Alaska news

• Gershwin Prize: Willie Nelson

  13-01-2016 21:01
  
  Neil Young and others pay tribute to the legendary Willie Nelson. (Photo courtesy of PBS)
  Rosanne Cash, Edie Brickell, Paul Simon, Alison Krauss, Raul Malo, Neil Young and more pay tribute to singer and songwriter Willie Nelson, the 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Nelson’s lyrics give voice to America’s heartland and his music pushes genre boundaries.
  Friday, January 15. 8:00 p.m. 
  
  Read more

• IG clears EPA of bias on Pebble but finds fault with staffer

  13-01-2016 18:34
  
  Photo by Jason Sear, KDLG – Dillingham
  The EPA’s inspector general has concluded the EPA did not treat the Pebble project unfairly when it issued a controversial document detrimental to the mine.
  “Based on the information available to us, we found no evidence of bias in how the EPA conducted its Bristol Bay watershed assessment, or that the EPA pre-determined the assessment outcome to enable them to initiate a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) process,” Randy Holthaus,
  
  Read more

• Ketchikan won’t appeal education funding case

  13-01-2016 18:00
  
  The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly opted on Saturday to not ask the Alaska Supreme Court to reconsider its decision regarding the borough’s education funding lawsuit.
  On Friday, the Supreme Court released the opinion, which upheld the constitutionality of the state’s current education funding system. Friday’s opinion reversed a lower court ruling in the borough’s favor.
  If the borough were to ask for reconsideration, it has until Jan. 19th to file the needed paperwork
  
  Read more

• Alaska Marine Highway System releases trimmed down summer schedule

  13-01-2016 17:55
  
  Passengers disembark the ferry Malaspina in Skagway during its 50th anniversary sailing. Most ferry fares went up Jan. 1. (Photo by Mikko Wilson/360 North)
  The Alaska Marine Highway System released its summer 2016 ferry schedule Tuesday, and as expected, it includes trimmed-down service.
  Spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said the main changes that customers will notice is the reduced fleet size, which he says is in response to state budget cuts.
  “One of the main ferries that will not be operating i
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Less fatalities, more safety for Alaska’s commercial fishing industry

  13-01-2016 17:38
  
  Commercial fisherman Ryan Fry sets up crab pots outside the F/V Farrar Sea in Unalaska. (Photo by Annie Ropeik/KUCB)
  Commercial fishing in Alaska was once known as one of the deadliest professions. It’s still pretty dangerous, but the number of fatalities each year is trending downward.
  The U.S. Coast Guard announced in October that over a recent yearlong period, not one commercial fisherman had perished at sea while working.
  The Coast Guard says that’s the first time the industry ha
  
  Read more

• Murkowski: FDA confirmation hinges on GE salmon labeling

  13-01-2016 17:13
  
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks on the senate floor. (YouTube screenshot/Sen. Lisa Murkowski)
  The Food and Drug Administration has already declared genetically engineered salmon safe for human consumption, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday she’ll block confirmation of a new FDA commissioner until the agency agrees to require labeling for GE salmon.
  Murkowski reiterated at a committee meeting that she will put a hold on Robert Califf’s nomination. Murkowski says she&rsquo
  
  Read more

• Obama’s energy remark baffles Alaska senators

  13-01-2016 17:02
  
  In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama never mentioned Alaska or the Arctic, but he took a few shots at the oil industry. Obama says it’s time to accelerate the move away from “dirtier” energy.
  “Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future, especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels,” Obama said. “We do them no favor when we don’t show them where the trends are going.”
  &
  
  Read more

• APD investigating officer-involved shooting

  13-01-2016 16:27
  
  Anchorage police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left one man dead.
  According to an APD release, two officers responded to a disturbance at a residence in Anchorage’s Spenard neighborhood when the shooting occurred.
  A preliminary investigation found the man was armed with a knife. Alcohol is believed to be a factor.
  Neither the officers involved nor the deceased have been named.
  An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Marijuana tax will go before Anchorage voters

  13-01-2016 10:14
  
  Anchorage voters will get the chance to decide whether or not to tax cannabis in the months ahead. Both law-makers and industry advocates support the proposed tax, but disagreements over regulation continue to grow.
  Discussion of a proposed plan to tax retail sales of cannabis products started with an frank disclosure by downtown Assembly Member Patrick Flynn.
  “In the last month I’ve been approached by a former colleague interested in starting a cannabis related interest,” Fly
  
  Read more

• Alaska students Invited to pick glacier-inspired names for two ferries - Juneau Empire (subscription)

  13-01-2016 10:14
  Alaska students Invited to pick glacier-inspired names for two ferries
  Juneau Empire (subscription)
  Gov. Bill Walker is calling on Alaska students to help name two state ferry vessels, currently being built in Ketchikan after the Alaska Legislature appropriated funding for the projects in the fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2012 budgets. From now ...and more »
  

