Troopers stay in Girdwood pushed back to June 2016

Hope Happenings Page 5
T U R N A G A I N
Mountain News
TIMES
turnagaintimes.com
VOL. 18 NO. 21
Serving Indian, Bird, Girdwood, Portage, Whittier, Hope, Cooper Landing & South Anchorage
Page 8
FREE
November 5, 2015
Troopers stay in Girdwood
pushed back to June 2016
Girdwood Post could stay open
five years with proper funding
By Marc Donadieu
Turnagain Times
Marc Dondadieu/Turnagain Times
A cold mist settles over The Hotel Alyeska as viewed from Moose Meadow.
There have been a lot of
recent developments with the
Girdwood Board of Supervisors Public Safety Task Force,
a volunteer group exploring
policing options if the Alaska
State Trooper Post in Girdwood
closes after June 30, 2016.
The troopers announced
on Oct. 21 that they would
remain in the post through
June 2016. During a meeting
on Oct. 27, Col. James Cockrell announced that the Alaska
State Troopers is open to entering into a multi-year contract to keep the Girdwood
trooper post open if Girdwood
residents choose to fund it.
The meeting was attended by Alaska Department
of Public Safety Commissioner Gary Folger, GBOS
member Sam Daniel, Assembly Member Jennifer Johnston, and Kyle Kelley, Municipal Liaison to Girdwood. The
See Page Back Page, Troopers Stay in Girdwood Extended
Girdwood Fire Department
Whittier Mayor and Vice Mayor unanimously
Board of Directors’ election
voted in by City Council
marred by fraudulent ballots Phillips Cruises owner addresses $3 passenger tax
By Marc Donadieu
Turnagain Times
Over half of the ballots
cast in this year’s Girdwood
Volunteer Fire and Rescue
Board of Directors election
were tampered with. The
voting process, which many
involved agree is deeply
flawed, was conducted in the
way it has always been done,
using unsecured voting boxes
outside the fire station’s doors.
The issue of fraudulent
ballots came to light a day
after the election when the
ballots were counted. The
first sign of tampering was
that ballots with the same
check marks for the same
candidates kept reappearing.
The names that were consistently checked with the same
mark were for candidates Jim
Henderson, Chuck Dorius
and Mike Opalka – Opalka
and Dorius are incumbents.
Executive Committee Secretary Josh Heuer documented
the reoccurrence of the tampered ballots on Thursday,
Oct. 1. In total, he found 241
ballots cast for the election
of which 122 were identified
as tampered or photocopied.
That number would change
in a later count as more tampered ballots were identified.
The ballot had five candidates vying for three seats,
including Deb Essex and Ken
Waugh. Kyle Kelley, Municipal Liaison to Girdwood and
Girdwood Board of Supervisor Tommy O’Malley, conducted the initial vote count.
The count included all 241
ballots. The results were:
Chuck Dorius 195 votes,
Deb Essex had 96, Jim Henderson 140, Ken Waugh 97
and Mike Opalka 182 votes.
However, another ballot
count was done and the
number of tampered ballots
tossed out were revised and
113 unsuspected ballots were
counted and 128 fraudulent ballots eliminated. The
elimination of the tampered
ballots resulted in less votes
for candidates: Dorius lost
roughly 110-130 votes, Essex
lost 26, Henderson lost 110,
Waugh lost in the low teens,
and Opalka lost 104. That left
Dorius, Opalka and Waugh
as the winning candidates.
And then on Tuesday, Nov.
See Page 4, Girdwood Fire Department Election
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Inside this Issue
GBSO Meeting.................................2
Paddy Waggin’...................................3
FVCS News......................................4
South Anchorage News..........................6
Beluga Conservation Class................7
Lively Arts.......................................9
Trooper Report.................................10
Cooper Landing News.....................11
By Marc Donadieu
Turnagain Times
The October meeting of
Whittier City Council packed
in a lot of activity in two
hours. The meeting began with
council members Victor Shen,
Deborah Hicks, and Shawni
Phillips being sworn in to return
to their council seats after receiving approval from Whittier
voters in the Oct. 6 election.
Before Phillips took her
oath of office, there was a brief
discussion with City Council
Attorney Holly Wells over the
legality of swearing in via convener because Phillips was out
of Whittier and had to phone
into the meeting. Then Mayor
Daniel Blair and Vice-Mayor
Davis Pinquoch received unanimous approval by the council
to remain in their positions.
After Ordinance #32-2015,
which eliminates port passenger and commercial vessel
passenger use fees, was given a
first reading, Council member
Peter Denmark asked about the
implication of the ordinance.
“The implications are the
harbor will get out of the tax
business as far as other than collecting sales tax,” said Mayor
Blair. “They’re no longer going
to be collecting any types of
taxes, so it should reduce the
administrative overhead at the
harbor. With this particular ordinance, I’ve always viewed it as
a legacy ordinance. It was put in
place when all of the businesses
were in the small boat harbor.
Since then we’ve added another
harbor. It’s just a consolidation.”
Denmark then asked if
the ordinance was a follow
up move to the passage of
the Passenger Transportation Business Tax (PTBT)
ordinance at September’s
council meeting. Whittier City
Manager Mark Lynch gave the
reason for the new ordinance.
“As I recall the discussion at an earlier council
meeting,” Lynch said, “if the
PTBT tax was increased, we
would eliminate the harbor
user fee. That’s why I chose to
this meeting to introduce this
because last meeting the PTBT
was passed, so this meeting
I introduced the ordinance to
eliminate the harbor user fee.”
During the Citizen Discussion portion of the agenda,
Phillips Cruises owner Bob
Neuman spoke about the unintended effects the timing of
the PTBT has on his business.
“I’m not here to fight the $3
passenger tax at all,” he said.
“I understand what a community like Whittier has to do
to earn revenue, and usually
through user fees and so forth,
that’s how a community makes
it. Where I would hope we
come to a better understanding, going forward, because
I see a great future for Whittier ,and I see a great future
for my business in Whittier
and growth in Whittier, is that
I hope we have a better understanding how decisions that
are made by the council affect
businesses like mine that are
trying to grow business.”
This year, Phillips Cruises
will have to absorb $40,000
plus to pay for the tax,
Neuman said, because he has
already printed brochures
with rates and booked tours
with group travel for Japanese, Korean and German
visitors. Since the fees were
already set, Newman is
unable to change them to
offset the new tax change.
Neuman said that the
timing of such decisions
should be taken into account
to understand how it affects
businesses. Because Neuman
books tours up to a year
and a half in advance, he
cannot anticipate the effect
of an unexpected increase
of the passenger tax that
goes into a tour ticket price.
The result is that Neuman’s
business must pay the passenger tax instead of including it
in the price of a tour ticket.
He said if the tax were to take
effect at the start of 2017, he
would not find his cruise business in this dilemma. Neuman
requested that the council try
to work more closely with
businesses to understand how
the timing of tax increases
affect businesses such as his
that need to offer bookings
a year and a half in advance
to accommodate tours, especially international ones.
“Going forward,” Neuman
said, “realize that that new
source of revenue from
Major Marine and Phillips
Cruises is coming out of the
See Page 6, Whittier City Council Meeting
Page 2
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Girdwood Fire Department budget and fire hall
construction plan focus of GBOS Meeting
By Marc Donadieu
Turnagain Timess
At the October Girdwood
Board of Supervisors meeting,
business regarding the fire department was the main focal
point of the evening. Construction plans for building a new fire
hall are at 65 percent. Approval
of the fire department’s 2016
budget was postponed due to a
number of unresolved issues –
the lack of a budget and timeline
for hiring a new fire chief and
the lack of certification of the
Girdwood Valley Fire & Rescue
Board of Directors election for
three seats 16 days after voting
ended Sept. 30.
Kyle Kelley, Municipal
Liaison to Girdwood, presented an update on the new Girdwood fire hall construction
plans. He described a meeting
with the design engineering
firm Bettisworth North to view
the updated plans. Now the
plans show plumbing and electrical features in the new fire
hall’s design.
“The fire station two years
ago received a state grant for
$5.7 million to improve and
expand the fire station,” said
Kelley. “Since then, they’ve
started working with Bettisworth North and the MOA
[Municipality of Anchorage] projects group to work
Comic
timate for the square footage
of the design. The design team
from the Girdwood Fire Department will be evaluating the
plan and making suggestions
to bring the estimate down.
“One thing that can always
happen is that we can pull out
certain sections,” Kelley said.
“You can put them as alternates. This is what happened
at the school. They pulled
out three to four large add alternates. Then when bidding
came, if bids came below engineer estimates, they will add
those things back in. With the
Girdwood School, mostly everything got added back in
because of the pricing.”
