Alaska news

• Smooth sailing for M/V Susitna sale, so far

  16-09-2015 23:39
  Photo by Jay Galvin, accessed via Flickr Creative Commons.
  The MV Susitna is one step closer to being sold. According to Matanuska Susitna Borough manager John Moosey, progress has been made on a deal to sell the vessel to the Phillipine Red Cross. The agreement with the Red Cross hinges on insurance company involvement, because three of the ferry’s four engines have been damaged by rainwater, rendering the ship inoperable.
  “We actually have a signed agreement with the Phillipine Red
  
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• Alaska High School Football Team to Get Movie Treatment - Hollywood Reporter

  16-09-2015 23:14
  Hollywood Reporter
  Alaska High School Football Team to Get Movie Treatment
  Hollywood Reporter
  Hollywood Gorilla Warfare: It's Universal vs. Legendary Over 'Kong: Skull Island' (and Who Says "Thank You") · A THR Portfolio: Sandra Bullock, Eddie Redmayne and More Stars of the Toronto Film Festival · Beverly Hills' $1 Billion "Vineyard": The ...and more »
  

• Gov. Walker to announce 2015 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend on Monday - Alaska Dispatch News

  16-09-2015 22:51
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Gov. Walker to announce 2015 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend on Monday
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaskans have only a few more days of mystery until they learn the amount of this year's Permanent Fund dividend checks -- Gov. Bill Walker plans to announce it on Monday. The announcement of this year's PFD value, widely expected to increase from ...
  Walker to announce Alaska PFD amount MondayFairbanks Daily News-Minerall 8 news articles »
  

• Algo Nuevo: September 13, 2015

  16-09-2015 22:45
  Here’s the Sunday, September 13, 2015 edition of Algo Nuevo con Dave Luera — Something New with Dave Luera. If you have questions, comments or music requests for host Dave Luera, send email to algonuevo [at] alaskapublic [dot] org or post your comment at the bottom of this post. All tracks played are listed below in the following format:
  Song Title
  Artist Name
  Album Title
  CD Label
  Duration
  Samba Pa TiSantanaThe Best of SantanaColumbia447
  281 Cumbiambo JamTejano Highway 281& Lots
  
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• Pilot, surviving passengers ID'd in deadly Iliamna plane crash - Alaska Dispatch News

  16-09-2015 22:37
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Pilot, surviving passengers ID'd in deadly Iliamna plane crash
  Alaska Dispatch News
  A de Havilland DHC-3T Turbine Otter carrying fishing guides and clients crashed on takeoff from East Wind Lake near Iliamna early Tuesday morning, killing three people. Alaska State Troopers. Alaska State Troopers have identified the pilot and six ...and more »
  

• Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell returns from 75-day Alaska Patrol - Patch.com

  16-09-2015 21:55
  Patch.com
  Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell returns from 75-day Alaska Patrol
  Patch.com
  The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell returned home to San Diego Monday after a two-and-a-half-month deployment to the Bering Sea, which included operations through the Bering Strait and in the Arctic Ocean. While on patrol, Boutwell's crew conducted ...and more »
  

• On heels of Presidential visit, Denali Commission considers next steps

  16-09-2015 21:24
  The profile of the Denali Commission was elevated earlier this month, after President Obama announced during his visit to Alaska that the commission would coordinate the flow of resources to communities threatened by erosion, flooding and permafrost degradation.
  The president also announced that the Denali Commission would receive $2 million to begin planning and coordination efforts.
  With the money in hand and needing to be allocated by Sept. 30, the Commission is trying to figure out its next
  
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• Change on the horizon for Alaska ferry system - Alaska Public Radio Network

  16-09-2015 21:10
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Change on the horizon for Alaska ferry system
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  The ferry Taku sails into the Wrangell Narrows on its way south in 2013. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News). Change was the theme of the Alaska Marine Highway System presentation during Day 1 of Southeast Conference's annual fall meeting in Prince ...
  

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• Change on the horizon for Alaska ferry system

  16-09-2015 20:47
  The ferry Taku sails into the Wrangell Narrows on its way south in 2013. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  Change was the theme of the Alaska Marine Highway System presentation during Day 1 of Southeast Conference’s annual fall meeting in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
  Mike Neussl is the ferry system’s deputy commissioner, and he says change has been rather suddenly forced upon the system.
  “As long at the Legislature was willing to write those checks for $100-plus million a ye
  
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• Engine trouble blamed for fatal Kasilof plane crash

  16-09-2015 20:44
  An initial report finds that engine trouble was likely to blame for a fatal plane crash in Kasilof last month.
  A loss of engine power is being blamed for an August plane crash near Cohoe Loop Road in Kasilof that killed two local residents. The National Transportation Safety Board released an initial report last week about the Aug. 22 crash of a Cessna 180 that killed pilot Brian Nolan, 69, and passenger Peter Lahndt, 57, both of Kasilof.
  Weather at the time of the crash was mild, with clear ski
  
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• YKC to discuss Emperor Goose allocation, wanton waste regulation

