Articles written by Mark Sabbatini


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  • Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|Mar 28, 2024

    Emergency federal government assessments are being sought for a spill of more than 105,000 gallons of tailings slurry at the Kensington Mine that occurred Jan. 31, although officials with mine owner Coeur Alaska say no damage to nearby salmon habitats occurred and there are “no long-term effects from this spill.” The spill occurred at a welded joint in a pipeline that likely started as a “pinhole” and increased in size due to pressure from the slurry flow, resulting in a leak that lasted 23 hours, according to a report of the incident published...

  • Kake public safety officer fired following off-duty assault arrest

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|Sep 14, 2023

    A village public safety officer in Kake has been fired following his arrest in late August after he reportedly assaulted a woman and possessed a weapon while intoxicated off-duty. Austin Brady, 28, was arrested on charges of felony second- and third-degree assault, misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal mischief, and fourth-degree misconduct involving a weapon, according to the state court system. Brady is out on a $2,500 bail posted Tuesday. Brady was terminated from his position by his employer, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida...

  • State challenges roadless rule for Tongass

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|Sep 14, 2023

    A legal challenge by the state to the Biden administration’s reinstatement of the roadless rule, banning logging and road building on more than nine million acres in the Tongass National Forest, was filed Friday, Sept. 8, in federal court. The complaint continues more than two decades of battles over the roadless rule protections initially enacted in 2001 under a policy initiated by then-President Bill Clinton. In recent years then-President Donald Trump nullified the policy and opened the forest area to development, with the administration o...

  • Columbia cancels sailings for at least a week due to repairs

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|Jun 22, 2023

    The Columbia state ferry has cancelled its sailings for at least a week due to a mechanical issue, affecting stops at ports between Haines and Bellingham, Washington, according to a service notice by the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The primary interruption to service is a seven-day period starting Wednesday, with a sailing from Ketchikan to Bellingham and back through Southeast Alaska cancelled, the AMHS notice issued Monday notes. The decision is due to a "mechanical issue with the ves...

  • PFD hearing brings out widely differing viewpoints

    Mark Sabbatini and Larry Persily, Juneau Empire and Wrangell Sentinel Writers|Mar 16, 2023

    When Jan Kanitz of Juneau and Antonia Lenard of Eagle River testified before a legislative committee last Saturday about personal responsibility and the Permanent Fund dividend, they spoke from completely different perspectives. For Kanitz, it was about acknowledging that current state spending on schools, health care and the ferry system is woefully inadequate, with too much emphasis on paying out large dividends. “I think a fixed, limited PFD as a symbolic thing helps people have buy-in to the state … I support that, but it should not ban...

  • Dunleavy campaign: Marriage of ADN reporter, Juneau Assembly member a 'conflict'

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|Sep 1, 2022

    Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s reelection campaign is responding to a pending news story about improperly using official staff for campaign purposes by challenging the reporter’s credibility because of his marriage to a Juneau Assembly member who supports one of the governor’s opponents. Sean Maguire, who recently joined the Anchorage Daily News after working at KTUU since 2017, has since last November been married to Juneau assembly member Carole Triem, who is actively campaigning for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Les Gara. Maguire’s story reporte...