One of the most controversial issues Alaska’s leaders have ever had to wrestle with is the proposed Pebble Mine. The new governor is no exception.

Officially, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is not taking a position on the mine, unlike his predecessor, Gov. Bill Walker, who opposed it.

“So the Pebble Mine project, just like any other natural resource development project, will be subject to an established permitting process,” Gov. Dunleavy said in an emailed statement. “The outcome of this process will determine if the project meets the standards set forth in law and regulation.”

But the new governor is already making moves that have encouraged the mine’s backers and worried its opponents.

One of those statements was made during Dunleavy’s first major public appearance after being elected governor. He was speaking a mining conference in Anchorage, where he proclaimed that “Alaska is open for business.”

The governor gave a shout out to the Red Dog mine, where all three of his daughters work. He spoke about his roots in the mining community of Scranton, Pa., which he called the “anthracite coal capital of the world.”

Gov. Dunleavy also mentioned nearly every other mine or planned mine in the state by name: Donlin, Pogo, Kensington. But the name of the biggest political hot-potato of a mine ever proposed in Alaska — the Pebble Mine — didn’t leave the governor’s lips.

But Pebble-watchers took note of another name Dunleavy specifically took the time to praise.

“I want to recognize somebody else who is sitting here somewhere, I think. Is John here? John Shively? John Shively!” Dunleavy said, to applause.

Shively is former chief executive and current chairman of the board for the Pebble Limited Partnership.

Dunleavy’s call-out to Shively at the miner’s conference is one of several signals he has sent that have caught the attention of people on both sides of the Pebble debate.

Take the newly appointed commissioner of the state’s department of environmental conservation, Jason Brune, who now has the power to issue key permits to the mine. From 2011 to 2014, Brune worked for Anglo American, the mining company that had partnered with Pebble until 2013.

Brune has a history cheering for the controversial mine on social media. Last year, he joked in a tweet that Santa had answered his Christmas wishes when Pebble began the federal permitting process. And when the late Pebble foe Bob Gillam was rumored to be a candidate for the Trump administration’s Secretary of Interior, Brune tweeted, “God help us @realDonaldTrump, I thought we wanted to make America great again?’”

In an emailed statement, Dunleavy chief of staff Tuckerman Babcock says the governor considers Brune’s time at Anglo American “a valuable asset.”

“When and if such projects move to the permitting stage, his insights will greatly assist the department in determining if the Pebble Project, or any other, meets Alaska’s stringent environmental standards and protects all resources,” Babcock said.

Babcock also noted Brune “has no financial interest in the Pebble Project.”

Brune’s tweets remain a concern for Mark Niver with Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, a group that opposes Pebble.

“That’s a definite sign that the Dunleavy administration is pointing towards wanting to push that project forward,” Niver said.

In the past, Dunleavy himself has aired opinions that worry Pebble’s opponents. When Anglo American exited the project in 2013, then-state senator Dunleavy wrote an op-ed lamenting the mining company’s departure and noting the thousands of jobs Pebble is projected to create.

“If I am asked to make an important policy decision such as Pebble, I would base that decision on science and facts rather than rely on innuendo, mass-media advertising or political posturing,” he wrote.

Dunleavy may not say he’s pro-Pebble, but Pebble is definitely pro-Dunleavy. A number of Pebble employees, including Shively and CEO Tom Collier donated to his gubernatorial campaign. The governor’s statements, then and now, are in line with what the mine’s developers want to hear.

In an interview shortly after Dunleavy’s election, Collier pushed back when asked if the political winds were now blowing in Pebble’s favor.

“I think the way you asked the question assumes a premise that I think is an incorrect one, and that is that this process is primarily a political process, and I don’t think it is,” Collier said.

Collier’s long-held public position is that he wants the permitting process to go forward without what he sees as political interference. And because Dunleavy is echoing that message, Collier is happy.

“We’re pleased to see Mike be the next governor, and we think that he will clearly let projects like ours into the permitting process and make sure that process is rigorous and thorough. And then the results will speak for themselves,” Collier said.

Pebble opponents are watching the new governor and his appointees closely. But for now, some key voices against large-scale mining in Bristol Bay are reserving judgement.

“I think we’re still kind of collecting our thoughts,” said Norman Van Vactor, president and CEO of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, which vehemently opposes Pebble.

While Van Vactor and many other regional leaders have expressed strong criticism of the state and federal permitting process, developing a constructive relationship with Dunleavy and his staff is a priority.

“I don’t want to be too judgmental because we haven’t had that opportunity to meet them in person, and I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt,” Van Vactor said. “But, again, based upon what we’ve read and what we’ve heard, we definitely have some concerns.”

Pebble will need dozens of state permits if it wants to build the mine. It hasn’t submitted for them yet. It’s not saying when it’s planning on doing that, either. But when it does, state agencies will need to make some important decisions.

For example, Brune, the environmental conservation commissioner who used to work for Anglo American, could be asked to review Pebble’s application for a permit to dispose of the mine’s waste.

But even if Pebble submits for state permits, the process moves quickly and the mining company gets everything it wants from the Dunleavy administration, that’s not the end of the story. Forces beyond the governor’s office will significantly influence whether the Pebble mine gets built.

In addition to state and federal permits, mining within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve requires legislative approval because of a public initiative that voters approved in 2014. And Pebble will need to secure permits and agreements with the Lake and Peninsula Borough and private landowners to build roads and a transportation corridor.

