Bethel Egg Hunt Thanks

We really appreciate all that helped with the annual Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt. Thank you LKSD for the use of the M.E. School playground.  Thank you Swanson’s, A.C Store, Sammy’s Market, Bethel Fire Station, YKHC Dental Dept, and Pete Ebertz for great prize donations; the kids love the variety. And thank you Millie & Suzi Twitchell, now in Anchorage, for the colorful egg assortment donation to add to all the eggs we stuff to get ready; it’s great to know people have fond Bethel childhood memories of this annual tradition.

Susan Taylor, Bethel Lions Club Bethel, AK

Vandalism problem at BRHS

Vandalism is a big problem that BRHS custodians have to deal with every day. Some cases involve flooded toilets, broken soap dispensers, broken air fresheners, and shattered paper towel dispensers. These are only some examples.

Senior adviser custodian Andrew Martin said, “I have dealt with about seven major incidents in the boys bathroom, one of them being having to fix a broken toilet from a student standing on it. And in the girls bathroom there have been about nine counts of vandalism, all of them flooded toilets.”

Custodian Gwendolyn Nagasiak said, “I have to deal with vandalism in the boys and girls bathrooms every day.”

Bethel Regional High School has a vandalism problem, and we need to preserve our school for many generations after us. Before us our parents had gone to school here, and eventually in the future children of our own will go to this school and “see” what we left behind.

We need to change and protect our school so future generations can do the same. Please do your part.

Noah Langlois, BRHS Bethel, AK

Pebble Comment Period Extension requested

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today (April 24th, 2019) sent a letter to Colonel Phillip Borders, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District Commander, requesting an extension for the public comment period from 90 days to 120 days. Currently, the public comment period runs through May 30.

Dear Colonel Borders:

I write today to request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) extend the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Pebble mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska from 90 days to 120 days.

While I appreciate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing a public comment period of 90 days – twice the length of the required minimum comment period of 45 days – I believe the Corps should immediately extend the comment period by an additional 30 days. Acting now is important given the length and complexity of the DEIS and the need to ensure that the thousands of Alaskans who have followed this project closely can provide meaningful feedback on it.

In addition, I urge you to redouble your efforts to engage in meaningful consultation with the Alaska Natives who live in the Bristol Bay region. I understand consultation occurs throughout the EIS process and that input from tribes can occur outside the boundaries of the comment period. I ask that you make every attempt to ensure that local residents receive the DEIS and can provide their input in a government-to-government setting in the region. I also expect that input to be taken seriously and fully considered in the development of the final EIS and the Record of Decision.

I make this request for this proposed project as an exception to my general view about the appropriate length of comment periods for EISs under the National Environmental Policy Act. This request is consistent with the 120-day comment period I asked the EPA to conduct for the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment in 2012. I do not believe, however, that a similar comment period is warranted for any other project or rulemaking underway in Alaska at this time.

I appreciate all the work the Corps is doing on this project to meet its responsibilities with respect to this permitting application. I also recognize that the Corps permit is one of many the proposed Pebble mine will ultimately need to acquire, with the bulk of the permitting for this project occurring at the state level.

I thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.

Senator Lisa Murkowski U.S. Senate, Washington D.C.

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