April 13, 2016 - Glacier City Gazette

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VOLUME 1 / ISSUE 5
glaciercitygazette.net
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016
LOCALLY OWNED AND PRODUCED IN GIRDWOOD, ALASKA
Kieffer Christianson
wins Giant Slalom
gold at U.S. Nationals
Page 6
Head on collision avoided
as truck leaves road
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
“I hope to have an opportunity to talk to him or
make a statement to him
at some point. I’m really
concerned that he won’t
understand the impact of
his action. It’s stupid stuf,
kid stuf, except that he
almost killed me. It would
have been a diferent day
if he had hit me as far as
people are concerned. It
was just by the sheerest
chance that he did not.”
– Elizabeth Watney, the
woman who was a moment away from a head on
collision with a young man
suspected in the Girdwood
Easter Sunday break-ins.
Doug Lindstrand / Special to the Glacier City Gazette
A truck is about to be extricated after leaving the road and crashing to a halt near mile
104.7 on the Seward Highway. The driver
is suspected of being connected with the
break-ins of Girdwood businesses earlier that
morning.
On Easter Sunday morning, while three Girdwood
businesses were assessing
the damage from break-ins,
they were unaware that the
suspect had crashed at 8:13
a.m. at mile 104.7 in Indian.
When it was reported that
the responding trooper was
delayed to investigate a black,
2003 GMC Sierra pick-up
truck going off the road,
See back page
Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
The pussy willows are starting to bloom around Turnagain Arm.
Easter Sunday morning business breakins
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
In the 3:50 a.m. darkness of Easter Sunday morning, a
young man was standing outside the window at the Girdwood Tesoro. He was looking through the front window,
watching the clerk, while waiting for the right moment.
When the male clerk was preoccupied and not watching the
entrance, the young man took his chance. He quickly entered
Tesoro, jumped the liquor store partition, grabbed an 18pack of Natural Light beer and without being noticed placed
it in the arctic entry.
Then the young man reentered Tesoro. This time the
clerk saw him acting suspiciously and began monitoring. The
young man appeared intoxicated as he moved around the
store placing items in his baseball hat. When the clerk asked
to see what was in the young man’s hat, ice cream was found
hidden inside. The young man was asked to leave and off he
went into the early morning.
At 4:22 a.m., Michael Flynn left his garage by bicycle on his
ride to The Bake Shop, which he owns with his wife Stepha-
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PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
ANCHORAGE, AK
PERMIT NO. 26
ECRWSS
Postal Customer
nie. Flynn pedals to work no matter what the conditions are,
and he does so on the opposite side of the road to see oncoming traffic and to avoid cars passing him too closely on the
right hand side of the Alyeska Highway. He wears three lights
(two are strobes), a yellow vest and tire reflectors for visibility. Shortly into his ride, somewhere between Ruane Road
and Slack Tide Gallery, he heard a vehicle rapidly approaching behind him.
“As I was riding along the side of the highway,” Flynn said,“I
heard this vehicle coming behind me. I turned around to see
the headlights. As it approached, it was moving quite quickly,
maybe about 80 mph. It was a pickup truck, dark in color, and
it was missing a taillight.”
Flynn was relieved to be riding on the wrong side of the
road because the outcome could have been much worse.
“Thank goodness it was heading into Girdwood towards
the Crow Creek Mercantile,” Flynn said. “Thank goodness
I’m on the opposite side of the road. He was kicking up dust
along the shoulder, doing a little zig-zag. I thought to myself,
“He’s going to go around the corner, and he’s going to be in
the ditch.”
The truck stayed on the road and proceeded into Girdwood.
About a minute later, Flynn said another vehicle passed him
going about 60 mph. He also noticed there was a lot of activity
for that time of day.
“In two places, there were kids in the woods hollering and
screaming, so obviously there was a party somewhere in the
vicinity because there were an unusual number of people out
early in the morning.”
At around 4:30 a.m., the young man is suspected of smashing open a door window at Crow Creek Mercantile, but he
did not gain entry. The incident was reportedly captured on
video, and the driver was operating a dark pickup truck with
a broken taillight. When asked for comment, Mercantile employees said they were placed under a strict media gag order,
and its corporate office refused to answer multiple calls.
Around the same time of the Mercantile break in, the young
man is also suspected of using a large rock to break open the
glass doors of Coast Pizza and The Great Alaskan Tourist
Trap. The Girdwood Alaska State Troopers post is located
See back page
Proposition 9 on policing undecided after vote
By Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
After months of public meetings and discussion over Proposition 9, Girdwood residents voted in the Municipal election on April 5 to decide
whether or not to tax themselves to form a new
police service area. The vote was a response to
the Alaska State Troopers pulling out of the Girdwood post on June 30, 2016.
A final tally of the vote has not yet been certified. The Municipality’s unofficial count of ballots
yielded a result of 375 against and 369 for Proposition 9. Girdwood has 1,833 registered voters
and 748 votes were cast, which means there was a
40.80% turnout on Election Day.
There are still questioned ballots and some absentee ballots that need to be reviewed by the
Municipality. On Thursday, April 14 at City Hall
starting at 5:30, the Election Commission will hold
a public session to canvass the questioned ballots to
determine their validity. The public is welcome to
attend. The ballots that are validated will be counted on Friday, April 15. On April 19, the Anchorage
Assembly will certify the election results.
In Girdwood Valley Service Area Seat C, Robert Snitzer has 321 votes and William Chadwick
has 289.
The Girdwood Volunteer Fire & Rescue Inc.
Board of Directors had two seats up for election.
For Seat B, Ben Habecker won 181 votes over
Nick Georgelos’ 123. With Seat E Deb Essex had
265 votes with 0 Write-in votes against.
At the Public Safety Task Force meeting on
April 7 after the election, the Community Room
was full. There was active discussion about
whether the task force should continue with
its mission or back off if Proposition 9 is voted
down. The community members in the room
voted unanimously for the PSTF to continue its
work, even if the vote is no. The resolution will
be given to the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at
the April 18 meeting.
Glacier City Gazette
Page 2
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
To the Editor
>> IN THIS ISSUE
Editor’s Note: At 8:13 a.m. on Sunday,
March 27, 2016, Elizabeth Watney was
driving south on the Seward Highway at
mile 104.7 when she nearly collided head
on with a northbound pickup truck that
was out of control and left the road. The
incident is still under investigation by
Alaska State Troopers, and no charges
have been iled. She was the irst person
to respond to the injured young man,
and she hopes he realizes the consequences of his actions.
surrounded you with kindness and
care. I hope you will take all of this
experience, the fear and hurt, and the
love to your heart. I hope you will use
it to act on your problems and make
the most of your precious life.
Dear young man,
As of this writing, it is not yet
known if Proposition 9 passed or
failed. We know it will pass or fail by
a razor thin margin. This split down
the middle indicates to me that if it
passes, we need to take the time to
work through the objections presented by the no vote before we rush into
any contracts. Buy-in from only half
the community isn’t much of a mandate to base a successful public safety
program.
Let us not worry about what happens on July 1. Concentrating on
long-term outcomes should be our
goal, even if it means raising money
for a survey or more town hall meetings.