  16-09-2015 20:38
  Emperor geese at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo via FWS)
  The Yaquillrit Keutisti (“Keeper of the Birds”) Council will meet Thursday to discuss regulations proposed by the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council (AMBCC).
  Among the proposals is a 2016 subsistence hunt of the Emperor Goose, the first hunting season for the species since 1987. There will be an overall harvest of 3500 birds allowed, and the YKC will look at various ways the birds could be allocated for
  
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• ABC Board upholds Bethel City Council’s protest of liquor license

  16-09-2015 20:33
  
  Bethel city councilmembers and the city clerk listen to the ABC Board meeting. (Photo by Lakeidra Chavis/ KYUK)
  The Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, voted unanimously late Tuesday morning to uphold Bethel City Council’s protest of Dimitri’s, a local pizzeria in Bethel, liquor license application.
  Five council members, including Bethel Mayor Rick Robb, and the city clerk called into the meeting from the local city chambers.
  “It’s not so much alcohol policy, it&rsqu
  
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• Cruise ship nearly doubles Unalaska’s population (for a day)

  16-09-2015 18:39
  
  Unalaska’s tallest building? KUCB/John Ryan photo.
  The biggest cruise ship ever to visit the Aleutian Islands pulled into Unalaska’s Dutch Harbor Tuesday morning. The floating city known as the Celebrity Millennium disgorged about 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew. In tandem with nearly 300 passengers in town from the much smaller Le Boreal, the two cruise ships nearly doubled the population of Unalaska for the day.
  For many towns in southern Alaska, the arrival of a mega cruise ship w
  
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• Feds: Arctic sea ice levels shrink to 4th lowest level

  16-09-2015 18:36
  Federal scientists said summer Arctic sea ice shrank to its fourth lowest level on record this month, dispelling faint hopes of a recovery.
  The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Tuesday that the Arctic hit its summer minimum last week with 1.7 million square miles of sea ice, down 240,000 square miles from 2014.
  Summer minimum sea ice has shrunk by about 38 percent since satellites started measuring in 1979. It reached an all-time low of 1.3 million square miles in 2012 and went back u
  
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• University president prioritizes UAF engineering building

  16-09-2015 18:35
  The new president of the University of Alaska says completing the half-finished engineering building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is a top priority.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that University President Jim Johnsen has included a $34.8 million request to complete work on the building in his proposed $134.8 million capital budget for fiscal year 2017.
  Work on the building stalled after the Legislature last session did not approve funding for the final phase of construction.
  Th
  
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• Public testimony on controversial discrimination case in Anchorage extended

  16-09-2015 10:16
  
  Testimony on an anti-discrimination measure in the Anchorage Assembly stretched on for hours Tuesday night, with no decision ultimately reached.
  Under discussion is an ordinance that extends legal protections to residents on the basis of sexual orientation and gender expression.
  Arguments touched on religious freedoms, personal experiences, and the status of equal rights in Anchorage, with 111 residents signed up to testify, though not all getting the chance by the end of the meeting at 11p
  
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• Agency nixes proposed rafts where walrus can rest off Alaska - U.S. News & World Report

  16-09-2015 09:24
  U.S. News & World Report
  Agency nixes proposed rafts where walrus can rest off Alaska
  U.S. News & World Report
  FILE - In this July 17, 2012, file photo, adult female walruses rest on an ice flow with young walruses in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska. Federal wildlife officials have declined the suggestion of a wildlife advocacy group to place experimental rafts ...
  Agency nixes platforms for walrus to rest off AlaskaThe Bellingham Heraldall 134 news articles »
  

• 3 killed, 7 hurt as fishing lodge's plane crashes in Alaska - U.S. News & World Report

  16-09-2015 09:07
  CBS News
  3 killed, 7 hurt as fishing lodge's plane crashes in Alaska
  U.S. News & World Report
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The day started out as a late-season version of a perfect Alaska excursion: Excited tourists heading out for adventure at a remote fishing spot on a river. But something went terribly wrong. A floatplane crashed near a ...
  Floatplane Crashes in Alaska Leaving 3 Dead, 7 HurtNBCNews.com
  Fishing lodge's floatplane crashes in Alaska; 3 dead, 7 hurtCBS News
  Floatplane carr
  

• Alaska black bear freed after getting head stuck in jar - Alaska Dispatch News

  16-09-2015 05:20
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska black bear freed after getting head stuck in jar
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The black bear with its head in a jar was spotted Tuesday afternoon, Sep. 15, 2015 at Gold Creek in Juneau's Cope Park. Mari West. A black bear wandered Juneau streets, traversed rocks and walked through wooded areas Tuesday morning with its head ...and more »
  

• Alaska: No Life Rafts for Walruses

  16-09-2015 04:51 via nytimes.com
  The United State Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to create floating platforms because they lack summer sea ice.
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 - Alaska Public Radio Network

  16-09-2015 03:47
  Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  A Dehavilland Otter float plane crashed taking off from East Wind Lake in Iliamna this morning, and three on board are confirmed dead. Activists say 'keep it in the ground'; Jewell calls it simplistic. Liz Ruskin, APRN – Anchorage. Hundreds of ...and more »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015

