Category: Alaska News

The Haines Glacier Bears scored from every nook and cranny of Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center in their opening 68-34 win over the Tikigaq Harpooners in the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships on Thursday.

“Man, we have been sitting for six days, wasn’t quite sure how we would come out,” Haines coach Bryan Combs said. “Four days in Anchorage sitting in hotel rooms, minimal gym time. Man…Big stage that none of us on this squad are used to. So it was a big question mark how we would come out. We started a little bit slow and not taking care of the ball, and we woke up on the defensive end and made it real tough for that team. They didn’t make shots and I think we caused part of that.”

The #3 seeded Glacier Bears never trailed from the start over #6 seed Tikigaq as senior James Stickler hit his patented up-and-under inside basket for an opening sign of things to come.

Tikigaq senior Jacob Lane would tie the game on a drive, but the Harpooners would be chasing the Glacier Bears the entire game.

Haines would take a 9-2 lead on a free throw by junior Brody Ferrin, a Stickler outback, a steal and full court layup by senior Colton Combs, and then a Combs assist to Stickler.

Tikigaq battled back to trail 9-7 behind two Lane jumpers, one from past the arc, but Haines’ Combs drove in through traffic again for an 11-7 lead. 

Tikigaq junior Samuel Jackson scored as the quarter ended for 11-9 and it would be the closest the Harpooners would get to the Glacier Bears again.

Combs would score 10 points and Stickler six in the second quarter. Sophomore Isaac Jones came off the bench to add five points in the stanza, and senior John Davis and junior Wade Lloyd hit a basket as well. 

As the first half came to a close Combs hit from the arc and on the Glacier Bears’ next possession he fed Stickler who scored inside at the buzzer for a 36-18 lead.

Haines’ inside-outside duo of Combs and Stickler would prove to be too much for Tikigaq as they scored a game-high 26 and 20 points, respectively.

“Those two kids have grown up together,” Haines coach Combs said. “They have been best friends since they were in diapers. They have hunted together, trapped together, fished together, wrestled together, play basketball together…They are just two Southeast boys just like every other community that have grown up being around each other…Man, what better combo than a nice smooth guard and a big meathead. It is a beautiful thing.”

Haines opened the second half outscoring Tikigaq 18-6 and led 54-24 heading into the final stanza. Tikigaq senior Jacob Lane hit two shots past the arc in the fourth quarter but the Harpooners were still outscored 14-10 in the stanza.

“Three or four minutes of game time we played not real good basketball,” Haines coach Combs said of the game. “But we pulled through before the end of the first quarter. To be on this stage that they have never been on before and to be able to respond to not playing well for four minutes was a real eye opener.”

Combs had two made shots past the arc, eight closer in, and four free throws to total his 26 points. Stickler had 10 shots in the paint for his 20 points. Davis added seven points, Jones and Ferrin five apiece, Lloyd four and junior Kyran Sweet one. The Glacier Bears totaled four made shots past the arc, 25 closer in and hit 6-10 at the free throw line. Haines will play a semifinal at 7:45 p.m. Friday against the winner of #2 Unalakleet and #7 Tok.

Lane led Tikigaq with 19 points on three shots past the arc and 10 inside, Jackson added six points, junior Justin Attungana and sophomore Jacob Lane IV three apiece, freshman Caleb Logan Lane two and senior Luther Lane one. The Harpooners made five shots past the arc, eight closer in and hit 3-6 from the line. Tikigaq plays a consolation semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Friday against the Unalakleet/Tok loser.

2A Boys – METLAKATLA 50, SU VALLEY 39

The Metlakatla Chiefs, seeded fourth heading into the state tournament, showed the state their ranking was a little soft as they methodically dismantled the No. 5 seed Su Valley Rams 50-39 on Thursday to open their March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage.

Su Valley had trapped in the half and full court early through the first quarter, forcing some Metlakatla turnovers and earning transition baskets for a 12-5 lead behind the leadership of senior Austin Barnard. The Chiefs’ Rocco Lindsey scored two shots off the glass and Gianni Scudero-Hayward hit a free throw to close to 12-10.

The Chiefs had faced the Rams earlier in the season, beating the Rams 45-37 on Jan. 9.

“We knew about Austin Barnard, he is just a really incredible athlete,” Metlakatla coach TJ Scott said. “A great player. He can shoot from the perimeter and, as you saw, if we let him get out in transition he is putting two-hand dunks down and getting the crowd revved up.”

Su Valley’s Barnard got the crowd revved up on the first play of the second quarter. With a 12-10 lead, he threw down a dunk that started an 8-0 run and put the Rams up 20-10.

A time out by coach Scott settled the Chiefs and Rocco Lindsey put a shot in off glass, and junior Cruz Lindsey buried a shot past the arc. Su Valley’s Barnard answered with scores in between. But Metlakatla knew then they belonged on the court and finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 25-24 at the half. The scoring splurge included a rebound cutback by C. Lindsey, shots from the arc by senior Sebastian Martinez and junior Gianni Scudero-Hayward, and a drive by Martinez.

“We kind of played into their game in the first half,” Scott said. “It is all about ball control for us and getting into the half-court, and stops on defense…Cruz Lindsey hit a corner three that kind of stopped the bleeding, but that corner three made us all take a deep breath, relax and then we got back. From that moment on we played our game at our speed, took care of the ball, got great looks which was what we needed to do.”

