Lisa Phu

Alaska Senator Mark Begich calls it a mistake for EPA to extend its comment period on mining impacts to Bristol Bay. During a town hall meeting in Juneau on Friday, Begich said he spoke to the Environmental Protection Agency and made it clear he wanted the watershed assessment complete.

“I wanted the science to determine the outcome of what should happen in that region and the longer they take, the more politics are played. And so adding these 30 days is not something I supported. I think they should’ve completed it and move forward. I know some like that, some don’t like that. But science should make the determination before you start talking about swapping non-renewable resources for renewable resources – mining versus fishing.”

The public comment period for EPA’s revised draft assessment began April 26 and was supposed to end at the end of May. According to EPA’s website, the 30-day extension was granted in response to request from interested parties. The new comment period deadline in June 30.

After the final EPA assessment is complete, Begich says he’ll make a stronger statement on where he stands on the issue.

Five US Democratic senators from the Pacific Northwest recently wrote a letter asking President Barack Obama to consider blocking the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay. Begich was not one of these senators.

Juneau District Court on Friday set bail at $10,000 cash for 23-year-old Juneau resident Hans William Elliot Petaja, arrested Thursday for bringing illegal drugs into the capital city.

Petaja is charged with second degree Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance, a Class A felony.  A conviction could result in up to 20 years in prison and a 250-thousand dollar fine.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Williams says the investigation leading to his arrest was based on anonymous tips about Petaja’s alleged dealing of heroin in Juneau. The tips date back to January. Investigators also had the help of a confidential informant.

Juneau Police Lt. Kris Sell says a controlled and supervised delivery of 8 ounces of heroin was made immediately prior to the arrest.

“We use mostly sham drugs when we deliver a package because we always have to be concerned that it’ll be either destroyed or be lost as part of the investigation,” Sell says. “We’re tracking the package and trying to stay as close to it as we can, but of course we always have concerns about making sure that a large amount of real drugs don’t get loose from an investigation and into the community.”

Lt. Sell says the case is part of an upsweep of heroin into Juneau over the past year and a half.

“We are really in a battle with heroin right now. As oxy (oxycodone) is going harder to get, we saw heroin really replacing oxys and now there’s a great deal of it that’s being moved into Juneau,” she says.

A search of Petaja’s residence on Threadneedle Street revealed three scales, marijuana, baggies, pipes, aluminum foil, a note listing who apparently owed him money, and a loaded 22-caliber pistol. Petaja also allegedly stole $2,000 following a transaction.

Petaja says he recently started working for a charter fishing operation and formerly worked at the hatchery.

He’s being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. A public defender was assigned to his case with the next court hearing June 17th.

NPR’s puzzle master Will Shortz launched his seven-day Alaska table tennis tour in Juneau at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School Wednesday night. At an exhibition hosted by Juneau’s Table Tennis Club, Shortz and Caribbean table tennis champion Robert Roberts explained techniques of the sport and even played some matches.

The best match of the night was a game of doubles between Juneau table tennis players Phil McMurray and Tim McLeod, and visiting players Will Shortz and Robert Roberts.

“I think we only got a couple of points as I remember and they weren’t trying that hard,” McLeod says.

McLeod is part of Juneau’s Table Tennis Club, which has been around for 14 years. McLeod, McMurray, and several other Juneau players meet at AEL&P every Monday and Wednesday night throughout the year for two hours of table tennis.

McLeod isn’t surprised they lost to Shortz and Roberts. Roberts is a three-time table tennis champion of the Caribbean and Shortz isn’t happy just being a master of puzzles. He wants to also master table tennis.

“My ultimate goal is to be national champion for my age, whatever age that is. If I do it in my 60s, fantastic. 70s, 80s, 90s – doesn’t matter. Someday I want to be champion for my age.”

Shortz is 60 years old. To be national champion in table tennis, one has to win the US Open Table Tennis Championship, which has divisions for every age group. The next US Championship will be in Las Vegas this July.

“I’m not going this year because I’m not good enough, but someday,” says Shortz.

When asked when he will be good enough, Shortz laughs a bit

“I guess it’s like art, I’ll know it when I see it.”

Shortz is coming close to fulfilling another table tennis dream – to have the greatest club possible. In 2011, he opened the Westchester Table Tennis Club in Pleasantville, New York with friend, coach and Caribbean table tennis champ Robert Roberts. With 18 tables, it’s the largest table tennis facility in the country. Shortz’s club is gaining recognition both nationally and internationally. Recently, 15-year-old Kai Zhang from China joined the club.

“He’s the champion for his age in Beijing. He moved to Pleasantville to play at our club because he idolizes Robert and he loves our club,” says Shortz.

Zhang is already ranked number one for players under age 21, and is ranked 5 in the US overall.

Shortz’s table tennis schedule in Alaska is tight. He’s visiting six towns in seven days – Juneau, Anchorage, Homer, Soldotna, Eagle River, and Fairbanks – and he’ll be playing table tennis each night, which fulfills two more goals – to play table tennis every day this year and to play in every state in the union. Alaska is number 40.

While Shortz may have cast a spotlight on table tennis in Juneau, McLeod says Juneau Table Tennis Club doesn’t have the space for growth.

“We don’t have room at AEL&P. We set up one table that I own in the evening and we play. Sometimes we can set up a second one but it’s in really bad shape,” he says.

A new generation of table tennis players are sharpening their skills through an after school program at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, which allowed the students to play on four brand new tables.

Here’s some video from the match:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVxqgbY3YM]

Fans of puzzles and table tennis were at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School last night for a table tennis exhibition featuring puzzle master Will Shortz and Caribbean table tennis pro Robert Roberts. Shortz is most known for being New York Times’ crossword puzzle editor and NPR’s puzzle master, but Shortz’s other passion is table tennis.

