The 1,138-foot Ovation of the Seas, pictured berthed in Singapore, is scheduled to make its first run to Southeast Alaska in May 2019. (Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)
Three more megaships will ply Southeast waters next year as the cruise industry expands in Alaska. Southeast Alaska’s marine pilots are using computer models to see how the big ships hold up under extreme conditions.
It was towards the end of last year when three cruise lines announced they were planning to bring their largest ships to Southeast.
“It kind of caught us off guard,” said Capt. Jeff Baken, a marine pilot.
The state of Alaska requires licensed pilots like him to oversee navigation of cruise ships while they’re in state waters.
“We decided that given our charter by the state which is to protect the life and property and pristine waters of Alaska, that we needed to do what we could to study these ships,” Baken said.
This was back in 2017, and the first megaship, the 5,700-person Norwegian Bliss, was set to arrive in just a few months.
“It’s very comparable to the world’s largest ships,” Baken said.
“The cooperation we received from Norwegian Cruise Lines was awesome,” he said. The conversations resulted in Baken and another Alaska pilot spending a week aboard one of the Bliss’s sister ships.
“They even gave us control of the ship two different evenings and said, ‘Do what you wanna do,’” Baken recalled.
The real-time data gathered allowed the pilots to calibrate their computer model. That was then fed into a simulator for virtual sea trials.
“We have a long tradition of working with Alaska pilots and it’s always been really good,” said Capt. Bjorn Hansen, vice president of nautical operations for Norwegian Cruise Lines.
The study’s recommendations included staying out of the scenic Tracy Arm, something the Norwegian Bliss already does.
“Because of the turns combined with the very strong currents and floating ice, we decided that we would stay away from that area,” Hansen said by phone from his office in Miami.
Norwegian paid for the computer model; the independent pilots paid for the simulator and study which was published earlier this year.
Marine pilot Barry Olver said it was key the Southeast pilots bankrolled the study. It maintains their independence and ensures the data is public.
“We work in the public’s interest and we want to make sure the public is aware of what we find,” Olver said.
The Royal Princess is designed to carry about 4,900 passengers and crew members, making it one of the largest in the company’s fleet. It will begin calling into Alaska ports in May 2019. (Photo courtesy of Princess Cruises)
Now, the Southeast pilots are working on a second round of studies before next year’s cruise season which will see four megaships: Norwegian Bliss and its sister ship Norwegian Joy; Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess; and Royal Caribbean International’s Ovation of the Seas.
The computer simulator replicates specific conditions. Olver said they’ve programmed parts of the route like Juneau’s cruise ship berths in Gastineau Channel.
“We mimic wind and current conditions for the harbor,” Olver explained.
They make it interesting: gale force winds, erratic currents and virtual obstacles appear at the touch of a button.
“We ramp that up until we get to the point were it’s beyond the capabilities of the ship,” Olver said.
In other words: Game Over.
The Norwegian Bliss prepares to leave Juneau on June 5, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
The pilots have already received a computer model from Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas which is designed to carry more than 4,900 passengers and 1,500 crew.
Negotiations are still ongoing with Princess Cruises for a model of the Royal Princess.
“Our marine services team is engaged with the Southeast Alaska Pilots Association to provide what is needed to make this happen,” Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali wrote in an email.
Olver said with or without the company’s cooperation, the pilots will be able to run a model of the Royal Princess on the simulator.
“It’s all about mitigating the risk and knowing what we have before it gets here,” Olver said.
The simulations will run at the state’s maritime training center in Seward in December. Their findings will be published soon after.
NASA has renewed a nearly $50 million contract with the University of Alaska Fairbanks for satellite services. A release from UAF says the $48.6 million dollar, five-year award is for operation of the Geophysical Institute Alaska Satellite Facility Synthetic Aperture Radar Data Center.
Synthetic aperture radar penetrate through clouds, and applications include seeing the effect of hurricane winds on the ocean to predict storm landfall, helping vessels navigate sea ice and surveying earthquake damage to facilitate emergency response. The Alaska Satellite facility employs 55 people involved in the 24-7 downlink, storage and processing of satellite data.
The renewed NASA service contract runs through September 2023.
Bettye Adams has owned the Alaskan Hotel for more than 40 years. When I ask her to show me Room 315, she isn’t thrilled.
“I just – it’s creepy. You know, I’ve never seen anything but I feel things,” Adams said.
Room 315 has two spartan-looking single beds with floral linen. There’s a painting of two women from the early century. I can’t be sure, but they appear to be working girls. And a replica antique phone hangs on the wall. There aren’t many clues that you’re still in the 21st century.
Now that we’re standing in Room 315, Adams is telling me this room isn’t unique.
“I would think there’s just as much haunting on the second floor,” Adams said. “There’s all kinds of haunting in the bar, in the basement, all kinds of things.”
Many of the longest running stories of hauntings are in and around Room 315 on the hotel’s third floor. (Jacob Resneck/CoastAlaska)
But then Adams proceeds to tell me a disturbing story about Room 315. It was May 19, 2007. A guided missile cruiser, the USS Bunker Hill was in port but was due to leave the next day.
“And one of the sailors on it just emailed us and said he wanted the ‘haunted room’ and we were like ‘whatever… and put him here,” Adams said.
Juneau police officer Chris Gifford recalls getting a call about a disturbance at the Alaskan.
