Tripp J Crouse, KTOO

In this newscast:

• Goldman Sachs, Bank of China to assist LNG project funding: The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. has secured two of the world’s largest banks to help raise funds for the $43 billion Alaska LNG Project. Goldman Sachs and the Bank of China will assist the corporation in raising multiple rounds of debt and equity investment, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday.
• Divided House majority coalition stuck on state budget: The Alaska House hasn’t taken any action on the budget since Monday. That’s when the body more than doubled the size of the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. The House voted 21 to 19 to set the PFD at roughly $2,700. The vote split both caucuses.
• Avista and Hydro One file settlement agreement in Olympia: Alaska Electric Light & Power’s parent company has reached a settlement with state regulators in Washington to merge with Hydro One. The acquisition by the Canadian power company still needs approval from state regulators in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and in the case of Juneau’s power company, Alaska.

You can hear these stories and more at ktoo.sandbox.5mts.com/listen.

The general manager of Juneau’s ski area says the unseasonable winter weather has played heck with the mountain’s snowpack.

Warm-up cycles have taken a toll on the mountain’s natural snow, said Eaglecrest Ski Area’s Dave Scanlan.

“The weather has certainly been a rollercoaster this year,” Scanlan said. “We’ve had a lot of abnormal high temperatures with heavy rain.”

The National Weather Service says November looked promising. And abnormally low temperatures let the ski area make snow on the lower mountain at the beginning of the season.

But in December and January, there were record high temperatures. Rain melted most of the snow. Then February was cooler than normal, but there was little precipitation.

National Weather Service meteorologist intern Sharon Sullivan said the snowpack is far below normal this year.

“In March here, our highest snow depth was 35,” she said. “Looking at about this time last year, they had their highest snow depth in March was 73 inches at the base, and their total snowfall through March 21st was about 50 inches. As of right now March 2018, they’ve had 16.7 inches of snow.”

Scanlan said about three to four weeks of good conditions brought more snow. The ski area opened its Hooter and Ptarmigan lifts in February, and had an increase in traffic.

A self-professed ski bum, Bruce Griggs has been president of the Juneau Ski Club for three years, and a race dad for about 10 years. The 57-year-old father of twin teen daughters spends a lot of time at Eaglecrest.

“Over the years, I think I figured this out one time, I think my average is probably 70 days a year we spend skiing and most of that is at Eaglecrest,” Griggs said.

He said that in previous years, during a bad season, he’d go to somewhere else with better conditions. But not this year.

“It was a strange year,” he said. “It’d be like we’re right on the cusp of almost opening. We’d get really close and then it would rain. Then the forecast would change and just enough to keep that carrot dangling in front of ya. So we stayed here and weathered it.”

Griggs calls it “ski bum cabin fever.” Instead, he went hiking and did other activities.

Some people still went skiing, he said, even in muddy conditions.

“So many people were still pretty upbeat about the kind of winter we had and so many people persevered and made it skiing and went skiing even when the conditions were gnarly,” he said.

Eaglecrest General Manager Scanlan says that historically, March is a big snow month, which can make for good spring skiing.

“It is really going to be weather dependent,” he said. “We’re just going to be taking it a week at a time and seeing what the forecast is going to bring our way.”

The City and Borough of Juneau subsidizes and owns Eaglecrest Ski Area, which handles about 50,000 skier visits a year.

Eaglecrest is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday and is scheduled to close April 8 for the season. Eaglecrest’s Black Bear lift is undergoing repairs.

In this newscast:

• State ferries won’t stop sailing April 16, after all: The Alaska Marine Highway System will not have to shut down in April. Gov. Bill Walker signed a supplemental appropriations bill Tuesday funding the ferry system through the end of the current fiscal year in June.
• Sac roe herring fishery stands down for aerial surveys: The Sitka sac roe herring fishery stood down Tuesday, as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game carried out aerial surveys of Sitka Sound. The department opened the fishery twice this week. The fleet landed approximately 2,400 tons of herring on March 25 and 400 tons of herring on March 26.

You can hear these stories and more at ktoo.sandbox.5mts.com/listen.

In other news:

School board approves budget as questions over state funding loom

The Juneau School Board passed its annual budget Tuesday night, approving an estimated $85 million to $86 million for next school year.

The board proposed some cuts but ultimately added to the budget during the four-hour special meeting. Director of Administrative Services David Means said he did not immediately have the final budget amount available, but would know Wednesday once he had a chance to run the numbers.

