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- [00:00]
Wesley Early
Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from alyeska Pipeline Service Company maintaining and operating the 800 mile Trans Alaska Pipeline for nearly 50 years.
- [00:17]
Senator Robert Yount
I think in the long run, whatever it takes to make housing more affordable for Alaskans, I'm going to support and so I'll be a yes on the bill.
- [00:24]
Wesley Early
State lawmakers advance legislation to finance new multifamily housing from Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, May 15th. Good evening. I'm Wesley Early. Also tonight, locals are concerned over a Canadian mining company's plans to take a boat up the Taku river this summer.
- [00:40]
Senator Robert Yount
It's a complicated delta to cross. I mean, it's all sand. It'd be a, you know, soft, soft grounding.
- [00:48]
Wesley Early
Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. The Alaska Legislature wants the state's development agency to finance new apartment complexes and other multifamily housing. House Bill 184 passed the Senate in a 17. 3 vote this morning after clearing the House in February. It gives the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or ada, specific permission to finance what the bill calls workforce housing facilities of three or more units. Senator Forrest Dunbar, an Anchorage Democrat, says it's an effort to address a problem. Local governments and businesses have raised to lawmakers repeatedly the high cost of HOUS housing in Alaska.
- [01:31]
Senator Robert Yount
There are relatively few levers that the state government can pull to spur housing construction and a deal with housing affordability. This is one of those levers that's not in the hands of the local government, but in our hands.
- [01:44]
Wesley Early
Builders and developers said during committee hearings that financing backed by ADA in partnership with local banks would fill an urgent need holding back new housing projects. But during committee hearings on the bill, ADA told lawmakers that the agency believed it already had the power to build workforce housing. And as of mid April, the agency said it didn't have any pending applications for multifamily housing projects. The bill passed with all members of the House and Senate's bipartisan majority coalitions in support, plus a handful of minority Republicans. Senator Robert Yount, a Wasilla Republican and a home builder, supported the bill.
- [02:17]
Senator Robert Yount
I think in the long run, whatever it takes to make housing more affordable for Alaskans, I'm going to support, and so I'll be a yes on the bill.
- [02:23]
Wesley Early
Opponents in the House said they were concerned adding housing to ADA's portfolio would divert resources from the agency's other priorities, including resource development. The bill's main sponsor, Juno Democratic Representative Andy Story, says she expects the House to concur with the Senate's changes and send the bill to the governor. Meanwhile, it's early in Anchorage's garage sale season, but some massive events are already popping up like X's on a pirate's treasure map. And as Alaska Public Media's Ava White reports, some residents are getting busy hunting for those hidden prizes.
- [02:55]
Ava White
A beach inspired charcuterie board. A teal fuzzy baseball cap that looks like a cartoon platypus. A a super sized unicorn pool inflatable. It's all here and for sale on a recent Saturday at the Bayshore Neighborhood Garage sale. It's about 40 degrees and drizzling, but hundreds of people are milling around. Valerie Kaplan is one of them.
- [03:16]
Valerie Kaplan
So far I've gotten some jewelry. I also got some cool clothes around
- [03:21]
Wesley Early
the corner over there.
- [03:22]
Ava White
Bayshores is one of several big neighborhood wide sales that happen annually in Anchorage. The large events allow homeowners to declutter and turn previously loved items into extra cash and and shoppers swarm in looking for deals on the stuff that catches their eyes. The Bayshore sale is so massive there are maps to guide shoppers. Treasure maps if you will. Today, Kaplan is browsing with several friends hunting for trinkets and decor for her home across town in Fairview.
- [03:48]
Valerie Kaplan
I really love cool wall art, so
- [03:50]
Taylor Heckert
I've been looking for that, but it's
- [03:53]
Valerie Kaplan
hard to find exactly what I'm looking for.
- [03:57]
Wesley Early
But maybe I'll find it today.
