Juneau’s biggest stories of 2016

Here’s a run down of Juneau’s biggest stories of 2016.

A snarky bumper sticker pokes fun at the "Build the Road" controversy. It was spotted in Juneau on March 11, 2014. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
A snarky bumper sticker pokes fun at the “Build the Road” controversy. It was spotted in Juneau on March 11, 2014. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

A divisive, decades-old community bumper sticker issue was put to rest for foreseeable future. To save money, Gov. Bill Walker announced he was effectively killing the mega-project to extend Juneau’s main road north, 50 miles closer to the road system. While ferry system boosters and environmental interests cheered, others, like Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch, lamented.

“Today’s announcement definitely feels like a body blow,” Koelsch said.


Whale sculpture on ferry 20160808
R.T. “Skip” Wallen’s whale sculpture arrives in Juneau aboard a ferry on Aug. 8. The sculpture’s been raised in a waterfront park under construction near the Douglas Bridge. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO)

The cruise ship industry hit the City & Borough of Juneau with a federal lawsuit in April. Cruise Lines International Association alleges Juneau is misspending the $5 per passenger tax it collects. Federal law says it can only be spent on projects and programs that address both cruise ship passengers’ safety and accessibility.

The industry is especially irked that its passengers are paying for the waterfront park under construction about a mile from cruise ship ports. The park’s most prominent feature is the life-size bronze humpback whale sculpture that arrived in August. Private donors paid for the whale itself.

The city thinks it’s in the clear, and even opted to pay for its legal defense mostly with head tax revenue. The case is in the discovery phase.


The nonpartisan Juneau Assembly is leaning more conservative after Ken Koelsch won a special mayoral election in March. Then, in the regular October election, he backed the prevailing candidates in two contested races. Those members often align with Koelsch on split votes.

Koelsch spoke of unity on his election night.

Juneau Mayor-elect Ken Koelsch addresses his supporters on election night at City Hall, March 15, 2015.
Juneau Mayor-elect Ken Koelsch addresses his supporters on election night, March 15, at City Hall. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

“My goal is to unite us as a community. I will work hard for you with honor and with integrity. We have our work cut out for us, so let’s unite,” he said.

The new assembly appointed Jerry Nankervis deputy mayor. Nankervis is a particularly conservative voice in the nine-member body.

One issue the new bloc campaigned on was restoring the tax break seniors used to get on the city’s 5 percent sales tax. All seniors had been eligible for the tax exemption on goods and services purchased for themselves.

The 2015 assembly limited the benefit to low-income seniors as an austerity measure. It softened the impact by giving all seniors the tax break on essential items, such as food and utilities.

Since the October elections, the new assembly has not acted on the senior sales tax campaign rhetoric. It did, however, derail an affordable housing plan the old assembly set in motion.


In economic news, one of the community’s biggest private employers closed up shop. About 180 full- and part-time jobs went with Wal-Mart when it shuttered in February. And there’ve been no announcements for what will become of the big box retailer’s 135,000 square-foot building.

The Juneau Wal-Mart in January 2016, before it closed. It was previously a K-Mart store. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)
The Juneau Wal-Mart in January 2016, before it closed. It was previously a Kmart. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)

And no, Target says it’s not coming.

Despite Wal-Mart, the state entering a recession and state government shedding hundreds more jobs, Juneau’s economy appeared to stay strong. The school district even had an unexpected increase in enrollment.

Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data 2016 08 24
Meilani Schijvens at her desk in August. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

“In many ways, the Juneau economy is booming,” Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data said in August.

Schijvens said Juneau has a strong private sector, but still thinks the recession will hit locally.

“It’s coming, I think it’s coming, I’m not looking forward to it. But 2016 is still appearing to be a really strong year for the community,” she said.


In August, the Juneau Assembly made the capital city only the second Alaska municipality after Anchorage to protect its private citizens from discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

The Rev. Phil Campbell of Northern Light United Church was one of about 70 people that crowded into a Juneau Assembly meeting in support of the ordinance.

