APRN Alaska News

A few new details have emerged in the backcountry skiing accident that caused the death of one person and injured two others over the weekend near Haines.

Alaska State Troopers were in Haines on Monday, interviewing witnesses and investigating the incident that claimed the life of 34-year-old Christian Cabanilla. He was part of a group of five skiers on a commercial heliskiing tour Sunday with Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA). According to troopers, the group was dropped off on a ridge near Garrison Glacier at nearly 6,000 feet elevation in the mountains near Haines. Troopers said the group was walking on the ridge to their start point when they described hearing a “whomp” sound. That’s when the snow under them collapsed and four of the five skiers fell down the ridge an estimated 600 to 1,000 feet. The guide of the group was not involved in the fall.

Troopers said the SEABA-owned helicopter was observing the group and responded to rescue the three injured skiers.

Trooper spokesperson Megan Peters said the incident was likely a cornice failure and not an avalanche. Peters said after the fall, the four skiers came to rest on top of the snow and appear to have been injured from the fall, not from being buried in snow.

SEABA helicopters flew the skiers to the Haines Airport where ambulances met the patients and transported them to the Haines clinic. Cabanilla was pronounced dead at the clinic. His body was flown to Anchorage for autopsy. The two injured skiers were transported to a Juneau hospital. One of them was later transported to Harborview Medical Center in Juneau. Peters said troopers would not release the type of injuries and are not tracking their condition, but the injuries were initially described as “non-life threatening.”

Troopers are not releasing the names of any of the other skiers involved because they are considered witnesses in the death investigation.

SEABA company officials have not commented since Monday when they said they were mourning the loss of a friend. Cabanilla was employed as a guide with SEABA, but on Sunday, he was not skiing with the group as the lead guide, according to the company and troopers.

Aliy Zirkle greets fans at the ceremonial start of the 2013 Iditarod in Anchorage. Photo by Josh Edge, APRN – Anchorage.

Aaron Burmeister was the first to leave Nikolai for McGrath, checking out at 12:25 p.m. Tuesday.

Last year’s runner up, Aliy Zirkle, followed Burmeister out of Nikolai less than an hour later.

Former Iditarod champions Mitch Seavey and Lance Mackey also departed from Nikolai, at 1:52 p.m. and 2:02 p.m., respectively.

Last year’s winner, Dallas Seavey, checked into Nikolai at 11:19 a.m. Tuesday morning and, as of 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, remains at the checkpoint.

Aaron Burmeister crosses Long Lake as he departs from Willow at the start of the 2013 Iditarod. Photo by Josh Edge, APRN – Anchorage.

Aaron Burmeister, Lance, Mackey, Aliy Zirkle and 14 others are taking a breather at the Nikolai checkpoint.

Burmeister was the first to arrive, checking in at 8:11 a.m. Tuesday morning, with Mackey and Zirkle trailing less than an hour behind.

No one has departed Nikolai for McGrath yet.

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The former principal of Blatchley Middle School in Sitka has been indicted on charges of sexual assault.

A Sitka grand jury on Friday charged 54-year-old Joseph Robidou on six counts of felony sexual assault. He also faces an additional five misdemeanor charges for incidents that allegedly happened beginning last May and as recently as January. All of them involve other adults, and prosecutors say students at the school were not involved.

Three people are listed by their initials in the indictment, but are not named directly. All three are adult women who, during the times of the alleged incidents, worked at Blatchley Middle School. District officials said two are teachers and the third was a substitute teacher who no longer lives in Alaska.

Court documents lay out a variety of charges. They include separate incidents in which Robidou allegedly exposed himself, touched one woman’s breasts or forced others to touch his genitals. He’s also accused of masturbating in front of two women in their empty classrooms, and on separate occasions, doing the same thing at their homes.

In one case, at one of the women’s homes, the court documents state he put his hands around her neck and told her “this would be a lot easier if you were passed out.”

The first accusation came to light one week after Robidou moved from his job at Blatchley to the district office, where he had just been hired as business manager.

Schools Superintendent Steve Bradshaw was in Juneau on Monday, but listened in by phone as KCAW interviewed Mary Wegner, the assistant superintendent of schools.

