Casey Kelly

Juneau’s Glacier Valley Elementary School went into lockdown for about 50 minutes this afternoon.

School district spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett says there was a threatening phone call and Juneau police were brought in to investigate.

“They went through the school and made sure that everything was secure and that everyone was safe,” Bartlett said. “It started about 1:30, and so it was over right before kids were getting ready to get out of school at the regular time. So they were released.”

During a lockdown Bartlett says classroom activity halts.

Juneau-Douglas High School, Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi Alternative High School and Harborview Elementary School went into “stay put” mode after a similar threat last week. Bartlett says “stay put” differs from lockdown in that teachers continue to teach.

She says both incidents are under investigation. Juneau police officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

The National Weather Service is changing the way it forecasts the water level in Juneau’s Mendenhall River.

The agency said Friday that it has stopped taking manual readings of the river level at the Mendenhall Loop Bridge. Instead, river level observations and flood forecasts will be based on an automated gauge located in Mendenhall Lake.

“We found that during the last couple jökulhlaups, especially at extreme high conditions, that the correlation between the lake and the river readings wasn’t so close anymore,” says Tom Ainsworth, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Juneau.

Jökulhlaup is an Icelandic term for a glacier outburst flood. Every summer since 2011, water from a basin located near the Mendenhall Glacier has drained, causing the lake and river to flood. When that happens, residents along the river rely on the weather service to provide them with flood warnings.

Ainsworth says there’s usually a strong correlation between the automated gauge located at the lake and the manual gauge at the Mendenhall Loop Bridge, except during those big floods.

“It’s hard to manually measure the river level when it’s really ripping,” Ainsworth says. “You’ve probably seen it during those last couple jökulhlaups out there. You know, it’s high, big waves, the instrument hits a wave crest and it starts swaying. So, it’s just not as accurate.”

He says using the lake gauge to predict how high the water will be downstream at the bridge should provide property owners near the river with more precise information. The lake level can be found on the weather service website, along with information about what happens to the river level at various stages of lake flooding.

Ainsworth says the weather service has already informed residents near the river of the change, as well as tour companies that offer Mendenhall River rafting trips.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Juneau’s Blessing of the Fleet. The annual tradition honors those who participate in one of the state’s largest industries.

It’s held at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on the downtown waterfront. Five names have been added to the memorial’s granite wall this year, bringing the count to 203 men and women.

Carl Brodersen stands in the half-moon shaped fishermen’s memorial, pointing out members of his family whose names are etched on the wall. He starts with his grandparents, then his uncle, and finally, his parents:

“John and Elizabeth Clauson are right here, of F/V Lightly. John Eric Clauson is more towards the middle. I always have to try and pick him out. Yeah, there we go. So, yonder with the star, you can kind of see him just past the center point. And my parents are more toward the left here. Right here in the middle, the third panel. Mark and Christine.”

As with all of the names on the wall, each of Brodersen’s family members worked in the commercial fishing industry in some capacity.

He lost both his parents to illness at a young age. His grandparents lived into their 80s and 90s. Though, his grandfather died unexpectedly in a drowning accident. His uncle, whose name is marked with a star, died at sea.

Brodersen says the blessing ceremony every year serves as a reminder of his family’s commercial fishing roots.

“It’s affirming. It’s nice to know that there’s a place where their names can go to be remembered,” Brodersen says. “But also sad of course as well that they’re there in the first place. A lot of people on this wall shouldn’t be. They were entirely too young.”

Brodersen is a board member of the nonprofit that manages the memorial and organizes the annual Blessing of the Fleet.

Commercial fishing is a multibillion dollar industry in Alaska, employing thousands of people. But Brodersen says in some ways the fishing community in the state, like the population of Alaska itself, is rather small.

“You grow up within the fishing system, you know about people from far and wide,” he says. “And so, you look along this wall and I could probably point out a quarter of the names as people that I’ve at least heard of or recognize in some fashion.”

During the blessing ceremony each name on the wall is read out loud.

This year, the names of Toivo and Margaret Andersen – longtime friends of Brodersen’s grandparents – will be read for the first time.

“They lived in Pelican a long time ago. You know, good proper Fins, very stoic Nordic types,” says Brodersen. “It was often said of Toivo that he was such a good fisherman that he could catch a salmon simply by dragging a herring across a muskeg.”

Besides paying respects to those who’ve died, the ceremony is meant to honor the men and women still fishing. A procession of boats will pass the memorial in Gastineau Channel to receive a blessing, performed this year by Pastor Phil Campbell of Northern Light United Church.

“Fishing is such a central part of the lifeblood of Juneau, and all of Southeast for that matter,” Campbell says.

This’ll be the second time Campbell has performed the blessing. He says it’s kind of like life itself in that you can’t always separate the happiness from the sadness.

“Here’s this excitement and anticipation, and getting ready for the new season, and everybody’s happy, and it’s a party,” he says. “And at the same time, there is somber reflection.”

Campbell says he plans to spend a little time during this year’s ceremony talking about the Spanish word for blessed.

“It’s bienaventurados. So, literally translated in English it means ‘May the adventure go well with,'” Campbell says.

