Nolan Charles of Toksook Bay (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
This week we’re hearing from Nolan Charles from Toksook Bay. 16-year-old Charles is part of the Toksook Bay Yup’ik dancers, who performed in the opening ceremony to AFN.
CHARLES: We’ve performed AFN back in airbanks two years ago. Now, we’re performing this year. It’s like passing it down to generations — even drumming and dancing is like a stress reliever for us. It calms us down. There’s much love around us, like family dancing around us. And we forget about everything when we dance and when we drum. We have LKSD dance festivals where all the LKSD gathers in one village and go dance.
There’s many things here in Alaska, like seeing different cultures from different places. Like they have Inupiaq people, we have the Yup’ik people, Cupik people, there’s all all kinds of cultures in Alaska.
I’ve been growing up speaking my language. We mostly speak in Yup’ik because they want us to. Both English and Yup’ik.
My goal is to go to college out of state and try to become something better. Like try and do good for the people, help people.
There’s love everywhere. We have a lot of relatives around. So if I make my family tree, I’d have to use maybe a couple posters. It will be a forest.
Conservatives are mad at Sen. Lisa Murkowski for opposing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. But some liberals were mad at her, too, because technically, she didn’t vote “no” on Kavanaugh. She voted “present.”
From the left have come accusations that Murkowski chickened out, that she dodged a hard vote by taking refuge in an obscure Senate procedure.
Lucky for us, the Senate employs historians.
“We are the institutional memory of the Senate,” said Dan Holt, assistant historian at the Senate Historical Office.
Holt said senators have been pairing votes since at least 1859, as a courtesy to each other. If one senator had to miss a vote, another senator who wanted to vote the opposite way would abstain.
Dating back to the 19th century, the custom fit with the Senate’s view of itself, as a place where gentlemen wouldn’t want to take unfair advantage.
Dan Holt, assistant historian at the U.S. Senate. Photo: Liz Ruskin
“They, I think, mostly thought it would not be fair if a vote would go one way or the other, just because some senators were absent,” Holt said.
Murkowski’s action on the Kavanaugh nomination was a perfect example of a paired vote, Holt said.
As she explained on Senate floor, Murkowski paired with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont, so he could attend his daughter’s wedding that weekend.
“If he were present and voting, he would have voted aye. I have voted no,” she said. “The pair will not change the outcome of the vote. I therefore withdraw my vote.”
Hold, the historian, said the practice used to be far more common, in part because senators used to miss a lot more votes, back when many tried to keep their law offices open and constituents didn’t make a thing out of absenteeism.
“It definitely tapered off in the 1980s and 1990s but there are still examples of it if you search the Congressional Record, even into the 2000s,” Holt said.
The late Sen. Ted Stevens would sometimes pair votes with Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
“I ask that the last vote be amended to show that I stated I did have a pair with the senator from Hawaii,” Stevens said on the floor in 2005, after a different judicial confirmation vote. “If he were present he would have voted no. I would have voted aye. And therefore I’d like the record to reflect that that was a paired vote. It would not change the outcome of that vote.”
A key element for vote pairing is to state for the record how the senators would have voted, if they weren’t paired, Holt said, so it’s not an effective way of avoiding a tough vote.
“It’s the exact opposite,” he said. “The senator wants to make sure that their position goes down into the record, even if they can’t be present.”
Murkowski may have confounded some of her constituents with the paired vote. A poll by Alaska Survey Research shows her favorability rating dipped the week of the Kavanaugh vote, even among self-identified moderates and progressives. But a follow-up poll suggests Alaska voters are back to where they were before, with about half saying they have a positive view of the senator.
Gov. Walker suspends campaign for reelection in AFN announcement
Casey Grove and Andrew Kitchenman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Governor Walker announced today that he is suspending his campaign for reelection. That leaves a two-person race for governor between Republican Mike Dunleavy and Democrat Mark Begich.
Defending Native women from violence remains hot topic at AFN
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The theme at this year’s convention is “Innovation in the Past, Present and Future”. The issue of violence against women is at the forefront of the conference.
What’s the deal with Murkowski’s ‘present’ vote?
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
Some liberals were mad at Sen. Murkowski because technically, she didn’t vote “no” on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. She voted “present.” And there’s a long backstory to that.
Debris slide closes road into Denali National Park
Associated Press
A debris slide has closed the road into Denali National Park.
New report compares Alaska’s recession to other energy-dependent states
Abbey Collins, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
While recessions in other energy-dependent states have come and gone, Alaska’s economy has yet to recover.
After decades of ineligibility, Diomede finally included in Essential Air Service
Emily Hofstaedter, KNOM – Nome
Diomede no longer has to rely on uncertain state funding for airline passenger service.
AK: Vusi Mahlasela, ‘The Voice,’ sings for Hiland
Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Before acclaimed South African musician Vusi Mahlasela kicked off his Alaska tour this month, he hosted a special show for inmates at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center.
49 Voices: Nolan Charles of Toksook Bay
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
This week we’re hearing from Nolan Charles from Toksook Bay. 16-year-old Charles is part of the Toksook Bay Yup’ik dancers, who performed in the opening ceremony to AFN.
Heather Kendall-Miller speaking during the second day of AFN at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention is wrapping up its second day in Anchorage. This year’s theme is Innovation in the past, present and future. The issue of violence against women is at the forefront of the conference.
Most of the day’s early speakers on the convention’s main stage gave updates on legal, judicial and federal issues affecting Alaska Natives. But some, like Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Gloria O’Neill, directly addressed this year’s theme.
