Adelyn Baxter

High winds will impact parts of Juneau Wednesday afternoon into the evening, with gusts of up to 70 miles per hour. 

The National Weather Service office in Juneau has issued a high wind warning until 9 p.m. Wednesday for downtown Juneau and Douglas. 

NWS Forecaster Jeff Garmon says unsecured objects are likely to blow around and could damage property. Power outages are also possible. 

“As you go further up the sides of the hills around Juneau, it’s going to get a lot more,” he said. “We’ve had as much as 90 miles an hour, places like Sheep Mountain.”

He says winds will also pick up in the Mendenhall Valley later this evening, especially by the Juneau International Airport. It’s also possible the winds could linger. 

“Sometimes winds do hang on for a little bit longer, so just stay tuned for a potential extension,” he said. 

The Weather Service predicts a mixture of rain and snow on Thursday, but temperatures will warm up heading into the weekend.

KTOO turns 50 this January and we’re marking this milestone by celebrating you, the community that has supported locally owned airwaves in Juneau for five decades.

As part of our celebrations, we’d love to hear how KTOO impacts you. We’re looking for audio submissions that are 60 to 90 seconds in length that share your thoughts, memories, driveway moments and personal stories about the station that we can use on the air.

To submit, record your message on your smartphone, and email it to juneauafternoon@ktoo.org.  Instructions for getting good audio can be found below.

We look forward to hearing from you! Gunalchéesh! Thank you!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING KTOO REFLECTIONS:

1. Find a quiet place.

2. Take smartphone out of its case. (Cases can obscure the microphones.)

3. On an iPhone, go to:
Settings, Voice Memo and then Audio Quality and choose “Lossless.” (On other devices, avoid MP3s or compressed files. We want “Lossless” or “Uncompressed.”)

4. Put the phone on airplane mode so no one will call in the middle of your recording.

5. Open Voice Memos, start a new recording.

6. Hold phone about 6 inches from your mouth with the bottom, where the microphones are, facing you.

7. Pivot the phone to the side at about a 45-degree angle. This will reduce the breath from plosives (like Ps and Bs) hitting the microphone.

8. Stop recording when done (60 to 90 seconds), and take phone off airplane mode.

9. Email the file or link to the file to juneauafternoon@ktoo.org.

Drag queens from across the state vied for the title of Miss Gay Alaska America earlier this month in Juneau. 

Taking the crown with a break up-themed lip sync routine was Lamia Insomnia Lexicon Doom Monroe, the drag persona of Anchorage-based performer Robin O’Donoghue. Monroe spoke with KTOO’s Adelyn Baxter about the pageant, her Juneau Drag connection and preparing to compete in the national Miss Gay America contest. 

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

Lamia Monroe: My name is Lamia Monroe. I am an Anchorage-based performer. I’ve been performing in Alaska for about six years. Born and raised Alaskan. I’m an Alaska Native tribal member, originally from the Interior up in Fairbanks, lived in Juneau – so I’m kind of an all around Alaska person, bounced around. 

Adelyn Baxter: What’s your connection to Juneau Drag and Juneau’s Drag Mother, Gigi Monroe?

Lamia Monroe: I’d been doing drag and performing for several years prior to getting connected with Gigi. And we performed together, I performed in Gigi’s shows for a few years before I was officially anointed the Monroe name and part of the drag family … But really I really enjoy the community here in Juneau. I have lots of friends and family here so (I) try to get down as much as possible.

Adelyn Baxter: Tell me about the Miss Gay Alaska America pageant. This was the first time it was held, right?

Lamia Monroe: This pageant, the Miss Gay Alaska America pageant, is the first inaugural pageant and it’s part of this national Miss Gay America system. So it was the first time that the Miss Gay America system has been a thing in Alaska. There is a title, Miss Gay Alaska, which is through the Imperial Court of All Alaska, which is a community organization and nonprofit organization that has been in Alaska for a very long time. And I’m also the current title holder for the Imperial Court’s Miss Gay Alaska. 

Adelyn Baxter: How did you win the statewide pageant?

