Recent News

A soldier received a surprise welcome when he returned to Juneau from deployment in Iraq Friday evening.

Dozens of strangers gathered to greet Specialist Karl Tubbs at the Juneau International Airport upon his wife’s request.

Erica Tubbs explained in an e-mail to a group of local parents that she and her two-year-old son James moved to Juneau several months ago and have no family in town.

She asked members of the parenting group to come to the airport to help her greet her husband and even offered to pay their parking fees.

“We don’t have family here and somebody read that in that e-mail I sent to Juneau parents and they said, ‘yes, you do,’ and that was nice.”

Erica Tubbs also contacted the Alaska National Guard to ask their help in welcoming her husband home.

Several fellow guardsmen came to show their support, including Chief Warrant Officer Four Bill Clutton.

“It’s good to welcome these guys home,” he said. “They’ve done a lot for us and given up a lot, along with their families. So it’s good to say ‘hi,’ say ‘thank you’ and ‘welcome home’.”

Specialist Tubbs has been away from his family for two years, spending one year in training and the other year deployed.

He left when James was two weeks old and has seen little of his son since then.

The Tubbs were overwhelmed by the showing of support. They say the response says a lot about the people of Juneau.

Wins for both Juneau high school varsity football teams this weekend.

The Thunder Mountain Falcons on Friday beat the Sitka Wolves on a score of 25 to 6, just the margin they needed for the drive to playoffs.

A 27-yard field goal late in the game sealed it. If the Falcons beat Ketchikan next week, they will host the Southeast Conference playoff game in Juneau.

Friday’s win was also sweet revenge for a loss to Sitka earlier this month.

The Falcons’ Ben Jahn scored two touchdowns and the field goal; Joe Ia had the third. Sitka scored just one TD.

After four losses, the Falcons have won two games in a row, beating Ketchikan handily last week. Sitka, Ketchikan and Thunder Mountain are the only members of the small Southeast Conference, and play each other at least twice in the season.

On Saturday, the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears beat the Notre Dame Jugglers in a slow-starting, penalty-plagued game.

Notre Dame Regional Secondary School is in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Jugglers traveled to Juneau 17 years ago to play the Bears, and head coach Richard Scott says the hospitality and experience are always good, despite the loss.  

“We lost in the last play of that game. This one wasn’t that close,” he said.

Juneau beat Notre Dame 33 to 13. Neither team scored in the first quarter, and a penalty against the Jugglers negated a touchdown.  It was one of several that kept the Jugglers from scoring other touchdowns in the game.

“We were inside the 20-yard line three times and came away with nothing. When that happens you’re probably not going to win many of those games. You’ve got to take advantage when you’re in the red zone and we didn’t today,” Scott said after the game. “So we’ll go home and fix those things and get into league play in B.C.”

As Alaska teams steam toward playoffs, teams Outside are just getting started. This was Notre Dame’s second game of the season.

It was a bye week for JDHS, traditionally filled by playing a team from outside the state.

While the Crimson Bears’ defense was solid, the offense had trouble finding a rhythm. Head coach Rich Sjoross also blames penalties.

“You know whether they’re good penalties, bad penalties, it’s just hard to get in a flow when you see those flags flying. You don’t know what to call next when you’re starting at second and 25 instead of second and five, things like that. So I think that had a lot to do with us coming out and being hit and miss most of the night,” Sjoross said.

The Bears scored six touchdowns, beginning late in the second quarter. Phillip Fenumiai broke the ice with a one-yard carry.

Demetrius Campos had a 62-yard punt return and an 82-yard return on kick-off. Campos scored a third TD, Samson Nauer scored on an interception, and Sean Niumataevalu  scored a touchdown on a pass from Fenumiai. Three of kicker Adam Soto’s extra points were good, and Notre Dame blocked two.

Notre Dame had two successful touchdowns and one extra point.