The Metlakatla defense clamped down on Su Valley in the third quarter, holding the Rams to just two points while the Chiefs methodically ran their offense to find three-point shots from Scudero-Hayward and C. Lindsey and two driving shots by senior Bryce Olin and Martinez for a 35-26 lead.

“We did a really good job of taking number 12 (Barnard) away in that quarter,” Scott said. “We talked about it at half, about how we would play him off the screen and just make him take tough shots. If he wants to take a 25-footer going to his left we will allow that, but we’re not going to let him get to the rim.”

Su Valley started to throw the ball away and feel the pressure and trailed 40-33 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Metlakatla heeded the words of Scott.

“I told them it may seem like there was an endless amount of time on the clock, but it’s not,” Scott said. “It is just four minutes to go. We are up seven. If we don’t give up seven points we are going to win. So if you don’t have turnovers and get back in the half-court and make them take one shot and block out and get the rebound, they are not going to score seven points, therefore, we are going to win this game. About the second or third timeout they started to believe me.”

Su Valley would not score seven points and Metlakatla’s Scudero-Hayward orchestrated a half-court offense that had the Rams chasing and the Chiefs scoring. Scudero-Hayward assisted on baskets by R. Lindsey and C. Lindsey for a 42-33 lead.

Two scores by Su Valley cut the lead to 42-37 Martinez answered on a pull-up jumper and then double-teamed the inbounds pass with R. Lindsey to force a turnover and Lindsey would score for a 46-37 lead.

Su Valley was forced to foul down the stretch and, despite hitting just 4-10, Metlakatla’s defense allowed just one basket by the Rams to take the win 50-39.

“I was out this year for five weeks with back surgery,” Scott said. “I was away from this group. My assistants Julian (Russell) and Danny (Marsden) did a great job with these kids. But we had a rough go. We lost some games we shouldn’t have, kids had to make some hard adjustments. Literally we had to hit a three to send our regions to overtime against Petersburg and needed double overtime or we are not here. Southeast was really good this year. And where we have come in the last six weeks is remarkable. This team six weeks ago, we get beat by 25 tonight. So really proud of the kids, really proud of the coaching staff getting them ready. And they believe now. We face Nilnilchik. We’ll have something good for them but they are a really good team.”

Scott grew emotional talking about Metlakatla.

“We had a senior girl pass away,” Scott said. “We still don’t know a lot about what happened and…you know…there have been a lot of tragedies in the last 15 years I have been there. It is just tough. The kids are kind of rallying together but some of them were related or some of them were friends and..it is just tough.”

Scott said basketball is crucial for the town.

“It is a huge thing in Met, they love their basketball,” Scott said. “But also it is a way…to..get away from it. Get away from all the problems and all the things that aren’t going right. The tragedies and stuff. Just focus on basketball and also for the kids to deliver a good product that they can be proud of. And, win or lose tomorrow, all these fans should be proud of these kids from where they have come from the beginning of the year until now. I have never coached a team that has come that far in one season. Super proud of them.”

C. Lindsey scored 14 points to lead the Chiefs, Martinez added 13, Scudero-Hayward 11, R. Lindsey 10 and Olin two. Metlakatla hit six shots past the arc, 13 closer in and shot 6-17 from the line. They will face No. 1 seed Ninilchik, a 52-25 winner over eight seed Cordova, at 6:15 p.m. Friday.

Barnard led Su Valley with 13 points, junior Douglas Drover added 12, junior Peter Jokey and sophomore Sawyer Larrabee five apiece, and seniors Gideon Bedingfield and Earl Davidson two apiece. The Rams hit four shots past the arc, 13 closer in and went 1-5 at the line. Su Valley faces Cordova in a consolation semifinal at 11 a.m. Friday.

1A Boys – KLAWOCK 67, EEK 42

The Klawock Chieftains may not have a state championship to contend for anymore, but they kept their state goals alive with a 67-42 win over the Eek Cougars on Thursday in the consolation quarterfinals of the March Madness Alaska 1A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage.

Klawock went into the state tournament with goals to finish in the top 10, play four games and win state. Wednesday’s 64-60 loss to Shishmaref diminished the state title hope but not the state experiences as the Chieftains showed the caliber of play they can bring to the court on Thursday.

“One game at a time,” Yockey said. “Just the opportunity to play again. I think the boys showed how well they can play together. Eek is a competitive team that can play with a chip on their shoulder and we picked ourselves up after last night and really came together as a team.”

The Chieftains opened the game on a 22-0 run behind nine points from senior Tristin Ryno, eight from senior Conny Magby and five from junior Paul Lingley before Eek Cougars sophomore Caleb White found the basket.

Klawock led 28-4 after eight minutes and with liberal substitutions took a 36-13 advantage at the half and led 56-23 after three quarters.

Ryno and Lingley led the Chieftains with 18 points apiece, senior Connor Bagby had 14, junior Raymond Fairbanks nine, freshman Quinton Bagby four, and junior CJ Vasquez and eighth grader Charlie Roberts two apiece. The Chieftains made six three-point shots, 22 closer in and were 5-13 at the free throw line. Klawock advances to a consolation semifinal at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Eek senior George Dylan Hoffman led the Cougars with 11 points, senior John Friendly, junior Kenneth Mark and White had nine each, and junior Richard Mark four. The Cougars made three shots past the arc, 15 closer in and hit 3-5 at the line. Eek has been eliminated from the state tournament.

1A Boys – SKAGWAY 99, NUNAMIUT 41

The Skagway boys will continue on in the consolation bracket with a 99-41 win over the Nunamiut Amaguqs to play in the consolation semifinals at 8 a.m. Friday.

Skagway led 23-9 after eight minutes, 56-16 at the half and 79-25 starting the final eight minutes.

Senior Royce Borst led Skagway with 21 points, junior Malcolm Lawson 17, senior Kaleb Cochran and sophomore Zane Coughran 12 apiece, sophomore Logan Rupprecht 11, junior Luca Tronrud nine, senior Camden Lawson eight, sophomore Dane Ames five, junior Ryder Calver and sophomore Julius Thole two apiece. The Panthers hit 11 three-point shots, 17 closer in and went 12-16 at the line.

Senior Tyler Hugo led Nunamiut with 24 points, junior Kevin Gordon added 13, senior Cameron Gordon three and freshman James Nageak one. The Amaguqs had four three-point shots, 11 closer in and hit 7-17 at the line. Nunamiut is out of the state tournament.

This story was first published by the Juneau Independent.

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The Haines Cheer Team has made it two in a row on regional titles after a strong showing at last week’s competition.

The team, which is scored by judges while they perform during regional-tournament basketball games, benefitted from dedication and a whole host of mentors, said coach Ericka Johnson. 

Johnson took on the job last year without a cheerleading background, and has instead leaned on experience as a yoga instructor to teach her team how to move with synchronization and precision, she said in an interview this week.

“It can come down to wrist angles — it can really come down to the inch,” Johnson said. 

Last year’s win, Johnson said, was more unexpected. “They don’t have a mirror to look at so some of them don’t even know how good they are.” 

But this year’s team came in with more confidence and more capacity for harder stunts. They got high-powered help, too. 

During the season, the team traveled to Juneau to train with the Juneau-Douglas High School team, which this year won a small-school national title. The two cheer teams formed a bond, and the Glacier Bears cheerleaders picked up more advanced stunting techniques that were beyond Johnson’s knowledge. 

At last weekend’s tournament, Johnson said the team performed so well they received praise from their competitors even before the results were decided. 

That was a reflection of months of work, she said. 

“Blood, sweat and tears – those are all things that have occurred throughout this process. It’s amazing to put that kind of effort into something and then have the outcome of the win.”

Johnson pointed to something else – something in fact after the results had been decided – that she said she was particularly proud of. On the morning of the region-wide cheer and dance team showcase, one team-member was sick and unable to participate. Missing a member, the team was unable to do their routine. 

“The way the girls navigated through that with such understanding, they didn’t pout,” Johnson said. “You could tell there were elements of disappointment that they couldn’t show what they had worked on, but the way they handled that, I was just so proud of them.”

The team will travel to Anchorage for the state competition, which begins on March 17.

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A seasonal Haines resident is kicking off a Southeast Alaska tour of his new film “American Solitaire” at the Chilkat Center on Wednesday. 

The film centers around main character Slinger, a veteran who came home to the United States from his final tour “somewhat wounded and somewhat traumatized and his journey to heal,” according to director Aaron Davidman.

It grapples with themes of suicide and the impacts of escalating gun violence in America.

Davidman said he came up with the idea for the movie after reading his screenplay Ghost Town Bardo at the Chilkat Center during the summer of 2021. That screenplay, a one-man show about violence, guns and individualism, turned out to be something of an early version of the story at the heart of American Solitaire. 

“Gun violence is something that I really was drawn to,” Davidman said. “I was looking for a way to use art to broaden our public discourse.”

Davidson mentioned that nearly 47,000 people died from gun-related injuries in 2023, according to a Pew Research Center. Fifty-eight percent of the gun-related deaths in 2023 were suicides. Alaska has the third highest gun suicide rate in the country, according to the study.

In the film, another character tells Slinger that they “trained the violence in and the tenderness out during military training… to heal you have to reverse that.” The question at the center of this film, according to Davidman, is “How do we heal from those kinds of wounds?”

“I don’t think there’s been much movement around how our communities manage the issues of gun culture, gun violence, (that) gun safety statistics are holding,” he said.

But, despite the partisan battles over gun violence and regulation at the national level, Davidman said this is not a political movie. It is about a man trying to reintegrate into civilian life. After showing this film, Davidman said he hoped to have a “heartfelt conversation” and discuss issues brought up in the film, including masculinity.

“The film opens up another sort of subtle approach to ask a question around what is manhood and masculinity and also fatherhood, because someone is a father. What does that look like in a culture that’s so violent,” he said. 

He chose to center his film around a veteran because of “their deep experience, in relationship to firearms professionally.” To prepare for this film, Davidman said he interviewed legislators, cops, trauma surgeons and veterans all over the country. He found that veterans had the “most moral authority to really speak to these issues.”

Davidman recalled speaking to a former Army captain who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. That officer trained men and women to be on the firing line and use their weapons.

“There’s a lot of room to create more safety with these firearms, a lot of room to create more healthy community conversation around how we can reduce death and injury by these lethal weapons,” said Davidman.

The film, Davidman’s first in the director’s seat, first premiered in November 2025 at the Coronado Island Film Festival in San Diego. It will be shown in Haines on March 18, in Skagway on March 20 and in Juneau on March 23. 

