(Photo by Ed Ronco/KCAW)

The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game is conducting the first aerial survey of the herring season today (Thurs., Mar. 14).

During this first flyover, biologists are looking at the distribution of herring predators, like sea lions and whales. That gives them an idea of where the fish are located in the sound, and can help them target areas for fishing.

Fish and Game biologist Dave Gordon says they will also conduct the first herring roe test on Monday (Mar. 18) to see how much mature roe is in the herring.

“I don’t expect there to be a real high percentage of mature roe in the sample,” said Gordon. “There may not be any actually at this point in time. This is on the early side. It’s probably more normal to see the fish ready for harvest around the 25th of March. But we have fished as early as March 16th. The timing changes from year to year, so you want to stay on top of it.”

He says fishery managers will conduct regular tests until the roe reach a certain percentage of their body weight.

“Once you get up to samples that are 8,9,10 percent roe, then you think about putting the fishery on a two-hour notice,” said Gordon. “That’s when everyone needs to think about going fishing with as little notice as two hours. They better be here, and they will be, once they announce two-hour notice.”

On Sunday night (Mar. 10), there was a personal use bait harvest north of Middle Island, just north of Sitka. The average weight of these fish was 161 grams. A number of samples were taken, but the harvesters found NO mature roe.

The Sitka School Board opposes legislation that would allow public funding to pay for private and religious schools.

The board also wants to retain local authority of charter schools, should any be established in Sitka.

Two bills currently in the Alaska State Legislature propose amending the state constitution to remove the language that prohibits spending public money on private education. The amendment is seen as a first step toward the creation of a public school voucher system in Alaska.

A third bill would turn over the control of charter schools to the state.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

School board president Lon Garrison drafted the language of the local resolutions.

“When the state constitutional convention composed Alaska’s constitution, the prohibition on using public tax dollars to finance private or parochial school vouchers was written into the document and approved by Alaska voters for several reasons, not the least of which was the protection for private and parochial schools against interference of the government.”

The Alaska Constitution is specific. Article 7 states “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”

The two bills are known as House Joint Resolution 1 and Senate Joint Resolution 9. Wasilla Republican Wes Keller sponsored the House version. Freshman senator Mike Dunleavy, also a Republican from Wasilla, sponsored the Senate version.

Garrison said the House resolution is a much more straightforward attempt to divert public money into private schools in the name of “school choice.” He said Sen. Dunleavy’s bill would accomplish the same thing, but was cloaked in different language.

“He sees an inequity in what the state carries out in, for instance, helping college students with state loans and scholarships go to private institutions.”

Sen. Dunleavy’s bill would still require amending the constitution.
The board unanimously voted to oppose the proposed legislative bills. But board member Tim Fulton said he did not want the public to think that the vote represented opposition to charter schools. In fact, he said, he generally supported the idea of charter schools, and has participated in committee discussions about creating one in the Sitka District.

Current state law allows the creation of publicly-funded charter schools which operate under the authority of a local school board, and are subject to the same educational standards.

A third bill now before the legislature would change that. House Bill 93 is sponsored by first-time legislator Lynn Gattis, a Republican from Wasilla who was given the chairmanship of the House Education Committee. HB 93 would remove the authority of local school boards over charter schools, and hand it directly to the Department of Education.

Sitka School Board president Lon Garrison drafted a second resolution in opposition of this bill. He was critical of the increase in bureaucracy that might result from having the state directly involved in education.

“The duplication of administration and associated costs will continue to erode the dollars actually spent in the classroom, and not facilitate it. Furthermore, the continued reduction of funding to the state Department of Education and Early Development, and the dwindling pool of experienced staff that will be able to implement the new role of the department as it pertains to this bill makes the success of this law highly doubtful.”

The board vote opposing HB93 was also unanimous.

Sitka School board members will have an opportunity to register their objections in person. They’ll be attending a legislative fly-in to Juneau later this month.

Danny Hoggard submitted this great shot of a blue heron from earlier this week.

KRBD is offering local photographers, professional and amateur, an opportunity to showcase their pictures, and maybe win a bag of Raven’s Brew coffee! To submit recent photos of local scenery, people or events, just send them to news@krbd.org. Please include the photographer’s full name, where and when the photo was taken.

Each week, the photo with the most “likes” on KRBD’s Facebook page will win a bag of Raven’s Brew coffee.