“There are a lot of rumors saying that he was promoted because of this,” she said, “and we found out afterward. It’s important that the public know that immediately when we found out, we took action to protect our staff, and make sure he did not have access to the schools anymore.”

Robidou became principal at Blatchley in 2008. He left that job on Friday, Jan. 11. He began as business manager the following Monday, Jan. 14. Wegner says at the end of that week, on Jan. 18, one staff member came forward with allegations.

“It was the police investigation that uncovered the second staff member and the substitute teacher,” Wegner said. “We as a district don’t even have a lot of the details. We only know what the one person chose to disclose to me. With the evidence that was presented through her sharing, we immediately turned it over to the police for their investigation, and then stopped our investigation so we weren’t stepping on the police’s toes.”

Wegner and Bradshaw both say Robidou was placed on administrative leave as soon as the allegations were made. He tendered his resignation sometime during that leave, and it was effective March 1.

Sitka attorney Jim McGowan represented Robidou at his arraignment on Friday. He said his client would not comment to reporters on the allegations. Robidou will be represented by Juneau attorney Julie Willoughby for further proceedings. She also declined comment.

Officials from the school district and Assistant District Attorney Jean Seaton all say that as far as they know, students did not witness any of the alleged incidents.

“I know that with the one staff that did disclose to me, she said there were no students that were present, and that her door was locked,” said Wegner, the assistant superintendent. “Her classroom door was locked, but students were in the building.”

The district did not officially say anything to parents, or even most staff members, before Friday’s indictment. Wegner says they told police they wouldn’t go public until the police had concluded their investigation.

Bradshaw says he expects a message will go home to parents soon from current Blatchley Principal Ben White. Wegner says parents with questions should call the district office and talk to her or Bradshaw.

“We would be happy to talk to anybody with the information we have, but at this point, we don’t have a lot of the information either,” she said. “We are working hard to make sure the students and the staff are safe at all times. As soon as we heard about this, within hours, we took action. He was not around staff or students as a result of our knowledge, as soon as we found out.”

Robidou appeared in court Friday for arraignment. He is free on $7,500 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 11.

This year’s Iditarod field includes 13 rookies.  Many of them are very experienced, while just a few are new to the sport.  At least two may have to race all the way to the finish for the Rookie of the Year award.

Fort Yukon’s Josh Cadzow comes from a family of mushers.  He started the Iditarod last year, with high hopes.

“Last year, I didn’t come to expose my dogs to other dogs until a couple weeks before the Iditarod,” Cadzow said.

Kennel Cough eventually turned into pneumonia and Cadzow was forced to scratch 300 miles before the finish line. This year, Cadzow has taken his dogs to a few races to expose them to other teams.  He hasn’t set any specific goals, but he knows what his team can do.

“I’m only 26 but I made a lot of major mistakes already in my mushing career.  Now, I’m just hoping I don’t make any more.  I’m an old 36.  I’ve logged a lot of training miles this year and I think I’ve done everything I can to get this team to do their best,” Cadzow said.

But Cadzow will have to keep an eye out for Joar Lleifesth Ulsom.  The 26-year-old Norwegian brought a few dogs over from Norway this year, but he also has a few wildcards.

“I had some bad luck just a week before the race with some dogs dropping out on me, so I had to take some spare dogs that I had and they’re doing much better than I thought,” Lleifesth Ulsom said.

Lleifseth Ulsom is soft spoken, but extremely driven.  He’s running as part of an educational effort called ‘Racing Beringia.’  As he shoveled spoonfuls of beef stew into his mouth in Rainy Pass, he said he wasn’t paying attention to teams around him, but his competitive nature is likely to keep him up front.

“I don’t have a clue what’s going on, so I’m just running he schedule and taking care of the dogs.  There’s nothing I can do about it and I’m not gonna change my schedule,” Lleifesth Ulsom said.

Both Lleifseth Ulsom and Josh Cadzow say they have a laid back attitude about the trail ahead.  Without the nerves common to rookie mushers it could be a mad dash for Iditarod Rookie of the Year.

