KRBD - Ketchikan

Ketchikan’s first marijuana retail store opened its doors to customers at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, which was a few days later than originally planned.

The 50-plus people in line were happy to buy legal cannabis for the first time in Alaska’s First City.

The stated opening time for the Stoney Moose on Stedman Street was 4 p.m., and the first couple of people in line were there by 3.

Nicholas Thayer was first, and said he’s eager to support the legal market.

“It will teach the idea that you don’t have to wait three hours in a parking lot somewhere,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be sketchy anymore.”

By about 3:30, a few more people had joined the line.

Among them was Jeremiah Hayward. Legalization was a move in the right direction, he said, so people don’t have to hang out in dark alleys and buy from dealers.

“It can be taxed, and put toward schools and what not,” he said.

Gail Jackson was about fifth in line, and said coming to the store opening meant she’d probably be late for work. She’s happy to see marijuana finally become legal.

“They used to say it’s a gateway drug. Alcohol is so much more a gateway drug,” she said.

As 4 o’clock drew closer, more and more people arrived and lined up. A jovial party-style atmosphere developed with lots of jokes and speculation about what kinds of marijuana the Stoney Moose would offer.

Co-owner Mark Woodward came out, and said they were still setting up to make sure they followed all the state requirements.

He gave an update to the now approximately 55 people in line.

“We’ll make sure everyone is taken care of today,” he said. “We have pre-rolls, we have eight other different types. They’re really good. Chem Dog – you can get Chem Dog, not a lot, but from Sitka – it’s fantastic. So be patient! We’ll open the door in just a couple minutes.”

Chem Dog? Apparently, it’s a well-known variety with high THC – that’s the active chemical in pot, that makes you high.

Tim White, second in line, gave a history.

“Chem dog was found at a Grateful Dead concert. A bud was given to an old boy on the concert, and he took it back to the East Coast, where he found five seeds,” he said. “Later on, some more buds were sent to him, they had three seeds. He grew those seeds. That’s where Chem Dog came from.”

There was more general discussion about marijuana varieties, and then, at about 4:30 p.m., Stoney Moose co-owner Eric Reimer opened the door to start letting people in.

“Oh, yeah! How’s everyone doing?” he said. “Sorry about the wait. It’s kind of complicated getting stuff going in there, but I think we’re ready.”

It’s a tiny shop, so they only let in a few people at a time. The first customer – Nicholas Thayer – was ready and eager after his 90-minute vigil.

“Which one has the higher THC?” he asked. “I’ll take a pre-roll of Cookies and Cream, and a gram of Chem Dog.”

They carefully measured out a gram of Chem Dog, and packaged it up in a secure pouch, then packaged the pre-rolled joint in another pouch. Thayer paid for his purchase, and there it was: The first legal sale in Ketchikan.

Woodward was all smiles behind the cash register.

“Eric and I were here last night late, and we were like, ‘Can you believe this is happening?’ When the product got here this weekend, I knew, now it’s changed,” he said. “Now my mind can actually see that this will happen.”

Ketchikan Museums is again without a department director. Lee Gray resigned last week, effective immediately, after about three months on the job.

Anita Maxwell, the department’s senior curator of programs, is back as the interim director.

She said that, despite the personnel setback, the Museum Department’s renovation project at the Centennial Building is progressing and remains on track for an official opening reception April 28.

While a permanent exhibit still is a ways away, that reception will celebrate the renovation and the opening of a new temporary exhibit.

“Our very first exhibition in that space is going to be ‘Upholding Balance,'” she said. “This is really going to be an extraordinary exhibition about Northwest Coast design and how Ketchikan has influenced that evolution over time — looking at modern Northwest Coast design from 1900 to present day.”

Maxwell said the exhibit will include older pieces from the museum’s collection and modern pieces chosen for the show by the artists themselves.

She said the show will be about more than just the artwork.

“Really telling that story of how Native art and Native culture was repressed, but always there under the surface,” she said.

Maxwell said the show also will highlight the contribution of the city’s Totem Heritage Center, which has provided classes on Northwest Coast art and culture, taught by Alaska Native artists, for the past four decades.

The center also preserves and displays historic pieces of Northwest Coast art.

Upholding Balance will be on display through March of 2018, which is much longer than most temporary exhibits at the Tongass Historical Museum, Maxwell said.

“We really just need to buy ourselves a little breathing room because we really want the permanent exhibition to be extraordinary,” she said.

Museum staff members have been talking with the community, including public meetings and individual interviews, to help plan that permanent exhibit, which is due to open next spring.

“Now it’s the fun part of moving back in and turning that blank canvas really into something that Ketchikan is proud of, and that when people come in they’re like, ‘Yeah, I see myself in this. I see my history. I see my future in this exhibition space,’” she said. “So, we’re really excited about it.”

Maxwell said the search for a new museums department director will restart sometime after the Centennial Building’s renovation work is complete.

Two Juneau residents are facing drug charges after police served a search warrant Wednesday at their Ketchikan hotel room and allegedly found heroin and methamphetamine.

Ashley L. Bethel, 28, and Gregory O Brown Jr., 33, made their first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

They each were charged with second- and third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Bethel and Brown had about 20 grams of heroin and about 12 grams of meth, according to the complaint filed in court by the Ketchikan Police Department.