Kelley said the goal is to
find a number that is affordable for the Girdwood community and still make the
project work to have a fire
hall that can be used for the
next 30 to 40 years. A work
session with the GBOS is
likely to be scheduled in the
future as more questions
about the design estimates are
answered. The hope is to have
the design completed and a
bid accepted to start construction next spring.
“Estimations
sometimes
put a bit of paranoia into it,”
Kelley said, “because they
try to get it in the middle of
the road. Then when the [eco-
new chief,” said Will Day,
Deputy Fire Chief. “We still
aren’t sure. We haven’t gotten
direction from the board of
directors as to when Chief
Chadwick’s going to retire
and when the hiring process
going to be and when that’s
going to begin and all of the
cost overlap and training associated with that. We still
haven’t received anything
as far as how that process is
going to work.”
Ken Murphy, GVF&R Executive Committee Member at
Large and GVF&R Board of
Director Seat A, addressed the
current status of the department and stressed that they
are fully prepared to respond
to any emergencies that arise.
“I want everybody to understand that operationally
Girdwood Fire Department
can handle anything that goes
on right now,” said Murphy.
“Chief is not even available
right now, but we can still operationally meet our requirements
and have done so in the past.”
Chief Chadwick was on
vacation at the time of the
October GBOS meeting.
“Joe Tentpeg” By Tim Ball
By Phone:
(907) 783-1135
By Email:
info@turnagaintimes.com
By Mail:
that out. Just last week on
Tuesday, for the first time we
saw the 65 percent design that
came in.”
The plans came in $1
million above the cost estimate
given when the plan was at
35 percent. Copies of the plan
are available from Kelley for
public review, but changes are
expected to be made to bring
the cost down. When the plans
are at 95 percent completion,
they will be put out to bid.
“That led to a lot of questions,” Kelley said. “The
design team had a lot of questions. They were digesting
this, and they gave it to us right
away after they got it.”
The plan reviewers are
looking to make changes to the
design to bring the cost down.
The estimate is also considered
to be on the high side, especially when the bid environment for next year is thought to
be more competitive with less
construction money available
due to Alaska’s economy.
“We’ve had upwards of
10 to 12 contractors inquiring about this project trying to
get details,” Kelley said, “and
they just did two fire stations
this year.”
Kelley said there would be
a meeting with the estimating
subcontractor to understand
why there was such a high es-
nomic] environment gets into
the bidding process, then you
see quite a reduction and you
see people being efficient to
make it work.”
In other Girdwood Fire Department business, the GBOS
postponed voting on the department’s 2016 budget until a
special GBOS meeting Oct. 28.
The postponement is because
of the need for more information regarding Fire Chief
William Chadwick’s impending retirement, the lack of a
timeline for hiring a new chief,
and resolving questions surrounding the Girdwood Volunteer Fire and Rescue Board of
Directors election.
Chief Chadwick announced
his retirement this past
April, effective April 2016.
However, his current contract
expires Dec. 31, 2015. The
GVF&R Board of Directors is
responsible for hiring, firing,
and disciplining a fire chief,
and apparently little progress
has been made toward hiring
a new chief.
“The other big question
mark for our budget this year
is the hiring process of the
P.O. Box 1044
Girdwood, Alaska
99587-1044
T U R N A G A I N
TIMES
Publisher & Editor
Ken Smith
Associate Editor
Marc Donadieu
Production Artist
Tim Ball
Serving Indian, Bird, Girdwood, Portage, Whittier, Hope, Cooper Landing & South Anchorage
The Turnagain Times is published the first and third week of each month by Midnight Sun Communications, LLC, Girdwood, Alaska.
© 2015 Midnight Sun Communications, LLC
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Opinion
PADDY WAGGIN’
Hillary Clinton has made
$12 million in speaking engagements since leaving as
Secretary of State under President Obama. She averaged
$335,000 per speech, and
some lasted only 20 minutes.
The Washington Post reported
that Clinton made $320,000
just to sit on stage next to the
Cisco CEO. Now she wants to
be President. How much will
that cost us?
When I got done reading
the book that just came out
by Ronald Kessler entitled
“The First Family,” it reaffirmed what I always thought
was true – Hillary Clinton is
not a leader but a major snob
who thinks that everyone is
beneath her. In the book, it
was stated that as First Lady,
she allegedly told military
personnel to get rid of their
uniforms and put on suits, and
reportedly treated the Secret
Service with disdain.
As Secretary of State, she
allowed a U.S. Ambassador to
get killed on the anniversary
of 9/11 in Libya and throughout the whole Benghazi investigation, she doesn’t seem
to take any responsibility at
all and acts as if being the
boss makes her impervious to
blame. Hillary reminds me of
nurse Ratched from One Flew
Paddy
Notar
Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She’s
the one in charge, and things
will go according to her plan
or heads will roll.
When I first saw her on
stage with President Obama, I
thought she was a decent pick
for Secretary of State, but then
you start to notice her mannerisms when she talks to the
press and the general public.
Besides telling everyone
what a great job she is doing,
Hillary doesn’t really want to
discuss anything or defend
her actions. Rebuttals from
the common folk are looked
down upon by her.
According to ABC News,
Hillary fainted at home sometime during the week of Dec.
9, 2012 and suffered a concussion. But ABC also reported
that Clinton cancelled events
before then and was last in the
public eye on Dec. 7 when she
was feeling ill. Then doctors
talked about a blood clot in
her brain. Bill Clinton later
said it took her “six months
of very serious work” to get
over her injury, but the State
Department said it only took
a month. On Jan. 2, she was
sent home by doctors but was
being held up by three people
and wearing sunglasses when
she left the hospital. If she was
fine then why did her husband
say it took her “six months
of very serious work” before
getting back to normal? What
really happened is the question and does she have her
faculties in place to be leader
of the free world?
My father had a similar
experience. His legs gave
out and he felt faint. Unlike
Hillary, the doctors didn’t say
it was dehydration due to a
stomach bug. My father had a
small stroke. The neurologist
said it was the size of the tip
of a ball point pen.
I think that’s what doctors
elude to when they say “blood
clot in the brain.” Saying that
you may have had a stroke
makes people, especially politicians, look weak. As my
father once said, “If TV was
around when F.D.R. was President, he never would have been
re-elected because you would
have seen him in a wheelchair.” The last thing a person
running for president wants to
do is look ill. Yet, if our government knew that she was,
and her husband basically told
the press about it, shouldn’t it
be a topic of discussion?
Putting that all aside, which
is not easy to do, I simply think
that Hillary looks spent and
Page 3
her eagerness for being president is just trying to be as successful as her husband. People
like Bill Clinton. They forgave
him for his marital indiscretions while in office, and he
did a very good job as chief
executive of this country. The
S&P 500 tripled under Clinton
from 1993-2001. Anyone who
invested made money. Bill was
personable, but Hillary is not.
He was also a foreign
policy genius. He worked
with former President Jimmy
Carter in 1994 to get North
Korea to shut down nuclear
power plants that could be
used to make weapons. He
helped Mexico stabilize their
economy, helped to end the
conflict in Northern Ireland,
stopped U.S. companies from
doing business with Iran by
calling them a “state sponsor
of terrorism” and he had Elian
Gonzalez sent back to Cuba to
be with his father. Remember
that fiasco in Miami in 2000?
Bill Clinton was a Rhode
Scholar who got the job done,
whatever you may think of
him. What were some of Hillary’s accomplishments as
Secretary of State? You can’t
think of any off the top of your
head can you? That says it all.
When Hillary states with
conviction, “I’m not Obama
2.0” but was happy to be his
Secretary of State, and when
she goes against his policies
that she once supported, such
as the Pacific trade deal, it
makes you wonder what she’s
all about. She reminds me of
people like former Anchorage Mayor and Senator Mark
Begich who will say whatever he thinks is popular and
will get them elected rather
than saying something that
they truly believe in. Fakers
are annoying people that lack
insight and passion. These
types of people are painfully transparent and everyone
knows it except them.
I often think back to the
Harvard Study I once read
where 85 percent of all women
said they’d rather have a man
for a boss than a woman. That
might explain why we have
a majority of female voters
and have yet to elect a female
president.
In the end, I don’t like
people that tell military
service men and women to
take off their uniforms and
put on a suit because it’s an
eye sore, and I sure don’t like
people that treat those that
secure their lives 24 hours a
day with such disdain.
If she does get elected,
Hillary and her arrogance will
be a bitter pill for many to
swallow, but swallow you shall
or you may face nurse Ratched
who said, “If Mr. McMurphy
doesn’t want to take his medication orally, I’m sure we can
arrange that he can have it
some other way. But I don’t
think that he would like it.”
brother Charles Baringer, Jr.