Crescent Harbor no longer has 10-day parking. The city has has eliminated longterm parking along Crescent Harbor Drive — it will now be 72-hour parking, except for a short row of 2-hour parking along Lincoln Street.

The city made the change because of limited parking during construction in the area. Further changes might be made in the future as the scope of the project changes. If you have any questions, you can call the police station’s business line at 747-3245.

Tristan Guevin helps Kindergarteners with an art project in a classroom at the Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP). He has served as an interim director, deputy director, and programming coordinator while at SNEP, where he specialized in curriculum development and community partnership development. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska brought on two new deputy general managers: Tristan Guevin and Thomas Gubatayao. Work started at the beginning of February, but they will be formally introduced at a regular Tribal Council Meeting at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, Mar. 20 in the Sheet’ka Kwáan Naa Kahídi Community House on 200 Katlian Street.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

Guevin has been with STA since 2009. He began working with the Tribe on a federally funded Tlingit language revitalization project. It was a partnership between the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Sitka Native Education Program, or SNEP.

Guevin will help oversee the Cultural Resources, Education and Employment, and Social Services programs for the tribe. He is the deputy director of SNEP and says in his new position, one of his goals is to open a tribally run preschool.

“It’s really about connecting our students with the past, with their ancestry. It’s about both the past and moving forward and really giving our students a sense of pride in who they are and carry on that tradition.”

He says revitalizing the Tlingit language preserves the worldview of the area’s earliest known inhabitants.

“There’s a quote that Das dee Ah always says: Everything has the Tlingit language in it. All things living. All things around them. That’s the Tlingit way of life. For me, the language for me is almost a window into a people’s soul. Into the way that they see the world.”

Guevin says the only way they can be successful is through inter-generational learning. One of the cornerstone programs is a summer harvesting program. Kids harvest natural resources — berries and cedar and spruce root

“But it’s about more. it’s about harvesting from one another. it’s about students harvesting the knowledge from the elders. and vice versa. the elders harvesting the knowledge from the students. There’s no definition of who the student is, who the teacher is, that we’re really working together to share knowledge.”

 

Listen to iFriendly audio.
Assembly awards Sea Walk bid, but hesitates on maintenance expenses. Harbor Dept. to apply for state funding for fish waste barge, but not ice-making equipment. Trout Unlimited organizes DC fly-in for 77 watersheds, seeking protected status.

 Subscribe in a reader

Sitka’s Mock Trial Team in competition in Anchorage last week. Attorney Will Pate questions his first witness. Melea Roman and Alora Zellhuber seated to Pate’s right. (Howard Wayne photo)

Listen to iFriendly audio.
Sitka Mock Trial teammates Will Pate (Fr), Jesse Bartelds (Sr), and Frilli Utami (Sr), discuss their third-place finish last week at the state Mock Trial competition in Anchorage. Unlike sports and DDF, schools are not divided by size in Mock Trial. West Anchorage and South Anchorage High Schools took first and second.

A sign instructs Jay Lageschulte, of Omaha, Neb., to cut across the tennis courts in Sitka, during a walk from Crescent Harbor to the Sitka National Historical Park on Feb. 13, 2013. A seaside walkway proposed for the shoreline between the two sites would simplify the route. (KCAW file photo by Ed Ronco)

At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Assembly approved a contractor to build the Sitka Sea Walk, but voted down a proposal to set aside $48,000 a year to maintain (and eventually replace) it. Separately, it gave the green light to the Sitka Harbor Department to apply for one grant, and unanimously rejected another.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

Sea Walk
CBC Construction bid $1.2 million to build the Sea Walk. It’s a long pathway that will offer visitors — and locals, of course — a straight shot from Crescent Harbor to the Sitka National Historical Park. Right now, the pedestrian route includes cutting across a tennis court and crossing the same street twice.

No problem, said the Assembly. After all, the money for the project comes from a state tax on cruise ship passengers. And Assembly members like Phyllis Hackett said the walkway will only improve the experience for visitors, especially with added improvements, like lighting, and a path that goes out to the end of a breakwater near the Sitka Sound Science Center.

“It’s really popular for locals,” Hackett said. “I think this will be a great thing for visitors. They’ll be easily directed from Crescent Harbor all the way down to the National Park, which I think is a great thing. But also, in addition to that, it’s going to be a great thing for residents on into the future.”

