Sports

Only two weekends of skiing and snowboarding left at Eaglecrest. The city-owned ski area will end the season on April 14.

Two races are set for this weekend: the “sometimes annual Bill Tugman Obstacle Race” for all ages and abilities, and a Juneau Ski Club costume race – and the kids don’t usually disappoint when it comes to get-ups.

Statewide competition for young racers ended last weekend with the Under-14 championships held at Eaglecrest.

Eleven-year-old Luba Wessels of Anchorage got her first taste of major competition at the U-14 races.

“I didn’t do the greatest I could, but I tried.”

And her results didn’t detract from the experience.

“I’ve never traveled for skiing before. I’ve never skied in a different place than Alyeska, or Hilltop, or Hillberg, so I liked it. It was really fun.”

Seventy skiers age 11 to 14 came to Eaglecrest to race slalom and giant slalom, sanctioned by the U. S. Ski and Snowboard Association. They train with clubs at Hilltop and Hillberg ski areas in Anchorage, the Alyeska Ski Club in Girdwood, as well as the smaller clubs in Fairbanks and Juneau.

About 210 youth belong to Hillberg Ski Club at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Bobby Stone is one of 35 coaches. He brought 15 middle-schoolers to Eaglecrest.

He says competition is important to kids as they learn a life-long winter sport.

“Oh, it just makes them grow so fast both personally, the participation, the mentorship they gain from this, the experience they gain. It’s just an all-around great event.”

The two-day championship ended with an awards ceremony for the top racers. While they’re racing for time, they’re also accumulating World Cup points—just like professionals.

Thirteen-year-old Austen Eriksson, of Soldotna, is an overall champion for the boys. He trains on weekends with the Alyeska ski team.

“This is the best I’ve done all year, so I’m really happy that it was the Alaska State Champs.”

“I just went for it, aggressive, and I really wanted it,” Eriksson says.

Sanne Cassee is an overall champion for the girls. She’s 12 and also races for the Alyeska Ski Club. She says she started skiing when she was 2-years old and has been racing since kindergarten.

She says her races turned out nearly as planned.

“There’s a couple people I just wanted to beat, and I just pushed myself.”

And that, she explains, requires a different attitude:

“Think like ‘OK, I’m going to do it.’”

The U-14 championship was the first big ski trip for many of these kids. Most said they especially like Eaglecrest’ s lack of crowds compared to their home mountain.

Bre Donovan is the head coach for the 10 to 14-year old racers at Alyeska. She grew up in the program and has been coaching for about a decade, though she thought it would be a job for a season or two.

She prefers coaching this age group.

“They still are having a ton of fun; it’s not super competitive, It’s a lot of time for them to develop their skills and make lifelong, hopefully, friendships, and our job is to really get them going for U 16s because as they age, they get more and more competitive, more training, pressure and stress.”

Juneau Olympian Hilary Lindh led Saturday’s giant slalom. It was her job as forerunner to relay information about the course to the young racers at the top.

When Lindh was growing up, youth trained in the speed events known as Super G and downhill. That’s not done much these days, but Alyeska coach Donovan says it’s time to bring it back.

“We want to have the Alaska Division known for producing more Hilary Lindh’s and Tommy Moe’s.”

Juneau Ski Club Assistant Coach Patrick Shanley was organizing poles and fencing Sunday afternoon at the end of Hilary’s run, the race course named after Hilary Lindh. It was easy to spot Shanley’ s satisfied look. Several of his racers were in the top five for their age group, and those who weren’t still had smiles.

Shanley has skied at Eaglecrest since he was a tot, and grew up racing. Now he’s motivated by the kids he works with.

“They have me up here every day, skiing with them, working hard. I try to progress myself and in doing so, I help them to progress. So it’s a win-win, I think. ”

 

Race Results

Construction of a gun store and indoor shooting range remains on hold as the Juneau Assembly determines whether the Planning Commission properly issued a conditional use permit for the facility.

Juneau Veterans for Peace Monday argued the Planning Commission did not consider public health and safety, or the CBJ comprehensive plan, before  approving the Juneau Mercantile and Armory permit.

Veterans for Peace has appealed the permit, which was granted in December just before a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school made gun control a national issue.

But the group’s  president Phil Smith said the appeal is not about gun rights.

“We are not at all into taking apart the Second Amendment,” Smith said.

Planning Commissioner Dan Miller is a co-owner of Juneau Mercantile and Armory, a limited liability company.  Miller recused himself during the December vote on the conditional use permit.

Smith said the Planning Commission’s record of decision leaves safety plans unanswered, including the opinion of public safety professionals.  The record shows the CBJ Community Development Department staff had only a conversation with someone from the Juneau Police Department.

“Perhaps with a policeman, perhaps with a clerk, perhaps with a dispatcher, I don’t know, maybe they called 911.  But there was no indication with whom they spoke.  The police said they had no concerns about the facility, or we’re told the police said that.  But there’s nothing in the record that has anything in writing from the authority of the Juneau Police Department,” Smith told the Assembly. “There is no indication in the record that they contacted any other law enforcement entity.  They didn’t contact anyone with particularized expertise in the handling and control of these types of weapons.”

Juneau Mercantile and Armory’s 13,000 square foot facility at Crest Street and Yandukin Drive will house retail sales on the top floor as well as rentals of firearms to be used in the underground firing range, including machine guns and other automatic weapons.

