Alaska news

• Alaska jobs estimate up slightly in October - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-11-2015 23:33
  Alaska jobs estimate up slightly in October
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's preliminary employment numbers were positive in October compared to the year before, with a statewide increase of about 2,000, the state labor department reported on Friday. Statewide there were about 333,000 jobs this October, up from 331,000 ...and more »
  

• Sacred Chilkat robe taken after gold rush returns to Alaska - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  20-11-2015 21:43
  Sacred Chilkat robe taken after gold rush returns to Alaska
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  JUNEAU, Alaska - A Chilkat robe that left Alaska after the Yukon gold rush is making its way back to Juneau. KTOO-FM reports (http://bit.ly/218R1fq ) that the robe was set to be auctioned on eBay Wednesday, but seller George Blucker gave the Sealaska ...and more »
  

• Delusion: Stories of Seeing Things, Defying Reality and Sky-High Dreaming

  20-11-2015 21:30
  
  Every community has a place, where people gather and stories are told. The East Coast has stoops, the South has porches, and in Alaska we have Arctic Entries. Here, Alaskans share their personal stories — funny, sad and sweet. Originally told at the Arctic Entries monthly storytelling event in Anchorage, listen to seven people tell a 7-minute-long true story related to the show’s theme.
  This week, the theme is “Delusion: Stories of Seeing Things, Defyin
  
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• Alaska Quarterly Review's latest edition features prize-winning composer - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  20-11-2015 21:29
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Alaska Quarterly Review's latest edition features prize-winning composer
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Alaska Quarterly Review's latest edition is out today, Nov. 20, and it highlights Alaska's only individual Pulitzer Prize winner: composer John Luther Adams. “Become Ocean” was the composition that won Adams the coveted Pulitzer in music. His work, and ...
  

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• Alaska Supreme Court dismisses salmon overharvesting case involving ex-state ... - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-11-2015 21:19
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Supreme Court dismisses salmon overharvesting case involving ex-state ...
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The Alaska Supreme Court has dismissed salmon overharvesting charges filed six years ago against a former state senator and two other subsistence fishermen. The court Friday ruled that fishing officials did not follow state law before lowering the ...
  

• Alaska Marijuana Control Board rejects proposal to allow Outside investment - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-11-2015 21:02
  Alaska Marijuana Control Board rejects proposal to allow Outside investment
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Marijuana Control Board vice chair Mark Springer discusses a motion with other board members at the Legislative Information Office in Anchorage on Friday morning. Loren Holmes / ADN. Alaska's Marijuana Control Board is meeting Friday, Nov. 20, to ...
  

• Surf Meet the Surfer Girls of Alaska's Tidal Bore - TheInertia.com

  20-11-2015 21:01
  TheInertia.com
  Surf Meet the Surfer Girls of Alaska's Tidal Bore
  TheInertia.com
  In tiny cabins sprinkled throughout the Chugach Mountains, there is a small group of women. Some were born here and others came looking for something different. Most of the girls I know in Alaska live here primarily for the insatiable powder lines ...
  

• Winter food security

  20-11-2015 21:00
  A lot of Americans would welcome a forecast for a mild winter, but in Alaska a lack of snow and ice can mean hardship for those in rural communities who depend on cold for traveling and hunting. What happens when the land of ice and snow isn’t so frosty?
  HOST: Lori Townsend
  GUESTS:
  Carolina Behe, ICC
  Jim Dau, caribou biologist
  Cyrus Harris, Maniilaq Traditional food program
  Participate:
  Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air
  
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• Beware of phone scammers pretending to be Alaska State Troopers - KTUU.com

  20-11-2015 20:46
  KTUU.com
  Beware of phone scammers pretending to be Alaska State Troopers
  KTUU.com
  Phone scammers are calling Alaskans and pretending to be Alaska State troopers or other law enforcement in hopes of getting personal information, Anchorage police warned today. Here is the full statement from the Anchorage Police Department and ...
  Anchorage police: Beware fake 'troopers' extorting fines by phoneAlaska Dispatch Newsall 2 news articles »
  

• Alaska's Chugach State Park Opens Trail Access to Fat Bikers - Outside Magazine

  20-11-2015 20:28
  Outside Magazine
  Alaska's Chugach State Park Opens Trail Access to Fat Bikers
  Outside Magazine
  New regulations allow bikes with minimum 3.7-inch tires and 20 psi or less. Photo: WendyOlsenPhotography/iStock. Chugach State Park is heeding the call of Alaska's growing fat bike population and opening up many of its most popular trails for unlimited ...
  

