Alaska news

• Fairbanks Police Department comes under fire at city council meeting

  20-10-2015 22:20
  The Fairbanks Police Department came under criticism at last night’s city council meeting.
  During citizen’s comments, Fairbanks resident and Alaska Native Daisy Stevens questioned the department’s handling of recent and past homicide investigations.
  “There’s been several murders in this town, all involving Natives, and not one of them has been solved. What’s up with that?” Stevens said. “It didn’t take them long to arrest the Fairbanks Four w
  
  Read more

• Women’s legal rights handbook gets update, publishes online

  20-10-2015 22:06
  The Women’s Legal Rights Handbook is available online and at women’s shelters and advocacy organizations across the state. (Image courtesy of ANDVSA)
  The Alaska Women’s Legal Rights handbook was first published more than 30 years ago. The latest edition, which was released last month, is 240 pages long and includes information on victim’s rights, employment, reproductive rights, safety planning and more.
  “It just gives women a broad overview on a broad array of lega
  
  Read more

• Scott Kelley named state’s director of commercial fisheries

  20-10-2015 22:02
  
  The state has a new director of commercial fisheries. Long-time Fish and Game employee Scott Kelley takes over Wednesday, replacing Jeff Regnart, who retired at the start of October.
  Kelley started his career with fish and game as a port sampler at excursion inlet, a major processing facility west of Juneau. Since then he’s held a variety of roles in Southeast Alaska, including working on stock assessments, serving as a regional management coordinator, and running the Shellfish and Groundf
  
  Read more

• Scientists ID dead orca in Southeast Alaska

  20-10-2015 21:57
  Scientists have identified the dead killer whale found on a shoreline in Southeast Alaska last week.
  NOAA fisheries spokesperson Julie Speegle says a team of scientists made it to the Portage Bay on northern Kupreanof Island Monday.
  “They were able to conduct a full necropsy, which they collected a full suite of necropsy samples which will help determine the cause of death,” Speegle said. “The necropsy team did not find any indication of external injuries but they did discover
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Survey shows billions of juvenile Arctic cod under sea ice

  20-10-2015 21:22
  Arctic cod. Photo: Robin West/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  What happens under the Arctic ice cap has largely been hidden from the prying eyes of science. But a new under-ice trawl net has changed that. A recent study published in the journal Polar Biology found a Arctic cod lurking there in the billions.
  Imperiled habitat. That’s what you might call your digs if you live under the ice in a warming ocean.
  A new study by German researchers estimates the prevalence of nearly nine bill
  
  Read more

• Independent ferry tied up for repairs in Wrangell

  20-10-2015 17:48
  The Rainforest Islands Ferry loading vehicles at Heritage Harbor in Wrangell. (Katarina Sostaric/KSTK)
  An independent ferry in Southeast Alaska is tied up with mechanical problems in Wrangell, the latest in series of delays and difficulties for the new service.
  The Rainforest Islander is based in Coffman Cove on eastern Prince of Wales Island. The ship makes four trips a week to Wrangell and southern Mitkof Island near Petersburg.
  “We have to replace the port side transmission and do some
  
  Read more

• Museum of the Aleutians closes after 1801 Bible found in director’s house

  20-10-2015 17:36
  Museum of the Aleutians’ Oct. 12 board meeting. Board members (at table, L-R) Melissa Good, Sharon Svarney-Livingston, Eilleen Scott and executive director Zoya Johnson. (Photo by Greta Mart/KUCB)
  The Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska remains closed after the discovery of museum materials–including a Russian Orthodox Bible from 1801–at the executive director’s house disrupted normal operations last week.
  The museum’s board of directors voted Oct. 12 to close the m
  
  Read more

• State finalizes purchase of Fairbanks Natural Gas

  20-10-2015 17:32
  Interior Alaska residents are expected to see a drop in their energy bills this winter now that the state has purchased Fairbanks Natural Gas.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority closed on the purchase of Pentex, the parent company that owns the natural gas distributor, last week. The purchase includes a gas processing facility in Point MacKenzie and two gas-powered trucks used to transport the fuel.
  Gov. Bill Walker proposed the pur
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Plans for Juneau sea walk, whale statue put on hold

  20-10-2015 17:31
  The city of Juneau is cancelling bids for the construction of a sea walk and bronze whale statue after the bids exceeded expected costs by several million dollars.
  The Juneau Empire reports the project set for construction in the city’s downtown area was estimated to cost slightly more than $11 million. The two bids that came in for the project from North Pacific Erectors Inc. and Dawson Construction Inc. exceeded projected costs by about $3 million.
  The project was set for completion next
  