The bid from CBC was the lower of the two received, and well below the engineers’ estimates of about $1.4 million. The construction contract easily passed.

But then came the idea of setting up a fund to maintain the walkway. The total estimated yearly upkeep of the Sea Walk is about $7,000. That includes trash collection, landscaping, cleaning, maintaining the lights, and the odd repair.

But the Public Works Department said in order to prepare for an eventual replacement of the walkway, once it nears the end of its useful life, the city should bank about $48,000 every year.

“I would urge you not to do this,” said Sitka resident Fred Reeder, the only member of the public to testify on the issue. “To think you have to put $48,000 aside for the concrete, and a couple of bridges, it’s too much money. You’ve already got a dedicated fund. It’s called the passenger fee fund.”

In other words, Reeder said, money will continue to come in from the tax on cruise passengers, and so, when the walkway needs repair, why not just go back to that pot of money?

“I think that’s a good point. I think it’s a really good point,” Hackett said. But, she added, she’s also “a little paranoid, because we’ve had so many infrastructure problems, and so many needs that were never planned for in years past, and now all of a sudden it’s coming home to roost, and it’s coming at a point in time when we don’t have the money coming in. We don’t have the capacity to repair the things we need to repair.”

Assembly member Thor Christianson was sitting in the Mayor’s chair in the absence of both Mayor Mim McConnell and Deputy Mayor Pete Esquiro. He said he likes the notion of saving for repairs and maintenance, but that he agreed with Reeder that $48,000 a year might not be the best way to do it.

“I’m hesitant to block off this much money,” Christianson said, “because this is essentially for total replacement, from our portion of the passenger fee fund, because this is exactly the kind of thing we’d be applying to the state for from the state portion.”

Cruise ship head tax money goes to both cities and the state. Cities can take their portion and spend it a certain way, and they can apply to the state for funding for certain projects.

In the end, the Assembly decided saving for maintenance was good, but this version wasn’t the way to go.

“But we like the idea of the idea,” Christianson added, after the unanimous vote against the savings plan.

Harbor grants
The Sitka Harbor Department got half of its requests before the Assembly last night. Members agreed to let the Harbor Department apply for a state grant of up to a quarter-million dollars. If Sitka gets the money, it would buy a powered barge that would allow it to collect fish waste and relocate it to open water.

Right now, the city pays a contractor about $42,000 to do that. Sport fishermen are no longer allowed to dump salmon carcasses into the water near fish cleaning floats, because it attracts marine mammals and birds, and those animals can be hazardous to the nearby airport.

The Harbor Department also wanted to apply for nearly the same amount of money to buy an ice making machine. It would provide ice to sport fishermen to help them preserve their Chinook salmon.

Reeder also testified against this measure, saying there are already places to obtain ice.

“If I need flake ice, I’ll go down and buy it from Sitka Sound, from SPC or I’ll go out to Silver Bay,” Reeder said. “You get into the business of making ice… that’s silly. You say, well, it’s free money, we can use that money, and it’ll be free. Nothing’s free. Now you’ve got to provide it with electricity, maintenance… refrigeration is not cheap to maintain.”

Assembly members ultimately agreed, and unanimously rejected second grant application.

JUNEAU — Adults applying for cash public assistance would have to declare their sobriety under a bill heard by an Alaska House committee Tuesday.

It’s a reworked version of HB16, introduced by Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla. The measure initially would have allowed the state to conduct “random and suspicion-based” drug and alcohol testing of adults who receive cash public assistance.

The random-testing requirement was seen by some as an unconstitutional search and seizure.

read more

JUNEAU — A key Senate panel on Tuesday proposed a rewrite of the governor’s oil tax overhaul that a consultant said would make Alaska more competitive for investment dollars but critics see as giving too much to oil companies.

read more

ANCHORAGE — The Anchorage Assembly held four public hearings and listened to 20 hours of testimony on the mayor’s proposed rewrite of city labor laws to curb the power of unions representing municipal employees and save money.

The head of the Assembly says that’s enough discussion time, but opponents want more time to speak out against the proposal.

read more

Tuesday afternoon’s House Finance Committee meeting offered mixed news for education funding in Alaska.

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development saw its operating budget request cut by a House Finance subcommittee, which reduced Gov. Sean Parnell’s funding request for the department by $5.72 million in general funds and left it with $348.2 million in total authorized funding, slightly less than the $350.3 million authorized for the current fiscal year.

read more

An excursion by legislators to Washington, D.C., last week for a meeting of the Energy Council gave attendees insight into energy issues and opportunities to share their perspectives with the federal government, several participants said Tuesday.