If Proposition 9 fails, the GBOS,
at the behest of a Community Room
informal vote, will likely lobby the
Governor and legislature to keep the
Girdwood Trooper Post open. The
resolution might say that as a gateway
community with more than 300,000
visitors a year, located on a busy and
most dangerous highway, Girdwood
can not be solely responsible for the
safety of these visitors. In fact, it is a
DPS responsibility.
My opinion is that quicker response
times, local control and accountability
My name is Elizabeth. We could
have died together on the Seward
Highway on Easter Sunday morning.
You were hurtling sideways, out of
control, toward me when a second
before impact you scraped the guard
rail and went over the side. If you had
hit me, the combined impact of our
vehicles may have been double that of
you hitting the train track.
I am grateful that we both somehow survived your actions.
Because only you and I were there,
I am worried that you (and those addressing your actions) might not even
know of this event and might miss the
extreme seriousness. I am worried for
you and for the rest of us this episode
will be written off as “just a teenage
drinking spree,” involving relatively
minor thefts, with your accident and
injuries serving as “lesson learned and
consequence enough.” You crashed
into my day, young man, and nearly
took my life.
I helped and comforted you out
there. So did the woman you had just
passed so quickly. You told us your
name and your mother’s phone number and she was called. A lot of people
Elizabeth Watney
are well worth the 1.18 mills. These
items will never be forthcoming from
the troopers. It is my hope that a few
years down the road, Girdwood will
have its own modest public safety
program and cooperative agreements
with Whittier, Turnagain Arm communities and AST.
Regards,
Lou Theiss
To the Editor,
Jack Sprat
Owner Frans Weits is used
to hosting beer dinners...
Page 4
Free Seeds
Girdwood’s Gerrish Branch
Library will host...
Page 5
Frozen in Time
A look back at the week
that was...
Page 5
U.S. Nationals
Kieffer Christianson took
first in the Men’s Giant...
Page 6
Sights of Spring
Photos taken throughout
Turnagain Arm...
Page 7
Cannabis Farm
Hope could have a new industry moving into town...
Page 8
To the Editor,
Glacier Valley Transit, Girdwood’s
public transportation system, is seeking Board Members for two open
seats on the Board of Directors. GVT
enhances the mobility of the entire
community by providing affordable
and reliable transportation to workers, residents and visitors to their destinations.
We are seeking community members interested in helping this 501c
(3) nonprofit entity to grow in to a
more sustainable community service.
Board meetings are conducted on
the 3rd Wednesday of each month at
8:30 a.m. If you are interested in applying or would like more information about the open seat, please send
your resume and cover letter to info@
glaciervalleytransit.com no later than
April 30, 2016.
Current board members are Dana
Stahla, Carol Makar, Ryan Donovan
and Mandy Hawes. We would like to
thank Di Whitney for her many years
of service to Glacier Valley Transit.
Thank You.
Glacier Valley Transit
+ Organic Program Opportunities – p. 9
+ Tesoro Mall Disturbance – p. 10
+ Apology to Girdwood Businesses – p. 11
20 Years Experience in Girdwood
For your new home, or next remodeling project,
build with someone who will give you quality
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(907) 382-6465
schubertgeneralcontracting.com
Glacier City Gazette
© 2016 Roaming Wolverine Media, LLC
We cover the communities of Rainbow,
Indian, Bird Creek, Crow Creek, Girdwood,
Portage, Whittier, Moose Pass, Cooper
Landing, Hope and South Anchorage.
Published the second and fourth
Wednesdays of the month
Email:
[email protected]
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1903
Girdwood, Alaska 99587
Marc Donadieu – Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Matthew Bailey – Graphic Designer/Webmaster
Marlene Buccione – Chief Photographer
SK Malone – Staff Writer/Hope News
Lauren di Scipio Kinsner – Staff Writer/Photographer
P.M. Fadden – Staff Writer
Volume 1, Issue 5 | April 13, 2016
Glacier City Gazette
Aroy-D brings Thai food to Girdwood
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
Nong Hastanane was
raised in a family that still
owns and cooks in Thai
restaurants. His family first
opened a Thai restaurant
in Los Angeles in 1972,
and then opened another
after moving to Anchorage in 1988. He used to
work at their place Lahn
Pad Thai, on Abbott near
Dairy Queen in South Anchorage, until he decided to
open a food truck next to
Girdwood’s Town Square
Park on the Laundromall
property. He still returns to
Lahn Pad Thai almost daily
to prepare his curries and
borrow ingredients if he
can’t find them anywhere
else.
Hastanane’s food truck
first started in the spring
of 2014, and it was well received by locals and visitors
alike. The name Aroy-D
means delicious in Thai. He
took the 2015 season off to
handle family matters after
Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
Nong Hastanane sears marinated chicken sate
for a taco in his food truck next to the Laundromall and Town Square Park in Girdwood.
his wife passed away from
breast cancer. Their now
16-year old daughter works
the food truck on weekends. He recently reopened
for the 2016 season, and he
is excited to be back. He enjoys having his food truck
in Girdwood because every
day is different in an unexpectedly pleasant way.
During my visit he prepared his latest special, a
chicken sate taco served in
a small flour tortilla, and
dressed with cucumber
salad and peanut sauce. His
decision to pair traditional
Thai recipes with a traditional Mexican ingredient
makes for an interesting
combination. For reasons
Hastanane did not know,
Thai chicken sate is traditionally served with toasted
white bread, which isn’t
exactly traditional to Thai
cuisine but is popular.
With recent food trends
such as Korean tacos, the
idea to put something Thai
into a tortilla seemed like a
logical leap that would appeal to customers.
The chicken sate has the
taste of delicately marinated and seared meat. The cucumber salad has a pleasant
tang that compliments the
chicken. The warm, thin
peanut sauce is what unites
the chicken, salad and flour
tortilla. The peanut sauce
projects a mild savory flavor, a light acidity and
bright seasoning in a nicely
balanced way. Aroy-D offers two chicken or beef
sate tacos for $8.
As the interview and
photo session concluded,
two guys approached the
Thai food truck. After reviewing the menu, they
ordered the beef sate and
chicken sate tacos in a
mixed order so they could
try each one. Now it’s your
turn.
Page 3
April Live Music
SILVERTIP
Fri. 15 – Steve Norwood
Sat. 16 – JD Cox
Mon. 18 – Open Mic w/ David Todd
Fri. 22 – Melissa Mitchell
Sat. 23 – XtraTuf Cowboys
Fri. 29 – Todd Grebe
Sat. 30 – Brian McKay
CHAIR 5
Thu. 14 – Superfrequency
Thu. 21 – Jon Dykstra
Thu. 28 – XtraTuf Cowboys
SITZMARK
Fri. 15 & Sat. 16 – Keller Williams
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
April 18 – Girdwood Board of Supervisors
Meeting, 7 p.m.
April 19 – Whittier City Council Meeting, 7 p.m.
April 19 – Windy Corner Project Open House,
Crowne Plaza Hotel Ballroom, 3-7 p.m.
April 20 - Windy Corner Project Open House,
Challenge Alaska Chalet, Girdwood,
6-8 p.m.
