Byron Mallott, right, mingles with visitors at the open house of his campaign headquarters in Juneau. Mallott will leave Sealaska’s board of directors next month to concentrate of his race for governor. (Lisa Phu/KTOO)

Democrat Bryon Mallott will leave Sealaska’s board of directors next month to spend more time campaigning for governor. The move shakes up an already contentious board election.

Mallott joined the Juneau-headquartered regional Native corporation’s governing body soon after it came into existence.

He chaired Sealaska’s board for about a decade, before becoming its CEO.

He later returned to the board, where he remains. That will end at Sealaska’s June annual meeting, when his term runs out.

Mallott says he’s been thinking about leaving for some time.

“I’m a candidate for governor and my time availability has become an issue to me. So I just decided it’s time,” he says.

Mallott is all but assured to be the Democratic challenger facing Republican Governor Sean Parnell in the November general election.

Sealaska’s long-time CEO, Chris McNeil, is also retiring soon. And former state Sen. Albert Kookesh is leaving the board chairmanship, though not his seat.

Mallott says he’ll complete his commitments to the corporation, then give someone else a turn.

“It’s a good time for leadership to change to some degree. There are many, many highly-qualified shareholders both on the board and amongst our shareholders. And creating that kind of opportunity for them to serve on the board to me is a very good thing,” he says.

The other three incumbents whose terms also run out this year are seeking re-election. They’re Sidney Edenshaw, Ed Thomas and Rosita Worl, who will run together as the management slate.

Four business-oriented shareholders have already announced they’ll run as their own slate.

Margaret Nelson, Carlton Smith, Ross Soboleff and Karen Taug are offering management experience outside the corporation.

Spokesman Randy Wanamaker says Mallott’s decision leaves an open seat with no heir-apparent. And that makes the board election more friendly to challengers.

“Every now or then an incumbent leaves for one reason or another,” he says. “And there’s another person who has been groomed or shares the same philosophy as the current Sealaska team steps forward. And they appoint that person in to fill the vacancy or put them on the slate as a new candidate to replace the departing director.”

Slates allow shareholders to vote a single ballot listing a group of candidates. Shareholders can also vote for a mix of members from both slates – or anyone else who runs.

Albert Kookesh, board chairman through the annual meeting, expects a lively race.

“The people who are running on that slate have good intentions. They want to run a clean race and I commend them for that. But we also have people who are independents who are running. And you have to commend them and recognize their want to be involved too,” he says.

Longtime Sealaska critics Mick Beasley and Myrna Gardner are among others running independently.

Sealaska will distribute ballots to its almost 22,000 shareholders on May 15th. They must be cast by June 26th.

Results will be announced at Sealaska’s annual meeting, June 28th in Seattle.

A fire warning issued for northern Southeast has been extended to other areas of the Tongass National Forest. (U.S. Forest Service map).

A fire warning issued last week for parts of northern Southeast Alaska has been expanded to the whole region.

Tongass National Forest Fire Management Officer Seth Ross says continued warm, dry weather is affecting more areas.

He’s not predicting large blazes. But he says hunters, hikers, boaters and campers should be extra careful.

“We just wanted to talk to folks who are coming back into the woods and just make a gentle reminder to be careful. The conditions certainly are right for some fire activity,” he says.

He says fires should be attended at all times and thoroughly extinguished when no longer needed.

Forest fires are uncommon in Southeast’s Tongass rainforest.

But Ross says an average of 17 happen each year. Some years have as many as 40.

“They’re not big. They don’t spread out very far. They do go deep in the right conditions. We do have fires that burn down a few layers in, underground. But nothing gets too, too big,” he says.

Ross’s warning continues until the weather changes.

Sealaska Plaza is the regional Native corporation’s Juneau headquarters. Four shareholders with business backgrounds are challenging the same number of incumbents as a slate.

A slate of shareholders with business backgrounds is trying to unseat four incumbents on Sealaska’s board of directors.

Margaret Nelson, Carlton Smith, Ross Soboleff and Karen Taug announced their candidacies Wednesday, April 30.

They call their slate “4 Shareholders for Sealaska.”

Spokesman Randy Wanamaker says the candidates are worried about Sealaska’s poor performance.

“With the information that the last dividend was not really based on Sealaska’s earnings, perhaps it’s time for new ideas and new energy, new talent to provide their expertise to the company for the shareholders to consider to move the company toward profitability,” he says.