The four-day Energy Council meeting, chaired by Southeast Alaska’s Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, featured presentations by federal officials, company executives, energy researchers, and others, including a rear admiral in the United States Navy and Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the U.S., according to a meeting agenda.

read more

The minority leader in Alaska House of Representatives Saturday used words like “absurd” and “crazy” to describe legislation under consideration in the state Capital this year. Democrat Beth Kerttula of Juneau criticized the passage of relaxed cruise ship waste water requirements, proposed changes to oil taxes and voucher funding for private education during an address to Petersburg’s Chamber of Commerce. The chamber also unveiled a new guessing game contest and recognized a local eatery.

For iFriendly audio, click here:
Thanks to redistricting, Kerttula’s new legislative district includes Petersburg, Kupreanof and three other small communities along with a portion of the capital city. She visited here last fall but Saturday marked her first public speech in the community. Kerttula took time to introduce herself and give an update on the legislative session, nearly two thirds complete. “In 15 years, this is the hardest year I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Many things we as Alaskans rely on are under attack. From our oil revenues to educating our children, there’s a really big attack on some of the fundamental underpinnings of our Alaskan society.”

Kerttula is an attorney and is in her eighth term in the Alaska House. She’s minority leader in the house and part of a 10-person minority caucus. She criticized efforts by the Republican governor and legislators to change oil taxes, streamline permitting and decisions for use of state land, provide public voucher funding for private school education and relax cruise ship waste water treatment requirements, an issue she called near and dear to her heart.

“I had the first bill introduced because my friends and neighbors worked with me in Juneau and around Southeast to introduce legislation 15 years ago, just so we would know, just so we would understand what the ships were dumping in our water,” Kerttula said. “Well we had a great success and then we had a citizens’ initiative and it was with my great horror that a bill to roll back our successes went through the House of Representatives in four hours. I don’t care where you stand on that issue, that’s wrong. Four hours is not enough time to roll back Alaskans pollution law on cruise ships.”

Kerttula also spoke against a bullet pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to south-central communities, which she says is undercutting a larger gas pipeline proposed from the North Slope. And she outlined her priorities for the future. “I think we all want a strong Alaska where our children have good educations, our economy rewards hard work and talent and we respect one another’s individual rights,” she said. “I think Alaska’s future is dependent on three and then I’m gonna add the fourth thing. I think it’s education, economy, energy and to me, the environment.”

Kerttula said she planned to return to Petersburg for the Little Norway festival and said senator Dennis Egan also planned to visit then.

In other news from Saturday’s chamber banquet, a new contest will pay out cash prizes for people guessing how much rain and snow falls in Petersburg. Chamber board member Donnie Hayes unveiled the new contest called the Rain Game Classic. “It is a new raffle that we’ll be doing throughout the year,” Hayes said. ‘It is a guesstimate of how much rain we get on a yearly basis. So please take a look at, take a peak at the informational card, there’ll be more information coming out also places that you’ll be able to purchase tickets for it. We’re proud to present the Rain Game Classic. It’s going to be a wonderful new addition to the year’s activities.”

Tickets are $2 and are on sale until 9 p.m. on October 25th for a guess at the total precipitation amount, rain and snow, to fall in Petersburg this year. Winners will be announced January 10th, 2014 and will split the proceeds from ticket sales.

As it does every year, the chamber honored a business of the year. This year that award goes to Papa Bear’s Pizza, which was nominated for a friendly atmosphere in a new location, willingness to stay open late and donations to the community and youth programs.

Devin Klose submitted this scenic shot of City Float.

KRBD is offering local photographers, professional and amateur, an opportunity to showcase their pictures, and maybe win a bag of Raven’s Brew coffee! To submit recent photos of local scenery, people or events, just send them to news@krbd.org. Please include the photographer’s full name, where and when the photo was taken.

Each week, the photo with the most “likes” on KRBD’s Facebook page will win a bag of Raven’s Brew coffee.

Raven Radio Drive Current Total

Raven Radio Spring Drive Current Total[/caption]Raven Radio’s One Day Drive is Friday, April 5th and our goal is $85,000. Please contribute now by clicking here and help us make our goal! Thank you so much!

