Juneau

Thursday is the opening of the purse seine season at Amalga Harbor in Juneau. Commercial fishermen will be able to catch chum, released from the DIPAC hatchery.

The fleet is allowed to fish for profit because DIPAC has already made back the cost to hatch the salmon. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Dave Harris says he’s expecting a good turnout for the opening.

“My understanding is there’s about 30 boats anchored on the set right now,” he says. “And so I assume they’ll be at least that many. We’ve had 100 boats participate in these fisheries in the past.”

The opening is only six hours and starts at 9 a.m. Typically, in fisheries like this, seiners have about 15 hours to get their catch.

But Harris says it’s a high-use area for Juneau residents; hence, the short time frame.

“This will allow the commercial fleet the opportunity to take these fish and hopefully the impacts on other people’s enjoyment and whatnot will be minimized,” he says.

Hidden Falls Hatchery on Baranof Island isn’t allowing commercial fishing because of low returns.

Captain Sig Mathisen came all the way to Juneau from Petersburg on the Marathon to fish for Icicle Seafoods.

“Well, it would be lovely to go home with a load of fish. That’s for sure,” Mathisen says. “But we’re tempering our expectations because of what we’re seeing in the waters here.”

It’s estimated that the commercial fleets could earn anywhere from 45 to 55 cents a pound for the chum.

Bail of $50,000 cash was set for an Oregon man accused of setting his girlfriend on fire with a cigarette lighter. The victim was the same woman that Brian Hogan, 32, of Hillsboro, was forbidden from contacting after an earlier arrest for assault.

Hogan was not required to enter a plea on the latest charge of assault during a first felony appearance in Juneau District Court on Wednesday.

Police and firefighters Tuesday evening responded to a Douglas address and found a 32-year-old woman who suffered burns on half of her body. Portions of her upper legs, an arm, and her torso were burned. The severity of those injuries was not immediately disclosed, but the woman was medevaced to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“We’re very concerned about her,” says Juneau Police Lt. Kris Sell.

Sell says the fire appeared to have started with fingernail polish remover or acetone ignited by a cigarette lighter used by Hogan.

“It’s a very grim injury, very painful with extremely long healing when you have a bad burn,” Sell says. “Most of us have had some level of burns and you know how painful it is.”

Sell says the woman dropped to the floor to extinguish the fire and Hogan tried to help put it out. Hogan was at the scene when first responders arrived and he traveled to the hospital with the victim. He was arrested after he was transported to the police station.

Sell says the felony charge of first degree assault does not require intentional conduct. It could also include reckless conduct that causes a serious physical injury.

“I don’t think I could call this an accident by any stretch,” Sell says. “There is a level of recklessness that a reasonable person could predict what was going to happen next. When someone engages in that behavior, I wouldn’t call it an accident.”

Sell says she could not divulge many details about the incident, but there was no alcohol involved. There was legal in-home use of marijuana prior to the incident and a small pipe was found at the scene, but Sell says Hogan was not noticeably impaired.

District Attorney James Scott says Hogan, who has a history of domestic violence under another name, comes to Juneau to wash windows.

Police say Hogan was arrested May 26 for an alleged assault of the same woman and charged with a misdemeanor. He was ordered not to see the victim if he was ever released from jail. Electronic court records indicate that a fellow window washer posted $5,000 cash bail on May 27.

If convicted of the latest felony assault charge, Hogan could serve up to 20 years in prison. In addition, Hogan faces two misdemeanor charges of violating conditions of release, and one misdemeanor for unlawful contact. If convicted, Hogan could spend three months to a year in prison for each of those charges.

Eaglecrest Ski Area officials are discounting prices of season passes and offering other incentives for skiers and snowboarders still bummed by last winter’s low snowfall and limited opportunities to hit the slopes.

“From a snow standpoint and an operating standpoint, it was our worst season ever at Eaglecrest,” says ski area general manager Matt Lillard. “We’re turning 40 years this year. But there’s never been a season with such little snow and such inability to open the upper mountain.

The Eaglecrest Board of Directors approved the new 2015-2016 price schedule on Thursday.

Early bird season pass prices will be $399, down from last season’s $469. Senior passes will be $369, teen passes will be $263, and youth passes will sell for $135. Lillard says those passes will be available as a Permanent Fund Dividend discount special until Oct. 11.

“That’s the lowest it’s been since 2009,” Lillard says. “We’re happy to be able to offer as big of a discount as we can. We’re hoping it’s a way to entice people to come and join us this coming winter which we’re hoping and sure is going to be better than last winter.”

Lack of snow forced Lillard to suspend operations on the lower mountain and only open portions of the upper mountain for a limited time last winter. The ski area eventually shut down in late March, about three weeks earlier than planned.

Among other incentives approved by the board, season pass holders will also be able to attend three snowsports clinics a month at no charge.

