Alaska news

• Alaska News Nightly: Friday, Sept. 25, 2015

  26-09-2015 05:25
  
  
  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.
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  NTSB release preliminary report on deadly Iliamna crash
  Dave Bendinger, KDLG-DillinghamThe National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Friday on the September 15th crash of a turbine Otter float plane in Iliamna. The ac
  
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• Walker’s special session comes with a surprise

  26-09-2015 04:13
  
  
  Gov. Bill Walker spoke with reporters on Friday, Sept. 25, defending his proposal for a natural gas reserves tax. (Photo by: Rachel Waldholz/APRN)
  Download AudioLawmakers have been expecting a special session on the state’s mammoth, $55-billion proposed project to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Nikiski.
  But when Gov. Bill Walker called for the special session on Thursday (Sept. 24), it came with a surprise – a proposed tax on the natural gas reserves held by the
  
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• Walker proposes taxing reserves to hasten work on gasline

  26-09-2015 04:13
  
  Gov. Bill Walker spoke with reporters on Friday, Sept. 25, defending his proposal for a natural gas reserves tax. (Rachel Waldholz/APRN)
  Lawmakers have been expecting a special session on the state’s mammoth, $55-billion project to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Nikiski.
  But when Gov. Bill Walker called for the special session on Thursday, it came with a surprise – a proposed tax on the natural gas reserves held by the very companies the state is trying to partn
  
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• UAF hosting international Arctic conference

  26-09-2015 04:10
  
  
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  An international seminar on extractive industries in the Arctic is happening at the University of Alaska Fairbanks this weekend. UAF history professor and seminar organizer Terrance Cole says it’s bringing together participants from numerous circumpolar nations to discuss the increasing focus on developing the Arctic’s largely untapped resources.
  
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• NTSB release preliminary report on deadly Iliamna crash

  26-09-2015 04:10
  
  The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Friday on the September 15th crash of a turbine Otter float plane in Iliamna. The accident killed three and wounded seven onboard. The plane was owned and operated by the Rainbow King Lodge. It left before dawn to take clients and guides to a day of fishing on a river northwest of Kodiak.
  The NTSB has not concluded what caused the accident. But the report details a statement from the only eyewitness that dark m
  
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• Fairbanks gets first major snow; braces for reduced maintenance

  26-09-2015 04:06
  
  
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  Fairbanks got its first major snowfall of the season Friday. As usual, drivers are counting on the state to plow and sand highways and some side roads, but budget cuts mean reduced maintenance. The downsized operation is expected to be tested this winter.
  
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• Thorne Bay School District experiments with aquaponics

  26-09-2015 04:00
  
  
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  About five years ago, the Southeast Island School District in Thorne Bay put in a wood-fired boiler. A few years after, they built a greenhouse to take advantage of the excess heat.  This summer, the greenhouse transitioned from hydroponics to aquaponics.
  
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• AK: High school students enter the world of nano-agriculture

  26-09-2015 04:00
  
  
  High school students in Kodiak are doing college-level science. Maybe even PhD-level science.
  World Bridge is a NASA-sponsored group that assigns Alaskan students to scientific research projects. At a recent competition in Italy, the group showed that their earthquake research could have a global impact, but that’s only one project they’re working on. They’ve also entered the world of nano-agriculture.
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  Anna sprays a patch of grass as the Kodiak football team prac
  
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• Three seek Mat Su Borough mayor’s seat – Rosemary Vavrin

  26-09-2015 03:39
  
  Unexpected candidate Rosemary Vavrin commutes by bus and works as a volunteer at the Wasilla Senior Center. *The 70 year old* Vavrin, [70] originally from Texas, has spent over 30 years in Alaska, the past four in the Mat Su. The former high school teacher and media freelancer now advocates for seniors. She recently spoke at a mayoral debate panel sponsored by AARP.
  “Most folks know me because I speak up on the need for expanded and increased transit in the entire area.”
  She is passi
  
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• Three seek Mat Su Borough mayor’s seat – Assemblyman Vern Halter

  26-09-2015 03:33
  Attorney, dog driver and Mat Su Asssemblyman Vern Halter has represented the Borough’s District 7 for two terms. Now he has his eyes on the  Borough  mayor’s seat.
  Sixty six year old Halter, [ is a veteran, a lawyer and a 38 year Alaska resident, has a colorful background as a former Kodiak law clerk, an Unalaska judge and now operator of Dream a Dream Kennel in Willow. Over coffee in Palmer, Halter says he’s quite different from the incumbent DeVilbiss
  “I am no
  
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• Three seek Mat Su Borough mayor’s seat – Incumbent Larry DeVilbiss

  26-09-2015 03:26
   It’s breakfast time at a Palmer eatery, and Mat Su Mayor Larry DeVilbiss’s smartphone is buzzing relentlessly in his pocket.
  The shuttering of the Knik contract post office is the crisis du jour, and DeVilbiss, over hot chocolate, says he’ll personally contact the US Postal Service about that. DeVilbiss, age 71,a farmer and rancher, comes from a fifties-era homsteading family. He’s got one more field of hay to harvest, and keeps one eye on the weather.
  “We&rsq
  
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• Train and ferry to the outdoors

  26-09-2015 01:00
  We Alaskans have a unique way to get into the backcountry, on our state-owned railroad or ferry system–two of the most fun forms of transportation around. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll celebrate how the train and ferries can get families out to adventures hiking, skiing, paddling, floating, and exploring in some truly exotic places. We’ll learn about the opportunities, and how you can do it with your family. 
  HOST: Charles Wohlforth
  GUESTS: 
  Erin Kirkland,
  
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