“There was a Navy ship in. There was a lot of people downtown that probably hadn’t been off the boat for a long time,” Gifford said.
Gifford switched on his recorder as he and his partner arrived at the hotel at about a quarter to twelve.
“So we went there, there’s a band playing,” Gifford said. “I remember a band playing in the bar – and people kind of just directing us to the upstairs.”
The door to Room 315 was locked.
“We’re still knocking on the door and a guy comes up and kind of whispers to me , ‘Hey I think your guy just jumped out the window,'” Gifford said.
22-year-old Americorps volunteer Jill Weitz was staying in a room below.
“I remember hearing yelling but kind of just assumed that it was coming from the bar downstairs,” Weitz said. “We hear glass shatter from above and within moments our window within our hotel room just shatters.”
The next building is only a few feet away. Caught between the buildings, the sailor apparently broke more than one window on his way down.
“His body hitting the window and shattering the glass into our rooms and then proceeding to fall down downward was mind-bending to say the least,” Weitz said.
The police officers broke down the door.
“The walls were covered in blood,” Gifford said. “There was – it looked like something very bad had happened in there and I didn’t know what it was but it didn’t look normal.”
Gifford said they didn’t know what to think – except that someone was badly hurt down below.
“You know, under Juneau you can down and see that it’s really built on pilings, the city really is,” Gifford said. “It’s like a tunnel down there and I didn’t know how to get into that tunnel if I needed to – we were going to have to figure that out.”
Incredibly, the young sailor was able to walk and made it to the street.
“He had injuries all over his body from head to toe,” Gifford said.
The man was medevaced out of Juneau and survived his injuries.
Bettye Adams said navy officers arrived the next morning to investigate. It was understood that they didn’t want publicity. There wasn’t anything in the newspaper. But…
“His mother called me from Arizona and said, ‘What do you mean renting a room that is haunted? You nearly killed my son,'” Adams said. “And I said, ‘I really really have nothing to do with that.'”
Adams said guests rarely report ghostly encounters, though…
“It’s with employees that it’s a real problem and they quit and go away,” Adams said.
But not everyone who works there.
“I’ve never been spooked – or seen nothing or – I found people who weren’t supposed to be here but they were in the flesh,’ local musician Scott Fry said. Fry has worked at the hotel since the ’90s. “There was a guy here last winter who swore that there was a whole SWAT team out back on the hillside ready to come in and get him but I think that might’ve been induced some other way.”
There have been a lot written about the Alaskan Hotel. Juneau writer Bjorn Dihle wrote Haunted Inside Passage last year which relates a version of this episode.
“You know when you think about it, history is a ghost story. And the more you think about history the haunting it becomes,” Dihle said. “But I know that if you think hard enough about something, especially if you’re confined in a dirty little room, thinking about it, after having a few drinks, you might think you see something. Our minds are so fickle and weak and vast at the same time.”
This horror story could’ve ended tragically. But is it a ghost story? The only one who might have an answer is a navy veteran who at his own request was put in a so-called haunted room at the Alaskan Hotel.
Alaska has been in recession for more than three years. Our unemployment rate is currently the highest in the nation. Will the recession continue into next year or are there signs that job loss is slowing and stability may return? Are recovery and growth are on the horizon?
HOST: Lori Townsend
GUESTS:
Mouchine Guetabbi – Economist with ISER
Neil Fried – state economist
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).
Murkowski endorses Dunleavy and wants Ballot Measure 1 to fail
Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Bethel
Senator Lisa Murkowski was in Bethel today. And she announced that she’s endorsing Republican nominee Mike Dunleavy in the battle for the governor’s seat.
Dunleavy, Begich spar on budget, crime in debate
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
They traded accusations over which branch of government is responsible for the rise in crime.
ConocoPhillips to begin work on $1 billion North Slope oil development this winter
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
ConocoPhillips today announced the company has made the final decision to build a new, roughly $1 billion drill site on the North Slope.
Wrangell moves to get rid of prayer during public meetings
June Wrangell, KSTK – Wrangell
Borough staff brought a measure to the assembly to remove that line item from all meetings moving forward.
Alaska records 75 cases of syphilis this year
Associated Press
Alaska health officials say 75 cases of syphilis have been reported in the state this year, marking the largest outbreak of the infectious disease in at least 40 years.
NASA renews satellite services contract with UAF
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
NASA has renewed a nearly $50 million contract with the University of Alaska Fairbanks for satellite services.
Crews begin repairs on flooded roads near Seward
Associated Press
Kenai Peninsula Borough crews have started repairing roads near Seward that flooded after two storm systems drenched the peninsula over the last week.
Winter weather to hit Interior next week
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The forecast is looking a little more wintery across Alaska.
Atka school in danger of shutting down
Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska
To get full funding, schools need at least 10 students. But at the Yakov E. Netsvetov school in Atka, there are only six.
AK: The haunting of Alaskan Hotel’s Room 315
Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska – Juneau
Juneau’s historic Alaskan Hotel has a reputation of being haunted.
49 Voices: Gina Hays of Anchorage
Ammon Swenson, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
This week we’re hearing from Gina Hays, born and raised in Anchorage. Hays works for KRUA, the University of Alaska Anchorage’s college radio station as the marketing coordinator.