*Submit events for next issue by April 23.
165 Hightower Rd.
Girdwood, AK 99587
(907) 783-2594
To Go orders welcome
9 a.m. to midnight
Photos by Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
The Dirty Hands played a surprise show at Chair 5 (top left). Ava Earl plays at the Jack Sprat
Slush Cup Party (top right). Photonz played a three-night stand in Girdwood (bottom).
Wednesday thru Monday
Breakfast served all day
Glacier City Gazette
Page 4
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
Engaging flavors at Jack Sprat Oregon wine dinner
By Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
Jack Sprat owner Frans Weits is used to hosting beer dinners at the Girdwood restaurant.
When a chance arose to work with Union Wine Company from Oregon, Weits made the
most of the opportunity. Preparations for the dinner began with a staff wine tasting that included Wine Director and Front House Manager Sioux Blackledge and Executive Chef Andrew Brown. Notes were taken on the wine’s flavor profiles in order to best match each with
the five unique courses Chef Brown would place on the evening’s menu.
Upon entering Jack Sprat, each diner was handed a glass of Underwood Rosé fresh from
the can. Union Wine is known for the quality of their canned wines, which are affordable and
portable. (La Bodega carries three varieties.) The rosé, light and refreshing, didn’t linger long
on the palate. The seating area quickly filled before the first course was served, and diners were
in a festive mood.
A glass of King’s Ridge Riesling 2013 was poured before the arrival of a plate decorated with
green apple leather, gorgonzola mousse and a walnut crisp. The green apple leather was light,
a touch tart and barely resisted the teeth. The airy mousse was rich with gorgonzola and provided a contrast of texture and flavor to the nutty and slightly crunchy walnut crisp.
Pan seared Kodiak scallops were served second, accompanied by the Alchemist Chardonnay 2013. The chardonnay
was nicely balanced in taste with a little bit of buttery notes
with a touch of oak. The lemony, scallop scent of the dish was
enveloping. Chef Brown perfectly seared the scallops, which
brought out the caramelized exterior flavor combined with
the rich, delicate and juicy white flesh. The lemongrass burre
blanc nicely punctuated the dish, especially the finely diced
preserved lemon that was gently assertive. The salt cured
grape tomato halves added a mild sweetness to the ensemble.
The highlight of the night was the third course featuring
rabbit confit served with Alchemist Pinot Noir 2014. The
rabbit confit was a complex dish with an appealing presentation. The dish’s base began with a rich jus drizzled on the
plate and topped with roasted sweet potato slices as a bed.
Then there was a layer of roasted Brussels sprouts and diced
pancetta that was memorable. The rabbit confit that topped
that layer was tender and juicy, with an underlying richness.
The garnish of green pea tendrils provided a sharp visual and
taste contrast with an earthy pungency that kept each forkful
interesting and varied.
The coriander crusted lamb chops were amazing. The
medium rare, gently seasoned chops were unabashedly consumed by grasping the bone and biting into the pink flesh.
They came atop a bed of green beans and diced sundried
tomatoes placed over a sweet, creamy smear of pureed fava
beans. The rosemary gastrique had a touch of tartness and
bite, which served as an appropriate counterpoint to the surrounding richness. A Kings Ridge Pinot Noir 2014 was nicely
fruity with a pleasant finish and complimented the dish.
A chocolate and cheese plate was offered as the final course
of the evening. Aged white cheddar and a house smoked blue
cheese were separated by a piece of pistachio bark, which was
a rich piece of chocolate studded with green nuts. There were
dots and smears of pomegranate jelly that was mildly tart and
perfect for the dipping of said bark. Deep with fruity flavors
was the Amity Pinot Noir 2014, which was making its first
appearance in Alaska.
A 5-course meal for 60 people requires a lot of planning,
preparation and logistics. There was attention to detail in all
aspects of the dining experience of a friendly feast involving
wine. There are sure to be more wine and beer dinners at
Jack Sprat in the future. Do your tongue a favor and check
them out.
Jack Sprat
165 Olympic Mountain Loop
Girdwood, AK
(907) 783-5225
Plates of green apple
leather, gorgonzola
mousse and a walnut crisp
line a prep table.
Staff plate the second
course of Kodiak scallops,
asparagus and lemongrass
buerre blanc.
For course three, rabbit
confit tops roasted Brussels sprouts and pancetta
over roasted sweet potato
slices.
Coriander crusted lamb
chops rest upon green
beans, sun dried tomatoes,
and faca bean puree.
Mon.-Fri. 5-10 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
The dessert course was
aged white cheddar, house
smoked blue cheese, and a
piece of chocolate studded
with pistachios.
Volume 1, Issue 5 | April 13, 2016
Glacier City Gazette
Page 5
Free seeds for the growing
By P.M. Fadden
Staff Writer
Girdwood’s Gerrish Branch Library
will host Gardening Month in April.
Residents will celebrate spring with the
newly launched Seed Exchange, a gardening giveaway partnering the library with
University of Alaska at Fairbanks naturalist program and Cooperative Extension
Service. The pairing will continuously
provide free seeds to the public throughout April.
“Gerrish Branch Library has made it one
Courtesy Photo
of its missions to encourage and help paGerrish
Library’s
April
Gardening
Month
offers
trons to start growing their own gardens
free
seeds,
grow
literature
and
a
May
4th
preand in particular their own food,” said
sentation
on
local
cultivation.
Library Assistant Martina Steinmetz.
Assorted seed are to be supplied via CES while the partaking public is invited to donate their own selections to the seed collective.
“Cleaned seeds from your own harvest are very welcome,” Steinmetz said, “we just ask that they are noninvasive, clearly labeled and no more than two years old.”
On April-long display will be assorted CES gardening literature covering topics such as germination and
growth conditions to aid in the emerging gardener’s success. A May 4th gathering on Four Valleys Gardening will also be hosted.
“The highlight of the Gardening events at Gerrish is a talk by Julie Riley, Horticulture Agent for the Cooperative Extension Service UAF,” Steinmetz said. “She will present her third annual talk about gardening in
the Four Valleys, talks geared specifically towards the [growth] conditions in Girdwood and
Turnagain Arm.”
The Community Room presentation begins at 5:30 p.m. The discussion, entitled ‘Grow
your own food: Intensive food gardening with limited space’ will dig into soil preparation,
container or raised bed gardening, food spacing and plant companions.
“Gardening is not just a healthy exercise,” Steinmetz said. “It provides the gardener with joy
and most importantly with healthy and fresh food. Not to mention that it limits the carbon
footprint by growing locally.”
FROZEN IN TIME:
A look back at the week that was…
By P.M. Fadden
Monday, April 4 – A shot to echo across the ages; Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on this day in 1968.
Tuesday, April 5 – George Washington arrives at the inaugural occasion to exercise the
right of his office and issues the first presidential veto, 1792.
Wednesday, April 6 – The Greek city of Athens plays host to eight nations during what
is today recognized as commencement of the modern Olympics, 1896.
I
Thursday, April 7 – Alaskan Proud:
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts
delivered a stirring speech before the
United States Senate strongly supporting
the purchase of Alaska, 1867.