• ABC Board hires first Yup’ik investigator in 15 years

  20-11-2015 20:15
  First Sergeant James Hoelscher instructs officers at a 2014 training. (Photo By Ben Matheson/ KYUK)
  The Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control hired a new investigator in early October. He’s the first Yup’ik investigator in 15 years, and maybe, the first ever.
  Cindy Franklin is the director of the ABC and marijuana control board, and she oversees hiring.
  “I think there’s a possibility that James might be our first Yup’ik investigator ever,” Franklin said.
  But Frank
  
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• John Patrick on ‘Health Attitude’

  20-11-2015 20:00
  On the next Line One we’ll dive into a discussion on the cultural and technological barriers to more affordable, accessible and effective health care in the U.S. Our guest is John Patrick, author of “Health Attitude,” a book delving into the complexities of the health care industry.
   
  HOST: Dr. Thad Woodard 
  Dr. John Patrick joins us on the next Line One to talk about health attitude.
  GUEST:
  Dr. John Patrick, author, “Health Attitude: Unraveling a
  
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• Convicted Wrangell doc wants another chance to defend himself

  20-11-2015 19:17
  Dr. Greg Salard served as chief of staff at the Wrangell Medical Center. (Photo from Alaska Island Community Services website)
  The former Wrangell doctor convicted on child pornography charges wants a new trial.
  Greg Salard’s new lawyer claims his client’s constitutional rights were denied by the public defender during his trial in U.S. District Court in July.
  The request has postponed Salard’s sentencing while a judge considers the request, which may take several weeks. Salard
  
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• Man found shot to death outside rural lodge bunkhouse

  20-11-2015 19:14
  Alaska State Troopers say a 56-year-old man died in an apparent shooting outside the bunkhouse of the Port William Wilderness Lodge on Shuyak Island near Kodiak.
  Troopers found the body Tuesday after receiving a request to conduct a welfare check.
  A web posting says a suspect was identified, and this person was later arrested in Anchorage.
  Anchorage police say in an email to The Associated Press that the man was arrested on unrelated warrants early Thursday morning, and is being held without bon
  
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• Forest officials pull Mitkof timber sale

  20-11-2015 19:12
  
  The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn findings that the proposed timber sale on Mitkof Island near Petersburg has no significant environmental impact.
  The Ketchikan Daily News reports that the federal agency pulled its decision notice earlier this month. The sale was projected to provide roughly 28.5 million board feet on more than 4,000 acres on Tongass National Forest land.
  Forest Service spokesman Kent Cummins said in an email Wednesday that the withdrawal allows the agency to take another lo
  
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• Chilkat robe returning to Southeast

  20-11-2015 19:10
  The Chilkat robe is a Raven design and measures just over five feet wide. (Photo by George Blucker)
  Sealaska Heritage Institute has acquired a Chilkat robe that was to be auctioned off on eBay on Wednesday. After the seller learned the robe was a sacred item, he allowed SHI to purchase it at the reserve price of $14,500. There were already multiple bids.
  Typically, these objects can fetch upwards of $30,000.
  The seller, George Blucker, bought the robe at an Illinois flea market 25 years ago. He
  
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• Statoil follows Shell out of Alaska - Treehugger

  20-11-2015 18:48
  Treehugger
  Statoil follows Shell out of Alaska
  Treehugger
  This week, the Norwegian oil company Statoil announced that it is abandoning all plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic. The announcement follows a similar announcement from Shell, who said they would end Alaskan off-shore drilling operations in September.and more »
  

• ACT’s The Secret Garden

  20-11-2015 18:40
  ACT’s The Secret Garden
  Frances Hodgson Burnett’s popular novel The Secret Garden has been made into numerous movies, a musical and also a straight play adapted by playwright Sylvia Ashby. Anchorage Community Theatre is presenting Ashby’s version as their holiday show from November 20 until December 20 with curtain at 7:00pm Thursday-Saturday and 3:00pm on Sundays. Join Director David Block and ACT’s Executive Director Sara Athans this week on Stage Talk to
  