“Chuck” and wife Brenda of
Las Vegas, Nev.; sister Kim
Orozco and husband Rudy
of Las Vegas; sister Kelly
Hobbs and husband John of
Boise, Idaho; brother Kermit
Roy Baringer of Las Vegas,
Nev.; sister Kristin Gravedoni and husband Guido of
Mountain Home, Idaho; father-In-Law Marvin Beeson
and wife Barbara of Bend,
Ore.; mother-in-Law Doni
Beeson of Sun City, Ariz.;
sister-in-Law Kim Beeson of
Bend, Ore., as well as fourteen nieces and nephews.
Shayne had many friends,
acquaintances, and loyal employees. He will be missed
by many. A memorial service
took take place at Glacier
View Baptist Church in
Homer, Alaska, and was held
Saturday, October 24, 2015,
at 4 p.m. Pastor Rick Wise
will officiate. Following the
memorial, there was a potluck dinner at the Homer
Elks Lodge, for a continued
celebration of Shayne’s life.
In lieu of flowers, the family
has requested donations
be made to the American
Cancer Society. (1-800-2272345 or www.donate.cancer.
org).
Paddy Notar can be reached
at paddytimes@gmail.com.
P In Memoriam p
SHAYNE CLINTON BARINGER
July 11, 1964 – October 13, 2015
Shayne Clinton Baringer
was born July 11, 1964 in
Las Vegas, Nev. to Charles
Clinton and Carolyn Baringer. He passed from this
life in Anchorage, Alaska on
October 13, 2015.
Shayne graduated from
Mountain
Home
High
School in Idaho in 1982.
After graduation, Shayne
moved to Kodiak, Alaska,
where he worked for a
roofing
company
and
also fished commercially. Shayne next moved to
Homer, Alaska where he got
his start in commercial construction with Brown Construction. In 1990, Shayne
gained employment with
Enserch, where he worked
as a Tunnel Supervisor on
Bradley Lake Hydro Project.
After its completion, Shayne
began working for Herndon
and Thompson, Inc. and then
later worked for Osage Construction.
In 1995, Shayne married
his wife, Nikki. Soon thereafter, they took a leap of faith
and started Twin Peaks Construction, Inc. and eventually moved to Anchor Point,
Alaska. This would prove to
be a great decision, because
in 1998, Nikki gave birth to
their son Tristan. Owning
Twin Peaks Construction
did, in fact, allow Shayne
to work close to home and
be with Nikki and Tristan.
They started out small with
minimal equipment, but
Nikki and Shayne worked
side by side, and grew Twin
Peaks Construction into a
multi-million dollar business, completing over 93
construction projects. Some
of the jobs Shayne was
proudest of were Kennecott
Mine, King Cove Roads,
Stariski Creek Bridge, and
numerous jobs in Denali National Park spanning a 9-year
period.
Shayne’s proudest accomplishment was the completion of his latest project; the
Stetson Creek Cooper Lake
Dam Diversion Project for
Chugach Electric. Shayne
thrived on taking difficult
jobs and making them successful, and loved being
around all of his equipment which he called “his
yellow candy”. Shayne had
many hobbies including
hunting, fishing, traveling
and loved to ride his Harley.
But Shayne’s favorite past
time was bidding, planning,
and completing construc-
tion projects. Shayne was a
member of AGC of Alaska,
Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association,
and the Elks Lodge. He held
many construction related
certifications from CESCL,
MSHA, and ISMA, to name
a few, and also held a federal
explosives license issued by
the ATF division of the U.S.
Dept. of Justice. Shayne
was determined to have
a successful commercial
construction business and
worked tirelessly to achieve
that goal.
Shayne was preceded in
death by one brother, Michael
Baringer. He is survived by
his wife Nikki Danette Baringer; son Tristan Ethan Baringer as well as his beloved
German shepherd, Chief;
daughter Dionella “Bow”
Baringer and Mike “Spanky”
Doble, and Bow’s daughter,
Piper Nicole Baringer, who
Shayne lovingly referred to
as his little princess; daughter
Malina Miller, her husband
Aaron, and grandchildren
Jeremy and Aaris; father
Charles Clinton Baringer
and Marlis Osburn of Las
Vegas, Nev.; mother Carolyn
St. Jean and husband Ralph
of Mountain Home, Idaho;
Page 4
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
FVCS News
By Briana Sullivan
Special to the Turnagain Times
A long and action-packed
list of classes and programs
are currently offered through
Four Valleys Community
School. Overwhelmed at the
thought of a summation, I
highly recommend reviewing the classes for registration with a dose of vigilance.
This variation of classes is
possible because of you.
Thank you to our Pick.Click.
Give. donors for 2015. Ours
is truly a “Give Where you
Live” community.
This year 77 donors contributed to FVCS via Pick.
Click.Give. We would like
to convey a heartfelt thank
you to all those who donated
to our organization. FVCS
is primarily funded through
our program revenues, fundraising, and your donations.
These contributions speak
directly to our mission: “Of
our community, by our community, and for our community for 35 years.” Such
funds are used to support
T-Ball, community events,
FVCS Nordic Ski Club,
indoor and outdoor soccer
for local youth, support the
Girdwood School play and
spring intensives, fund free
science nights, and over 80
other classes and events.
When you give where you
live, your donation stays in
our community. Thank you.
If you attended our second
annual “Adults’ Night Out!”
or A.N.O., you’re aware of
the fun, successful, and delicious night at Challenge
Alaska. A huge thank you
to Midnight Sun Brewing
Company and all of the
volunteers that made this
night possible by contributing time, homemade dishes,
and attendance. We couldn’t
achieve success without you.
The Sports Swap was additionally made possibly by
community volunteers and
support. Hope you scored
a great piece of gear for
2016! Check online or the
catalogue for exciting news
about the running track, basketball, and much more.
Photo courtesy of Catherine McDermott
Girdwood Zombies danced in the rain on “Thrill
Day” Oct. 24.
Girdwood Fire Department Election
Continued from page 1
was held, this time conducted by four impartial counters: Kelley, O’Malley, Claire
Agni, the Girdwood Librarian Supervisor, and Denise
Dargan, former Girdwood
Librarian Supervisor. The
result of that count was that
there were just too many
invalid ballots, and it was
determined that the GVF&R
Board should reconvene to
determine if a new election
should be held.
As this election heads
toward a final resolution, it’s
best to look back at the scenario that set it up, starting
with a special meeting with
the GBOS, which sought to
address the ballot tampering
issue, and hopefully resolve it.
Kalie Harrison is a recent
resident to Girdwood. She and
her husband, Mike Edgington, have been attending Girdwood Board of Supervisors
and Public Safety Task Force
meetings regularly, so it was
not surprising to see them at
the GBOS Special Meeting in
the Girdwood fire station that
was held on Oct. 28.
During the discussion, in a
softly spoken voice, Harrison
asked board Chairman Keith
Tryck some tough questions.
And the exchange cut to the
heart of the issue of the disputed election.
“Look, I don’t know
what the right thing to do is
here,” Harrison said, “but as
someone who voted in that
election—”
“Yeah,” intervened Trick.
“I don’t think that this
process that you guys decided
represents me well,” continued Harrison.
“The fact of the matter is
that the people who ran for
an election are the ones who
have something to gain or not
gain,” Tryck said.
“No, no, no, I’m the public,
and they’re working for me,”
Harrison replied. “So I have
something to gain or to lose
with this election.”
“Which is?” Tryck asked.
“A fair process!” responded Harrison.
Later in the meeting, Tryck
stated that a meeting was set
for the following night and
that Brooks Chandler, the attorney representing the Girdwood Volunteer Fire and
Rescue Board, would be in
attendance.
“Brooks Chandler will
be at the meeting tomorrow
night as well to provide any
procedural guidance or legal
guidance that I might ask
for,” Tryck told the GBOS.
However, the meeting,
which was scheduled for
6:30 p.m., was cancelled on
very short notice at 6:05 p.m.
because the GVF&R Executive Committee purportedly
did not turn over the ballots
as requested earlier after a
miscommunication in emails
that day. Nonetheless, an informal meeting was held that
night, and GVF&R Executive
Committee Secretary Heuer
brought boxes to the Girdwood Community Center.
Dorius explained to the
people that were in attendance, why the Board of
Directors meeting was cancelled.
“We asked for a count
of the ballots today of the
original election that evidently that probably wasn’t
worded as clearly as it could
have been,” Dorius said.
“The answer came back
that they could have been
a little bit more clearerly…
Keith Tryck, Chairman of
the Board, requested this. He
had other obligations that he
had to be to by 7:30 with his
father, so he asked for a postponement, a postponement
until Monday.”
GVF&R Board member
Ken Murphy attempted to call
a meeting numerous times
since Dorius and Opalka
were enough for a quorum,
but they refused. Dorius and
Opalka stayed to face some
blunt, candid questions from
the deeply displeased rank
and file members of the
GVF&R, who made up the
vast majority of the public in
attendance.
On Monday, Nov. 2, a
special meeting was held in
the Girdwood Community
room for the GVF&R Board
members to vote on three resolutions regarding the election. All four of the GVF&R
board members were present.