People shared their thoughts on white boards in Marine Park at a community gathering hosted by the Juneau Police Department, July 20, 2016. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
People shared their thoughts on white boards in Marine Park at a community gathering the Juneau Police Department hosted in July. The event was to celebrate diversity and to stand against violence. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)

“I humbly submit, assembly members, that by the passage of the equal rights ordinance this night that you will facilitate yet more bending toward justice and equality for all people,” Campbell said.


This year, the Juneau Police Department’s leadership championed transparency, accountability, outreach with the community at-large and the at-risk — even simple acts of kindness.

In November, here’s how police Chief Bryce Johnson explained why he wants to outfit 40 officers with body cameras:

“It’s good if the police did it right, it’s good for the public to know we did it right,” Johnson said. “And if we did it wrong, we need to own that and fix it. And it’s good for the public to know when we do it wrong, that we admit to our mistakes and we make them better.”

Juneau Chief of Police Bryce Johnson waves at a community barbecue held in Marine Park to "be counted as a person against violence, against discrimination, and against hate," according to the Juneau Police Department Facebook page, July 20, 2016. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Juneau Police Chief Bryce Johnson waves at a community barbecue it hosted in Marine Park to “be counted as a person against violence, against discrimination, and against hate” on July 20. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)

As smartphone video of police officers around the nation using lethal force in questionable circumstances fueled mass protests, JPD contained one potentially tragic situation after another — with little or no violence.

Among the high-profile incidents JPD resolved relatively peacefully this year:

At a hotel police are frequently called to, Lt. Kris Sell explained why police officers were connecting residents to social services, and handing out drug overdose medicine and sharps containers.

Sign above the Bergmann Hotel's front door.
(Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)

“Really, modern policing is also about, ‘How do you apply positive pressure so that you can work with the people that are having challenges and get them on a more law-abiding path so they can get along with their neighbors?’” Sell said.

The department does have a huge blemish on its 2016 record. In November, a veteran officer shot a man that was apparently unarmed at a car crash site. The man, Jeremie Tinney, survived and is in custody with Washington state authorities on unrelated charges. JPD hasn’t charged him with anything.

In the immediate aftermath, Chief Johnson’s messaging was consistent.

“Our goal is to conduct a very thorough, very professional, very transparent investigation so we can give very clear answers for what occurred and why what occurred happened,” Johnson said.

State agencies are investigating the incident, which was JPD’s first officer-involved shooting in nearly 10 years.

The police also have their work cut out for them dealing with a huge increase in burglaries. Police officials have said they think drug addictions are a major factor in the upswing.


In education news, Juneau’s class of 2016 helped set a record high 85 percent graduation rate. And it’s not just that more students are fulfilling the minimums — more kids are taking and succeeding with Advanced Placement classes and tests that award college credit.

The university system had a big surprise for Juneau, too. University of Alaska system officials intended to consolidate three colleges of education into one in Fairbanks in response to state budget shortfalls. In a major reversal, they decided that consolidated college will be at the University of Alaska Southeast.

University of Alaska Southeast's Juneau campus on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
University of Alaska Southeast’s Juneau campus on Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)

The stakes were higher than just the one college, according to Juneau Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl.

Jesse Kiehl, aide to Sen. Dennis Egan, interacts with a visitor to the senator's office, Feb, 10, 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)
Jesse Kiehl

“That College of Education is nine-tenths of the graduate degrees that the University of Alaska Southeast offers,” Kiehl said. “Without a leadership role in one of the major missions of the university system statewide, UAS was in terrible danger.”

The Juneau Empire reports that CBJ officials helped sway the decision by pledging $1 million in support.


The demolition of the Gastineau Apartments wrapped this year. The century old, multi-building apartments became an uninhabitable downtown eyesore after a fire destroyed it in 2012.

The city hired contractors for the demolition over protest from the owners. It’s trying to recover the demolition costs from the landowners in a case pending in Juneau Superior Court.


Jeremy Hsieh

Jeremy Hsieh

Jeremy Hsieh is the news director of KTOO.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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