- [03:58]
Ava White
I'm hoping it's still just the beginning of the short garage sale season and there will be several more neighborhood wide events like this one. Samantha Ruppert keeps tabs on many of the South Central sales with a spreadsheet she's created for the last two years. Includes dozens of neighborhoods spanning from Anchorage to the Matanuska Suitna Borough. Rupert calls herself a shopaholic who loves looking for good deals, but last year
- [04:21]
Samantha Ruppert
I had gotten so into it that I had like a this is my summer garage saling bucket list of things I need to find right? I haven't yet made that this year, but I probably will so that I can stay focused during my my hunting.
- [04:33]
Ava White
She's made it an annual tradition to go garage sailing with her older sister and is planning to throw one in her own neighborhood this summer. Ruppert's family is from the Northwest Arctic communities of Kotzebue and Deering. She moved to the lower 48 as a child, but returned to Alaska a few years ago. Since then, she says she's been working to reconnect with her Alaska Native culture and shopping at garage sales has helped her do that.
- [04:57]
Samantha Ruppert
Yeah, so I've got really cool old, like native TR and things that I would have never, you know, I didn't grow up super close to family. So I've gotten, yeah, like really cool ulus and masks and little fur things and. Yeah. So I think it's just been a way for me to like, find treasures.
- [05:13]
Ava White
Rupert plans her summer weekends around the city sales and has purchased everything from vintage leather jackets to a croquet set that she still hasn't used. Her favorite neighborhood garage sale, Kempton Hills, is up next. David Nicolai has been participating in that sale since his family moved to the south anchorage neighborhood in 2015.
- [05:32]
Wesley Early
If you don't spend weeks getting ready
- [05:35]
Senator Robert Yount
for it, then you're not going to move a lot of product.
- [05:38]
Garrett Paul
But we, you know, we've been working
- [05:41]
Wesley Early
on it here and there for about a month. Bits and pieces here and there.
- [05:45]
Ava White
The event in Kempton Hills is like a garage sale on steroids. Cars crowd nearby streets hours before it officially starts. Portable toilets are trucked in. Kids sell baked goods on the side. David says it's the neighborhood's busiest day of the year by a long shot. The sale is organized by the Kempton Hills Homeowners Association. David's wife Elizabeth describes it as a block party.
- [06:08]
Elizabeth Nicolai
I've heard as many as 10,000 people come to it. It's a lot more incentive for the neighborhood to participate and more people come. And the hope or theory is that then there's no other garage sales the rest of the summer. So we're not seeing the traffic the rest of the summer.
- [06:23]
Ava White
The Nikolai's bring in about $500 from the sale each year and spend it on family activities like the Alaska State Fair. Some of the family's friends also bring over their items to sell, raising two daughters. Elizabeth says the garage sale has been especially helpful, both to sell outgrown toys and clothes and to find new ones.
- [06:42]
Elizabeth Nicolai
I always joke that all their bicycles come from the garage sale and go back to the garage sale as they outgrow them. Sometimes I see families and kids and I'm like, I've seen that bicycle go two or three places around the garage sales.
- [06:54]
Ava White
And if you're looking for something specific, the Nikolai's recommend showing up early and covering as much ground as possible. They also recommend bringing a wagon to haul your treasures. In Anchorage, I'm Ava White.
- [07:06]
Wesley Early
Anchorage's annual Kempton Hills neighborhood Garage sale is Saturday from 9am to 4pm. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, a World War II era fishing vessel in Petersburg celebrates a milestone.
- [07:21]
Lenore Matissen
And we thought it was such a big boat and now it's one of the, you know, it's a smaller boat for the fleet, so, but, but we still love her.
- [07:30]
Wesley Early
That's ahead. Stay with us. Divers are searching the murky waters of Gaston O Channel this week in hopes of locating the body of a Juneau man who has been missing for nearly a year. Benjamin Benny Stepeton, a 42 year old Juno resident, disappeared last June. His brother, Martin Steppitan senior, says his family hasn't given up on him. This is the second underwater search for his body.
- [07:53]
Garrett Paul
We just want to find our brother, you know, and, and we really miss our brother and, and if we could get some closure to finding him, then that would be amazing.
