Public Safety

Bail has been set at $20,000 for Kenneth Edward Nalan, accused of shooting a man at a party Tuesday night in Juneau.

Nalan was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Juneau District Court on charges of first degree assault. He was originally arrested on a second degree assault charge. Both are felonies.

Judge Tom Nave prohibited Nalan from contacting others at the party, including the victim, 33-year-old John Nicholas Duran. Nalan has been assigned a public defender.

Juneau Police say Duran was shot in the face with a handgun during a party hosted by Nalan at a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive. Alcohol was involved.

Duran remains at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, reportedly in stable condition.

Lt. Kris Sell says Duran was an invited guest at the party. She says police are still gathering details of the shooting.

“We still have plenty of work to do on this investigation, including talking to the victim, who we hope recovers well enough to do that in the near future,” Sell says. “What we’ll do is ask Seattle PD to help us out with this. We have a good relationship with them and have done that before.”

Nalan is being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. A preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 30th, unless a Juneau grand jury returns an indictment before that date.

Juneau Police have made an arrest in last night’s shooting in the Mendenhall Valley.

Thirty-five year old Kenneth Edward Nalan of Juneau is accused of assault in the 2nd degree — a class B felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and a 100-thousand dollar fine.

The victim was identified as 33-year-old John Nicholas Duran. Police say he’s in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Tuesday night police responded to a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive and found Duran with a gunshot wound to his face. He apparently was shot with a handgun. Police believe alcohol was a factor in the incident.

No other details have been released. The case is under investigation.

A Juneau man who was shot in the face Tuesday night has been medevac’d to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Juneau police say the 33-year-old unnamed man was shot at a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive in the Mendenhall Valley.

Police responded to the home at 10:39 p.m. to find the man with a gunshot wound to his face. He apparently was shot with a handgun.

Capital City Fire and Rescue transported the shooting victim to Bartlett Regional Hospital. He was subsequently evacuated to the Seattle trauma center.

While police say alcohol was involved in the incident, circumstances of the shooting are still unclear.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

Ketchikan Superior Court Judge Trevor Stephens is the new presiding judge for the First Judicial District, which encompasses Juneau and the rest of Southeast Alaska.

Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Carpeneti yesterday (Tuesday) appointed the presiding judges for the state’s four judicial districts.

Superior Court Judge Ben Esch has been named presiding judge for the Second Judicial District covering the most northern areas of the state, including Barrow, Nome and Kotzebue superior courts.

Superior Court Judge Sen K. Tan is the presiding judge for the Third Judicial District for Southcentral Alaska and the Aleutian chain; and Superior Court Judge Douglas Blankenship will preside over the Fourth. The huge district is administered from Fairbanks, and extends from the Canadian border west to the Bering Sea.

Three of the four presiding judges have served in their district for more than a decade. Stephens was appointed to the superior court in the first district in 2000. Esch has served in the second district since 1996, and Tan has been a superior court judge in the third district since 1996. Blankenship was appointed to the bench in the fourth district in 2005.

In addition to regular judicial duties, presiding judges are administrators, business managers, and must make sure their district trial courts follow statewide court objectives and policies. The one-year terms begin in January. Incumbents can be reappointed.

Juneau Police say two teenage girls were taken to the hospital yesterday afternoon (Sunday) after being struck by a car on Glacier Highway.

Neither girl was seriously hurt. A 48-year-old man was cited for failure to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Three teenage boys have been charged with vandalism, after getting caught in the alleged act at Melvin Park in the Mendenhall Valley.

According to Juneau Police, on December 4th a woman witnessed the boys spray painting some bleachers at the park and setting fire to the paint.

After the woman called to report the incident, Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to the park and located the three boys. Police were able to question them and determine that they were responsible for the vandalism.

According to a JPD release, the boys – age 12, 13 and 15 – are each charged with 4th degree criminal negligent burning.

Damage to the bleachers is estimated at 400 dollars.