“You would think puzzles and table tennis would be diametrically opposite activities. To me they are very similar. Both activities are things that you get completely wrapped up in, completely focused on, you forget everything else in the world, and when you’re done, you’re relaxed and you’re refreshed and you’re ready to go back to life.”

Juneau Table Tennis Club hosted last night’s exhibition. Shortz and Roberts spent the evening playing with members of the public. Shortz also got the crowd thinking with newly created word puzzles. Together Shortz and Roberts run a table tennis center in New York.

Juneau was the first stop of a full week table tennis tour throughout the state. Shortz and Roberts are leaving for Anchorage this afternoon. Shortz has a goal of playing table tennis in every state of the U.S. Alaska is his 40th.

Tune in to KTOO News later for more on Will Shortz’s table tennis visit in Juneau.

Long overdue renovations to Alaska’s State Capitol are well under way. Juneau-based Alaska Commercial Contractors started major work on the building’s crawl space and portico at the end of April, a few days after the legislative session ended.

Bright red construction tape blocks the front of the building, stairs are missing, and large signs direct you to a temporary entrance on Seward Street. A few workers are beneath the entrance landing, which supports four marble columns.

“They’ve shored up the slab on the front here to support the portico. They will be installing some more shoring from the slab up to the portico so when they begin demolition, they can take it down in pieces,” says Capitol building manager Don Johnston.

Within a few weeks, the original sandstone portico that bears the words ‘Alaska State Capitol’ will come down.

“It’s because it’s deteriorating. If you see underneath there, you can see white efflorescence. That’s just all sandstone which is not a really desirable material for this climate which is why it’s breaking down,” Johnston says.

The historic columns supporting the portico will remain where they are and the railing on top will be removed for reuse later. During construction phase, the stairs will be replaced. The iconic portico will be rebuilt in Phase 2 using pre-cast concrete resembling sandstone. Phase two of the renovation project will also involve a seismic retrofit of the entire building.

Right now, workers are digging a hole on the corner of 4th and Seward streets.

“What they’re going to do there is punch a hole through the foundation so they can get material in and out of the crawl space. There will be a conveyor belt underneath there hauling soil and all kinds of debris out of the crawl space and delivering any materials in there they need.”

That hole is right under Juneau Senator Dennis Egan’s ground floor office. Egan arrived to work Tuesday morning to jack hammering. His window looks right onto the renovation site.

“It doesn’t bother me. It’s progress. We’re getting things fixed and we’re saving a very historical structure.”

Egan says building improvements to the State Capitol, originally designed in 1929, are long overdue.

“It got to the point where we had to do something. There was marble falling off the portico. It was becoming dangerous. There was sandstone brick that’s popping off because of the moisture and over the years becoming more serious.”

Updates on Capitol renovations will be heard during upcoming legislative council meetings. Also discussed will be money for phase two. Egan says the majority of the close to $20 million needed for the next phase is secured, “but we’re still hunting and scratching and trying to figure things out. But the chair of Leg Council, Mike Hawker, he’s been very supportive of this project and that means a lot, at least to me, because you have an Anchorage legislator in full support of what we’re trying to get done here.”

Phase one of Capitol renovations is scheduled for completion this October. Building Manager Johnston says he has not received any complaints from the legislators and staff about the renovations or the noise. Daily tours of the capitol have not been interrupted.

Juneau is on a Watch List for homelessness, along with Bethel, Kodiak, and Anchorage.  At one point in time this year, the Capital City had the highest number of homeless families in the state, according to a report recently released to the Alaska Council on the Homeless.

Five families were homeless during the Point-in-Time Homeless Count conducted in Juneau on Jan.  28th.

“It’s not necessarily saying that it’s the only set of homeless families that Juneau has seen or service agencies have dealt with and housed during the year. It’s just on that night, that was the number, and it seems to be much higher than it was in years past,” explains Scott Ciambor, chairman of the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness.

Three sets of surveys are used in  Juneau’s Point-in-Time count: who was present at the last Project Homeless Connect event, figures from a database for emergency and transitional shelters, and a homeless count done through the school district. Point-in-Time surveys were collected throughout the state in late January, and a recent Alaska Housing Finance Corporation report highlights outlying numbers. The complete Point-in-Time Homeless Count report has not yet been released.

A study done last year by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development says Juneau is the most expensive place in the state to live. Shortage of affordable housing has long been a problem.

“It’s a really, really tough housing market with not a whole lot of building activity going on, so until we can substantially add more units to the community we’re still going to be having these issues of folks left without adequate housing in town,” Ciambor says.

Glory Hole executive director Mariya Lovishchuk is not surprised Juneau ranks high on the list for homeless families.

“We also have this phenomenon now more so than in previous years of people moving in from surrounding smaller communities into Juneau seeking better economic opportunities and just not finding anything,” she says.

For homeless families needing immediate shelter, there are options, Lovishchuk says, thanks to a coalition of social service providers.

“Everybody has great relationships. Most people have each other’s cell phones, so if we do get a family here regardless of what time of night or day, we call our partners right away and through this coordinated system we are able to place people in the best possible place for them,” she says.

The partnership includes St. Vincent de Paul, AWARE, Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority and the Glory Hole. All either operate transitional shelter or help pay for emergency housing.

Lovishchuk calls Glory Hole’s unit for families “inadequate” for longer stays, but says a father and son once stayed for five months. St. Vincent de Paul and Glory Hole also share a housing specialist that helps homeless families transition to more permanent options.

The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation announced Wednesday that a 40-unit housing development for low-income families is planned for Juneau, to get underway by fall.