Clarise Larson

Juneau’s 2025 glacial outburst flood may be over, but recovery and repairs are still ongoing. 

Juneau’s Back Loop Bridge remains closed for the foreseeable future due to damage from last week’s record-breaking glacial outburst flood. 

Sam Dapcevich with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said emergency repairs are currently underway, but he did not have a timeline for when it will reopen to the public. 

“We’re hurrying,” he said. “We’re trying to get it open as quick as we can, but also focused on safety and determining what’s going to need to be done for the long-term fix.”

Restoration of power and internet services has been quicker. The temporary levee the city installed along the Mendenhall River this year protected hundreds of homes nearby. But water still leaked through some sections and flooded several streets, requiring Alaska Electric Light & Power to cut power to some areas. 

Debbie Driscoll with AEL&P said power was restored once the flood waters receded. But, she said the flood also crippled a power pole adjacent to Back Loop Bridge, which caused additional outages in some nearby neighborhoods. 

Driscoll said the power has since been temporarily restored to the impacted neighborhoods and a more permanent fix is expected to be completed later this week. 

“We basically made it so that power was isolated and no longer being served to that pole, and then we were able to serve customers through alternate means,” she said.  

Internet provider Alaska Communications also confirmed its services have been restored locally.

Multiple local agencies are assisting in the recovery and cleanup effort. The first round of debris collection from flood-impacted neighborhoods on View Drive, Marion Drive, Meander Way and Meadow Lane began Monday, according to the city.  

More information about flood recovery and resources can be found on the city’s website.

The Juneau Police Department has released the name of the officer who slammed a man to the ground last month during an arrest. The department says it also plans to release the body-worn camera footage from the incident at the end of this month. 

The officer’s name is Brandon LeBlanc. He started his position in Juneau last fall. The department placed him on paid administrative leave following the arrest.

The department says LeBlanc has 17 years of law enforcement experience. Before beginning his position in Juneau, LeBlanc worked as an officer in Louisiana.

While there, court documents show that a man sued LeBlanc in 2016 for excessive force and battery, among other accusations. The man claimed he received a broken jaw and was unlawfully tased by LeBlanc during an arrest. 

LeBlanc testified during the trial that the man was punching another officer, and that he tackled and tased him when he resisted arrest. A jury found LeBlanc not guilty. 

During the incident involving the Juneau man last month, witness Ibn Bailey recorded a video of the arrest that circulated widely online. Later, Bailey said the officer responded in “the most professional manner, given the circumstance.”

The video showed LeBlanc attempting to handcuff the man before slamming him to the ground. The man appeared to lie unconscious for the remainder of the video and was later medevacked out of town with a head injury. 

Dozens of Juneau residents gathered at the police station days after to protest the officer’s actions. The man’s family has publicly identified him as Christopher Williams, Jr. They say he plans to sue the department.

The Juneau Police Department requested an independent investigation by an external agency to review LeBlanc’s use of force. That investigation is still ongoing. 

Once it’s finished, the state Office of Special Prosecutions will then review the case to determine if LeBlanc was justified in his response. The city says it will also conduct an internal investigation of the incident to examine whether his actions aligned with the department’s current policy.

In May, the Juneau Assembly passed an ordinance mandating that the Juneau Police Department release body-worn camera footage no more than 30 days after a city police officer’s actions cause serious injury. That means the footage will be released on Aug. 29.

In this newscast:

• The executive council of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is reviewing misconduct accusations made against its president, Chalyee Éesh  Richard Peterson.
• Juneau city and tribal officials announced a preemptive disaster declaration today in anticipation of the glacial outburst flood expected to hit the Mendenhall Valley soon.
• Juneau’s homeless shelter is reducing its services due to what staff say is a deteriorating and unsafe environment in the neighborhood. The shelter has seen an increase in homeless people camping nearby compared to other years. Shelter officials say the closure may cut down on campers – and chaos.
• The community of Metlakatla sued the state of Alaska five years ago yesterday. Metlakatla Indian Community asserts the way the state manages commercial fishing infringes on the rights guaranteed to it by Congress. The tribe has notched some important wins, and a trial was scheduled for this summer. But that’s now on hold as other Southeast tribes are now asking the judge to throw out the case.
• The U.S. Geological Survey is expanding its landslide monitoring efforts in Southeast Alaska. The goal is to develop an emergency alert system down the line. Data from Juneau’s Mount Roberts went online last month.

The executive council of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is reviewing misconduct accusations made against its president, Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson. 

That’s according to the tribe’s first Vice President, Ku.seen Jacqueline Pata, in an email sent to staff earlier this week. 

The review comes after a former fiancée of Peterson made accusations of abuse on social media in late July. The posts circulated widely online this week. Pata confirmed in a staff email that the tribe’s executive council was aware of the accusations and taking the matter “very seriously.”

