Alaska news

• Homeless count sheds new light on Alaska needs - Alaska Public Radio Network

  28-01-2016 23:56
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Homeless count sheds new light on Alaska needs
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Alaska now has a more localized way of looking at homelessness data. Instead of gathering information that reflects the state as a whole, some municipalities can see their own data that gets reported to the feds. That could mean more funding for ...and more »
  

• Homeless count sheds new light on Alaska needs

  28-01-2016 23:55
  
  Alaska now has a more localized way of looking at homelessness data. Instead of gathering information that reflects the state as a whole, some municipalities can see their own data that gets reported to the feds. That could mean more funding for housing in some communities.
  John Ross gets his hair cut by Marti Fred at Shear Design. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)
  At Juneau’s Project Homeless Connect event, people were getting help in a number of ways.
  John Ross hasn&r
  
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• Alaska's Pioneer Pilots—Cowboys or Entrepreneurs? - Anchorage Press

  28-01-2016 23:30
  Alaska's Pioneer Pilots—Cowboys or Entrepreneurs?
  Anchorage Press
  For those of us not familiar with the history of Alaska's early pilots Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth's book is something of a revelation. We learn that our pioneer flyers basked in the glow of an image depicting them as cowboys of the sky—wild, untamed ...
  

• Army chief looks to spare some cuts to Alaska-based brigade - Military Times

  28-01-2016 22:27
  Military Times
  Army chief looks to spare some cuts to Alaska-based brigade
  Military Times
  An upcoming rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana could determine the fate of the Army's only airborne brigade combat team in the Pacific theater. Loading… Post to Facebook. Army chief looks to spare some cuts to Alaska-based ...
  

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• Army chief looks to spare some cuts to Alaska-based brigade - ArmyTimes.com

  28-01-2016 22:27
  ArmyTimes.com
  Army chief looks to spare some cuts to Alaska-based brigade
  ArmyTimes.com
  An upcoming rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana could determine the fate of the Army's only airborne brigade combat team in the Pacific theater. Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, will kick off a ...and more »
  

• Marine Science Symposium – LIVEBLOG – Thursday

  28-01-2016 20:18
  
   A brief introduction to the Alaska Marine Science Symposium by liveblogger Steve Heimel, who will be bringing Alaska Public Media live coverage through Thursday, Jan. 28.11:00 a.m. — The shellfish mariculture industry is taking steps to prepare for ocean acidification with new equipment for monitoring, forecasting, and even treating water that might harm their animals.
  An instrument called a “Burke-o-later” is being used at the Aluttiq Pride hatchery in Seward to mo
  
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• PBS hosts Democratic debate

  28-01-2016 18:33
  
  Tune in for the first Democratic presidential debate following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, PBS NEWSHOUR co-anchors and managing editors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff will moderate the DNC-sanctioned debate, the first Democratic presidential debate following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
  Thursday, January 11. 5:00 p.m.
  
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• Bethel City Council imposes 6-month hold on marijuana operations

  28-01-2016 18:27
  
  (Creative Commons photo by Brett Levin)
  Bethel City Council unanimously passed a six-month moratorium on marijuana license applications on Tuesday. The moratorium places a hold on the city processing any land use, zoning, or licensing approvals for marijuana operations in Bethel.
  Council Member Zach Fansler serves on the City Marijuana Advisory Committee and introduced the measure to buy the city time to work out its regulations.
  “There’s a lot of question marks out there,” Fan
  
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• Troopers investigate death, missing person in Aniak

  28-01-2016 18:01
  
  Aniak. (Google Maps screenshot)
  Alaska State Troopers in the village of Aniak are reporting a death in Aniak, but they say they have not made a positive identification or determined a cause of death.
  According to an online dispatch troopers were called about a death in the village on Sunday just before midnight.
  Troopers, assisted by an investigator with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and a Village Public Safety Officer, responded to the residence.
  The following day, Monday, troopers were at
  
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• Bristol Bay salmon processors back in MSC label group

  28-01-2016 17:57
  
  The Marine Stewardship Council’s logo. Photo accessed via Wikipedia.
  Last April, ten of Alaska’s major salmon buyers asked to rejoin the sustainability label they dropped in 2012. Negotiations failed at first, but eventually the Alaska Salmon Processors Association – led by Silver Bay Seafoods ­– agreed to hand over the certificate to the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, which has finally occurred.
  Bristol Bay salmon processors should be on a level-playing fiel
  
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• Alaska Air to resume Atlanta-Portland, Ore., nonstops - USA TODAY

  28-01-2016 17:49
  USA TODAY
  Alaska Air to resume Atlanta-Portland, Ore., nonstops
  USA TODAY
  Alaska Airlines will add seasonal flights to Atlanta from its hub in Portland, Ore. Daily nonstop service on Boeing 737 aircraft will begin June 4 and run through Aug. 27. “Alaska Airlines continues to provide more options to our loyal Portland ...and more »
  

