Alaska news

• Winter: Are we catching up?

  15-01-2016 23:00
  
  Yep, it’s a little icy on the side streets in Anchorage this morning.
  Posted by Alaska Climate Info on Saturday, January 2, 2016
  Yes, we began January with news stories of ice skaters performing perfect figure-eights and hockey stops in the street. We had ice, lots of it, but little to no remaining snow.
  I knew as soon as I scheduled a show on our weird, low-snow winter, the weather gods would come to life. Indeed, hours after switching up our Hometown Alaska show schedule to fit in winter
  
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• Wal-Mart to shutter Juneau store Feb. 5

  15-01-2016 22:07
  
  (Creative Commons photo by Bo Nielsen)
  Wal-Mart announced today that it’s closing its Juneau location, along with 154 other stores across the country. The location will operate with limited hours for the rest of the month and shutdown Feb. 5.
  The Juneau Wal-Mart employs about 180 people full- and part-time. Delia Garcia, a Wal-Mart corporate rep, said the company decided to close the stores based on financial performance, the cost of doing business and plans for strategic growth.
  &ldq
  
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• Council ponders plan to switch management of Homer permanent fund

  15-01-2016 22:06
  
  Homer City Hall (Photo courtesy City of Homer)
  The Homer City Council is considering an ordinance that will end its contract with a company hired to invest money saved in the city’s Permanent Fund.
  The Permanent Fund was created in 2006 to hold settlement money awarded for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In 2010 the city was awarded $1.1 million for the spill. According to Homer Finance Director John Li the fund is now worth close to $2 million.
  Homer Mayor Beth Wythe says that money must be u
  
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• The future of the University of Alaska

  15-01-2016 22:00
  
  (Creative Commons photo by Jimmy Emerson)
  University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen was direct in his recent comments about budget cuts the university system is facing.
  “We face terrible challenges, horrible challenges, tough challenges,” Johnsen said at the recent State of the University address.
  What does this mean for the future of higher education in Alaska?
  HOST: Lori Townsend
  GUESTS:
  UA President Jim Johnsen
  Statewide callers
  Participate:
  Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-88
  
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• Homer works to relocate winter campers

  15-01-2016 22:00
  
  Rv’s and campers in the Seafarer’s Memorial parking lot. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KBBI)
  The City of Homer is trying to kick out campers at an unofficial campsite on the Homer Spit. Police are telling people living in a parking lot beside the Seafarer’s Memorial to move to an official campground down the road. One camper is willing to move, but he has one request.
  Ken Boyle is smoking a cigarette and listening to the radio in his tiny camper powered by a borrowed gas generator
  
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• NOVA: Mystery Beneath the Ice

  15-01-2016 21:53
  
  (Photo courtesy of Heather Walsh, courtesy of WGBH Boston)
  They’re so tiny you might not notice them if you weren’t looking for them. But these delicate, transparent, shrimp-like creatures are crucial to the Antarctic ecosystem and, maybe, to the future of all our oceans.
  The population of krill has crashed since the 1970s for reasons that continue to baffle the experts. A leading theory says that krill’s life cycle is driven by an internal body clock that responds to the waxin
  
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• Rick Steves on “Connecting with the World Through Travel”

  15-01-2016 21:30
  
  Guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves is America’s most respected authority on European travel. He advocates smart, affordable, perspective-broadening travel and is outspoken on the need for Americans to fit better into our planet by broadening our perspectives through travel. As host and writer of the popular public television series Rick Steves’ Europe, and best-selling author of over 50 European travel books, he encourages Americans to travel as “tempora
  
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• Homer, DOT negotiate natural gas assessments

  15-01-2016 20:47
  
  The City of Homer and the Alaska Department of Transportation are negotiating how much DOT owes the city in natural gas assessments.
  Last year DOT refused to pay for eight of their properties in the city’s Natural Gas Assessment District. Jill Reese with DOT told KBBI in November those properties can’t be taxed.
  “It’s not subject to the assessment since there’s no opportunity to develop the property and take advantage of the gas line,” Reese said.
  The city dis
  
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• Glaucoma

  15-01-2016 20:00
  
  Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. The most common form of this disease has no warning signs so the loss of vision is so gradual that you may not notice it until it is at an advanced stage. This program will help listeners learn about glaucoma, determine if they are at risk, and learn about the pros and cons of various treatment options. 
  Anatomy of the eye (Glaucoma Research Foundation, photo)
  HOST: Dr. Thad Woodard
  GUESTS:
  Dr. Kelly Lorenz, ophth
  