“Innovation is at the core of how we not only survived, but thrived for millennia,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill described CITC’s process for developing the 2014 video-game “Never Alone,” where players guide a young Inupiaq girl through an Arctic quest. O’Neill says the experience offers a template for taking Alaska history, stories, and talent toward emerging industries that benefit state residents and ANC shareholders.
“We’re asking permission to take our culture and our stories to this virtual world,” O’Neill said. “We paired Alaska Native elders, storytellers, youth, writers with video gaming experts.”
But for the last few days, the theme of defending Alaska Native women from sexual violence has been more prominent than just about anything else. During an update from the Alaska Native Justice Center, prominent attorney Heather Kendall-Miller alluded to the recent Justin Schnieder case appealing to groups like AFN to push for criminal justice reforms.
“To make this a time of change, a call to action, because we cannot be silent any longer,” Kendell-Miller said. “We have to be able to move together and call, and demand for some changes.”
Kendall-Miller called for reforms in how sexual assault cases against Alaska Native women are investigated and prosecuted, and for an increase in the State of Alaska’s accountability delivering justice to victims.
The morning also saw remarks from Congressman Don Young, who championed his record delivering results to Alaska Natives in the capital, and asked for their support in the November election.
Police Chief Bryce Johnson discusses crime with Juneau residents at City Hall, Jan. 17, 2017. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
October is domestic violence awareness month, but in Alaska, the consistently high rate of violence and sexual assault presents a year round need for education and assistance. What needs to change for people to have better outcomes? On the next Talk of Alaska, University of Alaska legal and medical experts discuss the evolving science and intersection between law enforcement, victim services and health care.
HOST: Lori Townsend
GUESTS:
Dr. Ingrid Johnson – Victimization/Help-seeking expert.
Dr. Brad Mystrol– research in policing and how interactions with law enforcement shape citizens’ perceptions.
Dr. Angelina Trujillo – 15 years in the field of interpersonal violence, sexual assault and public health.
Call 550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast
Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air).
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan addressing AFN at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center on Oct. 20, 2018. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)(Photo
The 52nd annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention concluded Oct. 20 in Anchorage with high-level addresses from Alaska’s senators, and AFN delegates still reeling from the news that Gov. Bill Walker is suspending his re-election campaign.
Delivering her invocation at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, Rev. Shirley Lee referenced what a lot of people were talking about Saturday morning: Walker departing the election.
“Heavenly father, yesterday we witnessed your most humble servant place service before self,” Lee said. “May we all be like that servant.”
The shake-ups in the governor’s race reached all the way to Iceland, where Sen. Lisa Murkowski was attending a conference on the Arctic. During a video address to the AFN convention, Murkowski gave a brief overview of her legislative priorities on behalf of Alaska Natives in Washington. Her remarks returned repeatedly to a theme that has dominated much of this year’s AFN: how to reduce Alaska’s high rates of violence against women.
“Indigenous women have a fundamental right to live without fear of assault in their lifetime,” she said.
Addressing a recent federal court ruling challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act – or ICWA – Murkowski said she’s committed to protecting the law’s status.
“ICWA may be the most single significant piece of Indian legislation that congress has passed. So know that we are not going down without a fight on this,” she said. “I am in this with you, and we will work to ensure that our native families remain together.”
Her remarks were followed by an appearance by Alaska’s junior Sen. Dan Sullivan. He highlighted his legislative efforts to bring more resources to survivors of sexual assault, and his ongoing advocacy on behalf of Alaska veterans.
“That the statistics, whether its World War Two, or Korea, or Vietnam, or even the wars today, where Alaska Natives serve at higher rates in the military than any other ethnic group,” he said. “What I like to refer to, as the secretary mentioned, as special patriotism.”
The secretary mentioned was Robert Wilkie, head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was Wilkie’s first visit to Alaska since taking over the VA, though he told the audience about living in the state as a child.
“When I come here now and see the astounding growth, the continued patriotism, and the beauty of this state, it is very obvious that America’s future points to the north and to the west,” he said. “So thank you very much.”
The convention passed a number of resolutions, but avoided weighing in on two controversial measures. There was no endorsement in the governor’s race, and the body did not take a stance on ballot measure one.
Next year’s AFN is scheduled to take place in Fairbanks.
Sunset in Fairbanks on Oct. 22, 2018 (Photo courtesy of the National Weather Service)
With Halloween just over a week out, Fairbanks is looking at the potential of a third straight year with minimal snow cover, and a possible first ever green Halloween. Only trace amounts of snow were on the ground at the airport on October 31st last year, and in 2016. Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy climate specialist Rick Thoman says prior to 2016, you have to go back to 1962 to find another year with such scant snow cover on Halloween. Thoman says since modern record keeping began in 1930, Fairbanks has never had a Halloween without any snow at all on the ground.
”We’ve come close a couple of years with measurable snow not falling until actually on Halloween. Will we this year? Hard to say,” Thoman said. “We’ve got a couple of opportunities coming up when it could snow, but especially in town, it’s gonna be pretty marginal. So it is possible that this we’ll be in the running for a green Halloween.”
Fairbanks first official snowfall of the season at the airport was observed on Saturday October 20th, the latest first snow date in the community’s recorded history. The previous record was October 11th, 1920. The National Weather Service is forecasting snow across the Eastern Interior including the Fairbanks area on Tuesday, but valley level accumulation is questionable.
”Especially the first inch. That is probably not on the horizon yet for town,” Thoman said. “We are in the time of year though where snowfalls can go up quite dramatically, even with small elevation increases.”
Well above freezing high temperatures forecast this week threaten to melt any flakes that do stick, continuing what Thoman refers to as a remarkable fall.
