stealing a 10,000-year-old mammoth tusk from the federal Bureau of Land Management in Anchorage. The indictment appears to be a break in a case that had gone unsolved since the tusk went missing six months ago.
K300 Race Committee increases prize money in three races
Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Bethel
While Alaska’s two biggest sled dog races, have cut down their prize money — the Kuskokwim 300 is doing the opposite. The K300 Race Committee has announced that it’s raising the purse for its three signature races.
Proxy hunters help harvest moose for those who can’t
Henry Leasia, KHNS – Haines
Alaska Department of Fish & Game sometimes allows people to hunt on behalf of those who may not be physically capable.
AK: In rural communities, Village Police Officers face impossible job
Teresa Cotsirilos, KYUK – Bethel
In the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta’s villages, local law enforcement’s job can seem impossible. Alaska’s Village Police Officers are expected to arrest their own friends and family without adequate support, and for very little pay.
49 Voices: Riley Woodford of Juneau
Kavitha George, KTOO – Juneau
This week we’re hearing from Riley Woodford in Juneau. Woodford is a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The state Department of Law is defending its plea deal with an Anchorage man – originally charged with kidnapping and assaulting a woman to whom he offered a ride. He was let off this week on time served, with some suspended.
And that has angered some, including Elizabeth Williams, who’s organizing a group to campaign against retaining the judge in the case — Judge Michael Corey.
“Especially in this state, it was just so incredibly insulting for the judge to let him walk out of the court a free man,” Williams said.
Williams says the sentence is far too lenient considering the details, which include a brief description of what many consider sexual assault.
Police said the victim in the August 2017 assault reported that the man — later identified as Justin Schneider, now 34 — offered her a ride across town. Instead, Schneider choked her unconscious and — at least according to the original charges — committed harassment by offensive contact with bodily fluids.
Anchorage TV station KTVA reported that Schneider was a “free man” Wednesday after Superior Court Judge Corey accepted a plea deal and sentenced Schneider. The state agreed to drop the kidnapping and harassment charges and Schneider was sentenced to time served.
Williams says the night she saw the KTVA report, she discovered online that Corey’s six-year term on the Superior Court was up for a retention vote this November.
“And, ultimately, it is the judge who’s responsible because he’s responsible for who walks out of court. And in this case we really think he messed up,” Williams said.
Williams says she understands that the judge was sentencing Schneider under the guidelines for the remaining charge in the deal prosecutors struck. And she thinks the laws should be tougher and prosecutors should feel pressure, too. But, Williams says, the judges are the ones voters can directly affect.
“You know, they’re already saying that they’re outraged,” Williams said. “I’m just saying, ‘Hey. There’s something tangible that you can do, and that’s just vote on it.'”
John Skidmore heads the Department of Law’s Criminal Division.
“I do think it’s a disturbing case for its factual nature,” Skidmore said.
Skidmore defended the prosecutor on the case and the plea deal today [Friday] but said he understood why people felt it was too soft.
“I agree with them. I have a wife; I have two small girls,” Skidmore said. “I find the facts horrendous, and I’m upset that this is the best that we can do.”
Skidmore says the facts, though, did not support the kidnapping charge because the victim willingly got into Schneider’s vehicle. Skidmore says that left the next highest charge, assault – because though the case involved “sexual” elements – it did not fit the legal definition of sexual assault. Prosecutors were also unable to contact the victim ahead of the plea deal.
Guidelines for sentencing Schneider restricted the sentence to two years, and that’s what the judge imposed. Skidmore says the suspended time was necessary because prosecutors had been successful in negotiating a condition that Schneider get sex offender treatment. And Skidmore says they needed the threat of more jail time to enforce that condition.
“Those are conditions the judge would not have been authorized to impose if we had not gotten the defendant to agree to them, and that’s significant,” Skidmore said. “Sex offender treatment is not a small thing and is clearly needed in this case.”
As for Judge Corey, the Alaska Judicial Council’s recommendation that voters retain him, as well as every other judge up for retention still stands, though it was issued before Schneider’s plea deal.