• Medicaid reform bills include provisions to root out fraud

  28-01-2016 17:17
  
  Gov. Bill Walker’s administration is proposing a renewed focus on cracking down on waste and fraud in Alaska’s Medicaid program.
  It is part of a broader, revamped bill aimed at curbing and containing costs within Medicaid.
  The bill would set up civil penalties for false claims and allow citizens who bring cases to the attorney general’s attention to receive a portion of the proceeds from a settlement if a case is pursued.
  State health commissioner Valerie Davidson says this wou
  
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• Alaska governor lays out expectations for gas line progress

  28-01-2016 16:57
  
  Gov. Bill Walker says he wants the state and the North Slope’s major producers to reach agreement on key contracts and issues related to a major gas project before the end of the current legislative session.
  If the parties don’t reach alignment on those issues, he says, he’ll have “no other choice” but to consider other options for commercializing Alaska’s gas.
  The comments came in a letter Walker sent last week to leaders of BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil
  
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• Special election announced to recall North Slope mayor

  28-01-2016 16:56
  
  North Slope officials have called for a special election to recall Mayor Charlotte Brower after residents successfully gathered enough signatures on a petition.
  KTVA-TV reports the announcement was made Tuesday at a North Slope Borough Assembly meeting.
  The effort to recall Brower began after allegations that she misused borough funds. She has been accused of using public money to send her grandchildren to a basketball camp in California and to purchase cakes for her daughter.
  Petitioners starti
  
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• The happiest people in America live in Hawaii and Alaska - New York Post

  28-01-2016 16:08
  New York Post
  The happiest people in America live in Hawaii and Alaska
  New York Post
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska — If you want to improve your sense of well-being, leave the Lower 48. A new report ranking all 50 states based on residents' sense of well-being puts Hawaii at No. 1, followed by Alaska, which held the top spot last year. Hawaii has ...
  Want to feel better, Lower 48ers? Move to Alaska or HawaiiAlaska Dispatch Newsall 212 news articles »
  

• 'Don't Let the Corporation Steal Our Land!' Tlingit Elder Opposes Alaska Native Landless Bill - Indian Country Today Media Network

  28-01-2016 16:05
  Indian Country Today Media Network
  'Don't Let the Corporation Steal Our Land!' Tlingit Elder Opposes Alaska Native Landless Bill
  Indian Country Today Media Network
  For much of the year the jet stream brings one rain system after another to Southeast Alaska, feeding the largest temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass, ancestral home of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Nations. Sitka Spruce trees shoot up ...
  

• Alaska superintendents praise plan to look for new standardized test - Alaska Dispatch News

  28-01-2016 05:38
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska superintendents praise plan to look for new standardized test
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska superintendents who testified at a legislative hearing Wednesday praised the state education department's decision to scrap the Alaska Measures of Progress test and look for a new standardized exam for next school year. But the new test ...and more »
  

• February 2016 Television Highlights: Special Campaign Coverage

  28-01-2016 04:01
  The month of February is highlighted by special campaign coverage by PBS NEWSHOUR including:
  Reports on the Iowa caucuses. Monday, February 1. 10:00 p.m
  Reports on the New Hampshire primary. Tuesday, February 9. 10:00 p.m.
  Democratic presidential debate. Thursday, February 11. 5:00 p.m. 
  Other programs you will not want to miss include:
  American Experience: Murder of a President. Tuesday, February 2. 8:00 p.m.
  Arctic Entries. Saturday, February 6. 10:00 p.m.
  FRONTLINE: The Fantasy Sports G
  
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• Mongolia looks to Alaska for help handling domestic violence - Alaska Public Radio Network

  28-01-2016 03:49
  Mongolia looks to Alaska for help handling domestic violence
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Efforts to end domestic violence brought a delegation from Mongolia to Nome on Monday. The group — made up of social workers, shelter managers, police officers, and more — was there to learn how Alaska is addressing high rates of sexual assault and ...and more »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016

  28-01-2016 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
   
  Education commissioner tosses controversial AMP test
  Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
  In a surprise statement late Tuesday night,  Alaska education commissioner Mike Hanley said the Alaska Measures of Progress tests would be dropped fo
  
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• Unpopular AMP tests to be replaced

  28-01-2016 03:39
  
  
  Alaska Measures of Progress [AMP] test scores released last fall disappointed many school districts. Now, state education commissioner Mike Hanley says he’s eliminating the tests for 2017 while beginning a requests for proposals process for a replacement for the student assessment exams.
  Download Audio
  In a surprise statement late Tuesday night, Alaska education commissioner Mike Hanley said the Alaska Measures of Progress tests would be dropped for the 2016-2017 school year while the stat
  