Police say they also found syringes, “tooters” or cylindrical devices to consume drugs, foil packaging and about $200 cash.

Police say the woman told them she had consumed meth within the past two days.

According to court records, District Court Judge Kevin Miller appointed the Public Defender’s office to represent them, and set bail at $12,500 for the man and $11,000 for the woman.

The next scheduled court hearing for each is 3 p.m. March 23.

While waiting for federal legislation to expedite a land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Mental Health Trust, state officials are working on a companion bill in the Alaska Legislature.

Rep. Dan Ortiz of Ketchikan introduced House Bill 155 to help move the land trade forward.

The bill would approve exchanging about 18,000 acres of Mental Health land for about 20,000 acres of Forest Service land.

The Mental Health Trust lands included in the exchange are sensitive sites close to communities, and there was significant push back when Mental Health officials announced last year that the agency would log those sites if the exchange wasn’t approved.

Those sites include parcels on Ketchikan’s Deer Mountain and a steep slope above homes in Petersburg.

Wyn Menefee, deputy director of Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office, said the exchange needs both federal and state legislation to move forward.

“The idea is to provide lands to the Trust — Forest Service lands – that are more conducive for making revenue,” he said. “That would likely be timber harvest, is one of the primary things. That would be mostly out in Prince of Wales Island, by Naukati and Hollis; and then also over by Shelter Cove behind Ketchikan.”

Menefee expects a hearing on the federal legislation by the end of March or early April, and he hopes it will be approved this summer. He encourages area residents to contact their representatives to voice support for both the federal and state bills.

Ortiz said HB155 has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. It first will go to the Resources Committee, and then probably to Finance. He said he introduced the bill in response to local concerns.

“It became apparent to me that the folks in Ketchikan, in particular, didn’t want to see Deer Mountain logged,” he said. “This particular bill, if it passes, will match the federal bill and if it passes, it (allows) the land swap so the Mental Health Trust doesn’t have to consider logging the Deer Mountain area.”

Sen. Bert Stedman of Sitka plans to introduce a Senate version of the bill, Ortiz said. Ortiz expects that the state legislation will not have much, if any, opposition.

“Because this is generally a pro-jobs bill (and) it’s a bill that allows the Mental Health Trust to follow through with their responsibilities, I don’t think there’s going to be much opposition to it,” he said. “I can’t see where that opposition would come.”

Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office officials are planning public information meetings in affected communities in a few weeks. Two already have been scheduled for March 21 in Ketchikan and March 23 in Petersburg.

Menefee said other meetings are planned elsewhere, but have not yet been scheduled.

“This is more or less an effort to update the communities about what we’re doing and about the legislation,” he said. “We want to inform folks how to get involved and help that along. We already had meetings in Ketchikan and in Petersburg, but we want to go out to some of the other communities that we didn’t get to and give people an opportunity to heat what we’re trying to accomplish: Why it’s good for them, why it’s good for us.”

Menefee said the exchange will help Southeast’s timber industry by providing a timber harvest while the Forest Service continues its move away from old-growth timber sales. That timber harvest also would provide funds for mental health services throughout the state.

Editor’s note: KTOO’s building sits on land leased from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. KTOO has also applied for and received occasional grants for special reporting projects from the authority.

Authorities released the names of a pilot and passenger in a plane crash Friday morning near Metlakatla.

A wheeled, twin-engine Beech G-18 enroute from Klawock was trying to land at the Ketchikan airport about 8:30 a.m. Friday, Ketchikan Flight Service reported.

The pilot was Steven Hewitt of Seattle and Grant Hasting of Auburn, Wash., was the passenger.

The aircraft missed the Ketchikan runway on its first attempt and then lost power to one engine while circling back, according to Alaska State Troopers. Hewitt told air traffic control that he was going to attempt a beach landing, then radio communication was lost.

The plane went into the water near Smugglers Cove, south of Metlakatla just off of Annette Island, troopers reported. The plane sank, but the two men on board were able to swim the approximately 200 yards to shore. They were found by Annette Island Search and Rescue crews, and were taken to the Metlakatla clinic for treatment of minor injuries.

The weather in the Ketchikan area on Friday morning included heavy snow and strong winds.

Numerous agencies responded quickly, including Alaska State Troopers, Wildlife Troopers, U.S. Coast Guard, Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, Metlakatla Police Department and Annette Island Search and Rescue.

One of two people aboard a Twin Beech 18 turboprop plane suffered minor injuries, but otherwise both survived, after a Twin Beech turboprop plane en route from Klawock went down Friday morning in the water about 15 miles south of Ketchikan.

The plane was attempting to land at Ketchikan International Airport shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, when it missed its approach, said Jerry Kiffer of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Flight service heard a scratchy communication from the pilot saying he lost an engine and was attempting to land on the beach near Metlakatla, he said.

The rescue squad contacted the search-and-rescue team on Annette Island, Kiffer said.

KVRS was assigned to search the area from the Ketchikan airport to Boswick Inlet, while the Metlakatla team searched the shores on Annette Island. The Coast Guard also responded.

The pilot and passenger were located south of Metlakatla on the beach in Smuggler’s Cove. The wheeled plane landed on the water and the two onboard were able to make it to shore, Kiffer said.

He said one had minor injuries. The other was cold and wet.

Heavy snow was falling in the Ketchikan area at the time of the accident.

No additional details were available.