Lakeidra Chavis, KTOO

A 19-year-old Juneau woman has been medevaced to Anchorage after being shot in the head.

Authorities haven’t named the woman, who was in a townhouse on Amalga Street in the Mendenhall Valley.

Emergency officials were notified shortly before noon Friday. They didn’t know she had been shot until they arrived.

Speaking from the townhouse this afternoon, police Lt. David Campbell said investigators were conducting interviews and that the shooting happened inside.

“So it wasn’t like there was a discharge outside the townhouse, and she was just sitting there and got hit,” he said. “The gunshot originated from inside the townhouse.”

Campbell thinks a neighbor called 911.

Investigators are still trying to figure how many people were inside the residence, Campbell said.

“The detectives are doing interviews. I think that there was at least one other person inside the townhouse, that we’re talking to, doing interviews with,” he said. “There’s a possibility of more, but again it’s still developing so I don’t have an exact number.”

He says the area has been secured and the investigation is ongoing.

This story will be updated as more information is released.

For the first half of 2016, seniors have claimed sales tax exemptions at one-third of the levels claimed for the same period in 2015.

The Juneau Assembly restricted the senior tax break last year in an effort to save the city a projected $1 million. But at least one newly elected assembly member thinks the reform should be revisited.

A large part of Norton Gregory and Mary Becker’s successful assembly campaigns focused on bringing the full senior sales tax exemption back.

Beth Weldon, who ran unopposed, also supported the push after speaking to people on the campaign trail.

She says the assembly should take up the issue again. She thinks the city’s initial projection might be off.

“Well, I think we need to revisit the prediction myself first, because one of the ways they paid for the deficit  —  because there was $400,000 extra in sales tax (revenue) that they didn’t predict,” Weldon said. “So, I think we need to relook at the prediction before we can have a decision.”

But city finance officials say their savings projection is still on track. They’ll have the exact numbers early next year.

Weldon says the city should look to other revenue sources, like the marijuana tax. But she couldn’t name anything specific beyond that.

The old Juneau Assembly restricted the senior sales tax break to essential items like food and heating fuel. It took effect at the beginning of the year.

Arnold Liebelt ran against incumbent Mary Becker for the District 1 seat.

Liebelt said that even though he didn’t win, he’s proud of the race he ran.

If there’s one thing he doesn’t want to see happen on the assembly — it’s bringing back the full senior sales tax break.

“I just think that would be such a big step backwards,” Liebelt said. “That should’ve been done, put to rest and not brought up again. And my opponent just kept bringing it up again and again, and I don’t know how they can do that knowing we had a $4.8 million shortfall this year.”

When the assembly voted to restrict the senior sales tax last year, Mary Becker voted against it.

She could not be reached for comment.

Norton Gregory also campaigned on the senior sales tax exemption, criticizing his opponent Kate Troll for voting in favor of the restrictions.

But now he says he’ll need to take a closer look before voting.

“You know, I didn’t really have an opportunity to dig into the numbers…Now the rubber’s going to have to meet the road,” Gregory said, “and we’re going to have to sit down and dig into those things because it is a community issue.”

Gregory said on the surface, he would vote yes. But he couldn’t be specific about how to make up for the budget hit.

“That’s something I can’t answer directly right now with a specific answer,” Gregory said. “I need to sit down and look through the city budget and understand all aspects of that budget and how that will affect our community and government. … But of course I’d like to talk to the mayor and the other assembly members who fully understand the issue, and I think that’s something the community can expect from me.”

He said he’d like to look into the senior sales tax rebate program, an opt-in program for lower-income seniors that completely exempts them.

During his campaign for mayor, Ken Koelsch also opposed scaling back the senior sales tax.

Koelsch did not return multiple requests for comment on the issue.

City Manager Rorie Watt said it’s important to understand how much the city’s demographics have changed.

“From 1980 to present, the senior population has increased over 400 percent,” Watt said, “and during that same period, the school age population in the community has gone up about 30 percent.”

He said as the senior population continues to grow, the program would cost the city more money.

“I think, like everything the assembly does, there are pros and cons, and it’s a policy question and a financial question,” he said.

From January through June of this year, residents have claimed senior tax exemptions on more than $9 million of sales, the city’s finance department says. That’s about a third of what it was in the same time frame last year.

The Juneau municipal election results were finalized earlier today.

The Canvass Review Board met Tuesday afternoon to certify the Oct. 4 election results, which remain largely the same after absentee and questioned ballots were counted last Friday.

There was a 33.5 percent voter turnout.

The Juneau Assembly is working on restricting fireworks use in Juneau.

The assembly discussed a draft ordinance at its work session Monday evening. It’s a template for Juneau residents to review and comment on.

Assembly members Mary Becker, Maria Gladziszewski and Debbie White were unhappy with the definitions of fireworks.

White and Mayor Ken Koelsch had concerns about possession and how enforcing it might affect the Juneau Police Department.

Police Chief Bryce Johnson told the assembly that having clear restrictions would lessen the burden on the police.

“The way it is now, it takes up a lot of staff time,” he said. “Similar to the conversation you’re having, about half the public thinks it shouldn’t be happening, about half the public is doing it.”

He says the issue with fireworks is about quality of life. It’s not a safety issue but it becomes one when it takes up all of the department’s resources.

“I was working the Fourth of July and the calls started coming in 1, 2 p.m. in the afternoon,” Johnson said. “By about 5, 6 in the afternoon, every single police officer that was on duty was on a fireworks call. And that is a really poor use of resources, especially on the Fourth of July when a lot of stuff is going on.”

Johnson said anything, even the draft ordinance right now, would be an improvement.

Currently, the city doesn’t have any restrictions on fireworks.

As it stands, the draft makes the possession of fireworks in Juneau legal between December 1 through January 3 and June 1 through July 6.

It would be legal to use the fireworks from December 31 through January 2, and July 3 through July 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Consequences include a fine as high as $300.

The assembly is soliciting public comment on fireworks restrictions at meetings on Oct. 19 in the Assembly Chambers and Oct. 24 at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library.

Update | 6:38 p.m.

The Juneau Empire reports that the fire is out and there were no injuries.

Scott Burton shot this video of the boat fire earlier this afternoon.

Original story | 2:48 p.m.

Smoke is billowing up Gastineau Channel this afternoon from a boat fire near Aurora Harbor.

The fire appears to be burning aboard a barge. Shortly after 2:30 p.m. an ambulance and three fire trucks arrived on the scene. An emergency boat was in the water but had not approached the fire directly.

Local Coast Guard and Juneau Docks and Harbors officials weren’t ready to comment on the incident.

This is a developing story, check back for updates. 

Juneau city officials and volunteers counted more than 1,800 absentee and questioned ballots Friday afternoon.

The unofficial results in the Juneau municipal election didn’t change much. In the District 1 race between incumbent Mary Becker and Arnold Liebelt, Becker’s lead widened. She won 52 percent of the vote, Liebelt won 44 percent and William Quayle won 4 percent.

Becker will serve her third term on the assembly.

The race for the area-wide seat remained close. Norton Gregory ousted incumbent Kate Troll with about a 3 percent lead.

The outcome of the ballot questions and winners for the Juneau School Board race remained the same, as well.

The Canvass Review Board will meet to certify the results next Tuesday, Oct. 11.