NOTN- A powerful storm system developing in the Gulf of Alaska is expected to bring hurricane-force winds to Southeast Alaska, forecasters said on Thursday.
Satellite imagery shows the system strengthening as it tracks toward the southern Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau. Winds over the gulf are expected to reach 75 mph with gusts up to 92 mph).
A Hurricane Wind Warning has been issued for the Gulf, while a High Wind Warning is in effect for areas of the southern Panhandle from Baranof Island through Frederick Sound South.
Officials urged residents to prepare by checking on family and friends, securing vessels and loose outdoor items, and monitoring updated forecasts at weather.gov/juneau.
“We will continue to watch the development of this system closely and make updates as needed,” forecasters said in a post Thursday.
NOTN- A 35-year-old man was hospitalized early Wednesday after police say he was likely struck by a vehicle on Vintage Boulevard.
The Juneau Police Department said officers received a report around 12:37 a.m. of an unconscious man lying in the roadway near First Bank. When first responders arrived, the man regained consciousness but had injuries to his face, hands and legs.
Pieces of a vehicle were found nearby, and investigators, as well as relatives on Facebook believe the man had been hit by a car.
NOTN- When Emma’s son, Cade, was just five months old, she noticed he was falling behind on developmental milestones. Doctors told her he was “just a late bloomer.” But after years of searching for answers, specialists diagnosed Cade with SPG50, an ultra-rare genetic disease that slowly robs children of the ability to control their bodies.
The Juneau community has rallied behind Cade’s cause, A daylong radiothon hosted by KINY on Saturday raised $35,000 to support 4-year-old Cade Jobsis.
The event, ran from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featured prizes such as a helicopter ride from NorthStar Helicopters, an Eaglecrest ski pass, and a yearlong membership to the Rainforest Playzone.
Funds will support Cade, who was diagnosed at just 2 years old with SPG50, a rare form of hereditary spastic paraplegia that causes progressive loss of mobility. Fewer than 100 cases are known worldwide.
His mother, Emma, said her family spent years searching for answers before receiving Cade’s diagnosis. Doctors initially told them there was no treatment.
“There’s only around 100 cases in the world, and because of that, there really isn’t any interest in treating this disease or developing treatments for a disease that’s so rare.” Said Cade’s mom, Emma Jobsis, “So when we left the hospital after hearing his diagnosis, the doctors basically told us, there’s nothing we can do. Take him home, love him, he’s going to fade way in front of your eyes, basically. And we were distraught, as any parent would be.”
Because of the disease’s rarity, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies have shown little interest in funding development. Instead, families like Cade’s are leading grassroots efforts to raise millions for research.
“We decided we just have to do it by any means necessary, we have to raise the money and get this drug through clinical trials, because I can’t live with the fact that the next mom is going to be sitting in the office hearing what I heard when there’s a drug that exists, but you just can’t get access to it because it’s not approved.” Jobsis said.
Emma said the Juneau community’s response has been overwhelming.
“My town has pulled off something incredible that I never expected. This kind of showing up from my community.” Said Jobsis, “People that I’ve never met in my entire life are texting, emailing, calling, telling me they heard my story, they heard about Cade, and they want to help. And it’s just, it’s so surreal to feel like the community backs you in such a huge way.”
Listeners heard interviews with Cade’s family and others around the world affected by SPG50, as well as with the Canadian father who helped create the experimental gene therapy.
“I have found so much good in people through this process, through this fundraising and advocacy, I’ve felt so much compassion and generosity.” Jobsis said, “Leaning on each other, that’s what it means to be in a strong community. And I’m so grateful to be here and to all Juneau and beyond, supporting us in this way.”
Organizers say the true prize was seeing the community come together for Cade’s future. Donations can still be made at cureforcade.com.
In this Sept. 23, 2024, image taken from video, a U.S. Air Force F-16 operating under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command, conducts a routine intercept of a Russian Tu-95 aircraft in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) when NORAD said a Russian Su-35 aircraft conducts an unsafe maneuver directed at the F-16. (Department of Defense via AP)
AP- U.S. fighter jets scrambled to identify and intercept four Russian warplanes flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Thursday.