Resolution 1 stated that the
election results were uncertified and that the election can
be challenged by a candidate
or a group of 10 voters within
72 hours of a decision. The
resolution passed on a 2-0
vote with Dorius and Opalka
abstaining due to a conflict
of interest since they were up
for re-election.
Resolution 2 called for a new
election to be held in December with much tighter controls
being applied for registered
Girdwood voters or property
owners. Before the vote was
taken, Girdwood Board of Supervisor Sam Daniel reminded
the GVF&R board of a unanimous GBOS vote advising for
a new election to be held and
said an executive session of the
GBOS would be held the following day if there was no new
election.
Resolution 2 failed on a 1-1
vote (Murphy – yes, Tryck –
no) with Dorius and Opalka
abstaining once again due to
their conflict of interest.
Resolution 3 called for a
recount of all the ballots and
the disqualification of suspicious ballots, and that all
five candidates agree to the
outcome of the final ballot
count. That resolution initially failed with a 1-1 vote
(Murphy – no, Tryck – yes)
with Dorius and Opalka once
again abstaining.
With Resolution 3 failing
due to a tie vote, Tryck asked
the abstaining board members
if they would like to vote to
break the tie.
“So we have a tie,” he said,
“and we don’t have a resolution. I understand that there
is a way when you have this
kind of a situation where
you can, I can ask the sitting
members to vote to break the
tie. Is this correct, Brooks?”
“Well, believe it or not,
yes,” said Chandler. “There’s
something called the Rule of
Necessity, and it’s followed
in two situations. It’s followed when bodies, through
disqualifications, do not have
a quorum, and it’s also followed if there is a deadlock
through
disqualifications.
So it’s a philosophical rule,
based on sort of a theory that
you have to do what you have
to do to get to the decision,
and it’s called Rule of Necessity. Look it up on the Internet. What it typically does is
allow people who were previously disqualified to participate in a vote with the
purpose of getting a result,
so it’s not mandated. Once
again, this is a non-profit organization.”
Following
Chandler’s
explanation, Tryck asked
Dorius and Opalka to vote
on Resolution 3. Opalka and
Dorius both voted yes, allowing the resolution to pass.
Then the Nov. 3 meeting
was held to finalize the election results – to no avail.
What happens next is up to
the GVF&R board members.
As for Kalie Harrison and
her fellow Girdwood voters,
this election conundrum has
not ended. It is not resolved,
and there is much more to
come.
But one pressing question
remains – who stuffed the
ballot boxes?
Ken Smith contributed to this
article.
Turnagain Times
Hope Happenings
By Jeannine Jabaay
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
The Updated Phone
List Coming Your Way
The 2015-2016 Hope phone
list is being updated to reflect
any changes or additions that
have occurred this past year.
The community has several
new families, and maintaining an updated phone list is
critical for safety and support.
The EMS system within Hope
relies on current contact information. And local businesses
recognize the Hope roster as a
valuable source of local referrals. If you need to update or
add contact information to the
Hope phone list, please call
Fayrene Sherritt at 227-2846
or contact Linda Graham at the
post office. The cutoff date is
Nov. 10, and the newly published list is expected to be
available by mid-December.
The Best Pie in Alaska
The annual pie baking
contest to determine the great-
est pie baker in the state will
take place at the Hope School
on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Bakers are already planning
the pie they will prepare to
take home the grand champion
award of “Best Pie in Alaska.”
Among the other awards that
will be presented that evening
are “Most Creative Pie,” “Best
Cream Pie,” “Best Fruit Pie,”
and “Best Dessert.”
The event is a fundraiser for
the Hope School PTSCA, and
last year raised over $2,000
for the school. Pie slices will
be sold for $2 each, and a pie
throwing contest will top the
evening off.
A live auction will be held
at the bake-off. Mark your calendars now for the night before
Thanksgiving. You won’t want
to miss the 2015 Best Pie in
Alaska Competitions! Bakers
can pick up their disposable
pie pans from the Hope School
office.
Annual X-mas Bazaar
Calling all crafters! The
Hope Alaska Christmas Bazaar
is scheduled for the first Satur-
November 5, 2015
day in December. This annual
trade show features artists,
crafters, and bakers who
sell their wares in the historic Social Hall in downtown
Hope.
With a belly stove in full
flame to warm the venue,
Christmas music piping in the
background, and fresh coffee
being served, there is perhaps
no greater place for shoppers
to check off their Christmas
shopping list, all while supporting small local businesses.
Hope Library Gift
Certificates available
Just in time for Christmas,
the Hope Library Gift Shop is
making gift certificates available. Stop in to pick up a
gift for that hard-to-buy-forsomeone on your shopping
list, and support local community. And, if you haven’t
stopped by the library lately,
be sure to pop into the Book
Shack for killer deals. All
hard back books are $2 and
soft back are $1 dollar each.
These deals can’t be beat! The
Hope library hours continue
Page 5
Jeannine Jaabay/Turnagain Times
Children in Hope run in the afternoon sun enjoying
the extended fall days.
into winter to be 12 noon to 3
p.m., Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on
Sundays. If you are interested
in volunteering at the library
during the winter, contact
Susan at 782-3121.
Church News
The
Hope
Christian
Church is launching a ladies
only Bible study on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. This fellowship time is open to any and
all women who would like to
join. The location will be in
a different lady’s home each
week, so call Dovie at 7829733 for this week’s details.
The Hope Church also welcomes the community to join
them in their weekly interdenominational worship services held on Sundays at 3 p.m.
Coffee and dessert immediately follow each service. And
for a mouthwatering experience, do not miss the monthly
potluck held after the service
on Sun., Nov. 15. Bring a dish
to share, or just stop in to try a
bit of each delicacy. Additionally, the church offer a food
bank ministry on Thursdays
at noon. A Bible study follows
the food bank at 3 p.m. each
Thursday. For more information, visit facebook.com/
HopeChurchAlaska.
Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National
Heritage Area grants awarded
By Lia Slemons
Special to the Turnagain Times
Visitors to the Roundhouse
Museum at Alyeska next
summer will open a hot-off-thepress vintage newspaper to read
about James Girdwood’s arrival
in Glacier City in 1900. Thanks
to a grant from the Kenai
Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area (KMTA),
the Roundhouse Museum
will re-create a 12-page historic newspaper with articles
and photos first published 35
years ago. The reprint of the
Alyeska Chronicle will include
an updated insert with news on
the people and places central to
Girdwood Valley’s identity.
“Guests are constantly
asking for reading material regarding the Girdwood area,”
reports Marianne Daniels,
Executive Director of The
Roundhouse Museum. “This
is a piece of fun history that’s
been waiting a very long time
to be reproduced.”
The Hope and Sunrise Historical and Mining Museum
was also awarded a grant to
support the museum’s summer
programs, which include showcasing the Charles Davis Tool
Collection, producing newsletters and keeping the museum
website up-to-date. The museum’s youth tour guide program
welcomes visitors to explore
the history of the 1896 Turnagain Arm Gold Rush, Alaska’s
involvement in World War II,
and Hope’s resilience during
the 1964 Earthquake.
KMTA regularly supports regional museums to design new
exhibits and share the stories of
the corridors and communities
of the eastern Kenai and Turnagain Arm. Five new grants
were awarded at the Oct. 20
KMTA Board meeting.
Other
grants
awarded
include the publication of a
new book by Doug Capra,
author of The Spaces Between:
Stories from the Kenai Mountains to the Kenai Fjords. The
new book will be a companion
to his previous title a will highlight the people and places of
the KMTA.
Summit Educational Services of Seward was given a
grant to provide teacher training for use of the KMTA secondary and elementary curricula in the classroom.
KMTA also provided a
grant to the Seward Iditarod
Photo courtesy of Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan
The Hope Museum will have new summer programs
after receiving a grant from the Kenai MountainsTurnagain Arm National Heritage Area.
Trail Blazers to construct and $88,377 in support from volinstall the Jujiro Wada Monu- unteers and in-kind donations.
ment, honoring the pioneer- The five projects recognize
ing musher, marathoner, and and interpret the unique conprospector famous throughout tributions of the Kenai MounAlaska and Japan during the tain-Turnagain Arm corridor to
gold rush years.
the identity of the region, state,
KMTA awarded up to and country. One project may
$55,080 in community grants improve a reader’s historical
at its October meeting, to be view of Girdwood Valley from
matched by a minimum of the side of Alyeska.
Page 6
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
South Anchorage News
By Amy Newman
Turnagain Times
South Anchorage Correspondent
I mentioned last time my
daughter’s intense fear of costumes. As expected, that fear
beat out candy fever, so she
skipped all Halloween festivities again, which means less
candy for me to sneak after
she and her sister go to bed.