Lamia Monroe: My talent was a lip sync performance I created that has some audio mix from a couple of different Shirley Bassey songs and then some spoken word audio of that I recorded myself of having a phone call with myself playing both a male and female role, kind of doing a sort of comedic over the phone breakup. The piece is very much like, a little autobiographical, of, you know, a relationship going poorly and then finding confidence again, through stage through performing … So all about like, getting knocked down and getting back up again.

Adelyn Baxter: And so now that you have received the title of Miss Gay Alaska America. Where does that take you?

Lamia Monroe: I am currently preparing to go to nationals in January in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is where Miss Gay America, that pageant system was founded … It’s the first time that Alaska will be represented at that pageant. And I believe – I could be wrong – but I believe it is also the first time Alaska has had an official preliminary for any of the main national pageant systems. So it feels pretty surreal, like pretty big. And I just really want to do a good job of representing the LGBTQ community here, but also representing, you know, my home state to the best of my abilities.

Adelyn Baxter: What is your goal for the national competition?

Lamia Monroe: My goal is to just do well. You know, there’s 22 states participating, 44 contestants. Just making it past the preliminary rounds would be a huge accomplishment. So I’m really just trying to put together a very solid package that I can be proud of, and not worried too much about comparing myself to other people, you know, just trying to do I, I guess what I would say is the way I like, view anything is not really in competition with other people just in competition with myself, that’s what motivates me is to continue elevating, all the time constantly striving for perfection, you could say.

Adelyn Baxter: What else do you want people to know about drag in Alaska?

Lamia Monroe: I think what some people may not know is that a huge part of drag – and especially in Alaska, where we have a smaller community – is advocating for the LGBTQ community and raising money for various related causes. So a really big passion of mine is fundraising and raising awareness for Alaskans living with HIV. I serve on the board of the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association. I have for about two years. And so that is, that’s part of my platform that I talked about – I’ve talked about both at the pageant and I plan on talking about that nationals – is just constantly reminding people that I think inherently in this political climate we’re in, you can’t really separate drag from advocacy.

The Miss Gay America pageant takes place in Little Rock, Arkansas Jan. 16 to 19.

It’s the season of gratitude and giving, and Juneau-area food banks say they’re relatively well-stocked headed into the holidays. But the need is still great. 

Just last weekend, the Caring is Sharing food drive collected more than 19,000 pounds of food for families and individuals in need, according to Southeast Alaska Food Bank Manager Chris Schapp. 

“That’ll give us a good shot in the arm as far as keeping the shelves full for a couple of months,” he said. 

Still, Schapp said different organizations have different needs in terms of food and ingredients they’re looking for. And the demand remains high. 

“Most of the agencies that we partner with tell me the same thing, that their pantry numbers are higher and they’re just trying to keep up and keep everybody fed,” Schapp said. 

He said there are many factors at play when it comes to food insecurity in Juneau, like the rising cost of food combined with a lack of affordable housing. Ongoing issues with the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are also contributing. 

Since last year, thousands of Alaskans have faced long waits for the state Division of Public Assistance to approve their SNAP benefits. Last month, the Division said it was still working through about 8,500 applications. 

Schapp said they distributed more than 581,000 pounds of food last year through their public pantry and their 33 member agencies in Juneau and other nearby communities. 

That was a new record, but it may not last. 

“We’re actually on pace now to exceed that number,” he said. 

The Southeast Alaska Food Bank is looking to expand next year, with a new 5,000-square-foot warehouse. Schapp said the new facility will allow them to buy bulk loads of food at cheaper prices and get more aid to partners serving other communities in the region.

A list of local food pantries and their hours can be found here. 

Hundreds crowded the main exhibition hall at the Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage Thursday for the first day of the Alaska Federation of Natives arts market. 

Each year, Indigenous artisans converge for three days during the convention to sell carvings, kuspuks, fur-lined hats and all manner of jewelry. Festival organizers said this year’s market was bigger than ever.  

This year’s convention featured more than 200 artists from around Alaska and the Lower 48. Sitting in the middle of it all was George J. Bennett Sr., a Lingít artist from Sitka. His bentwood boxes, decorated in formline designs, were already halfway sold out by the end of the morning. 