Gina Hays of Anchorage (Photo by Ammon Swenson, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
This week we’re hearing from Gina Hays, born and raised in Anchorage. Hays works for KRUA, the University of Alaska Anchorage’s college radio station as the marketing coordinator.
HAYS: We didn’t really have a lot of money for me to go out of state, and it’s just incredibly expensive to go out of state. For my parents, they were like, “you’re probably gonna stay at home. You’re gonna go to college at UAA.” And I wasn’t really happy about that, to be honest. I really wasn’t because I really wanted to go somewhere else that wasn’t my home state.
I wasn’t happy my first year being here, but after a little while and just understanding UAA and how unique it is, just as a college. I was taking a class, and we had a guest speaker who said, “Liberal Arts schools are pretty cool. They’re pretty fun. I had a great time going to a Liberal Arts school. But, the thing about UAA is it’s so much like reality, the real world,” which I thought was really interesting.
I’ve always been into radio personalities. For me, I was just never into having the camera on me, like TV news. I jsust always found that really intimidaiting like, what if I mess up? What if someone sees a really weird reaction in those news reel blooper reels. I don’t want to be a viral meme.
We have college students who are volunteers, and we also have community members, too who just like to be… just wanna have a show. And they can pretty much do what they want on the show. We have people who have their own talk show. We have people who just play their favorite music. They just have a lot of fun with it. And I don’t think it’s dead. I think if you’re having a lot of fun with it, and you’re really ambitious, then you’re gonna get a following, and you’re gonna get some people to listen.
One thing the candidates agreed on: American politics has become too hostile. Galvin said she’d model civility in Congress.
“I think that all of the hate, and the emboldening of the hate and those actions is horrible,” she said. “And frankly that’s part of why I’m running.”
Galvin, 53, is a first-time candidate who is on the ballot as the Democratic nominee.
Young, 85, is the most senior member of Congress. He’s been in office since 1973. He said he continues to work well with Democrats, despite the tenor of the times.
“A lot of blame is going on. A lot of pointing of fingers,” he said. “I’m one, and been rated as one, as one of the most bipartisan, across-the-aisle individual, in the five percent that gets things done.”
Young often points to his score on the Lugar Index of Bipartisanship, which examines party affiliation in the sponsorship of bills. Young is in the top 10 percent in the most recent ranking.
Young and Galvin clearly differ on climate change.
“We’re warming up, and I do not believe that man is the cause. It’s being used as an instrument to frighten people,” Young said.
Galvin drew the contrast: “Unlike my opponent, I agree with the 99.5 percent of scientists who say climate change is absolutely related to human activity,” she said.
Galvin said she’d consider a carbon tax as a way to reduce emissions. Young said he’d oppose a carbon tax, which he said would transfer the problem and allow someone to make money off of it.
The testiest exchange of the night was between Young and one of the panelists. It came just eight minutes in, after Young talked about the caravan of Central Americans walking north through Mexico.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when those people arrive at the (U.S.) border, how they’re going to handle it,” Young said. “That’s going to be the big, big enchilada when that happens.”
Channel 2 News reporter Rich Mauer asked about Young’s use of the term.
“Mr. Young, you used the word, ‘This is the big enchilada coming,'” Mauer said. “Was that intentional?”
“No, and you know that, Rich,” Young said. “I’ve watched you over the years attack Ted Stevens, and you attack me all the time.”
Young said he meant it in the sense of “the big one” and nothing more. Still, Galvin seized the opportunity to bring up a different term Young used, five years ago.
“While that may not have been intentional, I think it lends itself to kind of where we’re comfortable speaking,” she said. “I know that he’s also used the term ‘wetback’ in the recent past. There’s just no place for that anymore.”
Young apologized in 2013 for using that word, within days of the event.
Galvin had her own trouble with terms during the debate. She repeatedly referred to “cutters” when she apparently meant “icebreakers,” which are a particular type of Coast Guard cutter.
The debate was a co-production of KTUU-Channel 2 News and Alaska Public Media.
The parallel runway at the Bethel Airport will undergo construction next summer to deal with damage from melting permafrost, which has caused dips in the surface.
The state Department of Transportation plans to repave the runway after repairing the dips. The agency will also replace some lights along its edge. All that will cost between $5-10 million according to Morgan Merritt, DOT’s Program Manager for the construction.
He says that the work will take place in the summer because that runway is used more heavily during the winter. Merritt expects the construction to take a couple of months and be finished by autumn.
The public can submit comments about the Bethel runway reconstruction plans through the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities website, or call Merritt at 907-269-0614 for more information.
The 40-foot troller Safari rolls and sinks just off Sandy Beach in Sitka. Troopers in the patrol vessel Courage rescued 62-year old Calvin “Mark” Bigelow before the Safari went down. (Jason Jones photo)
A 40-foot troller rolled and sank in high winds just outside of the Sitka harbor Saturday afternoon (10-27-18). The skipper was rescued unharmed.
According to Alaska Wildlife Troopers, 62-year old Calvin “Mark” Bigelow issued a distress call Saturday afternoon when his boat, the fishing vessel Safari, encountered high wind gusts near Kasiana Island. The Safari reportedly became unstable in the gusts, causing it to list and to take on water.
Troopers responded in their patrol boat Courage, and took Bigelow on board. The Safari at this time was capsized and rapidly sinking.
