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KLAS STOLPE
JUNEAU EMPIRE

Sitka judge David George dismissed subsistence fishing violation charges against state Senator Albert Kookesh on Thursday, according to Kookesh’s attorney, Anthony Strong.

“It was a good result,” Strong said. “The charges were dismissed against Albert (Kookesh), Rocky (Estrada), Stanley (Johnson Sr.), and Scott (Hunter). The decision made by the judge was fair. The judge ruled the 15-fish-bag limit under which my clients were cited was adopted without providing for public comment and participation that is required by state law. I feel the judge made the right decision regarding this issue.”

District Attorney Doug Gardner said they would wait to see the judge’s written decision, as this was an oral one, before deciding on any possible further steps.

Please see Friday’s Empire for more on this story.

The West Douglas Development Working Group originally scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. today in the Juneau Economic Development Council boardroom has been canceled, according to a press release from the city. A make-up time was not announced in the release.

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE – Hoonah Police Chief John Millan says he and other officers had a sense trouble was brewing with a reclusive man who had a series of run-ins with the law.

Forty-five-year-old John Marvin Jr. had recently blackened the windows of his cottage in the town about 40 miles west of Juneau.

On Saturday police say he shot two officers who happened to stop and talk in front of his home.

Marvin was arrested after a day-and-a-half standoff.

Millan told The Anchorage Daily News that although he thought Marvin could be dangerous, “there’s no law against being strange.”

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE – Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan says the city will come up at least $18 million short next year if it maintains the current rate of spending for services.

At a briefing Wednesday at City Hall he said he’s considering budget cuts and may ask union workers to give up hours and pay raises.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Sullivan became mayor in July 2009 on a platform of controlling spending and property taxes. He cut this year’s spending by $20 million.

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE – Anchorage police say three men beat another man to death at Eagle River because they suspected him of stealing a backpack.

KTUU reports Harvey “Charley” Albright was killed a week ago and his body was dumped in a river. Anchorage police found remains Tuesday night that are believed to be the victim, who had been reported missing.

Two 23-year-old Eagle River men, Carl Leedom and Kennith Upton, and 24-year-old Philip Floor of Chugiak are facing charges of second-degree murder and evidence tampering.

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE – Utilities hope a new natural gas storage facility near the mouth of the Kenai River will keep Southcentral Alaska homes warm on the coldest winter days.

KTUU reports that Enstar of Anchorage and other utilities are part of a $180 million venture called Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska.

It updated lawmakers Wednesday on plans to pump excess gas into a depleted reservoir when supplies are strong in warm months and pump it out when demand peaks in winter.

The Associated Press

FAIRBANKS – An Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. internal report questioned a decision to shift personnel from Fairbanks to Anchorage and its effect on pipeline safety three months before the move was made.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported the Integrity Management analysis, written in November, stated “there are significant safety and integrity risks” attached to relocating personnel.

Alyeska announced in February it had decided to relocate 29 of its Fairbanks-based employees anyway, saying the shift was considered prudent when all factors were considered.

“The company took a broader view about whether those employees should be located in Anchorage,” according to Alyeska spokeswoman Michelle Egan.

She said a more thorough analysis determined the move of the accounting, engineering and Health Safety and Environmental Quality workers would help control costs without sacrificing pipeline safety.

Alyeska’s role in maintaining the trans-Alaska pipeline has come under greater scrutiny in recent months, following several spills and a congressional review of its procedures.

Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, a vocal critic of the personnel move, told the Fairbanks newspaper the IM report is more evidence that it was a bad idea. Guttenberg was invited to speak at a U.S. House hearing on pipeline safety in July, and told a Transportation subcommittee that Alyeska made a decision to shift workers to Anchorage without addressing the effect it would have on pipeline safety.

“Their own documents have shown they shouldn’t have done this, and they continue to do it,” Guttenberg said.

Egan declined to release any documents supporting the move, saying they are for internal Alyeska use only.

The IM report, obtained by the News-Miner, concluded that Fairbanks is a better location for the personnel from the standpoint of business efficiency, regulatory compliance and pipeline safety and integrity.

The report also outlined some examples of Interior-based employees helping to reduce response time to incidents such as a pump station fire, a leak from a rifle shot, flooding damage, and a failed cleaning attempt that plugged the pipeline.

The 7.9-magnitude Denali Fault earthquake shut down the pipeline for nearly three days in 2002, but the report said it would have been down even longer without a local response team.