Luckily, Thanksgiving is right
around the corner and with it
comes pie, which I’ll take over
candy any day. That’s why I’m
seriously considering signing
up for South’s pie baking class
later this month (more on
that below). That, along with
some holiday shopping at two
of South Anchorage’s largest
craft bazaars, may be just the
relaxed activities I need before
the holiday season kicks in to
high gear.
Holiday Bazaars
Rabbit Creek Community
Council hosts its 38th Annual
Christmas Towne Bazaar on
Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. at South Anchorage
High School. With 130 booths
boasting a variety of handcrafted items, you’ll have to
try really hard to leave empty-handed – photography, art,
clothing, home décor, pottery
and wood and metal crafts are
just some of the items local
artists and crafters will be offering for sale. In addition to
the craft booths, there will be
kids’ activities and face paint-
ing, a Cookie Caper booth
sponsored by Rabbit Creek
Elementary’s 6th grade class,
snack and lunch items from the
South Anchorage High School
girls’ basketball team, and performances by the South Anchorage High music program.
Admission is free. South Anchorage High School is located
at 13400 Elmore Rd.
The
following
Saturday, head to Anchorage City
Church for its annual Alaskan
Christmas Bazaar, which is
billed as “the most beautiful
bazaar of the season.” More
than 100 artists and vendors
from across the state will be
spread out among two floors to
sell one-of-a-kind handmade
items. While you’re there,
make sure to check out and
place a bid on one of the many
silent auction items. Proceeds
will be used by the church’s
mom’s club to support local
families in need. When you
need a break from shopping,
head to the food court, or refuel
with a latte or hot chocolate
from the gourmet coffee stand.
Santa Claus will also make an
appearance, so don’t forget to
stop by for a photo. The bazaar
runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1301 W.
100th Ave. Admission is free.
Pie Making Class at
South
Costco makes some excellent pies, but nothing beats
homemade, and making a pie
from scratch isn’t that difficult
if you have the know-how. If
you’re worried that your pie
making skills are lacking (or
if you just want to spend an
afternoon baking pies), join
South Restaurant’s pastry chef
Meghan Baltzer on Saturday,
Nov. 14 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. to
discover the secrets to baking
the perfect pie. At this handson class, you’ll learn how to
make a rich, flaky crust, along
with three different pie fillings – bourbon pecan, apple
and that Thanksgiving staple,
pumpkin pie. Appetizers and
champagne, as well as plenty
of pie, will be provided to
snack on throughout the afternoon. To reserve your spot,
stop by the front desk or call
770-9200. The class costs
$65, and each participant will
leave with pie dough, filling,
a ceramic pie dish, along with
the recipes from the afternoon’s baking session.
Lil’ Ranch-N-Rodeo at
The Learning Farm
Caring for animals helps
children become responsible,
compassionate, and instills a
strong work ethic. Kids will
get all that and more at The
Learning Farm’s Lil’ RanchN-Rodeo series. Once a month
through April, children have
the opportunity to feed the
cows, goats, sheep and other
farm animals, collect eggs (if
the hens are laying, of course),
participate in rodeo activities
and much more. A friend whose
daughter participated said she
Whittier City Council Meeting
Continued from page 1
owners’ pockets this year.”
Neuman said that the tax
would likely prevent him
from hiring two or three crew
members because he has to
come up with the revenue
to make up the shortfall. He
asked the council to bring
him and others into the
process if they can.
In other business, Whittier City Manager Mark Lynch
announced that an offer was
made to hire a new Harbor
Master, pending a background check and drug test.
William Dennis, who goes
by Andy, visited Whittier
with his wife and stepson as
part of the interview process.
Dennis has accepted the offer
verbally, and he has signed
and returned a written offer.
“It’s a pretty big move for
them,” said Lynch. “He’s a
25-year Navy veteran currently living in Kansas.
They’re getting ready to
Photo courtesy of Alaskan Christmas Bazaar
Browse more than 100 booths offering a variety of
arts and crafts at the 13th annual Alaskan Christmas
Bazaar, hosted by Anchorage City Church
had a blast. This month’s rodeo
is Saturday, Nov. 14 from noon
to 3 p.m., and costs $35 per
child (parents are free). Space
is limited, and reservations are
taken via e-mail only. Contact
them at thelearningfarmak@
gmail.com.
Community Chef
Dinner at South
South Restaurant hosts
another community chef
dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 17
at 6:30 p.m., with guest chef
Andrew Brown of Girdwood’s Jack Sprat. Chef
Brown is a 2015 James Beard
Award nominee for Best
Chef: Pacific Northwest.
(If you’re not a foodie, the
James Beard Awards are like
the Oscar of the food world).
Alaska grown, Chef Brown
honed his skills at Sacks Café
for eight years before joining
Jack Sprat in 2014. Tickets for
move. We anticipate they
can be here in a month.”
The
November
City
Council meeting will be held
on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7
p.m. The change is needed
to avoid a conflict with
the Thanksgiving holiday.
During the meeting, City
Attorney Holly Wells will
the dinner, which includes a
wine pairing for each course,
are $125 per person and sell
out quickly. Call 770-9200, or
visit the front desk at South,
to purchase tickets. You are in
for a real treat.
Zoo Lights at the
Alaska Zoo
Zoo lights are back! Each
winter, the zoo lights up with
a parade of big, colorful - and
sometimes animated – animals.
Walk under lighted canopies
while you get a peek at the
zoo’s animals at night. This is
one of the zoo’s most anticipated annual events, and advance
tickets for the event, which
begins Friday, Nov. 27 at 5
p.m., is on sale now. Tickets
cost $6 for zoo members, $8
for non-members. Visit http://
alaskazoo.org/zoo-lights
to
purchase tickets or to learn
more.
be giving a presentation on
marijuana legalization and
the implications it has for
Whittier. Lynch said the
leasing process will be discussed to look for ways to
make it clearer.
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Page 7
Conservation action class educates students on
recovery effort for endangered Cook Inlet belugas
By Britta-Lis Perry
Turnagain Times Correspondent
For those of us who live on
Turnagain Arm, beluga whales
are a regular sight, but their
numbers have dropped significantly in recent years with
a current population estimated at 340, and a local graduate student, Suzanne Steinert, wants to see that trend
reversed. She recently hosted
a class through Four Valleys
Community Schools to address
that very issue.
The conservation action
class, which came about as
part of Steinert’s curriculum in
her conservation biology Master’s program, consisted of a
discussion about the uniqueness of the Cook Inlet belugas,
a genetic group distinct from
other belugas, and how community members can help
with their conservation and the
threats to their survival.
The program, the first by
FVCS, started with introductions and discussions of why
each person was interested in
Cook Inlet belugas.
“I had always thought they
were a cool animal, but I
hadn’t seen one until I moved
here,” said Steinert. “People
are excited about seeing them,
but it often stops there. I want
to bridge the gap between
being excited about seeing
them and helping with their
conservation.”
Steinert is also a guide
with Salmonberry Tours,
and she spends a lot of time
driving guests along Turnagain Arm. She always hopes
to see belugas, and part of her
presentations to her guests
involves discussing on how
unique they are.
Erin Leighton, the co-host
of the class, said her interest in
them went beyond her job as
FVCS Assistant Program Coordinator. A former employee
of both the Alaska Zoo and
the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Leighton has had
several opportunities to learn
about Cook Inlet belugas. It
was a “Wildlife Wednesday”
program that she hosted at the
zoo that piqued her interest.
Also, working at the wildlife
center made her realize just
how special these belugas are.
“We would see them
throughout the summer,” she
said. “I personally want to
know how to help.”
”It sounded like an interesting way to learn about the
local fauna,” added Laurel McFadden, who along with her
husband John Giardina, recently moved to Girdwood from
Fairbanks. “I didn’t realize
how low the numbers really
are. A shift in the numbers indicates a shift in the ecosystem’s balance. It’s important to
address that.”
A version of musical chairs
helped participants understand
how the population of belugas
has risen and fallen over the
years. Instead of playing
music, Steinert read aloud
from a fact sheet detailing the
belugas’ population history.
After each paragraph, she
stopped and asked the class to
find a chair. At the beginning,
representing the 1979 peak at
1,300 whales, everyone had
a chair. As the game went on,
fewer and fewer people had
chairs, until the end, representing present-day, when only
two participants were able to
find chairs.
Steinert went over the 2015
Draft Recovery Plan, which
was released in May and includes a 50-year recovery plan
for belugas. She also went over
some things that people in the
community can do to aid in the
recovery effort. A big one is
helping to identify the whales
and track their movements. The
Cook Inlet Beluga Photo ID
Project hosts cookinletbelugas.
com, where, under the “Share
Your Sightings” tab, people can
log their sightings with including details about where they
were spotted and how many
whales were in the group.
Sarah Howard, who works
at AWCC, said she came
because she was curious about
belugas and wanted to learn if
there was anything she could
do to help out.
