Community

Several canoe groups are paddling down the Inside Passage to Wrangell for the Shakes Island Rededication event this week.

Two canoes traveling from Juneau hit bad weather and rough water on Saturday. One canoe was lost.

Both canoes left Juneau on April 24^th. They were each accompanied by a support boat.

The Raven canoe belongs to the One People Canoe Society and has paddlers from several Southeast communities and Washington state.

The second canoe is from the Sealaska native corporation and has a Yakutat-based crew.

The crews hit bad weather and high seas in Seymour Canal on Saturday.

Both decided to put the paddlers on the support boats and tow the canoes.

Alicia Chilton is on the board of the One People Canoe Society. She’s also a paddler on the Raven Canoe.

“When we went to turn, the line slacked in, and all the water from the back of the canoe rolled forward. And that’s when she just went down and the line broke. And we watched her drift away from us,” said Chilton.

Both the Raven canoe and the Sealaska canoe snapped their tow lines and were washed away.

The lost Raven Canoe was spotted on a rocky shore where it had beached itself. It was retrieved safely at about 2pm on Saturday.

The Sealaska canoe was found about two hours later.

The plan was to tow both canoes to Kake, where they could be inspected for damage, repaired if necessary, and sent back on their journey.

The Raven canoe made it. The Sealaska canoe did not.

During the recovery, it broke free of its tow line for a second time.

As of this afternoon, a search and recovery effort is in full swing. A Juneau-based plane for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was sent out. A second plane from Petersburg Fisheries was also dispatched.

There was a possible sighting of the Sealaska canoe this morning.

Wrangell Cooperative Association staff member Renee Claggett is helping coordinate efforts in the water.

She made contact with crewmember Jay Dodge of the Silver Bay Seafoods tender Lady Kate this afternoon.

“Okay the report is from the pilot that it was upside down and actually went up during a high tide. And it’s falling tides now so it’s probably safe. If anybody as the boats are moving in for the Seymour herring fishery, if they could just keep an eye out for it. So if you could just put the word out on the fishing fleet there as they come in. And if it does get into trouble, maybe somebody could grab it and let us know,” said Claggett to Dodge.

The Sealaska canoe’s life vests were also possibly spotted in the area known as the Rock Garden in Seymour Canal.

Meanwhile, the Raven canoe and its crew arrived in Kake late Sunday afternoon.

The Sealaska crew made it to Kake as well.

And, Chilton said, everyone is coming together to make the best of a harrowing experience.

“What’s happening now is that the Juneau and Yakutat crewmembers—we’ve got a total of 18—will be rotating through the Raven canoe. So Juneau and Yakutat are combining into one now,” said Chilton.

The Raven canoe is expected to arrive in Wrangell waters on Wednesday.

The Raven canoe is set to leave Kake for Petersburg Tuesday morning. It had to delay its planned departure this morning due to inclement weather.

Over the past decade, St. Baldrick’s Day has become a major fundraising event for pediatric cancer research. It all began in 1999 when a group of insurance executives in Manhattan shaved their heads in solidarity with young cancer patients.

The majority of participants in the event are males, but a few women join them. And in Sitka last Friday, a teenage girl decided to take the plunge, raising nearly $3,000 in the process.

“I’m Celia Lubin. I’m 15 years old. And I go to Sitka High School.”

Lubin looks like a lot of teenagers. “My hair is purply, browny, blondy and its braids, and yeah.”

She does a bunch of activities, like swimming, soccer, drama & debate, concert band, and has her own radio show. But she’s doing something that very few teenage girls would do.

“I am shaving my head for St. Baldrick’s,” she said. “People who do chemo and lose their hair, it can be kind of isolating, I think, so showing them support, not only with money and, ‘Hey I’m raising awareness for this cause,” but, ‘I’m going to stand there with you.’”

At the St. Baldrick’s event at the Sitka Elks Lodge, men and boys are sitting in barber chairs on stage, while local hair stylists shave their heads. A little boy is walking around collecting pledges and stuffing them into an envelope. A crowd of about 100 people are sitting at the tables, eating dinner. Eight people are officially signed up to have their heads shaved, but many others hop onto to stage spontaneously to get their hair buzzed.

Lubin’s mom, Lisa Busch, says she was skeptical about her daughter’s decision at first.

“I thought, ‘Really? Can we pay you to not shave your head?’” she said.

But now?

“I’m feeling pretty good about it. I’m feeling really excited for Celia. Just like proud of her for doing this. Wondering what she’s going to look like bald,” she laughs.

Lubin says she was contemplating shaving her head before, but this gave her a reason to take the plunge that was hard for her parents to argue with.

“They didn’t really have a lot of say,” she said. “If they did object, I was just like, ‘hey, I’m not doing drugs. I’m raising money for cancer.’”

At the Elk’s Lodge, the announcer introduces Lubin to the crowd: “Who at 15 years old, would have shaved their head? This is a very brave young lady…”

“I’m a little bit nervous but I’m really excited,” Lubin said.

