All games at the BJ McGillis Gym at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. View the live webstream.

2A Girls
Game A – 3:00 PM Thu Mar 7
Game B – 6:30 PM Thu Mar 7
Game F – 8:00 AM Fri Mar 8
Game C – 11:30 AM Fri Mar 8
Game G – 11:30 AM Sat Mar 9

Note: Winner of Game C will be the #1 seed at the state tournament. The Winner of Game G will be the #2 seed at state. There will be no Games D or E in this bracket.

2A Boys
Game A – 4:45 PM Thu Mar 7
Game B – 8:15 PM Thu Mar 7
Game F – 9:45 AM Fri Mar 8
Game C – 1:15 PM Fri Mar 8
Game G – 1:15 PM Sat Mar 9

Note: Winner of Game C will be the #1 seed at the state tournament. The Winner of Game G will be the #2 seed at state. There will be no Games D or E in this bracket.

3A Girls
Game B – 6:30 PM Wed Mar 6
Game E – 11:30 AM Thu Mar 7
Game C – 6:30 PM Fri Mar 8
Game D – 6:30 PM Sat Mar 9 if necessary

3A Boys
Game B – 8:15 PM Wed Mar 6
Game E – 1:15 PM Thu Mar 7
Game C – 8:15 PM Fri Mar 8
Game D – 8:15 PM Sat Mar 9 if necessary

4A Girls
Game B – 3:00 PM Wed Mar 6
Game E – 8:00 AM Thu Mar 7
Game C – 3:00 PM Fri Mar 8
Game D – 3:00 PM Sat Mar 9 if necessary

4A Boys
Game B – 4:45 PM Wed Mar 6
Game E – 9:45 AM Thu Mar 7
Game C – 4:45 PM Fri Mar 8
Game D – 4:45 PM Sat Mar 9 if necessary

Note: “D” games will be played only if a team loses for the first time in the final. Otherwise, “D” games will be crossover contests between the winners of each tournament.

Less than two weeks after Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, addressed the Alaska State Legislature, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, followed up with his own annual speech on Monday, which saw him both commiserate with and chide state legislators on a host of state and federal issues.

Begich alternated between defending and aligning himself with the Legislature and directly criticizing some of the state’s actions throughout his speech.

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March is national developmental disability awareness month. To support the cause, Kathie Snow, author of Disability is Natural, will be giving a talk in Sitka on Tuesday, 3/5/2013 at Keet Gooshi Heen from 6 to 8 pm.

The Alaska Autism Resource Center in Anchorage collaborated with the Sitka School District and the Center for Community to bring the nationally renowned speaker to Sitka.

Snow has a son who was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that’s caused by injuries or abnormalities in the brain, usually as a baby grows in the womb. For the past 20 years, she has given presentations across the U.S. and Canada that teach parents how to raise independent, healthy kids with disabilities.

Cary Reid is the assistant executive director of the Center for Community in Sitka. She says the nonprofit supports people who are affected by disabilities across Alaska.

“It gives power back,” said Reid. “It gives choice. It gives control back to the families. Back to the children, back to the adults and individuals who have disabilities. And it’s really giving the person the tools and assistance to help them live, and allowing them the freedom to dictate what they want to do with their lives to the best of their abilities rather than just focusing on the fact that they’re disabled and making it a limited access situation.”

The Center for Community provides a variety of services for people affected by disabilities. They help people get jobs in the community and teach people how to interact in social situations. They even provide respite to caregivers. Most of the programs are funded by grants from the state.

Alaska state law defines disability as: A person who has a severe chronic disability attributable to a mental or physical impairment that occurs before the age of 22 and is likely to continue indefinitely.

Reid encourages people living with a disability or those providing care for someone with a disability to call the Center for Community at 747.6960, ext. 18. If you don’t qualify for the services the nonprofit provides, they will refer you to another agency.

NOTE: Some of the details of this story might be inappropriate for certain readers and listeners.

The former principal of Blatchley Middle School in Sitka has been indicted on charges of sexual assault.

A Sitka grand jury on Friday charged 54-year-old Joseph Robidou on six counts of felony sexual assault. He also faces an additional five misdemeanor charges for incidents that allegedly happened beginning last May and as recently as January. All of them involve other adults, and prosecutors say students at the school were not involved.

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Three people are listed by their initials in the indictment, but are not named directly. All three are adult women who, during the times of the alleged incidents, worked at Blatchley Middle School. District officials said two are teachers and the third was a substitute teacher who no longer lives in Alaska.

