Casey Kelly

Alcohol and drug abuse cost Alaska’s economy more than $1 billion every year. That includes millions in lost productivity and millions more spent on health care, social services and the criminal justice system, according to a 2012 McDowell Group report.

Shame and stigma can make it difficult to get help for substance abuse. But a group of Juneau residents is out to change that. They organized last weekend’s Recovery Fest to celebrate those seeking to overcome addiction.

It’s a sunny afternoon at Sandy Beach in downtown Douglas, and a crowd is gathering around a dunk tank filled with several gallons of cold water. Dusty Dumont, a parole officer for the state Department of Corrections, sits on a platform above the water, dry for now. Then someone throws a ball that’s right on target and Dumont splashes into the water as the crowd lets out a cheer.

“I did get dunked quite a few times,” Dumont says later, wrapped in a towel and standing next to a picnic shelter.

“For a good cause,” she adds with a laugh.

The cause she’s talking about is addiction recovery. Programs like 12 step, Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, professional counseling and peer-to-peer treatment.

“The majority of the people on my case load are struggling with addiction, and I would love to see more of this so that people feel like they belong and are part of a strong community that’s sober,” Dumont says.

Kara Nelson is one of the people on Dumont’s case load. The 40-year-old mother of three spent more than half her life abusing drugs and alcohol before sobering up in 2011.

“I never really had a drug of choice,” Nelson says. “Whatever you had I’ll take, whatever’s going to get me out of my right mind right now.”

Like a lot of addicts at Recovery Fest, Nelson says no one event led to her getting clean. Rather, it was a series of what she calls “bottoms.” She says her family, friends and members of her church help her stay sober. She also credits peer-to-peer therapy, where former users support each other.

“If you’re like me, I don’t like to feel like anyone is trying to tell me what to do,” she says. “I mean, I already have so much shame on me. So when I’m with someone who’s already been through that, I definitely can identify, and work through things a little better and get to that humbled spot that we need to get to to move forward.”

Carol McDaid pushed to get addiction services included in the Affordable Care Act as a Washington, D.C. lobbyist for treatment organizations. She’s also been in recovery for drug and alcohol abuse for 16 years.

“The thing that was my biggest mark of shame is now my biggest asset,” McDaid says.

A frequent guest speaker at events around the country, she talks about putting a face on addiction recovery.

“That’s why we’re out here today. So that people don’t have to think we’re these people under bridges swigging out of brown bags,” McDaid says. “We are tax paying, loving members of our family, and members of our community that add rather than detract. And I think if we do that enough, we will show that there’s a benefit to doing it.”

Katie Chapman, executive director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Juneau Chapter, is celebrating four and a half years sober. NCADD helps organize the weekly Juneau Recovery Community meetings, where the idea for Recovery Fest first took shape. Chapman says the group hopes to hold more public events that shine a light on recovery and reduce the stigma for those struggling to overcome addictions.

“I’m happy to do that here today,” Chapman says. “I’m proudly wearing a shirt that says ‘I got recovery’ on the back of it, because I do and I’m proud of it. It’s something to be proud of.”

Members of the largest union representing Alaska Marine Highway System workers have approved a new contract with the state.

The Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific represents about 650 state ferry workers, including unlicensed deck crew, stewards and pursers. Just over half of members voted on the tentative agreement, according to an announcement on the union’s website. Nearly 80 percent voted to approve the contract.

The three-year deal is retroactive to July 1. It does not include a pay increase this year. Workers will receive a 1 percent raise next year and a 2 percent increase in 2016.

Earlier this month, the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots rejected a similar offer from the state. Negotiators from both sides are in the process of deciding how to move forward. MMP represents the licensed captains and officers who navigate state ferries.

A third union representing Alaska ferry workers, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, has yet to vote on its tentative contract agreement.

The Juneau Assembly has upheld a dangerous animal designation for a dog that killed another during an attack last Thanksgiving.

Douglas residents Joyce and Jody Vick appealed the label for their pit bull-mastiff mix, Sushi. The Vicks argued that the Animal Control Board did not have sufficient evidence to support the designation. Jody Vick also testified at an appeal hearing last month that he saw the other dog bite Sushi on the nose prior to the attack.

The other dog was a Shiz Tsu mix named Sophie, owned by the Vicks’ neighbor. Three witnesses testified that Sophie was not a nipper or a biter. A city attorney representing the Animal Control Board also presented evidence to the assembly that Sushi grabbed Sophie by her neck and shook her, and that Sushi had to be restrained after he tried to attack Sophie a second time.

The Vicks also argued their due process was violated by the delay in scheduling the appeal hearing.