Mushers have known since the start that this year’s race is likely to be fast, but many seemed surprised that the blistering pace would pick up so early.  Mushers typically plan to maintain strong teams and take their time along the first third of the trail.

Martin Buser surprised nearly everyone when he arrived in Rainy Pass in the early hours of Monday morning.  At the restart in Willow Sunday, the four time champion said he was happy to leave the chute first.  “For the rest of the filed I would suspect that’s a lot of pressure,” he smiled, “but I rather enjoy it.  I think that’s a perfect schedule for me.” Buser has three decades of Iditarod racing under his belt.  It may have been his plan all along to set a fast pace.  In Willow, he said he was more prepared than he’s ever been. “I should get into the race with a sled that’s set up, a team that’s trained up and equipment that’s kind of fine-tuned.”

Despite 29 previous, Buser’s race has other experienced mushers scratching their heads. “Are you kidding me? 20 hours off the starting line?” exclaims veteran Lance Mackey.  “You gotta be an idiot, but that’s just my opinion.” Mackey moved quickly through Rainy pass, slicing open drop bags as he talked. As he rearranged his cooker, he admitted to at least one major mistake in his own race so far. “I thought I was gonna get in here and have a sixth of my team missing.  Apparently, it was first time switching out leaders and I just had a little mishap.”  Jake Berkowitz arrived just behind Mackey.  Berkowitz helped the four-time champion catch his loose dog.   But it didn’t faze Mackey, who took off down the trail after a short chat with a veterinarian. He doesn’t plan to spend much time in any checkpoint this year.  “I’m blowing through everywhere!” He called as his team took off.  They struggled to get lined out as they trotted across a frozen lake.  Spectators and a number of parked bush planes had dogs veering left and right past the lodge.  Soft, deep snow had Mackey stumbling around as he reoriented his leaders.

Mike Williams, Junior finished in eighth place last year.  The Akiak musher says a soft trailed changed his plan as he made his way for Rainy Pass. “The trail was pretty choppy going into Finger Lake and I knew with not as many dogs teams going through, the trail would be better so I decided to come here,” he says.  As a bush plane took off behind him, Williams, Junior was debating about how to set up his run through the infamous Dalzell Gorge, to Rohn and on into Nickolai.  He says the punchy trail hasn’t affected his dogs.  “They’re handling it really good,” he nods.  “They’re doing better than I thought they would.”

Many mushers spent the afternoon waiting out the heat of the day.  Pete Kaiser, a three time finisher from Bethel says he won’t be looking to change anything up until after the first third of the trail is behind him.
“Maybe later in the race,” he says.  “There will be something different that I do but up until the next few runs, it’s pretty similar to last year.”

Dog care is crucial in the early part of the race.  Ken Anderson had just doled out snacks to his team as Defending champion Dallas Seavey pulled into the yard for some rest nearby.  But the veteran from Fox barely looked up.  Right now, his eyes are on his own dogs. “To me, I could be racing against no one.  To me it’s just getting those dogs to Nome as fast as I can and that’s kind of boring,” he laughs.  “But it does me no good to key off what other people are doing until the end where maybe you might push a little harder than you otherwise would want to,” he says.

Just across the dog yard, a small woman, clad in pink, was organizing dog booties. DeeDee Jonrowe started the Iditarod for the 31st time this year.  She knows better than to think of racing for real before she completes her mandatory 24 hour layover. “This early in the race, I really just need to run what I’ve trained my dogs to do,” says Jonrowe.  “If I start chasing other people’s races, I’ll be just patching other things back together later.”

Mushers starting trickling out of the Rainy Pass dog yard late in the afternoon.  Many of them say they’d like to get healthy, happy dogs to Nickolai, roughly 250 miles into the race.  That’s where they’ll start to look around. With as so teams vying for a top ten finish, it’s too early to tell how things might shake out.

In a late night vote, the Alaska House passed legislation that would change the way water rights are processed. The bill is part of Gov. Sean Parnell’s efforts to overhaul the permitting system, and it’s prompted some criticism from conservation groups like Trout Unlimited.

Rep. Eric Feige, a Republican from Chickaloon, characterizes it as a pro-industry reform package that will help reduce a backlog in permit applications.

