Alaska news

• Murkowski drops bid to block FDA nominee over genetically modified salmon

  15-02-2016 22:32
  
  Murkowski drops bid to block FDA nominee over genetically modified salmon Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has dropped her efforts to block the nomination of a new commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, citing favorable action by the agency on genetically engineered salmon. February 15, 2016
  
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• Alaska's rural energy microgrids offer a prototype for powering the world

  15-02-2016 22:28
  
  Alaska's rural energy microgrids offer a prototype for powering the worldAlaska’s most remote villages may have a thing or two to teach the rest of the United States and the world about keeping the lights on. February 15, 2016
  
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• FRONTLINE: Chasing Heroin

  15-02-2016 21:31
  
   
  America’s heroin and opioid crisis has been called the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history, with deaths from heroin and prescription opioid overdoses nearly quadrupling in 15 years. Now, a two-hour FRONTLINE documentary, CHASING HEROIN, goes inside the crisis and places it in a fresh and provocative light — telling individual stories of addiction, but also investigating how the heroin epidemic as we know it came to be, and exploring radical new approaches to fighting it that
  
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• ACL: 2015 Hall of Fame Special

  15-02-2016 20:59
  
  Patty Loveless and Vice Gill perform during ACL’s 2015 Hall of Fame Special. (Photo Courtesy of Scott Newton for KLRU)
  Enjoy the 2015 AUSTIN CITY LIMITS HALL OF FAME SPECIAL as Loretta Lynn, Asleep at the Wheel, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Flaco Jimenez are honored by Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, Gillian Welch, Jason Isbell and more.
  Saturday, February 20. 10:00 pm
   
  
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• Carole King – Natural Woman

  15-02-2016 20:52
  
  (Credit: Courtesy of Ode Records Photography Jim McCrary)
  Weaving previously unseen and rare performances and home movies with a new, exclusive interview with King, AMERICAN MASTERS – CAROLE KING: NATURAL WOMAN delves into her life and career.
  New interviews with friends and colleagues, including fellow songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Tapestry producer Lou Adler, drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, daughter and manager Sherry Goffin
  
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• NOVA: Iceman Reborn

  15-02-2016 20:46
  
  (Photo Courtesy of South Tyrol Museum of Archeology)
  He was stalked, attacked and left to die alone. Murdered more than 5,000 years ago, Otzi the Iceman is Europe’s oldest known natural mummy. Miraculously preserved in glacial ice, his remarkably intact remains continue to provide scientists, historians, and archeologists with groundbreaking discoveries about a crucial time in human history. NOVA: ICEMAN REBORN captures the story.
  But in order to protect him from contamination, this e
  
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• Senator introduces bill to ban late-term abortion

  15-02-2016 19:53
  
  A North Pole senator has introduced a bill that would require Alaska’s doctors to determine whether a fetus could survive outside of the womb before performing abortions.
  The bill would add viable fetuses to the state’s Child in Need of Aid laws and allow for them to be surrendered to the doctor or hospital employee where the abortion is performed if the woman is unwilling or unable to care for it.
  Republican Sen. John Coghill says he introduced the bill because he believes abortion
  
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• Looming Bethel alcohol sales push need for bigger fire department

  15-02-2016 19:47
  
  The Bethel Fire Dept. is asking the city to fund two extra positions after seeing a surge in alcohol-related calls. The department is straining to respond to the influx, and with legal alcohol sales coming to Bethel, it expects those numbers to rise.
  Since Bethel went wet in 2009, the number of alcohol-related calls has increased 113 percent. Overall call volume has also climbed. Since 2014, over half the department’s calls have been related to alcohol.
  Despite the increase, the Beth
  
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• New Tustumena design ready

  15-02-2016 19:44
  
  Design for the Tusutmena replacement vessel. (Department of Transportation image)
  The State Department of Transportation has a design for the ship that will replace the Ferry Tustumena. The Tustumena has served communities in South Central and Southwest Alaska for a little more than 50 years. The ferry’s home port is in Homer and it regularly travels to 13 ports between Homer and Unalaska.
  DOT Deputy Commissioner Mike Neussl says the new design focuses on two key issues. First: to make the
  
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• LEO program launches new app connecting observers, experts

  15-02-2016 19:33
  
  Last week at the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage high-level EPA officials presented an award to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium for its Local Environmental Observer, or LEO program.
  LEO managers used the occasion to launch a new app for the LEO website.
  Moses Tcharinikoff is a geographer for the LEO network. He says some twenty thousand people have visited the LEO website’s interactive map over the past few years. The map is linked to photos, videos, and short repo
  
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• Hugh Neff leads Yukon Quest pack toward finish line

  15-02-2016 19:25
  
  Hugh Neff has taken the lead in the Yukon Quest. (File Photo by Patrick Yack/Alaska Public Media)
  Hugh Neff appears on track to win the Yukon Quest today. After flying under radar behind first half leaders Brent Sass and Allen Moore, the 2012 champ has built a commanding lead heading toward the Whitehorse finish.
  Hugh Neff was first out of Braeburn on his way to the Yukon Quest finish line. He said he was going to push it into Whitehorse.
  “Just because I have this huge lead doesn’t m
  
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• Algo Nuevo: February 14, 2016

  15-02-2016 19:16
  
  Here’s the Sunday, February 7th, 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
   
  Samba Pa Ti
  Santana
  The Best of Santana
  Columbia
  447
   
  Nena
  Malo
  The Best of Malo
  C
  
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• Legislative veteran Max Gruenberg dies in Juneau

  15-02-2016 05:40
  
  Max Gruenberg, one of the longest serving members of the state Legislature, has died at his home in Juneau, Alaska Democrats said. He was 72.
  Gruenberg arrived in Alaska in 1970 and served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1985 to 1993, and again from 2003 until now. He twice served as House Majority Leader and had recently been serving as the whip for the Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition. He was also a well-known family lawyer.
  Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition
  
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• Murkowski’s Bethel hearing to feature U.S. Energy Secretary

  15-02-2016 04:16
  
  U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will visit Bethel on Feb. 15, 2015. Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy.
  U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will join a host of state and federal officials in Bethel on Monday to talk rural energy needs.
  Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is holding a field hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which she chairs. The hearing will focus on alternative energy projects throughout Alaska – as well as the
  
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