It’s the third time in about a month and the ninth time this year NORAD has reported such an incident involving Russian aircraft flying near Alaska. This latest incident happened Wednesday.
NORAD said in a statement issued early Thursday that it detected and tracked two Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.
Nine U.S. aircraft — an E-3 Sentry command and control aircraft, four F-16s and four KC-135 tankers — scrambled to positively identify and intercept the Russian jets, NORAD said.
The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, it said. Such Russian activity near Alaska occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, it added in its statement.
Trump on Tuesday said NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace. Asked if the U.S. would back up NATO allies in such a situation, Trump said “it depends on the circumstance.”
Following a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month, Trump said he was arranging for direct talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But Putin has shown no interest in meeting with Zelenskyy, and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan signed on to a letter with 10 other U.S. senators, calling on the U.S. Department of Education to reverse the decision to cut millions in congressionally approved grant funding for Native American-serving colleges and universities nationwide.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, argues that an estimated $36.1 million in grant funding already allocated under the Higher Education Act should be distributed to colleges and universities serving Native students nationwide.
Senators wrote the funds are already authorized and appropriated by Congress and should go toward its intended colleges and universities nationwide, “including dollars that are part of ongoing grants – projects, programs, and services that are already in motion and that are serving currently enrolled students,” they said.
“These institutions are statutorily authorized to receive federal support from the Department to strengthen their capacity to serve American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students, and rely on this federal support to adequately serve enrolled students,” they said.
“The Department’s decision to reprogram this critical source of funding for these colleges jeopardizes not just their continued existence, but also undermines the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to provide Native students an education,” they wrote.
Earlier this month, Sec. McMahon announced that $350 million in congressionally approved funding for minority-serving institutions, a federal grant category that includes funding for Black, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native American students, would be reallocated. McMahon cited “racial quotas” as discriminatory and unconstitutional. “To further our commitment to ending discrimination in all forms across federally supported programs, the Department will no longer award Minority-Serving Institution grants that discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas,” McMahon said.
The group of three Republican and nine Democratic senators rejected the claims, saying “to be clear, these grants do not impose racial quotas or restrict admissions based on race, but support institutions that deliver on the federal trust responsibility to provide an education for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians because of their unique legal status and political relationship with the United States.”
In Alaska, University of Alaska officials say they are still reviewing the extent of the funding freeze, but University of Alaska Fairbanks officials report the grant elimination totals at least $8.8 million across campuses.
Senators argued that the funding cut contradicts the Trump administration’s expressed focus on career and technical education, and said the funds boost capacity for institutions serving not only Native students, but wider student populations.
“As such, we again urge you to reverse the decision,” the senators wrote, “to release these funds, as appropriated by Congress, so that the work these schools do to support the trust responsibility, as well as the next generation of leaders as part of our nation’s bright future, can continue.
The letter was signed by Murkowski, as the chair of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and committee co-chair U.S. Sen. Brian Shatz, D-Hawaii; along with Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina; Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico; Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona; John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado; Michael Bennett, D-Colorado; Mark Kelly, D-Arizona; Tina Smith, D-Minnesota; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota.
A spokesperson for Murkowski said as of Wednesday they have not had a response from the department
NOTN- The Juneau Assembly voted to purchase two floors of the Michael J. Burns Building to serve as a new City Hall, citing the need to consolidate operations and cut costs.
“The reason we’re trying to move is the buildings that we have historically leased are either no longer available or have major problems.” Said Mayor Beth Weldon, “We’re just trying to consolidate. We’re trying to cut our rent money, and this makes fiscal sense.”
The city will spend $9.3 million on the property, with an additional $2.7 million reserved for future capital projects. Weldon said the move is more cost-effective than building a new city hall, which was estimated at $48 million.
Assembly member Christine Woll, head of the Finance Committee said the city’s current office spaces are aging and expensive to maintain. “The Burns building has emerged as the most financially responsible option, and makes the most sense to bring all our city employees into a single building that’s not leaking like our other locations right now.”
The plan also includes a $600,000 condominium lease, but Weldon said overall costs will still save the city money compared to current rental expenses.
“I do think it’s important to recognize that we should be seeing thousands of people likely lose coverage from this,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association.
Speaking to a room at Juneau’s convention center, they said if federal subsidies end, the cost of health insurance would rise so much that many Alaskans will go uninsured, discouraging them from getting checkups that could prevent serious illnesses. Hospitals would see a larger number of emergencies from uninsured people, straining them. It might even lead to an exodus from the state, as people seek alternative options and cheaper places to live.
“I worry about that,” said Kim Champney, executive director of the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities. “Because I think people will decide to leave Alaska because we have the most expensive health care in the country.”
Anton Rieselbach, with the Juneau Economic Development Council provided an analysis of cost estimates for Juneau. In Alaska’s capital city alone, 1,389 people receive health care via insurance plans bought through the federal marketplace. Right now, those Juneauites pay an average of $124 per month. If those subsidies expire, that will rise to $1,008 per month, an increase of more than 700%.
The council, a nonpartisan organization devoted to economic growth in the capital city, is worried about what will happen if the subsidies expire.
“We want people to be working and spending money, generating economic activity,” Rieselbach said, “but this just places another huge burden on people’s ability to spend their money in other arenas besides health insurance.”
A problem years in the making
The upcoming problem stems from federal subsidies enacted by Congress in 2021 and extended through the end of 2025. Those subsidies, known as “enhanced premium tax credits,” were applied on top of subsidies included in the original Affordable Care Act, which established the federal insurance marketplace.
Now, almost anyone who buys an individual health care plan through the marketplace gets some kind of subsidy.
Generally, that includes people whose employers don’t provide health insurance, self-employed people, and people who retired early and aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, which insures people with disabilities and people 65 or older.
Subsidies helped expand the number of people on federal marketplace plans from 11.4 million in 2020 to 24.3 million this year, allowing millions of Americans to get regular health care.
They also came at a high cost to the federal treasury: Extending them for another 10 years would cost $335 billion.
But if subsidies end, Alaska would be exceptionally hard-hit. The state has the highest health-care costs in the nation, which means unsubsidized insurance rates are high.
Of the 28,736 Alaskans who have health insurance policies through the federal marketplace, 25,170 receive the enhanced subsidies, according to figures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
If the enhanced subsidies expire, the poorest Alaskans will still see their plans subsidized. Middle-class Alaskans would be hard hit.
According to estimates published in March by the Alaska Division of Insurance, a single 50-year-old who earns $58,650 per year would see their monthly health insurance cost rise from $282 per month to $407 per month for a “silver” plan. If they have a “bronze” plan, their costs wouldn’t change.
But Alaskans who earn more than 400% of the federal poverty line — $78,000 per year for an individual — would see their costs skyrocket.
In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.
That same 50-year-old would go from paying $534 per month for a silver plan to $1,415 per month. Under a bronze plan, their cost would go from $9 per month to $890 per month.
Lori Wing-Heier, the director of the Division of Insurance at the time of those estimates, called the increase “pretty horrific” for affected Alaskans.
“It’s an insane amount,” said Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, talking about the increase.
This spring, Mina sponsored and the Alaska Legislature passed House Joint Resolution 9, a bipartisan letter asking Congress to extend the subsidies.
Across the state this year, the average monthly premium for Alaskans of all ages and all plans was $971.43, but the average subsidy was $866.28, the Division of Insurance said in March.
Kosin, of the hospital and healthcare association, said his group thinks it’s “really important” to extend the enhanced subsidies.
Insurance is based on the concept of sharing risks and costs. The more people in an insurance pool, the better it works. Subsidies encourage healthy people to be a part of the health insurance pool, he said. If people drop off, the cost of caring for any individual person is spread among fewer members, and rates go up.
An extension relies on congressional action
For the moment, Alaskans only have estimates of what will happen if the subsidies expire. Open enrollment on the federal insurance marketplace starts Nov. 1. There’s a “window shopping” period at the end of October that will give a sneak preview.