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• Fort Wainwright rejecting IDs from 5 states, American Samoa

  15-01-2016 18:40
  
  (Image via the Department of Homeland Security)
  Some visitors to Fort Wainwright are no longer able to enter using just their driver’s license to identify themselves.
  The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Army base in Fairbanks began implementing the REAL ID Act Monday, forcing those with driver’s licenses from Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington and the U.S. territory of American Samoa to provide additional identification for entrance.
  Fewer than half the stat
  
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• Anchorage police find ‘explosive device’ during home search

  15-01-2016 18:39
  
  Anchorage police say officers investigating a drug case found an “explosive device” at a home.
  The department’s vice unit Thursday afternoon was carrying out a search warrant at a home on the 7300 block of Fourth Avenue when officers found the device.
  The home was a unit in a ranch-style four-plex structure. Attached homes were evacuated.
  The device appeared to be home-made.
  Explosives experts removed the device and planned to dispose of it at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  P
  
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• Filing for new Juneau mayor opens Friday

  15-01-2016 18:28
  
  (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
  The filing period for Juneau’s new mayor opens Friday. To be considered, candidates must be a Juneau resident for at least 30 days before the election, be qualified to vote in Alaska, and be at least 18 years old. Felons are not permitted.
  Candidates have until Jan. 25 to apply. The special election is March 15.
  Mary Becker has been serving as Juneau’s mayor since Greg  Fisk’s death in November. The assembly decided in December to hold a special el
  
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• Dead murres wash up on Haines’ beach

  15-01-2016 18:26
  
  More than a dozen dead common murres washed up on the beach in front of Haines on Tuesday, part of an unsettling trend happening across the state. According to biologists, the seabirds are starving to death.Dead murres on the beach in Haines on Jan. 12, 2016. (Tim Ackerman)
  Haines’ Tim Ackerman was out for one his usual walks on the beach on Tuesday when he noticed something a little unusual: dead seabirds.
  “I counted about 14 of them between the cruise ship dock and the harbor,&rdqu
  
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• Alaskans fly south for Arctic symposium

  15-01-2016 18:25
  
  The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent makes an approach to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. (Photo by Patrick Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard)
  The University of Washington School of Law is hosting policymakers from Alaska and around the country for discussions on Arctic security and politics, development, transportation and shipping, environmental protection, and climate change.
  The third annual Arctic Encounter Symposium runs Friday through Saturday in Seattle.
  Elected Alas
  
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• Confidential Informant heroin buy leads to another Dillingham arrest

  15-01-2016 18:16
  
  Chelsea Sam, 22, was arrested a few weeks after she allegedly sold a dose of heroin to a police informant at her HUD apartment. (Photo via Dillingham Police Department)
  Police allege that Chelsea Sam, 22, sold a dose of black tar heroin to a confidential informant three days before Christmas. At her arraignment on a felony charge of second degree misconduct involving a controlled substance Thursday, Chief Dan Pasquariello was asked to testify about the substance police recovered.
  “It had t
  
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• Human Trafficking

  15-01-2016 18:00
  
  
  Human Trafficking tends to be closely associated with sex trafficking and prostitution, but this week’s Alaska Edition includes guests who are taking initiative to expand how Alaskans understand the issue of people being exploited across an array of industries.Listen Now:
  HOST: Zachariah Hughes
  GUESTS:Adam Alexander, Assistant Attorney General,Alaska Department of Law / Criminal Division
  Heidi Drygas, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  Mara Kimmel, Firs
  
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• Dinner and a show, and maybe mo’

  15-01-2016 17:30
  
  
  The cast of Lounge Lizards
  Anchorage is getting a new theatre and it’s not like any other. Anchorage Dinner Theatre and Last Gap Productions will be presenting Lounge Lizards by Terry Earp opening in the Anchorage City Limits Lofts Hotel Friday, January 22 and running Fridays through Sundays through February 21st. Founder and Director Ron Holmstrom brings a couple of the actors (Julia Cossman and Art Braendel) to Stage Talk this week to give us an appetizer of what is to come.
  Facebook
  LIS
  
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• Disrespecting the Last Frontier: Alaska-based reality shows becoming known for ... - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  15-01-2016 10:07
  Disrespecting the Last Frontier: Alaska-based reality shows becoming known for ...
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  News-Miner opinion: Reality TV shows set in Alaska have had a checkered history. Legislative tax credits for filmmakers doing business in the state were successful at bringing the industry to Alaska. But the results were considerably more mixed than ...
  