The hair stylist who’s going to cut Lubin’s hair helps the teenager get comfortable.

“What’s your name?”

“Celia.”

“I’m Casey. I shaved my head last year. It’s awesome. You’re gonna love it. Ready?”

Buzzzz…

“Alright, here it goes.”

BUZZZZZZZ…

Because she recently dyed her hair with streaks of purple, Lubin’s scalp has some colorful spots on it.

“Yeah,” she said. “I figured that would happen.”

After Lubin has her head totally shaved, she visits with her family.

“It looks great,” they said. “It looks so good. I’m proud of her. She has a nice-shaped head. I’m a proud papa.”

“It feels so good,” said Lubin. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

Lubin raised nearly $3,000 in pledges for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. By the end of the night, 18 people in Sitka had their heads shaved, and made more than $14,000.

Since 2004, the national organization has contributed more than $100 million to fight pediatric cancers.

Lubin does not see her participation as just a stunt.

“I know that I had a cancer-free childhood and it was really great,” she said. “I just think it would be really scary for kids my age and younger to have to go through something like a life-threatening illness like cancer, and I want to be able to help a little bit.”

And she says she’s not worried about her lost locks.

“I mean, it will grow back,” she said. “It is hair. It’s just hair.”

A Delta Junction-area farmer is cleaning up from a barn fire that killed hundreds of chickens and other livestock that provided most of her livelihood.  Brandy McClean is seeking help in an effort to save her business.

McLean was picking through the charred debris of what’s left of her barn last week, looking for anything that can be salvaged after the fire destroyed the structure on April 20th.

The fire eliminated her main livelihood, 500 laying hens, and many ducks, geese and turkeys that she also kept in the 16-by-32-foot, two story structure. It also destroyed bags of feed, hardware, and pretty much every tool she has.

McLean built the barn with her own money, and some donated by her parents. She’s been raising chickens for about eight years now, and has operated the Triple McLean Farms, just outside of Delta, for about 12 years, with the help of mainly her two sons, 8-year-old Codey, and Morgen, age 13.

She’s a woman of slight stature, 37 years of age, and she’s obviously a tough and dedicated farmer who’s determined to stay in business. But the barn wasn’t insured, and she must build a new one. So she’s asking for help, in the form of donations – cash, tools, feed, all the stuff needed to run a farm.

“I hate asking for help. I don’t do it, you know?” she said. “But this is how I raise my kids, and I have to” ask for help. “It’s kind of a Catch-22, because I’ve got to rebuild in order to make the money to support my family. But I don’t have the money to rebuild and do it.”

Despite the setback, she says she can’t stop to complain or recoup, because she’s got to keep working – especially now, the busiest time of year for a farmer.

“There’s always so much work to do,” she said. “Especially, with this late spring, y’know, getting to our crops planted, and getting the birds growing. And now we have more work to do to try and salvage and rebuild. And we will. We’re still in business. We want people to know we’re still in business.”

 

Read the full story and hear the interview with Brandy here:

Delta-Area Farmer Determined To Rebuild After Fire Wipes Out Poultry Barn

A citizens’ board is recommending a 5 percent increase in Juneau sewer and water rates beginning July first.

The Utility Advisory Board told the CBJ Assembly Committee of the Whole on Monday that revenues would be used to defray operating costs, manage water and sewer lines as well as long-term planning.

Chairman Geoff Larson said the board will conduct a rate study this year to hear from the public.  The last one was done a decade ago.

“The utility’s financial situation is not all that great. We have a huge asset. We have a huge water distribution system and we have a waste water plant that’s operating. But we haven’t been able to accumulate enough to do preventative maintenance and maintenance for the long term,” he said.

The city created the Utility Advisory Board in 2004, after sewer rates went up 39 percent and water rates increased 19 percent —  the first rate hike in 12 years. The rate study at the time recommended sizeable increases in 2007 and 2009, but that didn’t happen.

Now both treatment plants need work or replacing; the biosolids incinerator has been shut down, requiring landfill disposal and barging; Last chance Basin and Salmon Creek water systems need major upgrades, and there is no revenue cushion for emergencies.

Board member George Porter said small increases once a year would be easier on rate payers than a large one every five years.

“The utilities aren’t exactly like roads and streets where you might be able to defer grading a road for a period of time,” he said. “If a water line breaks you can’t wait a week to repair it, you have to do it when it happens. It’s the same with sewer.”

Porter says the rate increases would help develop a fund balance for ongoing maintenance.  If the city had adopted a 5 percent annual increase in 2004, the wastewater utility would have a $19-million savings account, instead of $3.5 million, while the water utility would have about $8 million. It currently has $400,000 in reserves.

Assembly members asked the board a few questions but did not discuss the recommendations, or even refer the utility report to a committee.  After the meeting, Deputy Mayor Mary Becker said she would send  the rate hike to the Finance Committee on May 6th when the Assembly meets again as a Committee of the Whole.