People must sign up by Dec. 15 to get insurance coverage that starts with the new year. Miss that deadline, and Jan. 15 is the deadline to get coverage that starts Feb. 1.
Kosin said he’s heard the argument that Alaskans could afford health care before the enhanced subsidies came into effect, and so there won’t be many people who drop their coverage.
That fails to take into account the way health insurance costs have gone up since 2020, he said.
In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.
“If there truly is a doubling or tripling of premiums, especially at once, I think I would have to guess it would be a higher percentage than a fifth of the population that would consider themselves priced out of the market,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski knows plenty of those people.
“If you are a 60-year-old couple (earning about) $82,000 in Alaska, you would be looking at a premium increase … without enhancements, of $44,556. My husband and I are over 60. Now, granted, we’re not on the exchange, but I have a lot of friends are in that category, and I don’t know very many of them that could swallow an additional $44,000 a year to pay for their insurance if they’re on the exchange,” she said in a Sept. 17 phone call.
Murkowski is among the members of the U.S. Senate who have been trying for months, without success so far, to find enough votes to extend the subsidies.
Impending government shutdown
The issue has now gotten entangled with the impending government shutdown. Senate Democrats have demanded — among other things — a permanent extension of the health care subsidies, without changes, in exchange for their votes on keeping the federal government open.
Sen. Dan Sullivan also supports an extension of the subsidies, but “there’s no way I would ever vote for that,” he said of the Democratic plan.
“I do think there’s bipartisan support to get this done. We’ve just got to power through these different issues,” he said by phone.
He identified three hurdles for the subsidies.
“It’s how long you extend them; are there pay-fors (budget cuts to compensate for the cost of the extension) … but the most important and complicated — and we just did a deep dive on this, and I do think there’s bipartisan support on this, is reforms,” Sullivan said.
“We are looking at ways to reform the system to make it work for the people who need it and are using it honestly, but have a disincentive against those who have been abusing it,” he said.
“We’re getting there. It’s complicated. I think the reform piece is going to be the most complicated, but I’m hopeful, and I’m putting a lot of effort into it,” Sullivan said.
Murkowski is more interested in a straight extension without changes. She introduced a standalone two-year measure and voted against both Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the government open, saying one of her conditions was an extension of the subsidy.
Speaking by phone this month, Mina noted that an extension has the support of groups as far afield as the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.
“I think if you’re directly on the insurance marketplace, you should be concerned. But also, if you care about economic diversification and startups, you should also be concerned,” she said.
If the marketplace doesn’t work, she noted, it would increase the costs of health care for everyone in the state because hospitals are required to treat people regardless of their ability to pay. If people can’t pay, that means their costs get shifted to people who can, increasing the health insurance rates of everyone, not just those on the marketplace.
“What I fear is that we’re regressing to the state that we were in (a decade ago) when we had all of these news articles about people paying like, $800, $1,000 a month for their health insurance, and we were able to stabilize that and find solutions to help people,” Mina said. “We’re just going backwards in that regard.”
NOTN- Residents filled Centennial Hall on Monday to oppose a plan to redevelop Juneau’s Telephone Hill into higher-density housing.
About 30 people testified against the proposal, which calls for replacing 14 existing units with more than 100 new units. Mayor Beth Weldon said the project is part of the city’s effort to expand downtown housing.
The Assembly has appropriated $5.5 million toward the redevelopment, though Weldon said no decisions are final.
“Most of it just comes down to trying to get housing downtown.” said Weldon, “So instead of 14 units, we’re looking for over 100 units, its a leap of faith.”
Opponents who testified criticized the plan’s cost and the displacement of current residents. The city maintains the redevelopment is necessary to address Juneau’s housing shortage.
“We do have a timeline. This is a topic for people, because we are doing evictions, but in the spirit of trying to get more housing downtown.” Weldon said.
According to Mayor Weldon, the Assembly changed the format through resident testimony so that there was more conversation between the city and the individuals who showed up to testify.