- [08:03]
Wesley Early
Benjamin is Alaska Native, about 5ft 6 inches tall and has brown eyes. Before he went missing, he had been homeless for roughly two years and often spent time in the downtown area. Since his disappearance almost a year ago, his family and friends have been searching for him. In September of last year, his family raised over $25,000 to fund an initial private dive team. This time around, the Juno Police Department is paying. The family worked with Juneau police to lobby the nonprofit Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team to come to Juneau to search for Benjamin. The underwater search began on Monday and will last through the weekend. The search includes both divers and underwater vehicles with sonar technology. The team is scanning up and down the downtown Sea Walk while thousands of cruise ship visitors walk above them. Martin says that his family believes their bro may have fallen or been pushed into the water along the seawalk. Juno police are currently investigating the case as a criminal investigation. Deputy Chief Craig Campbell says police believe there may have been people involved in Benjamin's disappearance who are withholding information.
- [09:04]
Garrett Paul
Our ultimate goal is to get like a successful resolution to this investigation and if at all possible, recover or find the the body of the missing person for the family. So doing those things whenever we can, I think is very important.
- [09:21]
Wesley Early
People can share information by calling JPD's dispatch line at 907-586-0600 or submitting an anonymous tip through Juneau Crimeline. Federal wildland firefighters have begun burning vegetation in military training areas around the interior to reduce the CH wildfires on those ranges this summer. U.S. wildland Fire Service spokesperson Beth Ipsen says the agency conducted its first prescribed burn last weekend on the Donnelly training area near Fort Greely.
- [10:01]
Carter McKay
We ignited it on Saturday and we estimated that it treated about 25,000 acres, Ibsen said.
- [10:10]
Wesley Early
Strong southerly Winds that kicked up last Saturday quickly stoked the fire and blew it into grasslands around a part of the training area. The wind enabled the fire service to reduce vegetation and other fuels there, and the wind direction kept the smoke from drifting east to Fort Greely and Delta Junction.
- [10:26]
Carter McKay
And that's what we try to do. We try to take advantage of favorable wind so we don't have smoke impacts to the communities.
- [10:32]
Wesley Early
Aerial observations conducted earlier this week showed the fire had almost petered out, Ibsen said. Except for one spot in the burned over area.
- [10:40]
Carter McKay
There's been some residual smoke in the southwest corner, but that northern edge and the eastern edge are cold, haven't been showing any kind of smoke, any kind of activity.
- [10:51]
Wesley Early
Ibsen said. The Wildland Fire Service tries to conduct as many prescribed burns as possible on the training areas early on in the spring. That helps reduce the chances of bigger fires later in the season, when the agency may have personnel and equipment working on other higher priority fires.
- [11:06]
Carter McKay
And as the summer heats up, things get even drier and then you have that black spruce that enters into the equation and there's other fires pulling resources elsewhere, she says.
- [11:21]
Wesley Early
If the weather holds, the fire service plans to begin prescribed burning on the Yukon training area east of Fort Wainwright on Saturday. Meanwhile, a Canadian company proposing to reopen a gold mine in British Columbia plans to drive a large boat up Alaska's Taku river south of Juneau to get to the site this summer. Some locals worry it could run aground. KTOO's Alex Solomon reports.
- [11:44]
Valerie Kaplan
To test whether it can ship materials to the mine site, Cannigold Resources plans to drive a 98 foot long steel hulled landing craft up the top river to where it converges with the Tulsicore river just over the U.S. canada border. The ship is called the Inlet Raider. The proposed new Polaris mine would reopen the long abandoned Polaris Taku mine. It closed in 1951 after a barge loaded with gold concentrate sank off the coast of British Columbia in a storm. Chris Farnas is the senior vice president of sustainability and permitting at Canegold. He says the company plans to do six test runs to the new Polaris site this summer, starting at high tide the night of June 10th.
- [12:22]
Garrett Paul
And there's a lot of skepticism around it for sure, but you know we have to try.