Investigation stalls in Penny Cotten hotel death case

Juneau police have suspended their investigation of a Juneau woman found dead under suspicious circumstances in a downtown hotel six months ago. Penny Ann Cotten, 48, was found dead in a room at the Breakwater Inn on the evening of Sept. 27, 2017. She had a gunshot wound to the head.

Cotten’s family in Arkansas said they received a death certificate listing the cause of death as suicide by a handgun. Cotten’s sister, Veronica Crumley, told WMC Action News 5 that she doesn’t believe it.

In this newscast

• Coast Guard suspends search for man missing from oil tanker south of Sand Point: The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man who reportedly fell overboard from an oil tanker traveling past the Aleutian Islands. Petty Officer Lauren Dean says air crews spent 14 hours searching for the 22-year-old mariner, who went missing Sunday afternoon from the M/V Challenge Prelude.
• After 3 decades, Washington state bans Atlantic salmon farms: Atlantic salmon farming has been banned from Washington state waters after Gov. Jay Inslee signed the restrictions on nonnative fish farms into law last week in Olympia. The move comes eight months after an ill-fated fish farm near Anacortes started to come undone in a strong current on an otherwise calm summer day.

You can hear these stories and more at ktoo.sandbox.5mts.com/listen.

Juneau officers, EMTs to participate in joint shooter response training

Juneau firefighters and police officers will train this week how to rescue and treat victims during an active shooter event.

“We’re basically doing more and more of training of this nature,” said Joe Mishler, emergency medical services training officer with Capital City Fire/Rescue.

“As things are changing and the world we live in, we’re basically trying to work together closer with our police department.”

The Cost of Cold: Staying warm in Nome

In Nome, people stay warm in a variety of ways. They collect driftwood along the beach in the summer months, shipping pallets are burned in stoves and heating fuel arrives by barge in the summer and fall.

Richard Beneville spends $250 heating his house every month of the year with diesel.

Listen to his story here.

Landless communities continue fight for land

Representatives of Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Tenakee Springs and Haines continue their fight for recognition under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Alaska’s Congressional delegation has introduced a number of bills over the years to address the situation. None has passed.

In this newscast:

• Nikolaevsk man dead and one Alaska State Trooper injured after officer-involved shooting: A Nikolaevsk man is dead and one Alaska State Trooper is injured after an officer-involved shooting Saturday evening. Troopers received a report that Nikolai Yakunin, 42, was in contact with a female, a violation of his probation conditions.
• Man armed with knife dead after Anchorage police say he charged officer: A weekend incident in Anchorage has left a man dead after police say he came at an officer wielding a knife. The incident started Saturday evening, when a bystander called police about a stabbing between a couple in the parking lot of a Home Depot.
• Alaska February employment down 2,300 jobs from 2017: State labor officials say Alaska lost about 2,300 jobs in February compared to the same month last year. Total employment fell an estimated 0.7 percent in February from February 2017. Employment in oil and gas jobs declined 6.8 percent through the loss of 700 jobs.

You can hear these stories and more at ktoo.sandbox.5mts.com/listen.

In other news:

Juneau residents, legislators call for gun reform at March for Our Lives protest

Juneau residents and legislators protested Saturday in solidarity with the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C.
Like the Parkland survivors who led the national protest, Alaskans called on lawmakers to do more to protect not only students, but everyone, from gun violence.

About 200 people gathered outside the Juneau offices of Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. They called for more gun control legislation and stricter background checks for those buying guns.

In tough year for trollers, Mallott backs Alaska’s salmon treaty team

Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott supports Alaska’s Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiating team, although he believes Alaska fishermen have been disadvantaged by the international agreement in the past.

The Pacific Salmon Treaty is up for renewal this year. It’s coming under close scrutiny as Alaskan fleets are looking at deep cuts to their traditional harvests, to protect stocks.

In this newscast:

• Glenn Highway bridge repair estimated at $1.8M: Alaska highway officials estimate it will cost $1.8 million to repair a bridge spanning the main highway into Anchorage from the north. Inbound lanes remain closed as the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities plans repairs of the bridge over the highway.
• ACLU sues city of Palmer over alleged unlawful immigrant arrest: A civil rights group is suing an Alaska police department over what it says was the unlawful arrest and detention of an immigrant last summer.
• Governor nominates Petersburg, Seward men for North Pacific Council seats: Alaska Governor Bill Walker has nominated John Jensen of Petersburg and Andy Mezirow of Seward to open seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

You can hear these stories and more at ktoo.sandbox.5mts.com/listen.