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Former Alaska First Lady Ermalee Hickel is the honorary statewide chair of the capital city’s whale sculpture fundraising campaign.

The citizen’s committee has raised nearly $350,000 toward the $2.3 million project, a life-size bronze breaching humpback whale to be sculpted by Skip Wallen in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. Committee chairwoman Kathy Ruddy says Hickel, who lives in Anchorage, will give the project some statewide reach.

“Having people upstate learn what we’re trying to do. A capital awareness campaign,” Ruddy says.

The whale has been donated to the City and Borough, which has agreed to locate and maintain it on city property.

The Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole this week approved the final sculpture location. Once planned for busy Marine Park, the 27-foot whale will be part of the proposed maritime park near the Douglas Bridge.

Ruddy calls it an optimal location.

“As you’re coming up the channel you’ll be able to see it,” she says. “You won’t be able to see it from Egan Drive, but Skip Wallen was always concerned about road noise in the first place, because he wants this to be an extraordinary experience where you see this whale and fountain, and in your mind you see a live whale breaching out of the water, which many of us have seen, but not everyone, so we’re eager to create that experience.”

The project is still about a year from completion. The committee is holding a fundraising dinner and auction Friday evening at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

The ten 6-foot resin whales’ tails that have been seen around Juneau this summer will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to the project.

A new literacy program for young children will begin next month in Juneau schools, thanks to a $75,000 gift from Coeur Alaska, owners of the Kensington Gold Mine near Juneau.

The Volunteer Reading Tutor Program is a partnership of United Way of Southeast, the Juneau School District and Coeur.

Research indicates that children who are poor readers in the third grade remain poor readers, so the program specifically targets children in kindergarten through third grade.

The program was announced at Thursday’s Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon. District Superintendent Glen Gelbrich asked the crowd to imagine children in a classroom who cannot read.

“And they’re going to school every single day with kids who can and teachers who expect them to. Teachers who are doing everything they can to meet the kids where they are but for whom just making meaning from the text is a challenge,” Gelbrich said. “The gift that we can give them around literacy prevents course failure, it prevents low attendance, it prevents drop outs, it prevents poor behavior.”

Coeur’s grant will launch the three-year program in Juneau, but United Way President Wayne Stevens says the agency will take it to other Southeast school districts, if the model is successful here.

Kensington Mine Manager Wayne Zigarlick said education and helping youth are a company focus. He said Coeur believes the volunteer tutor program has great potential.

“The contribution we’ve made today is really the easy part of this process,” he said. “I’d like to thank in advance all those folks who will be volunteering their time to participate in this program. They’re the ones who will be making the difference.”

Patty Newman is Juneau School District Director of Teaching and Learning. She said the volunteer reading tutors will be working with children in the classroom twice a week in 30-minute blocks.

United Way and the district are now recruiting tutors. Newman said once volunteers have been selected, they will be trained and matched with children who can benefit the most from their time and attention.

The program is to begin in mid-October.

The “Trip South” gang is ready for the next step in their adventure.

Back in June, the group of 20-somethings from Juneau launched an epic kayak and bike trip from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.

The paddling portion recently ended in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and after taking a couple weeks off, the group plans to begin the bike portion this weekend.

KTOO’s Casey Kelly has more.

Before setting out, Kanaan Bausler was expecting the trip of lifetime. So far, he says it’s been that and so much more.

“Basically, when people ask what’s the best part of the trip, it’s hard to say, because it seems like almost every day we were saying, ‘This is the best day of the trip,'” Bausler says.

After leaving Juneau in their kayaks on June 1st, the group spent almost a hundred days on the water before reaching Ladysmith, British Columbia earlier this month.

Bausler is spending the time between the kayak and bike portions at Quest University in Squamish, BC, where he graduated last year.

He’s using the downtime to put together a short video about their adventure so far. Some of the footage likely will be featured in a longer documentary about the trip.