”All of the state in October so far has been extremely warm. Quite a number of places… every day this month has been warmer than normal,” Thoman said. “And it’s entirely possible that some places could wind up having the warmest September, followed by the warmest October. That would be truly an amazing climate outcome.”
Fairbanks high temperatures are forecast to be 44 Wednesday, 40 on Thursday, and 39 Friday, with another chance of snow.
A once-confidential report on a botched Anchorage police investigation of drug dealing and sexual assault involving Alaska National Guard members is at the heart of a former police lieutenant’s wrongful termination lawsuit, which went to trial in Anchorage last week.
It’s what many involved hope will be the final chapter in a story of uninvestigated rape allegations, unfollowed tips on possible connections to a Mexican drug cartel, alleged plans to fly drugs in Guard aircraft, and years of internal police department strife that led to all of it finally being revealed publicly.
Anchorage Police Department headquarters (Staff photo)
Former police Lt. Anthony Henry is suing the city of Anchorage for wrongful termination. Henry says the city retaliated against him for sticking up for an officer with a medical condition and that his firing was unjust.
Lawyers for the city — which has paid out millions in recent years defending itself in employment lawsuits and losing — say the police department was right to fire Henry for interfering with a criminal investigation and then lying about it.
A key piece of evidence in the trial, which started last Monday, is a 97-page document known as the “Brown Report.”
Lawyers for both Henry and the city — adversaries in the lawsuit — agreed with each other that they wanted to keep it sealed. But the Anchorage Daily News and TV station KTUU joined to intervene to make it public. A judge ordered the Brown Report redacted and released.
The Brown Report is named for its author, the man hired as an independent investigator in the Alaska National Guard matter: retired Lt. Col. Rick Brown, formerly with the Pennsylvania state police. Brown concluded that Henry gave confidential information from detectives in his unit investigating the Guard to the general in charge of the Guard, who was his friend. And this hurt the investigation, according to the report.
The Brown Report also says Henry failed to be honest and forthcoming with his superiors about what he’d done, and Brown also concluded that Henry lied to him in interviews about having meetings with Alaska National Guard commander.
Henry’s attorney said he simply misremembered dates when asked about the meetings years after they happened.
The report also faulted then-Police Chief Mark Mew, saying Mew failed to initiate an internal affairs investigation of Henry at the time. Mew was suspended for two weeks as a result in a move kept secret from the public.
The former police chief appeared in court to testify.
“It’ll be good to finally put all this behind us,” Mew said outside the courtroom, waiting to be called to the witness stand.
Inside, the trial was just getting started.
Henry wore a dark blue suit and sat at the plaintiff’s table under the bright lights in federal court Monday. His lead attorney, Meg Simionian, began by telling the jury she would “pull back a dark curtain at the APD and their lawyers at City Hall.”
Simionian said commanders at the police department, including a deputy chief, were out to get Henry because he objected to how the department had treated a fellow officer diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.The police commanders were more concerned with protecting their power in the face of Henry’s complaints, Simionian told the jurors. They fabricated problems and smeared Henry to justify his firing, she said. Douglas Parker, hired by Anchorage, told the jury the officer diagnosed with M.S. was also visiting a girlfriend while clocked in on city time.
“They castigated him, humiliated him and publicly destroyed him. That’s why we’re here,” Simionian said. “Tony Henry did what we hope our kids will do on the playground, helping the kid being bullied. And the municipality and Anchorage Police Department did what we hope our kids won’t do. They circled around the bully.”
Parker said the case is simple, because of the allegations in the report.
“In that report, Lt. Col. Brown concluded he had been lied to in the investigation, and that’s something police officers can’t do and keep their jobs,” Parker told the jurors.
Henry had interfered with an investigation of “big drug activity” implicating some “serious dudes in the Lower 48 or farther south,” Parker said.
The Brown Report
According to the Brown Report — commissioned by the city and including interviews with officers Henry says are out to get him — this is what the internal investigation found:
It was 2010, the last week of February, and officers with the police department’s Special Assignments Unit were surveilling a drug deal in the parking lot of the Debarr Road Costco in Anchorage. They stopped one of the cars and arrested a man who was the boyfriend of an Alaska National Guard recruiter. The officers also seized 56 grams of cocaine and 20 grams of marijuana.
Ninety-seven-page, double-sided printout of the Brown Report (Staff photo)
When the man offered information and asked for a deal, he revealed his source. The officers went to the source, who eventually admitted to being involved with a larger drug ring in Anchorage. Both men said they could get pounds of marijuana and large amounts of cocaine. One also said he’d used Guard vehicles to transport drugs.
Lt. Henry was in charge of the Special Assignments Unit at the time, and the officers told him they had two confidential informants within the Alaska National Guard.
Henry insisted they tell the Guard commander, Maj. Gen. Tom Katkus. That’s according to interviews with the police officers in the Brown Report.
Henry’s argument was — and still is — that drug dealing affected military readiness, and he thought Katkus needed to know immediately, even though Katkus could’ve become a target in the investigation.
The Brown Report says officers working on the larger, related drug case were forced to make arrests before they were ready, because they believed their investigation had been compromised. They executed search warrants at known drug houses around Anchorage with connections to the drug cartel La Familia, seizing five pounds of methamphetamine, a half-kilogram of cocaine and $181,000.
There was another source inside the Guard feeding information to the police and, later, the news media. That person’s tips to the same officers investigating the drug dealing included information about sexual assaults. The Brown Report describes an allegation of a sexual assault in a recruiter’s office.