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• AK: With sustainable logging in mind, Galena looks to forests for fuel

  20-11-2015 17:30
  
  
  Large-scale logging on the Yukon River started about a hundred years ago, when steamships burned a cord of wood per hour to power their engines. Village residents clear-cut wide swathes of forest along the river, but the logging tapered off when ships switched to diesel. These days, villages like Galena are once again looking to the forest for an energy supply.
  But this time around, a new generation of loggers is thinking more about sustainability in how – and
  
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• 49 Voices: Leonard Savage of Wasilla

  20-11-2015 17:30
  
  
  This week we’re talking with Athabascan ivory carver Leonard Savage about how he got his start. Savage splits his time between Wasilla and Kentucky.
  Download Audio
  
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• Selawik officer faces charges after 16-year-old girl dies

  20-11-2015 17:26
  A substitute village police officer in an Inupiat Eskimo village in northwest Alaska is facing charges that he provided alcohol to two minors, one of which was later found dead.
  Alaska State Troopers say 29-year-old Brent Norton of Selawik gave alcohol to a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl this week. Troopers also allege he sexually assaulted the 16-year-old after she became incapacitated, and she was later found dead.
  He’s been charged with felony counts of providing alcohol to min
  
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• US Capitol Christmas tree travels from Alaska to DC - Washington Post

  20-11-2015 17:19
  Washington Post
  US Capitol Christmas tree travels from Alaska to DC
  Washington Post
  It's here and it's come a looonnnnnggggg way by boat and truck! The 74-foot tree that is to serve this holiday season as the official Christmas tree for the U.S. Capitol grounds came from a national forest in Alaska, and on its two-week journey, it ...
  From Alaska to DC, the journey of the Capitol Christmas treePBS NewsHourall 49 news articles »
  

• USDA awards $2.3M to Alaska telemedicine, distance learning - Alaska Public Radio Network

  20-11-2015 17:11
  USDA awards $2.3M to Alaska telemedicine, distance learning
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture chose Thursday, National Rural Health Day, to announce $2.3 million in grants to support telemedicine and distance learning programs in Alaska. Jim Nordlund is the Alaska state director of the USDA Rural Development ...and more »
  

• USDA awards $2.3M to Alaska telemedicine, distance learning

  20-11-2015 17:10
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture chose Thursday, National Rural Health Day, to announce $2.3 million in grants to support telemedicine and distance learning programs in Alaska.
  Jim Nordlund is the Alaska state director of the USDA Rural Development program. He says some of the grants, such as $420,000 going to the North Slope Borough, will be used to link health clinics and hospitals. He says the new Internet connections will improve access to emergency medical care, behavioral health and othe
  
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• USDA awards $2.3 million in grants to Alaskan telemedicine, distance learning

  20-11-2015 17:10
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture chose Thursday, National Rural Health Day, to announce $2.3 million in grants to support telemedicine and distance learning programs in Alaska.
  Jim Nordlund is the Alaska state director of the USDA Rural Development program. He says some of the grants, such as $420,000 going to the North Slope Borough, will be used to link health clinics and hospitals. He says the new Internet connections will improve access to emergency medical care, behavioral health and othe
  
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• Combating heroin in Alaska

  20-11-2015 17:00
  State and federal officials as well as community groups spread all over Alaska have expressed alarm over rising rates of use and abuse. Juneau in particular has been the subject has gotten attention lately for a spate of heroin and opiate related overdoses.
  HOST: Zachariah Hughes
  GUESTS:Austin Baird, Reporter, KTUU
  Alex DeMarban, Reporter, Alaska Dispatch News,
  Rachel Waldholz, Energy Reporter, Alaska Public MediaKSKA (FM 91.1) BROADCAST: Friday, Nov. 20, at 2:00 p.
  
