KRBD - Ketchikan

A peaceful gathering took place Monday afternoon in Saxman in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Speakers expressed concerns beyond what is happening in North Dakota.

More than 50 people held protest signs, while about a dozen more watched and joined in on rally cheers.

The event initially was organized only to protest the pipeline project, but Organized Village of Saxman President Lee Wallace said it expanded to address local and regional environmental issues.

“Our environmental issues are many. There are transboundary issues. Behind Saxman we have Deer Mountain. For our southern brothers and sisters at Standing Rock Sioux, we definitely stand behind them.”

A planned section of the Dakota Access Pipeline would cross sacred sites and burial places, and the Sioux Tribe is concerned that, if the pipe ruptured, it would pollute drinking water.

Locally, Alaska Mental Health Trust announced that it would log Deer Mountain if a land exchange or other agreement cannot be reached by the end of the year.

There are also concerns about the effects of Canadian mining on Alaska fisheries and water quality.

Between speakers, the crowd chanted: “Water is life! Water is life! Water is life! Water is life!”

Richard Peterson, president of Tlingit and Haida Central Council, said he’s been asked why Alaskans should be concerned about what is happening in the Dakotas.

It’s important that indigenous people stick together, Peterson said.

“We’re on the very steps of our own battle. I don’t think people are even fully aware of the impacts of what these transboundary mines are doing to our people, to our resources, to our way of life. So we are going to be asking our brothers, our sisters, our allies across the nation, to stand with us before long.”

Peterson says Natives and non-Natives need to work together to protect the land and waters.

Rob Sanderson, first vice president of the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, shared his concerns about transboundary mining.

“It’s not the big events that will happen,” he said. “In Southeast Alaska, as I have learned, it’s the smaller events that come from these mines that will hurt us. The Tulsequah Chief (mine), poison since 1957 when they closed it down. Still leaching acid-generated tailings today.”

Sanderson encouraged people to educate themselves and do their own research about local environmental issues.

Fred Olson, vice president of the Organized Village of Kasaan, read a resolution adopted by the Kasaan tribal council in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“And whereas the Missouri River tribes rely on the waters of the life-giving Missouri River for their continued existence,” he read. “And the Dakota Access Pipeline poses a serious risk to the very survival of the Missouri River tribes.”

Many at the rally were in Ketchikan attending the Southeast Tribal Environmental Conference.

Tony Chrisiansen of Hydaburg said events like the conference and rally help increase awareness of issues and open dialogue. He says it’s important to continue discussions and come up with solutions.

“Find an arena for dialogue, then we can find ourselves dealing with the issue face to face and hopefully get something constructive out of it. That saves our water and saves the quality of life for our people in Southeast and abroad.”

Richard Jackson of Ketchikan Indian Community says it’s important to fight for, and stand behind, the things you believe in.

“So when you do these things like ‘Stand With Standing Rock,’ ‘Stand With Deer Mountain,’ ‘Stand With What We Value for Health and Wellness,’ then we can look at ourselves and say ‘We did the best we can.’ It’s only the person who stands back and says nothing who should be very ashamed of themselves for not doing anything.”

Monday’s rally outside the Saxman Tribal House was arranged on short notice.

The group plans to hold a larger rally next week in downtown Ketchikan.

Despite reservations from some Assembly members, a resolution calling for the formation of a home-rule charter committee was approved Monday by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly.

The Assembly’s vote kicks off the process for creating a charter committee, but doesn’t guarantee that the process will be completed.

The borough still needs to find at least seven people interested in drafting a charter.

The committee must be elected by a vote of the public.

Nominating petitions will be available starting Oct. 7 for anyone interested in serving on the committee. The deadline to file is Nov. 4.

The resolution starting this process was submitted by Assembly Members Glen Thompson and John Harrington. Harrington said he’s wanted a home-rule charter for the borough for a long time. He argues that with such a charter, the citizens of the borough can clearly spell out their expectations.

“I like the idea of having a nice, tight structure,” he said. “And this process of having a charter would, I think, give us that.”

Ketchikan’s borough is a second-class borough. In their sponsor statement, Thompson and Harrington argue that with a home-rule charter, the voters could establish limits for the government, including tax caps; and require voter approval for certain actions, such as taking on long-term financial commitments.

Harrington stressed that the charter has nothing to do with consolidation or unification.

Assembly Member Bill Rotecki, participating by phone, said he’s not necessarily opposed to a home-rule charter process, but he’d prefer to start with public meetings to determine how much interest there is.

