The fast ferry Chenega pulling into Whittier. Photo by Ed Schoenfeld.
The lawsuit over allegedly defective engines for the state’s fast ferries has come to an end.
A settlement was announced in Juneau Superior Court Friday afternoon after nearly three years of litigation and just before the start of trial.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Dana Burke said the Alaska Marine Highway System will get eight new diesel engines provided by the German manufacturer MTU Friedrichshafen. There’ll be an option for the state to purchase two spare engines nearly at-cost.
Burke said the settlement also calls for a maintenance agreement and new five-year extended warranty on the newer model 4000 series V engines for the fast ferries Fairweather and Chenega.
We’ve built into this settlement agreement an improved mutually beneficial working relationship that’s going to allow these engines to continue to operate in ferry service from here on out. And it’s not just a rhetorical flourish with respect to an agreement to do that. We have binding commitments that make us do that.”
Value of the new engines was not immediately available, but Burke said that MTU could deliver and install them – four for each of the ferries – starting in the fall. Current plans calls for a staggered installation with the engines installed in one vessel during next fall’s off-season and the other vessel to have its engines replaced in the subsequent year. Burke said they’ve all committed to keeping the current 595 series engines operating in both vessels until they have been replaced by the 4000s.
Burke promised that the settlement agreement will be made public as soon as all the parties sign off on it. That may happen early next week.
Doug Serdahely, the Alaska attorney for MTU, said it has taken the parties and counsel working full-time nearly three weeks to develop the settlement agreement.
A lot of thought and effort has gone into it. Both sides think it is a very fair and very reasonable agreement for both sides.”
During Friday’s court hearing, both Burke and Serdahley asked that the trial scheduled for April 8th be vacated or taken off the calendar.
The state’s case against MTU and its affiliate Tognum America will be dismissed while the state hopes to preserve its interests against Robert E. Derecktor, Inc., the Connecticut builder of the ferries and the other defendant in the case. That company is currently mired in bankruptcy court and is not currently part of the state’s lawsuit.
More recently, the fast vehicle ferry (FVF) Fairweather has served Southeast Alaska while the Chenega has served Prince William Sound.
A trial date of May 21st has been set for a Sealaska board member and University of Alaska Southeast administration official arrested for driving under the influence.
Joseph Galen Nelson, 42, was pulled over near 12th Street and Glacier Highway at about 2 o’clock in the morning of February 9th. The officer said that he witnessed Nelson’s black Toyota FJ Cruiser swerving, accelerating quickly, and speeding. Nelson allegedly had watery eyes and said he had three drinks. The officer said that Nelson failed field sobriety tests and registered a .091 blood alcohol content. That’s over the legal limit of .08 for intoxication.
According to police records, Nelson’s vehicle was impounded.
According to court records, Nelson did not appear for arraignment three days later. Instead, his attorney entered a not guilty plea for misdemeanor driving under the influence.
A pretrial hearing is schedule for May 13th.
Nelson has been a member of the board of directors of Sealaska native corporation since 2003. He’s currently employed as Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at UAS.
Albert Kookesh. Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/Coastalaska.
Former state Senator Albert Kookesh was medevaced to Anchorage Monday morning after suffering a heart attack.
His daughter Elaine says the 64-year old Kookesh was in Juneau preparing for a trip out of state, when he called his wife saying he was having chest pains and was going to the hospital. His wife also was in Juneau and was able to fly with him.
He was stabilized and flown to Providence Hospital and Medical Center.
“They’re currently now at Providence. They’re going to go in with a catheter and see where the blockage is,” she said Monday morning.
The eldest daughter of Mr. Kookesh’s five children, Elaine Kookesh says she will travel to Anchorage this evening to be with her dad.
“My sister and I are heading up tonight and then our other sister will head up as soon as she can,” she said. “Just keep us all in your thoughts and prayers. He’s a tough guy and never sits even when he’s sick.”
A Democrat from Angoon, Kookesh served 16 years in total, eight as a representative and eight more as a senator. He was defeated by Sitka Republican Bert Stedman after parts of their Southeast districts were combined during redistricting.
Kookesh is the current chairman of Sealaska’s board of directors and co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives board.
Both would turn about 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest over to Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska.
Murkowski’s version includes numerous changes meant to reduce opposition from environmental groups, tourism businesses and small communities.
She says it would still complete a promise made 40 years ago by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Senator Lisa Murkowski.