“We’re also adding three bring-a-friend free ticket days,” Lillard says. “If you purchase a pass, you’ll be able to get three free tickets on New Year’s Day, on Martin Luther King Day, and on Seward’s Day in March. If you were a pass holder last year and you weren’t just up to buying a pass this coming year, you would be able to ski for free on those three days as well.

Last season’s unused multi-visit cards can also be used until next New Year’s Eve.

The price of a locker rental will be $199 for an individual locker and $339 for a family locker. That’s a drop of $30 from last season’s prices. In addition, Lillard says they have nearly a hundred new lockers installed in the main lodge for those who have been on the waiting list.

Lillard says they decided to stick to their policy of no season pass refunds after a poor ski and snowboard season. When refunds were handed out after the poor winter of 2002-2003, Lillard says the ski area ended up $800,000 in the red.

This year, Lillard says they may only be drawing $10,000 out of their reserves.

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Every year, the senior citizens living at the Juneau Pioneer Home throw a “senior prom.”

Cindy Athearn has worked and volunteered at the Juneau Pioneer Home for over 20 years. She enjoys seeing the whole community come together for the event. “Everybody gets involved — families, staff. It’s a wonderful, magical time,” she says.

Resident Ruth Dawson also enjoys the opportunity to connect with others. “It’s a way to get to know each other and just to get to get closer to each other.”

The event is a lot of fun, but there’s also a deeper purpose according to Juneau Pioneer Home Administrator Gina Del Rosario. “Each day, we strive to celebrate life, and this is one way of celebrating life within this community is to enliven it with special events like this one,” she said. “It fits very well with the mission of the Alaska Pioneer Home: ‘providing a home and a community celebrating life through its final breath’.”

Some locals are calling for the removal of the Mississippi state flag flying on the main street into downtown Juneau because it prominently features the Confederate stars and bars.

On Monday evening business owner Marc Wheeler and community member Matt McGuan spoke to the Assembly about removing the flag.

For Wheeler, who’s originally from Louisiana, his connection to the Confederate flag goes back generations.

“On a personal level, my ancestors were slave owners, and I feel like that flag symbolizes our country’s original sin,” he said, “and we have to atone for that.”

Mississippi is a part of an all-states flag display organized every year by a group of volunteers who call themselves Friends of the Flags.

In light of recent events, McGuan decided to do something about it.

“That’s not a welcoming symbol. That’s a symbol of intimidation and hatred. It’s a relic of a terrible time in our country’s history,” McGuan said.

Jim Carroll, has been a Friends of the Flags volunteer since the display’s inception.

“Well, it’s a state representation of the flags, that’s what we have up, no matter what’s on the flag,” Carroll said.

Although he understands the controversy surrounding the flag, he said immediately removing it is impractical. The flags are replaced yearly using a donated piece of heavy equipment.

Mississippi adopted its current flag in 1894. In a controversial statewide referendum in 2001, voters doubled down on keeping the flag.

But the flag doesn’t belong in Alaska, according to McGuan.

“If the people of Mississippi want it on their flag that’s their deal, but we don’t have to give it a place of honor in our community,” McGuan said.

Chair of the Juneau Human Rights Commission Alavini Lata, says the board hasn’t received any complaints from the community. Lata says Friends of the Flags has the final say and the most the commission could do is to talk to them. The issue might be addressed at an upcoming meeting, but he doesn’t think taking down one flag would be effective.

“Generally we don’t take action unless something is brought up by the community and we internally haven’t talked about it as a group,” Lata said.

Georgia removed the Confederate stars and bars from its flag in 2003. South Carolina had flown an actual Confederate flag on its statehouse grounds until late June. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for its removal and five days later, an activist climbed the flagpole and took it down herself.

Mississippi is now the only state with Confederate imagery in its flag.

Criticism of the Confederate flag has grown after the racially charged mass murder of church parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last month.

Since the Charleston attack, stores and major companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon have stopped selling the flag. A supermajority of South Carolina legislators now officially supports removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse.

McGuan says about 10 other community members have met to discuss removing the flag in Juneau. One possible alternative, according to McGuan, is to use the Mississippi Magnolia Flag, which was the state’s first official flag.

A Florida man hiking on Juneau’s Mount Roberts trail system on July 4th was found dead last night.

Alaska State Troopers were notified Sunday afternoon that 35-year-old Michael Patrick Blaisdell was missing. Blaisdell, an Orlando resident, hadn’t been seen or heard from since around 11:30 Saturday morning.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters says the agency launched a search and rescue operation with Juneau Mountain Rescue and SEADOGS. Five search teams went up the Mount Roberts trail and Temsco Helicopters provided an aerial search.

“A little bit before 8 o’clock last night, an aerial search team located Blaisdell off the Mount Roberts trail system near the base of a 50-foot drop in the Bear Valley area,” Peters says.

Blaisdell’s family has been notified. His body was recovered and will be sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage for autopsy.