“The overall theme of the bill is to bring some more efficiency, bring better service to the public, and to streamline our permitting system,” says Feige. “This goes a long ways to making us more competitive in the world and to help move the resource industry in this state forward.”

The bill gives more power to the head of the natural resources department, authorizing the commissioner to grant general permits for activity on state lands, so long as that activity doesn’t cause irreparable damage. It sets a higher bar for an administrative appeal of a DNR decision by changing the standard from “aggrieved” to “substantially and adversely affected.” The bill also closes off water reservation applications to non-government entities. Right now, Alaska is the only state where individuals can directly petition for specific streams to maintain certain levels of flow.

Opponents of the bill say these changes could put salmon runs at risk. Rep. Andy Josephson, an Anchorage Democrat, says the policy changes might also limit public involvement in mining projects.

“The bill has far-reaching consequences that were not considered or addressed by the only committee of referral, and it has impacts that are not even understood even today,” says Josephson. “One of the significant impacts of this bill will be on the right to water in the Pebble Mine area.”

Democrats introduced four amendments to the bill, including one that would have created some protections for fish habitat. While none of the measures passed, some coastal and Bush members of the majority broke with their caucus to vote for them.

The bill ultimately passed on a 23-14 vote on Monday, with Republicans Alan Austerman and Paul Seaton voting against it. Its counterpart in the Senate is under consideration by the finance committee.

As the Alaska state legislature starts its budget hearings, Sen. Mark Begich is offering his own request: Put $2 billion toward ports infrastructure.

“A system of deep-water Arctic ports across the region will expedite oil and gas development, expanding fishing and mining.”

Begich made his request on Monday, during his annual address to the legislature. He says that money would be matched by $3 billion in federal loans, if his bill to create an Arctic port authority passes Congress. Right now, the closest deepwater port to the Arctic is one thousand miles away in Dutch Harbor. The Army Corps of Engineers is currently looking at how feasible it would be to build one in Nome or Port Clarence.

But it could be a while before the legislature is ready to allocate that kind of money toward ports development. Right now, the legislature is looking at $13 billion budget, with the possibility of tapping the state’s reserves if it grows further. Sen. Kevin Meyer, an Anchorage Republican, is the co-chair of the finance committee.

“It’s a great program, a great idea, but we don’t have two billion dollars sitting around,” says Meyer. “So, that’s going to be a stretch.”

Rep. Alan Austerman, a Kodiak Republican who co-chairs the House finance committee, agrees that it could be five years or more before the legislature starts talking in earnest about constructing ports in the Arctic.

In addition to talking about Arctic development, Begich also called upon the legislature to reinstitute a coastal management program. And he described a suite of education bills that he just introduced in Congress, including one that would increase the child care tax credit.

Begich, a Democrat, also chided the Republican majority he was addressing at a few points in his speech. He called it “unfair” for education to be funded without considering inflation, and he described a bill that tightens current voter identification rules as trying to solve a problem “where none exists.”

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ASD Superintendent Jim Browder prepares to make a statement at the early school board meeting Monday. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.

Anchorage School Superintendent Jim Browder is speaking out publicly for the first time about his decision to look for other jobs. After just 8 months with the Anchorage School District, he announced Friday that he might be moving on.

In the email addressed to staff Friday, Browder announced he was considering leaving the district because one of his daughters and young grandson are experiencing severe medical issues and that he believed it was his responsibility to be closer to them in Georgia. Browder commented for the first time on the situation at the early meeting of the Anchorage School Board Monday.

“I’m still the superintendent of schools, and I’m working everyday in the best interest of ASD students, staff and this board and community,” Browder said. “The board and my administration have a shared vision and a strong strategic plan, Destination 2020.”

“Everyone in this administration and this board and this district is committed to the initiatives and goals within Destination 2020.”

The school board learned Friday that he’s in the running for a job in Des Moines, Iowa. School Board President Jeannie Mackie says Browder had alerted the board that he may need to take time off, about a month ago, to take care of ill family members. But it was news to them that he was applying for other jobs.

“So now we’re in a situation where he is pursuing outside employment, and we will deal with that and move forward,” Mackie said.