• No. 2 Alaska Anchorage's pressure defense too much for Wildcats to handle - Daily Record-News

  15-01-2016 09:25
  Daily Record-News
  No. 2 Alaska Anchorage's pressure defense too much for Wildcats to handle
  Daily Record-News
  Central Washington University's Jasmin Edwards (1) battles the Seawolves defense as the Wildcats take on Alaska Anchorage during women's basketball action at Nicholson Pavilion on Thursday. prev. next. × ...and more »
  

• Alaska Airlines Classic: Three Alaska teams advance on first day - Alaska Dispatch News

  15-01-2016 06:44
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Airlines Classic: Three Alaska teams advance on first day
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Barrow's Kamaka Hepa, right, listens to his coach in the locker room at halftime. The Barrow Whalers beat Longmont Christian, of Longmont, Colorado, 72-41, in the opening round of the Alaska Airlines Classic high school basketball tournament on ...and more »
  

• To preserve any kind of dividend, Alaska needs taxes, cuts, compromise - Alaska Dispatch News

  15-01-2016 05:30
  Alaska Dispatch News
  To preserve any kind of dividend, Alaska needs taxes, cuts, compromise
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Just after Alaska voters approved creation of the Permanent Fund in 1976, Anchorage attorney Joe Josephson, who was between stints in the Legislature, said the proponents of the fund had offered “mutually inconsistent concepts” about what it all meant.
  

• Alaska population ticks up despite more people moving away - Alaska Dispatch News

  15-01-2016 05:30
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska population ticks up despite more people moving away
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Despite more people moving out of Alaska than moving in, the state's overall population actually grew slightly between 2014 and 2015, according to new state estimates. Alaska's population increased by 271 people between July 2014 and July 2015, ...and more »
  

• Artifacts found in Southeast believed to be from Alaska's 'cursed' warship ... - Alaska Dispatch News

  15-01-2016 05:13
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Artifacts found in Southeast believed to be from Alaska's 'cursed' warship ...
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The Neva in Kodiak, drawn by Capt Lisyansky, engraved by I. Clark. Published by John Booth, Duke Street, Portland Place, London, 1 March 1814. Published by John Booth, Duke Street, Portland Place, London, 1 March 1814. Photos: Archaeologists search ...and more »
  

• Lawmaker calls for investigation into high Alaska gas prices - KTUU.com

  15-01-2016 05:05
  KTUU.com
  Lawmaker calls for investigation into high Alaska gas prices
  KTUU.com
  A state senator from Anchorage is calling for an official investigation to stop the proposed purchase of a gas storage facility by Tesoro Corporation. Democratic state senator Bill Wielechowski said Tesoro already controls a large portion of the state ...and more »
  

• Swamp Rabbits come up short against Alaska - Greenville News

  15-01-2016 04:25
  Greenville News
  Swamp Rabbits come up short against Alaska
  Greenville News
  The Swamp Rabbits welcomed a rare visitor to Greenville on Thursday night. For the first time in franchise history, Greenville played the Alaska Aces, a staple of the ECHL Western Conference that has won three Kelly Cup titles over the years. Alaska ...
  Secondary scorers emerge to push Aces' point streak to 5 gamesAlaska Dispatch Newsall 4 news articles »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016

  15-01-2016 03:42
  
  
  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
   
  Slaughterhouse shutdown prompts ag community to mobilize
  Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
  With a tough budget session starting next week, state lawmakers are getting ready  to make critical decisions. One comment often heard in discuss
  
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• Man claims self-defense in remote Alaska lodge killing - Alaska Dispatch News

  15-01-2016 03:14
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Man claims self-defense in remote Alaska lodge killing
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Steven Ridenour left Shuyak Island on a mail plane headed for Kodiak the same day he shot and killed a 57-year-old man, court documents say. Ridenour told investigators he did it in self-defense. Ridenour has been charged with first-degree murder and ...
  Charges filed in shooting death on remote Shuyak IslandAlaska Public Radio Networkall 12 news articles »
  

• New tech and political clout put toward homeless campers

  15-01-2016 02:35
  
  
  The Anchorage Mayor’s office is throwing its weight behind initiatives to end homelessness, a problem the administration says has intensified in recent years. As social service providers gather data on homeless individuals, they’re pairing new technology with an increased level of political support.
  Download Audio
  An entrance to the Chester Creek Trail where Burke and others set out ahead of the annual Point In Time survey. Photo: Zachariah Hughes.
  Just after 8 a.m. Thursday morning,
  
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• PFD voter initiative nets needed signatures for ballot

