Alaska

Alaska firefighters receive tactical wildland fire training

Published

1 year ago

March 31, 2023

Alaska firefighters receive tactical wildland fire training

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – With wildfire season simply on the horizon in Alaska, firefighters from each Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson and the Anchorage Fireplace Division just lately participated in a chainsaw coaching program to turn into Sawyer licensed. The course — hosted on base in Anchorage — consisted of in the future of classroom instruction adopted by two days of in-field coaching.

The category, taught by JBER Wildland Help Module firefighter and gear operator Matthew Allen, teaches the fundamental rules of chainsaw security, operation, upkeep and tree felling in regard to combatting and stopping wildland fires.

“Fires want gasoline to burn, the timber are the gasoline. How do you take away the timber is chainsaws and different gear,” Allen stated. “They’re an enormous piece for us.”

A chainsaw is an easy, but tactical piece of apparatus that’s often utilized in wildland firefighting operations. In accordance with Allen, going by means of a certification course of is required so as to use them to struggle a wildfire. It’s a certification that each AFD firefighter Joey Casey and JBER Fireplace Dept. firefighter and EMT Daniel Gerome had been considering acquiring.

“I’ve reduce down some timber earlier than on my property, however I used to be all the time questioning, ‘Is that this the precise technique to do it?’” Gerome stated. “By doing this class, not solely am I studying the right technique to function a chainsaw but additionally a means of tips on how to do it on a wildland fireplace.”

Whereas AFD doesn’t essentially struggle wildfires on a frequent foundation, Casey — a six-year firefighter for Station 6 with an extra 5 years within the fireplace service — considers the coaching relevant.

“As you recognize — Anchorage hillside, Elmore — we’ve had just a few fires right here in the previous few years there and it actually simply factors to we must be just a little bit extra ready for it,” Casey stated.

Wearing private protecting gear similar to hardhats, chaps, glasses and earplugs, the firefighters from each departments labored to take down useless timber in a wooded space on the navy base Thursday morning. Oftentimes, JBER firefighters are the primary to reply when a wildland fireplace ignites within the state.

“We’re one of many first individuals to exit on scene as a result of we have already got our gear, have our gear and able to go on the market and struggle that fireplace earlier than the State of Alaska can collect their scorching pictures and their organized fireplace crews to exit and proceed the firefighting actions,” Gerome stated.

This was the primary time Gerome sought certification after serving within the Air Power for 12 years as a firefighter solely to return to the division for a civilian job.

“I couldn’t get away from it,” Gerome stated. “I loved the firefighting, I loved the individuals I used to be working with, I loved JBER because the division, and needed to return again and proceed to maintain serving.”

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Alaska

Sponsors of petition to repeal Alaska's ranked choice voting score a partial win in court

Published

4 hours ago

June 11, 2024

Press Room

Sponsors of petition to repeal Alaska's ranked choice voting score a partial win in court

This is a sample ranked choice ballot the Division of Elections created for the 2022 special election, the first time Alaska used the system. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)

A Superior Court judge in Anchorage has dismissed a significant portion of a lawsuit filed by supporters of Alaska’s ranked choice voting.

Judge Christina Rankin ruled last week that the Division of Elections acted properly early this year when it gave sponsors of a repeal petition an opportunity to correct problems with petition booklets they submitted to the division.

Her summary judgment order brings a group called Alaskans for Honest Elections one step closer to getting a measure on the November ballot that would repeal election reforms that Alaska voters adopted in 2020. The measure aims to get rid of ranked choice voting in Alaska. It would also end Alaska’s current primary election style, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The repeal measure would restore the use of partisan primaries.

Three voters, represented by Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall, sued to block the repeal measure, saying repeal sponsors shouldn’t have been allowed to fix defects in their petitions after they turned them in. The most common problem was that dozens of booklets weren’t properly notarized because the notary’s commission had expired.

The judge’s decision still leaves part of the lawsuit alive. The people challenging the repeal petition claim petition circulators collected signatures improperly by, among other things, leaving signature booklets unattended and swapping booklets among circulators. Alaskans for Honest Elections defends its methods.