The incident unfolded in full view of residents of Sitka’s Halibut Point Road. Many drivers stopped along the highway to watch the rescue.
The US Coast Guard and salvage crews have responded to the scene for investigation, potential spill response, and recovery operations.
Troopers delivered Bigelow to Sitka Harbor unharmed. They report no impairment was involved in the accident.
The Haines Borough Manager was directed to order the police to stop responding to calls outside the townsite unless assistance is requested by the state troopers. (Photo by Emily Files)
The Haines Borough has ordered the police department to stop providing service outside the townsite unless assistance is requested by the state troopers. The decision follows over a year of uncertainty about the local police department’s role in providing service to areas within the borough but outside the townsite.
According to the town charter, the Haines Borough Police Department is only allowed to serve within the boundaries of the townsite.
In the past, areas outside of the townsite have been policed by the Alaska State Troopers. But in 2017, the agency withdrew its sole “blueshirt” officer from the Chilkat Valley, leaving residents outside the townsite without any regular police service.
Since then, Haines police have been responding to calls from outside of the townsite even though it is a violation of the town charter.
During the municipal election in October, residents living out Mud Bay Road, Lutak Road and the Haines Highway rejected a proposal to create on-call police service areas outside of the town limits by increasing property taxes.
After certifying the results of the municipal election at a meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly had a decision to make. Would the borough continue to violate town charter by authorizing police responses to calls outside the townsite, or would the police be ordered to stop responding to those calls?
Assembly member William Prisciandaro said he believed the no vote was not necessarily a rejection of local police responses outside the townsite.
“I think a lot of the vote was the funding mechanism for this, not that people didn’t want the response out there in an emergency,” Prisciandaro said. “I’ve had complaints from first responders and concerns that there are certain instances that they feel like they need the police there. They won’t volunteer to go out there if the police presence isn’t there.”
Ordering the Haines Borough Police Department to stop responding to calls outside the townsite does not prevent them from assisting other agencies if requested. Haines residents could still contact the Alaska State Troopers who could relay the call to the Haines dispatch. Assembly member Sean Maidy said he didn’t think this would work in practice.
“We’re asking them to do something that is just not going to work. If there is an actual emergency we’re gonna have them call somebody who will not respond or transfer the call. In an emergency, seconds count,” Maidy said.
Borough Manager Debra Schnabel noted that correspondence with the Alaska State Troopers has made it clear they do not recognize the Haines Borough as their jurisdiction.
Assembly member Heather Lende recognized that the borough was in a frustrating situation. the results of the election were clear and the town charter must be upheld.
“The charter of the Haines Borough is really clear,” Lende said. “We provided people outside the townsite with an option for subscribing to protection from the townsite police department through property tax, and they voted no.”
Assembly member Stephanie Scott agreed that the police cannot continue to violate the town charter. She said if residents disagree with the rules limiting police service to the townsite then the charter can be amended to expand police service borough-wide.
However, Assembly member Brenda Josephson said that providing urban level police service across the borough is unrealistic.
“This borough cannot afford townsite level police service borough-wide. It is cost prohibitive. We’re a massive, massive borough,” Josephson said. “People who want urban-level services live in urban areas. You don’t move to a rural area if you expect urban-level services.”
During the public comments period of the assembly meeting, several residents expressed disappointment about the decision to stop providing service to Mud Bay, Lutak and the Haines Highway Corridor. Haines resident Krista Kielsmeier said that it is just a matter of time before this issue comes up again.
“It seems inevitable that you’ll be changing your decision. My question would be what will it take for you to change your decision. Who will have to be hurt, who will have to die before you change your mind,” Kielsmeier said.
The order to stop providing service outside the townsite unless assistance is requested by the state troopers was approved by the assembly in a 4 to 2 vote with assembly members Sean Maidy and William Prisciandaro opposed.
Tensions show in Young-Galvin debate, and not just between the candidates
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
Testy moments punctuated the debate when Rep. Don Young and challenger Alyse Galvin faced off.
Hillary Clinton endorses Mark Begich for governor
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Former secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is wading into Alaska’s governor’s race.
Coast Guard medevacs hiker mauled by bear on Afognak Island
Maggie Wall, KMXT – Kodiak
A companion used a satellite phone to call the Coast Guard for help. A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak medivaced a hiker on Friday after he was mauled by a bear on Afognak Island.
Kanakanak Hospital pharmacy puts patients in “immediate jeopardy,” survey finds
Isabelle Ross, KDLG – Dillingham
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a survey in September. It found that the Kanakanak Hosptial pharmacy’s practices put patients at risk of adverse health effects and death.
State taking over Fairbanks air quality regulation
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The state has officially taken over Fairbanks-North Pole area air quality regulation from the North Star Borough.
Anchorage rabbi reacts to Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The man charged with killing 11 in a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weekend appeared in court today, while people still reeled from the news.
‘Fairbanks Four’ to appeal rejected lawsuit vs. city, police
Associated Press
Four Fairbanks men will appeal the rejection of their malicious prosecution lawsuit against the city of Fairbanks.
Haines Police ordered to stop responding to calls outside the townsite
Henry Leasia, KHNS – Haines
The Haines Borough has ordered the police department to stop providing service outside the townsite unless assistance is requested by the state troopers.
Alaska Native Cultural Charter School teacher selected as Alaska Teacher of the Year
Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Today in Anchorage, Danielle Riha, a teacher at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School, was honored as the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year.