  15-01-2016 02:34
  
  
  A statewide effort to make it easier for people to vote is culminating this week. On Jan. 14, petitioners submitted tens of thousands of required signatures to the Division of Elections to earn the PFD voter registration initiative a spot on a ballot this fall.
  Download Audio
  Immediately after a press conference in downtown Anchorage this morning, a large parade of supporters carried signature boxes and banners across the street to the Division of Elections. Photo courtesy PFD Vot
  
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• Environmentalists say Tongass plan doesn’t go far enough

  15-01-2016 02:33
  
  A federal proposal to make Southeast Alaska’s logging industry sustainable while preserving old growth in the Tongass National Forest does too little, too slowly–according to one conservation group.
  Aerial view of Tongass National Forest (Photo by Alan Wu/Flickr Creative Commons)
  The Oregon-based Geos Institute says the Tongass National Forest draft plan is out of step with a global agreement to reduce climate change.
  President Obama visited Alaska back in September to see the effect
  
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• Environmentalists say Tongass plan doesn’t act fast enough

  15-01-2016 02:33
  
  
  A federal proposal to make Southeast Alaska’s logging industry sustainable while preserving old growth in the Tongass National Forest does too little, too slowly–according to one conservation group.
  Download Audio
  Aerial view of Tongass National Forest (Photo by Alan Wu/Flickr Creative Commons)
  The Oregon-based Geos Institute says the Tongass National Forest draft plan is out of step with a global agreement to reduce climate change.
  President Obama visited Alaska back in September to
  
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• Marine Highway releases trimmed down summer schedule

  15-01-2016 02:32
  
  
  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.
  Download Audio
  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
  
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• Board of Fish considers commercial fishery for Yukon pinks

  15-01-2016 02:30
  
  
  (NOAA photo)
  A proposal laying the groundwork for a pink salmon commercial fishery near the mouth of the Yukon is on the agenda of this week’s Board of Fisheries meeting in Fairbanks.
  Download Audio
  The proposal would formalize a fishery that has been taking shape by accident over the past few years, but there are concerns about how it would affect the struggling Yukon king salmon population.
  The proposal was submitted by Kwik’pak Fisheries – the major fish buyer on the lower Y
  
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• Slaughterhouse shutdown prompts ag community to mobilize - Alaska Public Radio Network

  15-01-2016 02:02
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Slaughterhouse shutdown prompts ag community to mobilize
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  With a tough budget session starting next week, state lawmakers are getting ready to make critical decisions. One comment often heard in discussing state revenues is “diversify the economy” to end dependency on oil money. So some Palmer ranchers says ...and more »
  

• Slaughterhouse shutdown prompts ag community to mobilize

  15-01-2016 01:49
  
  With a tough budget session starting next week, state lawmakers are getting ready  to make critical decisions. One comment often heard in discussing state revenues is “diversify the economy” to end dependency on oil money. So some Palmer ranchers says it does not make sense for state lawmakers to squash support for a home-grown Alaska industry: livestock.
  Large animal veterinarian Sabrieta Holland takes the mic with a lamb in her care. Photo: Ellen Lockyer/KSKA-Anchorage.
  These
  
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• 2 Your Health: Meeting Alaska's need for genetic counselors - KTUU.com

  15-01-2016 01:25
  KTUU.com
  2 Your Health: Meeting Alaska's need for genetic counselors
  KTUU.com
  As the need for preemptive cancer screenings grows across the state, Providence Alaska Medical Center is planning to expand its genetic counseling services in an effort to reach more patients. "Providence intends to expand our genetic counseling ...
  

• Sitka to challenge state’s setback for pot businesses

  15-01-2016 00:57
  
  At it’s Tuesday meeting (Jan. 12, 2015), the Sitka Assembly decided to contest the state’s proposed setback distance for pot business. The provision – detailed in the final regulations by the Marijuana Control Board – would require 500 feet of distance between any marijuana establishment and schools, churches, and prisons.
  At its Tues., Jan. 12, meeting, representatives from Sitka’s Marijuana Advisory Committee advocated for a 200-foot setback distance tha
  
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• Unalaska artist featured on BBC series

  15-01-2016 00:31
  
  A cropped version of Touching Fire, see the full image below.
  CREDIT CAROLYN REED
  When writer and historian Ray Hudson was contacted by a BBC producer and asked to select a work of art from Alaska to write an essay about, he chose Unalaska artist Carolyn Reed’s drawing “Touching Fire.”
  Ray Hudson’s essay was included in a five-part series by the BBC called Art in a Cold Climate.  The series featured five authors writing about the significance of a work of art to thei
  
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