Henry ordered one of the officers to disclose that person’s name and called Katkus to tell him.
The Brown Report says Henry then ordered the officers to “cease investigation of all alleged illegal activities involving AKNG recruiters and General Katkus.”
“One AKNG sexual assault victim in particular,” the report says, “was deterred from reporting the sexual assault committed on her to the APD when she learned that AKNG command ordered (redacted) to breach her confidentiality while APD personnel was in the room.”
Henry blamed one of the officers for talking to another police officer who was also a Guard member.
But the Brown Report indicates Brown wasn’t buying that. The report’s recommendations included action against Henry and Chief Mew.
“These disclosures of confidential APD information to unauthorized personnel negatively impacted at least one AKNG sexual assault victim, the public, APD operations, APD employees, and family members of APD employees.”
An FBI special agent Brown interviewed said Henry’s disclosure to Katkus “blew him away.”
“(He) related any squared away police officer, regardless of whether they were a detective or not, should have known better than to compromise their informant,” the report says.
Brown also recommended forwarding the case information to state prosecutors to consider possible criminal charges. Henry was never charged. Katkus testified in the trial that there had never been a coverup and denied key points in the Brown Report about his communications with Henry.
No harm, no foul
Henry, suing the city over his firing, is not the one on trial at the federal courthouse. But his attorney, Meg Simionian, vigorously defended him in an interview just outside the courtroom.
Anchorage City Hall (Staff photo)
Simionian noted that Henry’s grievances had been recognized as valid by the municipality’s Office of Equal Opportunity. Brown’s investigation and report came several years after the events surrounding the drug and sexual assault investigations, long after the fact because the police department was still retaliating against Henry, she said.
“He got on the wrong side of the deputy chief at the time, who wielded a lot of power, and it just started a campaign of retaliation against him that culminated in the sham investigation that is the Rick Brown Report,” Simionian said.
Henry was a 23-year veteran cop with an unblemished record until all of this, Simionian said, adding that she thought it was unfortunate the report was released publicly.
Simionian called the Brown Report “incredibly flawed” and vowed to pick it apart in the trial.
Simionian said it would’ve been “perfectly appropriate” for Henry to tell Maj. Gen. Katkus, the head of the Alaska National Guard, about the investigation, because Katkus had worked counter-drug investigations and was a former Anchorage police officer.
“And that was the allegation, that somehow that happened and messed up some investigation. But no investigation existed then that was messed up,” Simionian said.
The only investigation was the one related to the drug house busts, Simionian said, adding that she planned to call an FBI agent to the witness stand to testify about how successful the operation had been.
That was the real investigation, Simionian said. The one Henry’s officers complained to Brown about was trumped up to get Henry fired.
“This made up investigation that not a single police report, audio, memo, email, phone record supports existed,” Simionian said.
As for the sexual assault investigation, Simionian said there were some problems identified in the Brown Report, but a subsequent investigation did not find a cover up of widespread sexual assault in the Alaska National Guard. She said a man spreading reports of sexual assault, to the police and news media, was unreliable.
Henry talking to Katkus “didn’t affect anything,” Simionian said.
The case did affect Katkus, and then-Gov. Sean Parnell, who had appointed him. Parnell ultimately asked Katkus to resign.
Parnell first heard about issues in the Guard in 2010 and said he was told by commanders that the Guard was dealing with them. He had made fighting violence against women a focus of his administration, but Parnell’s bid for reelection never recovered from the scandal.
APD’s losing record
It is yet to be seen if the jurors think the facts are on Henry’s side. But in recent labor lawsuits, the city has a losing record.
In one related to Henry and Anchorage police, a state Superior Court judge in July of 2017 ordered the city to pay two former police detectives a total of $2.7 million after the city lost a discrimination case.
In a twist, Henry was supposed to be the city’s star witness against allegations that police commanders were harassing the two men with frivolous internal investigations. But according to a judge’s order, in which he admonished the city attorneys, the judge wrote that the police department had delayed its investigation of Henry so he could testify against the police officers, wrote Judge Frank Pfiffner.
“…The citizens of Anchorage could very well conclude the (Municipality of Anchorage) and its lawyers, were more interested in winning the lawsuit than protecting the citizens of Anchorage from sexual assault and illegal drug dealing by members of the Alaska National Guard and police misconduct relating thereto,” Pfiffner wrote.
The judge compared tactics by both sides to trench warfare in World War I.
Simionian, Henry’s attorney, described a similar “war of attrition” between Henry’s side and the city’s hired lawyers.
“It’s pretty shocking that our city would spend those kind of resources on very expensive attorneys to continue a fight like this,” Simionian said. “They fought us every step of the way … And I think they thought we would give up, but we didn’t.”
Doug Parker, the lead attorney representing Anchorage, declined to comment.
Report: Ex-Anchorage cop suing city interfered with Alaska National Guard investigation
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
A once-confidential report on the botched Anchorage police investigation of drug dealing and sexual assault within the Alaska National Guard is at the heart of a former police lieutenant’s wrongful termination lawsuit, which has culminated in a trial.
Division of Elections says absentee ballots cast for Walker are final
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
Through Friday, the Alaska Division of Elections says it has received more than 3,000 absentee ballots for the Nov. 6 general election.
State’s largest union endorses Begich after previously throwing support behind Walker
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
Alaska’s largest labor federation announced today that it’s endorsing Begich. The Alaska AFL-CIO leadership made the decision Sunday, two days after its first choice – Governor Walker – suspended his campaign and endorsed Begich.