Juneau residential customers currently pay about $90 a month for water and sewer.  Rates would go up approximately $4.50 a month, if the 5 percent increase is adopted.

Elected officials from Juneau, Haines, Skagway and Whitehorse met in Skagway on Friday for what was called the Northern Neighbors Summit.

The meeting kicked off with Juneau Mayor Merrill Sanford and Skagway Mayor Stan Selmer discussing energy issues, including  prospective hydropower projects each community is working toward and the hope those projects could help provide shore power for cruise ship hook ups. But Sanford said it’s hard to build a project until the need is certain.

“You can’t pay and build something that’s so big you’re expecting to grow into in the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years anymore. You almost have to have enough sales upfront to be able to afford it and keep the price down,” Sanford said.

Haines Mayor Stephanie Scott added that  energy project stakeholders need to be identified to find funding sources rather than relying on just the state or federal government.

“I’m looking for business plans with these projects that name the stakeholders. If the state is a stakeholder, let them come to the table with some funds. And if they’re not, let them say so,” Scott said.

Mayor Selmer and Whitehorse Deputy Mayor Kirk Cameron also briefly explained the two cities are discussing options for an electrical intertie from Whitehorse to Juneau.  The Yukon Energy Corporation is meeting in Skagway this week for more discussions.

Talk of the Alaska Marine Highway came next with Skagway and Haines leading the conversation. Both communities were active this winter in protesting Gov. Sean Parnell’s move to scrap the Alaska Class Ferry project. The administration’s plan to create two, smaller shuttle type ferries for the Upper Lynn Canal drew criticism from around small communities in the region.  Juneau residents and officials were less cohesive in their protest of the plan, although Mayor Sanford said he didn’t agree with the idea of open-stern decks for the shuttle ferries. But he does believe ferry costs need to come under control.

“When you look at the efficiencies of our ferry systems, when supplying our needs, either cargo or passenger throughout our communities whether they be big or small, in my mind the ferry system has gotten out of hand with those costs,” Sanford said.

Talks of ferries segued into the Juneau Access Road project. Mayor Scott of Haines was vocal about her opinion of a road.

“The idea of a road link is still out there and that may happen too but what we’re going to have today, tomorrow and in the next 10 years are the ferries so we need to make sure that system is intact, efficient and viable,” Scott said.

But Sanford point blank said nothing was going to change his mind that a road, or combination of road and ferry systems, was the only option left for opening up more economic possibilities for the region.

“We all believe and we all know where we stand, I think we’ve all listened to all the different debates for all of our lives, everyone that’s here, and I think we’ve basically made up our minds already. I and I respect Mike’s position and Stephanie’s position, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change my beliefs,” Sanford said.

Still, they attempted to find common ground. Scott asked if maybe all the communities could get behind a road from Juneau to the Kensington Gold Mine. Some Haines Borough Assembly members said they would be more inclined to support a west side road project, rather than one on the East Side of Lynn Canal. Selmer suggested Juneau keep exploring the road option from Taku Inlet to British Columbia.

The three-hour meeting addressed only half the items on the agenda. As host mayor, Selmer closed the meeting on a light note, pointing to a box of wooden toothpicks his staff had bought him.

“They bought me these toothpicks because I always said I would rather put these under my finger nails  than bite my tongue,” Selmer said. “I didn’t have to do that today. And I was really apprehensive about this meeting at times and it was weighing on me. But I think we’ve demonstrated Skagway, Haines, Juneau and Whitehorse are at least commonly geographically located and there’s nothing we can do about that.”  His comment evoked a laugh from the other mayors and assembly members.

The meeting in Skagway was supposed to include officials from Whitehorse, Yukon and the Yukon Energy Authority, but they were unable to attend because of weather. Whitehorse Deputy Mayor Kirk Cameron joined by phone, as did Rep. Beth Kerttula and Sen. Dennis Egan, who represent Skagway and Juneau. Rep. Cathy Munoz, of Juneau, attended in person.

The mayors tentatively plan another summit for November in Haines.

Friday’s surprise snow is delaying Gastineau Little League opening day.

It had been set for Saturday, which is expected to be another wet day with snow possible in the morning.  (Click here for forecast).

First pitch festivities and games are now scheduled for Saturday, May 4^th at Adair Kennedy Field in the Mendenhall Valley.  Opening Day ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. with the entire league in uniform on the field.  The young players will recite the Little League pledge then Chief Umpire Tom Karpstein will throw the first softball and baseball pitches of the season. He’ll have two young assistants – Youth Catchers Michael Cesar and Sophie Hultberg.

After the ceremonies, Little League teams will take to various fields throughout Juneau for their first games.

More than 500 Juneau youth have signed up for 47 baseball, softball and tee ball teams this season.  They’ll be led by 244 coaches, managers, and administrators, who are all volunteers.  Katpstein has volunteered with Gastineau Little League for 42 years.