- [12:26]
Valerie Kaplan
This isn't the first time a mining company has decided to ship materials up the Taku River. News outlets reported in 2008 that several tugboats ran aground and one nearly capsized while Redfern Resources tried to revive the Tulsiqua chief mine. That's located across the Tulsico river from the proposed new Polaris mine, and it's been leaching acid mine drainage into the watershed since it closed in 1957. Farnes says the test runs will help prove whether it's feasible to bring a large landing craft up the river to transport construction materials and machinery.
- [12:56]
Garrett Paul
Otherwise, we'll have to, you know, seriously consider, you know, an alternative if there is one.
- [13:01]
Valerie Kaplan
There are no roads to the remote area. He says the company wants to use more nimble boats during the actual construction phase.
- [13:08]
Garrett Paul
So this boat is just for the trial. We, we looked everywhere. We looked in Alaska and British Columbia, and this was the. The only boat that we could find that was similar to what we're looking for.
- [13:19]
Valerie Kaplan
Last month, Farnes met in Juneau with more than 20 Alaskans who own property downstream from the proposed gold mine. Garrett Paul is president of the Taku river recreation association and helped organize the meeting to share cabin owners concerns. He grew up in Juneau and has been boating up the Taku river, one of southeast's most productive salmon streams, to fish and hunt his whole life. Paul worries the inlet raider could get stuck.
- [13:41]
Senator Robert Yount
The potential for a catastrophe with that barge, like, you know, it grounding or getting swept into a log jam or, you know, somehow becoming disabled and being a fixture on the river.
- [13:54]
Valerie Kaplan
The Taku is a dynamic glacial river that moves tons of sediment. Paul says the main stem of the river could be deep enough, but there are areas he worries a large boat would have trouble maneuvering, including narrow sections where people have docks that could be damaged by a big wake and across sandbars in the delta.
- [14:11]
Senator Robert Yount
It's a complicated delta to cross. I mean, it's all sand. It'd be a, you know, a soft, soft grounding, but it's shallow. The channel changes all the time, and it's about four miles in length.
- [14:24]
Valerie Kaplan
Paul says he's not against industry, but he doesn't want the mining operation to harm the river or private property along the banks. New Polaris is currently going through environmental review. Cannigold filed its application with British Columbia at the end of March. In it, the company says it would haul freight using barges during the construction phase. But when the mine is operating, the company says it would transport gold concentrate people and materials, mostly by plane. Canegold estimates that construction could take around three years, and once operating, the mine, could produce around 1,000 tons of ore per day. The company hopes to open the mine in 2028. In Juneau, I'm Alex Solomon, national weather
- [15:04]
Wesley Early
Service meteorologists in Fairbanks have declared that greenup has begun. Meteorologist Carter McKay says that the hardwood trees are unfurling their bright green leaves a bit later than usual. But the trees seem to be making up for that late start with a rapid explosion of green visible from the west ridge of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.
- [15:22]
Garrett Paul
It was pretty abrupt, especially in the hillsides around here.
- [15:24]
Wesley Early
Even a more conventional onset of greenup is an amazing sight, says Jane Daw. She's an assistant professor of natural resource education with uaf. Daw is a botanist and member of a university group that monitors greenup. She told NPR this week that birch and aspen can transform from blah gray to bright green in less than 48 hours.
- [15:43]
Ava White
The forest turns from the dull gray of winter into this fresh green burst.
- [15:49]
Wesley Early
McKay says that took a bit longer this year, likely because of the long, cold winter and a cooler than usual spring.
- [15:55]
Senator Robert Yount
A little bit later than normal, but
- [15:57]
Carter McKay
certainly greening things up across the interior here. Over the next week, he said.
- [16:00]
Wesley Early
Green up is or likely soon will be happening across the interior. In the coming week, A national organization called the Courage Project shines a light on acts of bravery, both big and small. This year, a group that works to bring attention to Alaska's missing and murdered indigenous people is in the spotlight. Data for Indigenous justice is one of 16 organizations nationwide to receive this award, which comes with a $25,000 grant. As KBA's Rhonda McBride tells us, it's an honor to reflect the best of who we are.