The Kensington mine accident that killed Juneau resident Joe Tagaban last week is the eighth U.S. mining fatality in 2011, according to the Mining Safety and Health Administration. It was also the first explosives fatality for the year.

An updated report from MSHA indicates Tagaban was waiting on a ramp for the blast to be initiated. And when it was, small rock and debris traveled through a 3-inch diameter diamond borehole, striking him.

The regulatory agency says the hole should have been mapped and plugged.

The report lists several best practices for using underground explosives; that includes evacuating all persons from the designated blasting site.

MSHA is asking for other suggestions to prevent such an accident.

The underground section of the Kensington mine where the accident occurred was closed for a week during the initial investigation.

While the mine is back in full operation, no blasting can be conducted in production areas underground until MSHA says it’s safe.

The company is working with the agency to finalize blasting protocols in production stopes. Blasting activities related to mine development are continuing.

According to MSHA, there were 14 U.S. metal and non-metal mining fatalities reported in 2010.

Click here for the MSHA “Fatalgram.”

A Lemon Creek-area house designed and built by Juneau-Douglas High School students is ready for a family.

An open house was held Friday to show off the 1,000 square foot, two-story, energy efficient home. It was also a thank you to the partners and local businesses that supported the project. Juneau Housing Trust reimburses the school district for its costs.

JDHS students have built about 12 affordable homes since 1973.

Now all this two-bedroom, two-bath house needs is the personal touch, according to Juneau School District Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich.

“I love the design of the house. I think it is a remarkably straight-forward design that is right to be personalized by the people who live here,” Glebrich said during the open house.

The house project is a partnership between the Juneau School District, and Southeast Alaska Guidance Association (SAGA), Juneau Housing Trust, University of Alaska Southeast, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 262, Southeast Alaska Building Industry Association, and the Juneau Construction Academy.

JDHS teacher Craig Mapes teaches the course, with worksite management and construction assistance by SAGA Construction Manager Justin Fantasia and Americorp’s Jared Wharton.

The Kensington Gold Mine is back in full operation, following a week closure in an area where a miner was killed last week.

Mine owner Coeur Alaska says all underground activities are at full capacity. But according to the Mining Safety and Health Administration, no blasting can be conducted in production stopes until the agency says it’s safe. Stopes are openings – or rooms – created in the process of extracting the gold ore.

MSHA’s preliminary report indicates 30-year-old Joe Tagaban, of Juneau, was struck by rock – initiated by a blast — that flew through a previously drilled hole intersecting the stope where he was working.

Coeur Alaska spokesman Tony Ebersole says blasting activities related to development are continuing and the company is working with MSHA to finalize protocols in production stopes.

The mill is also back in full operation after being down earlier this week for planned maintenance.

The company says it doesn’t expect the closure will impact 2011 production levels. Through the first six months of this year, Kensington produced 49, 434 ounces of gold.

The Kensington Gold Mine is about 45 miles northwest of Juneau.

There’s less than a week for Alaskans to weigh in on the new Catch Sharing Plan for halibut. The deadline is next Wednesday, September 21st.

A final rule could be issued this fall on the proposal that allocates halibut between commercial longliners and charter operators. The Secretary of Commerce could approve it by December. That could put the plan in place for next year.

Rachel Baker, a fisheries management specialist for NOAA Fisheries, briefed members of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce on the players involved in halibut management and how the new Catch Sharing Plan would work on limiting growth in the charter sector.

Baker says the proposed Catch Sharing Plan was designed for its predictability and includes an initial allocation and a set of daily bag limits for the charter sector. There’s also a potential transfer of Individual Fishing Quota from commercial longliners to charter operators in the form of Guided Angler Fish, or GAF.

Here’s the first part of Baker’s presentation before the Chamber on Thursday:

Part two:

Part three:

More on information on the Catch Sharing Plan can be found at NOAA’s website. Scroll down to the section on Public Comment Periods

Comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov