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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]
Darrell Frank
You go in there knowing that that's what you signed up for and no regrets.
- [00:24]
Wesley Early
Alaska veterans reflect on the war with Iran. From Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Monday, May 11th. Get Good evening. I'm Wesley Early. Also tonight, federal officials hear directly from tribal leaders in Bethel about the response to ex Typhoon along we cannot keep
- [00:40]
Darrell Frank
responding to Arctic tycoons and other disasters with a patchwork system.
- [00:46]
Wesley Early
Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. The U.S. marine Corps doesn't have a big presence in Alaska, but that presence is expanding. Here's retired Marine U.S. senator Dan Sullivan. This is something that the Marine Corps Alaska we've been, we've all been working on for a long, long time and it's really exciting. The Corps announced two new initiatives last week that will bring more Marines north to Alaska, some on a rotating basis and others more permanently. It's unclear so far how many personnel will be included in the plan. Sullivan spoke of it as a first step. The new unit that will be coming the Anglico unit. It's not a big unit, but it's start. Anglico stands for Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. Its role is to coordinate with non Marine forces to support military strikes. Sullivan used to command the 6th Anglico, part of which will be setting up at J. Bear in the next fiscal year. The the two new units are a permanent detachment of Marine reservists at Joint Base Elmendorf, Richardson and a rotational planning force for Arctic exercises. Sullivan made the announcement in Fairbanks with a Marine lieutenant general at his side. Sullivan has advocated for expanding military units of all types in Alaska, but he's especially fond of the Marine Corps in which he served as a reservist until 2024. Sullivan was an active duty Marine from 1993 to 1997. As Marine Captain Stephen Keenan explained it it'll be a permanent detachment of Marine reservists, the Marine Corps new rotational to support Marines participating in joint military exercises in Alaska. Keenan says it'll be an advanced team to help set up training before other Marines arrive and coordinate during exercises.
- [02:31]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Somebody who's dedicated to planning and getting integrated with the joint force is the real value that that provides, that extra structure behind the exercise planning and exercise involvement we were already doing.
- [02:43]
Wesley Early
Some 350 Marines were part of this year's Arctic Edge exercise. As the war in Iran stretches on, many veterans are reflecting on past wars and weighing the risks ahead. Shelby Herbert spoke to some of them in Fairbanks. As she reports for the Alaska desk, they're responding to the new war in the Middle east with a mix of concern, skepticism and caution.
- [03:12]
Shelby Herbert
In 1979, Fairbanks army veteran Darrell Frank packed his bags for a deployment to Iran that never he was part of the division ready force at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His unit was preparing to parachute into the Middle east during the Iran hostage crisis.
- [03:29]
Darrell Frank
We had all our gear ready and we got the call to go to the airport and they took us into this area with barbed wire and armed guards walking around it so nobody would run away. Either way, it would have been a battle. So anyway, we signed up for it and we were like, yeah, this is what we've been training for.
- [03:51]
Shelby Herbert
The orders got called off. The hostages eventually were released. But the crisis marked a new era of hostility between the US And Iran's then new theocratic government. Darrell Frank is now retired from the army and is the president of the Alaska Native Veterans Association. As he sipped coffee at the River City Cafe in Fairbanks, he said today's service members are facing a much more advanced Iranian military.
- [04:18]
Darrell Frank
All through the years they've acquired these weapons and whatnot. They didn't have the missile technology back then or guided missiles or anything like that.
- [04:30]
Shelby Herbert
Frank says his thoughts lie with the service members deployed to the area. He hopes they come home safely with their heads held high and without what he calls a moral injury.
- [04:41]
Darrell Frank
You go in there knowing that that's what you signed up for and no regrets going into a strange land, but it's a hell of a lot better than staying here and fighting on your homeland, which is eventually going to happen one of these days.
- [05:02]
Shelby Herbert
Alaska has the largest concentration of veterans in the country, and Alaska Natives have the highest rate of service among any demographic. But sometimes it's a complicated relationship with the United States government. Some Alaska Natives joined the military decades ago after growing up in boarding schools intended to forcibly assimilate them.
- [05:24]
Darrell Frank
We as Alaska Native people are still dealing with that, still recovering from that.
- [05:30]
Shelby Herbert
Alaska Native Veterans association member Hugh Walker served in the Navy in the 70s. He says getting separated from his family, family and culture as a kid informs his feelings about the Iran war and about President Trump.
- [05:44]
Darrell Frank
I just think it's a racist war. Not only that, but you know, with these immigration policy anti mostly brown people. And that really affects me because I'm a product of the boarding home.
- [06:03]
Shelby Herbert
At a Fairbanks no Kings rally in March, veteran Scott Justison weaved through the crowd, dressed in his old army camouflage and a T. Rex mask, handing out copies of his zine, the American Regressive. He served from 2005 to 2012 and deployed to Iraq.
- [06:20]
Darrell Frank
So I joined under the George W. Bush administration after we had already invaded Iraq and I wanted to learn about the human side of the military. There's the tendency on one side to dehumanize the members of the military as though they're kind of, I don't know, beasts that want to go out and commit violence.
- [06:41]
Shelby Herbert
He opposes the war in Iran and knows it isn't popular with Americans, but he hopes people don't take it out on the troops.
- [06:49]
Darrell Frank
So some of my friends are in there because they have family, they have debt. You're not going to just quit based on your values if you're entrenched in debt and stuff. And so they try to make the best of it in a day to day compromise like we always do in one capacity or another.
- [07:02]
Shelby Herbert
Though President Trump has declared the Iran war over, thousands of U.S. troops who deployed to the region remain there. Justison says he fears the war in Iran could become another years long Middle Eastern entanglement, just like the war he served in. Reporting in Fairbanks, I'm Shelby Herbert.
- [07:24]
Wesley Early
Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, students and school staff in Unalaska launch a new chess club.
- [07:29]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
It's really fun to start a program and see like real excitement sustained and be able to grow it.
- [07:34]
Wesley Early
That's kind of what I hope happens. That's ahead. Stay with us. A bill that seeks to make it easier for Alaskans to repair consumer electronics cleared the state Senate today and is on its way to the House. Senate Bill 111 is known as the Consumer Digital Right to Repair Act. It would require electronics manufacturers to provide parts, documentation and tools to Alaskans looking to fix things like broken cell phones, laptops, security cameras and B baby monitors. They'd be required to sell those to individuals and independent repair shops on the same terms they give manufacturer authorized service providers. Bill sponsor Senator Forrest Dunbar, an Anchorage Democrat, says hundreds of Alaskans sent postcards urging legislators to support the bill. He says far too often companies make it difficult or expensive for anyone but an authorized technician to work on their products, and they wind up in landfills. Declining repairability is not caused by alleged technical problems inherent to modern products. It is a choice made by some manufacturers to exert control and extract profits
- [08:37]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
beyond the initial sale.
- [08:39]
Wesley Early
The bill is limited to consumer electronics, so it doesn't cover things like cars, snow machines, farm equipment or medical devices. Dunbar says he wishes the Senate would have supported a broader approach. During hearings on the bill, advocates pointed to tactics employed by manufacturers like John Deere that limit farmers ability to repair their own tractors or combat. But legislators pared back the bill after pressure from Alaska based Powersports and heavy equipment dealers who said it would hurt their business model. Tech industry groups also opposed the bill, saying unauthorized repairs could be low quality or introduce security risks. Senator Mike Cronk, a Tok Republican and the Senate's minority leader, says he's concerned the bill could have unintended consequences. Alaska is a relatively drop in the bucket compared to the markets here, and I don't really want to be, you know, punishing the manufacturers for for being up here and maybe even removing products from us. Others were skeptical of Cronk's concern that manufacturers would pull their products from the Alaska market, given that 12 other states have similar laws on the books. The bill passed the Senate 15 to 5, with minority Republican Fairbank Senator Rob Myers joining all of the bipartisan majority in support. The House labor and Commerce Committee plans to hear the Right to Repair bill in the coming days. The legislative session's constitutional deadline to adjourn is May 20, just over a week away. Hoonah Totem Corporation officials say it's full steam ahead with plans to open downtown Juneau's fifth cruise ship dock by 2028. That's despite unexpected delays and price hikes that could scale down the project. Susan Bell with the Alaska Native Village Corporation spoke at a Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday. She gave an UPD Auk landing, the corporation's $150 million cruise ship dock and waterfront development project. The Juneau Planning Commission approved conditional use permits for the development in 2023, and the Juneau assembly approved a Tidelands lease for it last year. The dock will be located in Gastineau Channel off Egan Drive next to Juneau's US Coast Guard Station. The dock has been a contentious topic among the community since Hunatotum first proposed it. Norwegian Cruise line donated the $20 million property to the corporation in. Bell says the new dock will help spread out tourism's impact on the downtown area.