Mackie says discussions about finding a possible successor will be addressed this week. Browder replaced longtime Superintendent Carol Comeau in July. He was hired after a more than seven-month-long search that cost the district more than $54,000. Despite the news that he may not fulfill his three-year contract, Mackie says he was the right choice.

“Quite a bit of time was spent on the search. We went over a hundred applications. The board personally read each and every application. We had a search firm that assisted us in that, but for the most part, the board really was engaged in that process and we felt that, and we still feel that Dr. Browder was the right choice. He’s been doing a great job leading our district, and we really do hate to see him have to leave early,” Mackie said.

Over the past eight months Browder has helped the district realign curriculum to the common core standards. Browder makes $180,000  a year. He has not yet submitted an official resignation.

• ASD Superintendent Search

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Air quality in a Fairbanks neighborhood is dramatically cleaner following a court order that shutdown two wood fired boilers.

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Across-the-board federal budget cuts are coming, half from the Department of Defense budget; the other half to other federal agency budgets.

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Two speakers at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce forum on Monday made the case for accepting federal funds to expand Medicaid in the state. They also asked chamber members to speak out on the issue.Last week, Governor Sean Parnell announced he won’t expand Medicaid in the state, at least for now. Valerie Davidson is with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. She was careful not to criticize the Governor’s decision, and was relieved he left the door open to expanding Medicaid in the future:

“Other states who have very conservative governors have made the decision to expand, because frankly it’s just too good a return on investment. Very small modest investment by the state yields pretty significant federal dollars. So I’m hopeful that as the Governor finishes his own analysis that that will point us to opportunities in our state as well,” Davidson said.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium commissioned two independent studies on the costs and benefits of the Medicaid expansion. They show the expansion would offer health insurance to 40,000 Alaskans and pump $1 billion into the state economy over the next 10 years. The federal government will cover 100 percent of the cost of the expansion for the first three years and gradually transition to 90 percent by 2020.

Karen Perdue is President of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. She says the Medicaid expansion would help lower health care premiums for everyone in the state. That’s because fewer people would show up at hospitals unable to pay their bill. It’s called “uncompensated care” and Perdue says that cost is ultimately paid by people who have insurance.

“Who pays for the uncompensated care? A lot of times that cost gets shifted to private employers. So I do think we need to look at that. Not only would hospitals in the communities do better, but what would it mean for private employers,” Perdue said.

Perdue says the Governor should take as much time as he needs to understand the complex issue. The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce hasn’t taken a position yet on the Medicaid expansion, but expects to sometime this month.

Parnell says he plans to revisit the prospect of Medicaid expansion in December, when he rolls out his annual budget proposal.

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There are currently four women running among the top-20 in this year’s Iditarod.  This year’s race could be both extremely fast and extremely competitive.  The women in the race aren’t holding back.

After placing second last year to Dallas Seavey, Aliy Zirkle decided she was no longer just training dogs, but she’d also need to train herself to claim an Iditarod win.

“We decided our lifestyle oughta be a little more fit.  Our dogs are the most fit athletes in the world and standing on the back of the sled like a big lug seemed a little bit unfair,” Zirkle said.

This is Zirkle’s 13th Iditarod.  She has her sights set on a win, but she’s learned that anything can happen on the way to Nome.

“The first 300 miles, I run my own team, because I’ve gotta see what I’ve got,” Zirkle said.

Zirkle has a friendly rivalry with fellow musher Michele Phillips.  The two battled for first place in last month’s Yukon Quest 300, taunting and jeering each other down the trail.  Phillips, from Tagish, Yukon is running her fourth Iditarod.  Her highest place was 16th.

“I’d really like to finish top ten.  That’s my goal, so I hope we accomplish that,” Phillips said.

When asked about the competitive women’s field, Jodi Bailey, who runs dogs out of Chatanika with Dan Kaduce, was surprised to find out people consider her one of the top women.

“I think that might be a slight mistake.  People make that list based on what we have done and accomplished and that’s great, but you need to consider what our goals are for an individual race.  This year Dan and I have a young team we’ve been working on building for the future,” Bailey.