The assembly voted unanimously Monday to uphold the Animal Control Board’s ruling. The written decision says the Vicks failed to produce enough evidence on either of their claims seeking to overturn the board’s action. Assembly members Jerry Nankervis and Mary Becker did not vote on the decision, because they were not at the hearing.

The Vicks have now lost in two separate venues where they’ve tried to defend themselves and Sushi. Last month, Jody Vick was found guilty in Juneau District Court of failure to acquire a special collar and tags for the dog, failure to maintain dangerous animal liability insurance, and objectionable menacing for the attack that killed the other dog.

Ice arena task force created

The Juneau Assembly has created a task force to study whether the Eaglecrest Ski Area Board should manage Treadwell Ice Arena.

Both facilities are owned and operated by the city. The Eaglecrest board is empowered by the assembly to set operating policy and hire a manager for the ski area. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department runs the ice arena.

The task force will consider whether the ski area board would be able to reduce operating costs for the rink. It also will study alternate management structures for Treadwell, including an independent empowered board

In October, Juneau voters will be asked whether to allow the assembly to establish an empowered board to run both city-owned swimming pools, Augustus Brown Swimming Pool and the Dimond Park Aquatic Center.

Update | 3:30 p.m.

Alaska Electric Light & Power reports all customers were back on hydroelectric generation by early afternoon. The cause of the transmission line failure remains a mystery.

Update | 12:00 p.m.

Alaska Electric Light & Power Spokesman Alec Mesdag says this morning’s area-wide power outage was caused by a fault along the utility’s Snettisham transmission line.

Crews initially thought the outage was caused by a turbine failure at the Snettisham hydroelectric facility. Later they determined it was an issue with the line that feeds most of Juneau’s power.

Mesdag says the transmission line is working fine. The cause of the fault has not been determined.

“This happens in town a lot on distribution, where maybe a branch will fall off a tree, it’ll hit the lines, create a fault and then fall to the ground. And there will be no lasting impact to our system, but it will cause an outage,” Mesdag says. “So, something of that nature may have happened out there, but at this point I don’t believe there has been a specific cause identified.”

The outage started about 8:40 a.m. Mesdag says AEL&P fired up its diesel generators and had power restored to most of the borough by 10:30. He says crews should have the system switched back to hydro power by this afternoon.

Original post:

Alaska Electric Light & Power reports an area-wide power outage Friday morning was caused by a problem with a turbine at the Snettisham Hydroelectric Facility.

AEL&P Spokeswoman Deb Driscoll says the utility turned on its diesel generators to restore power to customers in Juneau. Once power is restored to all parts of the borough, Driscoll says AEL&P will work to restore hydroelectric power.

The outage began about 8:39 a.m. Power was restored to the downtown area about 9:06 a.m.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

None of Juneau’s candidates for state Senate or House of Representatives faced opposition in Tuesday’s primary election.

According to unofficial results from the Alaska Division of Elections, Democratic Sen. Dennis Egan received 4,779 votes in his uncontested primary in Senate District Q. Egan, who caucused with the Alaska Senate’s Republican-led majority for the past two years, will face Republican Tom Williams in the November general election. Williams received 3,125 votes on Tuesday.

In House District 33, Democratic Rep. Sam Kito III received 2,725 votes, while Republican candidate Peter Dukowitz got 1,222 votes. District 33 includes downtown Juneau and Douglas Island, as well as Skagway, Haines and Gustavus.

And in House District 34, Representative Cathy Munoz got 2,177 votes in the uncontested Republican primary. On the Democratic side, George McGuan received 1,787 votes.

All results are considered unofficial until the election is certified by the Division of Elections.

The general election will be held on Nov. 4.

Gov. Sean Parnell has vetoed a bill that would have made the House of Wickersham in Juneau the lieutenant governor’s residence.

House Bill 246 also would have incorporated four parcels of state-owned land next to Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks. The purpose was to clarify the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s management authority over the parcels. The House of Wickersham provision was added to the bill late in this year’s legislative session at the request of Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan.

Juneau’s legislative delegation has long sought to turn the Victorian home on Chicken Ridge into the lieutenant governor’s house. It’s named for James Wickersham, a pre-statehood judge, delegate to Congress and scholar.

Egan says it’s a shame the second highest office holder in the executive branch does not have an official residence in the capital city.

“That building is sitting vacant a great deal of the year,” Egan says. “And why not make it a residence for the lieutenant governor?”

In a press release announcing the veto, Parnell did not take issue with the House of Wickersham provision. Instead, he blamed errors in the legal description of parcels adjacent to Creamer’s Field that were discovered after the bill passed. Parnell also said the refuge designation would unfairly burden the property owners should they ever seek to sell.