Marine pilots put megaships to the test in Southeast Alaska
Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska – Juneau
Some of the largest cruise ships in the world will be making regular port calls in Southeast Alaska in 2019. Before they arrive, Southeast marine pilots are running simulations to assess their performance through narrow straits and rough weather.
Denali National Park considers upgrading infrastrcture
Lex Trainen, KUAC – Fairbanks
A nearly four-fold increase in winter and shoulder-season visitors to Denali National Park over the last five years is pushing infrastructure to capacity and forcing consideration of new development. Park officials are taking feedback on potential changes at public meetings, including in Fairbanks last week.
State Education department official Bob Williams presents Danielle Riha with the plaque commemorating her selection as the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year. (Photo by Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
Anchorage teacher Danielle Riha was surprised today to learn she was selected as the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year.
She was coming back from a lunch with state education representative Bob Williams, under the pretense that it was because she was a nominee for Teacher of the Year. Williams then led Riha to the auditorium of the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School.
“When I knew for sure was when I was coming around the corner and Bob Williams looked at me and said, ‘Are you ready for this?'” Riha said.
The whole school was waiting inside to applaud for her.
Danielle Riha sits during the assembly honoring her selection as 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year. (Photo by Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)
Riha teaches middle school at the charter school. She’s taught every subject in her tenure at the school, but is teaching language arts and social studies this year. Riha says she credits the school and staff for creating an environment that allows her to thrive as a teacher.
“This whole school makes me who I am. It’s not just me, and I’m thankful,” Riha said. “I’m really blessed to be in a great learning community.”
Riha also credited students and parents for helping foster a strong learning environment, built on family connection and respect.
“It’s reciprocity, you know,” Riha said. “We just share that mutual respect and admiration for each other, and I think that’s why we are so successful.”
Riha began her teaching career as a substitute in Dutch Harbor before getting her teaching degree and teaching in Togiak and New Stuyahok for seven years. Due to her experience with Alaska Native culture, Riha was recruited in 2008 to help open the charter school in Anchorage and has been a part of the school ever since.
Riha says she tries as hard as she can to keep the traditions of rural Alaska alive in her teachings.
“The most important thing for me to get across is to stand on the shoulders of your ancestors, know where you come from and plan for your future,” Riha said. “And really be involved and engaged in your learning, so that you can have a bright future.”
Riha was one of five nominees this year for Alaska Teacher of the Year. She will serve as Alaska’s nominee for the National Teacher of the Year. Eagle River High School fine arts chair Jacob Bera was selected as the alternate Alaska Teacher of the Year. He will serve as the state Teacher of the Year if Riha is selected as the National Teacher of the Year.
Profiles of Riha, Bera and the other three nominees for Alaska Teacher of the Year are available here.
But at the Southeast campus, enrollment is actually up for first-year students. There are also more students enrolled in career and technical programs.
That may have something to do with a renewed push to recruit new students and a systemwide tuition discount for certain courses.
On a Wednesday evening in the Glacier Room at the University of Alaska Southeast, UAS Outreach Coordinator Su Reyes hosted an “off to college” event for prospective students. Turnout wasn’t great, but Reyes said she didn’t mind.
“We had roughly three or four. Some with parents, some by themselves and maybe just a parent come in,” Reyes said.
Reyes is new to her position. She visits the local high schools every week, and she and her colleagues also attend college conferences around Alaska and the Northwest.
“That’s really been an initiative for us, just to do a little bit more recruiting events and getting with our community just to let them know that UAS is here and we’re here to help,” she said.
Overall, enrollment at UAS is down more than 3 percent from last year, and its budget has declined 19 percent since 2014.
That’s not bad considering it’s the smallest campus in the UA system. At Anchorage and Fairbanks, enrollment has declined even more.
UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield presented more numbers for this school year at a Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week.
“Our first-time students, including our freshmen students but also others coming back for the very first time, are up by 10 percent,” Caulfield said.
One of the things Caulfield highlighted was the fact that enrollment in career and technical programs went up 19 percent for UAS. That’s classes like nurse aide training, heavy machinery and diesel mechanics for mining and marine transportation.
Caulfield said the increase is thanks in part to stepped up recruitment and to a 25 percent tuition decrease for some classes that the UA Board of Regents approved last year. The drop in tuition took effect this fall.
“Of course we’re going to look closely to make sure it’s accomplishing what we want it to do, which was to encourage more young people to look at career and technical education career opportunities here in Southeast Alaska,” Caulfield said.
The discount reduces tuition for a $200 per credit class to $150 per credit. It applies to about 50 programs and more than 300 classes across UA campuses. Overall, the number of people enrolled in these courses at UAS is still small — less than 70 students.
Caulfield hopes to see that number grow over time, especially as they work to increase the pipeline between high school and the campus.
“So that even high school students can earn college credits and have the benefit of that 25 percent tuition reduction while they’re still in high school and they’re already on a pathway into a college program before they graduate high school,” Caulfield said.
He says they’re also looking outside Alaska to students enrolled in community colleges in the Pacific Northwest who may want the chance to study fisheries and marine biology in an environment that offers hands-on research experiences.
“We’re working hard on the outreach. We’re working hard to help them understand what’s available at UAS and why it’s special, and it’s paying off,” he said.