Candidate Carton Smith serves on Juneau’s Assembly and runs a commercial real estate company. Karen Taug is controller for the South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium. Ross Soboleff is a former Sealaska spokesman. And Margaret Nelson is business development manager for a construction company.

Wanamaker says the slate supports term limits for Sealaska board members.

“It ensures that there’s always a continuous flow of new ideas into the company and new energy and we bring in new experience,” he says.

The slate also wants to link executive bonuses to business success. And it says it will pay more attention to shareholder suggestions.

Members are challenging four powerful incumbents on the regional Native corporation’s 13-member board.

Byron Mallott is a former Sealaska CEO who is running for governor. Rosita Worl heads up the corporation’s cultural institute. Ed Thomas spent nearly three decades as Tlingit-Haida Central Council president. Sidney Edenshaw is a director of the Haida Corporation.

Sealaska spokeswoman Nicole Hallingstad says corporate law keeps her from commenting on the board slate before ballots become available. But it’s well within tradition.

“This independent proxy is an example of shareholders who are exercising their rights as shareholders as set forth by the state of Alaska and Sealaska’s own bylaws,” she says.

Proxy ballots will go to the corporation’s almost 22,000 shareholders on May 15th.

Other independent candidates have indicated they will run. Incumbents are usually challenged, but few coordinate their campaigns or run as a slate.

Election results will be announced at Sealaska’s June 28 annual meeting in Seattle.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

For Margaret Peterson, it was just a Christmas party. Peterson is the Pub Manager at the American Legion in Sitka. In December, the Legion hosted an event for about 75 kids.

“Every one of the kids got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus,” Peterson told the Sitka Assembly. “They all got a present, they all got a bag of candy…Every one of the kids got a new jacket, a winter jacket to take home with them.”

But there was a wrinkle in this plan: the American Legion is a private club that allows smoking. And in 2005, Sitka voters passed a law prohibiting children from entering businesses where smoking is allowed. Just before the Christmas Party, the American Legion received a phone call complaining that they were violating the law.

So they checked with City Attorney Robin Koutchak. And Koutchak checked the ordinance. The law reads, Children under the age of eighteen shall not be permitted in any place of employment where smoking is allowed.

But the American Legion wasn’t going to allow smoking – not at this particular event. So, Koutchak said, not a problem. They could hold the Christmas Party as planned.

In early January, the Sitka Assembly decided to revisit that smoking ordinance. Mayor Mim McConnell and Assembly member Phyllis Hackett sponsored a revision, adding this language: Once the declaration of an establishment, facility or outdoor area as smoking has been made under this section, it shall not be changed for temporary or special functions. In other words, a business is either smoking or non-smoking. You can’t allow smoking sometimes, and then air out the room for events with kids.

Deputy Mayor Matt Hunter laid out some of the health concerns behind the law.

“The CDC says no amount of second-hand smoke, no matter how little, is safe,” Hunter said.”And I did some further research and talked to some people and discovered that the research that’s going on right now says that airing a place out is not enough to make it safe. The amount of carcinogens in the air, the cancer-causing chemicals and toxins actually get embedded within the walls.”

But at Tuesday’s meeting, nearly a dozen people stood up to plead with the Assembly not to pass the revised ordinance.

“This is a place where we have memorials for our vets that had passed away,” Peterson said. “If you guys change this smoking ordinance, the families cannot bring their kids in to have these memorials.”

“My grandchildren were so very happy,” said Sitka resident Robbie Martin, of the December event. “Now there’s Easter parties and memorials and things like that where children would be coming into the club. And I really hope there is some discussion for this.”

“I was able to take my younger children to this party, and it was very obviously a smoke-free and alcohol-free event,” said Sitka resident Stacy Joseph. “And they provided a wonderful hot meal for us, and it was all free to my family, and for a low income family, that’s really important.

But, Assembly member Phyllis Hackett said, it’s all beside the point.

“This isn’t really about the American Legion,” Hackett said. “It’s about the ordinance, and it’s about the fact that the intent of the ordinance, originally when it was passed by the people, was to protect children from second-hand smoke…by not letting them in smoking facilities.”

“Unfortunately, the ordinance was not written well enough to be able to cover the intention,” she said. “And all we’re doing by this is making it follow the intent and the way that people voted.”

City Attorney Robin Koutchak disagreed.