Another key factor is that the Pebble Limited Partnership is still in need of a financial partner.

Analyst Chris Mancini with Gabelli Gold Fund, which is invested in Pebble, said he views Dunleavy’s election as a positive sign for the mine’s future.

But Mancini added there’s a big caveat.

“What’s more important is who is going to be president when the record of decision is made, and who is going to be leading the EPA,” Mancini said.

Perhaps the most significant player looming over the whole process is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s the federal agency that proposed placing restrictions on the mine under the Obama administration — restrictions Pebble says would have made the mine impossible to build.

While the Trump administration reached a settlement with Pebble, allowing them to start the permitting process, the EPA will still have to decide whether or not to finalize those restrictions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release its final environmental impact statement for the project late next year. If the process continues as scheduled, that’s when EPA can make its decision about finalizing the restrictions.

So whether Dunleavy turns out to be a Pebble ally or not, it is leaders in Washington, D.C. who could decide the fate of the most controversial mine in Alaska.

The appointment of the U.S. Forest Service’s top official in Alaska was recently made permanent. Dave Schmid oversees 22 million acres in the Tongass and Chugach national forests.

He replaced Beth Pendleton who spent eight years in the job.

Schmid didn’t tip his hand to where he stands on proposals to roll back back the federal roadless rule in Tongass National Forest.

The state of Alaska has repeatedly taken the agency to court over the rule, though public hearings held in recent weeks were largely packed with roadless rule supporters.

He said six alternatives are currently under consideration by his agency.

“One of those is the ‘no action’ alternative, and bookending the other is a full exemption (to the roadless rule),” Schmid said.

Asked about the balancing act required for managing the Tongass and Chugach national forest lands, Schmid spoke of his office’s commitment to all facets of the region’s economy, including timber.

“Recreation, tourism, fishing are a vital part of our economy, as is mining and timber development,” Schmid said in an interview. “And right now, the mill at Viking Lumber on Prince of Wales is kind of of the last of the moderate-sized mills. And while it’s not very big it’s a very important piece of those communities.”

Schmid also reaffirmed that the agency seeks to eventually move away from old-growth timber sales. But he said it’ll be a gradual process; indeed, a new old-growth sale was recently announced.

“Regeneration is not a problem in this part of the world,” Schmid said. “And if you walk through some of these legacy, larger clear-cuts, trying to manage those into the future is really important. And so trying to actively thin for wildlife and habitat is really important.”

He also said the Forest Service is moving to improve the work environment for its staff at all levels.

The Forest Service’s chief in Washington resigned earlier this year over allegations of serial sexual misconduct.  A subsequent investigation found widespread complaints at the regional level.

“We’ve spent time internally with our employees,” he said. “We’ve done a number of things, including chartered an employee advisory group, that I meet with regularly to hear from a cross-section of folks, and we have taken several steps both nationally and in the region for our work environment.”

Schmid had served as the acting regional forester for Alaska since April before being made permanent in November. He was previously the deputy regional forester for the Northern Region. That region manages over 25 million acres of federal forestland in five states. Much of his agency career has been in Alaska. He worked 23 years in both the Chugach and Tongass national forests.

Alaska regulators have approved rules for onsite consumption of marijuana at specially designated shops, a significant step for the cannabis industry in the state after years of debate.

The Marijuana Control Board had gone back and forth on the issue since passing regulations in 2015 that contemplated allowing for onsite consumption. It wasn’t until Thursday that the board adopted rules governing how onsite use would work.

The rules call for consumption areas that are outdoors or separated from a retail store by walls and a secure door and meet ventilation requirements.

The proposal would bar the sale of concentrates for onsite use. Local governments could vote to bar onsite use or certain types of consumption, such as smoking.

Industry representatives supported the proposal. But it got pushback from public health advocates.

On a snowy Saturday morning in mid December, Alaskans of all ages packed the lobby at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate a beloved holiday tradition — TubaChristmas.

First convened in New York City in 1974 as a tribute to the late virtuoso William J. Bell, the public holiday performance now takes place in more than 200 cities around the world. In Anchorage, the concert is in its 23rd year.

It unfolds like this: Two hours before show time, musicians begin making their way to the downtown performing arts center, hauling music stands and instrument cases and stomping snow from their boots at the door. They register, collect their sheet music and head for the elevator, which carries them to the warm-up area set up on the top floor balcony.

Outside the closed doors of the Evangeline Atwood Concert Hall, the musicians meet for the first and only rehearsal before the show. The ensemble includes elementary school music students, retired professionals and hobbyists. Craig Blake was a middle school student in New York when he performed in the inaugural TubaChristmas at Rockefeller Plaza. Forty-five years later, he’s still playing.

“That’s the cool part about music,” Blake said. “Cradle to grave — you can play as long as you’re able to breathe.”

In the upstairs lobby, Director Neal Haglund leads the musicians through the opening lines of “The Little Drummer Boy,” the Alaska Flag Song and other Anchorage TubaChristmas classics. As the musicians run through their parts, the sonorous sounds of dozens of tubas, baritones, sousaphones and other brass instruments well up to the rafters.

Then it’s show time.

As the musicians settle into their seats by the box office, spectators file into the crowded lobby, bundled up in flannel and fleece and Carhartt. They fill the chairs arrayed across the floor; they squeeze up the staircase; they crowd against the balcony railings on the second and third floors. They sing along to “Silent Night,” and shout “Wassail!” in unison — a spirited salute to Mr. Whitekeys’ classic show, Christmas in Spenard.