  Read more

• Kenai school district seeks input on potential cuts

  20-10-2015 17:30
  With the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District facing an expected $3 million — or more — hole in its budget next year, it’s turning to the public for ideas.
  The district is facing some difficult budget decisions for next fiscal year and needs your help to make them.
  Twenty-two schools across the district hosted budget meetings Thursday evening, to share information about the district’s financial situation and request input on what should be done to cover the more than-$
  
  Read more

• Alaska church tips pizza delivery driver $1900 - My Fox Boston

  20-10-2015 11:59
  My Fox Boston
  Alaska church tips pizza delivery driver $1900
  My Fox Boston
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — More than two weeks after a church congregation in Ohio tipped a pizza delivery driver $1,000, a church in Anchorage has upped the stakes. Anchorage television station KTVA reports that Ken Felber has been a pizza delivery ...
  Tipping wars? Alaska church tips delivery driver $1900KSNT (press release) (registration) (blog)all 94 news articles »
  

• Flagging graduation rate a concern: Alaska one of handful of states to see ... - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  20-10-2015 10:10
  Flagging graduation rate a concern: Alaska one of handful of states to see ...
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  News-Miner opinion: New federal education data show Alaska was one of only five states to see a decline last year in the percentage of students graduating high school. That's bad news, particularly given the focus the state has put on improving its ...and more »
  

• Activist hopes convention suicide leads to more awareness - The Idaho Statesman

  20-10-2015 10:09
  The Idaho Statesman
  Activist hopes convention suicide leads to more awareness
  The Idaho Statesman
  John Baker, the 2011 winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, speaks Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage, Alaska. The Inupiat Eskimo musher and Gov. Bill Walker announced the creation of an initiative ...
  Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, healAlaska Public Radio Networkall 96 news articles »
  

• Alaska Airlines plans $50M of improvements - Juneau Empire (subscription)

  20-10-2015 10:06
  Alaska Airlines plans $50M of improvements
  Juneau Empire (subscription)
  FAIRBANKS — Alaska Airlines is planning more than $50 million in new capital investments in Alaska over the next few years. Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden said the projects include expanded freight service, a new hanger in Anchorage and terminal ...
  

• Alaska 'Slave Auction' Fundraiser to Be Renamed - ABC News

  20-10-2015 09:28
  Gawker
  Alaska 'Slave Auction' Fundraiser to Be Renamed
  ABC News
  Organizers have dropped the name "slave auction" from an annual charity event in Alaska, after the NAACP complained that the term was offensive. The Sunday night auction in the town of Sitka involved people bidding in an auction on volunteers' time ...
  Alaska Bar Changes Name of "Slave Auction" Event After NAACP Complains, Not ...Gawker
  Alaska Geniuses Hold Slavery AuctionDaily Beast
  APNewsBreak: Alaska 'slave auction' fundraiser t
  

• Alaska's fishing fatalities dropping - Kenai Peninsula Online

  20-10-2015 08:26
  Alaska's fishing fatalities dropping
  Kenai Peninsula Online
  Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard reported to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council that for the first time in known history, no one died on the job while commercial fishing in Alaska during the last federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 31 ...
  

• Jogging 7000 miles to Alaska, runner focuses on positive mindset for charity - Naples Daily News

  20-10-2015 08:02
  Naples Daily News
  Jogging 7000 miles to Alaska, runner focuses on positive mindset for charity
  Naples Daily News
  Twenty-year-old Kevin Payne, of Baltimore, runs along Airport-Pulling Road on the fifth day of a barefoot cross-country run on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, in East Naples. Payne is running mostly barefoot from Key West to Alaska to raise awareness and ...and more »
  

• Abandoned Alaska seal pup, now healthy, released back to wild - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-10-2015 07:07
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Abandoned Alaska seal pup, now healthy, released back to wild
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Heli, a rescued seal pup, emerges from an animal carrier as she's released back into the wild on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, in Juneau, Alaska. Heli had been found abandoned and in poor condition in July. She received care at the Alaska SeaLife Center ...
  Abandoned Seal Pup in Alaska, Now Healthy, Released Back to WildKSTP.comall 32 news articles »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Oct. 19, 2015 - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-10-2015 04:39
  Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Oct. 19, 2015
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  It's been more than 70 years since Attu Island was taken captive, setting off one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Once they got it back, American forces transformed the last island in the Aleutian Chain into a strategic hub that's slowly ...and more »
  

• Migrant Deaths Expose Tactics Smugglers Use to Exploit the Vulnerable - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-10-2015 04:38
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Migrant Deaths Expose Tactics Smugglers Use to Exploit the Vulnerable
  Alaska Dispatch News
  NICKELSDORF, Austria — Austrian police officers found pungent fluid dripping from the back door of a meat truck that had been abandoned on a highway near the Hungarian border. Counting the tangled and decomposing bodies inside took the authorities ...and more »
  