Friday, April 8 – Swing away! Slugger, Hank Aaron belts the 715th home run of his
Major League Baseball career in 1974, besting previous record holder, the immortal Babe
Ruth.
Saturday, April 9 – British Bulldog, Sir Winston Churchill is granted the first honorary
U.S. citizenship, 1963.
Sunday, April 10 – Famed Expat, F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby in 1925,
securing his literary legacy for decades to come.
These dates in history are happily brought to you by the Glacier City Gazette in the hopes
that the current week is just as noteworthy. Cheers.
Courtesy photo
It could—and did—go all the way. MLB icon, Hank Aaron knocks one
outta the park and into the history books in 1974.
Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
Jud Crosby’s dog Cherry plays tetherball in the outdoor seating area at the Silvertip Grill in Girdwood.
Page 6
Glacier City Gazette
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
Photos courtesy of the U.S. National Ski Team
Christianson wins Giant Slalom at U.S. Nationals
Kieffer Christianson
celebrates a run which
led to winning his first
gold medal.
Keiffer Christianson on the podium
with his gold medal.
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
Kieffer Christianson took first in the
Men’s Giant Slalom at the U.S. Nationals
in Sun Valley, Idaho on March 31. Four
days earlier, he placed second in the Men’s
Alpine Combined. Christianson has been
racing for the U.S. Ski Team for five years,
and he has been with the team for six. His
early skiing career took place in Girdwood, where he learned to ski and kept
developing.
The second place Giant Slalom skier
finished +0.83 seconds behind Christianson, who had the best finish of his career
and his first win at U.S. Nationals. He described the course’s design as unusually
difficult and suggested it may have thrown
his competitors off a little bit.
“It was a really challenging hill,” Christianson said,“and it was a really challenging set. We had already raced on it two
times that weekend racing Super-G. We
knew what we were getting into in terms
of the hill being steep. The set, which is
how the gates were set, was super technical, super tight, and super wacky, for lack
of a better word. It was a crazy set.”
He said the course’s difficulties made
the race interesting and caused him to
adjust his plan soon after he started. He
noted the difference his skis made during
his performance. A few years back, the
turning radius specifications on skis was
changed to make maneuvering more technically difficult. Not everybody liked the
change at first, but Christianson appreciates it now that he has adjusted.
“It’s the most difficult. You have to ski
technically really well for the skis to work.
If you do get them to work, the energy
from them is really powerful. Being able
to harness the power out of the ski is what
makes it super fun. It’s an artistic event.”
Girdwood’s Kieffer Christianson during a race that
led to him winning the Men’s Giant Slalom at the
2016 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at
Sun Valley, Idaho.
Christianson’s second place finish in
Men’s Alpine Combined was by +1.46,
and he was happy to be up on the podium
because he has had a rough season. Between the Combined and Giant Slalom
races, he had a couple of DNFs that put
him out of competition. After those setbacks, winning a race was a welcome reward for his efforts.
The 23-year old Christianson credits his
skiing roots to Girdwood, where he spent
much of his early years competing and improving his technique.
“I started skiing when I was two,”
said Christianson. “I did Ski League and
learned to ski. I was in the Mighty Mites
racing program and then the Juniors racing program. I went to the Ski Academy in
Vermont for a little bit, and then I made
the U.S. Ski Team. The bulk of my racing and development was at Alyeska Ski
Club.”
He said growing up in Girdwood influenced him positively by opening up his
sense of curiosity and being willing to try
new things like a variety of foods when
travelling, especially internationally.
“Growing up in Girdwood, you get used
to it,” Christianson said. “You kind of take
it as the norm. When you start traveling
to Park City and Vail and places like that
for racing, you realize that those places
are different. The racing is different. The
people are different. They’re more homogenized and plain. Girdwood’s a little
funky.”
Christianson trains in Park City, Utah
during summers for a few weeks, using a
state of the art gym for workouts. He goes
summer skiing in New Zealand, Chile and
Europe to stay sharp. When I spoke with
him, he was driving to Colorado for his
last six races of the season in Aspen and
Vail. While he enjoys the travel and the
competitions throughout the year, they
prevent him from returning home to
Girdwood as often as he would like to visit
friends and family.
“Once the season starts,” he said,“we’re
basically on the road from November
to March. I don’t get home as much as I
would like to. This year, I was home for
about 10 days, which was awesome.”
Though his season is about to conclude
and summer training to begin, he is looking forward to being on next year’s team
and competing. He also hopes his Giant
Slalom victory influences young Girdwood skiers to get involved in competitive
races and improve their skills, especially
since the opportunity is easily available.
“I’m super proud to represent Girdwood, and I want the kids there to know
that so that they can aspire to be ski racers
as well. It’s fun to have some more racers
from Girdwood skiing around.”
Volume 1, Issue 5 | April 13, 2016
Glacier City Gazette
Page 7
Sights of Spring in Turnagain Arm
Photos by Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
These photos were taken throughout
Turnagain Arm, Glacier Creek in Girdwood,
Bird Point and Hope.
Glacier City Gazette
Page 8
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
Hope’s cannabis farm
By SK Malone
Staff Writer
Hope could have a new industry moving into town – the cannabis business. Hope resident
Michael Howard wants to start Six Mile farms and has already filed for a Limited Marijuana
Cultivation Facility license.
Cannabis became legal in Alaska on February 21, 2015. Almost a year later in February
2016, the first applicants and businesses were able to file for their licenses. There were a
total of 68 applications received when the Alaska AMCO (Alcohol & Marijuana Control
Office) started accepting applicants. By March of the same year that number nearly tripled,
bringing the number for cannabis applications to 200, although a few businesses have put
in for multiple licenses. The AMCO has an interactive map and a list of the current licenses
that have been initiated and ones that are under review on their website www.commerce.
alasaka.gov/web/amco.
I conducted an interview with Mr. Howard on the subject of his farm and what measures
he is taking to open such a business in Hope.
SK Malone: Will this provide jobs or revenue for the Hope Community?
Six Mile Farms: That’s one of my greatest hopes is that it does. In the 15 years that I
have lived here in Hope, I think that one of the biggest challenges that I’ve seen is keeping
people in our community. We’ve seen people come and people go who were great members of our community. Their overwhelming problem here is that there is no way to make
a living. There is no sustainable industry. We feel with this business we could potentially
add two to three, $15-$20 an hour year round jobs in Hope. I think that even adding three
makes a huge difference in our community and the amount of people who can be here and
provide for their families.
SK Malone: What plans do you see for your business in the future?
Six Mile Farms: Right now I think that everyone who is getting involved in this industry is really just testing the waters. From the people developing regulations, the people
hoping to operate grows, to those who are operating retail stores, everyone is just taking it
as it comes and learning as we go. Our plan is to stay fairly small. We feel that the best way
to offer quality product to our customers and develop a good name is to provide consistent, organic, clean marijuana free of pesticides or any additives.
SK Malone: How did you come up with your business name?
Six Mile Farms: Well for most people who know me in this area, they know that the
reason I wound up here in Hope, Alaska from Juneau, was as a river guide on Six Mile
Creek. Through the years for more than a decade I guided on the river and it’s the thing
that anchored me in this community.