Toddlers watch from parents’ shoulders; other spectators bring their own folding camp chairs. Lisa Mallery came to watch her husband perform, just like she has for years, she said.

“I like Christmas, I like Christmas songs, and it’s fun,” she said. “That’s the bottom line — it’s fun.”

Watch the sun rise over Anchorage on Dec. 21, 2018, the shortest day of the year. During Winter Solstice, Anchorage experienced 5 hours and 27 minutes of daylight.

This week on 49 Voices, we managed to surprise our long-serving audio engineer Dave Waldron on his last day with testimonials from around the station about how beloved he is, and how much we’ll miss him when he’s gone.

Listen here:

Alaska Airlines is catching up with rural cargo shipments after briefly grounding several of its 737-700s earlier this week.

Recent mechanical issues temporarily sidelined two of the company’s three Alaska cargo freighters, leaving just one designated aircraft to handle shipments statewide, according to Alaska Airlines spokesman Tim Thompson. The situation led to multiple canceled flights into hubs like Nome and Kotzebue, and a backlog of cargo deliveries just a few days before Christmas.

Now that the aircraft are back in service, Thompson said the airline is working to complete delayed shipments and make anticipated deliveries to Alaskans around the state.

“With it being this time of the year, coming up with the holiday just next week, we’re going to work pretty quickly to make sure we can fulfill that commitment,” he said.

Alaska Airlines delivers freight to 19 different airports across Alaska, Thompson said.

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

Alaska’s senators react to a partial government shutdown

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

Parts of the federal government are shutting down this evening at 8 ‘o’clock Alaska time.

Dunleavy picks Jackson for Alaska House seat

Associated Press

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed Republican Sharon Jackson to a soon-to-be-vacant Alaska House seat.

Judge says court should uphold House District 1 recount

Robyne, KUAC – Fairbanks

Yesterday’s judicial hearing for the lawsuit contesting the ballot recount for Alaska House District 1 lasted six and a half hours. Judge Eric Arseth was appointed to be a Special Master to review the case filed by Democrat Kathryn Dodge after a November 30th recount put her Republican opponent, Bart LeBon, ahead by one vote.

Alaska groups sue EPA over air quality

Associated Press

Three Alaska groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for a fourth time, claiming the agency has not enforced federal clean air law around Alaska’s second largest city.

Mechanical issues trigger rural air cargo delays

Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Recent mechanical issues temporarily sidelined two of Alaska Airlines’ three Alaska cargo freighters, causing canceled flights into hubs like Nome and Kotzebue and a backlog of cargo deliveries just a few days before Christmas.

Family of Cody Eyre hold tribute to son on one-year anniversary of his death by Fairbanks police

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Christmas Eve will mark one year since 20 year old Cody Eyre was fatally shot by Fairbanks Police and Alaska State Troopers. Eyre’s family is holding Christmas Eve events to remember Cody, and raise awareness about what they see as law enforcement’s poor handling of a mental health crisis.

Alaska’s top forester talks timber in Southeast

Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska – Juneau

Dave Schmid is tasked with managing over 22 million acres of federal land. Asked about the balancing act required for managing public lands, he spoke of his office’s commitment to all facets of Southeast Alaska’s economy, including timber.

Unalakleet constructing assisted living facility to serve elders of Norton Sound

Davis Hovey, KNOM – Nome

The facility is the first of its kind in the Norton Sound region and will have room for ten occupants. It will give elders in the region an option to receive services in a location closer to their home communities.

How Juneau grocers are helping families during winter break

Zoe Grueskin, KTOO – Juneau

Nearly 500 students across the Juneau School District went home Thursday with bags full of food for winter break. All the food was donated, packed up and delivered by local grocery stores.

AK: TubaChristmas spreads brassy holiday cheer in Anchorage

Kirsetn Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

First convened in New York City in 1974 as a tribute to the late virtuoso William J. Bell, the public holiday performance now takes place in more than 200 cities around the world. In Anchorage, the concert is in its 23rd year.

49 Voices: Tribute to Dave Waldron

Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

This week on 49 Voices, we managed to surprise our long-serving audio engineer Dave Waldron on his last day with testimonials from around the station about how beloved he is, and how much we’ll miss him when he’s gone.

PenAir is officially a part of Ravn. On Friday, the sale of PenAir’s assets to the company that owns Ravn Air Group was finalized. What Ravn is calling “new PenAir” has been reformed under the auspices of Ravn Air Group.

In a statement, Ravn president and CEO Dave Pflieger said, “This is a big win for Ravn Air Group, as well as for PenAir and all our team members, customers, and Alaska communities.”

According to Ravn, neither PenAir nor Ravn’s destinations or flight schedules has changed. Under frequently asked questions on Ravn’s website, the answer to, “will airfares increase?” is non-committal.

Ravn simply states: “Both PenAir and Ravn will continue to provide customers exceptional value.”

The sale comes after PenAir filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August.

It was the largest air carrier in Southwest Alaska at the time. For decades, it was the primary, and often only, service to Anchorage from many Bristol Bay and Aleutian-Pribilof communities. The Seybert family has owned PenAir since 1955. According to Ravn, former PenAir CEO Danny Seybert’s employment was terminated earlier this month. It did not state the cause.