“This process is being handled with care, respect and a strong commitment to fairness for everyone involved,” she wrote. “Our priority is to ensure that all employees are supported and protected in matters relating to their employment and that our policies reflect those protections.”

The tribe’s spokesperson, Dixie Hutchinson, said Peterson is on personal leave and is anticipated to return sometime next week. Pata is serving as acting president in his absence. 

As of Friday afternoon, no official charges have been filed against Peterson. He has been president of the tribe since 2014. Tlingit and Haida is Alaska’s largest federally-recognized tribal government.

Juneau’s homeless shelter is reducing its services due to what staff say is a deteriorating and unsafe environment in the neighborhood. 

The shelter has seen an increase in homeless people camping nearby compared to other years. Shelter officials say the reduction may cut down on campers – and chaos. 

In a letter shared with patrons this week, Glory Hall Executive Director Kaia Quinto said the Glory Hall homeless shelter will stop offering daytime services — including meals — to people who are not sleeping there beginning Aug. 26.

Quinto said continuing assaults, a lack of security, criminal activity and general chaos are some of the reasons for the decision. She said the decision to reduce access to the shelter’s services was not an easy one — but necessary for the safety of staff, patrons and neighbors. 

“The situation around the neighborhood is pretty untenable right now,” she said. “It’s just really important that we focus on keeping as peaceful an environment as we can.”

Quinto said patrons will still be able to receive services inside the facility during office hours after the changes go into effect later this month. But their time inside will be limited to when they are actively meeting with service providers. 

She said she can’t say how long the reduction will last, but hopes it won’t be permanent. She said the current situation is affecting her staff’s mental health and wellbeing.

“It’s having a major toll,” she said. “It’s hard to recruit and keep staff when every other employer can provide better and safer working conditions. This job is hard enough.”

The announcement comes just days after the Juneau Assembly narrowly rejected a plan to create a shelter safety zone that would have tightened restrictions on camping in the area around the shelter. Shelter staff, patrons and neighbors asked the Assembly for the safety zone. 

“The vicinity has become an epicenter for sales of illegal substances and stolen merchandise,” the letter stated.

This summer, the shelter has seen an increase in camping nearby. That’s in part due to the closure of the city-run campground near downtown two years ago. 

City leaders say the shelter safety zone was intended to increase protection for staff and people using the shelter’s services. But Assembly members who voted the plan down argued it would only be a stopgap solution for the larger issue of homelessness in Juneau.

“I just can’t see how it takes us forward as a community on this issue, more than just whack-a-mole on the next piece of the problem,” said Assembly member Neil Steininger.

On Monday, the Assembly asked the city to look into other potential safety measures for the Teal Street area, like hiring private security to patrol the area or establishing a city-sanctioned summer shelter.

Brittany Fuhr was outside the shelter on her lunch break Thursday. She was sitting with her friends by one of the more than a dozen tents that lined the sidewalk on Teal Street. She said it seems like there are a lot more people camping and in need of the shelter’s services than in previous years. 

“There are definitely more people, like bodies, as far as people walking around, people crossing the road, which is always scary,” she said. 

She said that uptick in people might be adding to the increase in issues staff say they are seeing. Though Fuhr worries that the change to services will only add to the chaos. 

“Closing a door doesn’t make the problem go away,” she said. 

Until the problem is resolved, the shelter is working with partner agencies to establish a meal program at an alternative location.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s new polar icebreaker Storis arrived in Auke Bay on Wednesday afternoon. It’s the ship’s first visit to its future home port of Juneau.

The 360-foot ship is designed to operate in the Arctic and expand U.S. presence in the region. It’s a stopgap while the Coast Guard builds a new fleet of icebreakers called Polar Security Cutters. 

Coast Guard officials say it will likely be a few more years before the ship is officially homeported in Juneau, bringing an estimated 190 Coast Guard personnel and their families to town.

Alaska’s congressional delegation – particularly Sen. Dan Sullivan – has discussed plans to dock an icebreaker in the capital city for years. Last year, the Coast Guard made the official announcement after Congress passed a spending bill that appropriated money for the ship’s purchase. 

A ProPublica investigation of the ship published earlier this year revealed it has a design problem and a history of failure.

The ship was previously named the Aiviq, but was renamed the Storis in honor of another Coast Guard ship that was stationed in Juneau in the 1950s. The Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum will host a free screening of a documentary about the original vessel and its history on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Storis is only visiting for the weekend and will dock in downtown Juneau on Saturday afternoon. The Coast Guard will hold a commissioning ceremony for the ship downtown on Sunday morning. 

The ship is open for free public tours on Thursday at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal from 2 to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 to 10 a.m. 

The ship is expected to leave Juneau on Monday.