He says he can’t think of a better word to sum up what the Blessing of the Fleet is all about.

With a little over a week until the first ship arrives in Juneau, the head of a cruise industry group in Alaska says 2015 should be strong year for tourism in the state.

Former state lawmaker John Binkley is now president of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska. He told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce today that he anticipates about 1 million passengers this year. That’s up more than 3 percent from 2014.

“2015 is going to be a great year. We’re excited about that,” Binkley said. “I think the merchants can see in just, what, two weeks? The ships are going to be pulling in here. People are going to be pouring off with money in their pocket, looking for places and ways to leave it here in Juneau. It’s great news for us.”

But Binkley warned Alaska faces challenges as the cruise industry expands globally. Already, he says the state is losing market share, as newer ships are deployed to ports in Asia and other parts of the world. He also says the state and local governments need to be careful with how they spend cruise ship passenger fees.

He said the industry is concerned about two multi-million dollar projects in Juneau: An extension of the seawalk north of Marine Park, and a long-planned dock expansion to allow more Panamax ships to tie up downtown.

“It would be one thing if the local community were paying for the dock. But they’re not,” Binkley said. “It’s the visitors that are paying for the dock and the cruise companies that are paying for the dock.”

Panamax ships are up to 1,000 feet long and carry thousands of passengers.

University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor John Pugh challenged Binkley, saying the industry is sending mixed signals about how it wants passenger fees to be spent.

“We were told we needed docks for Panamax. We worked on that,” Pugh said. “And so I guess, I’m just sending a message back to you having been a citizen who had some involvement in it. How do we actually talk to the industry? Is it the local people who are here? Is it the people who are in Shanghai?”

Binkley says the cruise lines wanted an entirely new dock built as opposed to an expansion of the existing facilities.

Assemblywoman Mary Becker told Binkley the Juneau Assembly is not considering an increase to the city’s local passenger head tax in response to a proposal by lawmakers to take away Juneau’s share of state passenger fees in 2016.

The first two cruise ships of the year are due in Juneau on Monday May 4.

Marijuana activists in the capital city are planning a Southeast Alaska Cannabis Celebration this Friday at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

The event will feature eight bands, food carts and local businesses showing off their products and services. But organizers are asking attendees to leave the green stuff at home.

Giono Barrett hopes to start a marijuana farm with his brother in Juneau, but says they won’t have any plants to display at the cannabis celebration. Barrett points to a similar festival canceled recently in Anchorage after city officials told organizers they would not allow possession or use of pot at a municipal facility.

“We really want to just bring the community together and get people out of the woodwork,” Barrett says. “So the idea here is to hit that marijuana demographic, and get them out of their house and get them together and enjoying music together.”

Public consumption of marijuana is illegal, even under the state’s new recreational marijuana law. In addition, the City and Borough of Juneau currently has a moratorium on land use permits for marijuana-related businesses. Barrett opposed the moratorium at first, but now thinks it’s been good for Juneau’s marijuana community.

“I think it was in retrospect a really smart decision, because it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other — the cannabis community and our city,” he says.

The cannabis celebration is being organized by Revelry Events, founded by former KXLL music director and volunteer Jessie Herman-Haywood. She says you won’t have to be a marijuana user to get something out of it.

“Essentially this is just a really cool music festival,” Herman-Haywood says. “It’s a great opportunity for the cannabis community, whether you’re going to be starting a business, or maybe you want to be purchasing some, or maybe you just don’t know anything about cannabis and are really interested in the culture.”

Even though there’s not supposed to be any drugs or alcohol at the festival, Herman-Haywood says it will be a 21 and over gathering because of the material being discussed.

Local greenhouse Get Growing and clothing maker Aurora Projekt will be among the vendors at the event. Attorney Kevin Higgins also will have a booth. He’s a former public defender now in private practice, and a recreational marijuana user. He says he’s interested in watching the legalization process.

“Marijuana’s been a part of my life for over 20 years,” Higgins says. “It’s new and kind of uncharted territory. So it’s just interesting to see how it’s unfolding.”

Higgins says members of Juneau’s cannabis community have made themselves available to public officials at both the city and state level who are making decisions about how marijuana will be regulated.

“Trying to make sure that they’re not only making good decisions, but asking the right questions in arriving at those decisions,” he says. “And kind of still fighting uphill against a bunch of reefer madness.”

But in general Higgins says most politicians are doing a good job of thoughtfully approaching the issue.

Editor’s note: Jessie Herman-Heywood’s former role with KXLL has been clarified.

Juneau police arrested an Idaho man at the airport today after he was kicked off a plane for allegedly smoking in a bathroom.

Police say they had to chase David Allen Cimino, 55, down the tarmac when he tried to run away from officers.

One police officer injured his hand and another suffered an injured wrist and a bite to her cheek during the arrest. Cimino had several scratches on his head from the incident, according to a JPD release.

Cimino was arrested for two counts of assaulting a peace officer, two counts of criminal mischief, and one count of resisting arrest. He was lodged at Lemon Creek Correctional Center and held on $2,000 bail.