• Lawmakers should remember Good Samaritan, forget Medicaid lawsuit - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-10-2015 04:23
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Lawmakers should remember Good Samaritan, forget Medicaid lawsuit
  Alaska Dispatch News
  OPINION: Medicaid expansion helps Alaskans, and it's time for the legislative opponents to acknowledge that fact and get on board. Pixabay. As a practicing classroom math teacher, I tell my students that it is crucial that every day they walk into my ...and more »
  

• Environmental, economic factors collide in battle over Alaska wolves - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-10-2015 04:23
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Environmental, economic factors collide in battle over Alaska wolves
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The story of the wolves, the island and the ancient forest began long before there were struggling sawmills and endangered species. But that lost world has a name now: the Tongass National Forest, in southeast Alaska. So do the wolves and the island.
  

• Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, heal - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-10-2015 03:54
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, heal
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  A discussion after a suicide can help support vulnerable people who are at risk, or it can help push them in that direction, a lot depends on the words used to describe the event. Usually, those who take their life are alone and most people won't hear ...
  Activist hopes convention suicide leads to more awarenessThe Idaho Statesmanall 117 news articles »
  

• State Dept. official to talk on nuclear treaty in Fairbanks

  20-10-2015 03:39
  
  
  A high ranking State Department official will speak Monday night at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the prospects of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
  Download Audio
  Rose Gottemoeller  is undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security. While such a treaty has yet to be ratified by the U.S., Gottemoeller says there is broad international support for it.
  It took years for a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty to get traction in the United Nations. But wi
  
  Read more

• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Oct. 19, 2015

  20-10-2015 03:38
  
  
  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
   
  On Attu Island, WWII battlefield awaits clean-up as seabirds recolonize the isle
  Lauren Rosenthal, APRN Contributor
  It’s been more than 70 years since Attu Island was taken captive, setting off one of the bloodiest battles of World Wa
  
  Read more

• Sea birds recolonize Attu Island amid toxic WWII battlefield remnants

  20-10-2015 03:37
  
  
  It’s been seven decades since U.S. soldiers recaptured Attu Island from Japanese forces, setting off one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
  Download Audio
  Personal from The US Fish and Wildlife Service research boat R/V Tiglax visit the World War II memorial constructed by the Japanese government honoring American and Japanese soldiers on Engineer Hill on Attu Island on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)
  Once they recovered the most remote island in the A
  
  Read more

• Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, heal

  20-10-2015 03:35
  
  
  A discussion after a suicide can help support vulnerable people who are at risk, or it can help push them in that direction, a lot depends on the words used to describe the event. Usually, those who take their life are alone and most people won’t hear about it. But four recent suicides in Hooper Bay and the very public death of a man who killed himself inside the Dena’ina Convention Center at the end of the annual AFN convention on Saturday has Alaskans and Alaska news media grapplin
  
  Read more

• Fairbanks 4 parolee speaks out at AFN to standing ovation

  20-10-2015 03:33
  
  
  Marvin Roberts, one of the Fairbanks Four, received a standing ovation when he walked onto the stage at AFN, Saturday. It was the first time Roberts had spoken out in such a public venue about the case.
  Download Audio
  Raising an hand signing the number four became a symbol of solidarity at the 2015 AFN convention. Photo: Daysha Eaton/KBBI.
  Marvin Roberts described the Fairbanks Four as four men trapped in a nightmare.
  “This nightmare began in October 1997. Then like now, we four men mainta
  
  Read more

• Halter scores Borough mayor’s post

  20-10-2015 03:32
  
  
  And the winner is——–Vern Halter.
  Download Audio
  The final vote tally Monday afternoon  in the Matanuska Susitana Borough mayor’s race indicates that Vern Halter is the Borough’s new mayor. Halter drew 5,422 votes compared with incumbent DeVilbiss’s 4,971.
  A special Review Team counted the absentee and questioned ballots today.  On election evening, fewer than 200 votes separated the two front running mayoral candidates.  A third candidate, Rosem
  
  Read more

• NAACP asks Sitka to rename Alaska Day event

  20-10-2015 03:31
  
  
  On Sunday, Oct. 18, the Anchorage chapter of the NAACP wrote to Sitka committee of the Alaska Day festival, criticizing the name of one of the events on the program: the slave auction. Organized by a local bar, the annual fundraiser took place last night.
  Download Audio
  Sitka celebrates Alaska’s 1867 transfer from Russia on Alaska Day. Photo: KCAW-Sitka.
  The slave auction has been held at the Pioneer Bar for over 30 years and as with other activities that take place the
  
