Rosemarie Alexander

State wildlife officials are warning people not to stop and watch bears along the roadside.

A black bear family in the Auke Bay bypass area is beginning to draw a crowd.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Ryan Scott says a sow and three cubs have been seen near the driveway to Aant’ iyeik Park, and traffic is creating problems for the bears as well as people.

“Lots of vehicles going by, pulling to the side of the road, parking near the road and people getting out of their vehicles and approaching these bears very closely,” he says.

I want to encourage people not to stop.”

Another bear family was seen in the same area last spring, which Scott says created similar traffic problems. He says some of those who stopped got out of their vehicles and approached the bears.

Later in the summer, the bear family moved away from the roadside and into neighborhoods.

“They were a challenge for us as well as the people living in those areas,” he says. “It’s quite possible they were very comfortable around people after having all these visitations and spending time with people on the side of the road.”

He says the bears are drawn by the early mature spring vegetation in the area.

Scott says it’s never a good idea to approach bears, no matter how cute the cubs may be.

Sportsman’s Warehouse is moving to Juneau, like other large outdoor outfitters that recently made their way north.

“We got Cabela’s comin’ in and Bass Pro Shops in Anchorage. I don’t know what you guys do for fishing gear down here, but we’re set,” Marcus Hartley of Northern Economics told the annual World Trade Center Alaska economic forum in Juneau last January. He predicted the retail sector would bring a number of new jobs to Alaska this year.

Cabela’s opened in Anchorage in April and Bass Pro Shops is next. Sportsman’s Warehouse will open in Juneau’s Nugget Mall sometime in the spring of 2015.

Nugget Mall is owned by Loveless/Tollefson Properties of Redmond, Wash. General Manager Ted Tollefson says Sportsman’s plans a 25,000 square foot store next to Office Max. It will have a separate outside entrance as well as access into the mall.

Sportsman’s Warehouse is based in Midvale, Utah, and has 74 stores nationwide. The Juneau store will be the company’s fifth in Alaska.

Nugget Mall manager Bud Jaeger calls Sportsman’s Warehouse the new anchor tenant. The store will take the entire width of the mall and go from the old Nugget Alaskan Outfitter space to the current Payless ShoeSource.

Four current merchants will be forced to move: Big Dipper Ice Cream, Specs in the City, GNC and Rodfather’s Broiler Restaurant. Rodfather’s plans to move to Mendenhall Mall.

Jaegar says there’s plenty of room within Nugget Mall for the businesses displaced by Sportsman’s, and still space for new stores.

He says the conversation with Sportsman’s Warehouse actually began a couple of years ago, when Nugget Alaskan Outfitter was still in prime space at Nugget Mall.

NAO owner Ron Flint would have had to move his store within the mall to make way for the bigger outfitter. So when his lease came up, “that was part of the handwriting on the wall for me,” he says.

NAO moved from Nugget Mall to Mendenhall Mall late last year.

Now that a deal with the national store is in the works, Flint says he’s especially glad he made the move across the valley instead of down the hall. While Sportsman’s Warehouse will sell some similar merchandise as NAO and Foggy Mountain Shop downtown, “it’s a lot more bullets and blades. I think that’s what they say in the industry.  A lot more camo and hunting and fishing tackle and that kind of thing,” Flint says.

Sportsman’s will compete more directly with Western Auto Marine, Rayco Sales, and the hunting/fishing departments of Juneau’s big box stores.

“Hopefully, they’ll just cut down the number of Cabela’s mail orders out of Juneau,” Flint says.

Tollefson says he has had preliminary discussions with Walgreens about leasing space in Nugget Mall, but has nothing to report.

Former state Rep. Carl Moses died Wednesday, according to Unalaska city officials. He was 84.

Moses was the state’s longest-serving member of the state House of Representatives. He represented the Aleutians region for a total of 11 terms — first from 1965 to 1972 and then again from 1992 to 2007.

In that time, he was known as an advocate for Southwest Alaska fisheries and business. He spearheaded the state’s shared fishery resource landing tax, which brings millions of dollars into Aleutian communities and other coastal towns every year.

Moses lived for years in Unalaska and Sand Point.

Two years ago, Unalaska’s newest boat harbor was named for Moses.

In a news release on Wednesday, Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt said Moses’ “commitment to the communities he served and the fisheries that sustain them was rock-solid.”

Gov. Sean Parnell has ordered state flags to be lowered on Friday and raised to full-staff at sunset.

The Juneau School Board is asking the Juneau Assembly to increase funding next year to reduce staffing cuts.

If the Assembly agrees, only a handful of school district jobs will be cut.

The Assembly is budgeting just over $24 million for schools in fiscal year 2015, which is less than the local cap imposed by by state law. Thanks to an increase in state funds, 16 full-time jobs are being restored, including 13 teaching positions. Without the additional money, 30 positions would have been cut.

The state legislature added $150 per student to the allocation that districts get for enrolled students.

“That just brings in  another $1,300,000 from the state of Alaska,” says David Means, administrative services director for the Juneau School District.

Means has been meeting with the school board this week to help members decide how best to spend the additional funds.

The legislature also split $43 million among school districts throughout the state. The one-time grant can be spent on anything districts want.