Thompson, who also called in to the meeting, notes that the charter commission process includes public-input meetings.

Assembly Member Stephen Bradford also called in to the meeting, and said he hasn’t heard a groundswell of support for such an effort, and he’s not sure about spending $16,000 on a special election.

“But as I understand it, there will not be election if there are not seven members that sign up to run,” he said. “So, I will defer to wiser heads and perhaps they are aware of support that I’m not, so I will vote I favor of seeing if there are seven interested persons.”

Most of the absent Assembly members, along with Borough Mayor David Landis, are in Petersburg for the fall Southeast Conference meeting, which starts Tuesday. Landis also called in to Monday’s meeting.

Assembly Member Alan Bailey expressed some concern about the charter process. He said he’d like to make sure it doesn’t result in additional government and additional costs.

Assembly Member Mike Painter wondered who would serve on the charter commission.

“As I recall in the charter commission for consolidation, the election and nominations, there had to be at least two members outside the city, two members inside the city, at least one from Saxman, (and) a member at large,” he said.

Harrington said that distribution was specifically created for the consolidation committee. This charter committee would be open to all registered borough voters, without designated seats for specific areas.

The resolution passed 6-1 with Rotecki voting no.

Monday’s vote calls for a mail-in election. So, if enough candidates file for the seven-member charter commission by the Nov. 4 deadline, election ballots would be mailed out on Nov. 23, and would be due back by Dec. 13.

Also Monday, the Assembly talked about the Alaska Mental Health Trust’s plan to log Deer Mountain if a federal land exchange isn’t approved by Congress before Jan. 15th. The Assembly directed Borough Manager Dan Bockhorst to continue promoting the land exchange, and to encourage Alaska Mental Health Trust to change the announced deadline.

There was discussion about whether the borough should get more information about potentially purchasing the site, but there was no consensus on that topic.

Alaska State Troopers are looking for the driver of a light blue or gray Chevrolet pickup truck that reportedly damaged property near the Pond Reef fuel station along North Tongass Highway.

According to the online Troopers dispatch, the truck went through the ditch of the northbound lane of the highway, and entered the parking area of the fuel station, striking mailboxes and road signs.

Witnesses told Troopers that the windshield of the truck was damaged during the incident. The truck also appeared to be missing a tailgate.

The investigation is ongoing.  Troopers ask that anyone with information regarding the incident please call 225-5118.

A 31-year-old Ketchikan man faces multiple felony drug charges for allegedly accepting a mailed package containing illegal prescription medication, and possessing heroin and methamphetamine.

According to the complaint filed in court, U.S. Postal Inspectors contacted the Ketchikan Police Department on Wednesday about a suspicious package mailed to a Water Street residence, where the defendant’s mother lives.

Police obtained a search warrant for the parcel, and said they found 100 Xanax pills inside. Police placed a tracker inside the package, and allowed it to be delivered.

The defendant allegedly picked it up and took it to his Front Street home.

Police served a search warrant at his home and recovered the package. Police report they also found heroin, methamphetamine and more illegal prescription medication, along with drug paraphernalia and about $2,300 cash.

The man was charged with two counts each of second- and third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance.

He was due to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

The Ketchikan School Board on Wednesday rejected a policy that would have limited memorials at school facilities.

The policy was recommended by the Association of Alaska School Boards and called for allowing one temporary memorial per loss that would be removed at the end of the school year.

Permanent memorials would have been limited to scholarships or awards, or items of historic or educational significance, such as collections of books.

During a public hearing on the policy, teacher Jennifer Karlik described some school-based memorials that meant a lot to her.

“My mom worked at Ketchikan High School when a teacher, Clarke Cochrane, died in the gymnasium. His portrait by the door to the gym that bears his name warms my heart because I remember who he was,” she said. “When I see Bill Weiss’ letterman jacket in the display case with all the letters on it, and then I watch my son wrestle in the Bill Weiss Tournament, it just gives me joy.”

“When Jerry Galley died, the students were torn apart,” she said. “I tutored students in my classroom who were holding pieces of the tree that his car ran into, feeling a little bit safe and listening to me and helping me catch them back up. There’s a painting in the commons that Dave Rubin did that hangs, and I watched Sam Pitcher’s friends have peace with that painting. The girls decorated Milisa Jakubek’s locker after she passed away, and I watched the kids touch it as they walked by.”

