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Fifty-six years ago, 55 delegates met to discuss their vision for Alaska at the Constitutional Convention. This weekend, 55 delegates gather yet again to discuss Alaska’s future with one major difference – all of them are under 25. The Conference of Young Alaskans, or COYA, began in 2006 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the constitutional convention. All the delegates are between 16 and 25, and traveled to Juneau from 28 communities.

KTOO Intern Alice Ottoson-McKeen reports.

These young, driven Alaskans are learning about issues facing the state, and by the end of the conference they will develop their own vision for the future of Alaska.

Planning for the 2012 conference has been in the works for a year and a half, and is organized by a steering committee of former COYA delegates. Co-chair of the committee, and Junior at Dartmouth College, Galen Pospisil says COYA is a unique experience.

“COYA is an opportunity to think about the next 50 years in Alaska. What are we going to do in the state? And it’s with the generation that will be shaping that,” says Pospisil.

Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell opened the conference. He says he sees great potential in the group.

“The 55 kids in this room, from all over the state, are our leaders – not just tomorrow – they’re our leaders today. These are bright young Alaskans, who are working hard to do neat things, and I’m just so glad they came together,” says Treadwell.

COYA focuses on five topic areas that are pertinent to Alaska: Economic Resilience and Fiscal Policy, education and workforce development, energy and power, and living harmoniously.

Twenty-three-year-old delegate Beau Poppin-Abajian is concerned with an array of issues facing the state.

“I am in natural resources, which I think is very huge. Obviously, oil production is big in the state and seafood industry is and various industries. The environment – climate change is a big deal in Alaska, so that’s an important issue. Another one that we’re not discussing as much, but hopefully will come up, is food security in Alaska, because a lot of our food comes from California besides our seafood. There’s a lot of issues and a lot of them are related,” says Poppin-Abajian.

Two time, 25-year-old delegate, Sonia Christiansen views the oil pipeline as one of the most important factors in Alaska’s future.

“I believe that the biggest issue facing Alaska is the lack of economic diversification and also the decline in our pipeline. I think that issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible,” Christiansen says.

But COYA does more to provide a setting in which to discuss Alaska’s future. As 24-year-old legislative aid Penny Gage points out, it is also a place to build relationships with likeminded individuals.

“I think it’s really interesting to see a lot of other young people that are so energized about the state. The conference just began, but I’ve already met people from Western Alaska, northern, also from Southeast like me,” Gage says. “And a lot of potential. I don’t know the majority, so it’s a great opportunity to meet people around my age.”

Before the weekend is over, delegates will produce a final document, which represents the consensus of the group on the five topic areas. In past years the members have presented the document to the legislature, and they hope to do so again this year.

But even if they don’t, each delegate is bound to come away with a better understanding of the issues facing the state and fresh ideas on how they can make a difference.

The first baby of the year was born to a Bartlett Regional Hospital obstetrics nurse, who was on duty when she went into labor.

Sophie Mae Babcock was born at 2:55 p.m., New Year’s Day. Her mother is nurse Angela Babcock, and her father is Danny Babcock, a firefighter for Capital City Fire and Rescue.

Sophie Mae weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 20 inches long.

The second baby of the new year was born at 8:36 p.m. to Deena and Daniel Hand. Raymond Glen Hand came into the world at 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches.

Arrow Refuse has filed a new plan to change the way garbage is collected in Juneau. But this one does not include barging solid waste south or curbside recycling.

In a filing with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week, Arrow’s parent company Alaska Pacific Environmental Services proposes replacing its garbage can service in Juneau with an automated roll cart service. That would mean getting rid of standard 32 gallon trash cans and replacing them with either 48 or 96 gallon bins, called “roll carts.”

Alaska Pacific Environmental Services General Manager Glen Thompson says customers would pay a monthly rental fee of $3.95 for the roll carts, which will work with a new fleet of trucks the company plans to bring to Juneau.

“A truck with basically a one-armed bandit arm on the side of it that automatically reaches out and empties the can,” says Thompson. “They’re faster. They’re safer for the crew. They’re basically used everywhere else in the known world.”

Arrow Refuse essentially proposed the same thing back in September. But that plan also included barging trash to the Lower 48 and curbside recycling. The regulatory commission rejected the company’s first application, saying the combined revisions would require a cost of service study.

Under the new plan, Thompson says some customers in Juneau would pay slightly more for the service, while some would pay slightly less. Arrow plans a cost of service study in order to set long-term rates.

“What we’ve proposed to them is, we won’t have an increase in the garbage rates in the first year. And during that time we will develop a cost of service study – the cost of your labor, your fuel, your trucks, your mechanics and everything goes into it – and that becomes the basis for a rate making case in 2013 we would apply for a permanent tariff,” Thompson says.

The plan calls for an ambitious timeline. Thompson says the company would like to roll out the new service in April. He says customers will receive information about the changes in the mail sometime in February.

“Basically, we’re going to try to set it up in such a way that if you have a three-can service right now, you’ll go to this size cart, if you have a one can, you’ll go to this size cart,” he says. “We’ll be doing some changes in the routes because the trucks are more efficient, they can pick up more stops per day. So there will be some changes coming up and we’re going to be communicating that to the customers.”