A snag in the transition caused concern in the community of St. Paul last week that flight service to could be interrupted until February. According Ravn, a solution has been found, and service to the remote Pribilof community will continue uninterrupted.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy is shaking up the Department of Fish and Game.

His acting commissioner, Doug Vincent-Lang, has made a pair of unconventional, high-level appointments. Rick Green — the right-wing talk show host known as Rick Rydell — is Vincent-Lang’s new special assistant.

And Eddie Grasser, who earlier this year worked as a lobbyist for a hunters’ advocacy group, Safari Club International, will lead the department’s wildlife conservation division.

The administration of Dunleavy, a Republican, has not released its proposed budget for the department, and it also hasn’t announced any major policy changes.

But Vincent-Lang, who served as a top fish and game official under the previous Republican governor, Sean Parnell, said he won’t shrink from some of the more contentious policies he promoted in his past stint at the department. And that’s likely to shift the complex dynamics between the different entities and interests involved in Alaska’s fish and wildlife politics – from the state and federal governments to tribes, hunting organizations and fishing groups.

Under Parnell, Vincent-Lang fought the federal government on several fronts. One of them was over federal protections for endangered species like humpback whales and Steller sea lions, with the state arguing that such protections unnecessarily restricted activity like fishing and oil and gas development.

“Increasingly, I think we’re seeing an intrusion by the federal government into states’ rights to manage,” Vincent-Lang said in a phone interview Friday. “We’re going to fight hard to protect those — and where we can, cooperate with our federal agencies on research and other things.”

Vincent-Lang was also an advocate for predator control, a controversial state program that kills wolves and bears in an effort to leave more moose and caribou for hunters.

“I’m not going to shy away from doing predation control to increase productivity,” he said. “To the extent that we’re going to manage to ecosystems to maximize the number of moose and caribou coming out there for putting food on Alaskans’ plates, I’m willing to do that.”

Green, the special assistant, will earn $87,000 annually to work with Vincent-Lang on outreach and communication.

Two weeks ago, Green was still broadcasting his drive-time Anchorage talk radio show under the name Rick Rydell.

Rydell once referred to himself as a “flame-throwing conservative” who skewered “wacko” liberals on the radio. But in a Thursday phone interview, he was back to his given name, Rick Green, and sitting at a desk as a state employee.

Green, in a phone interview, described one of his main tasks as “rebuilding trust” with different groups frustrated with the way Alaska’s fish and game have been divided up. He cited dipnetters as one example, saying they were frustrated by the lack of available fish on the Kenai River in the summer.

That echoes one of Dunleavy’s criticisms on the campaign trail of the previous governor, independent Bill Walker, who Dunleavy described as overly sympathetic to commercial fishermen.

Vincent-Lang said that as he started as commissioner, he talked with Bob Penney, a longtime advocate for Kenai River recreational fishermen and a major financial supporter of Dunleavy’s gubernatorial bid.

Vincent-Lang also said he plans to meet with commercial fishermen from the same area in the next week. He hasn’t yet named his department’s new top fisheries managers – Vincent-Lang said that will likely happen in early January.

While those high-level jobs remain unfilled, some conservation-minded Alaskans said they’re worried that the fish and game department under Dunleavy will focus on hunting to the detriment of wildlife viewing and tourism.

“If I were a wolf or a bear in Alaska right now, I would be headed for the Canadian border, ASAP,” said Rick Steiner, an environmental advocate and former marine conservation professor in Anchorage.

Among Steiner’s concerns was the hiring of Grasser as the department official in charge of wildlife conservation.

Grasser grew up in a family of hunting guides, and once rode horses as they swam across the Copper River in the Wrangell Mountains. Later, he became a lobbyist and advocate for sportsmen’s groups like the Alaska Outdoor Council and the National Rifle Association.

In the 1990s, Grasser pushed the fish and game department to cut spending on programs like bear- and bird-viewing. At the time, he was representing the Alaska Outdoor Council, and argued that those non-hunting programs sucked up revenue from taxes on guns, bullets, and hunting and fishing licenses.

More recently, Grasser has lobbied for another hunters’ advocacy group, Safari Club International.

Steiner said appointees like Grasser, Green and Vincent-Lang are too narrowly focused on the interests of recreational hunters from Alaska’s more urban regions, and Outside.

“I think the out-of-state trophy hunters and trappers will fare well,” Steiner said. “The major stakeholders that should be very concerned are the commercial fishing industry, the tourism industry and even the subsistence community.”

Steiner’s comments hinted at long-running conflicts over subsistence between rural Alaskans, particularly Alaska Natives, and urban hunters — groups that sometimes vie for the same fish and game.

But a top official at the Alaska Federation of Natives — one of the most powerful advocacy groups that backs subsistence users — said it’s way too early to judge the direction of Dunleavy’s administration.

“We’re looking forward to meeting them and sitting down and talking to them about the pressing issues, and seeing where our common ground is,” AFN President Julia Kitka said.

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

New Alaska wildlife managers could revive old fights over federal protections, bear- and wolf-killing

Nathaniel Herz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

Dunleavy’s administration is likely to shift the complex dynamics between the different entities and interests involved in Alaska’s fish and wildlife politics – from the state and federal governments to tribes, hunting organizations and fishing groups.