SK Malone / Glacier City Gazette
Michael Howard moves sacks of clay pebbles at Six Mile Farms in Hope.
SK Malone: How much experience do you have in this field?
Six Mile Farms: Like a lot of us in Alaska, I’m a general hobbyist and I’m no commercial grow expert by any means. I am just a guy out here who sees an opportunity in an
industry and am looking to move forward with it.
SK Malone: What do you plan to do with your waste materials and your water runoff?
Six Mile Farms: The type of hydroponic system we will be using is a recirculating
system, so our water waste that is actually going to come out of the system is going to be
extremely minimal. We are predicting maybe 15 gallons a week of wastewater. One of the
things we did in preparation is install a septic system that was DEC (Division of Environmental Conservation) approved and met commercial requirements on the property. As far
as disposing of the waste, we have been approached by a couple refuse companies on the
Kenai that are interested in dealing with the waste for us, and we are planning on contracting that out at this time.
SK Malone: Will you have any CBD (cannabidiol) cannabis strains and will you be going into the medicinal aspect of the cannabis industry?
Six Mile Farms: One of the most exciting parts of this new industry is the fact legitimate testing is being done on the medical side of it, and it would fill my heart with joy if
somehow, some of the marijuana that we grow could actually find its way into helping
somebody that had a medical problem. That would be the best of all situations.
SK Malone: What security measures and precautions will your business establish?
Six Mile Farms: The state has set forth pretty strict requirements on the type of security systems that are required to operate and to obtain these licenses, which includes the
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type of locks we have to purchase and the types of screws we have to put those locks in
with. Security cameras are one very large part of it. Video surveillance has to be running
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Another major thing that we’ve put into our operation
plan is that nobody under the age of 21 has access to these areas. We will be contracting
our security out to a third party monitoring system, which would notify local law enforcement and ourselves if anything happens.
With the possibility of a cannabis business operating in the community, I asked a few
residents what their thoughts were on licensed cannabis facilities in Hope.
“As long as it conforms with the law, I don’t see any problem with it”
- Ron Wilson, Hope Resident
“I am against facilities in Hope, looking at other states that legalized it, whose crime rates
jumped. So my main concern is, we are so remote that we don’t have access to a reasonable
police or security response time. Also I am worried who the farm will attract.”
- Shirley Wisdorf, Hope Resident.
“Anchorage is having enough problems with their crime rate as is the rest of the country.
It is an industry of crime, we do not need to import crime into Hope”
- Gordon Wisdorf, Hope Resident.
“I think it’s awesome.” - Sourdough Dru, Hope Resident.
Book it Now! (907) 782-3142 • [email protected]
Legal cannabis is a relatively new and controversial industry, and one that has a great
probability of coming to our community. Amid mixed feelings, we will just have to wait
and see what such a business could mean for Hope.
Glacier City Gazette
Volume 1, Issue 5 | April 13, 2016
Page 9
Organic program offers
opportunities at home
and abroad
By P.M. Fadden
Staff Writer
To ‘WWOOF’ is to share life skills through
farm and field experiences.
The program, WWOOFing or Willing
Workers On Organic Farms, is organically
and sustainably minded volunteer education,
first envisioned in England in 1971.
Originally a weekend program for persons
desperate to escape city life, WWOOFing
has expanded to global proportions. Initially
entitled Working Weekends On Organic
Farms, the program’s basic focus was relaxation through lifestyle exploration. Emerson
College in Sussex was setting for the first exploratory steps towards that goal, and the organically minded consortium has not slowed
its growth since.
While contact with hosts sites are permitted
only through online WWOOFing channels
(read below), WWOOFing exists throughout the U.S. Hosts are located via organization web content. In Alaska, 78 host locations
operate statewide. Chugach State Park sets the
scene for three WWOOF locations, while the
Kenai Peninsula is home to no less than 31
others. Seventeen miles east of the community
at Homer, 10-acre Kackle Berry Farm is an
Alaskan organic dairy farm. A WWOOFing
host praised it as “a magical experience perfect
for the first time volunteer.”
Naturally, the peak seasons for volunteer activities to organic farming or agri-tourism sites
are spring and summer, when such locations
require extra hands in crucial seeding, care
and harvesting cycles. In the Last Frontier, late
April through early October frame the commonly weather-impacted ideal WWOOFing
calendar, but international volunteer and host
opportunities allow WWOOFing to be experienced year-round.
Worldwide, WWOOFing exists in 99
countries. Of those, 43 boast internal systems
specifically designed to support hosts and volunteers. Countries forgoing standardization
interlink host-homes who independently follow the guidelines set-down by WWOOFing
international. Each system, independent or
collective, cooperates with international standards while retaining their ability to function
autonomously.
The WWOOFing ethos has evolved with
its size. The organic farming consortium
terms itself; ‘champions of the environment’.
They believe that their work directly contributes to the formation of a wider, healthier
organic world. First person contact with local
growers is thought to be an effective way to
initiate positive influence on both regional and
nationwide policy shaping as well as producing positive effects on consumer demand. Use
of an open-forum approach, allows hosts and
volunteers to share agricultural knowledge
with one another and the community at large
through these ecological methods.
WWOOFers volunteer as couples, solo
travelers or family groups. Hosts offer a range
of accommodations, including lodging in private residences or a shared space within the
family home.
Personal contact between volunteer and
host facilitates the diffusion of shared, cultural
information. Working jointly for the betterment of the environment, there is equal opportunity to exchange languages, thoughts and
local practices or customs. WWOOFing hosts
follow their own schedule, so work hours and
free time will vary. International guidelines set
down by the original organizing body call for
an average of a 6-hour work day on the part
of the volunteer, with a 5/6 day work week.
In return for their services, volunteers should
expect that adequate room and board will be
provided by their hosts.
Volunteering through the WWOOFing
organization involves physical labor, however, at its core the arrangement is not intended
as strictly work related. WWOOFing participants find dining and socializing with their
hosts an enjoyable way of getting to know
one another. Willing Workers On Organic
Farms encourages hosts to act as local guides
to their homelands, introducing volunteers to
cultural or geographic aspects that make their
region special. For volunteer and host, time
spent working and learning together results in
growth of new roots that enrich each member’s own lives and benefits our world.
Each nation’s membership is joined separately. Once a member, the hopeful volunteer
creates a profile, which introduces him or her
Courtesy Photo
Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) locations take on
volunteers as dictated by the agricultural seasons of that region.
Soldotna’s Alaska Berries farmer, Brian Olson (background) enlists
harvesting aid from Australian WWOOFer, Lillian Kass.
to prospective hosts, who also create profiles,
detailing themselves (and their location) for
the benefit of potential volunteers. Contracted
stays are decided through direct communication between volunteer and host. The length
of a stay ranges weeks, months or longer.
Four key questions to consider prior to finalizing any hosting or volunteering agreement are: How many hours per day/days of
week will the volunteer be needed to work?
What type of work will be expected of the
volunteer during that time? What barriers (if
any) exist (i.e. language or work related skills)?
And finally, which amenities will be available
for use by the volunteer during the stay (i.e.
internet or local transport)?