“If it’s our fault they’re declining,” she said, “we should
probably do something to
correct that. I learned that
instead of just saying ‘Hey,
cool’ [when I see them], I can
report what I saw. That’s an
easy way that doesn’t take a
whole lot of extra effort.”
Steinert also encouraged
the class to learn more about
the highway project at Windy
Corner, and to attend the next
public meeting in December
to assess the possible threats
to beluga habitat. The Alaska
Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities has proposed a major project along
the Seward Highway that will
change traffic patterns and will
require fill in Turnagain Arm.
After the presentation, participants headed to one of two
stations to get more involved.
The first station was a participatory map. “It’s a growing
part of community conservation,” she said. “It allows
stakeholders and community
members to have a voice. It’s
a way to map what’s important
to the community, and also to
map threats to belugas.”
She encouraged participants
to draw on a map of Cook Inlet,
filling in the locations of their
beluga sightings and of their favorite places, and also to place
on the map some of the various
threats to belugas, like oil rigs.
The map will be included in
Steinert’s final project.
“It’s important to have the
community involved, so they
are educated in making decisions,” said Giardina. “It’s
pretty cool that they established
the 50-year plan, but there are
a lot of proposals from oil and
gas. There’s going to be a lot of
conflict along the way.”
Steinert also encouraged
class participants to get involved using social media.
Participants decorated construction paper whales with
why they valued having
belugas in their backyard and
Britta-Lis Perry/Turnagain Times
Students play a version of musical chairs to illustrate the population decline of Cook Inlet belugas.
Britta-Lis Perry/Turnagain Times
Graduate of biology student Suzanne Steinert
explains the participatory map that class members
help to create in a beluga class.
Britta-Lis Perry/Turnagain Times
Participants of a conservation action class for belugas decorate whale cut-outs and post their creations
to social media tagged with #mybackyard-belugas.
then took pictures of their
creations and posted them
to social media using the tag
#mybackyardbelugas. Steinert
encouraged people to upload
their beluga pictures with the
hashtag in the future.
Teal Goodsell, also an
AWCC employee, loves
seeing the belugas at the edge
of the AWCC property. “We
share the same world,” she
said. “If I don’t care, who else
will?”
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Page 8
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Mountain News
By Ben Napolitano
Special to the Turnagain Times
Sitzmark Opens with
Deschutes Beer Dinner
Some call beer the
nectar of the gods. Monks
used beer to mix the mortar
required to build their
monasteries and the term
“Rule of Thumb” came
from brewers who would
stick their thumbs in beer
to check the temperature
before adding yeast.
Yes, beer is pretty fantastic and has a long rich
history from the ancient
Egyptians to the British
trade routes to the Founding Fathers of the greatest
country in the world. Beer
paired with food is even
better, and what better
way to enjoy beer, food
and the season opening
of the hardest working
bar in Alaska than with a
beer dinner presented by
Alyeska Executive Chef
Jason Porter and Deschutes Brewery.
The Bend, Oregon
based Deschutes Brewery
will be sending five different brews up to AK to be
paired with five different
food options prepared by
Alyeska Resort. The Sitzmark will host the event
on Nov. 24, with food
and beer stations to begin
serving at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the event
will be $60 and limited to
the first 150 people. Season
pass holders can get the
five-course beer dinner for
$50. Have current season
pass handy when checking
in. For more information
or to buy tickets online,
please visit AlyeskaResort.com.
Access Every Sitz
Concert and Event for
just $100
Are you a season pass
holder? Are you a season
pass holder who loves live
music at the Sitz? These two
questions are very important if you foresee yourself
going to a lot of concerts
this winter at Sitzmark. The
Sitzmark music pass add-on
will grant access to any and
every Sitzmark concert and
event during the 2015/16
winter for only $100. That is
one screaming deal.
With upcoming concerts like New Year’s Eve
with DeadPhish Orchestra,
Moon Alice, Flowmotion,
Leftover Salmon, Young
Dubliners and Lucero
already booked and confirmed, the Sitzmark Music
Pass is will more than pay
for itself giving you extra
money to buy that cute girl
at the end of the bar a drink
or treat your best girlfriends
to a round of margaritas.
The catch, there’s a limited
amount available and remaining, so call the tram
ticket office to buy yours
today at 754-2275 or visit
TheSitzmark.com for more
details.
Opening Day Nov. 26
Grab your planks, grab
your Gore-Tex and hit the
slopes Nov. 26 for the beginning of the 2015/16 ski
season! The dog days of
summer are long gone, and
Alaska’s longest season is
upon us once more. This
Thanksgiving marks the
start of another ski season,
but those who hold an
Alyeska season pass will
be able to ski on Nov. 25 as
part of pass holder appreciation day, which runs from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Opening
day conditions permitting
and snowmaking is scheduled to begin Nov. 1 or as
soon as the temperature hits
a steady 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Open lifts and terrain
will be advertised closer to
opening day after snow coverage has been evaluated by
Photo courtesy of Ben Napolitano
ski patrol so keep checkFresh snow covers the Glacier Bowl Express.
ing AlyeskaResort.com for
updates on conditions, lift
status and dates.
Get Fit, Ski Stronger
Twelve-ounce curls will
only get you so far in preparation for ski season. To
really get in shape for upcoming winter season you
need to work on your fast
twitch muscles, balance
muscles and core as well as
leg strength and stamina.
Alyeska Resort is offering up a series of workout
classes specifically designed
Photo courtesy of Ralph Christopher
to kick your butt (and make Lez Zeppelin Rocked to a sold-out crowd at Alyeska
it look better in the process). both Friday and Saturday nights.
But vanity isn’t the purpose
of the class. The true motive
is to make sure participants
are prepped and ready for
ski season. The class uses
body weight, balance and
cardio workouts to get you
in tip top shape.
Classes
are
offered
Wednesday and Sundays in
the Alyeska Daylodge beginning Oct. 21. Wednesday classes start at 6:30
p.m. and Sunday classes
start at 5:30 p.m. Alyeska
Employees are free, while
non-employees can pay $15
per class or buy a five or ten
class punch card for $10 a
class. For more information, please call the Spa at
Alyeska at 754-2550.
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Page 9
Lively Arts
By Ron Holmstrom
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Opening this week at Grant
Hall on the Alaska Pacific University campus is The Women
of Lockerbie by Deborah Brevroot. This poignant and powerful story explores the changes
affecting survivors of tragedy
and grief, but not without the
occasional dose of humor.
After the crash of Pan
American flight 103 over the
village of Lockerbie, Scotland, the women of the village
and the families of the American victims of this terrorist
attack must learn to deal with
the tragic loss of loved ones.
In Lockerbie, Scotland the villagers decide to turn an act of
hatred into an act of love by
washing the clothes found in
the wreckage and returning
them to the families of the
victims, but the U.S. government denies them access to
the clothes. As an American
mother roams the hills still
hoping to find some remains
of her son, her husband futilely attempts to assuage her
grief. Together the villagers and the American couple
journey through the emotions
of grief, hatred and love.
The London Daily Telegraph said: “The Women of
Lockerbie catches the grim
mood [of a terrorist attack]
better than anything I’ve yet
seen on the subject of 9/11
and its aftermath. In its tightly
controlled depiction of collective sorrow…it becomes
almost unbearably moving.”
Women is presented by
RKP Productions in Association with Anchorage Community Theatre. This is the second
collaboration between ACT
and RKP following last year’s
successful run of Marsha Norman’s ‘night, Mother. This
production shares some of the
same faces both on and backstage. The titular Dick Reichman, Audrey and Bruce Kelly,
and Robert Pond who lend
their initials to RKP’s name
tackle this play with the same
mission and vigor in their work
behind the scenes. Robert
Pond, a fixture of the Anchorage theatre community since
the 1950’s, helms the show as
director. Linda Benson, a frequent collaborator of ACT and
RKP, graces the stage once
again, and Brian Saylor, who
designed last year’s set, once
again lends his talents to this
production.
Written in the structure
of a Greek tragedy, the play
is a poetic drama about the
triumph of love over hate.
Winner of the Silver Medal in
the Onassis International Playwriting Competition and also
winner of the Kennedy Center
Fund for New American Plays
Award, RPK Producer Audrey
Kelly describes the play as “A
powerful testament to the way
we carry our grief after an act
of terror and it is a hopeful reminder that we are allowed to
share the burden.”
The play will run Nov. 6
through Nov. 22. Show times
are Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sundays at
3 p.m. Tickets may be had at
ACT’s website: actalaska.org
or by calling 868-4913.