  16-09-2015 03:43
  
  
  Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.Download Audio
   
  3 killed in floatplane crash near Illiamna
  Dave Bendinger, KDLG – Dillingham
  A Dehavilland Otter float plane crashed taking off from East Wind Lake in Iliamna this morning, and three on board are confirmed dead.
  Activists say ‘keep i
  
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• 3 victims ID’d in Illiamna floatplane crash; 7 others survive

  16-09-2015 03:37
  
  
  UPDATE: State troopers released the identities of the three killed: Tony W. Degroot, 80 of Hanford, California; James P. Fletcher, 70 of Clovis, California; and James Specter, 69 of Shavertown, Pennsylvania.
  A Dehavilland Otter crashed after takeoff from a lake in Iliamna on Tuesday morning, killing three clients from a sport fishing lodge. The pilot and six others onboard were injured but survived.
  Download Audio
  Residents in Iliamna could see the crash site across East Wind Lake as the su
  
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• Activists say ‘keep it in ground’; Jewell calls it simplistic

  16-09-2015 03:36
  
  
  Inupiat rap artist and climate activist Allison Warden. (Photo by Liz Ruskin)
  Hundreds of environmental groups are uniting under a new banner to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. It’s called: “Keep it in the ground.” They’re asking President Obama to stop new petroleum leases on public lands. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell rejected the idea in a meeting with reporters today.
  Download Audio
  For decades, Alaska’s congressional delegation has been clamoring for more o
  
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• Prison population swells as inmates spend more time behind bars

  16-09-2015 03:35
  
  
  Spring Creek Correctional Center. (Department of Corrections photo)
  Alaska’s prison population is growing. But as the state’s Criminal Justice Commission told legislators during a hearing Tuesday, it’s not because more people are coming in to the system. They’re staying longer.
  Download Audio
  The Senate Finance Committee listened to a presentation by the Pew Charitable Trust on data from Alaska’s Department of Corrections over the last ten years. The state&rsqu
  
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• Warm-water fish increasingly spotted in Alaska waters

  16-09-2015 03:34
  
  
  Scientists and fishermen have reported more unusual species in Alaska waters, likely because of warming sea surface temperatures. Meanwhile, an Alaska research organization has created an online clearinghouse of all the news and research related to the anomaly called The Blob.
  Download Audio
  An ocean sunfish is captured in research trawl in July 2015. (Image courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
  Many of the unusual sightings this summer have been of mola mola, or ocean sun
  
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• Murre die-off reported around Kodiak

  16-09-2015 03:33
  
  
  A common murre in water. Photo by Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith / Flickr
  Kodiak Island residents have been reporting a large number of common murres washing up dead on local beaches.
  Download Audio
  Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge bird biologist, Robin Corcoran, says that the common murre is a small, black and white seabird and that its breeding colonies are more common in the Alaska Peninsula and in the Aleutians.
  “They do spend some time here in the winter and then there’s a
  
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• UAF looks to contractor for cleaner water supply

  16-09-2015 03:32
  
  
  An ongoing water quality issue at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has prompted the university to commit to an outside water source.
  Download Audio
  The University of Alaska Fairbanks is contracting with College Utilities Corporation to provide potable water on campus. UAF Facilities Services Associate Vice Chancellor Scott Bell says the utility supply will replace water from campus wells that began showing elevated levels of disinfectant by products earlier this year.
  The heightened levels of
  
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• Warm-water fish increasingly spotted in Alaska waters - Alaska Public Radio Network

  16-09-2015 03:18
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Warm-water fish increasingly spotted in Alaska waters
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Scientists and fishermen have reported more unusual species in Alaska waters, likely because of warming sea surface temperatures. Meanwhile, an Alaska research organization has created an online clearinghouse of all the news and research related to the ...
  

• Girdwood Seeks Public Safety Plan

  16-09-2015 03:03
  With the state budget tightening, some small communities may be losing Alaska State Trooper outposts come January. One of the affected communities is the ski resort of Girdwood, which, although part of the Municipality of Anchorage, is located forty miles South of the city.   　
  Girdwood’s board of supervisors has established a public safety task force to look at the community’s options for law enforcement after the Alaska State Trooper post there close
  
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• Alaska: No Life Rafts for Walruses - New York Times

  16-09-2015 02:43
  Alaska: No Life Rafts for Walruses
  New York Times
  The United State Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to create floating platforms for Pacific walruses that come ashore because they lack summer sea ice in a phenomenon attributed to climate change. A wildlife advocacy group had suggested placing ...
  

• Floatplane Crashes in Alaska Leaving 3 Dead, 7 Hurt - NBCNews.com

  16-09-2015 00:42
  CBS News
  Floatplane Crashes in Alaska Leaving 3 Dead, 7 Hurt
  NBCNews.com
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A floatplane belonging to a fishing lodge crashed during takeoff Tuesday in southwest Alaska, killing three people and injuring the other seven on board, authorities said. The injured passengers were being flown to Anchorage ...
  3 killed, 7 hurt as fishing lodge's plane crashes in AlaskaU.S. News & World Report
  Fishing lodge's floatplane crashes in Alaska; 3 dead, 7 hurtCBS News
  Floatplan
  

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