Clarise Larson

Trudging through the bumpy, brush-covered grounds at the old Douglas city cemetery, Ed Schoenfeld squints at a headstone. It’s half protruding out of the ground, with fiddleheads popping up around it. 

“It’s a headstone for Fred Schuler. It says he was born in Germany in 1859 and died November 11, 1906. At age 47 years. Rest in peace,” Schoenfeld said. 

The headstone is one of many at the cemetery that have been unearthed in recent years thanks to the work of volunteer groups who spend their own time weeding, clearing brush and cleaning gravestones. 

Without some sort of maintenance, many of the gravestones in this cemetery and others on Douglas would be lost in the growth of the rainforest. 

“Often this is choked with salmon berries and weeds,” he said. “You can’t even see the depressions in the ground where people were buried and the ground sort of settled.”

Many groups and residents like Schoenfeld have advocated that the burden shouldn’t be on volunteers, and they want the City and Borough of Juneau to take over ownership of the private cemeteries.

But, at an Assembly committee meeting on Monday, City Attorney Robert Palmer laid out the legal barriers the city would face if it tried to do that. 

“Many of the cemeteries have been a hot topic for Assemblies of the past, and every time that we’ve touched it we’ve kind of run into the same hurdle of ownership,” Palmer said. 

The city says it’s unclear who owns the land where many of the cemeteries are. And, Palmer says it would likely require extensive work to find those owners, acquire the land and then maintain it. 

An alternative idea is that instead, the city could financially support an organization tasked with coordinating the maintenance of the cemeteries. 

At the committee meeting, members were split on what level of action the city should take on the issue. 

Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said she doesn’t think it should be the city’s responsibility. 

“I think we also have to figure out where the city should not be involved and where the city should not be all things,” Hughes-Skandijs said. “And for me, this is just one really where it’s not the city’s land, it’s super time intensive.”

But other members, like Greg Smith, said something should be done. 

“This issue actually has been kind of surprising and then the amount of community support that has come out to say we need help, this is history. This is treasured land with people that are important to Juneau,” Smith said. 

The Assembly voted 5 to 2 in favor of the city putting out a request for organizations that might be interested. Members Hughes-Skandijs and Ella Adkison voted against the idea. 

Schoenfeld, who was at the meeting on Monday, called it a good first step. 

“It’s not the real solution. I think it’s just time — this is me personally, not part of any group — for the city to step up to the plate and say, ‘It is our responsibility,’” he said. “The remains in the cemetery are real people.”

The request for interest will likely go out to the community in June or July. 

The FBI arrested a cruise ship employee in Juneau on Tuesday afternoon, the day after he allegedly stabbed multiple people with scissors aboard the Norwegian Encore. 

Ntando Sogoni, 35, of South Africa was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

In an interview, FBI Public Affairs Officer Chloe Martin said the agency continues to investigate the case. 

“This was an isolated incident, and there’s no threat to other passengers,” she said. 

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice and a criminal affidavit filed in federal court, cruise ship employees noticed Sogoni trying to deploy a lifeboat while on the ship late Sunday night. Ship security then brought him to the ship’s medical center for an assessment. 

It’s there early on Monday morning that authorities say Sogoni physically attacked a security guard and nurse in an examination room. He then moved to a different room where he grabbed scissors and stabbed a 75-year-old woman who was being examined, along with two other security guards. 

Officials say the injuries were not life-threatening. 

Sogoni was later detained and held in the ship’s jail before his arrest upon arrival in Juneau Tuesday. 

Authorities say location data provided by the crew of the Norwegian Encore shows the ship was outside the jurisdiction of any U.S. state at the time the incident took place.

In a statement, Norwegian Cruise Lines told KTOO the company will continue cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.

“We condemn violent behavior of this nature and are committed to the safety and security of all crew members and guests on our ships,” the statement reads. “We commend the onboard security team for their brave actions.”

This story has been updated. 

Juneau’s annual How to Run for Local Office workshop is happening on Saturday. It gives anyone a chance to ask questions and learn about what it takes to campaign for the Juneau Assembly or School Board. 

