Alaska news

• Troopers rework south peninsula road kill list

  08-12-2015 22:14
  
  An Alaska State Trooper cruiser parked on Nome’s Front Street in January 2015. Photo: Matthew F. Smith, KNOM file.
  The state is using a new application process to select recipients of big game killed on southern Kenai Peninsula roads as well as fish or game confiscated by authorities. The changes are supposed to improve the fairness and efficiency of the Road Kill Program.
  Getting the call to come pick freshly killed game up from the side of the road is like winning the lottery in some par
  
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• Missing money at Public Market turns into kindness and kisses

  08-12-2015 22:11
  Phoenix Williams and Brianna Frisby help run the Juneau-Douglas High School art club booth at Public Market, which was located in the Juneau Arts & Culture Center. (Photo by Peter Metcalfe)
  The Juneau-Douglas High School art club is sending 10 students to Art Fest in Skagway, despite a fundraising setback last month. Some money went missing from the club’s booth during Public Market.
  The booth was in the Juneau Arts & Culture Center and featured student-made pottery, comic books an
  
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• Nome judge faces misconduct allegations

  08-12-2015 21:51
  
  Picture and brief résumé of Nome Superior Court Judge Timothy Dooley. Image, text: Alaska Department of Law.
  Nome Superior Court Judge Timothy Dooley will go before a judicial oversight committee on Thursday for a disciplinary hearing, facing multiple charges of professional misconduct.
  In May, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct cited Dooley for six alleged violations.
  “We issued a complaint, which is a list of formal charges of violations of the Alaska Code of Judicia
  
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• Ketchikan Borough moves forward with commercial pot

  08-12-2015 21:49
  
  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)
  Pot was the main topic of conversation during Monday’s meeting of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly, as it considered an ordinance to establish regulations for a commercial marijuana industry.
  There was public comment for and against allowing commercial marijuana within the borough. Those speaking against it expressed conc
  
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• Unity in Community – Successful Prisoner Reentry

  08-12-2015 20:25
  Unity in Community – Successful Prisoner Reentry Forum
  What happens after prison? How can we help make community re-entry a successful process? What challenges do individuals face? UNITY IN COMMUNITY – Successful Prisoner Reentry – is one in a series of public forums exploring contemporary urban challenges in Alaska.
  Host: Anne Hillman. Urban Affairs Desk. KSKA.
  Panelists:
  Chet Adkins is a returning citizen and mentor.
  Carmen Guiterrez.  Former deputy commis
  
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• UAF projects grim fiscal landscape in 2017

  08-12-2015 19:18
  (Creative Commons photo by Jimmy Emerson)
  University of Alaska Fairbanks officials rolled out statistics Friday outlining expected funding shortfalls.
  Administrators say rising costs and cuts in state dollars have produced a $42 million gap.
  Interim UAF Chancellor Mike Powers and other administrators project a troubled fiscal landscape for the school in 2017.
  Forty percent of the University’s budget is tied to state dollars, which are growing scarcer as lawmakers grapple with low oil price
  
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• Bethel grand jury indicts Kipnuk man in murder case

  08-12-2015 18:46
  Alaska State Troopers. Photo: Monica Gokey/ Alaska Public Media file photo.
  Following a grand jury indictment, authorities arrested a Kipnuk man on an outstanding warrant last Saturday.
  Ryan Samson, 33, is facing three felony charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence.
  According to the online trooper dispatch, Samson tried to clean up the crime scene after committing a murder last October near Tununak.
  The man who died was 36-year-old Tununak resident W
  
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• AVCP files lawsuit against software development company

  08-12-2015 18:38
  
  (Logo via AVCP)
  The Association of Village Council Presidents, or AVCP, has filed a more than $75,000 lawsuit against a software development company for allegedly not providing full services paid for.
  AVCP filed the lawsuit in late November against HEAT Software, Inc., a California-based merger company that specializes in management software for businesses.
  Power and Brown law firm is representing AVCP in its suit.
  According to court documents, in 2009, AVCP entered an agreem
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Dec. 7, 2015

  08-12-2015 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
   
  BOEM staffers say rush for Arctic study undermined their work
  Liz Ruskin, APRN – Anchorage
  When Shell announced it was giving up on its exploration project in the Arctic Ocean, it blamed, in part, the challenging regulatory climate. But an
  
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• BOEM staffers say rush for Arctic study undermined their work

  08-12-2015 03:37
  
  
  When Shell announced it was giving up on its leases in the Arctic Ocean, it blamed, in part, the challenging regulatory climate. But an inspector general’s report released today says many government regulators who worked the Arctic lease case felt they were too rushed to provide a rigorous scientific review.
  Download Audio
  The IG report looks at the last  Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Lease Sale 193. It was the second court-mandated do-over for the study, c
  
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• Juneau loses boundary appeal to Petersburg