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• Judge rejects plea agreements for Alaska reality stars - KTRK-TV

  20-11-2015 16:48
  KTRK-TV
  Judge rejects plea agreements for Alaska reality stars
  KTRK-TV
  Alaska Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg speaks during a court hearing on Thursday, Nov. 19 , 2015, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer). AP. Friday, November 20, 2015 09:48AM. JUNEAU, AK --. A state court judge on Thursday rejected plea ...
  Judge rejects plea agreements for Alaska reality stars in PFD fraud caseFairbanks Daily News-Minerall 25 news articles »
  

• Alaska Would Rather Go Broke Than Pay Taxes - FiveThirtyEight

  20-11-2015 16:36
  FiveThirtyEight
  Alaska Would Rather Go Broke Than Pay Taxes
  FiveThirtyEight
  In June, Randy Hoffbeck flew to Fairbanks for a conference on Alaska's mounting budget crisis. For two days, Hoffbeck, who is the state's revenue commissioner, and other fiscal experts laid out the problem and discussed possible solutions: cutting ...
  

• Judge rejects plea agreements for Alaska reality stars in PFD fraud case - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  20-11-2015 16:18
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Judge rejects plea agreements for Alaska reality stars in PFD fraud case
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Alaska Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg speaks during a court hearing on Thursday, Nov. 19 , 2015, in Juneau, Alaska. Pallenberg rejected plea agreements from two members of the family associated with the reality show "Alaskan Bush People" in a ...and more »
  

• Judge Rejects Plea Agreements for Alaska Reality Stars - ABC News

  20-11-2015 05:34
  ABC News
  Judge Rejects Plea Agreements for Alaska Reality Stars
  ABC News
  Alaska Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg speaks during a court hearing on Thursday, Nov. 19 , 2015, in Juneau, Alaska. Pallenberg rejected plea agreements from two members of the family associated with the reality show "Alaskan Bush People" in a ...
  'Alaskan Bush People' stars' plea agreement rejected by judgeAlaska Dispatch Newsall 223 news articles »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

  20-11-2015 03:41
  
  
  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
   
  Alaska delegation to push for ‘frankenfish’ labeling
  Liz Ruskin, APRN – Anchorage
  It’s the announcement the Alaskan salmon industry has long feared: The FDA this morning approved an application for genetically engineered
  
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• FDA OK’s engineered salmon; lawmakers seek mandatory labels

  20-11-2015 03:37
  
  
  Photo: AquaBounty Technologies
  It’s the announcement the Alaskan salmon industry has long feared: The FDA this morning approved an application for genetically engineered salmon, declaring the product as safe to eat as natural salmon. Critics, including Alaska’s congressional delegation, are considering their next steps.
  Download Audio
  It’s primarily an Atlantic salmon, but it has genes from a Chinook and a bottom-dweller to make it grow extra fast on less food. It’s calle
  
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• After FDA approval, lawmakers seek labeling for engineered salmon

  20-11-2015 03:37
  
  
  Photo: AquaBounty Technologies
  It’s the announcement the Alaskan salmon industry has long feared: The FDA this morning approved an application for genetically engineered salmon, declaring the product as safe to eat as natural salmon. Critics, including Alaska’s congressional delegation, are considering their next steps.
  Download Audio
  It’s primarily an Atlantic salmon, but it has genes from a Chinook and a bottom-dweller to make it grow extra fast on less food. It’s calle
  
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• Pot board convenes to finalize regs

  20-11-2015 03:36
  
  
  The state is set to finalize commercial marijuana regulations. But several controversial sticking points have yet to be settled, including rules for on-site consumption.
  Voters approved the legal the production, sale and use of marijuana for Alaskans over 21 years old in the November election. (Creative Commons photo by Brett Levin)
  Download Audio
  The state’s Marijuana Control Board has spent months writing rules to determine how Alaskans are allowed to grow, sell, and use marijuana. On Fr
  
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• Bethel granted 2 liquor licenses

  20-11-2015 03:35
  
  
  Alcohol sales are coming to Bethel — legally — for the first time in 40 years.
  Download Audio
  The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board granted Bethel two liquor licenses today—one for AC Quickstop and another for Bethel Spirits, a Bethel Native Corporation subsidiary.
  BNC Kipusvik facility, the proposed Bethel Spirits site. Photo by Myka Kernak / KYUK.
  The AC license passed in a 4-1 vote.
  The Board debated whether an Alaska statute restricting liquor stores on p
  
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• Substance abuse, lack of treatment a top Mat-Su health concern

  20-11-2015 03:34
  
  
  The rise in drug use in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is prompting community action against addiction, and local health officials say that counteracting the spread of drug use is everybody’s business.
  Download Audio
  Image by Eric Molina via Wikimedia Commons
  Mat-Su Health Foundation sponsored a community discussion Monday evening, centered on the problems of drug and alcohol addiction.
  A panel of medical, law enforcement and behavioral health experts gathered to answer questions from a liv
  