Locally, veteran Kyle Clayton will moderate a discussion after the 1 hour and 35 minute movie. 

Clayton is part of Haines’ large veteran population, estimated to be at about 171 people according to the United States Census Borough report for Haines in 2024.

Clayton said he has already seen the film. 

“There’s something there for everybody to consider, regardless of where you stand on certain issues. It’s an interesting movie and it makes you ask questions,” he said. 

Returning to the Chilkat Center, Davidman believes that this film is “best served on a big screen in a dark room with a group of people, experiencing it together.”

“The power of storytelling, whether it’s live theater or cinema, is at its best when we experience it in community,” he said.

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In a speech to the Alaska Legislature this week, Alaska Rep. Nick Begich III urged state lawmakers to boost the development of a proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.

“The federal path is largely cleared, but investors also need state level clarity, fiscal predictability and simplicity,” Begich said. “Scrutinize it carefully, model it thoroughly. But my request to you is not to become a roadblock.”

But legislators who are dealing with the pipeline on a daily basis say they don’t have answers to basic questions, including how much the pipeline will cost and whether the gas it carries will be affordable to Alaskans.

“I have not seen any figures,” said Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage and chair of the Senate Resources Committee. 

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said legislators are not going to be a roadblock.

“We’re not going to throw sand in the works. Everybody wants a pipeline. We all hope that it comes about, but it’s got to be done properly and make sure that we know what’s going on.”

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said he has heard “from very credible sources” that the price of gas through the pipeline could be $50 per million cubic feet by 2046. 

The current cost of gas from Cook Inlet for Southcentral Alaska is about $10 per MCF. 

“Just imagine if you have utilities locked into 30-year contracts for gas at $50 an MCF. That would be catastrophic,” Wielechowski said. “That’s the sort of thing that we’re trying to protect Alaskan consumers all up and down the Railbelt from — an absolute catastrophe to our economic system.”

As currently proposed, the pipeline project consists of two phases. The first phase includes an 807-mile pipeline from the North Slope to the west side of Cook Inlet, with a tie-in to existing natural gas infrastructure around Anchorage.

The second phase would extend the pipeline to the Kenai Peninsula, where an export terminal would be built. The second phase would also include a processing plant on the North Slope.

One year ago, the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation sold 75% of the trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline project to Glenfarne, an international developer.

Since the acquisition, Glenfarne has signed a number of nonbinding agreements with potential gas purchasers and gas sellers, but it has not disclosed estimates for the project’s cost, and it hasn’t disclosed what it expects the cost of gas to be.

Last year, company officials said they expected to make an investment decision by the end of 2025. In a subsequent filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, they said they would make the decision in February. A new timeline hasn’t been made public.

The lack of data is particularly problematic because legislators are considering whether to offer a property tax break to pipeline developers.

Those taxes are significant. Because Alaska does not have a statewide income tax or sales tax, its state budget suffers when people move into the state. More people means more demand for things like schools, parks and roads, but no increased revenue to pay for those things.

Economists have called that the “Alaska disconnect.”

Alaska has a 2% property tax on oil and gas infrastructure. Most of that money is passed on to municipalities, which use it for local needs.

In December, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he was considering a proposal to cap that property tax at 0.2% for the natural gas pipeline, creating a payment in lieu of taxes system.

“That bill should be next week,” Dunleavy said during a Thursday news conference with U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, confirming the 0.2% rate will be part of the new legislation.

“Last couple weeks, we’ve been working with municipalities, getting their input as to what this should look like before (we) put the bill out,” he said. “So look forward to probably next week on that PILT bill, so that we can look at the economics of this line and also ways to ensure that municipalities benefit from this directly.”

This week, Begich expressed some support for a lower property tax rate, saying it could encourage people to invest in the pipeline.

“The classic 2% tax burden that would apply, say, to a $50 billion asset, would be a billion dollars in cash flow early in the project’s life cycle,” Begich said. “If that cash flow coming out of the project lowers the rate of return for investors, they’re not going to show up and invest. And so we need to make sure that our tax policy is A, doing what’s right for Alaskans. B, is not impeding the ability for the project to move forward. And I think we can do both of those things with some creative thinking and conversations with the industry.”

While a lower tax rate would benefit pipeline developers, it has the potential to harm residents who live near the pipeline. 

If pipeline construction and operation mean more people moving to Alaska and municipalities are unable to raise revenue to meet the resulting demand for services, local governments could be forced to raise taxes or cut basic services in order to pay for the pipeline subsidy.

Last week, the Senate Resources Committee introduced Senate Bill 275, which imposes some transparency requirements on the pipeline project, eliminates a tax exemption relevant to the project, and imposes a new surcharge on gas processing plants. 

That bill was introduced just days before Begich urged lawmakers not to be a “roadblock.”

Giessel, who chairs the resources committee, said she didn’t think Begich’s comments were directed at her or her committee’s bill.

“We’re not being a roadblock. We’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to do according to our constitution,” she said.

Asked whether he was thinking of Giessel’s bill during his speech, Begich said, “It was not my direct intention. No, I think it’s always worth having the conversation about the tax structure, about the incentive structure, though that’s an ongoing discussion that happens at the state legislature in Alaska. I think it’s important that when we have those conversations, they’re done in a way that is going to encourage, rather than discourage, industry from coming in and saying, ‘Yes, this is a good place for us to invest in.’”