“In terms of what we set out to do, which is to provide completion to Sealaska in terms of allowing them to select their lands that were committed, this will help finalize that selection and really work to balance the interests of all of those in the region,” she says.
Both bills transfer about 68,000 acres to Sealaska for timber harvest and development. They remove about 26,000 controversial acres on or near northern Prince of Wales Island and replace them with other parcels.
Sealaska Vice President and General Counsel Jaeleen Araujo says the new acreage is near some previously-logged areas.
“There was some infrastructure already in place on north Prince of Wales, so we had to find other alternatives that would have proximity to infrastructure that would be helpful in timber development,” Araujo says.
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, an umbrella environmental group, has been one of the groups critical of the legislation.
SEACC Attorney Buck Lindekugel says he hasn’t seen Young’s bill and is still looking through Murkowski’s measure. But he sees some significant improvements.
“Senator Murkowski has shown some solid leadership and tried to address some thorny issues that were raised by Southeast Alaskans. There is a lot of bittersweet stuff here, particularly with some of the timber lands. Nobody’s going to be happy with all of them. But both Sealaska and Senator Murkowski helped avoid some real controversial places,” Lindekugel says.
Congressman Don Young.
He says his group will run the measures by its membership before taking a formal position.
The Alaska Forest Association backs the measures.
Executive Director Owen Graham says Murkowski’s version makes too many concessions. But he says they’re needed to keep the logging industry alive.
“We’re holding our nose on the conservation areas. We don’t think there’s anything special about them. They’re certainly not needed because there are other protections for the land. But we’re willing to accept those conservation areas in order to get this bill done quickly,” Graham says.
Both bills also cut the number of small parcels set aside for tourism, energy or other economic development. They also reduce the acreage to be selected as sacred or cultural sites.
Murkowski’s version increases the required stream-buffer zone from 66 to 100 feet to protect three salmon spawning areas. It also balances Sealaska’s timber selections with 150,000 acres of conservation areas.
Don Young spokesman Michael Anderson says that’s where his version differs.
“The House bill doesn’t contain any conservation set-asides. Though the two bills convey the same overall acreage to Sealaska, the House bill includes a few more small parcels. The House bill does not include any buffer requirements beyond what is required in the Alaska Forest Practices Act,” Anderson says.
Similar legislation was introduced in previous Congresses.
Young’s version passed out of the House as part of a larger lands package last year. Murkowski’s bill did not make it to the Senate floor.
Sealaska Plaza in Juneau, headquarters of the Southeast regional Native corporation.
She says it will have a better chance this year. That’s because Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, took over chairmanship of the chamber’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“He has pointed out to me numerous times that he’s very pleased with the fact that we have engaged in this level of sit-down and dialog with everyone from the administration to the energy committee staff, to those within all aspects of industry, whether they’re fishermen, environmental groups, tourism. I think he’s impressed by the process that he’s seen,” Murkowski says.
She says Wyden has agreed to move several land bills out of the Natural Resources Committee. Sealaska would not be part of the first package, which will only include measure that already cleared the committee. But it could be in a later version.
Tlingit elder and original Sealaska Native Corporation board member Clarence Jackson passed away Thursday at the age of 78.
He’s being remembered for his contributions to the Native land claims movement, and for being an ambassador for Tlingit culture in both the business world and his personal life.
Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl says Jackson relished comforting people in times of need. He served as master of ceremonies at the memorial service for the late Reverend Dr. Walter Soboleff in 2011.
“He became like our ambassador from Sealaska, where he would attend all of the funerals, all the memorials,” Worl said. “He was there to comfort clans and the family of those who had lost someone.”
Jackson was born in Kake in 1934. He lived there most of his life, attending Sheldon Jackson High School in Sitka, before moving back to the village, where he was a fisherman and operated a small store.
Worl says he was a great fisherman, who loved boats.
“We always say, it is as if the spirits of the animals know him and they give themselves to those kind of people who have those good spirits,” she said. “So, yes, he was a great fisherman.”
In the 1960s, Jackson was involved in the Alaska Native claims movement as a delegate to the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians. He served as Central Council president from 1972 through 1976.
Also in 1972, Jackson signed the articles of incorporation for Sealaska, the regional Native Corporation for Southeast, created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. He was the only board member to serve continuously from the time Sealaska was founded.
Current board chair Albert Kookesh first met Jackson when he joined the board in 1975. He says they quickly became friends.