In the meantime, the regulatory commission is seeking comments on the proposal (to read the RCA’s notice of filing, click here). The deadline for comments is January 30th.

While the new proposal does not include curbside recycling, Thompson says Arrow plans to offer the service for a separate fee, which he says is still under development.

He says negotiations continue with landfill operator Waste Management and the City and Borough of Juneau over the future of the dump. But for now the company has no plan to barge trash to the Lower 48. Arrow Refuse’s contract with Waste Management expires a year from now.

2011 in the Capital City was marked by political bickering in the halls of state government, an unusual amount of turnover on the Juneau Assembly, and tragedy for two families who lost loved ones too soon. Casey Kelly has more.

Political bickering
The year began with Governor Sean Parnell introducing legislation to cut taxes on oil companies. The bill narrowly passed the House. But a skeptical Senate held onto it, leading the Governor to decry what he called “Do nothing Senators.” The bill will begin the 2012 session in the Senate Labor and Commerce committee, chaired by Juneau Senator Dennis Egan.

For the first time in state history, the regular session was adjourned by the Governor and not by legislators. With the clock winding down on the 90th day, and the House and Senate at an impasse over budgets, both chambers asked Parnell to take the unprecedented step of using his constitutional authority to end the session. He did so on April 17th, calling for a month-long special session starting the following day.

“I acted to adjourn the mess, focus us on just a few pieces of legislation that I think we can come together on,” said Parnell.

Lawmakers adopted the spending plans, but left another issue unresolved. The Alaska Coastal Management program was popular in communities, where it gave residents input into construction projects along the state’s vast coastline. But industry groups found it burdensome, and Parnell and House Republicans fought efforts to give citizens a voice.

In June, just days before the program was set to close, lawmakers returned to Juneau for another special session in an attempt to save it. But the bill failed in the House.

This fall, a group led by Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho unveiled a citizens’ initiative to re-establish the coastal management program. The Alaska Sea Party is currently collecting signatures, and Botelho says they have support from communities around the state.

“We’re interested in, of course, the process which allows for voices at the local level to be heard,” said Botelho.

To mine or not to mine?
Whether or not to promote re-opening the AJ Mine was perhaps the most controversial issue tackled by the Juneau Assembly in 2011. The city owns part of the old mine, which sits atop Juneau’s only year-round drinking water source in Last Chance Basin. In May, an advisory committee appointed by Mayor Botelho delivered a report to the assembly, outlining conditions that should be met prior to any mine development. Committee member Gregg Erickson captured the divisive nature of the debate.

“Seemed to me the public was clearly split on this and that the one thing that most people agreed on was that we should do everything we can to protect our water supply,” Erickson said.

The Assembly plans to make an initial go/no-go decision on the mine sometime in 2012. In the meantime a study of the city’s water system is underway.

Tragedy
In September, tragedy struck at the Kensington Mine, 45 miles north of Juneau. Joe Tagaban, who grew up in the Capital City, died after being struck by small rock and debris from an underground blast. It was the first fatality at the mine, which went into operation in June 2010.

Tagaban’s mother, Sandy, called her son “the ultimate big brother” and said the family had no regrets about his career.

“We valued the work that Joey was doing and we know that he valued it so much, and it’s important to us that we honor the work that he was doing,” she said.

Meanwhile, in July, another Juneau family experienced tragedy thousands of miles from home, when 19-year-old Kevin Thornton was savagely beaten and later died while visiting friends in Arkansas.

“It was completely random violence,” said Hot Spring County Sheriff’s Investigator Phillip Calhoun.

Thornton was a 2010 graduate of Thunder Mountain High School. He’s survived by his parents, Bill and Darlene, and his sister Katie. Three teenage boys have been charged with his murder.

Assembly shuffle
It was musical chairs for the CBJ Assembly. Longtime members Jonathan Anderson and Bob Doll both moved out of state, giving up their seats before their terms expired. In May, the Assembly appointed Katherine Eldemar to Anderson’s seat. But she served only one meeting before resigning. Eldemar was replaced by Mal Menzies, while former Assemblyman Peter Freer was appointed to Doll’s seat. Botelho received assurances from Menzies and Freer that they would not seek election when their appointed terms were up.

In the fall municipal election, Carlton Smith, Jesse Kiehl and former Assemblyman Randy Wanamaker won seats. Voters rejected an assembly proposal to exempt Juneau public officials from state financial disclosure rules, as well as a citizens’ initiative to implement a plastic bag tax. Voters OK’d money for a new turf field and school energy improvements.

Looking ahead
In 2012, two Juneau lawmakers will likely be getting used to new legislative districts. If the state Redistricting Board’s plan sticks, Representative Beth Kerttula and Senator Dennis Egan will be representing Petersburg in addition to the Capital City.

Photos by Danny Peterson

Did your children get Legos for Christmas? Well, they still have a year to prepare for the next Juneau Economic Development Council’s annual Lego robot competition. It’s part of a statewide education program known as Science Technology Engineering and Science—or “STEM.”

