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Vol. 49, Issue 205
In the news US attorney general heading to Alaska for tribal roundtable ANCHORAGE— U.S. Attorney General William Barr is heading to Alaska to meet with Native leaders and other officials on public safety concerns, including the disproportionately high rates of violence and sexual assaults. The Department of Justice says Barr will participate Wednesday in an Alaska Native justice roundtable. He will also visit the state crime lab. The DOJ says the visit begins a series of meetings with Native leaders as well as federal, state and local officials in the state. The roundtable comes after Barr said in April that he had scheduled a visit to Alaska to address the problem of violence against Alaska Native women.
Weekend rains push Anchorage to new May precipitation record ANCHORAGE — Alaska’s largest city has set a record for rain in May. The Anchorage Daily News reports a strong Memorial Day weekend storm helped beat a 30-year-old record for May rain. National Weather Service meteorologist Lucas Boyer says that as of 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Anchorage had received 2.08 inches of rainfall for the month. The previous record set in 1989 was 1.93 inches. Anchorage precipitation records date back to 1952. May is generally considered a dry month for Anchorage. The average rainfall is 0.56 inches. — Associated Press
Inside “This is not a drill ... This is not a warning. This is real and it’s a public health crisis.” ... See page A5
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Getting ready for court
Crime bill sent to Juneau lawmakers prepare for legal fight over education governor for approval
By Becky Bohrer Associated Press
JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature, locked in a fight with Gov. Mike Dunleavy over education funding, moved one step closer Tuesday to a lawsuit over the issue. The House and Senate voted to give the committee that handles legislative business, the Legislative Council, authority to sue. Sen. Gary Stevens, the Legislative Council chair, told reporters a lawsuit could be filed if the money for K-12 schools is not released. Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said the council composed of House and Senate members would have to vote to move forward. Lawmakers supporting the authorization cast the dispute as a separation of powers issue and an effort to get clarity on a practice
By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Members of the Alaska Legislature’s Legislative Council wait to speak to media members about preparing for a lawsuit against the governor’s administration over the future of education funding at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday. (Alex McCarthy/ Juneau Empire)
known as forward funding. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t want this question asked and answered
by the courts,” said Republican Rep. Chuck Kopp of Anchorage, a member of the bipartisan House major-
ity coalition’s leadership. He said this is a legal issue, not a political one. See COURT, page A2
Two weeks into the Special Legislative Session, the Alaska Legislature has finally sent a crime bill to the governor’s desk for approval. After several weeks of debate and the formation of a conference committee by the two chambers, a final version of House Bill 49 passed the House of Representatives 36-2 May 20 and passed the Senate unanimously yesterday. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a press availability session yesterday that he intends to sign the bill into law. HB 49 addresses several areas of public safety and criminal justice and effectively repeals and replaces See BILL, page A16
Voters unlikely to see K-Selo bonds on the ballot By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The borough is still trying to find the money to build a new school in Kachemak-Selo, although voters shouldn’t expect to see another bond package
on the ballots. At the May 21 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting, Mayor Charlie Pierce said he met with staff concerning the recent extension to the $10 million state grant, which would help build a new school. The
state grant requires a 35% match, or around $5 million from the borough. Pierce said he doesn’t plan to put up another bond package on the ballots to cover the match. “There was a request made that I put it out for
bonding again,” Pierce said. “I don’t think we’re there. I don’t think we’re anywhere near prepared for putting this project on the street for a bond. I think it’s failed.” K-Selo has been in need of a new school for nearly 10 years. In 2011, the Old
Believer village petitioned the school board for a new facility. In 2016, the state appropriated $10,010,000 for construction of the school, but in order to proceed the borough needed to provide a match. Borough residents See KSELO, page A2
Road construction to continue through week Lawmakers
endorse tribal push to rename Saginaw Bay
By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Two major maintenance projects taking place on central peninsula roadways are expected to continue into next week. The Department of Transportation currently has a bridge crew repairing a portion of Bridge Access Road, as well as a crew from maintenance and operations repairing culverts on Mile 19 of the Kenai Spur Highway, which is in the South Miller Loop area. Shannon McCarthy, administrative operations manager at DOT, said that an inspection of Bridge Access Road last August showed damage to the bridge’s expansion joints. Since the damage was found late in construction season, the repairs had to wait until this year. Expansion joints are structures that allow for flexing and movement of materials — such as
Vehicles are backed up along Bridge Access Road as construction crews work to repair bridge expansion joints on Monday, May 20 in Kenai. (Photo courtesy Doug Munn)
concrete, metal and asphalt — as they freeze and thaw throughout the year. Drivers may recognize the expansion
joints as the metal ruts in the road that cause a slight bump when driving over them, McCarthy said. McCarthy said
Rescued bearded seal pup gets name By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
A bearded seal pup that has been recovering at the Alaska SeaLife Center is out of quarantine and has officially been given a name: Saktuliq. Saktuliq was found on the shores of the village of Shaktoolik in early April and was brought to the SeaLife Center on April 13. A few local school children had taken it upon themselves to protect Saktuliq from being harassed by people or pets before she was eventually transported See SEAL, page A16
to expect lane closures periodically for the next week as crews work 24/7 to make See ROAD, page A3
See PUSH, page A3
Alaska resident loses Arctic Man free speech case By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press
In this undated photo, staff from the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward feed Saktuliq, a bearded seal pup that was rescued on April 13. (Photo courtesy of Chloe Rossman/Alaska SeaLife Center)
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska House has endorsed a tribe’s effort to change the name of Saginaw Bay to Skanax Bay. Tribal leaders are pushing the change because the body of water off Kuiu Island was named for a U.S. warship that destroyed three Tlingit villages in 1869 that are near present-day Kake in southeast Alaska, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The House passed a resolution 37-0 endorsing the name change to Skanax, the Tlingit word for security. The Tlingit villages east of Sitka destroyed by the U.S.S. Saginaw were deserted in advance of the
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against an Alaska resident in a case that gives law enforcement officers significant protection from people who want to sue and claim they were arrested in retaliation for something they said or wrote. In an opinion, the justices said that because the officers had probable cause to arrest Russell Bartlett, his lawsuit fails. Bartlett was arrested in 2014 at Arctic Man, an an-
nual, weeklong winter sports festival that draws thousands to the remote Hoodoo Mountains near Paxton, Alaska. In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts described the festival as “an event known for both extreme sports and extreme alcohol consumption.” “The mainstays are highspeed ski and snowmobile races, bonfires, and parties,” he wrote, adding that for that week the “campground briefly becomes one of the largest and most raucous cities in Alaska.” Bartlett was arrested for See CASE, page A16