- [16:42]
Rhonda McBride
The steady beat of the drum is what you hear at many events involving Data for Indigenous justice, and while their presence is felt more than seen, they've been a force for change. Funders for the Courage Project, like the MacArthur foundation, say this award was created to recognize neighbors, helping neighbors and people who perform everyday acts of civic courage that speak to the American spirit and strengthen democracy.
- [17:16]
Charlene Ahpak
When I first started doing this work, people wouldn't even meet with me, and it has taken a lot of courage.
- [17:21]
Rhonda McBride
Charlene Ahpak, known by her Inupiaq name, ahpic, founded Data for Indigenous justice to bring attention to missing and murdered Alaska Natives. She saw breakdowns and inequities in how law enforcement handled their investigations and pushed for a database to better track those cases and expose systemic failures.
- [17:45]
Charlene Ahpak
Organizations didn't want to talk about it. It was too hot. It was too political. It was too uncomfortable. It shouldn't be courageous to say the things that we're saying and to ask the questions that we're asking. These should be things that are expected for the safety of our people.
- [18:00]
Garrett Paul
Real lives are at stake here. Real people experience real hurt.
- [18:06]
Rhonda McBride
Doug Modig is a traditional healer who says it is never easy to speak truth to power, especially for a small organization like Data for Indigenous Justice.
- [18:18]
Garrett Paul
There aren't very many people that have that kind of courage because it's so rare. Reminds me of a wolverine. They all take on a bear, a full grown bear.
- [18:27]
Rhonda McBride
Wolverines, Modig says, are female fearless when it comes to protecting their territory.
- [18:32]
Garrett Paul
Why don't they just give up? They're not going to make it because they're so, so small, so tiny. But the truth is, courage isn't about size. Courage is about the content of your heart.
- [18:45]
Rhonda McBride
OCPIX's heart is exactly what her team brings to their work, she says their commitment has helped to uncover critical information about unsolved cases and much more.
- [18:56]
Charlene Ahpak
I've come to learn with a lot of guidance from my elders that this role is called being a storykeeper, akpik says.
- [19:03]
Rhonda McBride
It is a sacred responsibility to listen to the stories of those who have been missing or murdered.
- [19:10]
Charlene Ahpak
So the stories can be really hard, but they can also be filled with lots of love.
- [19:14]
Rhonda McBride
Like the time some families met to make prayer beads for their lost loved ones. There was an 11 year old girl in the room.
- [19:22]
Charlene Ahpak
This young girl wrote her prayer out to her mom and she rolled it up and she asked to read her prayer to us and she did a
- [19:33]
Rhonda McBride
dedication to her prayer beads that she turned into a necklace.
- [19:37]
Charlene Ahpak
All the planning, everything, all the hard work that we do, all the data, every hurdle that we face, it was all worth it, that moment.
- [19:46]
Rhonda McBride
This year, a national award makes visible a kind of courage that often goes unseen.
- [19:53]
Charlene Ahpak
I'm very grateful and humbled, but Ockpig
- [19:57]
Rhonda McBride
says it's the families who are the bravest of all. Long after the protests end and the drumbeats fade, families march on left to live with their stories. Stories that take courage to share important, Ockpik says, because they inspire collective courage
- [20:22]
Charlene Ahpak
and you see them moving forward and not giving up, then we can keep doing that too. I'm really proud of our community finding rhythm and working together.
- [20:33]
Rhonda McBride
In anchbridge, I'm Rhonda McBride.
- [20:39]
Wesley Early
For most people, making it to your 80th birthday is a pretty big deal. For the World War II era Wooden Sainters Symphony, an 80th birthday is even bigger cause for celebration. People packed the docks in Petersburg on Wednesday to celebrate the storied fishing vessel and the people who've cared for it. KFSK's Taylor Heckard attended the party and has this story.
- [21:00]
Taylor Heckert
In Petersburg's north harbor, a crowd begins to pack in near a bright white seiner. In big block letters, the name Symphony is across her bow and in script lettering above the cabin. The boat looks very good for an 80 year old.