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• New Medicaid reform committee strives for savings

  28-01-2016 03:38
  
  
  As lawmakers look to trim the state’s budget shortfall, their attention is focusing on one of the biggest areas of the budget: Medicaid.
  Download Audio
  Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, announced today that a new Medicaid reform subcommittee will focus on the issue over the next month.
  The subcommittee will look at separate bill proposed by Gov. Bill Walker’s administration and Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, to change how healthcare is delivered to low-income Alaskans.
  Both bills en
  
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• Report: Alaska prisons, justice system need overhaul

  28-01-2016 03:37
  
  
  A commission set up by the Alaska Legislature in 2014 has issued a report on Alaska’s corrections and judicial systems. They say the judicial and corrections systems cost the state a lot, but they don’t do enough to improve public safety.
  Download Audio
  (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
  Commission members presented the findings and recommendations to the House Finance Committee on Monday.
  Alaska Criminal Justice Commission chair Greg Razo told legislators Alaska is expected to run short
  
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• On Kenai, cracked K-Beach Road re-opens

  28-01-2016 03:36
  
  
  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 by Jenny Neyman, KDLL Kenai)
  Cook Inlet’s biggest recorded earthquake did little damage to infrastructure across Southcentral Alaska. And biggest damage has now been fixed up.
  Download Audio
  Kalifornsky Beach Road re-opened to two-way traffic Wednesday morning.
  A 15-foot section of the northbound lane at Mile 1 near
  
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• New arrivals in Kotzebue Sound preying on belugas

  28-01-2016 03:33
  
  
  Kotzebue Sound is changing and beluga hunters are facing new competition. Researcher Manuel Castellote at the Alaska Fisheries Center placed underwater microphones in the Sound. Instead of belugas he found the source of the problem — killer whales.
  Download Audio
  Orcas. Photo: Christopher Michel via Flickr Creative Commons.
  “It turns out when we look at our data what we found was mainly killer whales. So that’s why the project quickly became a killer whale project.”
  Thing
  
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• American Polar Society honors UAF professor

  28-01-2016 03:32
  
  
  The American Polar Society recently recognized the work of a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor. Dr. Lawson Brigham received an honorary medal for his polar research and policy work with the Arctic Council. Coincidentally, the Arctic Council announced Monday it would use UAF as the site for its 2017 meeting.
  Download Audio
  Lawson Brigham of University of Alaska Fairbanks. Photo: UAF.
  In the 20th century you might have thought the age of polar expeditions was over. But recently Dr. Lawson B
  
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• Yukon Quest racers drop off food, gear for checkpoints

  28-01-2016 03:31
  
  
  Yukon Quest mushers have surpassed a major milestone in preparation for running next month’s race. Tons of race food and gear were dropped off over the weekend for shipping to checkpoints along the thousand mile route between Fairbanks and Whitehorse.
  Download Audio
  Brent Sass races to a first-place finish at the 2015 Yukon Quest. The 2016 race starts Feb 1. (Photo: Emily Russell/KNOM)
  Laura Neese decided she wanted to be a long-distance dog musher when she was 9 years old. Ten y
  
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• Mongolia looks to Alaska for help handling domestic violence

  28-01-2016 03:30
  
  
  Efforts to end domestic violence brought a delegation from Mongolia to Nome on Monday. The group — made up of social workers, shelter managers, police officers, and more — was there to learn how Alaska is addressing high rates of sexual assault and domestic violence. Mongolian delegates and local leaders discussed the hard issues affecting both communities over lunch.
  Download Audio
  It’s noon at Nome’s United Methodist Church, and the Inupiaq choir wel
  
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• Watch: Skier Angel Collinson tumbles 1000 feet down Alaska mountain - Alaska Dispatch News

  28-01-2016 02:12
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Watch: Skier Angel Collinson tumbles 1000 feet down Alaska mountain
  Alaska Dispatch News
  One of the world's most acclaimed big-mountain skiers took a 1,000-foot plunge down an Alaska mountain side last spring — and somehow walked away without any major injuries. Angel Collinson, a 26-year-old skier from Utah, was filming for Teton Gravity ...and more »
  

• Alaska prisons cost a lot, but are we safer?

  28-01-2016 00:31
  
  A commission set up by the Alaska Legislature in 2014 has issued a report on Alaska’s corrections and judicial systems. They say the judicial and corrections systems cost the state a lot, but they don’t do enough to improve public safety.
  (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
  Commission members presented the findings and recommendations to the House Finance Committee on Monday.
  Alaska Criminal Justice Commission chair Greg Razo told legislators Alaska is expected to run short of prison beds
  
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