Alaska senators address AFN on convention’s final day
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The 52nd annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention concluded Oct. 20 in Anchorage with high-level addresses from Alaska’s senators, and AFN delegates still reeling from the news that Gov. Bill Walker is suspending his re-election campaign.
Anchorage School District, union continue contract talks
Associated Press
The Anchorage School District and the union that represents about 3,300 of its educators plan to continue working toward contract agreement, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
St. Paul rat evades team of eradication experts
Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska
A rat is still on the loose on St. Paul Island, having evaded the community’s decades-old prevention program for more than seven weeks. A fish plant worker nearly caught it on Sunday, but it slipped out of his hands.
Possible ‘green’ Halloween on the horizon in Fairbanks
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
With Halloween just over a week out, Fairbanks is looking at the potential of a third straight year with minimal snow cover, and a possible first ever green Halloween.
Bald Mountain Air ordered to pay $500,000 in whistleblower case
Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer
An administrative law judge has ruled in favor of an Anchorage whistleblower who claims that Bald Mountain Air Service based in Homer fired him after he reported several safety issues to the Federal Aviation Administration. However, the airliner plans to appeal the ruling.
Petersburg’s assembly, hospital board meet again on future of the facility
Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg
Petersburg’s hospital board last week made another pitch to the borough assembly about the importance of coming up with a plan for a new or renovated medical center.
Jerry McBeath is a political science professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He said the impact those absentee ballots will have on the governor’s race is unclear.
“In a really tight election, yes the absentee ballots are going to make a difference. But I’m not thinking that this election race is going to be that tight,” McBeath said.
He estimates absentee votes will account for less than 10 percent of the overall ballot count.
Recent polls had shown Democrat Mark Begich and independent Walker splitting the overall vote, giving Republican Mike Dunleavy a considerable advantage. Libertarian candidate Billy Toien is also running.
“And so then the question is: What is going to happen to the votes that Walker and Mallott otherwise would have gotten? And they won’t break down the middle,” McBeath said.
Ballots for the general election will still feature Walker and former Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who resigned last week. Mallott said he’d made inappropriate comments that put someone “in a position of vulnerability.”
Walker threw his support behind Begich, saying the former U.S. senator has a better chance of beating Dunleavy.
The Division of Elections said Monday any votes cast for a candidate on the ballot would be counted regardless of whether the candidate is still running.
According to division spokesperson Samantha Miller, that means voters cannot re-vote after their absentee ballots have been received.
Early and in-person absentee voting also began Monday at designated locations across the state.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27.
Pat Race’s designs for early voting stickers feature Alaska animals and say “I voted” in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaskan Native languages. (Image courtesy of Alaska Division of Elections)
Monday marked the start of early voting in Alaska’s Nov. 6 general election.
In addition to voting by mail or in-person on Election Day, Alaskans can also vote at designated early voting locations across the state.
And this year they’ll get an extra prize for voting early: one of Juneau artist Pat Race’s custom-designed stickers.
“I think it’s an enticement to get people to come out and vote early, so these stickers are only available if you vote before Election Day,” Race said.
The new “I voted” stickers feature cartoon versions of Alaskan animals in iconic settings. They come in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaska Native languages.
Race said the Division of Elections first approached him about illustrating the cover of the election pamphlets sent to voters. They liked his designs so much they decided to turn them into stickers, too.
Division spokesperson Samantha Miller said the contract with Race totaled $5,000. She said the division has also paid for election pamphlet art in the past.
Race said he hopes this will serve as a pilot program for future elections.
“I’m hoping that I can work with the Division of Elections to talk more about that after the elections and develop some guidelines for other artists to participate and maybe make this a tradition,” Race said.
Race is also selling prints of the designs at the Alaska Robotics gallery in downtown Juneau.
The traditional blue and gold “I voted” stickers will be available on Election Day.
In Juneau, voters have two options for early voting locations:
the State Office Building downtown weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
the Region I Elections Office in the Mendenhall Mall Annex weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Both locations will also have hours the weekend before the election, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Voters registered elsewhere in the state can also visit these locations to fill out an absentee ballot for their district.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27. Those ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 6.
“Here’s the rat. You can see it’s little beady eye and you can see it move,” Divine said. “These were taken the first week of September with that wildlife camera right there.”
Then the rat disappeared without a trace until October 21. And that’s been frustrating for Divine’s office with the local tribe, which helps keep the island rat-free.
“I’ve never wanted to see a dead rat or have a dead rat in my hand, but that’s very much what I want,” Divine said. “I think everyone wants to see the dead rat. They want to hold it and know that it’s dead.”
Can you spot the rat? (Courtesy ECO)
Divine says that may sound extreme. But for St. Paul, rat prevention is very important.
“It poses a serious threat to our island. It’s wildlife, its sensitive habitat. It’s an invasive species,” Divine said. “It’s something that would devastate the seabirds and would change wildlife life on the island forever.”
To stop that from happening, Divine says ECO increased its already formidable anti-rat program after the first sighting. They added traps, changed bait and installed game cameras to bolster the rat prevention measures at all points of entry on the island.
But Divine says they’ve since learned that might not be the best response.
“By placing more traps or having more human activity around, we may have scared it away or encouraged it to move it’s home location,” Divine said. “We would adjust our response in the future to that.”
That insight comes after ECO reached out to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which agreed the threat was so severe that they chartered a plane for a team of rat eradication experts.
Today they’re replacing rusty traps that have succumbed to extreme weather conditions.
“Making sure that your biosecurity measures work is really critical. You literally have one chance to catch that rat. And you you want that trap to fire when it fires,” said Chris Gill of Island Conservation. “Islands only make up less than 5 percent of the Earth’s land mass, but they harbor a disproportionate portion of endemic species,” Gill said. “Therefore, when an invasive species, such as a rat, gets to those islands, there’s a high likelihood that an extinction could occur.”