The Judicial Council’s executive director, Susanne DiPietro, says any changes in that recommendation would have to come from the council members themselves. The recommendations are based on surveys and other research of the judge’s entire six-year term, and DiPietro says voters interested in this case and in Judge Corey’s retention should consider that.
“When we think about our own job performances, would we like to be judged on one thing that we did on one day, DiPietro said, “or would we feel that it might be a little more fair or relevant to be judged on our complete performance?”
Of the anti-retention campaigns known to the Judicial Council since statehood, DiPietro says only one has resulted in a judge not being retained by the voters.
The Facebook group against retaining Judge Corey grew to more than a thousand members today. Members are planning an organizing session for tomorrow and a public rally at a later date.
“Chinook salmon, Yukon Delta NWR.” Photo: Craig Springer, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Via Flickr Creative Commons.
Ballot measure one is a hotly contested initiative that has divided Alaskans over what may sound like a simple request-stand for salmon. But it’s a complex question that’s pitting environmental groups against mining and oil companies. So what does a yes or no vote mean? Both sides claim that if they lose, the results could be disastrous, but what’s really at stake?
Two Fairbanks men were killed in a plane crash. Alaska State Troopers say the 45-year-old Timothy Sonnenberg and 43-year-old Jason Roberts were on hunting trip, when their plane went down south of Gold Creek in the Nenana River area.
The men were reported overdue Friday, and the burned wreckage of the aircraft was spotted Saturday by another pilot.
A helicopter crew dispatched by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center Sunday to recover the men’s bodies.
Ingrid Cumberlidge is a nominee for the 2018 Alaska Teacher of the Year. She teaches third grade in Sand Point. (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
The State Department of Education will pick Alaska’s Teacher of the Year next month.
This week we’ll have profiles of each of the five finalists, from across the state.
The first is Ingrid Cumberlidge, a third grade teacher from Sand Point. Cumberlidge has taught in the Aleutians East Borough School District for over twenty years, and her Sand Point roots run deep.
Cumberlidge has always lived in Alaska. She grew up in Sand Point, and went to college in Fairbanks and Anchorage. She didn’t always know she was going to be a teacher.
“I went to school for political science, and I actually worked in the Legislature for a short amount of time,” Cumberlidge said. “And then I realized I love working with kids. And they pay you to play with kids and to watch kids get excited about learning is the best thing in the world.”
Despite getting a taste of more urban Alaska, Cumberlidge always knew that she was going to come back home and serve her community. She says her parents were big influences in that decision.
“They helped establish the borough out there. They fought for the first municipal school district, and then they fought for the borough school district. They later fought for the local health agency,” Cumberlidge said. “So I had these really great models. And so to be able to go back to my hometown and teach just was the ultimate goal, because I could give back to those kids.”
Cumberlidge taught high school before third grade, and she says she prefers teaching the younger kids.
“Third grade is pretty amazing because they go from being spoon-fed, needing a lot of help and support when they come in, to being pretty independent learners,” Cumberlidge said. “And they’re willing to try anything at third grade.”
When announcing the nominees for Teacher of the Year, the state Department of Education highlighted Cumberlidge’s status as a community and cultural advocate. Not only does she work hard to create relationships with parents, but she also takes advantage of the rural landscape of Sand Point to teach her students about history, culture and science.
“We get to talk about how people lived traditionally and insulated their homes. In our region that means the barabaras; they were semi-subterranean with hills built above them so it washed off the rain,” Cumberlidge said. “And we get to compare that to modern day insulation and modern day construction with 200-mile-an-hour winds that blow through occasionally.”
Cumberlidge is the only nominee this year who was born in Alaska, and she’s proud to represent her community.
“I do appreciate the opportunity to celebrate Alaska teachers coming from Alaska, particularly from rural Alaska, Alaska Native teachers being celebrated,” Cumberlidge said. “I think we have a lot of great teachers that are teaching all over Alaska.”
And Cumberlidge says she’s happy she is able to put her small community of about 1,000 in the spotlight.