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Begich said the state would benefit by getting more information from Glenfarne.

“I welcome more information,” Begich said. “I recognize that they’ve got certain restraints on what they can share. But look, I’d like to see more information shared. I’d like to see more of the economics of the project shared so we can understand what the full potential is and what’s on the table. I believe that’s going to come with time, but more information is better.”

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

The Anchorage Police Department is featured prominently in the national investigative documentary series “Lost Women of Alaska,” which examines the case of serial killer Brian Steven Smith, who was arrested in 2019 and convicted for torturing and killing two Alaska Native women. 

In the three-part series now streaming on HBO Max, the victims’ families and advocates raise lingering questions and concerns around how Anchorage detectives handled the case, both before and after Smith’s arrest, and more broadly about how law enforcement investigates missing and murdered Indigenous people, a phenomenon known as MMIP.

Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case referred specific questions about how the case was handled to the detectives involved, but spoke to broader concerns raised by the series in a 30 minute phone interview on Mar 4. 

Case said he disagrees with a central premise of the series, which is that Alaska fosters a sense of freedom for perpetrators like Smith to victimize or prey on women. 

“That we provide an environment to prey on, or our women are vulnerable — I don’t think that’s true,” Case said. “But I do think that as a state and as a community, we definitely like less government involvement than more. That’s kind of one of our things. We have that libertarian streak that kind of runs through all Alaskans, and particularly in Anchorage that’s one thing that we’ve really been addressing in the last two years.” 

Case cited recent changes in Anchorage law prohibiting some public camping, public indecency and threatening behavior as helping to “close criminal loopholes,” and upping police enforcement response. “Over the course of time we kind of forget that Anchorage is a big city with a lot of big city problems,” Case said. “So we’re kind of turning that corner a little bit where we are utilizing a lot more tools that are available to us.”

He also cited the departments’ use of technology, like artificial intelligence to assist in investigations. “I actually kind of think we’re even going above and beyond what we see in the Lower 48 and we’re kind of starting to lead the pack when it comes to our use of technology here,” he said. 

Case said despite some department short staffing, he sees the use of technology as helping to improve law enforcement’s response. 

“So I think in some respect, we just need to start thinking about Anchorage a lot of times like it is a city, and we need to respond to city crime in a more of an urban city way, instead of that ‘Last Frontier’ kind of approach,” he said. 

‘No Humans Involved’

In the series, a former Anchorage detective turned MMIP advocate, Michael Livingston, describes that during his career in the department from 1983 to 2003, there was a secret, unspoken policy of responding to certain deaths or missing persons reports as “NIH” — no humans involved. 

“That means when a patrol officer rolls up to a scene and there’s a deceased person,” Livingston explains in the series. “And if they happen to be a person without a home, who had challenges with alcohol and lifestyles, the patrol officer would evaluate, we’re not going to devote any resources to determine how and why this person died.”

Livingston said he’s concerned that the policy and culture of “NIH” has continued in the department. He and other advocates and family members criticized detectives for failing to identify a third possible victim of Smith, Cassandra Boskofsky, after photos of her were discovered on Smith’s phone in 2019. She had been reported missing the month before Smith’s arrest. Advocates found the photos and a forensic sketch in court documents during Smith’s sentencing in 2024, and later identified her. 

“When I look at the amount of work the Anchorage Police Department did or didn’t do with Cassandra Lee Boskofsky, I can’t help but wonder if, because of the challenges that Cassandra faced in her life, the Anchorage Police Department did not dedicate the amount of attention that they should have,” Livingston said, in the docuseries. 

In the series, Anchorage Detective Brendan Lee denies the allegations, and Case also rejects the claim.

“First of all, that individual was from a different era. He’s been gone for quite a long time. And I have never in my 25 years here, ever, heard that term used by anyone in the department in a way that they aren’t going to investigate, they’re not going to take seriously any victim based on their race, based on their gender, based on their socioeconomic status,” he said. “Never.”

Case pointed to the department’s focus on homeless outreach and mobile intervention teams for behavioral health needs: “Those two populations alone are some of our most vulnerable populations, and we’re investing the time and resources so we can make sure that we’re properly caring for those folks.”

When asked about why police failed to try to identify Boskofsky and share the forensic sketch with her family or the public, Case deferred specific questions to the detectives in the case, but defended the decision.

“The idea of a forensic sketch is something we very, very rarely do, and one of the reasons why we very rarely do that is because they’ve just proven to be pretty unreliable, and that’s not an exact science,” he said. 

Case said detectives must weigh the risk of disclosing violent photos. In this case, Boskofsky was pictured laying outside on grass, immobile and possibly dead. 

“One of the things that the detectives really battled with is you’ve got to weigh the entire amount of evidence that we have in the case with taking some information and like a photo and presenting that to the family, for example, and the type of trauma that you may be creating that you’re not convinced you’re going in the right direction,” Case said. “Like there’s not that body of evidence that you’re like ‘this is worth the risk.’”

Boskofsky’s death was ruled a homicide by a jury in a presumptive death hearing brought by the family, and the Anchorage Police Department confirmed the case remains active. 

The Boskofsky family and advocates have created an online petition with over 2,200 signatures with a list of demands of the police department, including mandatory standards for family notification when evidence potentially involving their loved one is discovered. 