Yellow barrels sprinkled around St. Paul are part of the tribes permanent rat prevention program. (Zoë Sobel/KUCB)
Normally, St. Paul has 43 yellow barrels to catch the rats — inside there’s a trap waiting to snare the rodents.
During their week on the island, the strike team refreshed existing bait stations and added other detection devices — game cameras and temporary stations. They’ve also brought in UV chew blocks that if the rats nibble, they’ll be able to track the invaders glowing poop.
Plus, the team did a lot of good old fashioned sleuthing.
“You have a number of hiding places on this island and you have to get into every single house and every single nook and cranny to ensure you’ve targeted every single rat on the island,” Gill said.
They inspected nearly every commercial building or abandoned structure around the fish plant.
Refuge Manager Steve Delehanty estimates the strike teams response has cost about $50,000 so far. But he says that’s a fraction of the price tag if rats were to take hold on St. Paul.
“I can’t tell you how many zeros, but it would be a lot of zeros if you were going to do an eradication,” Delehanty said.
There’s only been one island in Alaska — Hawadax, formerly known as Rat Island — where rats have been eradicated. That cost millions and it was uninhabited.
But for St. Paul to stay rat-free, Delehanty says success will depend on residents.
“The make or break is the people who live here. It’s their community. It’s their island, and it’s going to be their ongoing diligence and monitoring through the years to keep it rat-free,” Delehanty said. “That’s what will be essential.”
And Divine says ECO is up to the task.
“We scaled back the number of traps,” Divine said. “We’re using a deadly combo of peanut butter and bacon grease, and we’re switching out all of our baits from Three Musketeers to Almond Joys because apparently that is the most attractive bait for a rat.”
Now, it’s a waiting game.
A child experiences the feeling of being stuck in a glue trap. (Zoë Sobel/KUCB)
Divine says ECO will remain on high alert through the end of November, with staff checking traps and bait stations twice a month.
At that point, if there’s still no sign of the rat, they’ll reevaluate the risk and meet with the city, refuge, and strike team to decide how to proceed.
Divine says they’d all love to have a body to learn more about the furry intruder. They could determine what species of rat it is, it’s gender and use genetic testing to narrow down where it came from.
But even if they never collect a corpse, she says the whole experience has been helpful in preparing for the future.
“I hope we never get another rat because it’s exhausting,” Divine said. “But if we do, the education of just knowing the employees of each entity can work together and cover a certain area or do a certain task or divy up the work has been very helpful for us to have.”
Although this rat is still at large, Divine is aware of increased risks at the airport. With new flights originating from places like Unalaska with lower rat prevention measures, she’s concerned that will mean a higher likelihood of another unwanted rat visitor.
The highway connecting Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula will close at night periodically over two weeks.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities says culvert work will close the Seward Highway south of Girdwood in six-hour increments for parts of six nights.
The first closures at Miles 84.6 to 86.1 will be Wednesday and Thursday.
Closures also are planned for four days next week, Oct. 29 through Nov. 1.
Department spokeswoman Meadow Bailey says the closures are planned between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Spokeswoman Jill Reese says the crews could work longer than six hours if they run into unexpected issues.
Emergency vehicles will be allowed through.
The work depends on the weather. Wind gusts to 50 mph hit Tuesday, forcing work to stop.
A seven-hour standoff outside Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Monday was resolved peacefully. Fairbanks Police report receiving a call after 9 a.m. Monday about a suicidal man with a gun in a car near the hospital emergency room entrance. A woman was in the car with the man. It’s unclear if she was there willingly, and if either were hospital patients.
A City Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT team, and a State Trooper Special Emergency Response Team, deployed to the hospital.
City Police spokeswoman Yumi McCulloch says law enforcement successfully talked the man into surrendering without anyone getting hurt.
“We negotiated with him for about six or seven hours, and he did come out of the vehicle. The female came out with him,” McCulloch said. “And he was detained by law enforcement officers, and he was brought into the hospital with the officers and hospital staff.”
The situation forced security measures at the hospital, including alternate access to the Emergency Room. McCulloch credits the hospital’s handling of the all day standoff.
”The staff at the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital were phenomenal” McCulloch said. “They were very cooperative and helpful, and they provided food and drinks to the officers outside and inside and the negotiators inside.”
McCulloch thanks hospital patients who were cooperative in working around police operations. At a city council meeting last night Mayor Jim Matherly noted the volatile nature of standoff situations, and recognized how the hospital incident was handled.
”Sometimes the choices that person makes in that predicament decides the outcome,” Matherly said. “And in this case, they were able to communicate and bring it to a peaceful resolution, so I’m very proud of everybody who worked on that.”
The standoff prompted security measures in the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital, including at area schools, where doors were locked, and alternate transportation routes employed after school.
Police say no charges will be filed against the man.
This story contained contributions from Tim Ellis, Dan Bross and Robyne with KUAC.
Standoff involving suicidal man in front of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital ends peacefully
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
A seven-hour standoff outside Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Monday was resolved peacefully.
District court dismisses Fairbanks Four suit against city
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
A federal civil rights suit filed against the city of Fairbanks has been dismissed. US District Court Judge H. Russel Holland’s ruling released Monday, dismisses the suit filed by Native men known as the Fairbanks Four.
Proposed Barrick Gold merger could have effects on Donline Mine
Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Bethel
The merger could have implications down the road for the proposed Donlin Mine in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Barrick is a 50% partner in the project.
