Alaska News Daily Brief, Monday, October 19

Alaska News, Monday, October nineteenth. State offices are closed for Alaska Day, and among this morning's items is one you might not expect: a Wisconsin group telling Alaskans which senator to leave blank.

0:14Anchorage warned a private plan reviewer who missed 'egregious' safety risks

Snow is building in the eastern Interior, rain is lining up for Southeast, and in Anchorage, one private reviewer missed serious problems in building plans. Anchorage lets approved private reviewers check building plans in place of city staff. A city report says one of those reviewers missed multiple egregious risks to people's safety. Some plans were missing fire-resistant construction. In others, the path that carries earthquake and wind forces down to the foundation was broken. City officials met with the reviewer and reminded them they could lose their approval. The report doesn't name the reviewer. It also doesn't say whether any of those projects got permits or were built. The report explains how this happens. Contractors usually pick the reviewer, based on how fast they work and whether they agree with the comments. Building Official Greg Soule and Engineering Services Manager Daniel King wrote that reviewers have a reason to keep comments few so they hold on to clients. Most private reviews are for houses. People who design homes don't need a professional license, so the reviewer is a key check. The city checked 16 home plan reviews in the year ending June first. Two failed structural review, and five needed corrections. Right now, the city can only drop a reviewer by leaning on a rule about fraud. Soule and King want the Assembly to let the city act on incompetence or lack of knowledge, without proving bad intent. Reviewers could still appeal. The report goes to the Assembly tomorrow. The rules allowing private review expire at the end of twenty twenty-six, and the building department wants them made permanent.

1:52Winter storm could drop up to 3 feet in Isabel Pass, with Fairbanks totals uncertain

In the eastern Interior, a winter storm is getting going that could bury Isabel Pass in 2 to 3 feet of snow. That's where the Richardson Highway crosses the Alaska Range between Delta Junction and Paxson. The National Weather Service in Fairbanks upgraded its watches to warnings Sunday afternoon. Above 2,500 feet in the eastern Alaska Range, forecasters expect 18 to 36 inches by early Thursday. The warning says travel there could be very difficult to impossible. Wind comes first. South gusts up to 65 miles an hour are expected in Isabel Pass until 10 tonight. Then, at times, snow could fall faster than an inch an hour from tonight through tomorrow night. Along the Alaska Highway, the heaviest snow could land between Tanacross and Dot Lake, with 12 to 18 inches. Delta Junction is looking at 6 to 12. Fairbanks is the hard call. The borough and Nenana are under a watch for 4 to 8 inches from tomorrow morning through Wednesday afternoon. But forecasters are leaning toward the heaviest snow landing near Eielson. Some guidance shows 6 to 8 inches at Eielson and about 2 in Fairbanks. The watch says a 30 mile shift east or west makes a drastic difference. Healy could top 6 inches. The weather service wants drivers carrying a flashlight, food, water and warm clothes, and checking the state's road conditions site before heading out.

3:29Diabetes program funding 22 Alaska tribal health groups faces a Dec. 31 deadline

For tribal health care around the state, a federal diabetes program that pays for prevention and treatment at 22 Alaska tribal health organizations loses its authority at the end of the year unless Congress renews it. The Special Diabetes Program for Indians started in nineteen ninety-seven. This year, the 22 Alaska groups share about ten point five million dollars. Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel get about one point nine million dollars each. The Native Village of Eyak in Cordova and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe get twenty-five thousand dollars each. Last Thursday, the Indian Health Service added about two hundred thirty-three thousand dollars to its contract with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which helps those programs across Alaska. That's about half the amount it has usually added each year. Diagnosed diabetes among Alaska Native people rose 21% from two thousand nine to 2019. Rates ranged from 3.7% in the Norton Sound region to 11% on Annette Island. Nationally, kidney failure caused by diabetes among American Indian and Alaska Native people fell 54% from nineteen ninety-nine to 2013. Congress gave the program two hundred million dollars for the last fiscal year. Then it added fifty million dollars to cover October through December. The National Council of Urban Indian Health says that without a renewal, the money can't legally keep flowing starting January 1st. Senators Susan Collins and Jeanne Shaheen have a bill to renew it. There's a matching bill in the House.

5:06Petersburg voters approve up to $3.3 million to finish a backup diesel generator

Now, quickly, around the state. Petersburg voters approved up to three point three million dollars for a backup diesel generator, 709 to 366. The borough says its standby power would otherwise fall short.

5:23Flood watch issued for Juneau, Gustavus and Yakutat ahead of stronger Tuesday storm

In Southeast, a flood watch covers Juneau, Gustavus and Yakutat from this evening through late tomorrow as a stronger storm moves in. Yakutat could get 4 to 6 inches of rain. Isolated landslides are possible in steep terrain.

5:39Anchorage Assembly to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day and welcome AFN delegates Tuesday

The Anchorage Assembly takes up two resolutions tomorrow. One recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day. The other welcomes delegates to the 60th Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Thursday.

5:53Cook Inlet Tribal Council offers career skills classes toward certification

Cook Inlet Tribal Council is offering classes in time management and decision making. They count toward the council's job skills certificate, called the ARCTIC Workforce Certification. Anyone registered with the council can take them.

6:06Wisconsin-based super PAC reports $710K urging Alaskans to leave Sullivan blank

A Wisconsin super PAC, a political group paying for ads and mail, has reported spending seven hundred ten thousand dollars in Alaska's Senate race. It hasn't named any donors. Alaska voters rank the candidates on their ballot. This group's ads tell them to rank Republican Gerald Heikes first and leave Senator Dan Sullivan's name blank.

6:30State offices close Monday for Alaska Day; Indigenous Peoples Day is not a paid holiday

State offices are closed today for Alaska Day, which marks the 1867 transfer from Russia to the United States. Indigenous Peoples Day fell on October 12th this year. State law doesn't make it a paid holiday.

6:43Helicopters will service the Seward Peninsula's snow stations as the first snow arrives

On the Seward Peninsula, the federal government hired Bering Air to fly technicians out to the automated snow gauges. The first snow of the season is showing up on those gauges now. Driving Isabel Pass this week? Check the state's road conditions site first, and carry food, water and warm clothes. The building review report goes to the Assembly tomorrow. Also out today: Senator Heinrich blocked Sullivan's Arctic Refuge leasing bill, and proposed Moose Range rules would limit target shooting to areas that don't exist yet. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Monday, October nineteenth, twenty twenty-six.