Recent News

The public can weigh in on a possible move of the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial to Marine Park at a meeting of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee tomorrow night (Tuesday).

The memorial’s board of directors has asked the city’s Docks and Harbors Department to leave the monument where it is near Taku Smokeries, and not to build a planned cruise ship dock in front of it. But if the dock project goes forward, the memorial board says its preferred location is Marine Park.

Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Chair Jeff Wilson says Marine Park is “the people’s park” and he wants to hear from the public about the proposed move.

“I just want to get some input from the users of that park of what they want to see in that park and whether the fishermen’s memorial really is the best place to be in Marine Park,” Wilson says.

He says the PRAC will likely make a recommendation to the Docks and Harbors Board at the end of the meeting. Docks and Harbors will use the input to decide whether the memorial should move, and take it to the CBJ Assembly for approval.

At last week’s assembly meeting, Assemblyman Johan Dybdahl expressed frustration at the assembly’s lack of involvement to this point.

“You know, I would have like to hear from all those people who have people on that memorial, and I don’t believe most of them support moving it at all,” Dybdahl said. “So, I was hoping that there would be sometime that the assembly would be able to weigh in and become a part of the decision process.”

The assembly approved the dock expansion project without considering its impact on the memorial or the annual Blessing of the Fleet held there. The project budget includes up to 2-million dollars for the potential move. The actual cost isn’t known until a site is chosen.

Tomorrow night’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Friday relocated a family of black bears that had been frequenting downtown Juneau this summer.

Wildlife biologist Ryan Scott says the department had been looking for the sow and three yearlings for a couple months. He says they finally caught up with them just south on the Baranof Hotel on the hillside behind Gastineau Avenue.

“These guys have been extremely active in the South Franklin, Gastineau Avenue area. And they’ve been around for a long time, and they just didn’t seem to be getting any better,” says Scott. “And we had actually decided awhile ago to remove them, but as you can imagine, with four bears it’s a little bit complex and we were waiting for the right time, and the right place, and the right personnel and the whole nine yards, and it all came together.”

Scott says the bears were tranquilized and relocated off the road system. The sow was about 180 pounds, and the yearlings – all males – were between 80 and 90 pounds each. He says it’s unusual, but not unheard of for a female to hang onto her cubs for that long.

Scott says food in the form of human trash was probably attracting the bears to the area. He says this has been a pretty busy bear year.

“We have a lot of bears that seem to be in neighborhoods and urban settings. On top of that we have what appears to be a large crop of yearling bears, and again those are the ones that typically find themselves in weird predicaments. So, it’s definitely kept us busy,” Scott says.

He says most people do a good job of keeping their garbage in secure containers so as not to attract bears. But with a couple more months left before they go into hibernation, he says Friday’s trapping and relocation is a good reminder to everyone to be bear aware.

Five of Juneau’s 14 schools made Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act last year, down from six in 2009-2010.

Auke Bay and Glacier Valley elementary schools, Juneau Douglas High School, the Community Charter School and Johnson Youth Center achieved academic targets in each of 31 different categories to meet AYP. Three schools – Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School, Mendenhall River Community School, and Gastineau Elementary – missed in just one category. And three more schools missed only two. Thunder Mountain High School missed three categories in its third year in operation.

For the first time in three years academic and graduation standards increased under No Child Left Behind, but Juneau School District Superintendent Glen Gelbrich says test scores show more students meeting the law’s targets.

“District-wide we met 95 percent of those standards. That’s up from last year, which was 94, and up from the year before, which was 93. So, even with the higher bar, we’re meeting more of the individual requirements than we were before. When you aggregate it all into the AYP formula it doesn’t add up,” Gelbrich says.

The standards will go up again this year. The goal of No Child Left Behind is to have 100 percent of students proficient in language arts and math testing by the 2013-2014 school year.

The law breaks students into nine different subgroups, including ethnic and socioeconomic status as well as students with disabilities. Gelbrich says that aspect promotes targeted improvements.

“It encourages you and you really need to do the drilling down in order to address what some of that criteria is,” says Gelbrich. “I would argue that, I’m not sure we need the law in order to do that. We want to know about each student, where is he or she in relation to where we want them to be.”

The district will host its second annual “School Summit” on Thursday August 25th at Thunder Mountain to share the AYP results with the community.

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development released statewide results Friday. About 46 percent of Alaska schools met adequate yearly progress last year, a 14 percent decline from the previous year.

The Obama administration recently announced it would allow states to opt out of the Bush-era law’s requirements starting this fall. State officials say they’ll review the waiver requirements when they’re announced, and decide whether Alaska will opt out.

The Juneau Chamber of Commerce and 13 other Southeast businesses and organizations will join in the state’s lawsuit against a federal rule that prevents road construction in certain areas of the Tongass National Forest.

The Parnell administration in June appealed a federal district court decision setting aside an eight-year-old policy that exempted the Tongass from the so-called Roadless Rule. The organizations plan to file as interveners in the case next week in federal district court in Washington, D.C.

The conservation policy was implemented in 2001, as President Clinton was leaving office. Then Gov. Tony Knowles sued the federal government. The state argued that the 1980 Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act – which preserved 115-million acres – also decreed that no more land could be protected in the state.

Two years later, the Murkowski administration negotiated an out-of-court settlement.

Jim Clark was Gov. Frank Murkowski’s chief of staff. He says under the settlement the Tongass was exempt from application of the roadless policy via a 2003 interim rule, with a final rule to come at some point after that.