- [21:14]
Lenore Matissen
Thank you for coming to help us celebrate the 80 years of this beautiful classic seiner and longliner. Ann Crabber and shrimper the Symphony
- [21:27]
Taylor Heckert
Sue Paulson begins the festivities. She's the daughter of the first owner of the Symphony, Gordon Jensen. The boat has only had four captains in her lifetime. Each captain has been Norwegian American, which meant it was fitting to celebrate the ship's birthday during Petersburg's annual Little Norway Festival.
- [21:46]
Lenore Matissen
In Norway, there are two very important birthdays, 50 and 80. So we had to do 80 because I don't think I'm going to be here for 100.
- [21:56]
Taylor Heckert
Her father commissioned the Symphony from a shipyard in Ballard, Washington in 1946. When the symphony was completed, she cost $39,000. She was the largest boat in Petersburg's fleet at the local historian Don Nelson was in Petersburg when the Symphony arrived.
- [22:14]
M
I was standing on a public dock with everybody else in town. It was greatly expected, a brand new boat, the flagship of the fleet.
- [22:26]
Taylor Heckert
Nelson says this was a time before Alaska's ferry system, so basketball teams would travel by fishing boat to get to their competitions. He says he has fond memories traveling between communities on the Symphony, and he also remembers how well she fished.
- [22:41]
M
So I spent a lot of time on the Symphony, but mainly waiting for that ship to come in with its absolutely unbelievable £58,000 every trip.
- [22:55]
Taylor Heckert
Jensen eventually sold the Symphony to Ed Fuglog, who later sold it to Audie Matissen. It's been in the Matesen family for over 50 years. Lenore Matissen is Audie's daughter and remembers when he first bought the boat.
- [23:08]
Lenore Matissen
We thought she was huge when we first walked in the galley and my dad showed me the boat and we thought it was such a big boat and now it's one of the, you know, it's a smaller boat for the fleet, so. But we still love her.
- [23:23]
Taylor Heckert
Sigma Thiessen is one of Ottie's sons. He says it takes a significant amount of work to keep a wooden boat like that sailing southeast.
- [23:31]
M
Alaska is not conducive to long lasting wood endeavors. Nature is pretty good at reclamation here. It takes near constant oversight. Sanding, painting, oiling, machine work, modernizing shipyard projects. The list is long.
- [23:47]
Taylor Heckert
Wayne Matissen, also Odie's son, is the current captain of the symphony. He's been fishing since he was a kid and has been captain for over 30 years. Wayne says it's a lot easier to go with a fiberglass or aluminum boat these days, but he's committed to keeping the symphony in good working order. The boat is hauled out multiple times a year to keep it in good
- [24:08]
M
shape, but it's doable. Every piece can be replaced. It's a giant puzzle with many pieces. It's a challenge, but challenge accepted.
- [24:19]
Taylor Heckert
The boat has been the Matissen family's labor of love for a long time, and it's still out fishing right now. His crew are entirely family members. They just returned from longlining for halibut.
- [24:30]
M
It's been an honor to take over for my dad and the other two owners, Gordon and Ed, who are great men, still have their handprints on the steering wheel, which will remain unfinished as long as I'm around.
- [24:43]
Taylor Heckert
The party ended, as all good birthday parties do, with lots of cake and singing. Local musician Alec McMurran adapted an original song to fit the occasion.
- [24:54]
M
Now this here boat was built to fish from the seven seas to the Amazon. It fished and hauled about everything from halibut to herringspawn.
- [25:07]
Taylor Heckert
In Petersburg, I'm Taylor Heckert.
- [25:09]
M
This boat's been round for 80 years. It's sure to sail for 80 more. With her fine lines and fine captain, too she's sure a vessel to adore.
- [25:33]
Wesley Early
And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're online@alaskapublic.org and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Eric Stone, Clarice Larson and Alex Solomon in Juno, Rhonda McBride and Ava White in Anchorage, Tim Ellis in Delta Junction and Taylor Heckert in Petersburg. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email us@newslaskapublic.org Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Kirsten Dobroth is our producer. And I'm Wesley Early. Have a great weekend.
- [26:06]
Garrett Paul
This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.