  08-12-2015 03:36
  
  
  The Alaska Supreme Court has settled a boundary dispute between Juneau and Petersburg affecting about 1,500 square miles of Southeast. Under the decision the court issued Friday (Dec. 4), Petersburg Borough boundaries will stand as they are, now that Juneau has lost its last legal challenge on the matter.
  Download Audio
  Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen says his borough was ready for the decision.
  “I think it’s good news, you know? Definitely for Petersburg. We’ve already been movin
  
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• UAA, Providence gripe over U-Med road decision

  08-12-2015 03:35
  
  
  Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has withdrawn the city’s support for the $20 million dollar Northern Access Project, also called the U-Med District Road. The Department of Transportation says without the municipality’s backing, work on the controversial project that links Elmore and Bragaw will stop.
  Download AudioBerkowitz stated his position in a letter to the State Commissioner of Transportation on Friday.
  “We made the decision because in this time of fiscal austerity at the
  
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• UAA, Providence ‘disappointed’ in U-Med road decision

  08-12-2015 03:35
  
  
  Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has withdrawn the city’s support for the $20 million dollar Northern Access Project, also called the U-Med District Road. The Department of Transportation says without the municipality’s backing, work on the controversial project that links Elmore and Bragaw will stop.
  Download AudioBerkowitz stated his position in a letter to the State Commissioner of Transportation on Friday.
  “We made the decision because in this time of fiscal austerity at the
  
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• ‘Deadbeat’ Eklutna dam due for demolition, group says

  08-12-2015 03:34
  
  
  An old dam on the Eklutna River has blocked salmon runs there for decades. Now, an Alaska Native tribe wants to tear the dam down and restore fish to the river.
  Download Audio
  Photo: The Conservation Fund.
  It stands in a canyon 400 feet deep, a mile or so off the Glenn Highway, but hidden from the view of passing motorists. The old Eklutna Dam was built in 1929, to divert Eklutna River water for Anchorage hydroelectric power. It operated for only thirty years, before Eklutna Lake water, the sour
  
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• Tanacross hydropower project nets $500K federal grant

  08-12-2015 03:33
  
  
  A small hydropower project near Tanacross is one step closer to fruition after receiving a half-million dollar federal grant. The Yerrick Creek Natural Energy Project aims to use renewable energy to replace thousands of gallons a year of diesel fuel used by the region. 
  Download Audio
  Alaska Power and Telephone is partnering with the Village of Tanacross and the local Native corporation to build a small hydropower project on the Yerrick Creek.
  Because the project lies on Nati
  
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• Bethel hopes housing initiative may help retain city workers

  08-12-2015 03:31
  
  
  Jobs in rural Alaska are often seen as a career stepping stone. Professionals take a job for a year, maybe two, and leave. In doing so, they take career skills and experience with them rather than investing those assets back into the community. This high turnover rate prevents institutional knowledge from accumulating and community trust in its professionals from strengthening. How to break this cycle and retain workers persists as one of rural Alaska’s most vexing puzzles.
  
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• The real Sitka journey of Steinbeck’s ‘Doc Ricketts’

  08-12-2015 03:30
  
  
  A new collection of essays about one of the most iconic figures in American literature has been published, shedding new light on his connections to Alaska.
  Download Audio
  Much like his literary namesake in the Steinbeck novel “Cannery Row,” the real Ed Ricketts had broad intellect and was passionate about intertidal marine biology.
  “Ed Ricketts, from Cannery Row to Sitka, Alaska” explores the relationship between the noted biologist of the title, and John Steinbeck, the N
  
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• Algo Nuevo: December 6, 2015

  08-12-2015 01:47
  Here’s the Sunday, December 6, 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
  6 December Playlist
  Samba Pa Ti
  Santana
  The best of Santana
  Columbia
  447
   
  Popurri Rebelde#
  
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• In Sitka, ‘Nutcracker’ a beloved holiday tradition

  08-12-2015 01:22
  More than 80 community members will take the stage for Sitka Studio of Dance’s “The Nutcracker.” The show is a longstanding tradition in town, having been performed nearly nine times.
  Makayla Murphy dances as the peacock during “The Nutcracker” party scene. (Photo courtesy of Bobbi Jordan)
  To keep it fresh, director Melinda McAdams changes the flavors of Tchaikovsky’s immortal ballet every time she stages it.
  If you live in Sitka, you’ve probably seen &l
  
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• Community in Unity: Prisoner Re-Entry

  08-12-2015 00:15
  
  
  Every month about 1,000 people are released from prison in Alaska, and many of them end up going back. Re-integrating into a community can be challenging. In this program, we explore the topic of what makes prisoner re-entry successful.
  Download Audio:
  To explore the various stages of prisoner re-entry — from the first day out to finding a job, see an interactive feature called, “Hitting Reset: Life After Prison” written and produced by urban affairs reporter Anne Hillman.
  
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