The view along part of Perseverance Trail. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Access to Perseverance Trail will be closed at times over the next week while the city clears a rockslide.
The City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation will be working on the trail from Wednesday to next Tuesday. Basin Road will also be closed beyond the Mount Roberts trailhead at times while heavy machinery is in use.
According to Parks and Recreation Director George Schaaf, the work will focus on the first access trail up to Perseverance, not the access trail at the end of Basin Road.
The city uses that first access trail to get equipment like excavators onto the rest of the trail for maintenance. Heavy rains last year caused the slide.
“Since this landslide came down, we’ve been unable to get any equipment like an excavator down the trail to remove any smaller rock slides that may have occurred further on down the trail.”
Several smaller slides along Perseverance Trail above Gold Creek will have to wait for spring.
“We think we only have enough time this year to get rid of this initial slide,” said Schaaf, “but once that’s gone, that will facilitate us getting further down the trail to do more maintenance in the future.”
Schaaf said they are asking trail users to be aware of signs while the work goes on.
The road will only be closed for a few of the days while there is a risk of rocks falling from the trail above.
The portion of Basin Road beyond the Mount Roberts trailhead is usually closed from Nov. 1 until spring. That’s because the road is not maintained in winter and the city doesn’t want anyone getting stuck, Schaaf said.
George Schaaf is a member of KTOO’s board of directors.
Boards bar access and a sign declares no trespassing at 401 Harris St. in Juneau, pictured here on Oct. 1, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Dave D'Amato, who makes legal decisions for Camilla Barrett, talks to a neighbor outside 401 Harris St. in Juneau on Oct. 1, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
A downtown property that’s been the source of numerous police calls and neighbor complaints over the past two year is now vacant.
The residents of 401 Harris St. left Sunday. The City and Borough of Juneau sent a letter to the property owners in September ordering the home be vacated by Oct. 1 due to health and safety concerns.
Dave D’Amato is the power of attorney for Camilla Barrett, who co-owns the property with her son James Barrett.
D’Amato was boarding up the windows Monday morning. Old appliances and hardware cluttered the lawn and front porch. A bullet hole in one of them serves as a reminder of the home’s checkered past.
A window at 401 Harris St. in Juneau sports a bullet hole on Oct. 1, 2018. It was from a 2016 drive-by shooting. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
D’Amato said two people peered in the windows late Sunday night as he was working on the home. He suspects they were looking for a way in but left when they saw him.
“I’m going to run some rope around the front of this as well so that people get the hint that we don’t want them entering,” D’Amato said.
As he worked Monday, neighbors stopped by to check on his progress. They’re relieved to see the house that’s been a source of concern and an eyesore in recent years getting cleaned up.
James, who lived in the house until yesterday with several guests, is now staying in a hotel until his new condo is ready for move-in.
D’Amato said they plan to sell the property after fixing it up, as they did with two nearby homes recently on Fourth Street.
“We’ll continue to clean it. We’re going to continue to get the yard straightened out and you notice that the place next door was bought,” D’Amato said.
James and Camilla are currently in a legal fight over the property. Last week, a judge ordered James out of the home in accordance with the CBJ letter.
After a court hearing in September, James blamed the situation on a settlement agreement his mother reached with the city in August over the Gastineau Apartments, another family-owned property.
“It’s driven by an agreement with the city which has a high dollar figure,” James said. “Things would be quite different if the city hadn’t made a stipulation with my mother in her settlement agreement.”
The city tore the Gastineau Apartments down in 2016 after it was damaged by fires.
In the settlement, Camilla agreed to pay $1.5 million and continue efforts to evict James and sell the Harris Street property.
Just up the street is another Barrett-owned property, the Bergmann Hotel.
The city condemned that property last year, forcing about 50 people out of the historic building.
The building is no longer condemned and D’Amato has been working to get it ready for sale later this year.
He planned to give neighbors an update on progress with that and 401 Harris St. at a meeting of the Juneau Uptown Neighborhood Association on Monday evening.
Juneau Assembly candidates at the Juneau League of Women Voters Municipal Candidates Forum on Sept. 20, 2018. Back row from left to right: Loren Jones, Wade Bryson, Don Habeger, Michelle Bonnet Hale, Emil Mackey. Front row: Norton Gregory, Saralyn Tabachnick, Beth Weldon, Carole Triem and Tom Williams. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
By Wednesday, Juneau will have a new mayor and three new Assembly members.
Polls open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. for Juneau’s municipal election.
Juneau Chamber of Commerce President-elect Mike Satre introduces mayoral candidates Beth Weldon, left, and Saralyn Tabachnick, right, at a candidate forum on Thursday. Norton Gregory joined by phone. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
With less than a week until Juneau elects its new mayor, the Juneau Chamber of Commerce held a forum Thursday focused on ideas for promoting business in Juneau and improving the local economy.
Mike Satre, president-elect of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce, moderated Thursday’s forum at the packed Moose Lodge.