Anchorage Assembly sends alcohol sales tax to April ballot

Associated Press

A proposal to set a 5-percent sales tax on alcohol to fund services that address homelessness and substance abuse will go before Anchorage voters next year.

Delta flight from Beijing to Seattle diverted to Aleutian island

Abbey Collins, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Flight 128 had a potential engine issue, according to a statement from Delta Air Lines

Purchase finalized: PenAir now officially a part of Ravn Air Group

Avery Lill, KDLG – Dillingham

The air carrier that long served as Bristol Bay and the Aleutian-Pribilof regions’ primary service to Anchorage is now a part of Ravn Air Group.

These priests abused in Native villages for years: Part One

Emily Schwing, Northwest News Network – Washington

Behind the radio station’s closed doors, Poole was a serial sexual predator. He abused at least 20 women and girls, according to court documents.

The year and a half of reporting behind exposing Jesuit priests for misconduct

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Last week, Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove spoke with Emily Schwing about her reporting, which took a year and a half of research.

When a step back into prison is really a jump forward on the road to recovery

Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Alexandria Niksik has been in and out of prison for seven years. Her most recent return home only lasted 16 days. But what might look like failure from the outside is actually a key step toward success and recovery from alcohol misuse.

River otter moved to Detroit Zoo after rescue in Alaska

Associated Press

An orphaned North American female river otter found by hikers in southeastern Alaska has been moved to the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak.

Ten state lawmakers — including two moderate Republicans — say they won’t aid Republicans in taking control of Alaska’s narrowly divided House of Representatives.

“It is our goal to be part of a strong, hard-working majority whose highest priorities are the prosperity, safety, health and well-being of the people of Alaska,” reads the two-page written statement released Dec. 21.

The 10 House members are mostly Democrats, two moderate Republicans and an independent from mostly coastal, rural districts.

With more conservative constituencies, they were seen as the most likely to caucus with Republicans.

“We felt it important to let folks know that there weren’t going to be any small group break-offs or anything like that,” said Rep. Dan Ortiz, an independent from Ketchikan.

The GOP has the largest bloc but several moderates that support a bipartisan coalition prevent the party from controlling the chamber.

One of those is Rep. Louise Stutes. She’s a Kodiak lawmaker and one of three Republicans that caucused with Democrats and independents last year.

She said since the election she and others have been clear they aren’t interested in a Republican-led caucus.

“Somehow the message didn’t get through,” Stutes said. “So we thought that by putting it clearly in writing, that they would understand that we in fact are not going to be joining their caucus but we are hopeful that we can get reasonable people together in the form of a coalition to work for the good of the state.”

The statement argues for a bipartisan coalition committed to a balanced budget and protecting the permanent fund and annual dividend check.

The joint-statement increases uncertainty over how House lawmakers will organize themselves when the legislative session begins January 15.

This story was produced in partnership with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX.

Two priests in high-level positions at Gonzaga University resigned Friday. Both previously held leadership roles in the Jesuits’ Oregon Province while it sent Jesuits accused of sexual abuse to live in a home on campus.

President Thayne McCulloh announced the resignations of Father Frank Case, university vice president and men’s basketball chaplain, and Father Pat Lee, vice president for mission and ministry, in a brief statement emailed to the Gonzaga community. Both men served on the University President’s cabinet.

Case was named in an investigation by the Northwest News Network and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting about sexually abusive Jesuits whose victims were predominantly Native girls, boys and women in Alaska and the Northwest. A Jesuit home on Gonzaga’s campus, Cardinal Bea House, became a retirement repository for at least 20 Jesuit priests accused of such sexual misconduct dating back as far as 1986.

In 1989, while serving as head of the Jesuit order’s Oregon Province, Case wrote a letter to the Catholic chaplains association backing Father James Poole’s application to become a chaplain at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington.

“(Poole) is a Jesuit priest in very good standing, and it is my strong expectation that he will serve in such a ministry in a manner that is both generous and effective,” Case wrote. Poole got the job, working at the hospital until 2003 when he was removed from ministry and sent to live at Gonzaga.

Poole was a serial sexual predator. The Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks has received at least 19 reports of abuse by Poole. In 1988, Poole had been removed from his position at a radio station in Nome after young women who had volunteered at the station wrote letters to the bishop in which they accused Poole of sexual misconduct.

In a 2008 deposition, Case said he did not review Poole’s personnel file before writing the letter because he had no indication of misconduct. In a statement through Gonzaga University’s public relations office last week, Case said he did not have access to Poole’s personnel file.

Father Patrick Lee led the former Oregon Province through bankruptcy proceedings brought on by abuse claims between 2009 and 2011. The Oregon Province merged with the Jesuits’ California Province to become Jesuits West in 2017.

“It is the only way we believe that all claimants can be offered a fair financial settlement within the limited resources of the province,” Lee reportedly said in statement at the time.

Cardinal Bea House is located in the middle of Gonzaga’s campus, but is owned by the Jesuit order and Gonzaga does not make decisions about who was assigned there. Priests living in the house who had been accused of abuse were given “safety plans” to restrict their interactions with students. Our investigation found they were not rigorously enforced.

Priests accused of sexual abuse were assigned to the house as far back as the 1980s. The last known Jesuit on a safety plan was moved off of Gonzaga’s campus in 2016.

Earlier this week, McCulloh issued a written statement to faculty, staff and students saying that he knew Jesuit priests accused of sexual abuse were living in a Jesuit residence on campus, but he had not been aware that any of them might be a threat to students.