• Alaska Dog Mushers Association hosts preliminary Fun Run No. 2 on Saturday - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  13-01-2016 10:09
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Dog Mushers Association hosts preliminary Fun Run No. 2 on Saturday
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  FAIRBANKS—The Alaska Dog Mushers Association is conducting its Preliminary Fun Race No. 2 on Saturday at the Mushers Hall on Farmers Loop. The event includes one skijoring race and four sled-dog races, and registration for all of the events begins at ...
  Iditarod makes plans for possible Fairbanks start of raceAlaska Dispatch Newsall 28 news articles »
  

• Alaska shooters come up short at West Virginia - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  13-01-2016 09:59
  Alaska shooters come up short at West Virginia
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  FAIRBANKS—The Alaska Nanooks rifle team lost on Tuesday to the team that narrowly beat them in the NCAA Championships last March at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Patty Center. On Tuesday in Morgantown, West Virginia, the fifth-ranked Nanooks ...and more »
  

• Alaska Legislature to tackle same-sex marriage issue - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  13-01-2016 09:37
  KTOO
  Alaska Legislature to tackle same-sex marriage issue
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  FAIRBANKS — Alaska's legislators collectively submitted 31 new bills last week in the lead up to the start of the session, and three deal with marriage. The bills come less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the constitutional ...
  Alaska House bill would allow discrimination against same-sex couplesKTOOall 3 news articles »
  

• The Alaska delegation sounds off on Obama's last State of the Union address - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 07:54
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The Alaska delegation sounds off on Obama's last State of the Union address
  Alaska Dispatch News
  WASHINGTON -- Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation found a few things to like but mostly had complaints and concerns with President Barack Obama's last State of the Union speech Tuesday night. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan ...
  Alaska's Congressional delegation has likes and dislikes in Obama's final ...Juneau Empire (subscription)all 6,542 news articles&
  

• Alaska salmon - Food Safety News

  13-01-2016 07:03
  Alaska salmon
  Food Safety News
  Dr. Robert Califf is one step closer to becoming the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Califf's nomination, made Sept. 15, 2015, by President Barack Obama, gained approval Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and ...and more »
  

• Profit pressure will complicate Alaska Permanent Fund's future - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 06:34
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Profit pressure will complicate Alaska Permanent Fund's future
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Over the last year, the state of Alaska has gained hundreds of millions more from a $128.5 million investment in a speculative biotech stock than it collected in oil production taxes. The success of the Alaska Permanent Fund holdings in Juno ...and more »
  

• Reality Check: Distillery the focus of new reality show 'Alaska Proof' - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 05:36
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Reality Check: Distillery the focus of new reality show 'Alaska Proof'
  Alaska Dispatch News
  While it seems like the entire world, and by world I actually mean Internet, is watching “Making a Murderer,” there is a new Alaska show airing on Thursday. "Alaska Proof" is an eight-part series about the making of vodka at the Alaska Distillery. I ...and more »
  

• New Alaska workers tasked with helping veterans with health care - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 04:21
  Alaska Dispatch News
  New Alaska workers tasked with helping veterans with health care
  Alaska Dispatch News
  An Arizona-based company that manages health benefits for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it's bringing six new employees to Alaska to help get veterans' medical appointments scheduled and doctors' bills paid. “By having this staff ...
  Private contractor adds staff to handle VA service problemsAlaska Public Radio Networkall 4 news articles »
  

• Alaska lawmakers note: Obama-obsessed Congress is no role model - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 04:15
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska lawmakers note: Obama-obsessed Congress is no role model
  Alaska Dispatch News
  OPINION: Alaska lawmakers can carp and whine and target Walker, but that does nothing for the Alaskans they represent. Loren Holmes / ADN. Maybe I've missed this, but in the weeping and gnashing of teeth that is the Republican response to anything ...and more »
  

• Mat Su Health Foundation strengthens family bonds

  13-01-2016 03:49
  
  Something as simple as a family meal can go a long way in the fight against drug addiction.  New parents are getting support in child rearing skills from a Mat Su program that focuses on preventing the seeds of drug dependency from taking root in the youngest children. 　
  The Mat Su Health Foundation is sharpening the focus on an old enemy. A series of reports issued by the Health Foundation have targeted drug and alcohol addiction as the number one health issue in the Mat S
  
  Read more

• Ideal winter conditions bless Alaska Range foothills to delight of ... - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 03:46
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Ideal winter conditions bless Alaska Range foothills to delight of ...
  Alaska Dispatch News
  PAXSON —There's little doubt this is one of the greatest winters ever for outdoor activities. Warm? You bet; there have been far more days above zero than below — at least in Alaska's normally frigid Interior. We had a substantial early dump of snow ...and more »
  

