Alaska news

• Senate to take up energy modernization bill

  25-01-2016 22:24
  
  The big snow storm that struck the East Coast over the weekend has delayed the start of Congress’s work week. But when the Senate returns, it will take up one of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s biggest priorities: an energy modernization bill. Murkowski says the energy world has changed a lot since 2007, when the last such bill passed Congress.
  “It’s been over eight years, folks,” Murkowski said. “Back then, we were living in an era of energy sc
  
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• Troopers investigating accidental shooting death of 5-year-old

  25-01-2016 22:19
  
  (Google Maps)
  State troopers have concluded an on scene investigation but still have not released details as to what led to a young boy’s shooting death in Kokhanok over the weekend.  Kokhanok is a village of about 160 people on the south shore of Iliamna Lake.
  Five-year-old Kadin Mann was accidentally shot Saturday, according to troopers, and flown to Anchorage for medical care. He died there Sunday.
  Troopers, including a member of the Alaska Bureau of Investigati
  
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• Murder of a President

  25-01-2016 22:05
  
   
  Dr. Bliss regularly issued medical bulletins about the president’s condition, which were posted at telegraph offices and on wooden billboards outside newspaper buildings. 9/3/1881. (Photo Courtesy of WGBH)
  Explore James Garfield’s unprecedented rise to power, his shooting by a madman and its bizarre and tragic aftermath. Based on the best-seller Destiny of the Republic, the story follows the life of one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president.
  Tuesday, February 2.
  
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• Sunday’s earthquake wrecks roads in Southcentral

  25-01-2016 20:54
  
  . A 150-foot section of Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kasilof was damaged in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Southcentral Alaska at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Neyman, KDLL Kenai)
  Though one lane of Kalifornsky Beach Road was still open to traffic Sunday afternoon, many drivers heading between Kenai and Kasilof stopped of their own volition. They wanted to see the gaping cracks in the pavement that occurred when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Southcentral Alaska around 1:30
  
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• Four homes lost to fire after Cook Inlet earthquake

  25-01-2016 20:31
  
  Mia Gottschalk, 9, rests at an emergency shelter set up in the Kenai National Guard Armory on Sunday. Her family lived in one of the four homes that was destroyed in a fire caused by a natural gas explosion after the earthquake Sunday morning. (Photo by Jenny Neyman/KDLL.)
  A neighborhood in Kenai was evacuated after a fire and explosions caused by a natural gas leak following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Southcentral Alaska at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Four homes were destroyed in the fire.
  For
  
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• Algo Nuevo: January 24, 2016

  25-01-2016 20:31
  
  Here’s the Sunday, January 10th, 2016 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
   
  Canela
  Santana
  Shape Shifter
  Star Faith
  522
   
  Duele
  Elida Reyna Y avante
  20th Anniv
  
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• Alaska’s Budget is a Sandwich

  25-01-2016 20:03
  
  Thanks to a drop in both oil prices and production, Alaska is facing another major budget deficit this year. Cutting spending, raising taxes, and dipping into the Permanent Fund are all on the table in this video.
  
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• Former Akiachak teacher reports sexual assault, harassment in lawsuit

  25-01-2016 18:14
  
  Akiachak (KYUK File Photo)
  A lawsuit has been filed against the Yupiit School District, four Akiachak school supervisors and an Alaska State Trooper official for allegedly showing “deliberate indifference” when a former school teacher was sexually assaulted and continuously harassed during her nearly three years teaching there.
  The lawsuit, which was filed late last month, claims the entities exercised gross negligence, caused emotional distress, retaliation, and violated Title IX am
  
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• Kenai quake evacuees return to homes; road repairs set to begin

  25-01-2016 18:11
  
  Aftereffects of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that rattled Southcentral Alaska early Sunday morning are still being felt on the Kenai Peninsula.
  Damages weren’t widespread, but they were devastating for residents of four homes in Kenai that were destroyed in fires caused by natural gas explosions.
  A neighborhood along Lilac Lane at the north end of town was evacuated by 3 a.m. and residents spent the day at an emergency shelter set up at the Kenai National Guard Armory.
  Residents were allow
  
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• Ex-chief of Sitka National Historical Park files suit

  25-01-2016 17:16
  
  The former superintendent of Sitka National Historical Park who was terminated for the second time last month has filed a lawsuit over allegations of gender and racial discrimination.
  The Sitka Sentinel reports Mary Miller was terminated from the National Park Service in accordance with a September ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
  In 2010, the National Park Service reassigned Miller to a new position in Anchorage as Alaska Native Affairs Liaison. Miller was fired after rejecting the assignme
  
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• Miller Energy reaches $5M settlement with federal regulators

  25-01-2016 17:15
  
  Miller Energy Resources has agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations that it inflated the value of its Alaska oil and gas properties by more than $400 million.
  The Peninsula Clarion reports the Jan. 12 settlement brings an end to a U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission investigation into the parent company of Cook Inlet Energy.
  The SEC charged Miller Energy and three officials of fraudulently inflating the values of the company’s Alaska properties beginning in January 2010.
  The co
  
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• Bill to update Alaska Military Code of Justice advances

  25-01-2016 17:13
  
  A bill that would update Alaska’s Military Code of Justice and strengthen penalties for certain violations has advanced from the House Judiciary Committee.
  The bill would update a code that has been largely unused by the Alaska National Guard. The Guard has not used it to court martial a service member since 1955.
  Progress on the bill comes more than a year after the National Guard Bureau found that the guard had not been properly investigating or adjudicating Guard member misconduct cases
  
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• Alaska finishes 2015 with unemployment rate of 6.5 percent

  25-01-2016 17:13
  
  Alaska finished 2015 with an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent.
  The state labor department says the December seasonally adjusted rate compares to 6.4 percent in November. The unemployment rate in December 2014 was 6.4 percent.
  The department, in a release, says the seasonally adjusted rate for 2015 showed no clear trend, which it said is consistent with other economic indicators suggesting the economy last year was relatively flat.
  Nationally, the unemployment rate last month was 5 percent.
  