  Read more

• Online map plots coastal erosion in eight Western Alaska locations

  20-10-2015 03:30
  
  
  Each year, coastal communities in Western Alaska watch feet – even yards – of shoreline disappear into the waves. Now, a new online mapping tool will let them look at past erosion and see where coastlines might be in future years.
  Download Audio
  A bluff crumbles in Port Heiden after a storm event in late September, 2015.
  CREDIT SCOTT ANDERSON
  In the next ten or twenty years, the waters of Bristol Bay will overtake much of Port Heiden’s old, abandoned village site. It&
  
  Read more

• Alaska Gov. Walker lays out special session agenda in letter to lawmakers - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-10-2015 02:52
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Gov. Walker lays out special session agenda in letter to lawmakers
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Gov. Bill Walker on Monday sent a letter to lawmakers laying out his agenda for the upcoming special legislative session on the natural gas pipeline project from the North Slope. The project is currently being pursued by the state along with ...
  Alaska to convene special session on gas issuesChron.com (blog)all 19 news articles »
  

• Online map plots coastal erosion in eight Western Alaska locations - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-10-2015 02:46
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Online map plots coastal erosion in eight Western Alaska locations
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Each year, coastal communities in Western Alaska watch feet – even yards – of shoreline disappear into the waves. Now, a new online mapping tool will let them look at past erosion and see where coastlines might be in future years. A bluff crumbles in ...and more »
  

• Algo Nuevo: October 18, 2015

  20-10-2015 01:19
  
  Here’s the Sunday, October 18, 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
  Senorita TequilaMercedezCulturasChavez Recording
  
  Read more

• Alaska's second Medicaid redesign meeting has stakeholders lukewarm - State of Reform

  20-10-2015 01:12
  Alaska's second Medicaid redesign meeting has stakeholders lukewarm
  State of Reform
  The second of five stakeholder meetings to lay the groundwork for Alaska's Medicaid Redesign and Expansion Technical Assistance Project was held on Oct. 9. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) and its consultants invited one ...
  

• Alaska Native activist hopes suicide leads to more awareness - abc27

  20-10-2015 00:57
  abc27
  Alaska Native activist hopes suicide leads to more awareness
  abc27
  John Baker, the 2011 winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, speaks Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage, Alaska. The Inupiat Eskimo musher and Gov. Bill Walker announced the creation of an initiative ...
  Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, healAlaska Public Radio Networkall 89 news articles »
  

• Sea birds recolonize Attu Island amid toxic WWII battlefield remnants - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-10-2015 00:46
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Sea birds recolonize Attu Island amid toxic WWII battlefield remnants
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  It's been seven decades since U.S. soldiers recaptured Attu Island from Japanese forces, setting off one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Download Audio. Personal from The US Fish and Wildlife Service research boat R/V Tiglax visit the World ...
  Photos: Research vessel Tiglax visits Attu Island in the AleutiansAlaska Dispatch Newsall 4 news articles »
  

• Alaska Church Tips Pizza Delivery Driver $1900 - ABC News

  20-10-2015 00:24
  KSNT (press release) (registration) (blog)
  Alaska Church Tips Pizza Delivery Driver $1900
  ABC News
  More than two weeks after a church congregation in Ohio tipped a pizza delivery driver $1,000, a church in Anchorage has upped the stakes. Anchorage television station KTVA reports (http://is.gd/9Fr43j) that Ken Felber has been a pizza delivery driver ...
  Tipping wars? Alaska church tips delivery driver $1900KSNT (press release) (registration) (blog)all 69 news articles »
  

• APNewsBreak: Alaska 'Slave Auction' Fundraiser to Be Renamed - ABC News

  20-10-2015 00:19
  Gawker
  APNewsBreak: Alaska 'Slave Auction' Fundraiser to Be Renamed
  ABC News
  Organizers of an annual Alaska charity event said Monday they will stop calling it a "slavery auction" after the NAACP complained. The event in the town of Sitka involves people bidding in an auction on volunteers' time, with the winning bidders ...
  Alaska Bar Changes Name of "Slave Auction" Event After NAACP Complains, Not ...Gawker
  Alaska Geniuses Hold Slavery AuctionDaily Beastall 56 news articles »
  

• Attu Island cleanup scheduled amid WWII battlefield remnants - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-10-2015 00:17
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Attu Island cleanup scheduled amid WWII battlefield remnants
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  It's been seven decades since U.S. soldiers recaptured Attu Island from Japanese forces, setting off one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Personal from The US Fish and Wildlife Service research boat R/V Tiglax visit the World War II memorial ...
  Photos: Research vessel Tiglax visits Attu Island in the AleutiansAlaska Dispatch Newsall 4 news articles »
  

Follow @News_Alaska on Twitter!