- [11:09]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
So it really, really, really will reduce the vehicular congestion in the downtown area. But it's also very, very walkable right into town, downtown shops, downtown attractions. So, you know, just by its sheer location, it does something to help address one of the biggest concerns our residents have, which is vehicular congestion.
- [11:29]
Wesley Early
Some critics argue the opposite. Bell says residents might see changes to the project since it was original construction delays, tariffs on steel and market volatility have the corporation considering modifying its plan to reduce costs. Changes could require Huna Totem to return to the planning commission for updated permitting approval, potentially opening the door to further project delays.
- [11:53]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Costs have escalated since 2023. There was a time when our website said we were going to be open in 2025, and it makes our heart ache a little bit every time we change that date on the website.
- [12:05]
Wesley Early
For now, Bell says construction is slated to begin next summer. Juneau's local Alaska Native Corporation, Goldbelt Incorporated, is likewise proposing another new cruise ship port on the backside of Douglas Island. It submitted a conditional use permit application to the city in February. That project will still need approval from the Planning Commission and the Juneau Assembly. Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Indian affairs and chair U.S. senator Lisa Murkowski visited Bethel last week to hear directly from tribal leaders and agency heads about the federal government's response to Ex Typhoon Ha Long and the path forward. As KYUK's Evan Erickson reports, testimony showed an immediate need for better planning and cooperation between tribes and agencies.
- [12:50]
Evan Erickson
Senator Murkowski began Wednesday's hearing with an acknowledgment that life still isn't easy for 1200 people that remain displaced after ex typhoon.
- [12:59]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
We can understand that in the chaos immediately after a disaster that communication can be challenged, but six months after a disaster we should be doing a better
- [13:12]
Evan Erickson
job, tribal leaders and agency heads agree. In Testimony, Thaddeus Tikun Jr. Chair of the association of Village Council Presidents, called for tribes to play a greater role.
- [13:22]
Darrell Frank
We cannot keep responding to Arctic typhoons and other disasters with a patchwork system and expect it to work. We need a tribally led, region wide emergency response structure built for western Alaska.
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Evan Erickson
Tikune Jr. Said the ideal system would make Bethel a hub for five regional response centers and would require permanent funding from the federal government. He summed up the lengthy title of Wednesday's hearing with a popular Yubik expression,
- [13:53]
Darrell Frank
luta, which means let's be ready for numerous communities.
- [13:57]
Evan Erickson
Last October's storm sped up the clock on existing threats of erosion and decaying infrastructure in the hardest hit villages of Quigilingock and Kipnock. It amplified and clarified calls for relocation. But as Murkowski said, rural communities face a maze of agencies, programs and funding streams to get help. Jocelyn Fenton, director of the independent federal agency the Denali Commission, said that a competitive grant system that requires technical expertise to obtain funding is not a fit
- [14:27]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
for rural Alaska that ends up focusing on the best grant writers and not the communities that have the most risk.
- [14:33]
Evan Erickson
Fenton said the Denali Commission could alleviate this situation as the lead coordinator between tribes, the state and the federal government. She said the agency lacks the legal authority, but that its broad abilities to look at all of the systems that keep rural communities viable could make it a, quote, silver bullet for Alaska. Natasha Singh, who heads the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, said she agrees that the Denali Commission is well positioned.
- [14:57]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I also think there is likely a role for the Bureau of Indian affairs given its trust responsibility to Alaska native people.
- [15:07]
Evan Erickson
The BIA's assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, Billy Kirkland, sat alongside Murkowski through hours of testimony in Bethel and in a corresponding hearing in Anchorage the day before. Kirkland said the BIA is set to announce new tribal resiliency grants that would be a continuation of a program that distributed millions of dollars to Alaska tribes in the final days of the Biden administration. Kirkland told the crowd gathered at the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation Hospital on Wednesday that his agency is here to help.
- [15:36]
Wesley Early
We want to partner in that relocation. We know that there are some roadblocks to that in terms of getting the land we want to at the department tier. We're here to help with that.
