Matt Miller

Master Gardener Ed Buyarski has some ideas for harvesting potatoes and prevent potato scab.

Stories include a recap of the public meeting over the potential closure of the Douglas Post Office.

Stories include a preview of a public meeting over the possible closing of the Douglas Post Office and the search for rare earth minerals on Prince of Wales Island.

A Sitka judge wants another opinion on whether John Marvin, Jr. is competent to stand trial for the shooting of two Hoonah police officers last year.

Superior Court Judge David George heard a set of different diagnoses during a competency hearing in Juneau on Tuesday. Judge George says another exam would help preserve Marvin’s rights while protecting the record for a potential appeal in the case.

Dr. Lawrence Maile, clinical director at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage, says Marvin is “competent to stand trial and has the capacity to assist in his own defense.” Maile believes Marvin suffers from anti-social personality disorder and alcohol abuse. He believes that Marvin understands the charges alleged and the court process already underway.

Dr. Fred Wise, clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Washington, says Marvin suffers from a delusional disorder and possibly an additional disorder that may be organically-based, such as what might be brought on by a tumor or brain injury. Wise, who examined Marvin for his defense, says that he suffers from a form of thought disorganization that’s not easily faked. During exams, Marvin would question why he was in jail and talk about being a “High Royal” or an “innocent.” Wise’s notes from his interviews seem to echo Marvin’s outbursts made during his first appearances in court last year.

A third expert who testified during Tuesday’s hearing only examined Marvin on his culpability in the crime, not his competency to stand trial. Dr. David Sperbeck, who identified himself as chief of psychology at Northstar Hospital in Anchorage, says Marvin would likely be found “guilty, but mentally ill.” Sperbeck’s own conclusion included major elements of diagnosis from the previous two experts. He also explained that diagnosing a mentally ill defendant may be complicated by differences in environment. He compared the comfortable setting at A.P.I. against the hostile, noisy atmosphere at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. Sperbeck, who examined Marvin for the prosecution, says he found Marvin “responsive, evasive, and gamey” in answering questions. Sperbeck examined Marvin on his culpability in the crime, not his competency to stand trial.

Judge George asked Sperbeck to do a follow-up evaluation on Marvin’s competency.

The 46-year old Marvin is being charged with murder and weapons misconduct in connection with the shooting of Hoonah officers Tony Wallace and Matt Tokuoka on August 28, 2010. Responding officers say Marvin held them at bay for at least a day following the shooting.

A jury trial in the case had been scheduled for last December and was recently rescheduled for October 17. But that date could be pushed into next year with another examination.

Stories include a Washington D.C. exhibit documenting climate change among the indigenous peoples of the Arctic and Juneau’s Anna Graceman prepares for another performance tonight during the America’s Got Talent television show.

Nearly three decades after it was first proposed and designed, construction is now getting underway on the Pacific Northwest Research Station’s Juneau Forestry Sciences Laboratory.

Ground was broken Thursday afternoon on the new lab adjacent to the University of Alaska Southeast campus, just down the foot and bike path from the Egan Library.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Paul Brewster, assistant director of the Research Station and head of the Juneau lab, says funding for the $8.3 million dollar facility was finally approved in the last year and a half.

“They have a national priority list for facilities,” say Brewster. ”This being a research facility, it’s sort of looked at separate from other administrative facilities like the Juneau Ranger District office out there.”

Brewster believed its location next to UAS and potential opportunities for students to become involved with forest research could have helped bump the lab to the top of the priority list.

About twenty Forest Service employees are expected to move into the facility when it’s completed and opens in the latter half of next year.

Research Station Lab members are currently working out of the old NOAA fish laboratory in Auke Bay.

Previously, they worked out of facilities on Sherwood Lane, just down the street from the Alaska State Troopers and Department of Motor Vehicles. But an audit revealed health and safety concerns, and poorly functioning lab space.

For more on the new laboratory, check out the story in this newscast that aired Friday morning: