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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, September 10, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 294
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Soldotna hosts 9/11 Tribute Rodeo Starved for recruits, police blame benefiting heroes, local family retirement system
By JOEY KLECKA Peninsula Clarion
The final scene in the classic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” may make for a tearshedding ending, but it also bears itself out in real life. When the angel Clarence wrote, “No man is a failure who has friends,” it emphasized the notion that when one is in trouble or has encountered difficulties in life, their true friends will shine through to provide help. This weekend, those words became reality for Soldotna fire technician Tim Weekley and his family at the 9/11 Tribute Rodeo, held three consecutive days at the Soldotna Rodeo Grounds. Weekley was injured on the job in January when he slipped off the roof of a residential structure that was on fire. While working with his fire team to put out the blaze, Weekley fell two stories and broke bones in his shoulder, necessitating significant recovery time and requiring extensive surgery that included the insertion of metal plates. Less than three months later, Weekley’s three-year-old son John suffered the first of two focal seizures, requiring an immediate trip to Central Peninsula Hospital and later extended time at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. The family setbacks meant the hospital bills piled up quickly, and insurance only went so far. That’s where the “Ride for John” fundraiser and charity donation drive comes in. The community effort was a big
By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
Shelby Palwaski and her horse round a barrel Saturday at the 9/11 Tribute Rodeo at the Soldotna Rodeo Grounds. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
part of this weekend’s rodeo, which held special meaning in many ways. “It’s very humbling,” Weekley said in a phone interview
from Houston. “We’re always knowing that he has an opporwanting to give back, but being tunity to impact people. on the other side of it, it’s hum“It definitely brings tears to bling knowing our community our eyes knowing they’re going is coming out to support John, See RODEO, page A5
They’re battling an opioid epidemic, rising crime, slashed budgets and thinned ranks. Now, they’re fighting the state’s retirement system, too. Across the state, troopers, police and firefighters say Alaska’s retirement system is crippling their ability to recruit and retain new employees, leaving gaping holes in their ranks. Now, they’re urging the state to take action and warning of consequences if nothing is done. “It’s getting challenging to find and keep qualified applicants,” Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer said. “That’s something I hear quite often by my staff, and I’m hearing quite often from departments across the state.” Mercer’s budget includes 57 police officers, but nine of those positions are vacant: He hasn’t found qualified people to fill them. Col. Hans Brinke, head of the Alaska State Troopers, has 389 sworn officers and 52 vacancies. Again, he can’t find people to fill them. Rick Groshong is the new police chief in Hoonah. He came to that town from Wrangell, where he was the lead patrol officer for more than 20 years. When he became a police officer — he graduated from the state police academy in Sitka with Mercer — Alaska’s pay and benefits for police compared well to places in the Lower 48.
“At that time, the Alaska wages were pretty good,” Groshong said. “But now, the retirement is not there, and there’s down-south wages that are even more, and the benefits — they’re giving bonuses for hiring, like $5,000, $10,000.” Across the United States, a dwindling number of police recruits has given prospective employees the advantage in negotiations. Departments frequently poach officers from neighboring cities and states, and Alaska hasn’t kept pace in the recruiting race. “We will be more than happy to steal your officer from another agency to fill our ranks,” Brinke said. Brinke has 29 potential troopers in training, but with pay and benefits so much better Outside, he doesn’t know how many of those people will still be around in a few years, which is why retaining officers is even more important than recruiting them. “If we can’t stop the leaky bucket, it doesn’t matter how much water we put in it,” he said. The No. 1 thing hampering retention is the state’s 401(k)style retirement system. In Fairbanks, an analysis concluded: “Most senior staff interviewed view the current Tier IV retirement offered to new hires by the SOA’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) as a poor incentive to help retain staff.” “Retention of our people in the Tier IV is minimal because they want to have the security
See POLICE, page A5
Juneau residents join nationwide rally against climate change By KEVIN GULLUFSEN Juneau Empire
Dr. Don Wuebbles, a former climate scientist for the Obama administration, led a chant outside the Alaska Capitol building on Saturday morning. Before him on the Capitol steps about 200 locals gathered to call for progress on climate change as part of the Juneau Rise for Climate Rally. “Conserve, convert, cooperate,” Wuebbles said. With Alaska’s temperature rising at twice the rate as the global average, it’ll take those values to make a positive impact on climate change issues, Wuebbles said. “Conserve, convert, cooper-
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ate,” the crowd chanted back. The event was one of 250 such rallies and marches nationwide, part of what’s known as the Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice mobilization. The lead rally took place in San Fransisco on Saturday ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit, which will take place there Sept. 12-14. A coalition of local climate action groups put the event on, including 350 Juneau — Climate Action for Alaska, Renewable Juneau, Alaska Interfaith Power and Light, University of Alaska Southeast Sustainability Committee, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. Their chief demands are for real climate leadership and a
Wuebbles was the keynote speaker. He’s been to Alaska several times, or what he called the “canary in the coal mine” for climate change, and has become friends with Beth Kerttula, a former Alaska House representative. Both worked for former President Barack Obama. Wuebbles is the coordinating lead author of the Climate Science Special Report. The human race has three options when confronting climate change, he said: mitigate, adapt or suffer. “Mitigation alone is not About 200 protesters attended a rally for climate change action adequate. Adaptation alone is at the Alaska Capitol on Saturday. (Kevin Gullufsen | Juneau not adequate. We need to do Empire) enough mitigation to avoid the transition to 100 percent renew- fossil fuel projects and divest- unmanageable, enough adapable energy, a halt to all new ment from all fossil fuels.
tation to manage the unavoidable,” Wuebbles said. Other ralliers expressed hope for the future in the face of a tough challenge. Elaine Schroeder spoke on behalf of 350 Juneau — Climate Action for Alaska, her young granddaughter next to her on the Capitol steps. Her group is calling for the Alaska Permanent Fund to divest from fossil fuels. In February, Schroeder and other 350 Juneau — Climate Action for Alaska members testified before the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to stop it from investing in fossil fuels. The fund isn’t getting its return on investment, she said. See RALLY, page A5
Family readies lawsuit after fatal police, trooper shooting By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
It’s been more than eight months, but members of the Eyre family still aren’t sure what exactly they’re grieving. They still don’t know what happened in the woods near Fairbanks on Christmas Eve 2017. They know that 20-year-old Cody Eyre, a Thunder Mountain High School graduate, was shot and killed as three Alaska State Troopers and two Fairbanks Police Department officers fired at him. They know, thanks to an independent pathology report by a renowned forensics expert, that the fatal
shot was one to the back of Cody’s head. They just don’t know why it happened, as the state has not released any body camera footage, police reports or investigative findings. The Eyre family’s lawyer Mark Choate said he is preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the state in the next 30 days, alleging that the Troopers and FPD violated Eyre’s civil rights by killing him. Choate expected it to take three or four months for the police department and state Office of Special Prosecutions to release information about the shooting.
“But eight months? It makes me nervous,” Choate said, “because as a society, what we want is for people to trust the police.” Eyre’s sister Samantha Eyre-Harrison is serving as the family’s spokesperson and has repeated the story numerous times in online posts, a YouTube video and various interviews with media members. She lives in Juneau, working as a nurse at Bartlett Regional Hospital. Eyre and his girlfriend had been fighting, his car wasn’t starting and the overall stress of Members of the Eyre family pose at the Mendenhall Glacier the holidays was starting to get with a photograph of Cody Eyre, who was shot and killed by law enforcement on Christmas Eve 2017. (Photo courtesy of See SUIT, page A5 Eyre Family)