A flu shot (Photo by Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg)
The same day Petersburg’s post office was shut down with a hazardous materials spill, the Petersburg Medical Center was treating an outbreak of influenza among passengers and employees on a cruise ship docked there. Hospital officials say it was an early warning about the upcoming flu season.
One of the last ships to call in Petersburg this season, the American Constellation was in port on Thursday, September 13. The Petersburg Medical Center’s infection control director Liz Bacom said the local hospital that day started seeing both passengers and crew from the ship.
“So the first patient came in through the emergency room and this patient was worked up for upper respiratory, pneumonia possibly, lower respiratory and then after that, shortly thereafter we getting calls for appointments for the clinic to see more of the cruise ship passengers and employees and because the physicians work really well together they talked amongst each other, hey I’ve got this case, or that case and they were able to say you know this almost looks like a flu, lets investigate a little bit further,” Bacom explained.
Bacom hadn’t heard of other flu in Alaska from regular reports she monitors from the state’s division of Public Health’s epidemiology section. However, some of the patients did test positive for flu, prompting the hospital to vaccinate its own employees and contact the ship to let them know.
“What we did is Dr. (Jennifer) Hyer one of the physicians, we called the captain, let him know,” Phil Hofstetter, the medical center’s CEO, said. “They were just wanted to know recommendations and you know help limit some of the tourists activities for the day, educating personnel and it was really up to them at that point what to do or how to manage their staff and their passengers.”
Samples were also sent off for testing at the state’s public health lab in Fairbanks. The ship’s next port of call, Wrangell, was also notified.
Physician Mark Tuccillo said symptoms of this strain of flu are different from flu viruses that hit last year.
“This is actually more typical than what we saw last year, which didn’t have a fever, didn’t have red eyes, didn’t have the whole constellation of things we usually base that on,” Tuccillo said. “So luckily Dr. Hyer took a look and said no this looks like flu, red, eyes, runny nose, head ache, nausea, fevers, night sweats.”
Symptoms are also different from another health problem on Alaska bound cruise ships, norovirus, which is mainly limited to gastro-intestinal problems.
State health officials say they see cases of flu just about year round and other cases have already been reported this year. The peak of the season is normally sometime in the winter or spring. The federal government’s Centers for Disease Control starts counting cases in October and because of that, that’s sometimes thought of as the start of the flu season. Vaccine also goes out to health care providers in the fall. Last year’s season in Alaska got off to an early start and it did send people to the hospital in Petersburg. Tuccillo said last year’s flu season was a difficult one.
“It was hard but luckily it was not a particularly virulent strain,” Tuccillo said. “Had it been a bad influenza, we would have really had some problems because, I mean I had more people in the hospital last year from influenza then I probably had in my whole career.”
This year most in the community haven’t yet had a flu shot and there was some concern over exposure of community members. The medical center representatives say the cases from the cruise ship are an early reminder that flu season is on its way and are taking the opportunity to repeat their recommendation to get a flu shot.
“Of course last year we all know the vaccine wasn’t as great as we would have liked,” Bacom said. “It never is 100 percent. It’s kind of like you need to do the belt and suspenders kind of thing and even though you got the flu shot you still need to be careful with high contact areas and washing your hands and all that stuff to keep yourself from getting sick. Elderly especially when they get the vaccine their immune response can wane after several months and if they’ve gotten their shot in October last year by September that immunization’s not going to help them. And it’s a little early for the next season so we’re dealing with that kind of a gap.”
The hospital has received the new vaccine and officials there expect to be offering the vaccine to the public at shot clinics in the near future. People can also schedule appointments for their shot.
The American Constellation is owned by American Cruise Lines. The company did not respond to request for comment on the flu cases.
Ashley Johnson-Barr (Photo courtesy of the Kotzebue Police Department)
The State of Alaska has charged a man in the death of a 10-year-old girl in Kotzebue. On Monday afternoon, officials announced felony charges against 41-year-old Peter Wilson, including murder, kidnapping and sexual abuse of a minor.