Insufficient evidence to arrest Smith in 2018

Another major question raised by the docuseries is why Anchorage detectives decided not to question or arrest Smith in 2018. A former romantic partner of his, Alicia Youngblood, reported to police that year that he had shown her a video of himself killing a woman. The series shows Youngblood’s distress in reporting this confession, and interviews with police. But she could not obtain the video from Smith, and police were unable to identify a victim or a body. They told her there was not enough evidence to take further action.

Smith would go on to be convicted for torturing and killing two women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk. 

He filmed and narrated the acts, which were found on his phone by another woman, Valerie Casler, who had stolen the phone and reported him to police in 2019. In the series, Anchorage Detective David Cordie grows emotional recounting how he watched the horrific videos and recognized the voice belonging to Smith, a South African national, speaking in the videos a year later.

“Absolutely I felt some responsibility about what took place. It’s easy to second guess. We didn’t have a crystal ball to know what was going to take place,” Cordie said in the series. 

Case again deferred specific questions to the detectives, but defended their decisions saying there is a high expectation for evidence that must be met in order to interview suspects. 

“We’re not going to jeopardize giving information out to a potential suspect,” he said. “So, for instance, interviewing a suspect when we don’t feel like we have enough information where we can get a good interview, where we can potentially figure out if the suspect is lying in an interview or we haven’t collected enough evidence that we can use that evidence to our advantage in an interview with a suspect.”

“And if we go in kind of half prepared, just like we know something doesn’t look right, something doesn’t feel right, and then we go into an interview, and we try to, you know, for lack of a better term, kind of throw something against the wall and hope for the best, we could actually damage the case,” he said.

Missing in Anchorage 

Case explained the department’s protocol for when a missing person is reported in Anchorage. 

He said when the report is received, the police patrol division will respond according to department policy and begin an investigation where the individual was last seen, gather information, conduct interviews and determine if the individual is at-risk. Cases will be referred to the detective division, or to the homicide division if foul play is suspected. 

“Those cases are all being worked by the entire unit, so all of those detectives are familiar with everybody’s cases that they have. So you may have one detective that’s the lead, another detective that’s a second on it, and then there are different tasks on all these cases that will then be pushed out to the other detectives,” he said.

Following the interview, a department spokesperson confirmed there are 45 detectives and seven sergeants across divisions, including seven detectives in the homicide division. 

Those seven detectives, plus two supervisors, are working on MMIP cases, which totalled 39 active cases of missing adults as of Mar. 10, according to the department spokesperson.

Case said the department is working on establishing a new victim advocate position within the homicide unit this year, to provide more timely updates and communicate with family members on active cases.

He said that has long been a concern within the department, particularly for domestic violence, sexual assault, homicide and suicide cases. “Those areas where we tend to get our families of the victim that really needs and should get, you know, updated regular information,” he said. “Because we understand kind of the state that they’re in, you know, they’ve got a lot of unanswered questions, and that can weigh pretty heavily on you, and be pretty damaging, just from a behavioral health standpoint.”

Public safety and justice for Alaska Native peoples

When asked to respond to public concern, particularly Alaska Native communities’ concern for safety amid the ongoing MMIP crisis in Alaska, Case responded that he recognizes the fear and sees the police department’s role as one part of a wider, complex system. 

He said in particular the department is working with hospitals to make sure people who travel to Anchorage for medical care don’t go missing.

“Because we know some of them fall off the radar and there’s got to be a safety net that we create, not just with hospitals, so I’m not putting this blame on hospitals, but with our entire community response,” Case said. “We do get missing reports on on folks that come from rural Alaska for medical treatment, but as well as a whole host of other reasons why we get missing reports when, when people are visiting from rural Alaska, and so really trying to get down and talk about, like, the real kind of causes for some of this — some that we can address, some that are a little bit more challenging,” he said. 

Case said that he sees some of the stereotypes around rural residents from Native villages coming to Anchorage for services such as medical care, as unfair. “We kind of pass a judgment on some of the some of the things that happen when they get introduced to a completely different culture and completely different risk factors. And the judgments are unfair,” he said. “And one of the challenges I think that we have is we don’t want to talk about just kind of the broad range of challenges that we have so that we can actually address them and help them.”

“So when I think about Alaska Natives first, I think about the rich culture, and I think about a proud culture,” he said. “But I also think about a culture that has been put through a lot of trauma throughout their history, that a lot of people aren’t really familiar with.”

Case said there can be culture shock for rural residents visiting Anchorage, and there are many factors that contribute to people being at-risk for going missing or being victimized. 

“It is a challenge that we’ve been dealing with for a long time,” he added. “And it’s certainly a challenge that I think collectively understand we can do a better job. I think we just have to have the right conversations.”

Case said he considers participating in the docuseries an important part of communication and engagement with the public.

“We’ve really been a lot more open than certainly APD has in the past. And we’re certainly a lot more open than most police departments around the country, and there’s pros and cons for all of that,” he said, and added that some APD has changed some policies after pushback from the public.

“I think the more information that we can provide just kind of across the spectrum of what we do and how we do it, the better relationship we’re going to have with the community, and the better police department we’re going to be in the long run,” he said.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

With physical defense and just enough timely shotmaking, the Haines Glacier Bears survived at the buzzer to win a Southeast region title. 