FILE – In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP, File)
AP- After gorging all summer on sockeye salmon, the portliest brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula will battle it out to see who will be named the fattest of them all in the wildly popular online voting contest called Fat Bear Week.
Those casting votes online starting Tuesday will choose between 11 mammoth brown bears and the winner of last week’s competition for cubs, named “128 Junior.” She’s a cub of “Grazer,” the two-time defending Fat Bear Week champion at Katmai National Park and Preserve who is looking for a third title.
The contest, which began in 2014, is meant to showcase the resiliency of the brown bears, who pack on the pounds each fall to survive the harsh winter, mostly by gobbling salmon on the Brooks River in the remote preserve about 300 miles (482 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage by plane. The public can watch the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding on their favorite creature.
How to vote for Fat Bear Week
The 12 contestants announced Monday will face off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, with the winner declared Sept. 30.
The first round features eight bears squaring off in four separate contests. The four winners advance to the second round, where they face four bears that received first-round byes.
There are about 2,200 brown bears within Katmai, a 6,562-square-mile (16,997-square-kilometer) park on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. To be featured in the contest, the bears must frequent the area of the main Brooks Camp.
The contest has some colorful characters
The contestants include a number of colorful characters, from a bear nicknamed “Flotato” for a stomping dance it does, to one that will place its paw over its heart like she is pledging allegiance to the flag while waiting for fish to arrive.
Two of the contestants were once dominate males now adjusting to new realities. One was once at the top of the bear hierarchy but now is the old man of the river. The other is adapting to life with a broken jaw that will never heal properly.
The brown bears at Katmai are among the largest in the world. Mike Fitz, a naturalist for explore.org who started the Fat Bear Contest at Katmai when he was a ranger there, said that the only bears that are bigger are on nearby Kodiak Island.
A male bear at Katmai weighs about 700 to 900 pounds (318 kg to 408 kg) mid-summer and can bloat to over a 1,000 pounds (454 kg) by September or October, thanks to successful foraging. But even a 1,400-pound (635-kg) male isn’t unusual.
Female bears are about half to two-thirds the size of adult males.
But the contest isn’t always just about how big the bear is, and the past two years prove that point with “Grazer” defeating “Chunk,” one of the biggest bears on Brooks River.
Voters could consider the challenges some contestants have had to overcome, such as female bears who protect their young and produce milk for the cubs while also fattening up for winter themselves.
Abundant salmon equals fat bears
Even though factors other than girth can be considered when voting, this might be the year when weight does play a role.
Brooks Falls is famous for brown bears snagging salmon out of the air as the fish try to jump upstream to get to their spawning ground.
That didn’t happen much this year, as an exceptional salmon run reduced the need for bears to compete for fishing spots at the falls.
“We are kind of expecting really to have some of the fattest bears we’ve ever seen in the event,” Fitz said. In fact, officials refer to one contestant as “cruise ship” because of its sheer plumpness.
NOTN- In response to landslides in Alaska, the state established the Landslide Hazards Program in 2022 to assess and communicate landslide risks. A key part of this program is the Alaska Landslide Inventory, a database compiling mapped landslides from published geological reports and newly identified events reported in the news or detected through aerial imagery.
first reported by Alaska Public Media, the inventory classifies landslides by type, including slides, falls, flows, spreads, and thaw-related events, and includes metadata such as kinematic features, and event dates.
While the database is not complete, its goal is to serve as a resource for planners, researchers, and the public to identify landslide-prone areas and reduce economic losses and fatalities.
Users are encouraged to review the methods and limitations of the database, which will be updated periodically as more landslides are mapped and additional data become available.
Over the weekend, Auke lake Trail saw two landslides due to heavy rainfall and intense wind gusts, and for the second time in two years an apartment complex on Gastineau Avenue was evacuated last Wednesday after a landslide caused two trees to fall beside the apartments.
Landslide and downed trees along Auke Lake Trail
Intense weather will continue through late this evening according to the National Weather Service, bringing wind gusts up to 70 mph and heavy rain.