In detailed charging documents, prosecutors allege that on September 6th, Wilson abducted Ashley Johnson-Barr on a four-wheeler, then drove her two miles out of town where they believe he raped and killed her.
In total, Wilson is accused of nine charges.
“There are three counts of murder in the first degree alleging different theories of that murder, and one count of kidnapping, as well as four counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree, and one count of tampering with physical evidence,” said Assistant Attorney General Jenna Gruenstein with the Office of Special Prosecutions.
Not long after Johnson-Barr’s body was discovered, officials charged Wilson with lying to federal agents and took him into custody. Prosecutors allege that Wilson had Johnson-Barr’s cellphone in his possession in the hours after she disappeared. An extensive search for the young girl conducted by community members and law-enforcement in the days after she went missing yielded no results. Ultimately, geo-location data from the phone led searchers to a remote patch of tundra off a road out of town. The charging documents suggest Johnson-Barr was strangled with her pants, and prosecutors said DNA samples taken from her body match Wilson’s.
The state’s case draws on multiple pieces of hard evidence.
“There was obviously quite an extensive investigation that occurred in this case, and through the course of that they were able to obtain evidence from video surveillance systems, they also relied on evidence from the autopsy, as well as evidence from DNA results,” Gruenstein said.
A funeral for Johnson-Barr over the weekend drew hundreds of community members.
Kotzebue is a small, close-knit town, and the case has gripped attention for weeks, prompting vigils, shows of support and donations from communities across Alaska.
The investigation was conducted by local police, as well as Alaska State Troopers and agents from the FBI.
State charges 41-year-old in death of Kotzebue girl
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Prosecutors allege that Peter Wilson abducted and killed 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr in a case that has gripped attention for weeks.
Walker campaign says Republican-funded group didn’t disclose ad spending
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
A complaint said the group Families for Alaska’s Future – Dunleavy failed to report ads the Republican Governors Association bought in Alaska.
Russian aircraft spotted near Alaska airspace for third time this month
Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks
There’s been another air space incursion off Alaska by Russian military planes. The North American Aerospace Defense Command identified and tracked four Russian aircraft that entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone Friday.
Fairbanks hosts air quality conference, with wood stoves a contentious topic
Robyne, KUAC – Fairbanks
Facing a December 2019 deadline to substantially reduce local fine particulate pollution the Fairbanks North Star Borough is far from achieving attainment. The borough hosted an annual air quality conference Friday and Saturday.
In Fairbanks, building a home on permafrost with an uncertain future
Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks
When Benesch bought this property back in 1999, he was pretty sure it had permafrost under it, though he didn’t know for certain.
Governor declares emergency for Alaska Native languages
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
Gov. Walker’s order directs the state to use traditional place names on state signs and to promote indigenous languages in public education.
Serving your community: Sand Point teacher nominated for Alaska Teacher of the Year
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Ingrid Cumberlidge is a third grade teacher from Sand Point. Cumberlidge has taught in the Aleutians East Borough School District for over twenty years, and her Sand Point roots run deep.
Petersburg Medical Center treat flu cases from cruise ship
Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg
The same day Petersburg’s post office was shut down last Thursday with a hazardous materials spill, the Petersburg Medical Center was treating an outbreak of influenza among passengers and employees on a cruise ship docked there.
Post-surge, Sitka assists electric customers with insurance claims
Robert Woolsey, KCAW – Sitka
At least 50 homes are known to have experienced appliance failures — mostly in heat pumps — after a utility contractor snapped a guy wire, creating a short between the city’s high voltage transmission lines and lower-voltage distribution lines.
The seal of the state of Alaska in the governor’s temporary offices in Juneau, June 19, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
The campaign of Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott said a Republican-funded group failed to properly disclose that it bought political TV ads.
The campaign filed a complaint Monday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. It said the group Families for Alaska’s Future – Dunleavy failed to report ads the Republican Governors Association bought in Alaska.
Walker-Mallott campaign manager John-Henry Heckendorn said the violations are serious.