McCulloh said he relied on Jesuit leadership “to inform us of any Jesuit whose history might pose a threat to our students or campus community. I deeply regret that I was not informed of the presence of (Father James) Poole, nor any other Jesuits who might pose such a danger.”

It’s unclear exactly when McCulloh learned about the accused priests living on campus. His statement provides what appears to be contradictory information.

“It is important for me to share with you, that in the years following the 2011 Oregon Province bankruptcy, I learned that there had been priests under supervised ‘safety plans’ living at the Jesuit retirement community (Bea House),” he wrote.

But in the next sentence, he says, “It was not until 2016, when the Province chose to begin relocating a number of retired men to the Sacred Heart Community in Los Gatos, that I learned that among them were Jesuits who had been on safety plans (and were moved).”

News organizations also reported on some of the accusations against Poole and his presence at Gonzaga as far back as 2005. McCulloh has worked at Gonzaga since 1990 and was appointed as interim president in 2009.

McCulloh would not make himself available to clarify his statement. He also had declined to be interviewed for the original investigation. McCulloch, Case and Lee could not immediately be reached for comment.

The revelations from the investigation are expected to be mentioned during Mass this weekend at St. Aloysius Church, a Jesuit-owned parish on Gonzaga’s campus. The church’s parish priest, Father Tom Lamanna, also a Jesuit, told us we should not attend the service and are not allowed to record the proceedings.

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

Effects of government shutdown not as severe as in the past

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

For a number of reasons, the effects of this shutdown are more subtle than in the past.

Coastal House lawmakers push for bipartisan coalition

Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska – Juneau

Ten state lawmakers — including two moderate Republicans — say they won’t aid Republicans in taking control of Alaska’s narrowly divided House of Representatives.

Juneau fluoride study confirms old science, but doesn’t sway opponents

Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO – Juneau

New research shows higher cavity procedure rates among Juneau children on Medicaid compared to when the city fluoridated its tap water.

Details released for Delta flight that was temporarily grounded in Shemya

Nathaniel Herz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

Authorities released new details today about what happened after a commercial jet had to make an emergency landing on the remote Aleutian island of Shemya.

Alaska’s top forester talks timber in Southeast

Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska – Juneau

Dave Schmid is tasked with managing over 22 million acres of federal land. Asked about the balancing act required for managing public lands, he spoke of his office’s commitment to all facets of Southeast Alaska’s economy, including timber.

Report: Arrest rates for most drug crimes down for last three decades

Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Arrest rates for most drug crimes in Alaska have fallen over the past three decades.

These priests abused in Native villages for years: Part Two

Emily Schwing, Northwest News Network – Washington

For decades, Jesuit priests credibly accused of raping children and young women have lived and worked in the Northwest.

Environmental group worried over effects of heavy traffic on Denali Park road

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

An environmental group is concerned about impacts of bus and other permitted traffic on the regulated portion of the 92-mile road into Denali National Park.

UAF grad students head to South Pole to study ‘winds of space’

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Science can sometimes take Alaska-based researchers on adventures to distant lands. And a project bringing together data from the Arctic and Antarctic recently sent two University of Alaska space physics students all the way from Fairbanks… to the South Pole.

For many communities in Alaska, the marine highway system is a vital part of transportation. More than a decade ago, the state decided to add two new boats to the fleet. The Alaska Class Ferries were envisioned when plans for the Juneau Access Project were being finalized. They would service Upper Lynn Canal as shuttle ferries.

But through several administrations, those plans have changed a lot. Now, the Anchorage Daily News reports, an additional $30 million is needed before the Hubbard and Tazlina ferries can start sailing. Alaska Public Media’s Abbey Collins spoke with the ADN’s James Brooks about the situation the state is in, and what could have happened if different decisions were made early on.

Interview highlights: 

Unforeseen costs: “The key thing folks need to know is that the state spent $120 million on these two new ships. They’re brand new. They’re ready to enter state service, just about. But the state can’t operate them as designed. And now… the marine highway system is planning to spend millions of dollars more in order to get them to serve. And then there will be even more money needed ashore to build the port facilities to support these.”

A project spanning several state administrations: “The key issue seems to be that it takes longer to build a ferry than a single governor’s term… every new governor comes in and has a different idea for this ferry program. That seems to have been the key issue here. They were designed for one thing. Then the design changes. And then it changes back, and there’s modifications. The mission changes, oil prices change. All these changes happened while this ferry idea was moving forward.”

Who’s to blame?: “There’s no villain in this story. The ironic thing is that these two ferries are in the position they’re in, because people wanted to cut costs. We’re going to end up spending more money on these ferries because the decisions that were made along the lines were people with good intentions, who wanted to cut costs. And now, it’s backfired.”

A missed opportunity: “The decision was made to build them entirely with state money. Had the state chosen to do a federal match, it would have had to pay 10 percent. Instead of 100 percent. So the state could have had these ferries for say, $12 million. Instead of $120 million. And if the rest of that $120 million had stayed with the ferry system, they would have been able to replace five mainline ferries for the cost of that.”

James Brooks is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. He’s based in Juneau. 

Police in Washington, D.C. have arrested a bus driver on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths last week of Skagway Mayor Monica Carlson and her mother.

Forty-five-year-old Gerard Derrick James of Baltimore was arrested Thursday.