Other women rounding out the field include veteran Kelley Griffin, as well as Jesse Royer who may have lucked out when she decided to train her dogs in the warmer Montana climate.

“It’ll be good for me.  I’ve definitely been training at a lot of 40 above, so it’s not gonna hurt me any,” Royer said.

The 10-day forecast isn’t calling for terribly frigid weather along the Iditarod trail this year.

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Icicle Seafoods’ Adak plant won’t be processing fish this summer.

Icicle didn’t respond to multiple interview requests, but the company’s plant manager told the Adak city council last month that the plant wouldn’t be operating because generating power is too expensive during the slower fishing months.

That’s disappointing news for Pat Davis. He owns the 48-foot F/V Cascade, and fishes for halibut and black cod near Adak. He says being able to deliver to the Icicle plant saved him a 450-mile run each way to Unalaska.

“It’s just a beautiful thing, you’re not under the gun, you can kind of fish at your leisure. Fish as hard as you want, or take a day off.”

This summer, he’s anticipating a more rushed schedule, since the trip to Unalaska takes at least three days, and most processors want halibut and black cod delivered within seven days of being caught.

“Once you start, you’re going to have to go for it, or you’ll end up coming back to town with half a load, instead of what you should be getting.”

Less fish and more fuel means less money for fishermen. But they aren’t the only ones that will impacted by the closure. The Icicle plant is one of the few industries on the island, and the primary source of tax revenue for the city of Adak. City manager Layton Lockett says the closure could reduce tax revenues for the year by 20 to 30 percent.

“It will be painful. However, based on experiencing the complete closure of the fish processing plant — the situation wouldn’t be new.”

In 2009, the company that used to own the plant went bankrupt, and it was shuttered until Icicle bought it in the spring of 2011. Lockett  says the impact of this summer’s closure will be spread out over several years because of the way state fisheries landing taxes are distributed.

“There will be a delay. Which will help lessen the pain of a seasonal closure, which we expect only to really occur this year. We don’t expect that in the future.”

Lockett says Icicle has assured the city it’s working to reducing its energy costs so the plant can stay open year-round.

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Moving from urban anywhere to rural Alaska can be a tough transition – some newcomers don’t last long, worn down by the long winters or a feeling of isolation.  Others stay, sometimes for years.  Len Anderson talked to some Northwest Alaska residents to find out what makes the difference.

For 30 years Irma Mitchell has been the secretary at the Shungnak village school.  She’s seen a lot of teachers come and go. Some quit after one year, maybe two.

As for longer term principals….

“What makes a good principal is, they just do learn our culture and learn our kids, the village.  And they come back and they’re four, five years, some principals.

Last spring, Hans Boenish and his wife, Bonnie, finished a long career of bush teaching.

“It’s really, really important—I can’t emphasize this enough—that you get out and see what’s going on out in the community.  Go down and fish, take a boat ride.  Get to know people outside of the school system,” Boenish said.

They began in Noorvik in 1978, then Shungnak, taught in Grayling and moved back to Shungnak for their final three years. Hans’s advice comes from his own early years.

“We lived in village housing, in a cabin down by the river, and so much goes on down by the river and so many decisions get made down there.  Decisions get made on the riverbank.  They don’t get made necessarily in offices,” Boenish said.

Boenish adds by getting out with the people, being a decent person, the newcomer reaps an additional reward.

“Particularly in the bush, you might make mistakes, but if your intentions are good and people know you’re really giving it your all, doing your best and you really doing what’s best for kids, they’ll allow you a lot of mistake. It’s a forgiving culture,” Boenish said.

Doug Neal has lived 25 years in the Northwest Alaska hub community of Kotzebue. For 19 years he’s worked for OTZ Telephone Cooperative and is now executive director.

“I know one of the challenges that non-Natives have coming have when they come to Kotzebue is that most of them are too. It seems like too many of them are just coming up to make money and then get…leave as soon as they can.  And of course, if you live anywhere and all you’re doing is going back and forth between where you work and where you live—I don’t care if it’s Kotzebue or some urban part of the country—you’re going to get burnt out on that location pretty fast,” Nealsaid.

Neal says he’s always eager to help people break the isolation of work and home.