Poll numbers show a narrower race for governor following Walker’s departure
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
New poll results show a much closer race for governor, after independent governor Bill Walker suspended his campaign.
Village of Buckland set to switch on new solar plant to offset fuel costs
Nathaniel Herz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
One Northwest Alaska village is about to switch on a new solar project to try to insulate itself against swings in fuel costs that can cause electric prices to spike. Its backers hope the project can be a model for the rest of the region.
Night closures planned for Seward Highway culvert work
Associated Press
The highway connecting Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula will close at night periodically over two weeks.
Vote early to get one of Juneau artist Pat Race’s ‘I voted’ stickers
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
Early voting began Monday at locations across the state. This year, Alaskans will get an extra prize for voting early: one of Juneau artist Pat Race’s custom-designed stickers.
Needle exchange hopes to install sharp disposal boxes in Homer bathrooms
Renee Gross, KBBI – Homer
The demand for exchange’s services has far outpaced its grant funding. Right now, volunteers are using their own money to purchase supplies. The organization hopes to secure more funds through grants and a Gofundme campaign.
New for-profit Juneau addiction clinic has some locals concerned
Kavitha George, KTOO – Juneau
A new medication-assisted addiction treatment clinic called Ideal Option opened in Juneau, and it’s different from many of the other treatment facilities in town. For one, it’s a for-profit model, and advertised aggressively on Instagram and Facebook prior to opening.
Pollster Ivan Moore of Alaska Survey Research found Republican Mike Dunleavy is leading Democrat Mark Begich by 4.6 percent, 48.3 percent to 43.7 percent.
The poll was taken Friday through Monday.
Dunleavy led in a poll taken a week earlier by 17 points, in a three-way race that included Begich and Walker.
Moore’s latest poll results say that 5.3 percent of voters plan to vote for Walker, even after being told that Walker ended his campaign and endorsed Begich.
The poll results say that if Walker actively campaigned for Begich, it wouldn’t help him. Begich lost ground to Dunleavy in a question about how Alaskans would vote if Walker actively campaigned for Begich, talking particularly about the gas line.
Libertarian candidate Billy Toien was not included in the poll.
Medical assistant Sarah Martin sits at the reception desk of Ideal Option, a medication assisted addiction treatment clinic in Juneau. (Photo by Kavitha George/KTOO)
A new medication-assisted treatment clinic called Ideal Option opened near Nugget Mall earlier this month. Existing addiction treatment facilities in Juneau are encouraged that there is a new player in town to help tackle the substance abuse problem, but Ideal Option is different in a few ways.
For one, it’s a for-profit company, and was advertised on Instagram and Facebook prior to opening. Also, Ideal Option doesn’t currently offer in-house counseling — and that has some in providers in the community worried.
“To be frank with you, the addiction problem we have is significant,” said Bradley Grigg, chief behavioral health officer at Bartlett Regional Hospital. “Having multiple providers in our community like we already do is essential to ensuring that people get served and people have options.”
Ideal Option in Juneau is part of a chain of medication assisted treatment clinics. There are more than 50 locations in the lower 48, as well as branches in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, and Wasilla. The Juneau facility offers a wide range of treatment services, but currently does not offer in-house counseling.
Counseling is not a mandated part of treatment. Addiction specialists say it’s best to start a new patient on medication, even if they don’t want counseling, and hopefully add it in later. But Grigg and other health experts say it is an essential part of helping facilitate recovery.
Jeff Allgaier is the CEO of Ideal Option. He recognizes that there’s suspicion around medication-assisted treatment, including the perception that it just replaces one drug with another, as in the case of Suboxone treatment for opioid addiction. But he says Ideal Option clinics follow the most up-to-date professional practices put out by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“Our goal has always been to try to follow the most up to date evidence-based guidelines, and not sway from it,” Allgaier said over the phone.
At their clinic near the Nugget Mall, Ideal Option staff seem eager to start helping Juneauites struggling with addiction. Sarah Martin, who works as a medical assistant, moved down from Kenai to help open the Juneau clinic.
“The company in general, what they’re doing is just amazing,” Martin said. “I love it, I’m like ‘Yeah I’m gonna go open this clinic, yeah I want to go work in this clinic,’ just because new patients are my favorite. I love getting people in… the excitement of ‘I want to get better,’ and we can offer that for them.”
Each visit to Ideal Option starts with a urine test, processed by an Ideal Option lab, to ensure patients are taking their medication and no other drugs. Martin says providers then work with their patient to determine appropriate medication dosages.
“It’s all exactly what you need, there’s no set standard of ‘Oh you only get this,’” she said. “It’s whatever the provider and the patient decide what’s best for each person.”
In addition to individualized medicated treatment, CEO Allgaier says every Ideal Option location offers case management services to help patients with things like finding legal services, housing and employment.
James Belardi is a new patient at the Juneau clinic. He said staff told him, “if I’m having problems in certain areas of my life, then we’ll address those problems with them, and they’ll help me work through anything that I need to.”
Belardi says he’s been in and out of emergency rooms and treatment facilities for years, where he faced judgment for his addiction, but Ideal Option feels different. For him, the Juneau clinic’s staff are a welcome change from the stigmatized attitudes he’s faced elsewhere.
“They all wanted to get to know me,” he said. “Which is cool, because I’m not used to that, you know. Usually we’re looked down upon by society. I don’t know, this has just been great. I’m usually real shy, and I come in here and I’m really comfortable.”
