City and Borough of Juneau Utilities crews are repairing a water main break near mile 19 on Glacier Highway.
CJB began work on break at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Customers north of Randall Road may be without water while work continues.
For more information, contact the CBJ Utilities Division at 586-0393.
Hands covered hearts and veterans saluted as a Juneau Police Department Honor Guard raised the flag to half-staff in concert with a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
The Juneau Glacier Valley Rotary Club’s annual service, held at the Sept. 11 Memorial in Riverside Rotary Park, followed a pattern similar to past services held since 2002.
The highlights included Capital City Fire/Rescue firefighter Andrew Bishop’s explanation of the significance behind each piece of the memorial.
Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch laid a ceremonial wreath at the memorial’s base while bagpipes played somberly in the background.
Lieutenant Kris Sell with Juneau Police Department shared her initial thoughts on the repercussions of 9/11 and the lessons learned from the aftermath.
“We came together as a nation 15 years ago and it was beautiful. It’s time to do it again and for the long haul,” Sell said.
She encouraged the crowd to support first responders and U.S. soldiers as “the ultimate way” to honor the lives lost 15 years ago.
Lisa Golisek was at an airport in route to Indiana on 9/11. She says it is especially important to her to pay respects to first responders who lost their lives serving others.
“Also the ones that are living. I am married to a first responder so it’s very important to me,” Golisek said.
She said her husband is a former Juneau police officer.
The entire ceremony took less than an hour. Golisek thought it was “appropriate.”
A large crowd of Anchorage residents gathered in a popular park that recently saw a double murder to question the mayor and police chief about crime.
It was a scene that at times devolved into impassioned shouting.
Though there were a few boos of disapproval, residents and officials also applauded and laughed with one another as Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Police Chief Chris Tolley fielded questions for an hour-and-a-half from a crowd of almost 150 people.
The event was informal and happened under a pavilion in Valley of the Moon Park.
Less than two weeks ago, the affluent neighborhood near downtown Anchorage saw the unsolved murders of Bryant “Brie” DeHusson and Kevin S. Turner, which has left many nearby residents concerned about their safety.
Eva Gardner, who lives right next to the park, helped coordinate a letter signed by more than 90 people and sent to the mayor asking for solutions to a perceived rise in crime and violence.
She spoke about the discrepancy between assurances of safety from officials, and a feeling of worsening violent crime.
“That kind of jars when you look back last week at a warning APD put out about staying off the trails after dark,” Gardner said during a short interview.
She was referring to a statement issued by the police department not long after the Valley of the Moon killings advising residents not to travel alone at night through parks, trails or quiet streets, though several residents said those are exactly the reasons they live in the area.
Many of the questions touched on sensitive and overlapping topics within the city’s discussions of public safety: Petty theft, homeless camps, addiction, violent crime and growing speculation about the possibility of a serial killer.
Frequently the conversation hovered over issues of homelessness, which annoyed Rosalyn Thompson, who was friends with DeHusson.
Thompson lived in the neighborhood for three years, and said that while the fears are legitimate, she’s troubled by people’s quickness to point blame at the homeless.
“I mean it was a friend of mine that was murdered, and for no reason as far as I know,” Thompson said a little way aways from the crowd with her dog Daisy. ”
“It is concerning, and I feel like my hyper-vigilance is through the roof, especially since the mayor and police chief are just giving us fluffy political answers,” Thompson added. “I think people have a right to be concerned, but I wish they weren’t demonizing the homeless while they were at it.”
So far this year, Anchorage has had 25 homicides, as well as two officer-involved shootings and numerous other non-lethal shootings.
On Wednesday afternoon, a Dillingham man and his son alerted police to trespassing and drug activity at a house on Cessna Drive.
The house is owned by his ex-wife, who had called and asked him to check out the place after she’d received numerous calls of the possible problems there, Straley said.
“She says there’s supposed to be nobody in the house and asked me and my son if we could go board the house up and put ‘No Trespassing-Keep Out’ signs up. We went to go do that, and there were a bunch of cars there,” he said, recognizing one vehicle in particular that had been transporting Christian Young around Dillingham for several weeks.
“We called Chief Pasquariello,” Straley said. “The police showed up and they found some illegal drugs and a rifle there.”
Police did not disclose details of their investigation at the house, calling the matter a dispute between a landlord and a tenant.
Some paraphernalia was seized.
Straley, a former cop, said he wasn’t disappointed that no one was arrested.
He wants users to get help, not jail time.
The occupant was told to vacate, and Straley plans to board the house up Thursday evening.
Now Straley is shifting his focus to protecting his property on Emperor Road, where he said a chainsaw, weed eater, and two large gas cans have been stolen from this summer.