Police say a traffic camera shows Carlson and her mother, 85-year-old Cora Louise Adams, waited for the “walk” signal before crossing Pennsylvania Avenue, just north of the National Mall. The bus that hit them was making a left turn onto Pennsylvania.

A police officer’s written statement filed in the criminal case suggests the driver was responding to a cell phone call at the time of the collision.

The officer says the bus company turned over video from two safety cameras on board the bus. One camera, trained on the driver, shows his phone rang as he was executing the left turn, and that he transferred the phone from one hand to the other during the turn, the statement says.

It is illegal in the District of Columbia to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. But watch traffic for a few minutes and you’ll likely notice the ban is often ignored, and it has exceptions for emergency calls, and for “initiating or terminating a telephone call, or turning the telephone on or off.”

The officer’s statement suggests James’ phone was still ringing at the time of the accident. But that was not James’ only call that night, police allege. Seconds before the turn, the video shows he was driving and talking on the phone, according to the police statement.

The officer says James can be seen setting the phone down, only to pick it up again when it rings during his turn.

A forward-facing camera on the bus shows the women in the marked crosswalk just before the collision, according to the officer’s statement.

James told investigators he was unaware of the pedestrians until he heard the impact, the document says.

James’ next court date is Feb. 15.

Kirsten Swann contributed to this report.

A magnitude 4.9 aftershock struck near Anchorage at 5:21 a.m on Thursday — the largest since December 1st. The Alaska Earthquake Center placed the epicenter eight miles northwest of the state’s largest city.

The center says the aftershock was one of over 6,000 since the magnitude 7.0 quake on Nov. 30.

Natalia Ruppert is a seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center. She says a general rule of thumb is that the largest aftershock would be an order of magnitude smaller than the mainshock — the earthquake that caused it — meaning the largest aftershock from the Nov. 30 quake would be a magnitude 6.0.

“We haven’t seen it yet. We’ve seen a couple of magnitude 5… 5.2, 5.3, I believe. A bunch of magnitude 4,” Ruppert said. “So this is not unusual; the magnitude 4.9 aftershock is not unusual for a magnitude 7 mainshock.”

There have been about 40 aftershocks above magnitude 4.0 since the mainshock. Ruppert says the earthquake center doesn’t anticipate a quake as big as the magnitude 7.0 quake to happen as the area returns to the background level of seismicity. She also says as time goes on, the number and strength of the aftershocks will decrease.

“The background level before November 30th in this specific region was maybe ten earthquakes per day,” Ruppert said. “Right now, we’re recording ten earthquakes per hour, at least ten. So it’s still way above the background level.”

She says it’s expected to take over a year for the area to return to normal, but aftershocks that people can feel should taper off in a few months.

This aftershock happened during the partial federal government shutdown that started last Friday. The US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes, is on furlough during the shutdown. Ruppert says that due to public safety protocol, the USGS is still monitoring earthquakes, but at a reduced capacity.

“So they are not able to do maybe any in-depth follow up. I don’t think they will do it,” Ruppert said. “But they are still recording earthquakes and reporting earthquakes. And their website is working.”

As of today, there have been just over 51,000 earthquakes in Alaska this year — a record high since the Earthquake Center began recording quakes. A little under 60 have been larger than magnitude 5.

Science can sometimes take Alaska-based researchers on adventures to distant lands. And a project bringing together data from the Arctic and Antarctic recently sent two University of Alaska space physics students all the way from Fairbanks to the South Pole.

Kylee Branning and John Elliot made the trek to service an all-sky viewing interferometer, an instrument that measures the “optical Doppler shift of airglow emissions.” Elliot and Branning say that is essentially a way to look at the “winds” of space.

And while space weather is interesting on its own, the first part of their conversation with Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove was, of course, the regular weather 11,000 miles away from home at the South Pole.

Elliot: Looks good right now. Yeah, it’s, we had a large storm yesterday, but it’s cleared up now.

Branning: Nice blue skies.

Elliot: More reasonable temperature, I think like -4 F. We came within about 1 degree of setting the all-time highest ever recorded temperature yesterday. We made it up to 9 F. Yeah.

Grove: Well tell me what did it take to get there? You guys are based in Fairbanks, right?

Branning: Yeah, so from Fairbanks we have to fly to Seattle, which is four hours, and to San Francisco, which is three hours, I think. And then from there we go to Auckland, New Zealand, which is 13 hours and then off to we go to Christchurch, which is an hour and a half about. Then from Christchurch and it takes about eight hours to get to McMurdo. Then the next day you’ll get on another plane. It’s about three hours to get this South Pole. However for us the Christchurch to McMurdo part took about 29 hours?

Grove: 29 hours?!

Elliot: Yep, the last two legs she described are on a C-130 military cargo plane. The plane only has enough fuel to go one direction, so…

Branning: And it’s extremely hard to predict the weather eight hours before your landing because McMurdo weather is Antarctic weather, which changes a lot.

Elliot: And what ended up happening was we went as far as we could go, we made it right up to 10 minutes before we had to turn around or he would not have enough fuel, and two times they made the call that it was not safe to continue to go to McMurdo. So we turned around and it ended up taking us 29 hours of flying in a C-130 Herc to get to Murdo. Overall to get to the South Pole, we’ve flown a little over 50 hours in the air.

Grove: So we could talk about penguins for a while, I’m sure, but what are you guys actually doing down there and what sort of research are you supporting?

