Adelyn Baxter

Sealaska Board member Ross Soboleff died Monday after a battle with cancer.

Soboleff was elected to the Sealaska Board of Directors as an independent candidate in 2014 and re-elected last year.

He was the son of Walter Soboleff Sr. and Genevieve Ross and was active in the Haida and Tlingit communities throughout his life.

He was also a former vice president of communications for the Alaska Native corporation.

Board Chair Joe Nelson remembered Soboleff as a key player in the board’s efforts to continuously improve its governance.

“He was very thoughtful, he was deliberate, he was articulate, he was humble, he was very respectful, more so than most anybody I’ve ever worked with,” Nelson said. “His leadership is going to be sorely missed in the Sealaska family in particular.”

Soboleff worked for former Rep. Eric Feige in the Alaska Legislature for several years. Feige remembered his former staffer as a dedicated worker who helped him better understand life in Southeast Alaska.

“Ross Soboleff … was a very good man,” Feige said. “He was quiet, certainly, but he brought a fine character to his position with me in the Legislature and was certainly very well liked by all that he came in contact with.”

Soboleff graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1969. He was also a University of Oregon alumnus.

Aside from his work with Sealaska and the Legislature, Soboleff was a writer, small business owner and fisherman.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Lindsey, his children and grandchildren.

Juneau residents joined others around the nation Saturday to voice their opposition to immigration policies separating migrant children from their parents at the United States’ southern border.

Weathering rain, a rally of close to 400 people denounced family separation and called for the release of detained children and immediate reunification with their families.

The Department of Homeland Security has said more than 2,300 immigrant children have been separated from their families since May under President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

Although Trump has since reversed the policy so that families are detained together, thousands of children are still being held indefinitely in detention centers with no contact with their parents.

Libby Bakalar led the Families Belong Together Rally at the Capital School Playground Park. She is a lawyer known for her political and comedic writing online.

“They have done this on our behalf, in our name, in the name of our country and it is appalling,” Bakalar told the crowd.

She said Alaskans need to keep calling and writing representatives like U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who represents a crucial swing vote in Congress on issues like immigration.

“We have to continue to think about these issues and stay focused on them because the news cycle moves so quickly, people can get apathetic and it’s not going away and it’s certainly not over for these kids who are in indefinite detention,” she said afterward.

The League of Women Voters registered voters and the Alaska Institute for Justice took names and contact information of anyone looking to get involved.

The institute’s deputy director, Kari Robinson, said the non-profit provides immigration legal services for up to 900 Alaskans each year.

Several people with legal expertise approached the table asking how they could get involved.

Robinson said they have an asylum pro bono project to provide legal services to those who can’t otherwise afford them.

“We have a lot of people who want to volunteer in many capacities,” Robinson said. “They can go to our website, akijp.org, and they can send us an email, they can look at our three programs and see the that we do in Alaska.”

As the adults spoke and organized, dozens of kids played and ran through the crowd, offering a visual reminder of what’s at stake.

Jessica Rider brought along her 4-year-old daughter, Camilla.

“I think it’s significant to show a presence of parents and also just to remind us of why this is important,” Rider said.

After the rally, organizers invited attendees to continue putting pressure on politicians to end family separation.

The Juneau Assembly may rescue a high school auto shop program from cancellation.

An ordinance appropriating $40,000 to fund Juneau-Douglas High School’s automotive program was introduced Monday and is headed for public hearing next month.

The money would go toward renting space in the University of Alaska Southeast’s Technical Education Center across Egan Drive from the high school.

For more than 30 years, the Juneau School District has shared space in the facility’s auto shop. About 80 high school students take part in the program each year.

Facing budget constraints, the Board of Education did not approve funding for the program for next school year.

The university offered to lower rent by reducing the amount of space the high school class used in the shop, but the district felt that would limit classes too much.

A public hearing on the ordinance will be held July 23.

Sealaska shareholders elected independent candidate Nicole Hallingstad to the Alaska Native corporation’s board of directors.

Election results were announced at the Alaska Native corporation’s annual meeting Saturday in Wrangell.

Hallingstad previously ran for the board in 2016 and 2017. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, and is the director of operations for the National Congress of American Indians.

“This election has proven that an independent candidate can be elected,” Hallingstad said. “The incumbents certainly have an advantage, but when you vote for a candidate you believe in, you can actually see that result in just a few weeks.”

She said her priorities during her three-year term include working to ensure the corporation’s continued profitability and modernizing Sealaska’s elections.

She also would like to see the board adopt term limits in order to give more shareholders the opportunity to serve.

“When we say to our young people, ‘Get your education, gain your experience in the world, but come back and work for your people,” she said. “There will be a place at this table for you,’ and … they see people who have maybe been in the same seat of power for 20, 30, 40 years, what message does that send to our youth?”

Sealaska has more than 22,000 shareholders in and outside of Alaska. This year, the corporation announced it tripled its earnings from 2016 to 2017.

At the meeting, directors approved a contract to deed Sealaska land in Wrangell to the Wrangell Cooperative Association, a federally recognized tribe.

Incumbent board members Joe Nelson, Albert Kookesh, Barbara Cadiente-Nelson and Tate London won re-election.

Incumbent Bill Thomas came in 8,000 votes shy of maintaining his seat. Independent candidates Karen Taug and Edwell John Jr. also came up short.

The board also introduced Aidan Hellen as its new board youth adviser. Hellen replaces outgoing youth adviser Nicole George for a one-year term.

An independent candidate for the Sealaska Board of Directors withdrew from the race this week and endorsed two other independent challengers.

Edwell John Jr. said in a Facebook post Tuesday he wanted to increase the chance of election of Nicole Hallingstad and Karen Taug.

Sealaska shareholders will find out the results of the election Saturday at the Alaska Native corporation’s annual meeting in Wrangell.

The independents hope to unseat at least one of the five incumbents up for re-election on the 13-member board. They include Board Chair Joe Nelson, Albert Kookesh of Angoon, Bill Thomas of Haines, Barbara Cadiente-Nelson of Juneau and Tate London of Bothell, Washington.

Sealaska has more than 22,000 shareholders in and outside of Alaska.

The meeting will be webcast live for shareholders beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Drag kings and queens took main stage this weekend in all their glitter and glamour for the fourth annual GLITZ Drag Show.

Performances took place Saturday and Sunday at Centennial Hall celebrating Juneau Pride. Proceeds from both shows went directly to the Southeast Alaska Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Questioning Alliance, or SEAGLA.

The shows featured national and local kings and queens dancing and singing along to familiar hits. Audience members cheered and held out dollar bills to show appreciation for their favorite performers.

Co-chair of the Juneau Pride committee James Hoagland organized the event. Hoagland performs as Gigi Monroe and hosts local shows throughout the year.

On “Juneau Afternoon” Friday, Hoagland said Juneau’s drag community has been growing.

“And because we have so many kings and queens now, we had to split up the show,” he said.

Saturday night’s show was sold out. Both shows were hosted by Delighted Tobehere, known for appearing on “America’s Got Talent.” This was Tobehere’s second year hosting.

“The queens and kings that are being developed in this community, it’s breathtaking,” Tobehere said Friday on Juneau Afternoon.