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• Plans announced for new state Public Integrity Unit

  25-01-2016 17:11
  
  Alaska Attorney General Craig Richards announced a plan for a new Public Integrity Unit aimed at improving trust in government.
  The unit would focus on shootings and other cases in which law enforcement officers used force, as well as death in jails and prisons, and allegations of corruption.
  “Just in a post-Ferguson world, I think in general that the public side is increasingly looking to make sure that officer-involved shootings are scrutinized appropriately,” Richards said. &ldquo
  
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• Miller Energy settles federal claim of overvalued Alaska properties - Alaska Dispatch News

  25-01-2016 17:09
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Miller Energy settles federal claim of overvalued Alaska properties
  Alaska Dispatch News
  KENAI — Miller Energy Resources has agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations that it inflated the value of its Alaska oil and gas properties by more than $400 million. The Jan. 12 settlement brings an end to a U.S. Securities and Exchanges ...and more »
  

• BlueCrest’s construction phase nearing completion

  25-01-2016 16:42
  
  BlueCrest’s site north of Anchor Point.
  BlueCrest Energy is continuing preparations to drill for oil in the Cosmopolitan Unit at its 37.5-acre site on the Cook Inlet bluff about 5.5 miles north of Anchor Point.
  Larry Burgess, health, safety and environmental manager for the Texas-based BlueCrest, told the Kenai Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that the company’s 3,000-horse power drilling rig is nearing completion in Houston, Texas.
  It should ship out for Alaska soon and will take 45
  
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• Alaska Governor Wants Financial Reforms, Even If They Cost Him His Job - Governing

  25-01-2016 14:21
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska Governor Wants Financial Reforms, Even If They Cost Him His Job
  Governing
  Gov. Bill Walker called on lawmakers Thursday night to plug the hole in Alaska's sinking financial ship by approving the three major pieces of his budget plan: budget cuts, new taxes, and spending some of the Permanent Fund's earnings. In his second ...
  New Medicaid reports repudiate Alaska GOP fears, outline ideas for changesAlaska Dispatch Newsall 35 news articles »
  

• Magnitude-7.1 Quake Jolts Alaska; 4 Homes Lost - ABC News

  25-01-2016 08:05
  ABC News
  Magnitude-7.1 Quake Jolts Alaska; 4 Homes Lost
  ABC News
  In this photo provided by Vincent Nusunginya, items fallen from the shelves litter the aisles inside a Safeway grocery store following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula on Sunday Jan. 24, 2016, in south-central Alaska. The quake knocked ...
  Alaska rocked by 6.8 magnitude earthquake. Is that normal?Christian Science Monitor
  Strong earthquake felt throughout Southcentral AlaskaAlaska Dispatch News
  A Magnitude 7.
  

• Earthquake hits Alaska's most populated region - Videos, photos and stories - Alaska Dispatch News

  25-01-2016 06:13
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Earthquake hits Alaska's most populated region - Videos, photos and stories
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Jameson Frick and his mom, Sarah Frick, check out the cracks that opened up in Kalifornsky Beach Road south of Kenai. The road slumped where it crossed a swampy area from the 7.1 earthquake early Sunday. It ws Jameson's 5th birthday. Bob Hallinen ...and more »
  

• Unnerved but unharmed, Anchorage residents tidy up after 7.1 quake

  25-01-2016 03:06
  
  An earthquake shook southcentral Alaska around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning–with tremors felt from Two Rivers to Juneau. The most extensive damage appears to be on the Kenai Peninsula. The 7.1 earthquake was centered about 50 miles west of Anchor Point in Cook Inlet.
  ML&P crews work on digging through cement to reach a malfunctioning transformer knocked out during the earthquake, interrupting power to the 5th Avenue Mall. Photo: Zachariah Hughes.
  In Anchorage, Portage and the Mat-Su Valley
  
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• Child dies after accidental shooting in Kokhanok, troopers say - Alaska Dispatch News

  25-01-2016 01:41
  Child dies after accidental shooting in Kokhanok, troopers say
  Alaska Dispatch News
  A child has died after an accidental shooting Saturday evening in the Southwest Alaska village of Kokhanok, according to Alaska State Troopers. Troopers said in a dispatch Sunday afternoon they were informed of the shooting in the village of about 165 ...and more »
  

• 'Alaskan Bush People' Get New Season -- Despite Legal Woes And Leaving Alaska - The Inquisitr

  25-01-2016 01:18
  The Inquisitr
  'Alaskan Bush People' Get New Season -- Despite Legal Woes And Leaving Alaska
  The Inquisitr
  Well, it looks like whatever discontent was expressed on previous Alaskan Bush People articles is of little to no consequence for the Brown family. The back woods Brady bunch will be back for at least one new season per a comment from the official ...
  

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