- [15:48]
Evan Erickson
In a listening session that followed the hearing, more than 20 tribal leaders from across the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta described immediate infrastructure needs, severe erosion and environmental contamination in their communities. Chifornic Tribal President Janet Eric said the struggle to capture funding can harm local cooperation.
- [16:05]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Community leadership tries over and over for support and help, and we end up piecemealing and putting together what little money that we get after fighting over with our neighbors and our other families.
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Evan Erickson
In response to last October storms, FEMA says it has awarded more than $60 million in public and individual assistance. But Chalista Corporation CEO Andrew Guy said that emergency funds to shore up flood impacted communities have been misspent.
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Darrell Frank
It is neither efficient nor humane to repeatedly spend federal dollars rebuilding in locations that are becoming uninhabitable.
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Evan Erickson
The massive public safety impacts of halong were compounded by forecasting difficulties. By the time a change in the storm's track and intensity was confirmed, it was too late for communities in the crosshairs to adequately prepare. Fenton, with the Denali Commission, applauded recent federal moves to upgrade and add weather stations in rural Alaska. But she said monitoring alone is not enough.
- [17:13]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
A forecast does not save lives unless communities can act upon it. That requires communications, redundancy, hardened power systems, backup generators, regional fuel security and requires transportation systems capable of operating when conditions
- [17:28]
Evan Erickson
deteriorate 4 hours of testimony at Wednesday's hearing offered no easy answers, but Murkowski said it's important to put all of it on the congressional record.
- [17:38]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
The comments that have been shared today was not just designed to make a committee record longer. They are truly designed to help inform us as we move forward.
- [17:51]
Evan Erickson
The immediate next steps for the people of western Alaska are uncertain. A looming fuel crisis driven by the war in Iran could set back a process of recovery and preparedness that residents say is already long overdue. But as Tikyun junior Explained, people can get ready in Bethel, I'm Evan Erickson.
- [18:11]
Wesley Early
Petersburg is home to a dedicated scene of skilled quilters, knitters and other textile artists. But for years, the island town hasn't had a dedicated craft store. As KFSK's Taylor Heckert reports, that changed on Wednesday when a new space opened its doors.
- [18:28]
Taylor Heckert
1 yard Olivia Martenson is cutting a yard of dark blue floral fabric. It's actually a the first bolt of fabric she's cut for her new business, tangled Thread. It's her first day open. The bright, colorful craft store is nestled into the first floor of the Petersburg Indian association building. Martenson's small store has a little bit of everything. Colorful baskets of yarn line one wall, a rack of fabric is along another. Plus, all kinds of crafty tools can be found just about everywhere.
- [19:02]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I have punch needles, embroidery hoops. I have stuff for felting. I have a couple things for loom and weaving, and then I have a whole selection of fabric and the associated accessories.
- [19:17]
Taylor Heckert
Martinson is an avid crocheter, and her grandmother is a quilter. She says the idea for the store came out of that love of crafting. This also isn't Martenson's first foray into being a business owner. She also has her own legal practice.
- [19:31]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
The legal world is rough in, I mean, all the ways that you could predict it to be. And so I was doing a lot of crochet in my off time and I thought, well, why don't I make that also be part of my business world as well?
- [19:46]
Taylor Heckert
The local hardware store has some craft supplies, but it's a limited selection. Many crafters will choose to stuff their suitcases full of supplies when they travel or buy online. Members of Petersburg's Quilting Guild say it's a big deal for them to have a place in town to shop for supplies. The quilters say they've built great relationships with other Alaska fabric stores that will ship to town. But Sally Dwyer says buying online can make it hard to know if you're getting the right color.
- [20:14]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I needed three greens that graduated nicely, but from pretty light to pretty dark. But when you've got 500 greens in front of you, how do you know which one you're picking without being there?
- [20:24]
Taylor Heckert
And quilter Susan Holmes says nothing beats being able to actually touch a fabric and feel the quality in person. She says it's exciting to have a place that so many crafters in the community can go to without having to wait.
- [20:37]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I think it's just fun to think that people can get excited and maybe you stop a project because you don't have the floss, or maybe you're a knitter or you're a crocheter and you just don't have the colors. So to know that there's now a place, another place to go and look to check to see if the supplies you need would be there.
- [20:55]
Taylor Heckert
And while neither Quilter has visited Tangled Thread yet, they say they're happy to have the space in town. In Petersburg, I'm Taylor Heckert.