Court documents lay out a variety of charges. They include separate incidents in which Robidou allegedly exposed himself, touched one woman’s breasts or forced others to touch his genitals. He’s also accused of masturbating in front of two women in their empty classrooms, and on separate occasions, doing the same thing at their homes.

In one case, at one of the women’s homes, the court documents state he put his hands around her neck and told her “this would be a lot easier if you were passed out.”

The first accusation came to light one week after Robidou moved from his job at Blatchley to the district office, where he had just been hired as business manager.

Schools Superintendent Steve Bradshaw was in Juneau on Monday, but listened in by phone as KCAW interviewed Mary Wegner, the assistant superintendent of schools.

“There are a lot of rumors saying that he was promoted because of this,” she said, “and we found out afterward. It’s important that the public know that immediately when we found out, we took action to protect our staff, and make sure he did not have access to the schools anymore.”

Robidou became principal at Blatchley in 2008. He left that job on Friday, Jan. 11. He began as business manager the following Monday, Jan. 14. Wegner says at the end of that week, on Jan. 18, one staff member came forward with allegations.

“It was the police investigation that uncovered the second staff member and the substitute teacher,” Wegner said. “We as a district don’t even have a lot of the details. We only know what the one person chose to disclose to me. With the evidence that was presented through her sharing, we immediately turned it over to the police for their investigation, and then stopped our investigation so we weren’t stepping on the police’s toes.”

Wegner and Bradshaw both say Robidou was placed on administrative leave as soon as the allegations were made. He tendered his resignation sometime during that leave, and it was effective March 1.

Sitka attorney Jim McGowan represented Robidou at his arraignment on Friday. He said his client would not comment to reporters on the allegations. Robidou will be represented by Juneau attorney Julie Willoughby for further proceedings. She also declined comment.

Officials from the school district and Assistant District Attorney Jean Seaton all say that as far as they know, students did not witness any of the alleged incidents.

“I know that with the one staff that did disclose to me, she said there were no students that were present, and that her door was locked,” said Wegner, the assistant superintendent. “Her classroom door was locked, but students were in the building.”

The district did not officially say anything to parents, or even most staff members, before Friday’s indictment. Wegner says they told police they wouldn’t go public until the police had concluded their investigation.

Bradshaw says he expects a message will go home to parents soon from current Blatchley Principal Ben White. Wegner says parents with questions should call the district office and talk to her or Bradshaw.

“We would be happy to talk to anybody with the information we have, but at this point, we don’t have a lot of the information either,” she said. “We are working hard to make sure the students and the staff are safe at all times. As soon as we heard about this, within hours, we took action. He was not around staff or students as a result of our knowledge, as soon as we found out.”

Robidou appeared in court Friday for arraignment. He is free on $7,500 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 11.

Charles Haberbush submitted this night shot of Creek Street, taken Friday, March 1.

KRBD is offering local photographers, professional and amateur, an opportunity to showcase their pictures. 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 free bag of Raven’s Brew coffee.

Dave Rubin and Sharolyn Kroscavage perform during Saturday’s musical celebration of “Passages: The Art of Being a Woman.”

A new show at the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council’s Main Street Gallery always is a reason for the community to celebrate, but the March show took celebrating to new levels this past weekend.

Dave Rubin and Joann Flora perform “The Girl From Ipanema” Saturday at Creekside Cabaret.

The three-day celebration for “Passages, the Art of Being a Woman” kicked off Friday with the gallery show opening, continued Saturday with a musical gala performance at Creekside Cabaret, and wrapped up on Sunday with a poetry reading at O’Brien’s Pub.

Here’s an audio postcard from the Saturday night performance:

The organizers of the show and celebration weekend are Diane Naab, Laurie Thomas, Amanda Painter and Maggie Freitag. The exhibit remains on display at Main Street Gallery through the end of the month.

JUNEAU — U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on Monday called out the Parnell administration and state lawmakers to make strong commitments to education, give greater support for children’s health insurance and eliminate any obstacles to voting.

The Democrat, in a joint address to the Alaska Legislature, said he knows it’s popular to “bemoan” federal overreach and “file a lawsuit weekly” over perceived overstepping and that he too has engaged in fed-bashing, “when it gets results.”

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Cary Reid, asst. executive director of the Center for Community, Dwight Payton (training specialist), Rick Rivard (case manager), and Gail Trijulo (early learning program coordinator) discuss the large number of services offered by the center for residents with developmental disabilities.