The Glacier Bears came into the game underdogs against Petersburg, a team with whom they split the season series. Given two close prior matchups, it made sense that a third meeting between the teams would once again come down to the wire. But you wouldn’t have guessed it — nor would you have guessed Haines’ underdog status — through the first half Friday night. 

After a slow start, Haines was the first team to start finding easy buckets, fueled by swarming team defense. Quick to send help on Petersburg’s forays into the paint, Haines forced a series of turnovers. Between the turnovers and rebounding by senior big man James Stickler, the Glacier Bears had plenty of opportunities to run, and run they did. 

In the open floor, the game plan seemed to be to find senior point guard Colton Combs. Combs at full speed was the best offensive weapon in the game, including multiple finishes through two Petersburg defenders in the first half.

Combs’ hot start continued even in the halfcourt, where he carried the offense for long stretches. With a minute to go in the first quarter, Combs drained a three off the dribble, and then seconds later jumped in for a steal and quick layup, forcing a Petersburg timeout. 

The momentum stayed with the Glacier Bears through the second quarter. As Haines continued to help aggressively and leave shooters open, Petersburg was unable to capitalize, missing a string of open three-point attempts. 

Haines Defensive standouts included junior Brody Ferrin, who also chipped in much-needed secondary scoring, and senior JC Davis.

The Glacier Bears also got strong minutes off the bench from juniors Kyren Sweet and Wade Lloyd, with Lloyd cashing a timely three, a big block, and slowing down Petersburg senior point guard Noah Pawuk on defense. 

As the half ticked on, the same gifts kept on giving. Near the half time buzzer, Combs, seemingly feeling his oats, walked into and drained a deep three well behind the line, giving Haines the 31-12 lead that they would take into the locker room. 

But the Petersburg that returned for the second half looked like a different team. 

On the offensive end, the Vikings were far more effective clearing space for their perimeter players. Pawuk, showing off his quickness, blew by Haines defenders multiple times. The cleaner offense by Petersburg paid huge dividends going the other way as well. With fewer turnovers and long rebounds to run off of, Haines began to get stuck in the muck. The first half remedy of Combs’ shotmaking dried up, thanks in large part to Petersburg senior Brayden Tucker. 

Tucker’s smothering defense on the Haines guard, plus perimeter doubles from his teammates, held the Haines sparkplug scoreless for much of the half.

By the end of the third quarter, Petersburg clawed back to a 36-24 deficit. 

It was more of the same into the fourth as the Glacier Bears saw their once massive lead evaporate. Petersburg’s Camden Johnson banked-in a three to cut the deficit to six with just under seven minutes to go — the first signs of Petersburg life from beyond the arc. 

With Combs — who played all game, full speed on both ends — shut down, other Glacier Bears pitched in offense to keep the team afloat. A Kyren Sweet steal and score and a Stickler layup were some of the few Haines baskets, but Johnson and Pawuk continued to chip away at the Haines lead. Two high-pressure free throws from Petersburg senior Logan Tow made it 41-38 with a minute and a half to go. 

In the end, the game was decided by a long final minute with a movie-script number of dramatic turns. 

Inside the final minute, Ferrin made one of two free throws to push the Haines lead to four. Petersburg then attacked quickly to cut into the two-score deficit, missing but rebounding an initial three-point attempt. That led to a corner-three in which the Petersburg shooter was fouled by Combs. 

Two made free throws left Haines with a two-point lead and the ball, 6.3 seconds between them and a title. Needing something improbable to stay alive, Petersburg answered the call, denying the Haines inbound pass to earn a five-second violation and the ball. 

After inbounding the ball from the baseline, Petersburg had a layup to tie the game. But the attempt was denied under the rim by what looked to be a game-winning steal from Haines sophomore guard Isaac Jones. 

In the ensuing rush for the loose ball, however, which Jones and his backcourt-partner Combs looked like they secured, Haines was called for a travel.

That gave Petersburg one last chance at a game-winner. A clean inbounds play left Pawuk, until then their most effective weapon, with an open, straight-away three, for the game. Pawuk’s shot was one of the most accurate Petersburg long-range attempts of the day, but it wasn’t accurate enough. As the buzzer sounded, the ball clanked off the front rim, giving Haines the win. 

With one title in hand, the Glacier Bears are now in Anchorage as the third seed in the state 2A tournament. The Glacier Bears will play a first round game against #6 Tikigaq March 12. 

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Police chief Jimmy Yoakum and new hire Max Marty have returned from a state police academy, adding personnel to a department that has been mired in understaffing and turnover.

For much of the past year, officers Max Jusi and Travis Russell have split round-the-clock policing duties after a third officer, interim-chief Michael Fullerton, resigned last April.

The department struggled to find a long-term occupant for its top job after seven-year chief Heath Scott resigned in 2023. 

The assembly hired Yoakum last summer, but just before the hire was finalized, the assembly learned the Alaska Police Standards Council would not accept a transfer of Yoakum’s Tennessee police credentials. That required the borough send Yoakum to a 17-week state police academy in Fairbanks, while also continuing to pay his $125,000 salary. 

Yoakum successfully completed the academy Feb. 1 and is back in Haines. 

Yoakum said the experience was a useful update on both Alaska code and new policing techniques. 