He’ll be using cameras to keep an eye on his property and what he believes are drug sales happening all hours along Emperor Road.
Straley hopes others will do the same, and maybe a Neighborhood Watch program will take shape.
“Here in Nerka, there’s cameras already for about a quarter mile of Emperor. Then they’re going to be all the way down around the corner on Widgeon Lane within the next week,” he said. “These little … you’re effecting everybody’s personal property rights and the values of their properties. So we’re just going to protect our belongings from the drug-related crime that seems to be just sweeping this town like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
The National Crime Prevention Council has recommendations and tips for starting a Neighborhood Watch program, as does the National Sheriff’s Association.
State troopers in Dillingham said Wednesday they would happily partner with residents in the community on such a project.
Ryan Harvey was found about 12:30 Thursday afternoon.
Juneau Police Lt. Dave Campbell said a pair of hikers not affiliated with the search effort found the 22-year-old Harvey about five minutes up the John Muir trail.
“Talking to a few people and seeing what’s going on Facebook, right now I think the tone would be described as relief,” Campbell said. “People are very happy that he has been returned and returned safely.”
Campbell said Harvey seemed to be overwhelmed when he was brought back to the Mobile Incident Command Center stationed on the University of Alaska Southeast campus.
“Fortunately, he was found safe and sound. He’s been returned to family. It was a very good end result to something that could’ve ended very tragically,” Campbell said. “When the announcement was made to the people that were gathered outside the mobile incident command, there were cheers. I saw some tears. Just an overall flooding of emotion that took place.”
Harvey was wet and cold, but he did not appear to be injured. His parents took him home.
Ryan’s dad, Terry Harvey, said it was a long 18 hours. He said he doesn’t know the whole story yet, but thinks Ryan got turned around on some of the trails between the university library and rec center.
Campbell said they’ll wait before trying to ask Ryan Harvey about what happened and how he went missing on Wednesday afternoon. Harvey apparently left a cell phone and his coat behind in the library.
Harvey, who has autism, was considered as a vulnerable adult who was not dressed appropriately for the weather.
Campbell said as many as 60 first responders and volunteers actively helped with the search Wednesday night and Thursday morning. They primarily concentrated their search efforts in the vicinity of Back Loop Road.
Terry Harvey said he’s grateful for all the help from the hundreds of friends, neighbors and law enforcement officials involved in the search. He said he was too emotional to talk at length.
Juneau Police Department officials say Ryan Harvey was found on Thursday and reunited with his mother. There were no other details immediately available about any potential injuries, or where or how he was found. We’ll pass on those details once they are available.
Local law enforcement, volunteers and dogs scoured the University of Alaska Southeast area late Wednesday night looking for a young man with autism who is missing.
Nearly 40 volunteers responded to calls for help on Facebook and texts from family friends to help search. Many volunteers were sent home at 12:30 a.m. to get sleep and asked to return at 6:30 a.m., though others carried on.
Search crews were told 22-year-old Ryan Harvey was last seen around 2:10 p.m. Wednesday afternoon walking away from the university library toward Back Loop Road.
Lt. Kris Sell of the Juneau Police Department was coordinating the search at the staging area Wednesday night.
“Ryan does have autism. We are very anxious to find him,” she said. “We’re concerned he will not find shelter for himself and may hide from searchers if he’s scared. So, at this point, we are starting with the use of some dogs, but we also have volunteers out to help us search for Mr. Harvey.”
She said Harvey is 5-foot-5-inches tall, and weighs 100 pounds. He was wearing blue track pants, and a light colored running shirt with a logo over the breast.
While volunteers waited in the misting rain to get their assignments from Lt. Sell, a man showed up with two full-sheet pans filled with piping hot chocolate chip cookies.
Harvey is the second missing young man police said they were searching for Wednesday. Separately, the department had earlier solicited the public’s help to find 22-year-old Christopher Edward Orcutt. Orcutt was last seen in downtown Juneau on Aug. 25.
Editor’s notes: Headline has been corrected; UAS officials say Ryan Harvey is not currently a student. Kelli Burkinshaw participated in the search as a volunteer.
Gov. Bill Walker is stopping by City Hall on Thursday to meet with the Juneau Assembly to discuss his fiscal plan amid the state’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit.
Walker’s budget vetoes have begun to trickle down to local governments, including Juneau’s.
Last month, city officials began to address the city’s nearly $5 million budget deficit, which also affects the school district’s transportation and the per-pupil formula funding it receives from the state.
In July, Walker phoned into an Anchorage Assembly meeting to apologize for his vetoes’ effects on local government. He also spoke about his fiscal plan at a Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly meeting this spring.
The Juneau Assembly’s meeting starts at noon in Assembly Chambers. The meeting will be broadcast live on KTOO-FM and streamed on our website.