Egan said the authors of the report have since softened their stance on potential problems. She said the integrity management director later indicated there “were no immediate safety risks.”

The Associated Press

FAIRBANKS – Private landowners in Alaska want the state to pay for the damage done by backburning to stop wildfires last year near Nenana.

Cindy Walker, Charles and Margaret Gray and the William Brewer family are asking the state for at least $100,000 in each of four lawsuits.

The property owners have lots in the Dune Lake, Totek Lake and Teklanika Channel Lake subdivisions. The subdivisions surround small lakes in the flatlands west of the Teklanika River, off the road system.

The owners told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner the backfires reduced the value of their lakeside property.

“The point is, what’s a piece of burned-out property worth versus a piece of beautiful lakeside property?” said Bill Satterberg, who is representing the landowners.

“You can’t just go around destroying people’s property and not pay for it,” Satterberg said.

The lawsuits were filed in Superior Court this week. The state has not responded.

The News-Miner said efforts to get a comment from the Alaska Department of Law were unsuccessful.

According to court filings, the wildfires involved were the Railbelt Complex Fires that burned west of Nenana in 2009.

The landowners claim the state failed to mop up after rains doused the fires and they reignited. The state decided to light backfires on private property to create a fire line, but destroyed timber and foliage on the private property, decreasing the value, according to the lawsuit.

“They basically scorched their property,” Satterberg said. “The only thing that didn’t get burned down were the cabins.”

Memorial services for Anthony Wallace and Matthew Tokuoka, the two Hoonah police officers killed Saturday, are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Hoonah Junior/Senior High School, located at 366 Garteeni Highway. This is a change from the location and time announced earlier. A procession from the ferry terminal in Hoonah to the school will begin at 2 p.m.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is planning a special ferry sailing to Hoonah, to accommodate those wanting to attend the service. The ferry Malaspina will leave Auke Bay at 10:45 a.m Wednesday and stop in Haines before reaching Hoonah at 1:45 p.m. The ferry will begin the return trip at 6 p.m. People taking vehicles need to check in two hours before the ferry leaves, and carpooling to the Auke Bay terminal is recommended, because of limited parking.

A catamaran is also being chartered for the memorial service from Juneau to Hoonah and back. The cost is $40. For more information, call Carolyn at 364-5250.

Memorial funds have been set up for the families of both officers at Alaska Pacific Bank. Those wishing to donate can stop by an Alaska Pacific Bank branch or call 789-4844 for more information. Checks should be made out to Deborah Greene, Haley Tokuoka or to Alaska Pacific Bank with a notation in the memo as to either officers’ name, or both names.
Alaska Pacific Bank branches in Juneau are located at 301 N. Franklin St. and 2094 Jordan Ave.

Brenda Hewitt, president of the United Way of Southeast Alaska, said there are several resources people can use if they are struggling in the aftermath of the deaths. These include:

• 211. A free service, dialing 211 will put people in contact with health and human services available in Alaska. There is also a website, www.alaska211.org.

• Victims for Justice. This group, whose Alaska office is in Anchorage, offers services to those impacted by violent crime. The help they provide includes crisis intervention, grief education and support, and outreach to rural Alaska. They can be reached at (888) 835-1213 or by visiting www.victimsforjustice.org.

• SEARHC. The Trudy Wolfe Health Center in Hoonah is a Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium facility, located at 568 Raven Dr. They can be reached at 945-3235, or by visiting searhc.org.

• Faith-based counseling. Hewitt said those with a relationship with a pastor or other religious leader can seek help from those advisers. Bob Prunella, Hoonah’s interim city administrator, said the Alaska State Troopers and the Juneau Police Department also have chaplains in the town.

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE – Calista Corp. says its longtime president and chief executive is “on leave” and has been replaced with an acting CEO.

The regional Native corporation for Western Alaska announced Wednesday that Andrew Guy will step in for Matthew Nicolai, who has worked for Calista since 1975. He became CEO in 1995.

The Anchorage Daily News said the company declined to give a reason for Nicolai’s replacement.

Calista also declined to comment on a sexual and workplace harassment lawsuit filed August 11 against the 57-year-old Nicolai by the former president of a Calista subsidiary. The company called the case a “personal matter.”

Company spokesman Lincoln Garrick told the newspaper the Calista board voted to appoint Guy as interim chief executive during a special meeting last week and announced it Monday to Calista staff.