Karlik also mentioned various fields in Ketchikan that are named after people who have contributed to the community.

Memorials are important, especially in a small town where everyone is connected, she said.

School board members said they didn’t think carefully enough about the policy when they approved it in first reading during the last meeting.

Board President Michelle O’Brien said this kind of policy isn’t right for a small school system like Ketchikan’s.

Board Member Glenn Brown agreed.

“I guess not everything that comes down the pipe from the state association fits us,” he said. “I mean, we lost a high school teacher in the last year. The idea that: ‘A memorial shall be limited to one per loss.’ Wow. Let’s get cold. You can’t measure – ‘Here’s how much you’re allowed to grieve according to district policy.’ That’s ridiculous.”

The memorial policy was unanimously rejected in a 6-0 vote.

Board Member Matt Eisenhower was absent.

Also Wednesday, the School Board discussed issues with First Student, the school bus company. Superintendent Robert Boyle noted that the company has had staffing problems, which has led to combining routes and some delays.

The contract allows the district to fine the company when it combines routes and/or is delayed, and he has been levying those fines, Boyle said. He also met with First Student representatives, who told him they are working on solutions.

O’Brien said this isn’t the first time the bus company has had service issues.

“I’m glad that we can levy them financially, but it’s a shame that they cannot seem to get their act together enough to provide even an adequate service,” she said. “I sincerely wish we had other options.”

Superintendent Boyle said there were no other bidders when the district put the bus contract out for proposals.

The next Ketchikan School Board meeting is Sept. 28.

Ketchikan School Superintendent Robert Boyle introduced 10 new teachers and spoke about the health of the school district during Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce lunch.

At the start of the luncheon, Boyle had 10 new teachers and counselors introduce themselves.

Several were born and raised in Ketchikan.

Some were new to teaching. Others had been teaching for years but were moving into new positions or changing schools.

“We make our projections, and it looked like it was going to be pretty much status quo,” Boyle said. “Then we looked at economy factors, the price of oil, and some of those things suggested that we would not maintain our population. We kept in mind that we knew that the Coast Guard is coming along, the hospital is coming along, Vigor’s coming along, but it just didn’t look like we had any concrete information to expand our numbers.”

Boyle then discussed the budget, district accomplishments and future opportunities.

With an overall budget of approximately $42 million, Boyle said the district employs about 365 people; 165 are certified employees, which include teachers, counselors, librarians and administrators.

The district serves approximately 2,200 students. The district is experiencing growth this year, with 62 more students than last year, Boyle said. He says this was surprising.

“We ended up with a larger population of kindergarten students at Houghtaling than we could accommodate,” Boyle said. “We put another teacher in there. The rest of the students were spread out across the district.”

The district projected 20 fewer students than last year when preparing the FY2016-2017 budget, Boyle said. Because of the higher student count this year, the district will receive an additional $625,000 from the state. One teaching position was added.

Schoenbar Middle School has 25 more students than projected, Boyle said. With five elementary schools, the framework used by the district allows the additional students to be absorbed without negatively affecting the pupil-teacher ratio, but Boyle said it’s uneven in a few classes.

“In a couple of the classes in Houghtaling, we have 24 and 25 (students). I think there’s 24 and 25 in a couple of the classes out at Point Higgins as well,” he said. “It’s difficult to change that when you have two teachers in a grade level. If you try to add a third, you get really, really small classes so you have to do a multi-age type of grouping, and that’s sometimes uncomfortable for students and teachers.”

He anticipates there will be even more students this year as new Coast Guard families move to Ketchikan.

Boyle spoke about the successes of last year’s senior class, with graduates offered more than $8 million in competitive scholarships to institutions such as West Point, Harvard and Stanford.

One student received the Gates Millennium Scholarship, providing full education funding for 10 years.

Chamber Executive Director Bill Swift noted not every student will head to college.

He asked if the school district is doing anything to improve vocational and technical training.

One of Boyle’s goals, and a goal of the school board, is to make sure the district offers training the community wants.

“We have a strong culinary arts program,” Boyle said. “We have a good maritime program. We have a good welding program. We have a good construction technology program. We’re weak on business office occupation programs at the current time. That’s something that we definitely need to look at and probably do some expansions.”

Despite the state budget crisis, Boyle said the Ketchikan School District has been able to weather some of the challenges affecting other districts.

This was done by keeping costs-per-student low, and focusing on funding direct instruction, with teachers in the classroom, presenting information and interacting face-to-face with students, he said.