For online resources, www.wwoofusa.org
and www.wwoofinternational.org provide
WWOOFing insight. Hosts are linked with
volunteers by cataloged membership and
participant testimonials comment on current
WWOOFing topics.
1st Annual Anchorage
Paddling
Film Festival
presented by
Knik Canoers and Kayakers
all proceeds to benefit water conservation
Knik Canoers and
Kayakers Film Festival
Knik Canoers and Kayakers has been a supporter and advocate of canoeing, kayaking,
and rafting for over 30 years. The club’s board of directors recently decided that they needed
to make some changes in order to bring in new people, new ideas and make club activities
more relevant to the south central paddling community.
The First Annual Anchorage Paddling Film Festival is just one of those new initiatives.
The National Paddling Film Festival, which takes place every February in Frankfort, Kentucky, has a roadshow program in which other paddling organizations can select from a list
of films previously shown by the NPFF to create their own exhibition. KCK has partnered
with the NPFF to bring a selection of their films to Anchorage.
“The goal of the festival is to get the local paddling community members engaging with
each other on issues of common interest while generating funds to help local water resource
conservation efforts,” said festival chairman Chris Hellmann.
Alaska has a very broad range of paddling opportunities, so we intentionally selected a
wide range of film subjects.
We will feature seven films that capture this broad array of interests - women whitewater
paddlers drop into the abyss, a short on the joy of bringing our youngest paddlers into the
sport, a sea kayaking adventure across the entire Aleutian Island chain, a compilation of
whitewater carnage, a Grand Canyon river running adventure that highlights the history
of Colorado River conservation and a multi-sport arctic trekking odyssey across Canada’s
Baffin Island, featuring sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking and backpacking.
Other new KCK initiatives include improving river access, addressing water resource
conservation issues, and facilitating river and sea kayaking trips. Our club meetings are free
and open to the public and take place on the fourth Thursday of every month at the BP
Center. Details are posted at KCK.org
Featured Films:
Kayaking the Aleutians
Expedition Q
Why We Teach You
Martin’s Boat
Tits Deep
Turner Wilson
Swim of the Year Awards
APRIL 25, 2016 5:30PM
Beartooth Theatre $6
see beartooththeatre.net for tickets
Glacier City Gazette
Page 10
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
Intoxicated woman loses shirt during Tesoro Mall disturbance
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
When a mother bought
treats for her young daughters at The Ice Cream Shop
and left the children unsupervised during a Coast Pizza
stop, she didn’t expect them
to see a topless woman being
subdued by a police officer.
The ruckus began around
2:00 p.m. at Girdwood’s
Tesoro Mall on March 31.
Carmen Graves has worked
at The Ice Cream Shop for
six years, and she has never
seen anything like what she
described.
“There were two little
girls in the shop having ice
cream,” Graves said, “and
this lady comes in and asks
if I have red velvet and pistachio. She was slurring her
words. I could barely understand her. I said, ‘I don’t have
either of those’ and was going to offer her something
else. She threw up her hands
and screamed, “What the!”
She walked quickly to the
glass door, and she slammed
her hands on it and left.
Then she flipped-off the
world outside. Two little
girls watched the whole
thing.”
1
Public Open House
ANCHORAGE
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Stop by anytime between 3 and 7
p.m. (TIME EXTENDED ONE HOUR), at
109 West International Airport Road,
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ballroom. Take
bus routes 9, 60, or 75. Call
907-343-2550 for AnchorRIDES.
3
Deprived of her favorite
ice cream flavor, the enraged woman stormed toward Tesoro. Whittier Police Officer Hagar, hungry
and off-duty after completing his shift, was walking
toward Subway when he
heard a disturbance. A female voice was loudly spewing profanity. The angry
woman proceeded to assault
a trashcan with a kick that
tipped it over. Then she began to verbally abuse a man
from a local business who
had requested she restore
the fallen receptacle to its
former glory.
The Alaska Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) invites you to
an open house to review proposed safety
improvements to Seward Highway between
Mileposts (MP) 105 and 107, known as
Windy Corner. Key aspects of the proposed
improvements include road and railroad
realignment, wider shoulders and
additional travel lanes to enhance passing
and highway access, and new pedestrian
and parking areas to enhance recreation and
scenic/wildlife viewing.
2
Public Open House
GIRDWOOD
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Stop by anytime between 6 and 8 p.m.,
at Challenge Alaska Chalet, Great Room,
426 Crystal Mountain Road. Parking
available at the building and at Sitzmark.
Online Open House
Begins April 5, 2016, Ends May 6, 2016
Self-guided open house at: www.windycorner.info
For more information contact:
Anne Brooks, Public Involvement Coordinator
Brooks & Associates, Toll free: 866-535-1877
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.windycorner.info
The DOT&PF operates Federal Programs without regard to race, color, national origin, sex,
age, or disability. Full Title VI Nondiscrimination Policy: dot.alaska.gov/tvi_
statement.shtml. To file a complaint, go to: dot.alaska.gov/cvlrts/titlevi.shtml.
About a minute later,
Graves saw Officer Hagar
escorting the offending
woman in handcuffs to the
front of the State Trooper
Post. Graves suddenly developed an urge to clean
the shop’s front windows
while satisfying her curiosity to view the commotion.
While Officer Hagar was on
the phone with the Alaska
State Troopers, the woman
slipped her right hand from
her cuffs and became physically aggressive again.
“She was resisting him,”
Graves said. “She was taking handfuls of rocks and
throwing them at him. He
was doing exactly what he
is supposed to do. She was
completely out of it – kicking, cursing, screaming.
During the fighting, her
top came down.”
At this point, a witness
who wishes to remain
anonymous entered into
the unfolding drama. Out
of the corner of the witness’s eye, a topless woman was being held on the
ground by a man.
“At first, I thought they
were playing,” the witness said. “She was yelling
‘Uncle! Uncle!’ I thought it
was a game. Then I realized
her top was off, and now
nothing is making sense.
So I walked over, and I said,
‘What’s going on? Are you
alright?’ She starts yelling
to me, ‘Help! Would you
like your daughter looking
like this? Help me!’”
Officer Hagar was unable
to assist the woman in restoring her displaced shirt
to its proper fitting because
it may have appeared he was
doing something inappropriate. Because he was not
in his squad car, he did not
have a blanket to cover her.
And her resistance continued as the witness offered
the officer assistance with
the displaced garment.
“I said, ‘Well, fix her shirt.’
Carmen Graves / Special to the Glacier City Gazette
Officer Hagar of the Whittier Police Department detains a woman while waiting for an
Alaska State Trooper to arrive at the scene.
Hagar was off duty when he responded to
the incident.
Officer Hagar said, ‘I cannot
touch her in that manner.’
It made perfect sense. Of
course he couldn’t. I offered
to put shirt on, and he said,
‘yes.’ I fixed her top as best
I could. She was squirming.
She was fighting him. He
was just holding her down.
It wasn’t like force. He was
holding her in place. I fixed
her shirt, but she wiggled
out of it again fighting
him,” the witness said.
Regarding the officer’s
conduct, Graves said, “I
watched the whole thing.