• Alaska's child protectors are overwhelmed, poorly managed, understaffed - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 03:37
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's child protectors are overwhelmed, poorly managed, understaffed
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform suggested in a recent commentary that the Office of Children's Services here in Alaska may be using data gathered by the University of Alaska's Institute of Social ...
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016

  13-01-2016 03:36
  
  
  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
   
  VA contractor adds staff to better handle appointment scheduling
  Zachariah Hughes, KSKA – Anchorage
  Veterans in Alaska will soon have more help making medical appointments and navigating healthcare. The third-party contractor han
  
  Read more

• Pre-filed bill aims to scrap Alaska Measures of Progress - KDLG

  13-01-2016 03:30
  KDLG
  Pre-filed bill aims to scrap Alaska Measures of Progress
  KDLG
  The AMP test fails to provide valuable data about student progress, says a Palmer lawmaker who wants to ditch the year-old test and replace it with a nationally normed assessment. Rep. Jim Colver addresses the Alaska House of Representatives, Feb.and more »
  

• Anchorage senator proposes $15 minimum wage for Alaska - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  13-01-2016 02:56
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Anchorage senator proposes $15 minimum wage for Alaska
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  A week and a half after the Alaska's minimum wage went up by a dollar, a new proposal put forward would increase it even more. Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, wants to make Alaska's minimum wage the highest in the country. Senate Bill 122 calls for a ...and more »
  

• Private contractor adds staff to handle VA service problems

  13-01-2016 02:39
  
  
  Hal Blair with TriWest explains how the company is adjusting to meet the needs of veterans in Alaska. Photo: Zachariah Hughes, KSKA.
  Veterans in Alaska will soon have more help making medical appointments and navigating healthcare. The third party contractor handling the bulk of appointments for veterans across the state is adding personnel to better handle problems that have arisen in the last year and a half.
  Download Audio
  After Congress passed new legislation in 2014 designed to re
  
  Read more

• BP announces lay-offs in wake of low oil prices

  13-01-2016 02:38
  
  
  BP is cutting some 4,000 jobs in exploration and production over the next two years amid sharp drops in the price of crude. The company says some of those job losses will be in Alaska, but didn’t give specifics.
  Download Audio
  The cost-cutting announced today comes as the price of oil dropped to a 12-year low near $31 a barrel. Part of the decline is due to concern over a drop in demand in China, which is depressing commodity prices worldwide.
  Gov. Bill Walker responded to the cuts today,
  
  Read more

• Pre-filed bill aims to nix controversial AMP school test

  13-01-2016 02:37
  
  
  Rep. Jim Colver of Palmer has pre-filed a bill that would do away with the year-old Alaska Measures of Progress standardized test.
  Download Audio
  Just months after AMP’s first run in schools last spring, it started to get a bad rap.
  Because the test raised the bar significantly, scores came back significantly lower than previous years’ assessments. And unforeseen challenges had the test vendor rolling out those scores several weeks later than expected this fa
  
  Read more

• Auditors reviewing Dept. of Ed policies

  13-01-2016 02:36
  
  
  Auditors hired by the state will visit Dillingham City School District this week to ask local teachers and administrators how the Alaska Department of Education is doing.
  Download Audio
  Ross Alexander is the performance review manager for the Alaska Division of Legislative Audit. He says the audit team is looking to have open-ended conversations about how state policies affect education at the local level.
  “You know, what things can the Department do to provide better outcomes for students
  
  Read more

• Mat-Su grant targets parents in bolstering family well-being

  13-01-2016 02:34
  
  
  Something as simple as a family meal can go a long way in the fight against drug addiction. New parents are getting support in child rearing skills from a Mat-Su program that focuses on preventing the seeds of drug dependency from taking root in the youngest children.
  Download Audio
  After a series of health reports issued last year by the Mat-Su Health Foundation, health officials there are sharpening the focus on an old enemy: drug and alcohol addiction. The Foundation has provided grant fundin
  
  Read more

• Pre-filed bill would allow discrimination in performing marriage

  13-01-2016 02:32
  
  
  Alaska Rep. Dave Talerico, a Republican from Healy, has pre-filed a bill that would allow those authorized to perform marriages to turn away couples.
  Download Audio
  “(It) relieves them of any potential liability that they might be sued or required or forced to do something that they don’t choose to do… that’s outside of their faith.”
  Talerico says that includes the right to turn down gay couples.
  “We always want to separate church from state,” he says.
  