Clark is now the attorney for the group that will file as interveners in the Parnell lawsuit.

He told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce yesterday (Thursday) the rule could prevent development of hydroelectric and other renewable energy projects, as well as mining and timber in Southeast Alaska, and even the proposed Lynn Canal Highway out of Juneau.

A number of utility companies have joined the case, including Alaska Electric Light and Power, Alaska Power and Telephone and Inside Passage Electric Cooperative.

“There’s no mention in the Tongass portion of the Roadless Rule about the impact that prohibiting road or reconstruction in the inventoried roadless areas would have on hydro power construction, transmission line construction from hydro sites to communities, or the maintenance of either one,” Clark says.  “All that’s said is existing authorized uses would be allowed to maintain and operate within the parameters of their current authorization, including any provisions regarding access.”

Federal District Court Judge John Sedwick in May approved a list of energy and mining projects already underway as not subject to the Roadless Rule. Clark says all the projects are important, but he can find no authority in the rule that exempts them.

Environmental attorneys read the law differently. Buck Lindekugel of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council says the rule does not prevent other projects from going forward. SEACC and the U.S. Forest Service helped negotiate the list with the Justice Department. Lindekugel says it doesn’t need to be comprehensive.

“If you read the rule, the rule does not prohibit mining in roadless areas,” Lindekugel says. “It does not prohibit renewable energy development. And the court made that very clear when it issued its proposed order. And the reason we listed the projects in that proposed order was to clarify the flexibility of the rule.

Lindekugel calls the interveners’ argument “a lot of scare tactics.”

But First Things First Alaska Foundation President Neil MacKinnon says organizations that join the lawsuit are “trying to right the roadless wrong.”

“We see this Roadless Rule as probably the biggest economic impediment to the future of Southeast and it’s got to change or we don’t have a future,” MacKinnon says.

The foundation donated $5,000 to the litigation fund and is asking for other contributions. First Things First is a non-profit formed in 2009 to support resource development in Alaska.

Other companies joining the state’s case include Alaska Marine Lines, Southeast Stevedoring, Alaska Miners and Northwest Miners associations.

Clark, the interveners’ attorney, expects it will take 12 to 18 months before a decision comes from the federal court.

Two more candidates say they’ll run for Juneau Assembly.

Financial Investment Advisor Bradley Fluetsch says he’s running for the District One seat being vacated by Merrill Sanford. Realtor Carlton Smith plans to run for the Areawide seat held until recently by Bob Doll.

Fluetsch ran for mayor and lost to Bruce Botelho.  He says he’s been eyeing an Assembly race since then.

Fluetsch says his main concern is diversifying Juneau.  He calls the Capital City a one-horse town.

“We have one water system, we have one power company with one power line, we have one airline, we have one marine transportation system, we have no road option. We have one basic employer, government. You lose a horse, Juneau loses bad,”  Fluetsch says.  “You know, just working with the community trying to find that modest growth.  How are  we going to do it, where are we going to put the people, what are they going to do for work? Those are the issues the Assembly can address.”

Fleutsch says extending water and sewer throughout the borough, affordable housing, and job creation are all major issues.

Most of the candidates this year cite similar issues as reasons to run for the Assembly.

Carlton Smith says he’s filing his candidate application on Friday morning.  He says his record as a business owner as well as his long involvement with private, non-profit, and charitable organizations are good training for the Assembly.

He says the Assembly has a full plate of issues right now.

“For starters, the issue of the mine since we’re part owner of the AJ,” Smith says.  “The harbor improvements, water and sewer improvements are right there in front of us, coupled with the sales tax issue; the question of recycling, how we can get going on that.

“Probably most of all is how we can secure the employment levels we have right now.  And quite frankly we have to have a new focused effort on creating jobs,” Smith says.

He is a former chief executive officer of Kootznoowoo and a Sealaska officer.

Fluetsch is a former president of Juneau’s Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand Camp.

The municipal filing deadline is August 15.  Others running for Assembly are Jesse Kiehl, Loren Jones, Randy Wanamaker and Geny DelRosario.

So far, only Sally Saddler has filed to run for School Board.

Juneau’s cross-town rivals take to the football field Saturday (Aug. 13). The first game of the season pits the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears and the Thunder Mountain Falcons against each other. The Falcons are just in their third year; the Bears’ football program is more than two decades old.

Though they play in different conferences, they’re starting the season in what Bears’ head coach Rich Sjoross says may be the most emotional game:

“There are so many story lines you could look at, with kids that are related to each other or have played with each other for years and now for the first time at the high school level they’re playing against each other. Coaching staff that used to work together is now split up at different schools,” Sjoross says. “And both teams are coming off a pretty successful year last year and have pretty high expectations this year, so I think that’s going to add some drama to it as well.”

Most of the Falcon’s coaching staff once coached the Crimson Bears. Some families have kids at both high schools. When Juneau’s second high school opened three years ago, the Falcons ended up in the small Southeast Conference with Sitka and Ketchikan, while Juneau stayed in the Railbelt conference with larger schools.

Saturday night’s game is a shake-down, says TMHS head coach Bill Byour. And he expects Bears to give the Falcons a real fight.

“My kids are going to come out and play hard too. But they’ve (Crimson Bears) worked together many more years. That program has been in place, it’s a quality program, so I expect the first meeting between the two schools is going to be a battle. It’s going to be a good game,” Byouer says.

The junior varsity teams kick off at 5 p.m. at Reilly Ritchie Memorial Field at Adair Kennedy Park. The varsity rivalry starts at 8 p.m.