Casey Kelly

Update | Sunday May 25 8:30 a.m.

A specially trained team of marine mammal experts late Friday captured a harbor seal pup that had been hauled out near the Auke Bay boat ramp since Thursday.

The capture operation took about 20 minutes and the pup is in good condition, according to a NOAA Fisheries release sent Sunday morning. NOAA Spokeswoman Julie Speegle writes that the pup was taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, where it will be trained to fend for itself. The plan is to reintroduce it to the Juneau area, she says.

Officials were worried for the pup’s safety with increased traffic expected in the Auke Bay area over Memorial Day weekend. Speegle says it’s common for harbor seal mothers to leave their young hauled out while the mothers forage for food. While there were adult harbor seals nearby, NOAA officials were not able to determine if one of them was the pup’s mother.

Original post | Friday May 23 1:00 p.m.

Marine mammal experts are asking Juneau residents to avoid disturbing a harbor seal pup that’s been hauled out near the Auke Bay boat ramp since Thursday.

With increased boating activity expected over Memorial Day weekend, officials are concerned for the pup’s safety. NOAA Fisheries Spokeswoman Julie Speegle says the animal appears to be in good health, but if it has too much interaction with humans its mother may abandon it.

“This is normal harbor seal behavior,” Speegle says. “Mothers will often leave their pups hauled out in a spot and the pups generally stay where their mama leaves them while the mother goes and forages for food. She just chose a really busy spot to leave her pup.”

Speegle says officials are not sure if the seal pup has been abandoned already. If so, a specially trained team of marine mammal experts may be brought in to capture the animal and take it to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. The center would train the pup to fend for itself before releasing it back into the wild.

“We will see what activity is like in the Auke Bay area this weekend,” Speegle says. “And if the activity seems to be too much or too dangerous for the pup, then we may go ahead and take action, or we may wait and see if the mother comes back.”

Speegle says people should keep their pets on a leash to keep them from approaching the seal as well.

It’s illegal to harass harbor seals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. If you see harassment, call NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement at 1-800-853-1964.

Juneau police are planning enhanced patrols for Memorial Day weekend.

Lt. David Campbell says 13 additional officers will work Friday through Monday, covering the entire city and borough road system. This is also graduation weekend for students at Juneau high schools.

“We’re going to have quite a few officers on duty for the entire weekend, not only in town but also out the road, where people tend to congregate and party,” Campbell says.

JPD’s Mobile Incident Command vehicle will be parked out the road past Amalga Harbor all weekend and will be staffed 24 hours a day, he says.

In addition, Juneau Crime Line is increasing its reward for reporting drunk drivers from $100 to $200 for the last two weekends of May.

Authorities in Juneau are investigating a 13-year-old boy who allegedly brought a BB gun to school.

Lt. David Campbell says a concerned parent called Juneau police on Monday to report their son had seen another student with a pistol at Floyd Dryden Middle School. Officers interviewed the 13-year-old witness and contacted school administrators. Campbell says they served a search warrant at the suspect’s house later that night.

“They were able to identify that the pistol was in fact a BB gun,” he said. “It was seized pursuant to the search warrant. A second BB gun was also located and that was seized as well.”

Campbell could not release the boy’s name due to confidentiality laws. He was left with his parents, who decided both guns should be destroyed once the investigation is complete.

Campbell says the gun involved in the school incident looked like a real firearm.

“Some of these BB pistols are so realistic looking that people should just be very concerned, because somebody else might not understand that it’s not a firearm, and people could get involved in a situation,” Campbell said.

He says the boy could face reckless endangerment charges.

“The case now is being forwarded to the juvenile justice system, which in Juneau goes through the Johnson Youth Center,” he said.

Floyd Dryden Middle School Principal Tom Milliron could not discuss the specific case, but says district policy imposes an automatic 30-day suspension on students who bring BB guns to school.

(Note: This story has been updated with information from Floyd Dryden Middle School Principal Tom Milliron)

Juneau’s Alaskan Brewing Co. will be featured on the second season of a reality TV show about the U.S. craft beer industry.
In 2007, Scottish beer makers James Watt and Martin Dickie started BrewDog, now one of the most popular craft breweries in the U.K.

Last year, they crossed the pond to team up with the Esquire Network on “Brew Dogs,” a show about the American craft beer industry. Watt and Dickie travel to small breweries in the U.S. to sample local fare and brew up a special beer using unusual ingredients.

With the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston, for example, they put lobster and clams in the brew kettle during the beer-making process, and in Portland they teamed up with Deschutes Brewery to make a beer that replaced hops with the plants Scotch broom and yarrow.

