Alaska News Daily Brief, Sunday, November 1

Alaska News, Sunday, November first. A federal judge has the first word this morning, and after that the choices pass to local hands: two assemblies, a city council and the Board of Fisheries.

0:14Judge rules ICE's policy discouraging detention of pregnant women isn't binding

A federal judge in Anchorage has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, isn't bound by its own policy against detaining pregnant women. That means the agency can still hold a pregnant woman in custody. The policy dates to 2021. It says ICE generally should not detain people known to be pregnant, postpartum or nursing, unless the law bars their release or there are exceptional circumstances. Under a 1954 Supreme Court decision, federal agencies have to follow their own binding rules. So the question was whether this one counts. U.S. District Judge Aaron Peterson said it doesn't. He pointed to the words generally and should. He wrote that ICE would have used something firmer, like shall, if it meant to limit itself. He also noted the policy calls itself internal guidance that creates no right anyone can enforce in court. The case goes back to March. ICE took a woman to its Anchorage office and learned during processing that she was pregnant. A supervisor then asked whether she could be cared for. First he asked the women's prison in Eagle River. Then he asked the detention center in Tacoma. She went to court before any transfer. At 2:40 in the morning, another federal judge blocked ICE from moving her out of Alaska. She was released 3 days after she was picked up. Judge Peterson found ICE could detain her again. His ruling doesn't decide whether ICE followed its policy in her case. Judges in Wisconsin and Louisiana applied the same 1954 decision this year and ordered nursing and postpartum women released.

1:48Juneau memo puts glacial flood fight at $933,965 a year, plus barrier upkeep

In Juneau, the city now has a number for what it costs just to keep fighting the glacial floods every year. City Manager Katie Koester and Finance Director Angie Flick put it at nine hundred thirty-three thousand nine hundred sixty-five dollars a year. On top of that, the flood barriers along the Mendenhall River need about one point two million dollars a year in upkeep and repairs. That yearly figure covers about 2 weeks of emergency response once Suicide Basin fills. Suicide Basin is the glacial basin that fills with water and then releases it in an outburst flood down the Mendenhall River. The figure also covers year-round work like pump testing, barrier inspections and public updates. And it covers the city's share of the long-term work with the Army Corps of Engineers. The memo says flood preparation and response in twenty twenty-five and 2026 were paid for mostly by pulling money from other parts of the city's general funds. A small group of Juneau Assembly members recommends putting six hundred thirty-two thousand fifty dollars of new money into the 2028 budget. Today's barriers hold back flows up to 63,500 cubic feet per second. That protects 1,456 buildings worth eight hundred forty million dollars. The Corps' most likely worst case would reach 2,265 buildings worth one point five billion dollars. Voters last month turned down raising the city's property tax cap. That limits the city's room to raise money. The Assembly gets the memo Monday evening, but no decisions are due until a budget retreat on November twenty-first.

3:37Defense Department official who toured JBER dorms says poor housing drains readiness

At the Defense Department, a top official says moldy, leaky military housing is hurting the force. And the department illustrated his speech with a photo from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, known as JBER. Dale Marks oversees military installations. He spoke to a defense communities convention this past week. He said bad living conditions drain morale, readiness and the military's ability to keep good people. He named black mold, failing plumbing and leaky roofs. The photo showed Marks touring JBER's Polaris Hall dorms in August twenty twenty-five. An airman guided him and talked with him about housing quality. The department didn't say what shape Polaris Hall is in, or whether it's due for repairs. Housing at JBER is already tight. In August, family housing on base was about 98 percent full, according to a resolution before the Anchorage Assembly. The Air Force buildup in Alaska could add roughly 1,050 more people, though not all of them would land at JBER. None of these problems are new. A 2023 federal audit found barracks across the country with sewage overflows, broken fire systems and mold. Marks also promoted a prototype base that could run for 30 days on its own power, including a small nuclear reactor.

4:56Board of Fisheries to weigh pushing commercial nets back from the Homer Spit

He said those systems would go to older bases once they're proven. Quickly, around the state. In Homer, the Board of Fisheries will weigh moving commercial nets farther from the Spit, possibly as far as a mile out. The proposals say the nets sit in the way of boats heading into the harbor. The board makes its final decision at a meeting in Seward,

5:18Appeals send both Woodland Subdivision short-term rental permits to Kenai City Council

December first through 4. In Kenai, both short-term rental permits for the Woodland Subdivision are headed to the City Council. City planners approved them October fourteenth. Appeals were filed on both, so council members will sit as the Board of Adjustment. They can reverse, send back, uphold or modify each permit.

5:38Assembly to weigh a helipad for military helicopters at the Port of Alaska

The Anchorage Assembly votes Wednesday on a helipad at the Port of Alaska. It would let Army and Air Force helicopters deploy straight through the port.

5:50Cook Inlet Tribal Council seeks a bigger K'teya center for the same $36.5 million

The deal is worth up to three point nine million dollars. Cook Inlet Tribal Council has restarted its search for a builder for the K'teya Cultural Center in east Anchorage. It now wants a bigger building, with more included, for the same thirty-six point five million dollars.

6:04Regulators cut Manley Hot Springs power surcharge and let utility count its solar

In Manley Hot Springs, power bills are coming down. Starting November first, state regulators are cutting the utility's fuel surcharge by about forty-three dollars a month for a typical home. They're also letting the utility count the solar power it already makes.

6:19Kodiak sea cucumber divers get a 13-day opening after forecasts show no gale warnings

Around Kodiak, sea cucumber divers get a 13-day opening, because the forecast showed no gale warnings. It's a much smaller fishery than it was. Fifty divers worked it in nineteen ninety-three. In the 2023 to 2024 season,

6:36Wrap-up

8 permits fished it. Beyond the brief this morning: the windstorm that knocked out power across Anchorage and the Mat-Su, and regulators letting ENSTAR borrow gas from MEA to shore up winter storage. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories, and more, are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Sunday, November first, twenty twenty-six.