“I had a teacher friend bring a new teacher out to my little cabin, which is about 15 miles out of Kotzebue, and they just spent the day over there and had dinner over there.  It’s in the trees.  It’s a lovely little spot.  And the teacher who had been here for years said, ‘You know, if we could get the new teachers out here one time and see how much fun it is to be out in a place like this so close to Kotzebue, teacher retention would go way up,’” Neal said.

Neal says a recent school district survey supports that observation.

After 25 years north of the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Neal still likes his work.  He thoroughly enjoys the people.  But most of all, there’s the land.

“For me it’s the wild country.  And there are just not too many places you can live where you’re just surrounded by millions of acres, millions of acres of just wild country that…I mean the rivers don’t have any dams on them.  It’s roadless.   It’s just beautiful, untouched wilderness.  And you just can’t find that anyplace else.  Or it’s hard to find at anyplace else…. I mean it’s fun to live in a place where 400,000 caribou migrate within the region each year.  And where at different times of the year the fish are so plentiful and the birds so plentiful and the big game is so plentiful.  So that’s just something really, really special.   You just can’t get that anyplace else.” Neal said.

Neal gazes out his office window,  past the buildings lining the shore to the frozen sound and the low mountains beyond.  ”I love this little community,” he says.  I fell in love with it when I first came here and 25 years later, I still do.”

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Martin Buser at the 2013 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage. Photo by Patrick Yack, APRN – Anchorage.

Martin Buser and Matt Failor have both checked into Rohn, arriving at 9:53 a.m. and 2:11 p.m. respectively.

Fifteen other mushers, including Paul Gebhardt, Lance Mackey, Aliy Zirkle, Jeff King and John Baker are currently between the Rainy Pass and Rohn checkpoints.

Defending Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey and 2013 Yukon Quest champion Allen Moore have both checked into Rainy Pass.

One person is dead and two are injured after a backcountry skiing accident near Haines on Sunday.

The Haines Police Department received an ambulance call Sunday afternoon to the Haines Airport where a helicopter brought an injured skier. The skier was transported to the Haines clinic where he was pronounced dead. Two injured skiers were also brought to the clinic. Haines police notified Alaska State Troopers, who is the lead investigating agency on the incident. A trooper arrived in Haines from Juneau on Monday, according to trooper spokesperson Megan Peters.

“He’s been trying to do interviews; he was able to fly over the area to see it. He has a couple more interviews lined up before he leaves town and has to get back to Juneau,” Peters said.

Troopers identified the deceased as 34-year-old Christian Cabanilla of Haines.

Cabanilla is a guide with Haines heliski company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures. But company owner, Scott Sundberg, said Monday Cabanilla was skiing recreationally with a group of skiers, and he was not the official guide of the group.

Sundberg said the two injured skiers were in stable condition on Monday. Both were medevaced to Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau and one of the skiers was later sent to the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The group of five was skiing as part of a commercial tour with the company just west of Haines when the incident occurred, according to Sundberg. He said reports indicate the incident might have been caused by a massive cornice failure, but not an avalanche. Troopers’ preliminary findings are similar, Peters said.

“And from what it sounds like, they were traversing an area and snow collapsed from under them, but I don’t know how far the fall was,” Peters said.

Cabanilla’s biography on the company’s website says he is an international backcountry snowboard guide working in Alaska, Chilean Patagonia and Antarctica with more than a decade of experience in the Alaska heli-ski industry. It says he is also a commercial helicopter pilot in Alaska. He is originally from Vasalia, Calif.

This is Haines third heliskiing fatality in two years. Last year a guide and skier were killed in a March avalanche while skiing with a different company.

Martin Buser is maintaining his lead, checking into Rohn at 9:53 a.m. Monday. Matt Failor, who is also running a team of Buser’s dogs, is in second place, approaching the halfway point between Rainy Pass and Rohn.

Aliy Zirkle, Justin Savidis, DeeDee Jonrowe and Michelle Phillips remain in Rainy Pass.

Former Iditarod champ Martin Buser took an early lead in this year’s big race, according to official race standings. He was in and out of Rainy Pass about 5:40 Monday morning.

