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Vol. 49, Issue 197
In the news Marine Highway may have to pay armed Canadian police JUNEAU — Alaska will pay armed Canadian police to provide protection to U.S. personnel at a ferry terminal in British Columbia. CoastAlaska reported Friday that the Alaska Marine Highway System was notified in March that unarmed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents checking ferries leaving Prince Rupert, British Columbia, will require the assistance of Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Canadian officers will be contracted through the ferry service, which is facing budget cuts by Alaska’s Legislature. Officials say U.S. personnel cannot carry firearms while doing passport and contraband checks in Prince Rupert, 117 miles south of Ketchikan. Officials say details of the plan have not been finalized and an agreement allowing U.S. agents to carry firearms at the Prince Rupert port is several years away.
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Air Force exercises Lawmakers disappointed with unfinished business may disrupt months working out a budget in response to Gov. Mike navigation Dunleavy’s proposed budget During a legislative sesthat made huge slashes to systems sion that was defined by state services. As a result, not By Alex McCarthy Juneau Empire
debates over the budget and crime reform, most other topics were put on the back burner until next year. In terms of the number of bills that made it through the Legislature, this was the least productive session in years. Twenty-nine bills passed the Legislature this year, one of the lowest totals ever, according to figures from the Legislative Affairs Agency. The lowest number of bills in a 121-day session was in 2017, when the Legislature passed 26 bills into law, according to LAA. With four special sessions that year the
Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, listens to Patience Frederiksen, State Librarian and Head of Library Developement, during a hearing for House Bill 75 on increasing school internet speed at a House Education Committee meeting on Monday, April 1, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
number rose to 32. In 2018, the Legislature passed more than 100 bills.
Juneau’s Sen. Jesse Kiehl said he and his colleagues spent most of the past few
much else got passed. “We were dealing with some monsters, some real giants this year,” Kiehl said in an interview Friday. “A budget that keeps Alaska working, that doesn’t crash the economy the way that the governor’s first proposal would have, is really crucial. The decisions aren’t final, but we’re in a better place, a passable place, and that’s a real accomplishment this year.” The budget is not yet complete, but both of Juneau’s representatives agreed that See NEXT, page A2
Man sentenced for killing girlfriend during suicide attempt ANCHORAGE — An Alaska man who attempted suicide and accidently shot his girlfriend has been sentenced to nine years in prison. The Anchorage Daily News reports 23-year-old Victor Sibson fired a shot into his own head in 2017. The bullet passed through his skull and struck and killed 22-year-old Brittany-Mae Haag. Sibson was originally charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty in November to manslaughter. Prosecutors and defense attorneys suggested a 14-year sentence with five suspended. Superior Court Judge Erin Marston agreed and ordered that Sibson receive treatment for mental illness. — Associated Press
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Showers
Helping hands Local artist Christina Demetro helps a young artist create new pieces of clay that will be added to a sculpture of a 6-foot tall sandhill crane on Saturday morning at the Kenai Community Library. The sculpture will ultimately be displayed at the Shimai Toshi Garden Trails, a Japanese Garden that will be the first of its kind in Alaska. The clay sculpture received a local flair as interested artists could choose to add their own style to the statue, which sat in several pieces at the library. The statue will eventually be pieced together and bronzed. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Fledgling commercial seaweed industry grows ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska’s fledgling commercial seaweed industry is growing, with producers excited about this year’s harvest. There were no commercial seaweed farmers in Alaska five years ago, though there have long been subsistence seaweed harvests along Alaska coasts. Now, there are 16 aquatic farming operations permitted to culture species of seaweed in the state, said Cynthia PringHam, the aquatic farming
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co-ordinator for the Commercial Fisheries Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Ten of those operations have permits to grow seaweed plus oysters and other shellfish, while six have seaweed-only permits, she said. According to the World Aquaculture Society, seaweed is a $6 billion business worldwide. Most seaweed is harvested in Korea, Japan and China, dried and used for seasoning.
Blue Evolution, a California-based company at the fore of the developing Alaska’s industry, has worked with researchers at the University of Alaska Southeast on ways to farm kelp commercially rather than harvest wild kelp beds, reports the Anchorage Daily News. Lexa Meyers, who coowns Kodiak Kelp Co., said the technique involves collecting wild kelp plants and breeding them to produce tiny floating “seeds” See GROW, page A2
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Pilots and others using navigation systems throughout Interior Alaska may experience disruption due to Air Force training, officials said. Eielson Air Force Base is conducting GPS signal-jamming exercises through May 24 that may disrupt navigation systems, The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday. The tests will happen on weekdays between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., the Air Force said in a statement. Civilian pilots are most likely to be affected by GPS signal loss during the exercise periods, said Air Force Lt. Kayshel Trudell. Pilots reliant on GPSbased navigation systems are training to contend with situations where an adversary might jam their signal. The training is part of a joint-force exercise called Northern Edge 2019 to prepare U.S. troops for crises in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. "The goal of this training is not to inconvenience people, but to ensure our military forces are ready to operate were they to face a loss of GPS in a real world situation," Trudell said. The tests will be centered southwest of Eielson base near Delta Junction, 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Aircraft impact will vary depending on altitude and distance from the test facility. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is about 209 nautical miles from the jamming center, putting it within the affected radius. The base has a contingency plan to cut power to the jamming equipment if safety issues arise, Trudell said. Motorists using in-vehicle navigation or smartphone navigation apps may lose signals intermittently.
Man given Coast Guard medal 20 years after girl’s rescue ANCHORAGE (AP) — An Alaska man has received the U.S. Coast Guard’s second-highest civilian honor for saving a girl from drowning when they were both children more than 20 years ago, a report said. George Lambert received a silver lifesaving medal in Anchorage Saturday for rescuing Pamela Smith, The Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday. The award was presented by Coast Guard Rear Admiral Matthew Bell Jr., who told the story of the rescue dur-
ing a ceremony attended by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Lambert and Smith were among a group swimming at a sandbar near Kotzebue in northwest Alaska in 1998 when he was 10 and she was 12. Smith was pulled into the current, and Lambert took a life jacket and swam out 100 feet to tow Smith to safety, Bell said. “I just ran to the boat and grabbed a jacket, didn’t even think about it, put it on, jumped in that water, went and got See MEDAL, page A3
The new Northrim Bank branch in Soldotna is now open. Stop in and get 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles when you open a new checking account with a debit card and online banking.
Northrim.com | 562.0062