He didn’t do anything unprofessional. I thought he
handled it really well.”
Shortly
thereafter,
Trooper Lewis arrived on
the scene. The woman who
screamed for her ice cream
was dispatched to the back
of the AST patrol car. Due
to the woman’s suspected
level of intoxication, a decision was made to transport
her to detox rather than
file assault and disorderly
conduct charges. According to Megan Peters, Public
Information Officer for the
Department of Public Safety, the woman was 28-year
old Amanda Shetters of
Anchorage. She was in violation of a no alcohol provision as part of her probation. She was remanded for
her probation officer.
When the afternoon
matinee had concluded,
the two young, ice cream
eating girls did not want
to leave the shop. It wasn’t
because they had their favorite flavors at their fingertips. Their viewing had
been done without parental
supervision, and they appeared scared and uncomfortable. The girls were
afraid to walk the few short
steps to Coast Pizza and reunite with their mother, so
Graves walked along with
them.
“I don’t know why their
mom was at Coast for so
long and not wondering where her kids were,”
Graves said. “They were in
there at least 15-20 minutes.”
Girdwood, Alaska
Volume 1, Issue 5 | April 13, 2016
Glacier City Gazette
Page 11
Young man apologizes in person to Girdwood businesses
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
The destructive events that happened to
Girdwood business owners on Easter Sunday
morning took a surprising development next
day. What follows are accounts about what
two Girdwood owners experienced after an
unexpected meeting.
According to the AST dispatch, the Easter
Sunday incidents appear to be connected to
one suspect based on the evidence collected
at the scenes. The suspect has been interviewed and the incidents are under further
investigation. As of press time, no charges
have been filed.
Connie Cooley, who owns The Great Alaskan Tourist Trap with her husband Chris
“Twirl” Roberts, was in their store alone and
planning a vacation when an unexpected
visitor came inside. An older woman entered
the shop and identified herself as the grandmother of the young man who was suspected
of smashing the windows of three businesses,
stealing some items and attempting to steal
beer and ice cream from Tesoro. After leaving Girdwood and driving toward Anchorage, the young man nearly hit driver Elizabeth Watney in a head-on collision before his
truck left the road at Mile 104.7 in Indian and
rolled to a stop on the railroad tracks.
The events of the previous day were fresh
in Cooley’s mind, and nothing could have
prepared her for what happened next. The
grandmother said the young man was in a car
outside and wanted to come in to apologize
for his destructive actions the previous day.
Cooley was stunned by the request, but she
agreed to the meeting. Her husband had a bad
cold and could not be there.
“He came in and he introduced himself,”
Cooley said, “apologized for what he did and
said that that is not the kind of person he is.
He said he wants to make it right. I told him
I was more concerned about him than the
broken window.” I said, ‘That stuff is already
fixed. We have insurance on that stuff. You
need to fix whatever is going on for
you that made you make those choices.
“You’re alive, and I hope you take advantage of this opportunity. Even if it means you
go to jail, I hope you go to jail and you manup and you take advantage of everything they
offer you and you come out of this on top
and don’t go down a black hole for the rest of
your life.’ Truly, that’s what I want for him.
He’s just a kid--18 years old.”
Cooley was clearly moved by the young
man’s emotional confession. After meeting
him and hearing his plans to address his actions, restitution included, Cooley sincerely
hopes he succeeds in fixing his life. His forthright apology, taking accountability for actions and his family story led Cooley and
Roberts to not pursue any charges. They said
young man comes from a good family and has
had no previous trouble with the law.
“I held his hands and told him to go find
his way. ‘Come back and see us. Put this behind you and come back and see me.’ He said
he would. I hope he does without a rock in
his hand. He’s just a kid. He could have killed
somebody and be facing manslaughter.”
Michael Mroczynski, known as Merch,
is the owner of Coast Pizza. He received a
phone call saying the young man would like
to apologize for damage he did the previous day. Mroczynski said it cost him $683
to replace the broken glass and that about
$10-15 worth of quarters were missing, but
that was it.
“I thought that was pretty special,” Mroczynski said, “in the sense that he wanted to
come and face the people he had done damage to. He introduced himself with tears in
his eyes, apologized for the damage he had
caused and disrupting my sense of security.
You could tell he was very disturbed by what
he had done. It was a very heartfelt apology.
He definitely held himself accountable for
his actions, even though he doesn’t really remember doing any of it. He profusely apologized. I was pretty moved by it.”
Mroczynski said the young man had a good
up-bringing, could not believe his actions
and remembers very little about what happened on Easter Sunday morning. Besides
paying restitution to Coast Pizza, the young
man was about to enroll in Alaska Military
Youth Academy. Mroczynski heard about
the young man’s family history and felt the
sincerity of his apology. Upon hearing the
young man’s plans for restitution and fixing his life, the charges involving damage at
Coast Pizza were dropped.
“I think it is better for him to go on with
military youth academy and become a better
individual,” Mroczynski said. “I don’t think
incarceration is really going to do him any
good. He already has taken responsibility for
what he has done and is willing to take corrective actions.”
The young man wanted to apologize immediately after his release from the hospital
on Sunday, but his grandmother suggested he
wait until she could fly up from the Lower 48
on Monday. According to Mroczynski, the
young man was scheduled for facial surgery
the next day to fix collapsed nasal passages
that were damaged when his truck went off
of the Seward Highway.
That Wednesday morning, the young man
had intended to enroll in the Alaska Military
Youth Academy. Mroczynski truly hopes the
young man makes constructive changes in
his life moving forward.
“I think there is a lot of promise for him
to become a good, productive person in society,” Mroczynski said. “He promised to come
back and stay in touch with us, which is kind
of nice. [The young man] said, “I can’t believe
I did this. I like Coast Pizza. I’ve been going
there since I was a kid. I can’t imagine why I
would do this.’”
The owners of Coast Pizza and The Tourist Trap were much more concerned for the
health and well being of the young man than
they were about any damages. They know
he has a lot of work to do to put his life back
together and make amends for his actions
on Easter Sunday. They believe he can do it,
which is why they are doing everything they
can to give him the chance. They understood
what he has been through in his life and in
the past few days.
“He says he doesn’t remember any of it. The
last thing he remembers is going through the
guardrail. He said he thought he was dead,
and he woke up in the hospital.”
Editor’s Note: There were unconfirmed reports the young man went
to Crow Creek Mercantile to apologize as well. It is unknown if the Mercantile will ask for restitution or press
charges for the window damage.
Mercantile employees were placed
under a media gag order. Multiple
calls were placed to a number that
was given to contact corporate headquarters, which refused to answer
the calls or return them.
Marc Donadieu / Glacier City Gazette
Chris “Twirl” Roberts measures the destroyed glass door of his business The Great Alaskan Tourist Trap, which he owns with his wife
Connie Coolie, located in the Tesoro Mall near the Girdwood Alaska
State Trooper post.
Glacier City Gazette
Page 12
April 13, 2016 | Volume 1, Issue 5
Head on collision avoided as truck leaves road
Continued from front page
there was hope of a connection between the
two incidents and that a suspect had been apprehended.