“This film project has really turned out to be a great way of doing a trip like this,” says Bausler. “Because it just gives us an excuse to go into these really unique places, and go out there and find the smartest person living there and just have a good excuse to have a deep conversation with them.”

Bausler says a conversation with Kake village elder Mike Jackson had an especially profound effect on him.

“He was actually the very first person we recorded a conversation with,” he says. “And it was very cool to hear all of the things that they use, both in food and he’s artist and crafts-maker. So, he’s constantly harvesting from the area and using those resources to maintain his lifestyle.”

The core of the “Trip South” group consists of Bausler, Chris Hinkley, Andrew Flansaas, Colin Flynn and Max Stanley. The Funky Five as they call themselves were joined by about ten friends for portions of the paddling trip, as well as other boaters they met along the way. More friends and family undoubtedly will join for various legs of the bike journey.

Hinkley, who’s currently on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, says the shift to biking will take some getting used to. But he’s ready for it.

“I’m sure glad that I’m not going to have to unload that kayak and haul it up the beach every night,” Hinkley says with a laugh. “So, kind of a different way of moving and it’ll be a lot faster. All of a sudden we’re going from ten miles a day to ten miles an hour.”

But Hinkley says the group doesn’t plan to hurry. After all, part of the reason for doing the trip was to see the world at a leisurely pace, and get to know some new people along the way.

“I think everyone has a little bit of this experience when you go out travelling, it just seems you attract all these people and it seems like you meet more people than you might meet in your everyday life,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many times we were invited into peoples’ homes to share a meal, and kind of just talk and share stories.”

Hinkley says they hope to start the bike trip on Saturday.

The group plans to follow the Pacific coast all the way through North and South America. Several local companies, including Nugget Alaska Outfitter and Cycle Alaska have donated money and gear.

Link:
A Trip South

The CBJ’s Public Works Department will be accepting old TVs, computers, monitors, computer parts, DVD and CD players, and other electronics that Juneau residents may be reluctant to pitch into the landfill.

Solid waste coordinator Jim Penor says an electronic waste and recycling firm in Seattle will strip out the metal and other components for potential reuse.

Many computers, stereos, and televisions – for example – have components containing PCB’s and a variety of metals that are toxic if allowed to leach into the environment.

Wednesday evening’s e-waste disposal event runs from 5 until 9 o’clock at the CBJ Hazardous Waste Facility on Commercial Boulevard in Lemon Creek. Follow the signs at Anka and Jenkins to get in line for the event.

There will not be a fee for disposal. This first event is only for residents, not businesses or organizations.

Across the state Tuesday Alaskans joined the rest of America to remember those who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Juneau’s annual Patriots’ Day ceremony is at the 9-11 Memorial in Rotary Park in the Mendenhall Valley, built by the Juneau-Glacier Valley Rotary Club.

Past President Tim McLeod explained the shape of the memorial, designed by Brent Fischer of Juneau.

“The design of this memorial is a broken pentagon, representing the Pentagon building. Each side measures four feet in length, representing the four lost airplanes. The two missing sides represent the twin towers of the World Trade Center,” McLeod said. “The memorial is constructed with concrete and Pennsylvania marble to represent the strength found in our heroes. The Forget Me Not flowers symbolize the rebirth of patriotism and our promise never to forget. The flag represents the unity of our nation. The head of the memorial pentagon is aligned with the North Star, a symbol of all Alaskans.”

Most of those attending the ceremony remember that day well, as we watched the horror from our television sets. It wasn’t long before Alaskans mobilized and sent National Guardsmen, police and firefighters, chaplains, and others to New York City, where the cleanup would go on for months.

Destiny Sargeant, a psychologist in Juneau, was in the crowd at the memorial. She was one of five Southeast Alaskans who went to the site and worked primarily with the New York Police Department.

“It has defined the remainder of my life since that day,” she said.