“Unfortunately, it’s not that hard to set up a front group that is nothing but a name on a piece of paper, effectively, to conduct your expenditures on your behalf, and then hide all of your donors, so no one has any idea where the money’s really coming from,” Heckendorn said.
The complaint has two counts. The first count said the group failed to register with the commission before spending money, which violates state law. It said the group bought $735,000 in ads with KTUU two months before it registered. And it never reported the money with the commission.
Heckendorn said the spending is among the highest in Alaska history, and is by politically savvy people.
“They understand media and campaign disclosure requirements, and have just failed to comply with them,” Heckendorn said.
The second count said the group failed to file accurate spending reports. The Republican Governors Association initially reported that the RGA bought advertising with seven Alaska TV stations. Then it changed the name on the contracts to Families for Alaska’s Future. And that group never reported either the ads or that it benefited from the RGA’s ad buy.
Families for Alaska’s Future – Dunleavy couldn’t be reached for comment.
The commission could fine the group if it finds a violation.
The order recognizes the threat faced by Indigenous languages and takes steps to revitalize them by directing state agencies to work more closely with tribal partners and use traditional place names on state signs.
Language advocates from across Alaska gathered Sunday at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center to celebrate a milestone in Indigenous language revitalization.
The signing ceremony for Administrative Order 300 took place at a welcome reception for the First Alaskans Institute’s Social Justice Summit.
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President Richard Peterson was one of several Southeast Alaska Native representatives who welcomed attendees.
“If you live in Juneau, you hear a lot of what Dr. Soboleff had said and you hear this a lot and it’s true: when we know who we are, we don’t hurt ourselves,” Peterson said. “When we know our language and our cultures, we don’t hurt ourselves.”
Peterson described his own experience struggling with addiction growing up in Kasaan, experiencing some of the issues young people deal with in Native communities around the state.
“You carry shame,” Peterson said. “But it was always my culture where I was able to let go of shame and know who I am.”
Leaders like Peterson hope that Administrative Order 300 will help communities across the state reconnect with their culture in a meaningful way.
In a report last year, the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council warned that all 20 officially recognized Alaska Native languages are at risk of extinction by the end of this century.
The order requires state commissioners to designate a tribal liaison responsible for producing a plan to better collaborate with Alaska Native partners.
It specifically directs the commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development to work with partners to promote Indigenous languages in public education.
The administrative order also directs the state to use traditional Alaska Native place names on public signage going forward.
That resolution urged Gov. Bill Walker to declare a language emergency for Alaska Native languages.
“You know there’s not a lot of times I stand up in front of a microphone and thank the Legislature and I certainly do on this,” Walker said Sunday.
Walker applauded the work of groups like the First Alaskans Institute and the many individuals who testified and worked on behalf of language revitalization.
“You can talk all you want, but somebody has to be the doer. And that’s really what today is about, is we celebrate the many doers that made this happen,” Walker said.
Walker also acknowledged the role the state of Alaska played in undermining and discouraging the use of Indigenous languages in previous generations.
“I know we need to celebrate where we are, but boy, if you don’t reflect on where you’ve been, it really is only part of the discussion, part of the celebration,” Walker said.
Of the Alaska Native languages addressed by the order, one has already lost its last native speaker.
The last fluent speaker of Eyak died 10 years ago, according to the Native language preservation council.
One of the two cabins that Ilya Benesch is building on a property underlain with permafrost. September 7th, 2018. (Ravenna Koenig/ Alaska’s Energy Desk)
A lot of houses in Fairbanks are built on permafrost, and there are techniques for building on that kind of ground that have been used for decades. But depending on the type of permafrost, there are unknowns about what will happen — even to those houses that have been built using best practices — as the permafrost thaws due to climate change. For one homeowner, that concern is front and center as he builds a house on what he calls some of the worst ground in Fairbanks.
Ilya Benesch is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. He’s worked in construction for close to 30 years. And for the past 10, he’s been working on two large cabins — one to live in, one to rent — at the edge of a gully dotted with birch and black spruce trees.