Listen to iFriendly audio.
Bears will emerge from dens hungry this spring. Lawsuit settled over fast-ferry engines. Democrats introduce legislation to increase base school funding. State workers rally in Juneau in support of contract negotiations.

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The legislative centennial celebration at Rockwell in downtown Juneau entered its second day with a presentation by a local architect Monday morning on the history of the Alaska State Capitol.

Wayne Jensen, president of Jensen Yorba Lott Inc., the Juneau architectural firm that is the contractor for upcoming restoration work on the Capitol, spoke to a group of current and former legislators, a few legislative staffers, and interested members of the public over breakfast. His lecture on the Capitol’s history was accompanied by a slideshow of historical photographs and layout plans.

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Deb and Hunter Davis joined us on Morning Edition to talk about their upcoming trip to Nome, where they will volunteer to help get the town ready for mushers as they cross the Iditarod finish line.

Both Deb and Hunter will act as KRBD special correspondents while in Nome, giving regular updates on where the race stands and what exactly one does while waiting for teams to finish. Listen in to Morning Edition this week and next for the special reports from Nome.

JUNEAU — The halls of the state Capitol should be quieter later this week as many lawmakers head out for the traditional Energy Council break, though there are a number of hearings crammed into the schedule through Wednesday.

The discussion will include twice-daily meetings by the Senate Finance Committee, as it digs into the oil tax bill, and continued testimony on a measure that would define “medically necessary” abortions.

After hump day, things largely go dark.

Here are three things to watch for:

Begich speech

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JUNEAU — Alaska’s derelict and abandoned boats and ships may appear to be little more than an eyesore, but insufficient mechanisms to monitor and clean them up could lead to an environmental disaster, costing the state millions of dollars in the long run.

A state lawmaker has proposed a measure to address the problem affecting much of Alaska’s massive coastline, especially the far-flung harbors.

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In the room where the First Alaska Territorial Legislature first convened, 100 years to the day after its opening session, current and former legislators, their staff, and members of the public met for a reception marking the first day of the legislative centennial celebration in Juneau.

Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, chairman of the Alaska Legislative Centennial Commission and former Senate president, made his opening remarks as attendees of the event at Rockwell, in the former Elks Lodge building downtown, munched on hors d’oeuvres and socialized.

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It met for just six and a half minutes Friday to approve its changes to Gov. Sean Parnell’s amended budget request for fiscal year 2014, but the House Finance subcommittee on the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities budget made cuts bringing its section of the proposed FY14 operating budget nearly in line with what was authorized for the department last year.

The DOT&PF subcommittee was the final House Finance subcommittee to close out its section of the operating budget, with two others meeting briefly Friday afternoon before it.

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FAIRBANKS — First comes re-deployment, then comes babies.

It’s been a pattern as long as there have been soldiers returning from wars: About nine months after the soldiers return, there’s a spike in new births.

In the case of Fairbanks and the return of more than 4,000 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division soldiers last spring, it means Bassett Army Community Hospital is preparing for an influx of infants with March birthdays.

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Bryce Tasso exults as he correctly spells “neuropathy” to claim first place in the 2013 Alaska State Spelling Bee Friday afternoon March 1 at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage. He first correctly spelled “geanticline” to gain the advantage over his fellow finalists before following up with his winner. Tasso, a sixth grader at Eagle Academy Charter School in Eagle River, placed in the top 10 last year as a fifth grader. He will represent Alaska at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May.

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JUNEAU — A Senate panel began hearings Friday on the subject of school vouchers, less than two weeks after the committee’s chair adamantly declared on the Senate floor that the issue needs to be thoroughly vetted.

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Senate Bill 7 Corporate Income Tax passed the Senate today with a near unanimous vote. It now heads to the House where its companion awaits hearing in House Finance Committee.

SB7 and House Bill 68 restructure Alaska's corporate income tax code for certain corporations. The only way for small closely-held businesses to incorporate before 1980 was through a type C corporation. The income tax structure for C corporations has not changed in decades.

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A bill introduced by Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, on Wednesday could enable police to crack down on individuals selling fake drugs.

Lt. Kris Sell of the Juneau Police Department said the JPD, with the support of other law enforcement agencies around the state, asked Egan to introduce Senate Bill 66, would would remove a list of specific chemical compounds — including acetaminophen, caffeine and psuedoephedrine, among others — from the state’s definition of “imitation controlled substances,” which are illegal to produce or distribute in Alaska.

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