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Alaska

KPD and Alaska State Troopers seize hundreds of fentanyl pills in Kodiak

Published

11 hours ago

June 11, 2024

Press Room

KPD and Alaska State Troopers seize hundreds of fentanyl pills in Kodiak

Kodiak Police and Alaska State Troopers seized hundreds of fentanyl pills as part of a larger drug bust last week.

According to a trooper dispatch, officers confiscated a suspicious parcel containing over 500 fentanyl pills and 29.9 grams of meth on June 4. The drug enforcement unit arrested 45-year-old Ty Anderson the next day in connection with a controlled delivery operation involving the drugs.

Officers then searched the suspect’s home and found 392 more fentanyl pills, 7 grams of meth, and seized $4,256 in cash.

Troopers said the investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, Anderson is charged with both second and third degree Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance.

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Alaska

State Supreme Court prepares for vacancy as Alaska’s Chief Justice set to retire

Published

19 hours ago

June 11, 2024

Press Room

State Supreme Court prepares for vacancy as Alaska’s Chief Justice set to retire

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Alaska Judicial Council is accepting applications to serve as a justice on the Alaska Supreme Court after it announced Friday that Chief Justice Peter Maassen will retire in January 2025.

The vacancy will open when Chief Justice Maassen turns 70. The Alaska Constitution establishes that a state Supreme Court justice can stay on the bench until they reach 70 years of age.

“We will miss working with him,” Alaska Court System Public Information Officer Rebecca Koford said. “He’s been a wonderful presence. I haven’t met anyone who disliked working with him. He’s very professional. At the same time, he’s a very witty person, and his presence will be missed.”

Koford said she worked with Chief Justice Maassen at the Anchorage Youth Court, and describes him as a calm and even-tempered person, along with being thorough and thoughtful.

“Everyone that has worked with him is going to miss having him there,” Koford said. “I’m sure that whoever takes his place will also be a wonderfully competent justice, and I look forward to working with them as well.”

Maassen serves as the administrative head of the judicial branch of government, presides over Supreme Court arguments, appoints presiding judges for Alaska’s judicial districts and serves as the chair of the Alaska Judicial Council.

“The Chief Justice has additional duties, because they are also the administrative head of the court,” Koford said. “They oversee the administration, which includes things varied from HR to our information services, to my job as a public information officer, public outreach across the board, or the administration of the courts.”

The Alaska Judicial Council, established by the Alaska Constitution, comprises seven members who screen applications for all state judges including those from the Appellate, Superior, District and Supreme Courts.

“Being a judge is a hard job, and attorneys in this state think very long and hard about whether they’re even going to put their name in,” said Susanne DiPietro, executive director of the Alaska Judicial Council. “That’s part of the reason why we have a lengthy application period, because it’s a heavy decision to put your name in for this very public process.”

“People take it very seriously before they put their names in, and during the process,” she said. “It’s a hard and very rewarding job.”

The Judicial Council will spend the next several weeks receiving, vetting and investigating applications and applicants before sending a survey to all members of the Alaska Bar Association. Then, they’ll ask anyone with direct professional experience with the candidate to give information about their qualifications. There will be interviews, a public hearing and nominations. Final names are sent to the governor for a final appointment.

After being appointed as a state judge, public evaluations on a judge’s performances happen every couple of years when there’s a retention election. The public votes whether or not a state-appointed judge should remain on the bench. There are 19 judges up for retention this November.

“The process needs to be thorough, and it is a thorough process, because these are very important positions,” DiPietro said. “They’re tough positions, and you want to know as much as possible about each person who applies, to be able to gauge whether you think they’re going to be able to handle the intellectual and emotional challenges of the position.”

Maassen was born and raised in western Michigan, and got his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1980 after attending Hope College and Wayne State University Law School. Maassen and his wife Kay Gouwens arrived in Alaska in 1981. Chief Justice Maassen spent most of his legal career as a private practice attorney in Anchorage before being selected by the governor to serve on the high court in 2012. He was elected to the Chief Justice position in Febuary of 2023.

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