“With all due respect to Ms. Hackett, the intent was open for debate,” Koutchak said. She said it simply isn’t clear what voters originally intended.

In the end, the assembly voted 5-2 to postpone the issue, with McConnell and Hackett voting against postponement. The ordinance will be referred to the Health Needs and Human Services Commission — with the hope that they can come up with a solution that clears the air.

**

In other business, the Sitka Assembly passed on first reading an ordinance that would encourage city agencies to do more of their purchasing from local businesses. The ordinance would also set up a system by which the city could track how much it buys locally.

And the Assembly authorized city staff to apply for a loan from the Alaska Energy Authority, to finish construction of the Blue Lake hydro project. The city had originally hoped for a state grant to cover the final $18.5 million in construction costs, but now plans to borrow the money instead.

Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell stopped in Sitka on Friday, January 24. Treadwell is running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

Alaska Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the U.S.  Senate against Democratic incumbent Mark Begich. Begich is up for reelection in November, and the race is being closely watched nationwide. Unseating Begich is a top priority for Repubicans, who are hoping to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats in 2014.

Treadwell came through Sitka on Friday, January 24. He spoke with KCAW about public lands, personal privacy, climate change, and what, exactly he means when he promises to “bring decision-making home.”

“I think most Alaskans agree with me today that we have a federal government that spends too much,” Treadwell said. “It borrows too much. It prints too much money. It meddles too much in human affairs, in our personal affairs. It snoops too much. And I hear that from Republicans and Democrats across the board.”

“I think we have to go back and remind Washington there are limits to power, that Washington doesn’t need to try to solve every problem, that we don’t need a bureaucracy for everything, and that people in a free society can make decisions for themselves.”

Treadwell emphasized his support for increasing oil and gas production, and proposed giving the state more control over public lands.

“If you ask the average American, and you certainly get this from the average Alaskan, we want you to develop our resources to have jobs and we want you to protect the environment,” he said. “Right now the federal government is not doing a very good job of developing jobs on public land. That’s why the House of Representatives passed a measure to do a pilot project to try to turn Forest Service land over to the state of Oregon, for example, and why we ought to be looking at that with our state forests. I think Alaskans are smart enough to make good environmental decisions on our land, and to have a sustainable economy.”

Treadwell also emphasized his background in science and technology – among other roles, he has served as chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Council and as Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Asked whether the federal government should be taking more action on climate change, Treadwell said he opposes any action that might increase the cost of fossil fuels.

“I think the first thing is that we need to understand our own limits as people,” Treadwell said. “I don’t know that we’re going to be able to change the weather. I do know that ultimately we can make energy cleaner. But I’m going to be representing a state that’s known for three things: cold, dark and distance. And I’m not going to be pushing to raise your energy prices. I’m sorry.”

But, Treadwell said, government does have a role in promoting renewable energy.

“I’m very much in favor of research and development that’s going to get us cleaner energy over time,” he said. “We’ve got hydroelectric. We’ve got geothermal. We’ve got tidal. We’ve got wind. And I’m very much a proponent, as a conservative — I’m ready to stand up in any conservative caucus and say, listen, this is one job the government can do and should do to help us advance as a society.”

One job the government shouldn’t be doing is spying on Americans, Treadwell said. He expressed concern over the program, run by the National Security Agency, to collect and store Americans’ phone records. That program was made public last summer by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

“The 4^th amendment of the constitution says the government doesn’t have access to your papers, can’t do unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant,” he said. “Well, you know, Edward Snowden broke the law, but the fact is he told us about people who were breaking the constitution! And I’m very concerned about that. I’m a privacy advocate.”

Treadwell faces two other Republicans in the primary: former Alaska Commissioner of Natural Resources, Dan Sullivan; and Joe Miller, who beat Senator Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 Republican primary, only to lose to her as a write-in candidate in the general election. The primary will be held on August 19, 2014.

9-year-old Hunter Lambdin (right) is headed to Providence, R.I. to audition for America’s Got Talent, accompanied by her mother, Stephanie Lambdin, and her brother, Colt.

Most of us take awhile – sometimes quite awhile — to figure out what we want to do when we grow up. But one Sitka fourth-grader has it all figured out.

HL: My name is Hunter Lambdin, I’m 9 years old, and I go to KGH. I’m aiming to be a famous singer.

Listen to iFriendly audio here.