Continuing at Cyrano’s
Playhouse, downtown is the
excellent tragicomedy Other
Desert Cities, directed by
Shelly Wozniak and featuring
quite a stellar cast. This play,
the story of a family Christmas reunion where the daughter announces she is about
to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic
event in the family’s history
-– a wound they don’t want
reopened, has gotten rave
reviews in ADN and Anchorage Press. Described by the
Cyrano’s website as “part
Greek Tragedy and part witty
comedy,” the production has
been selling out, so book you
tickets now. The show must
end on Nov. 15, so go to their
website or centertix.net for
tickets and more information.
Cyrano’s website is cyranos.
org or call 274-2599. Check
them out for news on the rest
of their season.
Also playing downtown at
Mad Myrna’s on 5th Avenue
is the perennial favorite The
Rocky Horror Show. Presented annually by Myrna’s,
this wacky trip into the world
of Dr. Frankenfurter and
company always packs the
house and has been known to
have a bit of audience participation with the raucous cast
as well. Rocky has somehow
become Myrna’s version of
their own Nutcracker for this
time of year.
If you have never seen
Rocky, you are in for a treat.
If you have, you will probably
want to “Do the Time Warp
Again.” Tickets may be had
by going to centertix.net or
call Myrna’s at 276-9762.
First Friday downtown is
upon us again, and this time
there is the Bunny Boots and
Burn Barrels G Street Block
Party on Nov. 6 from 5-9 p.m.
This is an opportunity for
ADP and the businesses along
G Street to throw a real-deal
block party between 4th & 5th
Avenue on a 1st Friday.
The evening will feature
music, a beer garden courtesy of Darwin’s Theory,
food from local restaurants
and other tasty food vendors,
as well as deals and specials
from G Street businesses. And
of course, there will be burn
barrels (and hopefully bunny
boots). All businesses will be
teaming up to throw a block
party for the ages.
Since it falls on a 1st
Friday, and there are many
other special events going
on that evening, you can join
them to start your evening, or
end your rounds at G Street
between 4th & 5th Avenue
until 9 p.m. So, put on your
warmest boots (bunny boots
preferably), and come enjoy
this truly Northern experience
with your fellow Alaska snow
bunnies while grabbing a beverage and some grub on November 6th at G Street.
On Friday, Nov. 13 and
Saturday, Nov. 14, The Anchorage Lofts Music Cafe at
4th and C Street will feature
Short Attention Span Theatre,
a series of ten-minute, (or
shorter,) plays crammed into
two night of fun. Spanning
comedy and tragedy, (mostly
comedy,) SAST is always a
treat because as the publicity says: “If you don’t like the
play you are watching, just
wait a minute.” Tickets are
only $10 at the door and are
first come, first served. Excellent food and beverages will
Photo courtesy of Audrey Kelly
Burns and Linda Benson participatge in rehearsal
for The Women of Lockerbie.
be served and directly. After
the show, the band will crank
up and rock the house, as
usual. For more information,
call The Lofts at 793-5555.
That about wraps it up for
this installment of Lively Arts,
so please tune in to my weekly
broadcast of Your Entertainment Link each Thursday
night on the FOX-4 TV News
Hour at 9 p.m. And, as always,
I will see you around at all the
fun stuff.
Page 10
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Trooper Report
The Alaska State Troopers
reported the following incidents. Any charges reported are
merely allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
had been previously reported
as missing to the Anchorage
Police Department on Oct. 16.
Geiger’s body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.
Vehicle Theft
Theft from Vehicle
HOPE—October 17 around
10 a.m., Merlyn Schelske,
age 53 of Hope, reported his
vehicle was stolen from his
residence in Hope. The vehicle
was last seen on Oct. 16 at approximately 7 a.m. and discovered missing on Oct. 17. The
vehicle is a black 1998 Dodge
pickup bearing Alaska license
plate FPD437. Anyone with
information is encouraged to
contact the Alaska State Troopers in Girdwood at 262-4453.
RAINBOW—October 19
at about 5:37 p.m., troopers responded to a vehicle break in
on Rainbow Valley Road near
the Turnagain Arm Trail. Investigation revealed someone
had smashed a window on a
vehicle and stolen a laptop
computer from inside. Anyone
with information on this or
other crimes is urged to call
CrimeStoppers at 561-7867.
Suicide
HOPE—October 20 9:47
p.m., an Anchorage area resident called the troopers to
report a break-in and theft
from his seasonal residence
in the Hope area. The man reported that sometime between
mid-September and mid-October of this year, an unknown
person(s) forced entry to a
detached shed at his seasonal
residence and stole approximately $100 worth of power
PORTAGE—October 17 at
about 3:12 p.m., troopers responded to a pullout near mile
4.5 of the Portage Glacier
Highway after receiving a
report of a deceased male.
Upon arrival State Troopers
located Johannes Geiger, age
27 of Anchorage, deceased
from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Geiger
Burglary, Theft
ROAD
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To report a road problem please call:
343-8374
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Furnished apartments for rent in Whittier: Studio $600,
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Call (907) 472-2398.
Girdwood Lots for Sale: All utilities, in flat, sunny
locations with best views. Call Tim at 632-8467.
tools. They also entered the
residence and consumed
various food items. The investigation is continuing.
Drive While License
Revoked
MILE
101
SEWARD
HWY—October 25 around
8:15 p.m., troopers contacted
Janae Lafe, 55 of Kenai, on
a traffic stop near mile 101 of
the Seward Highway. An investigation revealed Lafe was
driving the vehicle on a revoked
license. Lafe was issued a misdemeanor citation for driving
while license revoked and released at the scene.
Criminal Mischief
GIRDWOOD—October
26 at about 6:52 p.m., troopers
responded to a residence on
the Alyeska Highway in Girdwood for a report of criminal
mischief. An investigation revealed someone had damaged
a window at the residence.
The investigation is ongoing
and anyone with information on this or other crimes is
urged to contact CrimeStoppers at 561-STOP.
Driving While License
Revoked
MILE 82.5 SEWARD
HWY—October 23 around
noon, troopers responded to
a reported vehicle in the ditch
near milepost 82.5 Seward
Highway. Once at the scene,
Troopers contacted Jeremy W.
Rankin, 25 of Cordova, who
admitted to driving. An investigation revealed that Rankin’s
license was revoked for a previous Driving While License
Revoked charge. Rankin was
issued a criminal citation for
DWLR and a minor offense
citation for Proof of Insurance
Required. Rankin promised
to appear in court at a later
date on the charge of DWLR
and was released at the scene
without incident.
Drunk on Licensed
Premise
GIRDWOOD—October
30 at about 10:40 p.m., troopers contacted John Patras,
age 24 of Eagle River, at the
Alyeska Daylodge in Girdwood, after he was repeatedly asked by Alyeska Security
Staff to leave the premises due
to his intoxication. After being
contacted by troopers and told
that he was not allowed to be
on the premises, Patras re-entered the Daylodge and was
arrested for drunk on licensed
premise. He attended a bail
hearing and was released on
his own recognizance.
Drive While License
Suspended
MILE 104 SEWARD
HWY—October 31 at about
11:36 p.m., troopers contacted
Eric Smyth, age 47 of Kasilof,
in a vehicle in a highway
pullout near mile 104 of the
Seward Highway. An investigation revealed Smyth had
been driving the vehicle on
a suspended driver’s license.
Smyth was issued a misdemeanor citation for driving
while license suspended and
released at the scene.
Motor Vehicle Collision
PORTAGE—October 31
at about 2:12 p.m., troopers
responded to mile 5 of the
Portage Highway for a motor
vehicle collision. An investigation revealed a Toyota Tacoma
operated by Grant Jensen, age
24 of California, was eastbound on the Portage Highway.
Jensen lost control on ice and
impacted a tunnel wall. No injuries were sustained.
Driving While License
Suspended
MILE
95
SEWARD
HWY—October 31 at approximately 9:45 p.m., troopers conducted a traffic stop
on a vehicle for a moving
violation near milepost 95
Seward Highway. Troopers contacted Ethan T. West,
age 20 of Kenai. An investigation revealed that West’s
license was suspended for
failure to provide proof of
insurance. West was issued a
criminal citation for Driving
While License Suspended
and two minor offense citations for Speeding and Proof
of Insurance Required. West
promised to appear in court
at a later date on the charge
of DWLS and was released at
the scene without incident.
Turnagain Times
Cooper Landing News
By Susanna LaRock
Turnagain Times
Cooper Landing Correspondent
Cooper Landing Community Club Meeting
There will be a Cooper
Landing Community Club
Meeting held at the Community Hall on Thursday, Nov.
5 at 7 p.m. Agenda items for
this meeting include revenue
sharing, CLCC board seat
elections, and maintenance
of Helen Rhodes Park. One
need not be a member of the
Community Club in order to
attend a meeting. These meetings are a good way to be informed of what the Community Club does and what is
going on in the community.
