Juneau Empire
WEATHER | Low clouds. High of 75, low of 55. B6
ALASKA SPORTS BLOG | B1
SHOW WILL GO ON
COPS ON TOP
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Despite statewide ban, Juneau able to put on fireworks show. Below.
Annual Mount Roberts hike is in remembrance of fallen officers. B1.
Two years after nearly fatal fall, firefighter climbs Mount Marathon. A4.
SUMMERTIME RADNESS
Man stabbed at home dies at Seattle hospital THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Juneau man who suffered a stab wound to his abdomen two weeks ago has died at a Seattle hospital. Juneau police said 61-year-old Gregory Bowen died Saturday at Harborview Medical Center. Police on June 17 took a call from a woman reporting that a man was bleeding from a stab wound. Emergency responders found Bowen on the floor of a home. He was rushed to Bartlett Regional Hospital and later flown to Seattle. Police arrested 42-year-old Sonya Taton that night on a felony assault charge and seized a fillet knife as evidence. Taton is represented by the Alaska Public Defender’s Office, which does not comment on pending cases and did not immediately return an email request for comment Monday.
EDUCATION MICHAEL PENN | JUNEAU EMPIRE FILE
Eaglecrest Ski Area general manager Dave Scanlan, pictured in the winter of 2017, is planning a handful of public meetings to discuss Eaglecrest’s plans to offer more summer activities.
Eaglecrest seeks public feedback
By BECKY BOHRER
Meetings and presentations on adventure center idea are planned for this month By BEN HOHENSTATT JUNEAU EMPIRE
Expect to hear a lot about Eaglecrest’s summer operations in the next few weeks. Eaglecrest Ski Area General Manager Dave Scanlan gave the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee an update Monday on the cityowned ski area’s plans to offer expanded summer activities. A flurry of public meetings this month will be among the first steps toward a goal that includes an aerial gondola, summit lodge, improved hiking trails, mountain coaster, ropes course, adventure maze, lift-served mountain biking and a zip line. “That would kind of be the core of what we envision as the Eaglecrest adventure center,” Scanlan said of the project. He said it’s hoped that in a month or so, he will be able to come back to the committee with more information about
Furlough notices sent to UA staff ASSOCIATED PRESS
input from the public, the level of interest in the project from the private sector and potential funding options. He said Eaglecrest’s plans should be on their website in the coming days and an online survey also on their website would follow. A meeting with the North Douglas Neighborhood Association took place Monday evening. A July 11 presentation is planned for the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Moose Lodge, and Scanlan said public meetings are planned for July 16 at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall and July 18 at Downtown Public Library. Assembly member Rob Edwardson asked how the expansion would impact North Douglas traffic. “We project it will likely be increased about 15 to 18 buses per day,” Scanlan said. “The bus traffic would definitely increase to be able to get the visitors there.”
This is to give the locals an opportunity to leave the commercial activities hub at the bottom of the lodge and gondola area and go out and leave the crowds behind and go to their favorite destinations on improved hardened trail systems. Dave Scanlan Eaglecrest Ski Area General Manager Eaglecrest receives about 107 daily summer visitors now for zip lining and cycling, Scanlan said; low-end projections for the new project show those numbers quadrupling, and high projections foresee more than 600 summer visitors. “We have the parking, the water systems and sewer systems to handle a highercapacity visitor experience,” Scanlan said. He acknowledged tourists drawn to a recreation sampler platter will change the way locals experience Eaglecrest in the summer, but said planned trail improvements are meant to offset that. “This is to give the locals an
4TH OF JULY
opportunity to leave the commercial activities hub at the bottom of the lodge and gondola area and go out and leave the crowds behind and go to their favorite destinations on improved hardened trail systems,” Scanlan said. An anticipated $35 million cost also attracted some questions. “As you’ve been drafting this up, have you, or the board, considered some kind of phasing approach because that’s a pretty steep price tag?” asked Assembly member Michelle Bonnet Hale, chairperson for the public works committee. SEE EAGLECREST | Page A6
Furlough notices were being sent Monday to about 2,500 University of Alaska staff, part of the fallout of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $130 million for the system. University system President Jim Johnsen last week said the cut, if it stands, would be devastating. The veto is on top of a $5 million reduction authorized by lawmakers, and Johnsen said it follows a series of cuts in recent years. The notices were being sent Monday, said Monique Musick, a spokeswoman for the university system. Johnsen also said the system is instituting hiring, travel and contract freezes. Johnsen, in a letter to the university community, said the cut was targeted at the campuses in Anchorage and Fairbanks and statewide administration. He has asked university supporters to contact lawmakers and urge them to override the veto, which would require 45 of the Legislature’s 60 members. Absent an override, Johnsen said he will prepare for consideration by the Board of Regents a declaration that would allow the university “to more rapidly discontinue programs and academic units, and to start the unprecedented process of removing tenured faculty.” SEE STAFF | Page A4
Juneau’s fireworks show gets green light despite statewide ban By PETER SEGALL JUNEAU EMPIRE
The Gastineau Channel Fourth of July fireworks show will go ahead as planned, according to the City and Borough of Juneau. It was unclear whether the show would be allowed this year following an order from the State Fire Marshal’s office suspending the use and sale of all fireworks due to increased fire danger. According the Capital City Fire/Rescue,
Volume 108 No. 153
the show which occurs at 11:59 p.m. on July 3, will be allowed but with a “tremendous amount of scrutiny” and “is done by licensed pyrotechnicians.” While the city’s show will be allowed, the personal use of fireworks remains banned until further notice. Capital City Fire/Rescue Chief Rich Etheridge said in a press release that, “We ask that people in Juneau adhere to the ban on personal use fireworks.” Bonfires, or “open burns” will still be al-
lowed but the fire department is asking that citizens use “extreme caution” when burning or grilling. High temperatures and dry conditions have greatly increased the risk of fire in the run-up to the July holiday. “Although we live in a rainforest, the threat of wildland fire is a very real danger. We are in the middle of a drought and that changes the dynamics of our rainforest,” Etheridge said. SEE SHOW | Page A6
This file photo from July 4, 2016, shows the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display over Juneau. MICHAEL PENN | JUNEAU EMPIRE FILE