Hunter Lambdin has been singing pretty much since the day she was born, according to her mom, Stephanie Lambdin.

“But she was so shy that she would only do it in front of family if she didn’t think we were looking,” Stephanie said. “And then as she got older, she’d belt out this gorgeous voice but it was behind closed doors in her bedroom, so we couldn’t see her sing.”

So her family was a little surprised when Hunter announced this fall that she wanted to audition for the NBC television show, America’s Got Talent.

“I just want to be famous for what I really like,” Hunter said. “And I always watch the X Factor and American Idol, and I wanted to be one of those people just auditioning, you know, making it through.”

The show was accepting video auditions, so Stephanie made a short video of Hunter singing, sitting on their living room floor with the family dog. They sent it in – but they didn’t expect to hear back.

Then they got an email. The producers had watched Hunter’s video, and they liked what they saw. They encouraged the Lambdins to have Hunter audition before a panel of live judges.

But to do that, they’d have to travel to one of the show’s public auditions in the lower 48. And as the holidays rolled around, Stephanie realized it was too expensive. They just couldn’t swing it.

She posted about it on Facebook – and right away, the responses started rolling in.

“And the outreach that came back that day or the next day,” Stephanie said. “Especially with Melissa Broschat at Highliners – she was like, ‘Uh-uh, we are not going to let this opportunity pass up. That girl needs to be in front of those judges and this town is going to make it happen.'”

On January 18, the Lambdins held a fundraiser at Highliner Coffee in Sitka, and raised $2,000, enough for Hunter and Stephanie — and Hunter’s 11-year-old brother Colt — to travel to Providence, RI for a live audition.

But that wasn’t all. Producers at America’s Got Talent got wind of the community effort, and decided to set aside a specific time to meet Hunter – and find out a little more about the community that came together to send her there.

“I’m holding back tears,” Stephanie said. “Because a week ago, this wasn’t a reality. I mean, we literally pulled it together in a few days, and we’re moving forward and I can’t thank everybody enough.”

The Lambdins will be holding a bake-sale at Seamart on Saturday, January 25, 10am-2pm, to help cover the costs of travel to the audition.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

KCAW’s Brian Hanson speaks with Emma Bruhl, president of the National Honor Society at Sitka High School. The NHS admits students with a GPA of 3.5 and a commitment to service — and is the force behind Sitka’s annual polar dip.

Democratic candidate for Governor Byron Mallott called Sitka his “second home” on a campaign stop at the ANB Hall on December 18. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

Democratic candidate for governor Byron Mallott visited Sitka on Wednesday night (12-18-2013). He spoke to about forty supporters at ANB Hall with this message: Government, he said, can do good.

“Now what kind of statement is that in this day and age? Huh?” he asked, to laughter.  “To believe somehow that government can help us be better. That government can help bring us together to deal with issues that we ourselves cannot address alone.”

It was Mallott’s first visit as a candidate, but he’s no stranger to Sitka. Mallott is from Yakutat, and attended Sitka’s Sheldon Jackson High School.

Speaking to those in the audience who attended Mount Edgecumbe High School during the same era, Mallott said, “I want you to know that we prayed for you.”

Met with silence, he continued,

MALLOTT You don’t get that.  [LAUGHTER] Sheldon Jackson was a Presbyterian boarding school, Mt. Edgcumbe was a B.I.A. [Bureau of Indian Affairs] boarding school, and we always felt we had to pray for those heathens across the channel. [LAUGHTER]

Though his roots are in Southeast, Mallott argued that he’s more than a regional candidate. He has served as the Executive Director of the Alaska Permanent Fund and as CEO of Sealaska, the regional Native corporation, in addition to stints as mayor of Juneau and Yakutat.

Mallott was asked about Senate Bill 21, the controversial legislation championed by Republican Governor Sean Parnell, which cut taxes on the oil industry. Mallott said he will vote to repeal SB21 when it comes up in a referendum next year. He said that ordinary Alaskans were not included in the process creating the legislation, and it tipped the balance too far toward tax cuts.

“Now, I’m not sure what the best tax balance might be,” Mallott said. “But I know that as governor I will work as hard with the industry, with the legislature, and involve Alaskans to the maximum degree possible, to help inform and get their support to get the best balance possible.”

On another resource issue of particular interest in Southeast, Mallott said he fully supports the Sealaska land bill, which would transfer about 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest to the Southeast regional Native corporation.