Smith, a Vietnam-era veteran, called them “weapons of war.”

The Assembly plays a quasi-judicial role in the case, but can only consider whether the Planning Commission – which looks at land use – properly considered outside impacts of the facility.  Community Development Planner Greg Chaney told Assembly members he believes the gun range will be one of the most carefully supervised shooting facilities in Juneau.

“What are the outside impacts in this case? The noise is going to be contained. The bullets are going to be contained, that’s always big one, with shooting ranges.  The main concerns end up being traffic and that sort of thing; the normal things you would look at with a building that’s fully enclosed,” Chaney said.  “So I believe after listening to the appellants that they really wanted the Planning Commission to act in a legislative capacity and to pass a conditional use permit with conditions that would have the effect of changing the law of firearm use.”

After Monday’s hearing the Assembly went into executive session with the city attorney to discuss the arguments.  Assembly member Loren Jones is the hearing officer for the appeal.  He said it will be the end of April before the decision is made public.

 

 

The Juneau Assembly Monday takes up the appeal of a permit for an indoor shooting range and gun store under construction near the Juneau International Airport.

The Assembly plays a quasi-judicial role in the case brought by Juneau Veterans for Peace against the Planning Commission’s permit for Juneau Mercantile and Armory.

The Planning Commission in December approved a conditional use permit for a 13-thousand square foot building that would sell guns as well as rent guns to be used in an underground shooting range – including automatic weapons.

The Juneau Veterans for Peace chapter appealed the permit, saying the CBJ development staff did not thoroughly review the effect of the operation on “public health or safety.”

Assembly member Loren Jones has been liaison to the parties.  He had been hopeful a settlement could be reached, but those negotiations failed. He admits he was overly optimistic.

“I think the parties just have a different view of what should have taken place.  And it’s nothing the Assembly can sort of broker.  We expressed our desire to them if they could reach a settlement, but it’s basically between those two parties,” Jones says.

At Monday evening’s meeting, Veterans for Peace and Juneau Mercantile and Armory – represented by the CBJ Community Development Department — will each have 30 minutes to make a presentation.  Both have briefed the issue and Assembly members have those documents.  Jones says the Assembly will listen and ask questions then discuss the issue in a closed door session after Monday’s regular Assembly meeting.

“The decision’s not really public until after we’ve reviewed what the (city) attorney’s written up based on our conversation. Then if we want to revise it, we can do that. Then it will come back to a full Assembly meeting. And the Assembly will make that decision public once we reach agreement amongst all of our members,” he says.

Jones expects the Assembly’s final decision on the permit would be release later this month.  Monday’s meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in Assembly chambers at city hall, followed by the regular meeting of the Assembly at 7 p.m.  The regular meeting will be carried live on KTOO Radio.

Didn’t have time to watch or didn’t really care? If you’re not up to speed on the weekend’s news from the men’s and women’s Division I college basketball championships, but want to be armed with a few things to talk about if someone brings up basketball today, here goes:

 

Read original article

3 Things You Need To Know About The Weekend’s Basketball Action

he NCAA tournament got off to a stunning start on Thursday: Harvard, known more for its brains and seeded No. 14, sent No. 3 New Mexico packing with a 62-68 win.

 

Read original article

Harvard Stuns New Mexico, And 4 Other Need-To-Knows From The NCAA Tournament

On March 15, volunteers with the Iditarod Trail Committee discovered a five-year-old husky had been buried and asphyxiated by drifting snow in Unalakleet.  Wednesday, ITC  released the results of an investigation into the death.

The dog, named Dorado, had been dropped at the Unalakleet checkpoint on March 11 by rookie musher Paige Drobny of Fairbanks.  But high winds and poor weather on March 14 grounded commercial airplanes and race personnel were unable to fly dropped dogs back to Anchorage.  More than 130 Iditarod race dogs were being cared for in Unalakleet, a regional hub along the Iditarod trail.

As the storm became more severe, volunteers moved just over 100 dogs inside.  Due to lack of space, they relocated roughly 30 to what they call “a more protected outdoor area.”  According to a press release, an Iditarod Trail Committee Volunteer Veterinarian checked on the dogs around 3:00 a.m.  At 8:30 a.m. another round of checks took place.  Eight dogs were found buried by drifted snow, including Drobny’s dog Dorado, who was found deceased.

Preliminary necropsy results indicate the dog died of asphyxiation.  Further results will be available within the next 30 days.

Mushers often drop dogs during the race to prevent injury, illness and sometimes even as part of their race strategy.  Dropped dogs are left in the care of volunteer race veterinarians at checkpoints.

Over the last week, Race Marshall Mark Nordman, head Veterinarian Stewart Nelson, as well as Paige Drobny and husband and fellow musher Cody Strathe and other Iditarod personnel have met for a series of discussions on how to improve care of and handling of dropped dogs.

In its press release, the ITC lists a number of mitigation measures to ensure better dog care in the future. The race will build dog boxes to house dogs in both the McGrath and Unalakleet checkpoints.  The organization will also arrange for more frequent flights out of checkpoints.  Veterinarians will also patrol dog lots where dropped dogs are staying more frequently in the future.

Race officials will continue to work with mushers and volunteers involved on dog care issues. In a post on her kennel’s website, musher Paige Drobny called the ITC’s announcement “positive change.”