As far as counseling goes, Ideal Option clinics in other states have integrated departments they call Ideal Balance to provide behavioral health services, and they’re working with the state to bring that to Alaska. “If I could add it tomorrow, I would,” CEO Allgaier said. “But there are hoops that you have to go through.”
Unlike medical practices which employ individually licensed providers, a counseling agency has to be licensed as a unit, under the company’s name. That process could take two to six months, according to Ideal Balance’s executive director Penny Bell. In the meantime, the clinic is referring patients out to the community for counseling — but this approach has other providers in Juneau concerned.
Registered nurse Claire Suzanne Geldhof says that it’s a big ask to send someone struggling with addiction to a second appointment for counseling.
“It seems like very fragmented care,” she said. “I think it’s in the client’s best interest to receive a robust model under one roof, if possible, like many other options are in Juneau.”
Geldhof organizes regular meetings for the multiple addiction treatment facilities in town, including Rainforest Recovery, JAMHI, SEARHC and Front St. Clinic. Despite her reservations, she says she’s still looking forward to building a relationship with Ideal Option.
“I’m not trying to shun them by any means,” she said. “I think that something new like this just requires further conversations, and I’m eager to talk more and figure out different ways that we can work together.”
Other providers in town have also expressed plans to reach out to Ideal Option to collaborate in addressing Juneau’s opioid crisis.
Homer’s local needle exchange wants to install sharp disposal boxes in bathrooms around town so residents can safely dispose of syringes. The volunteer-run organization provides free sterile syringes, lifesaving Narcan kits and on-site HIV and Hepatitis C testing, among other services.
Dr. Sarah Spencer oversees the exchange, and she said volunteer staff have been discussing this project for a while.
“People will come to us with news or complaints about finding improperly disposed syringes, like finding syringes on trails or on the beach or in public places and that kind of thing,” she said. “We’ve been thinking that it might help to reduce those reports of inappropriately disposed syringes if people had more access to sharp disposal containers.”
She said it isn’t just people using illicit drugs who are in need of sharp disposal boxes. People who inject insulin and other medications also need safe locations to dispose syringes. Spencer said the Exchange will likely start with a pilot program consisting of roughly 10 boxes around Homer. She said the program will survey its clients to decide where to place the boxes.
“Where they think the hotspots are, especially folks who may be in transit or semi-homeless or here in the summer or don’t necessarily have access that they do of the Exchange,” she said. “Where would be places where they would be most likely to inject or to need to dispose of injection supplies.”
The Exchange would provide the boxes and would take responsibility for emptying them.
Spencer adds that the a recent Homer News story about 100 syringes found on the Homer Spit seemed to concern residents. However, she says that number is small compared to how many syringes are coming into the Exchange. Earlier this month, the program received roughly 4,000 syringes.
“Most people who are using drugs, they want to do the right thing,” she said. “They want to dispose of them correctly and they want to be safe. But you have to give them the opportunity to be able to do that. If they don’t have the opportunity or the choice, they’re just going to do whatever they have to do.”
Spencer said the Exchange will be able to lock the boxes so people won’t be able to reach into them. She adds that the cost to purchase and maintain them is relatively low.
However, the money isn’t secured yet.
The demand for Exchange’s services has far outpaced its grant funding. Right now, volunteers are using their own money to purchase supplies. The organization hopes to secure more funds through grants and a Gofundme campaign.
If the Exchange raises additional money beyond what’s needed for supplies, Spencer said they hope to install the disposal boxes in January.
The Fairbanks Four shortly after their release from prison in December 2015. From left to right: Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, Kevin Pease and George Frese. (Photo by Rachel Saylor/Tanana Chiefs Conference)
A federal civil rights suit filed against the city of Fairbanks has been dismissed. U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland’s ruling released Monday, dismisses the suit filed by Native men known as the Fairbanks Four. George Frese, Marvin Roberts, Kevin Pease and Eugene Vent allege racial bias drove police misconduct, which included coercion of false confessions and fabrication of evidence. They allege that lead to them being wrongfully convicted of murder.
City attorney Matt Singer said Holland’s ruling hinges on the fact that the agreement does not meet a key legal stipulation for filing this type of federal civil rights case. New evidence pointing to other suspects in the 1997 beating death of John Hartman led to a 2015 hearing and an agreement with the state. The Fairbanks Four’s convictions were vacated. But the agreement stipulated that the convictions were validly obtained at the time.
“That kind of civil rights claim is not allowed, unless they have first established their innocence before the state criminal court,” Singer said. “And what Judge Holland ruled is that the Fairbanks Four, by settling their case and acknowledging that their original convictions were valid, that they had not obtained a favorable termination.”
Mike Kramer is the Fairbanks Four’s attorney.
“If the question is, was the criminal case favorably resolved? The charges were dismissed and the convictions were vacated. That’s about as favorable as you can get,” Kramer said.
Kramer said the four will appeal to the 9th Circuit Court in hope of getting a more favorable opinion, but notes that’s a two-year process, another legal delay for men who spent 18 years in prison.
“They’re used to justice proceeding very slowly, and — or not proceeding at all,” Kramer said. “And so, you know, they took it well. They understand that this is going to be a long process and certainly not over yet.”
Kramer said the Fairbanks Four case is unique in that most other release dismissal agreements involve charges, not convictions.
The city’s attorney said he expects a similar determination if the case goes before the 9th Circuit.
“Judge Holland followed the precedent set by the United States Supreme Court and by our circuit appellate court,” Singer said. “So I would expect that the 9th Circuit would agree with this decision.”
Holland did not decide on the broader issue of the validity of the 2015 Fairbanks Four agreement with the state, under which the men also agreed not to sue, but now say they signed under duress.