According to the AST dispatch, the incidents appear to be connected to one suspect
based on the evidence collected at the scenes.
The suspect has been interviewed and the incidents are under further investigation. As of
press time, no charges have been filed.
While the Girdwood businesses were concerned about opening and fixing smashed
glass doors, Elizabeth Watney had a vastly
different experience. It is one that is not so
easily fixed as a shattered pane of glass. Watney says she was a second or so away from
colliding head-on with the out of control
pickup truck before it hit the guard rail, disappeared from the highway and rolled onto
the railroad tracks.
“I think he was about 150 feet or less when
he came at me at a high rate of speed and was
intercepted by the rail,” Watney said.
Watney lives near Anchor Point and has a
practice in Homer as a licensed psychotherapist with a specialization in trauma and stress.
She had just dropped her husband off at Ted
Stevens International Airport and was heading south to her home in a 2015 Subaru Forester. Speaking to her a day later, she was still
shaken by the close call.When she wrote out
notes about the incident, her hand was shaking badly.
“I was on a straightaway and conditions
were completely dry,” Watney said. “It was
clear out. A truck came out very fast from a
hard bend in the road in front of me. He appeared to be in my lane. Then it looked like
he might have tried to correct. He fishtailed a
few times, and then he was coming straight
at me kind of sideways. He was partly in the
pullout that ended there and partly in my
lane. I was braking and trying to decide how
to maneuver to try to avoid him.”
After revealing these details, Watney
paused for a few moments because she was
processing the shock of how unexpectedly
close to death or serious injury she came due
to an out of control driver. As the driver sped
closer, Watney thought he was going to hit
the rail because he was already close to it.
She was deciding which way to maneuver to
avoid a collision.
“The turnout was narrowing down as he
came toward me,” Watney said. “He hit the
rail, and I wondered if he was going to ricochet toward me. Then he disappeared. The
weird thing is my eyes were glued to every
movement, but I did not see him go over the
rail. He was just gone.”
After Watney stopped, she saw15 feet or
more of the flattened guardrail. She called 911
and approached the scene. Watney hopped
over the damaged guardrail and
proceeded down the steep embankment
to the railroad tracks where the flipped truck
halted. Her initial thought was the driver had
been thrown into Turnagain Arm. The tide
was in, with grey, silty water right next to
the railroad tracks. She was concerned about
having to go into the cold water alone to rescue him.
Still on the phone with 911, Watney said
help arrived when an anonymous woman
stopped. She was driving north and said she
had been passed a few minutes ago at a high
rate of speed by the truck that crashed. By
then, the driver is crawling up the bank and
made it up to the shoulder. Watney and the
other woman sat down with an injured male
who looked about 20-years old. He said he
wasn’t wearing his seat belt.
“His face was bloody,” Watney said. “There
was blood on his arms and legs. He had shorts
on. He sat down, and he was having a lot of
difficulty breathing. It was gasping, wet
breath, but eventually his breathing seemed
Doug Lindstrand / Special to the Glacier City Gazette
The guardrail at mile 104.7 was leveled after an out of control driver
left the road at 8:13 a.m. Easter Sunday morning.
to settle down. We were with him trying
to warm him up and sit down with him. He
ran out on the road at one point, and we restrained him and got him to sit back down.
He was semi-delirious, so I don’t know if that
was from hitting his head or from substances.
He was definitely cognitively impaired and
disoriented.”
The women eventually got the driver to lie
down. He gave them his mother’s cell phone
number to call her. Then people started arriving on the scene–two or three EMTs and an
emergency room doctor stopped and checked
him over. These people just happened to be
passing by. Then a trooper arrived, followed
by EMTs from Anchorage Fire Station 9.
“He met a lot of kindness there. People
were really caring,” Watney said.
According to the Alaska State Trooper
Dispatch on the incident, “After departing
the crash the scene the Trooper responded
to the reported burglaries. Once the burglary
scenes were processed, investigation revealed
that an item taken from one of the burglar-
ies was found in vehicle involved in the earlier collision. Evidence was collected at each
scene and is being processed. A suspect has
been identified and interviewed. Investigation continues.”
Watney’s biggest concern is that this entire incident is going to be dismissed as a
drunken, teenage prank and joyriding. She
wants to make sure the investigating officer
and the prosecutor know how close she came
to death or serious injury because of the suspect’s reckless driving. Her hope is that the
suspect gets the necessary help to turn his life
around.
“He and I could have died together right
there, and nobody saw that. I don’t even
know if he knows it.What I witnessed is extremely serious. I hope that something good
comes from it too. This kid is going to need
some serious intervention. I hope that this
will be a gigantic wake up call. I’m afraid it
won’t be.”
X For a surprising
Easter Sunday morning business breakins
Continued from front page
in between these businesses,
and it was untouched, as was
The Ice Cream Shop. Coast
Pizza and the Tourist Trap
reported minor items missing and were grateful that
the damage wasn’t worse and
that their stores vandalized.
In the dim Easter morning
hour, the affected businesses
were not yet aware of what
took place.
At approximately 8 a.m.,
Tesoro’s Assistant Manager
Steve Carner was notified
by a man from Alpine Bak-
ery that Coast Pizza and The
Tourist Trap had had been
broken into. Cerner decided
to check video from earlier
that morning when an supposedly intoxicated custom-
development in this story,
SEE PAGE 11
er was asked to leave after
allegedly trying to shoplift
ice cream. It wasn’t until he
reviewed the video that he
realized what the young man
had done a few hours earlier.
“I decided to look on
camera and see if there was
anybody who looked suspicious,” Carner said. “I went
through video and found the
person who looked intoxicated and fit the description
from what the other employee said to me. From what I
could gather, he was outside
the store looking inside to
see what position Rob was in
and what he was doing. He
was shopping, and Rob went
to go do coffee or grab something in the back real quick.
It took like two seconds. He
jumped over the partition
and back over and had the
18-pack and was walking out
the door with it.”
Carner turned the video
over to AST. He said Tesoro was declining to press
charges because nothing was
stolen, despite the attempt,
because it was not worth the
hassle of pursuing.
Meanwhile, sleepy business owners were coming to
terms with what happened,
assessing the damages, and
waiting for a trooper to arrive and investigate. Michele Reiman handled the
situation for Coast Pizza and
Chris “Twirl” Roberts and
Connie Cooley were there
for The Tourist Trap. All
three were resigned to managing the hassle of cleaning
up their stores while hoping
the person who did it was
caught. New information
and updates on the scene at
Tesoro Mall trickled in every
few minutes.
When it was learned the
responding trooper was delayed to investigate an accident involving a black, 2003
GMC pickup truck traveling
north and leaving the road
in Indian, there was hope
that the incidents were connected and a suspect had
been apprehended. Initial
reports said an open bottle
of Patron tequila was found
in the truck, as well as a $400
fused glass fish that had been
removed from The Tourist
Trap. There was a sense of
relief in the air and amazement at the scope of the vandalism
According to the AST dispatch, the incidents appear
to be connected to one suspect based on the evidence
collected at the scenes. The
suspect has been interviewed
and the incidents are under
further investigation. As of
press time, no charges have
been filed.