Current and former members will offer advice to prospective candidates for this October’s municipal election.

Peggy Cowan with Juneau’s League of Women Voters said the workshop is a chance for people to learn the ins and outs of running for local office in Juneau.

“The whole idea is that some people have voiced that they’re reluctant, and they think you have to be sort of ‘In the know’ and ‘Part of a special group’ or whatever to run and they’re intimidated by the process,” she said. “So this is to try to take the mystery away, and provide people with the tools and the insights and ideas to both campaign and serve.”

The city, the League of Women Voters and Friends of the Juneau Public Library have hosted the annual workshop for close to a decade.

Cowan said you don’t have to be planning to run for office in order to attend it. 

“Some people are exploring whether they want to be a school board member or an assembly member so it lets them decide and choose,” she said. 

Six seats are open in the October 1 election – two on the Juneau Assembly and three on the school board. There are a few citizen initiatives that could also land on the ballot, and it’s a mayoral election.

Current Mayor Beth Weldon is up for reelection but has not confirmed whether she plans to run.

Assembly seats currently filled by members Michelle Hale and Wáahlaal Gídaag Barbara Blake will be up for grabs. But, both told KTOO that they don’t plan to run for reelection.

Hale said she wants to spend more time enjoying her retirement and step away from the emotional toll of the public criticism Assembly members face. 

“I have not figured out how to deal with really horrible things that people say to us, and really horrible emails that people send to us,” she said. “It is hurtful and it is damaging.”

Blake said she simply wants to spend more time with her kid. 

“The time commitment is just something that I’ve been struggling with,” she said. “And I’ve got a young man, he’s my only child, he’s going into his senior year next year, and I want to be able to dedicate my time to spending all the time I can with him.”

School board seats currently filled by Will Muldoon, Elizabeth Siddon and Amber Frommherz are also open this election. Muldoon told KTOO he is leaning toward running but is still deciding. Siddon and Frommherz both said they’re still considering whether to run again. 

There’s still some time to decide – the filing period to run doesn’t open until mid-July. 

The Juneau School District is hiring a familiar face to serve as its new chief financial officer. 

On Friday, the district announced Lisa Pearce would take over the role in July. She is a school finance consultant who previously worked as the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s chief financial officer.

Pearce played a critical role in the Juneau district finances this year. She was temporarily hired in December to take over after the district’s Director of Administrative Services Cassee Olin abruptly resigned. 

Within a short period, Pearce discovered the district was facing multimillion-dollar deficits for this year and next. Some of that was due in part to accounting errors.

With her help, the district was able to resolve those deficits — but not without difficulty. The district took out a loan of more than $4 million from the city to address this year’s budget deficit, and next year’s budget relies on school closures and a reduction in staff.

In a statement, Superintendent Frank Hauser applauded Pearce’s “skill set, commitment to transparency and forward-thinking approach.”

Pearce’s role replaces the district’s former director of administrative services position, so it won’t add more staff to the district. She will be in charge of preparing the district’s budget, fiscal plans and projections each year. 

In this newscast:

• Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling on lawmakers to pause their efforts to address a court ruling that threatens the state’s homeschool system. But, the Superior Court judge ruled Thursday evening that the ruling would remain on hold only through this June. The court also rejected Dunleavy’s broad interpretation of his ruling.
• Sitka’s Tourism Task Force adopted cruise tourism recommendations including reducing “peak days” engaging with the visitor industry and establishing a permanent commission to take it’s place.
• Anchorage mayoral candidates Dave Bronson and Suzanne LaFrance faced off in a debate hosted by Alaska Public Media and in the Anchorage Daily news. The two sparred over competing ideologies and priorities.

In this newscast:

• Dozens of child-sized Ravenstail robes were danced for the first time at an event in Juneau on Tuesday. It’s the largest collection of new Ravenstail weaving in decades.
• KTOO’s Katie Anastas investigated Juneau’s varying gas prices for this week’s Curious Juneau Episode.