Adelyn Baxter

Monday marked the start of early voting in Alaska’s Nov. 6 general election.

In addition to voting by mail or in-person on Election Day, Alaskans can also vote at designated early voting locations across the state.

And this year they’ll get an extra prize for voting early: one of Juneau artist Pat Race’s custom-designed stickers.

“I think it’s an enticement to get people to come out and vote early, so these stickers are only available if you vote before Election Day,” Race said.

The new “I voted” stickers feature cartoon versions of Alaskan animals in iconic settings. They come in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaska Native languages.

Race said the Division of Elections first approached him about illustrating the cover of the election pamphlets sent to voters. They liked his designs so much they decided to turn them into stickers, too.

Division spokesperson Samantha Miller said the contract with Race totaled $5,000. She said the division has also paid for election pamphlet art in the past.

Race said he hopes this will serve as a pilot program for future elections.

“I’m hoping that I can work with the Division of Elections to talk more about that after the elections and develop some guidelines for other artists to participate and maybe make this a tradition,” he said.

Race is also selling prints of the designs at the Alaska Robotics gallery in downtown Juneau.

The traditional blue and gold “I voted” stickers will be available on Election Day.

In Juneau, voters have two options for early voting locations:

• the State Office Building downtown weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
• the Region I Elections Office in the Mendenhall Mall Annex weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Both locations will also have hours the weekend before the election, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Voters registered elsewhere in the state can also visit these locations to fill out an absentee ballot for their district.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27. Those ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 6.

Through Monday, the Alaska Division of Elections says it has received more than 4,800 absentee ballots for the Nov. 6 general election.

Those voters likely would not have known that incumbent Gov. Bill Walker was ending his re-election campaign, which he announced Friday.

Jerry McBeath is a political science professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He said the impact those absentee ballots will have on the governor’s race is unclear.

“In a really tight election, yes the absentee ballots are going to make a difference. But I’m not thinking that this election race is going to be that tight,” McBeath said.

He estimates absentee votes will account for less than 10 percent of the overall ballot count.

Recent polls had shown Democrat Mark Begich and independent Walker splitting the overall vote, giving Republican Mike Dunleavy a considerable advantage. Libertarian candidate Billy Toien is also running.

“And so then the question is: What is going to happen to the votes that Walker and Mallott otherwise would have gotten? And they won’t break down the middle,” McBeath said.

Ballots for the general election will still feature Walker and former Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who resigned last week. Mallott said he’d made inappropriate comments that put someone “in a position of vulnerability.”

Walker threw his support behind Begich, saying the former U.S. senator has a better chance of beating Dunleavy.

The Division of Elections said Monday any votes cast for a candidate on the ballot would be counted regardless of whether the candidate is still running.

According to division spokesperson Samantha Miller, that means voters cannot re-vote after their absentee ballots have been received.

Early and in-person absentee voting also began Monday at designated locations across the state.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27.

In this newscast:

• An invasive species never before observed in Alaska has been found in Ketchikan,
• Democratic candidate for governor Mark Begich says he was surprised by Byron Mallot’s resignation,
• local artist Daniel Firmin performs his song “Call Me What You Want” for the Red Carpet Concert Celebration sessions,
• and a group started in Haines is asking Alaskan candidates to challenge corporate personhood.

The state Alcohol Beverage Control Board has denied an application to begin selling beer and wine at Juneau’s city-owned ski area this season.

Eaglecrest Ski Area partnered with Abby Williams, owner of Louie’s Douglas Inn, and hoped to open the Old Tower Bar in the old lodge this season.

Williams’ application for a recreational site license said the bar would operate seasonally, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Monday.

The board voted unanimously Monday to deny the application.

Williams said Tuesday she was surprised by the decision and had already invested a significant amount of time and money into the business plan. She said she had been speaking daily with state regulators.

“If they were going to be this quick to deny the license, you know, why wouldn’t they have stopped the application process at its inception?” Williams said.