Caulfield said they have a budget request this year to hire an additional recruiter for next year.
How an electronic monitor sees and records fishing activities. (Photo courtesy NOAA)
Pot cod and longline vessel skippers fishing in federal waters have until Thursday to decide whether they want to sign up for electronic monitoring for 2019.
The electronic monitoring program uses cameras and recording equipment to keep track of the kinds of fish coming on board, as opposed to the more traditional way of bringing human observers on board a vessel.
Abby Turner-Franke is with the North Pacific Fisheries Association based out of Homer. She says vessels 60 feet and under can now sign up for the program.
“So for pot cod fishing vessels you’re going to have three cameras on board that are watching the deck from different angles so that an observer that’s reviewing that video can tell what’s coming on board, how many, what species,” she said. “They work directly with the crew of the vessels to establish what the best angles are, what the best placement is for their fishing practices. It’s very customized to each vessel. So they get pretty great data.”
Turner-Franke says electronic monitors don’t get seasick, don’t get distracted and don’t need any extra space onboard.
“I wouldn’t put it in terms of better or worse, but it’s very different,” she said. “Human observers are capable of taking biological samples that a camera can’t. However, it also takes an extra bunk to carry a human observer, so having a camera onboard is a huge bonus, especially for vessels under 60 feet.”
The deadline to sign up for electronic monitoring is Thursday, Nov. 1.
An Air Station Kodiak helo medivaced a hiker who was mauled by a bear on Afognak Island on Friday. Photo courtesy USCG.
A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak medivaced a hiker on Friday after he was mauled by a bear on Afognak Island.
The 31-year-old man sustained multiple lacerations to his leg.
A member of the hiking party called the Coast Guard District 17 command in Juneau at approximately 1 p.m. Friday via satellite phone, requesting a medevac.
Watchstanders in the Sector Anchorage command center assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinators and requested the Air Station launch the helo crew.
Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Nate Littlejohn is with Sector Anchorage.
“An MH60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak hoisted the man who sustained multiple lacerations to his leg. And brought him to Air Station Kodiak where he was placed under the care of a waiting EMS.”
Littlejohn said the Coast Guard helicopter crews are often the best choice for rescues such as this one.
“The Coast Guard in Alaska is best known for maritime search and rescue. But the fact is our helicopter crews often conduct inland search and rescue operations. Sometimes in critical situations when it’s a life or death situation, it really just comes down to who has the properly trained people and the right assets, closest to the emergency. And on Friday, that happened to be us.”
On Twitter Monday, Clinton urged followers to support Democrat Mark Begich, calling him a “dedicated public servant” with a record of “cutting through bureaucracy to get things done for Alaskans.”
Last week all three of Alaska’s congressional members voiced support for fellow Republican Mike Dunleavy in the governor’s race.
It’s not clear how much Clinton’s support will help Begich win over skeptical or undecided voters. In 2016, President Donald Trump won Alaska by nearly 15 percentage points. Trump endorsed Dunleavy in a Tweet last week.
The Kanakanak Hospital pharmacy in Dillingham puts patients in “immediate jeopardy,” according to a survey the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services conducted in September. During the three-day survey, CMS said it observed practices that placed patients at risk of adverse effects and death from medication errors.
The survey describes issues including missing labels, unsystematic labeling of medication and incompetence among the staff. The specific instances of errors included in the report were numerous and, in some cases, grievous. In July and August, 45 medication errors were reported to the administration and were not investigated.
According to the report, a patient went into anaphylactic shock due to a medication that was filled incorrectly. A nurse told the survey team that medication had several times been pulled from the automated dispensing system under a fictitious name. In another instance, the pharmacy gave a patient morphine at a dosage five times greater than the doctor prescribed.
The survey states that multiple staff expressed concern of retaliation for reporting concerns to the hospital administration.
Four unnamed physicians at the hospital told CMS that they had on multiple occasions expressed concern to hospital administration that pharmacists lacked experience and that medication errors were on the rise.
In a press release Friday, Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation said that it is addressing these issues by training new staff and updating processes and procedures.
The Curyung Tribal Council said after receiving the survey that it is circulating the survey to other interested Bristol Bay area tribes, the Indian Health Service and CMS.
Tristan Glowa, 22, addresses a crowd that gathered in Fairbanks Monday to support Juliana vs. United States. (Ravenna Koenig/ Alaska’s Energy Desk).
Monday was supposed to mark the start of a trial in a landmark climate change lawsuit brought against the U.S. federal government by almost two-dozen young Americans.
The lawsuit — Juliana vs. United States — argues that the government has violated the constitutional rights of 21 youth plaintiffs by actively worsening climate change with its policies. They also argue that the government has failed its duty to safeguard important environmental resources under the “public trust doctrine.”
But the case has been placed temporarily in limbo by the Supreme Court. So, instead of a trial, the day was marked by rallies in support of the case.
At the rally in Fairbanks, over 50 people showed up to hear speeches from mostly young people.
“This is no longer a scientific issue, it’s not a scientific question. It’s a moral and spiritual issue,” Tom Baring said to cheers from the crowd. “And we are making it a legal issue as well.”
Baring is the father of one of the plaintiffs, 19-year-old Nathan Baring.
