Southwest

Dillingham youth will continue to have a safe, warm place to hang out this winter.

Myspace manager Gregg Marxmiller says generous contributions from the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, and several private donors will keep the doors open for the next three months at least.

“You know, we were coming down to the line with three days to closing down and them stepping up and helping out kept us open,” Marxmiller said.

Myspace has also received in-kind donations of time and food since they announced they would likely have to close at the end of November.

Still, the future of the youth center is uncertain.

“I think one of the goals now is to get through April, when it’s a tough time, when the breakup happens, and people are getting kinda depressed … it gets rough,” Marxmiller said.

Myspace was originally funded by a grant in 2011. An extension of those funds ran out this summer.

A 19-year-old Nunapitchuk man has been charged with seven counts of kidnapping, burglary, rape and attempted sexual assault. His was arraigned Thursday afternoon at the Bethel courthouse.

Nicholas Brink repeatedly denied his involvement throughout the hearing.

Alaska State Troopers arrested Brink Tuesday. Brink was reportedly riding his snow machine around the villages of Kasigluk and Nunapitchuk, asking women for directions. When a woman agreed to help him and got on his snow machine, Brink allegedly took the victim to the tundra and attempt to sexually assault her, according to Alaska State Trooper Nicholas Hayes, with the Violent Offenders Unit.

“There were a lot of people that I spoke to, but everybody I spoke to said that they thought that he was lying and using some kind of ruse to get them on the snow machine,” Hayes said.

Hayes traveled the villages earlier this month to investigate. While there, two women from the villages reported they were victims.

“Just as of yesterday, another survivor came forward and said she was assaulted by Nicholas,” Hayes said. “As of right now, we have five people that have come forward detailing some kind of misconduct that was involved with Nicholas.”

Hayes says the assaults reportedly happened as far as back as this past summer.

Authorities believe there may be more victims out there and encourage any survivors to contact authorities.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is not changing its rules for children traveling solo anytime soon.

About a year ago, officials announced plans to require most children and teenagers to be accompanied by an adult. They said it was unsafe for those under 18 to be on their own on a moving ship.

Ferry users disagreed and protested the decision. They said the new policy would keep young Alaskans from visiting relatives or attending out-of-town activities.

The system put the rules on hold, but planned to revisit them after the 2014 holiday season.

Marine highway spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said that hasn’t happened.

“We basically pulled back the new policy and we’re still operating under the existing policy. There hasn’t been a revision or a review of that policy recently.”

Current rules place no restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds. Solo ferry travelers 12 to 15 years old need a note from a parent or guardian. Children under the age of 12 must travel with an adult, but it can be anyone.

The proposed policy would require those under 18 to travel with a parent, legal guardian or have notarized authorization one or the other.

It would not have applied to minors traveling with a chaperone to sports or other school events.

Woodrow said the ferry system has been more focused on adapting to budget cuts than changing such policies.

“It’s still something that the state has looked at as a liability. That hasn’t changed. But, as far as priorities, getting the budget right, making sure we’re providing basic service to coastal Alaskans and all Alaskans, is a higher priority at this time,” he said.

Along with safety concerns, officials said the existing rules make it harder to identify runaways.

Energy officials hope two newly constructed towers in Bethel will pave the way to reducing the city’s multimillion gallon dependence on diesel fuel. The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, or AVEC, raised the towers to collect atmospheric data for future wind turbines.

Steve Gilbert manages AVEC’s energy projects and said one turbine could replace over 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year, lowering electric costs in Bethel.

“That’s money that stays in the community,” Gilbert said. “In other words, we don’t have to use that to buy fuel to generate the electricity.”

Gilbert said Bethel’s electric grid consumes 2.5 million gallons of diesel annually. The turbines would reduce that amount, but the number of turbines AVEC would install is still undecided. What Gilbert can say is Bethel is AVEC’s largest customer and the turbines would be the largest ever used by the company.

“We may start out with a single turbine. We might be able to put in two or three,” Gilbert said.

The towers are temporary and should stand about three years until turbines are installed.
AVEC is a nonprofit utility company serving 56 villages across rural Alaska. Gilbert says AVEC operates more wind turbines than any electric utility in the state with 34 turbines in 12 communities.

The Bethel Family Clinic is cleaning up after a recent break-in.

Among the items stolen are about $300 in cash, syringes, and narcotics with a street value around $24,000, according to Latesia Guinn, executive director of the clinic.

Guinn estimates the break-in occurred sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.

Clinic workers arrived at the clinic to find the front door busted, the safe forced open, and glass from the pharmacy door shattered across the floor.

Guinn said one pair of tracks led in and out of the building, making her believe the theft was the work of a single person.

“We had fresh snow that day. They’re the only tracks that were coming into the clinic,” Guinn said.

Guinn said the IT department is analyzing security camera footage and plans to install new surveillance equipment.

“We’re putting a security camera in,” she said. “We did have some, but we don’t know if they’re a high enough quality to get anything off of them.”

Guinn said as of Monday, the clinic is back to business as usual, but the feeling in the building has shifted.

“We all feel very violated. This is our other home. This is where we spend a lot of hours of our day. This is where we take care of people,” she said.

Guinn said the clinic is federally funded, making the stolen items federal property. The police examined the crime scene Saturday and are continuing their investigation.

The clinic is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the theft.

A bill introduced by a South Carolina Republican seeks to remove a section of the Clean Water Act that is being used by the EPA to block development of the Pebble Mine.

Representative Tom Rice says House Bill 4149 is designed to discourage frivolous lawsuits related to violations of the federal water pollution rules. However, the bill would also remove section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act and takes authority away from the EPA administrator in the permitting of wastewater disposal sites.

The EPA recently used Section 404(c) to develop preemptive restrictions which, if finalized, will prevent Pebble’s development.

The United Tribes of Bristol Bay issued a statement Thursday calling the legislation “ill-conceived,” and threatening to EPA’s efforts to protect the Bristol Bay watershed.

HR 4149 was introduced December 1 and referred to the House committee on transportation and infrastructure.