“My estimate of our share is $1,500,000,” Means says.

Among other things, the extra state funds also will allow the district to restore a custodian position, purchase a music curriculum, retain some high school activities and reduce class sizes.

The FY 15 budget totals $143 million.

In the last four years, the district has cut nearly 100 employees.

The Skagway ferry dock is floating again. But it’s still not ready to host Alaska Marine Highway ferries.

Western Marine Construction of Juneau began working at low tide Tuesday to pump water out of the chambers that float the dock.

State transportation department spokesman Jeremy Woodrow says all 24 chambers were flooded. He says it’s still not clear why.

Skagway city officials think a potable water pipe that runs from the ferry terminal to the dock and underneath may have burst, but Woodrow says the state is not yet ready to declare that as the official cause.

He says DOT engineers are inspecting the dock and divers will exam the structure underwater.

Early estimates indicate repairs may run around $400,000. Woodrow says passenger ramp, electrical system and vehicle ramp hydraulic system repairs are underway, and other work will likely need to be done.

Ferry service has been suspended to Skagway until at least May 9^th.

A Delta Airlines vice president has pledged $10,000 to the city and borough of Juneau to help keep the Augustus Brown Swimming Pool open.

Mike Medeiros came to the Juneau Assembly Monday night to thank the city for the hospitality Delta has received as the company gets ready to provide service between Juneau and Seattle next month.

Let us know what we can do to help the community,” Medeiros said. “And I think as a first start, I’d like to just help by saying we’ll do something on the pool.  I’d like to offer a $10,000 donation to help keep the pool open, if that helps.”

The packed city hall chambers erupted in cheers.

“And I’m sure we’ll take you up on the $10,000,” quipped Mayor Merrill Sanford, as the assembly settled in for a long evening of public testimony on the budget, most of it meant to save the pool.

The city is facing a $12 million shortfall over the next two years, having already approved using about $3 million in fund balance to pay for negotiated wage and benefit increases for city workers.

Sales and property tax revenues are expected to be less than projected. The assembly is considering a combination of increased property taxes and fees as well as budget reductions to close the gap.

City Manager Kim Kiefer has proposed temporarily closing the downtown swimming pool, which could save the city about $775,000 over the next two years, and would be an opportunity to assess pool renovation costs.

Kiefer and assembly members have received hundreds of comments on the idea, most against. No one at Monday’s meeting spoke in favor of closing the pool.

Empowered boards

Glacier Swim Club president Steve Brockmann started off the testimony, presenting the assembly with a petition of more than 800 signatures of pool users who want to keep Augustus Brown pool open.

The 250-member swim club shares the downtown pool and Dimond Park Aquatic Center with the general public and school groups.

“We would really like to see an empowered board to run both pools, with a clear mission, a charter, to increase cost recovery and increase efficiencies at these pools,” Brockmann said.

The city’s Aquatic Facilities Advisory Board is also recommending an empowered board. Aquatics board member Rosemary Hagevig, a former member of the Juneau Assembly, said now is the time to create such a board for aquatics.

“My previous experience working with CBJ, with the enterprise and the other empowered boards, is that great things have happened. I think we have some excellent models to work from and I think we’ve got nowhere to go but up here,” she said.

The city has several empowered, or enterprise boards. Created in city charter, the boards operate Eaglecrest Ski Area, the Juneau International Airport, Docks and Harbors, and Bartlett Regional Hospital.

Each board’s authority is laid out in a separate city ordinance.

“The ordinance talks about what the scope of their authority is and then they are authorized to make decisions on behalf of the city within the scope of their authority,” says city attorney Amy Mead.

Proposed revenue increases

Young and old told the assembly Monday night that they would pay increased fees to use the pools. As Wilma Kirkpatrick approached the microphone, Mayor Sanford said, “Good evening, ma’am, how are you?”

“Old,” she replied to a roomful of laughter. Kirkpatrick said Augustus Brown pool is the only public exercise facility in downtown Juneau for senior citizens.

“The city has provided ball fields, soccer fields, ice rink, Eaglecrest, track and field, which are great, but not for the elderly,” she said. “So please don’t take the one place we have in the downtown area to keep us all going.”

Increased property taxes are on the assembly’s list of options for balancing the budget.  The proposal calls for a .44 mill rate increase, with a total mill rate of 11.20. If approved, property taxes would go up 44 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value, or $44 for every $100,000 of value.

Juneau Chamber of Commerce members called raising taxes a poor budget strategy. In a recent poll, chamber members voted two to one against the proposed tax increase, according to Lorene Palmer, chair of the chamber’s Government Affairs Committee. She said about 20 percent of  chamber members responded to the poll, and made comments.

“The main themes running through these comments were that the city needs to reduce its operating costs, prioritize services, reorganize departments to gain operational efficiencies, and establish long-term budget forecasting,” Palmer said.

Chamber president-elect Lance Stevens said the city is on an “unsustainable financial path.”

But many Juneau residents at the hearing said they would be willing to pay increased taxes for such programs and services as the swimming pool.

The city budget and mill rate increase are now before the Assembly Finance Committee. The city must adopt the budget by June 15.

NOTE: Updated with additional information on enterprise boards.