Two recent recruits to Juneau public safety organizations were just kids 11 years ago. Officer Patrick Vaughn has been with the Juneau Police Department about a year.

“When 9-11 happened, I was just 14 years old. I remember going downstairs from my room after just waking up to get ready for school. My mother was frozen in front of the television in the living room, fixated on the horror,” he recalled.

The next day, Vaughn said, he wrote a poem. He read a small excerpt:

“Truly not an act of any good man, truly evil, mad, crazy and unsound. Men with these intentions do not want anything but for their name to be remembered. But today I choose to remember and celebrate only the brave men and women who sacrificed themselves to save others.”

Then he spoke to his colleagues on the police force and Capital City Fire and Rescue: “Please celebrate their sacrifice and treasure their legacy by continuing to serve your community as you always have, with love, compassion, zeal and integrity,” he said. “If you’re a guest here today, take a moment to thanks those around you who put you first, who guard you while you sleep, and will always be there for you when you need them. Never forget.”

Eighteen year-old James Gilchrest is a freshman at the University of Alaska Southeast and a new firefighter with Capital City Fire and Rescue.

“I was in second grade when America was changed. I remember sitting next to my best friend trying to comprehend what was on the TV screen,” he said. “Since I’ve taken the steps into the life of a firefighter my eyes have been opened wider. It has helped me to understand how much dedication and boldness it takes to put your life at risk to save another. The men and women that gave their lives that day not only motivate me, they have a place in my heart that will last forever.”

The sign out front still says Alaskan & Proud, but the new Foodland IGA is now open in the only large-scale grocery space in downtown Juneau.

A & P shut its doors on Saturday. The supermarket stayed closed on Sunday as employees conducted inventory.

It reopened yesterday (Monday), with the Myers Group, LLC as the new owners. Myers Group recently signed a ten-year lease for the space with the Rosenberger family of Juneau, owners of the Foodland Shopping Center.

KTOO’s Casey Kelly has more.

Myers Group President Tyler Myers says the first product shipment came off the barge Monday morning and started hitting store shelves around 10 a.m.

“I imagine that it will take maybe two weeks before we’re fully stocked up,” Myers says. “We have a lot more product coming on the next load. What came in today was just start filling all the holes, get product back on the shelves. But we’ll have quite a bit more coming.”

Myers says the biggest difference customers will notice right away is the switchover to IGA branded products instead of Western Family. But he says there will still be a variety of choices for most items, and in some cases the selection will expand a bit.

“We’ll be bringing in a whole lot more natural and specialty and organic sort of items into the store,” says Myers. “And then from there, it really will be dictated by what the customers tell us they want.”

He says the store will undergo an extensive remodel, starting in about six months to a year. A few changes have been made already, most notably to the produce section.

“[We] moved the bananas to a different area, so that they aren’t close to the cold air. That will give them a longer life and better quality,” he says.

All of A & P’s remaining employees have been retained. But because so many left in recent months, signs posted on the front doors say the store is currently accepting applications.

Jeremy Schoonover is the new store manager. He specializes in opening stores for the Myers Group, most recently on Camano Island in Washington state.

“They had a marching band here yesterday and we received flowers here today,” Schoonover says. “To see people so excited, it gives me goose bumps.”

Schoonover says he’ll be with the Juneau store “however long it takes.”

Myers Group and its wholesaler Super Value sent about a dozen employees to Juneau to stock shelves this week. Schoonover says one thing is making life a little easier for them.

“This store has the largest back room I’ve ever seen,” he says. “So that makes it so much easier, so much more of a relief. Because I can run around and order. I’ve been ordering groceries for so many years, it doesn’t really matter where you’re at, people eat near the same thing.”

Myers Group operates five IGA stores in western Washington, including markets in downtown Seattle and Tacoma. It also runs hardware stores and service stations. This is the company’s first foray into Alaska.

Foodland IGA is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, though Myers says the hours will probably expand once the store adds more products.