140 new toys and fishing rods collected for annual Captain’s Toy Drive
The Juneau Charter Boat Operators Association just completed its annual Captain’s Toy Drive. A total of 140 new toys and fishing rods for all ages of children were collected, an increase of almost 40% from last year, and they were dropped off at Balloons by Night Moods for The Great Alaskan Juneau Toy Drive.
Registration for Parks & Recreation Start Smart Basketball opens Dec. 11
Registration for Parks & Recreation’s Start Smart Basketball (ages 3-4) opens Monday, December 11 at noon. There are 23 spots available. The program costs $40 plus tax, which includes a Start Smart t-shirt. Register online under “Youth & Teen.” Registration is first come, first served. All registrations received after the session is full will be placed on a waitlist.
Scholarships are available; contact Recreation Coordinator Amanda Lovejoy at (907) 586-2635 ext. 4156 or amanda.lovejoy@juneau.gov for more information.
The Start Smart program is for 3-4 year olds (participants must be 3 by the first session). Start Smart Basketball sessions are held 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. every Tuesday, January 9 – February 13 at Auke Bay Elementary School. Children work with an adult in their lives in a supportive environment to learn the basic skills of basketball: dribbling, shooting, passing and agility. Adults are active participants in the program.
For more information, visit the program website, or contact Recreation Coordinator Amanda Lovejoy at amanda.lovejoy@juneau.gov or (907) 586-2635 ext. 4156.
Donation supports conversion of former Glory Hall into affordable apartments
Mariya Lovishchuk, Glory Hall Director accepted a $75,000 donation from Ḵunéix̱ Hídi Northern Light United Church, presented by the Rev. Charles Ensminger who is the church’s pastor. The presentation was made recently during the ongoing conversion of the former Glory Hole on South Franklin into seven affordable apartments on the upper floors.
“This donation is symbolic of the incredible Juneau support the Glory Hall has received as we work to provide affordable housing and services to our clients at a time of growing needs,” Lovishchuk said. We are on track for these apartments to be housing some of our clients by this May. How the space of the former downstairs shelter and kitchen will be used is currently a work in progress.”
Ensminger noted the Glory Hall, including their work on expanding the Forget-Me-Not-Manor Lemon Creek Housing First facility, “are services that have proven to be a healing force, for some of the neediest in our community and deserve our strong and continued support.”
Amy Mead reappointed as presiding superior court judge in Juneau
Chief Justice Peter J. Maassen of the Alaska Supreme Court on Monday announced the re-appointment of three of the four presiding judges, including Superior Court Judge Amy Mead for the First Judicial District.
Mead was appointed to the superior court in Juneau in 2018. She earned her undergraduate degree from Boston University and law degree from Tulane Law School. Originally from the East Coast, she moved to Alaska in 1996 to serve as a superior court law clerk in Ketchikan. She went on to practice law as an assistant district attorney, an assistant attorney general, and in private practice, working in all areas of law.
In 2010 Judge Mead joined the City and Borough of Juneau’s Law Department and was appointed a few years later to serve as the CBJ’s Municipal Attorney, continuing in that position until her appointment to the bench.
Judge Mead was appointed to the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct as an attorney member in 2012, serving in that capacity until 2018. She was reappointed to the Commission as a judicial member in 2022.
The First District covers Angoon, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Prince of Wales, Sitka, Skagway, Wrangell and Yakutat.