Yoakum first received his police training at a Tennessee academy in 1995. Similar to his Tennessee training, much of the Alaska State Police Academy training focused on firearms and combat skills, Yoakum said in an interview last week. 

Yoakum, however, said he observed a sea change in both training methods and policing philosophy — an improvement, he said, over his experience 30 years prior. 

Rather than simply spending time at a shooting range, Yoakum said, the Alaska police training focused on working through policing scenarios, including decision-making on when to fire or physically engage a suspect, and when to disengage. 

“Just about every single drill we did up there that I can remember, we were engaged in a survival situation, in a gunfight, and at some point you had to come off of it,” Yoakum said. 

The training, Yoakum said, also included ways to avoid confrontations in the first place. 

“In 1995, you didn’t have people carrying around guns and weapons and knives and things like that,” Yoakum said. “It was mainly just a wrestling match. But now, there’s a lot of people out there that are trained in combatives, and so if I can maintain that distance and talk with you, 85% of the time we’re going to come to a good resolution.”

Not all of Yoakum’s academy experience was focused on combat. Yoakum talked extensively about officer mental health while interviewing for the chief position, and he said mental health first aid training and officer mental health discussions at the academy were a welcome change from his first academy go-round. 

Yoakum also now has a heavily annotated textbook on his desk in the borough police department from academy courses on Alaska code and constitutional law. Yoakum said the training had a specific focus on the Fourth Amendment, which bars illegal search and seizure. 

While Yoakum and Marty were at the academy, the Haines department saw at least two high-profile policing situations, including one drug arrest and a shooting at Picture Point in November. Yoakum said he was briefed on both situations by department sergeant Max Jusi. 

“(Jusi) has a wealth of knowledge,” Yoakum said. “He’s got experience. He makes great decisions. He’s got good judgment. The information I got, there was no reason for me to second-guess him, and he continued to handle it just like he has been for the past year.”

Yoakum completed the academy alongside new department hire Max Marty. Marty, however, won’t be able to serve on his own as an officer until he completes a mandatory field-training course. For the two-and-a-half- to three-month course he’ll serve alongside Travis Russell, his field training officer. 

While he completed the police academy training, Yoakum will also have to wait until after a probationary period ends on July 22 to apply for his official Alaska Police Standards Council certification. Alaska Department of Law spokesperson Austin McDaniel said the probationary period is standard for all academy graduates, and under state law the probationary status will not change the duties Yoakum can perform. 

On top of Yoakum and Marty’s return, the borough has also begun advertising a fifth officer position. 

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Resource extraction vs. conservation: It’s a familiar fault line in the borough. But some say it shouldn’t be, at least not in such stark terms.

Those who advocate for some sort of middle ground now officially include assembly members Kevin Forster and Gabe Thomas, who introduced this week their “safety belt” proposal — a 38-page package of potential legislation that would provide “guardrails” if heavy industry were to begin operating in the borough.

At Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Forster pitched the proposal as an “à la carte menu” of regulations already in use around the state that could be considered for use in the borough.

Forster said in comments after the meeting that he and Thomas had received support in drafting the package from his wife Jess Kayser Forster and from “AI analytical tools.” He placed particular emphasis on the “draft” aspect.

“I want to be very clear, the document we’re discussing tonight is by no means a finished product, and is by no means a take-it-or-leave-it ordinance,” Forster said. “I’m not even saying I support every element of this packet. But I do believe the public deserves to see the full scope of what is possible across this state, so we can decide what’s appropriate for this community.”

The proposal will now enter into a 30-day public comment period, after which the assembly will presumably begin to edit down the proposal, though the process has not been completely explained yet. Included in the package are a host of what could be ordinances or ballot measures changing borough charter.

It’s somewhat unusual for assembly legislation, which generally arrives at the body ready for two public hearings and a final vote. More complicated proposals are often discussed and refined in committee meetings before being brought to the assembly.

Sargent was the lone vote against introducing the package, and he raised some of those process discrepancies in explaining his vote after the meeting.

Sargent raised concerns of staff and resident capacity while the Lutak Dock rebuild is ongoing. He also specifically referred to the fact that the legislation was changed and resubmitted by its sponsors after the assembly packet was released on Thursday.

“It’s happened twice in a row where Gabe and Kevin have done these privately, and then we get big changes right before the meeting,” Sargent said, referring also to an ore- containerization proposal at the last assembly meeting. “We’re basically voting on things we haven’t seen.”

Sargent said that while he supported the overall goal of the proposal, he had issues with some of the content.

“It was presented as a survey of things being done elsewhere in the state. That’s not really what it is. There are a number of things that haven’t been done elsewhere.”

Forster emphasized after the meeting that the rough-draft nature of the document was meant to provide a starting point, but still leave an opening for the public to speak. With the motion to introduce the package, the assembly also directed the package be reviewed by the borough attorney.

It remains to be seen whether the public will get behind the package, but it had preliminary support from officials at the meeting — including some like Morphet and Stickler — who have often been on opposite sides for other issues.

Forster himself recently signed a letter from Chilkat Forever advocating against any large-scale mining in the Chilkat Valley. But personal views aside, he argues the assembly has neither the authority, nor a clear mandate from voters, to block heavy industry.

Said Forster after the meeting: “The question that I think would get, like, 95% buy-in, would be, if you found out there was some kind of large-scale development, whether you wanted it or not, how would we see the most benefit and least harm. That’s the question.”

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