“We’re both from villages right next to each other. He’s from Kake and I’m from Angoon,” said Kookesh. “He knew my father and he knew Walter Soboleff, my uncle. So I got immediately scooped up into his little circle.”
Kookesh says Jackson was a champion of village life and traditional culture on the board, something he attributed to being raised by his Tlingit speaking grandparents.
Kookesh says his ability to speak both Tlingit and English fluently made Jackson a valuable asset to the company.
“His Tlingit background, and his Tlingit stories, and his Tlingit upbringing gave him a really good sense of oration,” Kookesh said. “Very, very articulate. Not somebody who went to college, not somebody who went to law school, not somebody who went to graduate school. But somebody who went to the upper learnings of the Tlingit culture.”
When the corporation established the nonprofit Sealaska Heritage Institute in 1980, Jackson became one of its trustees and served as chair of the Council of Traditional Scholars.
Worl says the council was instrumental in identifying the core cultural values that guide the institute to this day.
“Clarence would remind us always, this is what makes us Native people, it’s our cultural values,” Worl said.
Jackson talked about the importance of preserving those values at Celebration 2012, the biennial cultural and educational event sponsored by the Heritage Institute.
“We’re strengthening our culture,” Jackson said. “We might hear a new song here and there this Celebration. But it’s a shoring up time to not be doing anything just for show. But to show the young people, this is the way it is.”
Jackson spent much of the past two months in Seattle receiving cancer treatment. He recently returned to Alaska, and died surrounded by friends and family on Thursday.
A service will be held at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall (former ANB Hall) in Juneau on Saturday at 5 p.m.
A video of Clarence Jackson from Celebration 2012:
Tlingit elder and original Sealaska Corporation board member Clarence Jackson died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 78.
Jackson was born in 1934 in Kake, where he lived most of his life. He attended Sheldon Jackson High School in Sitka, and was involved in the Alaska Native claims movement in the 1960s with the Tlingit and Haida Central Council.
He served as Central Council president from 1972 through 1976. Also in 1972, he signed the articles of incorporation for Sealaska, the regional Native Corporation for Southeast, created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Jackson had been the only board member to serve continuously since Sealaska was founded. He also served as a trustee for the Sealaska Heritage Institute from the time it was created in 1980.
SHI President Rosita Worl says Jackson was an ambassador of Tlingit culture in the board room and his personal life.
“He lived in the village and he said that it is our responsibility to make sure that our people can continue to live in their homeland,” Worl said. “So, even with all of our businesses and investments, even if they were doing well outside of Alaska, he was always reminding us that we had a responsibility to our people in the villages.”
After the Heritage Institute was created, Jackson not only served as a trustee, but also as chairman of the Council of Traditional Scholars.
Worl says the council was instrument in identifying the core cultural values that guide the institute to this day.
“I remember some of the almost philosophical discussions they would have about how much change is acceptable, how much change can we allow in our society before we become not Tlingit,” Worl said. “And Clarence would remind us always that this is what makes us as Native people. It’s our cultural values.”
Jackson was a lifelong commercial and subsistence fisherman, who also ran a store in Kake and served as a director of Kake Tribal Corporation.
Worl says Jackson enjoyed telling stories and making people laugh. He was often the person who helped organize memorial services for elders who died, including his longtime friend the Reverend Dr. Walter Soboleff, who passed away in 2011.
Worl says Jackson spent much of the past two months in Seattle getting cancer treatment. But he was able to make it back to Alaska, where he died surrounded by friends and family on Thursday.
A 58-year-old Ketchikan man has pleaded guilty to three federal charges of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He is the fourth person sentenced following an undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The charges against Sherman Roger Alexander stem from the illegal harvest of 87 sea otters, failure to tag the hides and illegally selling parts of the animals.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage, other people sentenced following the investigation were Christopher Rowland and Douglas Smith, both of Craig, and Michael Smith of Sitka. The investigation showed that Rowland led frequent otter hunting trips in 2008 with the intention of selling the pelts.
In 2009, Rowland was sentenced to 37 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
In 2010, Douglas Smith was sentenced to one year; and in 2011, Michael Smith was sentenced to six months.
Following his recent guilty plea, Alexander received six months house arrest and a $10,000 fine, and must forfeit 144 sea otter hides. He also is prohibited from hunting or participating in any business involving sea otters for a year. However, he is allowed to teach tanning skills to other Alaska Natives.
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