Community

More than half of Galena’s 400 residents have evacuated as flooding from an ice jam on the Yukon River worsened yesterday. Power has been shut off as a precaution, there is no city water available.

Jeremy Zidek with the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management says a dyke that protects the airport has been breached but the runway is still usable. At least two helicopters have been sent to the community. He says no injuries have been reported.

Ed Plumb is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. Plumb has been in Galena for the past few days, taking frequent flights to check the condition of the ice jam at Bishop Rock. He says the river level has fluctuated as the ice moves and compacts.

Alaska has one of the most vibrant beer scenes in the country.  Despite its small population, it has more breweries than denser states like Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Every year, most of Alaska’s breweries descend on tiny Haines for their annual brew fest. This year, they celebrated their 21st birthday, and had their highest turnout yet.

Small American flags and flowers decorate Juneau grave sites as families and friends observe Memorial Day.

Monday’s warm, sunny weather brought out many more people than usual to Alaska Memorial Park Cemetery in the Mendenhall Valley.  The annual observance is hosted by the American Legion as a reminder that Memorial Day is more than a federal holiday; it’s an opportunity to remember America’s fallen veterans. Retired Coast Guard Captain Carl Uchytil called it a “duty.”

Uchytil, now Juneau Port Director, noted the history of the day that began in the 1860s when families would decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in War Between the States.

Three years after the end of the Civil War, Major General John Logan coordinated the first large event at Arlington National Cemetery.

“On May 5th, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic, established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Major General John Logan declared Decoration Day to be observed on May 30^th.  It is believed he chose this date because flowers would be in bloom throughout the country,” Uchytil told those gathered at Alaska Memorial Park. 

Prior to the Arlington ceremony, springtime tributes to soldiers who had died in the Civil War had been held in many places across the country.  Now at least 25 U.S. communities in both the North and South claim to be the birthplace of Decoration Day.

In 1966, Congress declared Waterloo, New York as the official birthplace of that day, now called Memorial Day.  The first observance was held in Waterloo in 1866.

Two Memorial Day services are held annually in Alaska’s Capital.  Veterans of Foreign Wars Taku Post 5559 hosted this year’s ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery downtown and it included Mayor Merrill Sanford, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, as the keynote speaker.

Today is a wonderful day to be here and I’m proud to be here as a veteran. And I’m proud of each and every one of you who are veterans. We’re here to give thanks to people who have lost their lives in our country’s battles, some of our own right here in Juneau. I was lucky enough to go to school with Donald and Charles back in the sixties.”

Sanford was referring to Donald Sperl and Charles Gamble. Jr. who were killed in Vietnam and are laid to rest just a few steps from where he was speaking. He read an essay and set of poems about the sacrifices of soldiers and veterans.

Various local groups including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks, Juneau Veterans for Peace, and Harley Owners Group all laid wreaths around the base of the flagpole at Evergeen Cemetary.

Post vice chaplain Kirk Thorsteinson read the opening prayer and closing benediction, a Coast Guard color guard presented the colors, and Juneau-Douglas High School student Adrienne Sypeck played taps.

Small American flags were placed at the headstone of each service member who was buried at Evergeen Cemetery. They included Juneau veterans who served during the Spanish-American War.

High school seniors across Southeast Alaska are graduating this weekend, from tiny Angoon, with four graduates, to the largest class in the region at Thunder Mountain High School.

This is the fourth graduating class from Juneau’s newest high school, which opened in 2009.

One-hundred-seventy-three seniors will get diplomas on Sunday, while 142 are graduating from Juneau-Douglas High School.

JDHS was once the largest school in Southeast Alaska. For the first time this year, Thunder Mountain enrollment surpassed Juneau-Douglas.

Sunday’s ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. at Centennial Hall, where 40 students will graduate from Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School.

TMHS commencement is at 4 p.m. in the gymnasium.

JDHS graduation begins at 7 p.m. in the gym. The JDHS Video Crew will once again televise the ceremony live on GCI Cable channel 6. It also will be streamed on the JDHS Video Program website.  DVDs of the event can be purchased

The annual Safe Graduation party is at Centennial Hall from 10 p.m. to 2:13 a.m. for graduates of all three Juneau high schools.

Congratulations to Juneau’s graduates.  Stay safe.  

Memorial Day observances will start at 11 a.m., Monday, at Evergreen Cemetery in downtown Juneau and at Alaska Memorial Park on Riverside Drive in Mendenhall Valley.

The annual events are Juneau’s recognition of the national holiday and a local remembrance.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Taku Post 5559 will host the event at Evergreen Cemetery.  Mayor Merrill Sanford will be the keynote speaker.

Auke Bay American Legion Post 25 Commander Dick Hand will officiate at the Alaska Memorial Park observance. Juneau Port Director and retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain Carl Uchytil is the keynote speaker.

Veteran Tim Armstrong says remembrance is the purpose of the events.  Though the memorials are relatively short, each is an important observance.

“It’s a way to remember those who have fought and died in the service of their country,” Armstrong says.

On Memorial Day, the American flag should be at half-staff until noon then raised to full staff.

Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day was first observed after the American Civil War.

 

 

Acting Juneau International Airport Manager Patty deLaBruere will step into the top spot next month.

The Airport Board selection committee is recommending the board offer deLaBruere the job, even before advertising the position.

Committee member Joe Heueisen says she’s the perfect choice, with 15 years of experience as deputy under four previous airport managers.

“The first manager, Dave Miller hired her, and it wasn’t long before we discovered she was an awfully well-qualified person, so the last couple go arounds the board has tried to get her to apply for it and she’s been you know, happy where she was.  But we tried it again this time and she decided to go for it, and I think it’s an excellent choice,” Heueisen says.

When there is a strong internal candidate, the board has the flexibility to appoint without going through a full hiring process, according to CBJ Human Resources Manager Mila Cosgrove.

Heueisen says knowledge of the Juneau operation is very important.

“It’s our thinking on the board and has been for a number of years that if at all possible we want to hire from within because of the on the job training.  It takes quite a while to get up to speed.  Secondly, we want to hire locally if possible, thirdly, maybe the state before we go out on a national head hunt, which is time consuming and very expensive and not always successful.  So we’re just tickled to death that we’re able to have Patty step right in,” he says.

Juneau International Airport is owned by the city and has been an enterprise board since August 1995.  deLaBruere starting working in airport management in 1998.

Airport Manager Jeannie Johnson has retired, and deLaBruere has been acting manager since May 2.  That’s a role she has filled many times in her job as deputy.

The full airport board will hold a special meeting on June 6^th at 6 p.m. in the Alaska Room at the airport to vote on deLaBruere’s appointment.