“It hasn’t been a polarizing issue,” he said. “The people who oppose it are very vocal for sure. [But] it has very broad-based support, it’s been in the mill for over a decade.”

“It has been compromised appropriately and necessarily by virtually every group that has concerns with it…but it is an example of how sensitive resource allocation is in our state, and there were many lessons learned.”

Mallott has been endorsed by the state Democratic Party. The Democratic primary is next August. The general election will be held on November 4, 2014.

GCI plans to buy all three CBS affiliates in Southeast Alaska:  KTNL in Sitka, KXLJ in Juneau, and KUBD in Ketchikan. The announcement comes just weeks after GCI won federal approval to take over the two NBC affiliates in Southeast — KSCT in Sitka and KATH in Juneau – as well as KTVA, the CBS affiliate in Anchorage.

The newest deal must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. If it is, GCI will own most of the commercial television stations in Southeast Alaska.

Operating broadcast stations represents a totally new business for GCI.

“GCI has traditionally been in the pipeline business,” said GCI corporate vice president and spokesman David Morris. “Which essentially means we were transporting [signals], either people’s phone calls or internet or cable TV.”

GCI is the state’s largest cable TV operator, and also provides internet, telephone, and cell phone service.

In other words, until now, GCI ran the plumbing. The purchases this fall represent the company’s first major foray into what runs through that plumbing — content.

The company hopes to leverage its technical expertise, dominant infrastructure and deep pockets to transform how Alaskans consume media, Morris said.

“That’s the vision: to be able to access information when you want it and where you want it,” Morris said.

That might mean eventually being able to access all GCI content on your TV, computer or phone, on demand.

“The thinking is, if you’ve got a video-on-demand product, if you get home at 6:15pm and you want to watch the news from the beginning, you can actually just go to your video-on-demand and back it up to start of the news,” Morris said. “If you see your kid on there, on the news and you want to see it again and again, you can back it up.”

GCI’s first step will be to convert programming on its stations to high definition, Morris said.

So far, however, GCI’s purchase has meant a programming change for customers across Alaska. On December 7, viewers across Southeast lost access to Channel 2 News, the state’s highest-rated television news program.

Sitka resident Sabra Jenkins is among those frustrated by the change.

“I’ve gotten to depend on it,” Jenkins said. “And now that I don’t have it, I’m really seriously thinking of not keeping my TV anymore.”

Channel 2 News is produced by Anchorage NBC affiliate KTUU. It was carried on KSCT in Sitka and KATH in Juneau before GCI purchased those stations.

But for months, GCI has been locked in a fight with KTUU over the terms of carrying Channel 2 programming on the stations as well as on GCI Cable.  Now KTUU’s morning and evening news shows – about 22 hours of programming each week  — are no longer broadcast in Southeast.

In early November, when the two companies could not agree on a contract, GCI also took Channel 2 off cable in several parts of rural Alaska, leaving about 7,000 viewers with no NBC programming, except what’s carried on the state-operated channel known as ARCS.

The disagreement centers on what would happen if KTUU ever acquired another station. GCI says KTUU’s demands would double the cost of carrying the signal; KTUU says the cable company is trying to limit its future growth.

Some say there’s a larger issue at stake. KTUU was part of a coalition of stations that petitioned the FCC to deny GCI’s station purchase in the first place.

“The concern has always been that they would leverage that distribution system, their cable operation, to squeeze out broadcasters,” said Brad Hillwig, marketing director at KTUU. 

Whether it’s intentional or not, Hillwig said, that seems to be what’s happening.

“You see then, some of the things that [we] were originally concerned about, perhaps taking shape,” Hillwig said.  “With GCI…restricting access to Channel 2 on its cable systems, coinciding with its launch of its own news product.”

GCI subsidiary Denali Media Holdings is in the process of launching a news program on KTVA in Anchorage, to compete with KTUU’s Channel 2 News.

GCI’s David Morris says the cable company will happily put Channel 2 News back on the air as soon as the companies sign a contract. For now, however, it’s unclear when — or if –that will happen.

But there’s one thing on which everyone agrees.

“It’s changing times in Alaskan media,” Hillwig said.

Listen to iFriendly audio here.

Sitka father-and-son team Brett and David Wilcox talk about their plan to run across the United States to raise awareness of sustainable agriculture and GMO-free food.