Library Sweepstakes
Nearly Sold Out
Tickets are nearly sold out
for the 16th Annual Cooper
Landing Community Library
Sweepstakes Fundraiser. There
may be a couple of tickets left
for sale; if you hurry to the
school, or ask a volunteer librarian, you may be able to
get one. Tickets are $110 and
admit two adults to the fundraiser event on Saturday, Nov.
7. If you missed out on getting
a ticket, you may be able to
find a ticket holder who needs
a date.
The annual fundraiser is a
‘bring your own bottle’ event,
with fabulous food catered by
Arden Rankins. There will be
23 cash prizes from $125 to
$2,000 handed out during the
course of the event, though one
does not need to be present in
order to win. This is the Cooper
Landing Community Library’s
biggest fund raiser, and the
proceeds combined with a
matching state grant keep the
library in operation each year.
If you enjoy the many services
provided to the community by
the Cooper Landing Community Library, be sure to show
your support by buying tickets
and attending the fundraiser.
Silk Screen Art
Workshop
Sunday, Nov. 8, Cooper
Landing Community School
will be hosting a Silk Screen
Art Workshop at the Community Hall from 10 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. Girdwood artist Thalia
Wilkinson will be teaching
the workshop. Wilkinson has
been teaching art in Alaska for
16 years and was awarded the
November 5, 2015
Alaska Art Educator of the Year
in 2010. The cost for the 4-hour
workshop is $67 and includes
materials to create three silk
pieces. Class size is limited to
six students. Call Yvette at 2303055 to reserve your spot.
Cooper Landing
School Selling Traditional Holiday Swags
The holidays are right
around the corner, and
Cooper Landing School is
taking orders for traditional
holiday swags. These beautiful door hangings will
brighten up the entrance to
your home or business while
showing that you support
Cooper Landing School. Fir
boughs will be arriving at the
school around Nov. 17. Then
the students, staff and community volunteers will have
a work party to assemble the
swags. They should be available for pick up by Nov. 18,
19, or 20, just in time for the
holiday season. Each swag
costs $20, or you can buy two
for $35. All proceeds from
sales go towards paying for
field trips and extra-curricular activities that Cooper
Landing School students may
not otherwise have. Call the
school at 595-1244, or email
slarock@kpbsd.org to order
your swag today.
Holiday Market and Elf
Auction
Cooper Landing School
will be hosting a Holiday
Market on Saturday, Nov. 21
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
Parent Advisory Committee
will be selling soups for lunch
and baked goods for treats or
to take to your next holiday
gathering. PAC will also be
hosting a silent elf auction,
raising money by auctioning
off three hours of elf help to
the highest bidder. There will
be a list of elves and their
special skills posted around
town and on the Community Crier. Bidders can call the
school to bid on whichever elf
they would like help from.
The auction will end at the
Holiday Market, and winners
will receive a certificate for
three hours of labor from their
favorite elf. All proceeds from
the elf auction and the soup and
bake sale will go towards continuing the Cooper Landing
School
downhill
skiing
program at Alyeska. Of course,
there will also be many talented
artists selling their wares at the
Page 11
Holiday Market and many opportunities to buy holiday gifts
locally. There are still spaces
available for vendors, the PAC
is still looking for donations of
soups and baked goods, and
the bidding for elves is about
to open. If you need vendor
space, would like to donate to
the soup or bake sale, or would
like to get started bidding on
elves, call the school at 5951244, or email slarock@
kpbsd.org.
Construction of Walking Path on Bridge
Completed
After weeks of construction and motorists dealing
with one lane of traffic moving
at a time over the bridge that
crosses Kenai Lake in Cooper
Landing, the project is finally
done. The old wooden path
that was falling apart has been
replaced by a wider, safer path
made of fiberglass grating.
Funds for this renovation came
from a Capital Improvement
Project for Cooper Landing
which was secured through
the Cooper Landing Walkable
Community Project. Pedestrians and bikers in Cooper
Landing are happy to have a
safer passage over the bridge.
Tim Ball/Turnagain Times
Triangle Peak and Eagle Peak tower over Eagle and Symphony lakes along the South Fork Eagle River Trail.
Page 12
Turnagain Times
November 5, 2015
Troopers Stay in Girdwood Extended
Continued from page 1
meeting was arranged under
the guidance of Gov. Bill
Walker’s office and facilitated
by Cockrell and Johnston.
“The troopers are willing to
enter into a multi-year memorandum of agreement or a
grant, in which the community
could fund, keeping the Girdwood Trooper Post open,” said
Daniel. “The trooper post right
now is slated to close June 30,
2016. The bare minimum requirements for such a contract would be a 5-year commitment, and it would also
include staffing the post as it
is now with four state troopers, one sergeant, and one administrative assistant. There
would also be some additional
cost with respect to uniforms
and cars and those kinds of
things because those would
ordinarily be included in the
budget for the troopers.”
According to Daniel, Col.
Cockrell said the service
could be provided for $1.5
million. However, the troopers’ primary focus will
remain unchanged – patrolling the Seward Highway
from McHugh Creek to the
Hope Turnoff. The troopers
would still respond to emergency situations and on an
as needed basis. The cover-
age would include the Turnagain Arm communities of
Rainbow, Indian, Bird Creek,
and Portage.
“Jennifer Johnston went
on to say,” Daniel said, “that
one of the things she has been
discussing at the municipality level would be the possibility of forming a new public
safety service area that would
include not just Girdwood, but
Bird Creek, Indian, Rainbow
and Portage because that Tax
Service Area 15 currently
doesn’t have the ability to levy
any taxes. But if we formed a
new one, then they could. It
would make sense because
it would fit in the model the
troopers have envisioned.”
Besides the plan needing
approval from Girdwood
voters, and potentially Turnagain Arm communities, there
is also a concern about state
legislative approval and understanding.
Commissioner Folger and
Col. Cockrell are apprehensive about how the Legislature will view the potential
$1.5 million in funding. They
don’t want the Legislature to
view the funding as subtractive but rather as additive.
For example, when the
troopers’ budget is reviewed
by the Legislature, it might
reduced the budget by $1.5
million since that funding is
already provided, which is
subtractive. The hope is that
the Legislature would recognize that a local community
has chosen (possibly) to pay
$1.5 million to AST to retain
their service and provide for
five positions, which would
be additive.
Daniel emphasized that
many people are responsible
for getting the major development to happen and deserve
credit. He said Assembly
Members Jennifer Johnston
and Bill Evans, Mayor Ethan
Berkowitz, and City Manager
Mike Abbott played a big role.
Abbott was regularly communicating with the Department
of Public Safety, the Governor’s office, and many other
officials to help move the plan
forward.
“The other person who I
think needs to be publically
recognized is, there’s just no
question, Mike Hawker, who
is chair of the resource committee for the House of Representatives,” Daniel said. “He
has had a heavy hand in this,
making sure that there was an
opportunity with keeping the
trooper post open. Sen. Cathy
Giessel has been coming to
our meetings here locally, so
I think it has taken everyone
working together to try to get
us this far.”
Other people deserving of
credit were the GBOS, particularly Public Safety Task
Force co-chairs Daniel and
Tommy O’Malley. PSTF
members Mike Opalka and
Lou Theiss have also made
significant contributions to
the process of finding a solution for Girdwood policing in
the future. Recognition should
also go to the members of the
Girdwood community and the
Turnagain Arm communities
for attending PSTF meetings
and speaking up to let their
concerns be heard.
“I have no doubt,” said
Daniel, “had it not been for
Girdwood being very vocal
and the task force being in
the media, that we would not
have had the kind of pressure
that took to get this forum together.”
There are two significant
meetings taking place in November to discuss Girdwood
policing solutions. A PSTF
meeting is being held on Wed.
Nov., 11 at the Girdwood
Community Center at 7 p.m.
At the top of the agenda will
be public discussion of having
no police in Girdwood, which
should be interesting to hear.
On Nov. 21, there will be
a Town Hall Meeting at The
Commons in the Girdwood
K-8 School from 12:30 p.m.
to 4:30 p.m., with 1-3 comprising the heart of the important community meeting.
GBOS is encouraging all
Girdwood residents, property
owners, business owners and
residents from the Turnagain
Arm communities to attend.
Free babysitting will be available at Little Bears. A dessert
social from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00
p.m. will start the meeting.
“It’s going to be mostly
informational,” Daniel said,
“but there is going to be an
opportunity for everyone to
come. We’re asking all the
residents of the other valleys,
all of the second homeowners,
all the local voters and local
taxpayers to come and weigh
in and share their opinion. We
are going to take an informal
survey, a straw poll if you
will, of how the community
feels.
“We’re going to talk about
the no vote and having what
would happen if we don’t do
anything come July 1st. We’re
going to talk about the Alaska
State Trooper option, the
Whittier option, and the APD
full service area option. Then
we’re going to talk about pros
and cons and have a straw
poll vote. We’re really hoping
we’re going to have good attendance. That’s important.”