- [21:13]
Wesley Early
Like many schools, the Unalaska City School District offers a variety of extracurricular sports and activities, from basketball to jazz band and Spanish club, and kids stay busy on the island most of the year. Despite having many options for after school programming, students and staff recently launched a chess club. The new program has drawn students from all ages in the middle and high school building from 5th to 12th grade. KUCB's Maggie Nelson reports the club is a happy coincidence sparked by one teacher and a now international chess champ.
- [21:42]
Maggie Nelson
Groups of Unalaska students gather around desks in a high school classroom after school. It's quiet except for some light chatter and a few giggles every now and then. If you listen closely, you'll hear a soft, frequent clicking among the voices. That's a chess timer, or clock. It helps ensure neither player takes too long. If one player runs out of time, it could mean they lose the match. This afternoon, over a dozen kids from around 8th grade to 12th shuffle from desk to desk, hunched over boards. They're all here for one thing, chess.
- [22:22]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
You gotta advance. Can't hide forever.
- [22:27]
Maggie Nelson
Harbor Ray Herring is a senior. He's playing his younger sister, Honor Herring. She's a freshman. Is that what it takes to win chess wisdom?
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Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I would actually say extremely not. It takes a lot of innate talent and practice.
- [22:47]
Maggie Nelson
The siblings say they've played chess at home a little, but not as much as they have at the new after school club. Honor says she likes having options for extracurricular activities at the small school. She's also a fan of the laid back environment.
- [23:00]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I think that an activity like this where everyone can come and participate and it's not a very like set in stone thing, like you don't have to have the commitment, you don't have to go every week. It's like just like having fun. Come and have fun.
- [23:14]
Maggie Nelson
The new club started around the holiday break this academic year. So far it's pretty nonchalant. Like Honor says she doesn't have plans for formal competitions and says she's not really at the level yet to compete in a tournament.
- [23:27]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Probably not me over there in the red. She can't.
- [23:31]
Maggie Nelson
Honor points to a student across the room with a smile on her face, quietly coaching a peer as they both shift their chess pieces over the checkered board.
- [23:40]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
My name is Aisha Bacalzo.
- [23:42]
Maggie Nelson
Bacalzo moved to Unalaska from the Philippines at the beginning of this school year. She says she was required to learn the game for a PE class in second grade.
- [23:51]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
After that, I just started loving it.
- [23:54]
Maggie Nelson
Bakalzo, who is a senior now, has been competing since she was in the fourth grade.
- [23:59]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Until last year. I've been playing tournaments in the Philippines
- [24:04]
Maggie Nelson
and winning some, she says. Unfortunately for Bacalzo, Unalaska doesn't have a chess team and didn't have any type of chess program until recently when she and her math teacher, Kyle Holloway unexpectedly started one up.
- [24:18]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
I was about to talk with Mr. Holloway about something in math and then I saw the chessboard from across the room and I asked him if he plays and he said yeah.
- [24:28]
Maggie Nelson
Holloway says interest picked up pretty naturally
- [24:31]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
from there and over the coming weeks it was just with only two chessboards is all I had in here. But almost every day at lunch there were different kids or more and more kids showing up to watch or play a little bit.
- [24:44]
Maggie Nelson
He's been teaching math and science in Unalaska for about a decade. He's headed a few other clubs and activities, but he says this one has sparked quite a bit of participation and from kids as young as fifth grade, he says he hopes he can continue to foster that excitement.
- [24:59]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
It's really fun to start a program and see like real excitement sustained and be able to grow it.
- [25:04]
Wesley Early
That's kind of what I hope happens.
- [25:06]
Maggie Nelson
Holloway says they're planning to pick back up again next year and students are already hoping to hold a community wide tournament. An Alaska's reigning champ, Bacalzo is graduating soon and won't be in attendance. But but she says she hopes she can find a new chess community at college in the fall.
- [25:23]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Also, you put yourself into check.
- [25:25]
Maggie Nelson
Reporting for kucb, I'm Maggie Nelson.
- [25:29]
Reporter/Correspondent (possibly Liz Ruskin or Crystal Hyde)
Dad is also checked.
- [25:38]
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 Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. shelby Herbert and Fairbanks, Eric Stone and Clarice Larson in Juneau, Evan Erickson in Bethel, Taylor Heckert in Petersburg, and Maggie Nelson in On Alaska. 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. Good night. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.