When Benesch bought this property back in 1999, he was pretty sure it had permafrost under it, though he didn’t know for certain. But he wasn’t intimidated by the idea of building on permafrost; as a carpenter he’d already had some experience with it. And the reasons to buy the land were compelling: it was spacious, relatively cheap and only a few minutes from his parents’ house.
“As I saw my parents aging, I saw a lot of value to being close by, and what was affordable in 1999 was north side of the hill property,” Benesch said.
A commonly-cited rule of thumb in Fairbanks is that if a property is on a north-facing slope, it’s more likely to have permafrost under it. The permafrost in the Interior is what’s called “discontinuous”: it can stretch hundreds of feet below the surface in some places and be totally nonexistent in others. There are a number of factors that determine whether there’s permafrost below: soil type, vegetation cover, elevation and sun exposure to name a few.
Benesch started building in 2008. And a few years in he decided to get the soil drilled to get a sense of exactly what the permafrost looked like under the surface. The news he got was bad.
“This shallow, warm, ice-rich permafrost with massive ice formations is one of the most difficult environments on which to construct a stable foundation,” Benesch said, reading from the drill report he got back.
Basically, Benesch’s house is built on permafrost that’s relatively close to the thawing point — which is common for Fairbanks — and is full of ice that will turn to water when it thaws. That could dramatically transform the land under his house, though he’s still not sure exactly what that would look like, especially since he’s on a hill.
“There’s not a lot of resistance to this hillside starting to slide… if things thaw deep enough,” Benesch said. “I can’t get a clear answer from anyone as to whether that will happen or the ground will just drop straight down. I don’t think anybody can say.”
But Benesch is perhaps one of the best people in Fairbanks to be in this position. For the past decade, he’s worked as a building educator at the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. That’s a Fairbanks-based nonprofit that researches building strategies for Arctic environments and provides public education.
Ilya Benesch standing in the doorway of the shop on his property. September 7th, 2018. (Photo by Ravenna Koenig/ Alaska’s Energy Desk)
Benesch talks to homeowners and contractors about exactly this kind of stuff: how do you build the best house you can on permafrost that’s expected to thaw?
Benesch walks under the porch of the first cabin, and points to the foundation — one of the important design choices for building on permafrost. His consists of pilings made of steel pipe, 6 inches in diameter.
Building on pilings is a common approach for constructing on permafrost; they anchor the house and loft it up so it doesn’t warm the ground underneath. When Benesch started building, he knew that 40 feet was the typical depth for pilings, so he went with that.
“What I know now is that I probably should have driven to 60 feet,” Benesch said.
That’s really deep. He’s since retrofitted two additional 60-foot pilings that will be able to support the house if the others fail.
Aside from the foundation, Benesch has given a lot of thought to how to protect the ground and keep the permafrost cold. He’ll have a large wraparound porch to keep the foundation shaded, and a continuous gutter around the roof that empties 25 feet into the gully to prevent any erosion or water from getting in the pilings.
Benesch is also doing his best to not disturb the moss and trees around the house, which provide shade and insulation for the ground. He’s even adding to them.
“I’ve actually planted Siberian larches; there’s about 22 of them right now,” Benesch said, pointing at the seedlings scattered around the house.
All these measures are standard for people who are building on permafrost and want to make sure the house itself doesn’t cause the permafrost to thaw.
But they’re also just the simplest and most affordable tools in the toolbox when it comes to stalling thaw due to rising temperatures.
Benesch knows that they won’t stop it in the long run. But he hopes they’ll be enough, at least for his lifetime… and even beyond it. He’s 49 now.
“I’m not afraid of a challenge, but the not knowing what this area’s going to do in 10, 20, 30, 40 years, it makes me uneasy,” Benesch said.
If Benesch had the chance to go back to 1999 and buy a different piece of property would he? Yeah, he says, he would. It would save him a lot of time and some sleepless nights.
But Benesch says that for anyone determined to build on permafrost themselves he has a few suggestions: build small, get educated on best practices and make sure to get the drill testing done before you start.