In a memo to board members Monday, Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office Director Erika McConnell said the application did not appear to meet the requirements of a recreational site license.

Among the reasons McConnell listed, she wrote that skiing and snowboarding “do not share the attributes of the examples listed in state statute.”

The Juneau Assembly approved the plan to start selling beer and wine at the ski mountain last year. The idea has been part of Eaglecrest’s master plan since 2012. At its meeting Monday, the Assembly waived its right to object to the specific license.

Eaglecrest General Manager Dave Scanlan said they will continue working with Williams. He’s staying optimistic about possible paths forward.

“What the timing’s going to be like? Not too sure, but we’re going to be moving full steam ahead on finishing up our renovation so our space is ready should we get approvals to operate,” Scanlan said.

The hope was for beer and wine sales to make Eaglecrest a more attractive destination.

Recreational site licenses cost $800 per year or $400 per season with a $500 application fee. A restaurant and bar license can cost tens of thousands of dollars because they are limited by population. New businesses typically buy an existing license from someone else.

Williams said her original business plan for the Old Tower Bar did not factor in the cost of buying a restaurant or bar license.

But she said she’s open to looking at all options, especially if Eaglecrest’s plan to become a year-round destination pans out.

“If it was going to be an operation that runs 95 days out of the year, I think that a seasonal, recreational site license was the best way to go,” she said. “But looking at the big picture, maybe a beer and wine license is a good investment.”

Although it seems likely the bar will not be operating this winter, Williams said she still hopes to create something the community will use and enjoy.

In this newscast:

• Byron Mallot resigned as Lt. Governor Tuesday and will no longer be a part of the Walker/Mallot ticket,
• new Mayor Beth Weldon and three new Juneau Assembly members officially took their seats Tuesday,
• the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board has denied an application to begin selling beer and wine at Eaglecrest, 
• and some Sealaska shareholders condemn their corporation’s Walker-Mallott endorsement.

Three new members, one returning member and a new mayor officially took their place on the Juneau Assembly Monday night.

Along with Mayor Beth Weldon and returning Assembly member Loren Jones, newly elected members Wade Bryson, Michelle Bonnet Hale and Carole Triem took the oath of office.

After a busy municipal election season where two sitting Assembly members resigned to run for mayor, Monday’s meeting restored the Assembly to nine members.

As its first action, the Assembly unanimously appointed Maria Gladziszewski the new deputy mayor.

Weldon also announced her intention to form a committee tasked with examining the city’s role in expanding access to affordable child care.

The previous Assembly rejected a proposed ballot measure asking voters whether they would support raising property taxes to expand child care.

“My main reason of forming this special Assembly committee is to get feedback from the public and figure out exactly what their wishes are,” Weldon said.

She added that she expects the committee to address two key questions: Should child care be a part of municipal activities? And if so, should early education be a part of that?

While the Assembly is complete for now, Assembly member Jesse Kiehl is currently running for the open seat in Senate District Q.

If he wins, he will have to resign his seat. The Assembly would then appoint someone to fill the vacant seat until the next municipal election.

Weldon also thanked Koelsch for his many years of public service as both mayor and as an assembly member.

“As mayor he signed approximately 97 ordinances, 126 appropriating ordinances, 90 resolutions and multiple proclamations,” she said. “He also formed a public safety task force, a mining subcommittee and a homelessness working group. He obviously didn’t sit still while in office.”

City staff gifted Koelsch a silver gavel to mount on his wall and a bronze tináa, or copper shield pendant.

He left each of the Assembly members a coin in their desk drawers.

“If after all of the research and discussion, you still can’t make up your mind, you can flip it,” Koelsch said amid laughter.

Koelsch also took time to recognize outgoing District 2 Assembly member Jerry Nankervis, who’s running for state House District 34 in the Nov. 6 election.

He also recognized Norton Gregory, who resigned his areawide seat in August to run for mayor.

Koelsch said he looked forward to taking another — hopefully permanent — shot at retirement.