The Fifth Annual Lego League competition was held at Centennial Hall earlier this month, and as KTOO intern Danny Peterson reports, it was a little like stepping onto the set of a TV game show.

After three months on patrol in Alaska’s Bering Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman sailed into the home port of San Diego Thursday morning, delivering on the promise of being home for Christmas.

KTOO has been following the patrol since September, when the high-endurance cutter stopper in Juneau on her way north. This concludes our series.

ARRIVAL
Commanding Officer Captain Joe Hester’s first trip to the Bering Sea was on the Cutter Hamilton for the Opilio crab opening in January 2004.

“I remember standing out on the bridge wing and I felt like I was in a darkened bowl full of snow turned upside down over the cutter,” Hester recalls.

So this year when the cutter cruised into Kodiak in late September, it seemed a different island.

“Typically, you schedule your arrival for first light in the morning,” he says. “And when I came to the bridge and we arrived off Kodiak for the first time, it was emerald green, calm seas, it was actually warm and I honest to goodness went in and said, ‘You guys are kidding, right? Are you sure we’re at the right island? This is not the Kodiak I remember.’ ”

Weather also was still good when the ship first called at Dutch Harbor in October, “but already there was just a hint of snow on the mountaintops,” he says.

Twenty-one year old Seaman Christian Rocquin, from New Orleans, joined the Sherman crew in August, straight out of boot camp. He had never seen snow until that first day in Dutch Harbor.

Hester says he told him, “You just watch that snow, because by our last call here it will have crept all the way down the mountain.”

Not long after, Rocquin experienced that snow at sea level, during a Dutch Harbor port call.

“It was almost like a white Christmas for me,” he says. “The whole crew got off the boat and in a matter of seconds a snowball fight broke out.”

SEA STORIES
Captain Hester collects what he calls “sea stories” from his tours, and encourages his crew to do the same.

Rocquin’s sea stories are all about the weather.

“I was not prepared,” he says. “I had no idea what I was getting into coming this far north.”

Rocquin says he’s only been in boats on a lake when the waves are small, but in the Pacific they were seeing 20 to 30 foot waves.

And one night on watch, he says, “a couple of waves broke over the bow and soaked me and that was pretty fun.”

Seaman Rocquin says he wants to be a rescue swimmer and his first Coast Guard patrol in the Bering Sea was good preparation.

“Looking back on my first patrol, I’m glad Alaska was my first,” he says.

Seaman Emma Olague boarded the Sherman in Dutch Harbor on October 26, just 12 days after boot camp graduation. The 20-year-old came from Southern California.

Captain Hester says bad weather had already delayed her flight into Dutch — and her introduction to the sea came quickly.

“She hadn’t been on board five minutes before we began rolling,” he says.

Like Rocquin, Olague needed seasickness medication, but soon she was able to stand watch on a night of “crazy waters.”

“One time when I was on watch we had a really really big wave come over. It broke one of our stanchions and went over our heads and the wind was blowing so rapidly the water just started spinning,” she says with a laugh.

Captain Hester says about a third of the Sherman crew had been on Bering Sea patrols before, including Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Boyle.

“To call Chief Warrant Officer Boyle an Alaska enthusiast is sort of the understatement of the century,” Hester says.

The 51-year-old Boyle is the old guy on the Sherman. Next month will mark his 28th anniversary in the Coast Guard. Alaska is his favorite tour of duty.

“And the worse the weather got, the bigger his grin got. And he’s a big guy, so he’s got a big grin,” Hester says.

An electronics specialist, the Sherman is Boyle’s sixth cutter assignment. He’s been in the Bering Sea more than a dozen times.

One of his sea stories comes from the Cutter Boutwell.

“We hit 43 degree rolls while going on the way to a Russian processor boat,” Boyle recalls. “And we had things let loose and had to tie down boats with chains and the whole bit. So that was a very memorable patrol, but that was really because we were more busy trying to hang on than get other things done.”

He says this Bering patrol was the usual mix of search and rescues, assists and fishing boat boardings, but as far as weather and seas go, it was more mellow than many, despite the big November storm that made headlines across the country.

The history of Bering Sea patrol goes back to the days of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. Some of the most famous early revenue cutters have sailors buried in the grave yard behind the Bering Sea Memorial in Unalaska.

Captain Hester’s favorite story from this fall’s Bering Sea patrol comes from the last day, when a small group of young men and women from the Sherman were part of a ceremony to replace the weather-tattered Coast Guard, Alaska and U.S. flags in Memorial Park.

“We spoke about the long and storied history the Coast Guard has had in Dutch Harbor and throughout Alaska. It’s been a unique relationship, bringing missionaries, bringing the federal court system and bringing caribou to stranded whalers,” he says. “The whole history of the Coast Guard and Alaska are entwined. And for that moment I just wanted the young folks on the crew to learn what an important task it is, what an important heritage and history of service we have in Alaska.”

For the next month, the Coast Guard Cutter Healy will be on patrol in the Bering Sea.

The following photos and stories are courtesy Capt. Joseph F. Hester III, Commanding Officer, USCG Cutter Sherman, on patrol in the Bering Sea. (click inside picture for captions)