“I had about six, eight people converge on my table before I was even ready to price them,” Bennett said. “They wanted boxes … so about eight or nine boxes went out within a half hour after I got here!”

Bennett has been making boxes for 25 years. This is his fifth market. His wife is from the Interior, so they enjoy catching up with all of the friends they run into. 

“This is kind of like the melting pot,” he said. “It’s like you’re sat on a corner and you’re watching all your friends go by and as you see them and you wave.”

Jack Bonney from Visit Anchorage worked as a volunteer at this year’s convention. He said every region of the state is represented. 

“It’s a microcosm of all of Alaska in Anchorage, in one or two rooms for a couple of days,” he said. 

Bonney said the market draws thousands of people to AFN every year. Upstairs, prominent leaders speak and important discussions about Alaska Native issues take place. But the market can be an entry point for the general public. 

“The Arts Market is one of the big draws for folks who may not otherwise know what AFN is about, or it might be their first visit that leads to a broader conversation about what AFN does in the community,” he said.

Trinity Villalobos came to the convention from Fairbanks for work. But like everyone else who attends AFN, she and friend Tiara Davis took some time to browse for things that wouldn’t break the bank.

“I was looking for something cool, something unique, something that I can afford,” Villalobos said. 

She was eying some Halloween-themed bracelets — while Davis had her eye on a hummingbird hair clip. 

“We realized that like the beadwork, it takes a lot of time and so you want to be able to pay people what they are worth or what they’re quoting,” Davis said. “But, you know, the price just might not be what your pockets can handle.”

For the first time, this year’s market spilled over into an additional room upstairs. Vina Brown set up her table there. She’s Haíłzaqv and Nuučaan̓uɫ, originally from British Columbia. She traveled from Lummi, Washington to the market for the first time. She’s been to the Santa Fe Indian Market and others. 

“I really didn’t know what to expect. But it’s quite impressive so far. I mean, there’s so many people,” she said. 

Her business is called Copper Canoe Woman, based on her Indigenous name ƛ̓áqvas gḷ́w̓aqs, and features traditional designs like formline with a high-fashion flare. 

“Just like our rights aren’t frozen in time, our art isn’t frozen in time. So we’re allowed to adapt and pivot and elevate that,” Brown said. 

Many artists sell out before the final day, and Brown said she was manifesting that as well — to help offset her travel costs. 

Back in the main hall, Bennett said that whether he sold all his boxes or not, seeing people enjoy his work was enough. 

“It’s a good way to connect and share each other’s culture through this kind of work,” he said. “So it’s beautiful.”

Correction: Jack Bonney from Visit Anchorage was a volunteer at this year’s convention and does not represent AFN. 

In the heart of downtown among the shops, you’ll find Juneau’s Filipino Community Hall.

If you’re just walking by, you could easily miss it – it’s not flashy. There aren’t many windows letting you peer inside, only a humble plaque announcing what it is. But for more than 50 years, it’s been a literal and figurative home to Juneau’s Filipino community.

A lot of Juneau’s Filipinos grew up in this building. But things have changed over the years. The building is getting older, along with many of the people who made this building their home. And now, many of their children and grandchildren have different priorities. 

Over the years, the Filipino Community Hall was a place for new arrivals from the Philippines to find a sense of community. They brought their kids there for celebrations and to connect with their heritage. 

“We all used to dress up and all were excited for our parties back then,” says Alex “Junior” Carrillo in the episode. “Now it’s hard to get kids to be involved or to want to even come and join parties anymore because it’s just a different – it’s just different. I don’t know how to explain it, but you know, they just didn’t grow up here anymore.”

The building still hosts weekly bingo nights and holiday gatherings, and lately Filipino Community, Inc. has made an effort to hold language and dance classes again. But membership is still down, and getting people to return to the hall will be critical to its survival.

Through elders who remember the hall’s beginnings as a humble pool hall to the new generation of leadership, Adelyn Baxter explores the origins of Juneau’s FilCom Hall and what it means to the community today.