“This is the government that’s closest to us. Our local government is the one that affects our daily lives … it’s very important that we pay attention to those that are running for mayor and Assembly,” Satre said.
Beth Weldon, Norton Gregory and Saralyn Tabachnick participated.
Satre led with a question about support for the Juneau Access Project, also known as the road.
The state lost federal funding for the project earlier this year. But proponents like the chamber continue to advocate for an extension of Juneau’s road north up the Lynn Canal.
They say making it possible to drive to and from Juneau would make it a more attractive place to live and bring down freight costs for local businesses.
Both Weldon and Gregory said they would look for ways to resurrect the project if elected.
Tabachnick said she would rather see the city focus on improving the Alaska Marine Highway System because the road is a distraction.
“It’s also something that is not in our control,” she said. “We don’t have control over an access road. That’s up to the state and the federal government.”
Satre also asked about two issues that almost ended up coming before voters on the local ballot.
Audience members at the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Mayoral Forum applaud on Thursday. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Weldon and Gregory both served on the Assembly until last month, when they resigned to run for mayor just before the ballot measure votes.
Weldon said she would have voted to place the child care question on the ballot.
“Should child care be a core part of government functions? And we need to know that from the public, because if the answer is ‘yes’, we have to find funding,” Weldon said.
Opinions varied on funding for the new JACC. Both Norton and Weldon said they had reservations about the ballot proposal but support the concept.
Tabachnick said expanding the city’s arts and culture center is critical to diversifying Juneau’s economy.
Satre asked candidates what they think poses the greatest challenge to attracting investment and promoting business in Juneau.
Gregory, who works for the Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority, pointed to the high cost of housing. He was traveling but joined by phone.
“If we want to induce new business in our community and we want new families with new ideas, as well as our existing families, to continue to live in our community, we have to have an affordable place for those people to live,” Gregory said.
All three candidates also mentioned working closely with the Southeast Conference and neighboring communities to ensure Juneau remains accessible. Many in the region rely on Juneau for essential services and shopping.
Before ending the forum, Satre posed a series of brief questions to candidates.
He asked whether they support the city building a second crossing over Gastineau Channel to Douglas Island. All three said yes.
He also asked whether they support statewide Ballot Measure 1, which aims to protect salmon habitat across the state.
Only Tabachnick raised her hand in support.
The fourth mayoral candidate, Cody Shoemaker, did not respond to the chamber’s invitation.
Police have identified the man as Steven Earl Carey. His family in Washington State told police he recently returned to Juneau unexpectedly.
Original story:
The cause of death remains unknown after Juneau authorities pulled the body of a man from the Treadwell Mine Glory Hole Tuesday.
According to a Juneau Police Department release, a hiker walking by the Treadwell Mine Glory Hole on Tuesday afternoon reported seeing a male body floating in the water.
Police and Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to the area and began efforts to remove the body. CCFR called in a special team to help navigate the steep terrain around the Glory Hole.
Police say it took several hours for the team to retrieve the body.
No visible signs of trauma or injury were present that would indicate immediately how the man had died, according to police. The body will be sent to the Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage for an autopsy.
Based on a driver’s license found in the man’s clothing, police identified him as a 56-year-old Washington state resident. Records indicate he may have lived in Juneau between 30 and 40 years ago.
Police are currently working with law enforcement agencies in Washington state to contact the man’s family.
Juneau’s six candidates for Alaska Legislature appear at a Native issues forum on Sept. 25, 2018 in this still from a Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska video. From left to right, the candidates are Chris Dimond, Sara Hannan, Jerry Nankervis, Andi Story, Don Etheridge and Jesse Kiehl.
Juneau’s candidates running for the Alaska Legislature appeared at a Native issues forum Tuesday to discuss their platforms.
Outgoing state Rep. Sam Kito III moderated the forum. The Juneau Democrat asked questions about issues relevant to Alaska Native and non-Native voters alike.
Among other things, the candidates were asked how they would support rural Alaska Native communities where unemployment and substance abuse are coupled with a lack of access to support services.
Jesse Kiehl, a current Juneau Assembly member running as a Democrat for Senate District Q, said a comprehensive fiscal plan would allow the state to fund better services. But he cautioned against having the state decide what they need.
“One of the most important things a state can do is remember that rural Alaskans have a pretty darn good sense of what’s important for their communities,” Kiehl said.
His opponent, independent Don Etheridge, agreed that better funding would help, but said more job training is also necessary to improve economic prospects.
“We got too many people coming into these small communities,” Etheridge said. “Every time there’s a little project, everybody imports their help instead of training locals to do the job.”
The local House candidates also appeared: Independent Chris Dimond and Democrat Sara Hannan running for House District 33, and Republican Jerry Nankervis and Democrat Andi Story for House District 34.
The forum was hosted at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall by partners in the Get Out the Native Vote initiative. Previous forums featured local assembly and mayoral candidates.