Racing behind Buser were the two Mackeys, Lance and his brother, Jason. They were in and out of Finger Lake early Monday. Lance, about 4:21; Jason about 4:41.  Prior to the beginning of the race on Sunday, Jason said his previous Iditarod starts had been “camping trips,” but this year he was out to win.

Aliy Zirkle led the field of women mushers. She was running in sixth place overall and was out of Finger Lake about 5:50 Monday morning.

Defending champion Dallas Seavey was in 17th place in and out of Skwentna.

A subcommittee in the legislature is looking to shave money from early education programs.

The group tasked with looking at the Department of Education and Early Development in the House rolled out their recommendations on Thursday, and their cuts to pre-school programs amount to $1 million. The reductions make up almost a fifth of the early education funding included in the governor’s budget.

The pre-kindergarten program saw the biggest cut, with its funding reduced by $480,000. The education subcommittee also made the program’s $2 million allocation a one-time amount, with the intention to reconsider program funding next year.

“That’s a pretty significant hit to pre-K programs,” says Michael Hanley, commissioner of Education and Early Development.

The program was created in 2009 as a pilot, and it serves 13 schools across the state. Most of those schools are in rural Alaska. Hanley says that the cut could shrink the program by 135 children and that at least one district’s pre-school program could close as a result.

Funding for Best Beginnings — a childhood literacy program — was brought down by $137,500. The Parents as Teachers program, which trains families to do pre-school activities at home, was reduced by $242,500. The subcommittee recommends both be funded at $800,000.

Rep. Tammie Wilson, a North Pole Republican, chairs the subcommittee. She says she supports early education, but doesn’t want the state to commit to paying for new programs with the state’s revenue projected to decline.

“As our oil keeps reducing, we’re getting to a point that we need to make some serious looks at everything in the budget. So, we took a close look at teaching and learning, which is the biggest portion of education, which has anything to do with pre-kindergarten programs,” says Wilson. “We didn’t go across the board for them, but there was quite a bit of new programs that the department asked for.”

Wilson has targeted the early education programs for cuts in past years, and attempted to cut the pre-K pilot program’s $2 million budget entirely in 2011. She has previously expressed concern that some of the state’s early education programs could be duplicative — especially with the federal Head Start program — and she cited redundancy as a reason for shrinking the pre-school budget.

But those programs have different objectives, says Education Commissioner Michael Hanley.

“That would sure be erroneous on our part if we actually were providing two services to one child, but I don’t know how you enroll a child in two pre-school programs at the same time,” says Hanley.

Another one of Wilson’s issues with the governor’s departmental budget was that the expansion of public pre-school could hurt private sector daycare programs.

“Should we also be competing with the ones that are completely private by starting new daycares and new pre-schools using state funding while other parents are having to pay for it,” says Wilson. “That’s where the discussion needs to be.”

Rep. Harriet Drummond, an Anchorage Democrat, opposes the cuts, and she introduced multiple amendments to keep the funding during the subcommittee’s closeout. She questions the idea that these early education programs are competing with the private sector.

“How’s that going to happen? You’re talking about some pretty remote places here, that don’t have cash economies, don’t have a tax base to ask their taxpayers for more money to fund these programs” says Drummond. “I don’t know where this funding is supposed to come from.”

Drummond also argues that the funding early education programs saves the state money in the long run in remedial education and public safety costs.

Hanley says that Alaska’s pre-school program has performed particularly well. Of the students who were enrolled in the program in 2011 and 2012, 80 percent of them exceeded expectations for vocabulary development and showed anywhere from one month to two year’s extra growth from the time they were first assessed. The department’s three-year report on the program also showed substantial improvement in motor skills and concept development.

“Our pre-K programs have some of the highest results in the country,” says Hanley. “But when it comes to access, we have some of the lowest access rates in the country. Fewer kids have access to pre-K than almost every other state. So, that’s a challenge we have, and we exacerbate that especially when we see cuts.”

The subcommittee recommendations will now be reviewed by House finance. Hanley says that the Department of Education and Early Development will push for the funding to be restored.

In total, the House education and early development trimmed the governor’s departmental budget by 1.6 percent, or $5.7 million.