Rallies were also held in Anchorage and Sitka, and a youth engagement event in support of the lawsuit was held in Homer. According to a press release from Our Children’s Trust, the legal organization supporting the plaintiffs, there were more than 70 events planned across the U.S. for Sunday and Monday.
The Juliana case was put on hold over a week ago by Chief Justice John Roberts who granted a request from the Trump administration to delay the proceedings. The Trump Administration has already tried to get lower courts to dismiss the case, without success.
According to Michael Gerrard, a professor of environmental law at Columbia University, it’s not clear what the outcome will be.
“It’s conceivable that they could dismiss the whole thing, but that is unlikely,” Gerrard said.
Gerrard says the Supreme Court’s other options are to lift the stay and allow the case to proceed to trial, or to send it back to a lower court to rethink their decision to allow the case to move ahead.
Former U.S. Senator Mark Begich talks to the audience during a Juneau Chamber of Commerce forum on Thursday, September 6, 2018, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
If Democrat Mark Begich is elected Alaska’s governor, he’ll wield veto power over dozens of bills each year, just like his predecessors.
A major difference from those predecessors, though, are his relationships with the special interests that will be pushing him to sign or reject each bill. In some cases, they could be his former paying customers.
For nearly four years, Begich has owned a public affairs and consulting firm, Northern Compass Group, that’s worked with clients that intersect with both state and federal government. If elected, he’ll likely be faced with decisions that will directly affect the businesses, unions and Native organizations that have been paying his business for advice.
That means Begich should be careful about possible conflicts, according to Anchorage independent Rep. Jason Grenn, who helped lead a successful push for legislative ethics reforms this year.
Anchorage independent Rep. Jason Grenn. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
“I don’t think anyone should be disqualified just because they’ve been successful in the past,” Grenn said. But, he said, he thinks Begich “should understand that people are going to be maybe more critical than of governors in the past, who had a law firm or had other business dealings.”
“And he should be sensitive to that, and take the steps needed to show these aren’t going to inject themselves into his best vision for Alaska,” Grenn added.
Alaska politicians often emerge from the worlds of public policy and business, and Begich is far from the first with potential for conflicts.
The current governor, Bill Walker, owned a law firm that worked for the city of Valdez, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Alaska Gasline Port Authority — a municipal group pushing the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez.
Walker sold his law firm after being elected, but his critics still cited his past relationship with the authority because its gasline plans conflicted with a state-sponsored project to build the pipeline on a different route.
And after the 1990 election of Wally Hickel, a businessman with holdings worth more than $80 million, he pledged to put his interests in a gasline company, Yukon Pacific Corp., into a blind trust.
Begich’s work is significant, though, because of the number of clients he’s had, as well as the recentness of his work, Grenn said.
Northern Compass Group had 17 paying clients last year, generating at least $885,000 in income for the firm, according to a financial disclosure Begich was required to file with the state. Begich himself reported between $300,000 and $700,000 in personal income from his company. (State law requires income to be reported in ranges, rather than specific amounts.)
Several of Begich’s clients, or their employees, have also spent thousands of dollars on political efforts and groups that are trying to get him elected.
One step Begich should take if elected governor is to recuse himself from official actions that would “directly and substantially” affect his company’s clients, said Craig Holman, an expert on campaign finance and governmental ethics at the Washington, D.C. watchdog group Public Citizen.
“That would be one big step that we see flaunted over and over, here in Washington, D.C.,” Holman said.
Begich’s campaign manager, Nora Morse, would not make him available for an interview.
Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich speaks at a campaign event in September. (Photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
In an email, she said Begich, as an elected official, “is always focused on one singular goal: doing what is in the best interest of Alaskans with a commitment to open and transparent government.”
“And as always, his office and the entire administration would be held to the highest ethical standards – following all laws and state regulations,” Morse wrote.
The future of Northern Compass Group, and of Begich’s ownership stake, will be determined after the election, she said.
Begich created Northern Compass Group in 2015, less than three months after losing his re-election bid to Republican Dan Sullivan. The company’s website shows five employees working with Begich, several of whom worked in his U.S. Senate office; state corporate filings list Begich as Northern Compass Group’s sole owner.
While state law requires Begich to list his clients on his financial disclosure, and say roughly how much they paid Northern Compass Group, he does not have to describe the work his company did for each one.
Northern Compass Group’s largest source of revenue last year — at least $200,000 — was a Washington, D.C. law and lobbying firm called Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where Begich was hired as an adviser in 2015.
Brownstein has dozens of accounts, from Walgreens to Amazon to MGM Resorts.
Brownstein, when Begich was hired, said he would work on energy issues and the intersection between business and government. But neither Begich’s campaign nor Brownstein would identify the specific clients Begich has worked with.
Morse described Begich’s work for Brownstein generally as “internal communication and organization,” “bridging the bipartisan team” within the company and “public relations and outreach.” He helped launch and moderate an issue-based podcast series, as well as panels with bipartisan speakers on current events, she said.
What Northern Compass Group did for clients in Alaska last year is a little more clear.
The company researched Alaska renters insurance law for Weidner Apartment Homes, which has more than 5,000 units in the state, said Weidner spokesman Greg Cerbana.
Northern Compass Group worked for Chugach Electric Association on the Anchorage co-op’s proposed merger with a municipal utility, though a spokeswoman, Julie Hasquet — a former Begich press secretary — refused to provide details or documentation.