  Read more

• Alaska Native Medical Center to host state’s first Ronald McDonald House

  13-01-2016 02:31
  
  
  (Photo via Alaska Native Medical Center)
  Alaska’s first “Ronald McDonald House” is opening next year at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. The facility will provide temporary housing at little or no cost for pregnant women and families with children receiving care.
  Download Audio
  The Alaska Native Medical Center provides specialty medical services to tens of thousands of Alaska Natives and veterans who live in rural areas, as well as primary care for local residents
  
  Read more

• A century of bird data informs modern surveys on Kenai

  13-01-2016 02:30
  
  
  Though it had no airline flights, highways or cruise ships 100 years ago, the Kenai Peninsula still drew visitors, both of the human and feathered varieties.
  Download Audio
  Photo: Jenny Neyman, KDLL – Dillingham
  It was from records of human visitors at the turn of the 20th century that Todd Eskelin, a fish and wildlife biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, began to piece together a history of bird populations on the Kenai Peninsula.
  Documentation from three exploratory expeditio
  
  Read more

• Inupiaq sisters bring Alaska to L.A. - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 02:20
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Inupiaq sisters bring Alaska to L.A.
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Jamie, in red, and Jenny, in blue/purple, Christensen were born in Barrow and raised in Palmer. They're pursuing their dreams of being musicians in Los Angeles, CA. Jamie & Jenny Christensen. If there's one thing Jamie and Jenny Christensen understand, ...and more »
  

• No business like snow business: Why Alaska relies on yearly snowfall - KTUU.com

  13-01-2016 02:19
  KTUU.com
  No business like snow business: Why Alaska relies on yearly snowfall
  KTUU.com
  Even though we've officially had more snowfall in Anchorage this winter versus last, it seems like we're in the exact same situation. Snow season got off to a great start in late October to the middle of November. However, unseasonably warm periods ...
  

• Sitka Library settles in at new digs

  13-01-2016 02:17
  
  It’s official: the contractor handed off the keys to the newly renovated Sitka Public Library this week, and the Sitka Library Commission moved right in.
  Commissioners held their first public meeting in the new facility last Wednesday, Jan. 6. They listened to plans for moving the entire contents of the Kettleson Library into the much larger building — the 14th time Sitkans have moved their library in modern history.
  Librarian Brooke Schafer begins unpacking reference books. (Emily K
  
  Read more

• Creative minds in Juneau recreate Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’

  13-01-2016 01:40
  
  Juneau musician Marian Call and the creative crew from Alaska Robotics in Juneau created this wildly wonderful and weird frame-by-frame remake of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity,’ only they changed the lyrics to only the thousand most common words in the English language.
  When asked, Pat Race of Alaska Robotics said, “Randall Munroe of XKCD made a comic called Up Goer Five (now a book) which used the 1000 most common words in the English language to describe the blueprin
  
  Read more

• Alaska among 6 states that opt out of Powerball - Alaska Dispatch News

  13-01-2016 01:21
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska among 6 states that opt out of Powerball
  Alaska Dispatch News
  A person shows Powerball tickets she bought on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in San Lorenzo, Calif. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over 1 billion dollars for the next drawing on Wednesday. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez. NIPTON, Calif. — Lottery ticket ...
  Much of US seeks Powerball jackpot, but Alaska, five other states opt outFairbanks Daily News-Minerall 9,770 news articles »
  

• For 2nd consecutive year, Iditarod eyes Fairbanks start

  13-01-2016 00:44
  
  The head of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will meet with Fairbanks officials next week to discuss possibly starting the 1,000-mile race in that city because of poor snow conditions in southcentral Alaska.
  Pete Kaiser in the 2015 Iditarod ceremonial start. (Photo by Josh Edge, APRN – Anchorage)
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Stan Hooley will meet with Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Karl Kassel and others to discuss the alternate northern start.
  The Iditarod board of dire
  
  Read more

• Exxon Valdez litigation ends, but spill’s legacy may be indefinite

  13-01-2016 00:28
  
  Nearly three decades after the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the litigation for the remaining cash the state and federal governments could pursue from Exxon is at an end. A clause in the 1991 settlement said up to $100 million could be requested from Exxon for future unknown damage. It was called the re-opener.
  Exxon Valdez tanker aground. Off-loading of remaining oil in progress. Photo courtesy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
  In 2006, then-Governor Frank Murkowski an
  
  Read more

• Alaska Police Can Force out Village Leaders Who Won't Leave - ABC News

  13-01-2016 00:24
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Alaska Police Can Force out Village Leaders Who Won't Leave
  ABC News
  A federal judge ruled Tuesday that authorities can use force if needed to remove former leaders of a tribal community who have refused to leave the offices after losing a long-running power dispute in one of Alaska's most eroded villages. Flood-prone ...
  Alaska police can force out Newtok village leaders who won't leaveFairbanks Daily News-Minerall 88 news articles »
  

Follow @News_Alaska on Twitter!