Elliot: So the work that we’re doing is for Professor Mark Conde, and we work both in polar regions, but obviously the work we’re doing down here is in support of just the Antarctic region. We have two instruments that are looking up at the sky. And we’re measuring the wind speed really high in the air. Something called space weather. We’re measuring the winds for this weather, about 25 times higher than an airplane flies, and that that instrument is a very precise optical instrument and we put it in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. And so what ends up happening is the instrument will come out of alignment. It will come out of tune. Simple things like motors that need to move will start to break down and we don’t have enough of an internet connection to send our data back. So we actually have to physically come down and grab our data.

Grove: What’s the most interesting thing or the wildest thing that you’ve seen either on the journey or just being there at the South Pole?

Elliot: Snow beast, probably.

Grove: Snow beast?

Branning: John really likes the giant snowblower they have here at the South Pole.

Elliot: It blows snow about 80 feet in the air. Yeah, it’s it’s remarkable.

Branning: And they have to do that because there’s actually the snow is crushing the old station. It’s actually caving in.

Elliot: Some of the South Pole station is underground.

Branning: Yeah, and then also underground they have a tunnel system with shrines, which are interesting to see. So, one of them’s the last bucket of ice cream 2012.

Elliot: You know for me, it’s just the sheer magnitude of it, you know.

Branning: Just everything.

Elliot: Yeah, we’re in a place that is so inhospitable to life, not just human, to life, and yet here we are. You know, all we have to do is take a few planes, you know, wear a little cold weather gear and the (National Science Foundation) has just got this massive instrument that just, it’s just like an unstoppable force to do do nothing, but science.

Branning: And also something so new because the first and Antarctic travel was like what, a hundred years ago?

Elliot: Yeah. The pole just … over a hundred years ago.

Branning: It was the first first visit to the pole. So it’s really a new experience for humans.

Elliot: You know, it’s really humbling experience that, it just it impresses on you so much when you first get off that plane, you’re getting off this cargo netting kind of seat, you walk out of the plane, the propellers are running, you look over and there it, you know, the South Pole station, you’re standing on top of two miles of ice. You’re in the most extreme part of Earth that can exist, and you’re their only to do science.

Branning: It’s great.

Elliot: It’s a great feeling. It’s really cool.

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

DC police: Driver handled ringing phone as bus struck Skagway mayor and her mother

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

Gerard Derrick James, 45, was arrested Thursday, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police. They say video footage shows James picked up his ringing cell phone just before impact.

How a missed opportunity and unforeseen costs became part of the Alaska Class Ferry story

Abbey Collins, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

An additional $30 million is needed before the Hubbard and Tazlina ferries can start sailing, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

33 Jesuit priests named in report on abuse claims in Alaska

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

More than a hundred priests who worked in western states are named in a document from Jesuit West Province, along with details of abuse claims made against them.

These priests abused in Native villages for years. They retired on Gonzaga’s campus (Part Three)

Emily Schwing, Northwest News Network – Washington

Many of the Jesuit priests accused of preying on Native American children stayed within the ministry, often for decades.

Magnitude 4.9 aftershock rattles Southcentral

Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

A magnitude 4.9 aftershock struck near Anchorage at 5:21 a.m Thursday.

Price-tag for 7.0 earthquake: $76M. So far.

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The figure represents just a partial accounting, with more information still being collected ahead of a formal request by the state for federal relief money.

Ask A Climatologist: Where 2018 stacks up climatologically 

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

It’s looking like 2018 will go down as the fourth warmest on record, both for Alaska and globally, and in both cases, the top four warmest years have occurred in the past five years.

The 7.0 Anchorage earthquake last month caused several landslides and other dramatic ground movements. It was one of the first big tests of a new computer model aimed at quickly estimating how significant those ground failures will be following an earthquake.

The model is from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). After a big earthquake, it generates a map almost instantly indicating where major landslides and ground sinking or shifting are likely to take place. It also estimates how many people may be affected.

Kate Allstadt is a researcher with USGS in Colorado and helped develop the model. She says it’s intended to help first responders understand where the hardest hit areas may be in the minutes and hours after an earthquake.

“It can help decision makers figure out what areas should be a priority,” she said. “[And] if roads are blocked, which is often something that happens by landslides triggered by earthquakes, what areas might be cut off.”

Researchers have been testing the model for a few years and the public version was released in August. Allstadt says the Nov. 30 earthquake was the first chance for scientists to see for themselves on the ground how well the maps worked after a major event.

For the Anchorage earthquake, the model estimated significant landslides and other ground failures would affect about 4,400 people.

Allstadt was in Anchorage for a week of field research in early December to see if the model got it right.

“A lot of the work we did when we were in the field is taking the maps produced by these models and going to the places where they predicted higher probability of landslides and liquefaction and seeing what actually happened,” she said.

Allstadt says overall, the maps were pretty accurate. But she says they tended to overestimate where soil sinking and liquefaction might occur. And, she says, the maps are missing some important details: while they may accurately predict a large landslide that blocks a major road, they could miss a smaller slide that impacts just one house.

“Something that we’ve already been planning to do is to go to higher resolution to capture the areas that are maybe not going to produce dramatic rock avalanches, but they can be really impactful, because they’re often closer to where people live,” she said.

The model generates ground failure maps for any earthquake greater than magnitude 5.0 in the U.S and 6.0 around the world.