Grant Aviation, a regional Alaska airline, hired Northern Compass Group to solicit feedback from the communities where the airline works, Grant officials said in a 2015 news report.
And Northern Compass Group has also advised Planned Parenthood in its fights with Congress and the Trump administration, spokesman Andrew Everett said.
While Begich wouldn’t talk about the specifics of his consulting work, he did describe it generally in an interview earlier this year.
“It was varied, every day. Sometimes I’d be traveling to a place in Alaska, meeting with a potential new client, or talking with people about a client,” he said. “Or, the team would be doing other projects, related. So, very eclectic.”
Chugach Electric Association hired Mark Begich’s consulting firm to work on its merger with a municipal utility. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
The same issues and entities that Begich’s company has worked with are almost certain to come before state government in the next few years.
Eight of Northern Compass Group’s 17 clients pay lobbyists to work with Alaska’s executive branch, which Begich will oversee if he’s elected. Those clients also lobby on specific bills that could come to the governor’s desk.
This year, for example, Chugach Electric Association lobbied against legislation to create an independent entity aimed at cutting consumers’ costs by better coordinating power generation among Alaska’s interconnected utilities, according to one of Chugach’s lobbying reports.
The utilities said the legislation was unnecessary and that they were already working toward the same goal.
While Grenn, the state representative, said he wants Begich to be transparent about possible conflicts if he’s elected, Begich’s opponents have also questioned his loyalty to Alaskans’ interests in his current job — by describing his work for the past four years as “lobbying.”
But that’s a mischaracterization, according to the specific definition of lobbying under federal law.
Begich was barred from lobbying his former Congressional colleagues for two years after he left office. The ban is designed to stop representatives and senators from profiting from the connections they made while in public service, and to prevent them from doing favors for possible future employers while they’re still in office.
After the two-year cooling-off period, if Begich wanted to try to directly influence members of Congress on legislation, he would have had to formally register as a lobbyist. He didn’t.
What Begich did do, in some cases, was give advice to other people who were lobbying and trying to influence Congress.
That’s become a common practice for former government officials. And good government groups are critical of the practice, saying it’s not much different than lobbying.
“Strategic consulting — especially when you’re doing strategic consulting on behalf of a major lobbying firm — is really stealth lobbying,” said Holman, the government ethics expert. Begich, he added, is giving clients “key advice and direction on how to get around the governmental system, both at the federal and state systems. That is lobbying by any other term.”
But Begich’s supporters disagree. One of them, Anchorage tribal lawyer and lobbyist Lloyd Miller, said there’s a big distinction between Begich’s work and what a registered lobbyist does.
It’s one thing to advise lobbyists on how to best approach members of Congress, and another completely to pick up the phone and make those calls yourself, Miller said in an interview.
“It’s not a line, it’s a river,” Miller said. “Because it’s such an enormous gap.”
Miller’s firm paid Northern Compass Group at least $20,000 last year, according to Begich’s financial disclosure. Miller said Begich gave advice about the most effective arguments to use to convince individual senators of the benefits of legislation Miller was pushing.
But Miller said he still had to make those arguments to senators and staffers himself, which was harder than having Begich do it for him.
“I would have loved for him to actually become a registered lobbyist, because he would be great at it. He would be super at it,” Miller added. “People like him who become registered lobbyists earn a million, two million or more a year in Washington, D.C.”
Begich spent four years as a consultant. As governor, he could sign bills affecting former clients
Nathaniel Herz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
For the past four years, Begich has owned a public affairs and consulting firm, working with clients that intersect with state government. If elected, he’ll likely be faced with decisions that will directly affect the businesses, unions and Native organizations that have been paying his business for advice.
Kelly, Kawasaki clash over budget, Medicaid, climate change in last debate before election
Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks
Cuts to the state budget and Permanent Fund dividend dominated a debate Monday between Republican Senate President Pete Kelly and Democratic Representative Scott Kawasaki. The incumbent and challenger also clashed over state Medicaid and climate change in their last debate, before voters next Tuesday decide the outcome of the Interior’s most heated legislative race.
Alaska fugitive charged with 2nd degree murder, assault
Associated Press
Officials say a man sought by police in Alaska fatally shot one person and injured two others after they kicked him out of a home during a party to celebrate his 27th birthday.
Alaskans rally in support of youth climate lawsuit, currently in limbo
Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks
“This is no longer a scientific issue, it’s not a scientific question. It’s a moral and spiritual issue,” said Tom Baring of Fairbanks, the father of one of the plaintiffs.
Sen. Murkowski talks aviation, climate change in Bethel visit
Krysti Shallenberger, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Bethel
Climate change and rural aviation are major issues in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski addressed both during her visit to the region last week.
UAS sees increase in first-year students, career and technical education enrollment
Adelyn Baxter, KTOO – Juneau
Enrollment is down across the University of Alaska system. But at the Southeast campus, enrollment is actually up for first-year students and students enrolled in career and technical programs.
Ask a Climatologist: Much of Alaska finally sees snow
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Many snow-starved parts of Alaska have seen the ground finally turn to white. But as for this notion of a White Halloween some places may not reach that benchmark. Technically speaking.
Alaska has been in recession for more than three years. Our unemployment rate is currently the highest in the nation. Will the recession continue into next year or are there signs that job loss is slowing and stability may return? Are recovery and growth are on the horizon?