“At the end of the show they have people taste that brew and give it a drink-it or dump-it vote, and that’s kind of the show,” says Alaskan Brewing Co. spokesman Andy Kline.

The Brew Dogs have been filming all around Juneau. They were not available for interviews, but they’ve posted pictures of themselves on Instagram and Twitter at the Alaskan Brewing plant and drinking one of the company’s beers while enjoying a view of Gastineau Channel.

“Their idea is to try to use the outdoor nature of Alaska and somehow get that into a beer,” Kline says.

As for specific ingredients and the premise of the episode, Kline is tight lipped due to a non-disclosure agreement. But like a lot of craft breweries, he says Alaskan is no stranger to using unique recipes.

“Whether it’s using the alder wood for Smoked Porter,” he says “Using spruce tips in our Winter Ale, or when we use birch syrup in our Birch Bock, or in our Perseverance Ale we used fireweed honey. You know, there’s local ingredients and trying to put a little bit of Alaska in every bottle is a big part of everything we do.”

(Video courtesy Esquire Network)

Seattle’s Elysian Brewing was featured on an episode in the first season of “Brew Dogs.” Head brewer and founder Dick Cantwell says it was good exposure for the company.

“It airs from time to time, and it seems like every time it does I get an email or a Facebook post or something,” Cantwell says.

The beer Elysian made for the show is called the Fix. It features ingredients produced by two other Seattle companies, Theo Chocolate and Victrola Coffee Roasters. It won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival.

Cantwell says collaboration and experimentation are two of the hallmarks of craft beer.

“We just can’t help ourselves,” he says “We’re always talking to each other and sharing ideas and enjoying each other’s company.”

Kline says he also noticed the importance of swapping ideas as the Alaskan Brewing staff worked with the Brew Dogs.

“Outside eyes come in and people have great ideas,” he says. “And I mean they’re great, great creative brewers, who have great ideas, so it’s awesome to be able to work with them.”

The episode featuring Alaskan Brewing Co. will be the final show of the series’ second season, and air later this year.

The Esquire Network is on cable and satellite in Alaska. The channel is co-owned by the Hearst Corp., publisher of Esquire magazine, and NBCUniversal.

Full disclosure: Andy Kline is a former KTOO employee.

A forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Juneau prompted a deluge of social media activity Tuesday with his or her discussion of weather models.

“Picking a model of choice for the day is a little like speed-dating: Too little time/information to make up the mind leading to regrets by the end of the date/shift,” the forecaster wrote, before launching into a comparison of various models and what they see in Southeast Alaska’s developing weather systems.

The forecaster eventually decides to date/choose the European weather model, but wonders if the North American Meso model might be the better choice.

The online post lead to a flurry of posts on Twitter on Tuesday, and is still being shared on social media today.

Haha! Probably “the” best forecast discussions I have ever read. Thanks @NWSJuneau! pic.twitter.com/h8nlIFNP62

— Brian Alonzo (@wxprobrian) May 14, 2014

Alaska weather nerd finds love in computer models during the overnight shift: http://t.co/P0eRjczuSj pic.twitter.com/SwYDj2qxjx

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) May 14, 2014

The Washington Post’s Weather Editor Jason Samenow gave the forecaster a shout out. So did Slate’s Future Tense blog.

Juneau National Weather Service Meteorologist in Charge Tom Ainsworth declined to comment on the post, citing a desire to not make it into a big story. In general, Ainsworth said the agency has guidelines for how posts are supposed to read.

It’s not the first time Alaska weather service meteorologists have had some fun with the forecast discussion. During last year’s federal government shutdown, the Anchorage office included the hidden message “Please Pay Us” in a forecast analysis.

Outgoing Juneau School District Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich will interview for the superintendent’s job at the Kelso School District next week, according to the Longview (Wash.) Daily News.

Kelso is about 48 miles north of Portland, along Interstate 5. Gelbrich has said his reason for seeking a new job is a desire to live closer to family in Oregon. His wife works for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, about 45 miles south of Portland.

Current Kelso Superintendent Rob MacGregor is leaving the post June 30. The Kelso School Board hopes to name his replacement by May 23.

Gelbrich is scheduled to interview for the open superintendent position in Red Bluff, Calif. this week. He was previously a finalist for jobs in Kalispell, Mont. and Nampa, Idaho.

In March, Gelbrich announced he would not return to the Juneau School District next year. The Juneau Board of Education is accepting applications for his replacement through May 21.