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• Necropsy elucidates cause of Katmai brown bear death

  20-11-2015 03:33
  
  
  A lab has identified a possible cause of death for one of the two brown bears that died in front of the high-traffic bear cams in Katmai National Park last month.
  Download Audio
  The cub’s mother and sibling returned to where it lay dead or dying around October 23. Photo: Screen grab from Explore.org bear-cam.
  After thousands of viewers watched a spring cub die in late October, the animal’s remains were sent to a lab in Madison, Wisconsin for a necropsy.
  Roy Wood, the Chief of Interpr
  
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• Alaska literary journal dabbles in music artistry

  20-11-2015 03:33
  
  
  Alaska writers have a range of talents as large as the state they hail from. The Alaska Quarterly Review captures the best of that work and the writings of authors from across the world into an annual collection that has garnered literary praise for decades.
  Find the Alaska Quarterly Review online here.
  Editor Ron Spatz started the publication at UAA 33 years ago and is still at the helm. The collection of nonfiction, fiction and poetry is always masterful — but this fall’s edition o
  
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• Inupiaq school in Kotz fundraises for Yup’ik sister school

  20-11-2015 03:32
  
  
  Jennifer Howarth (left) and Ida Aanataiyaaq Biesemeier (right) at the Kotzebue bake sale, raising money for Bethel’s Ayaprun school. (Photo by Molly Sheldon)
  When the Nikaitchuat Ilisagviat Inupiaq immersion school opened in Kotzebue, its founders turned to Bethel’s Ayaprun Elitnaurvik Yup’ik immersion school for guidance. With Ayaprun’s building destroyed earlier this month in a fire, its Inupiaq sister school is stepping in to offer support.
  Download Audio
  Images of the
  
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• 'Alaskan Bush People' stars' plea agreement rejected by judge - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-11-2015 03:16
  Alaska Dispatch News
  'Alaskan Bush People' stars' plea agreement rejected by judge
  Alaska Dispatch News
  A Juneau judge rejected a plea deal Thursday that would have allowed stars from Discovery Channel's wildly popular reality television series “Alaskan Bush People” to avoid jail time for lying on applications to get the Permanent Fund dividend checks ...and more »
  

• Salmon Symposium seeks salmon solutions

  20-11-2015 02:51
  
  Mat Su’s annual Salmon Symposium is  a clearing house of information about the fish. Organizers of the event say  ensuring wild salmon abundance is not just a job for biologists anymore. 　
  There was a festival atmosphere at the Palmer Railroad Depot this week, although those gathered for the Salmon Symposium were there for a serious reason. Corrine Smith is a program manger with the Nature Conservancy, which coordinates with other organizations on the event.
  She says the e
  
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• Video: '907's Own' explores Alaska's hip-hop scene - Alaska Dispatch News

  20-11-2015 02:15
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Video: '907's Own' explores Alaska's hip-hop scene
  Alaska Dispatch News
  When you think about the history of hip-hop, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta typically come to mind -- usually not Alaska. But there has been a group of Alaska rappers dedicated to the genre. "907's Own: the Untold Story of the Alaskan Hip-Hop Scene" ...
  

• Recovering from addiction, helping others do the same

  20-11-2015 00:51
  Alaska’s capital city is battling addiction. The Juneau community continues to face substance-related deaths and near deaths.
  Three women tell their stories about addiction, long-term recovery and a rally that gave them hope.
  Alaskans were part of the UNITE to Face Addiction Rally in Washington, D.C.: (left to right) Kim Whitaker, Julee Douglas, Samantha Garton, Terria Walters, Kara Nelson, Delia Williams, Jennifer Mcallister and Christina Love inside a congressional office build
  
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• Alaskan serves up her own brand of backcountry grub

  20-11-2015 00:29
  
  Growing up in Bird Creek, Heather Kelly learned all about the challenges associated with carrying your own food into the backcountry. After studying sports nutrition at Western Washington University, Heather returned to Alaska to launch her own line of dehydrated backpacking food. It’s called Heather’s Choice. She recently held a local tasting event as a fundraiser aimed at expanding her business.
  
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