School district calendars and a possible resolution supporting internet access for students traveling by ferry will be discussed during Wednesday’s Ketchikan School Board meeting.

The board already has approved next year’s school calendar, but will review it along with the not-yet-approved 2014-2015 calendar.

The proposed start day for school in fall of 2014 is Sept. 2nd. The draft calendar calls for June 2nd, 2015, as the last day for that school year.

The resolution calling for internet access was written by the superintendent of the Haines Borough School District, but its message could apply to any Southeast Alaska school.

The resolution points out that many students travel by ferry to and from sports or academic competitions or activities, which removes those students from the classroom. With a high-speed internet connection, the students could remain connected to their teachers and classwork while traveling on the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The resolution asks the State of Alaska to provide the resources needed for the ferry system to install wireless service.

Those two items are for discussion only and are unlikely to result in a vote by the board.

The board is scheduled to vote Wednesday on renewing an administrative contract with Tongass School of Arts and Sciences principal Marian Gonzales.

The board meeting starts at 6 p.m. in Borough Assembly chambers at the White Cliff Building. Public comment will be heard at the beginning and end of the meeting.

For iFriendly audio, click here:
KFSK has an Open Airwaves Policy. We encourage the public to express opinions, ideas and creative works. Views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of KFSK.

An electric power provider in southern Southeast Alaska is seeking state money to raise a hydro-electric dam near Ketchikan. The Southeast Alaska Power Agency is hoping the 12 million dollars needed to increase hydro capacity at Swan Lake will be included in the state’s capital budget under consideration this spring. The SEAPA board of directors met in Wrangell this month and heard an update on that and several other projects underway.

For iFriendly audio, click here:
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency sells power to the electric utilities in Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan from two sources, Swan Lake near Ketchikan and Tyee Lake near Wrangell. At certain times of the year, the water stored in those two lakes is not enough to keep up with electrical demand in the communities. SEAPA is hoping to increase the height of the concrete dam at Swan Lake and is asking the state of Alaska for the money.

Swan Lake dam, photo courtesy of SEAPA

SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson told the agency’s board of directors that he spent time in Juneau in January lobbying for that capital budget item. “Everybody I talked to says yeah it’s a great project, we think it is, we support it. It’s just a matter of how much money’s in the bucket to divvy out this year.”

The shortage of hydro electric storage capacity was highlighted in a plan for Southeast energy needs released by the state last year. The project is expected to cost 12 point three million dollars for design and construction. Acteson said SEAPA is seeking the entire amount because of other large energy projects also needing state funding.

“The primary reason I’m asking for the whole enchilada is that if a bigger funding appropriation happens up north, say this year they decide the in-state gasline they wanna throw two billion at, or maybe Susitna-Watana, they wanna throw three billion at it or something this year, we’ve got a project that’s in the queue ready to go. So you stand a chance for full funding,” Acteson said.

Those other projects are a proposed dam on the Susitna River in the Mat-Su Valley and a proposed pipeline to bring natural gas from the North Slope to Fairbanks and Cook Inlet. Both those projects have price tags in the billions.

Acteson acknowledged pressure from legislators to reduce capital budget spending and said another possibility for funding was through the state’s renewable energy grant program. SEAPA estimates the project will add 25 percent to the water storage capacity at Swan Lake and will reduce the need for diesel generation during the winter. Local governments in Petersburg and Ketchikan have approved resolutions in support of the work and last month Canadian mining company Heatherdale Resources sent a letter to the Alaska Energy Authority supporting the state funding request. Heatherdale is exploring development of the Niblack precious metals mine on Prince of Wales Island and is considering an ore processing facility in Ketchikan.

In other projects, Acteson said work continues on the environmental review for a proposed powerline from Petersburg to Kake. A draft environmental impact statement for that project is expected out later this year.
The SEAPA board approved spending over $1.4 million for work at the outlet stream at Tyee Lake, the agency’s other hydro electric project south of Wrangell. That work will include removing a log jam at the outlet stream and installing a stream gauge.
The board also elected officers with Bob Sivertsen of Ketchikan elected chair, John Jensen of Petersburg elected vice chair and Sam Bergeron of Ketchikan secretary-treasurer.

Listen to iFriendly audio.
Sitka Tribe of Alaska expands upper management, education programs. BLue Lake not the only hydro project seeking state funds. Wearable art takes the stage in Sitka.

 Subscribe in a reader