Alaska news

• Iditarod mushers in striking distance surprise themselves

  12-03-2016 23:40
  
  
  25-year-old Wade Marrs pulls in to Galena in the 2016 Iditarod. (Photo by Zach Hughes/KSKA)As top Iditarod teams reached the checkpoint at Galena, several were trying to account for their spots at the top of the pack. Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes spoke with three mushers surprised for one reason or another with their place in the standings.
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  Nicholas Petit is sorting through his sled bag pulling out frozen meat. He blazed from Ruby to Galena in five-and-a-half hours
  
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• Coyotes are everywhere, even in Alaska - Alaska Dispatch News

  12-03-2016 23:18
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Coyotes are everywhere, even in Alaska
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Fairbanks teacher Jim Lokken snapped this image of a coyote he has seen several times near University of Alaska Fairbanks ski trails. Courtesy Jim Lokken. Last Friday, an email popped up in all the mailboxes of people with the Geophysical Institute: ...and more »
  

• Alaska scientists continue researching seabird death mystery - U.S. News & World Report

  12-03-2016 22:37
  U.S. News & World Report
  Alaska scientists continue researching seabird death mystery
  U.S. News & World Report
  Wildlife biologists Rob Kaler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Sarah Schoen of the U.S. Geological Survey examine body parts of a common murre during a necropsy on Friday, March 11, 2016, in Anchorage, Alaska. Kaler and Schoen are among ...and more »
  

• Fans show support as Zirkle moves through Kaltag

  12-03-2016 22:15
  A small crowd of fans cheered as Aliy Zirkle drove her dog team up over the bank of the Yukon River and into Kaltag late Saturday morning.
  Zirkle spent nine minutes in the checkpoint, sifting through drop bags. She grabbed beef snacks and salmon snacks for her dogs, switched out a led dog named Scout for another named Dutch and sped off.
  “I’m not answering any questions,” she told a cameraman who works with the Iditarod Insider.
  A local Kaltag resident handed Zirkle a homemade
  
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• Checking in with Iditarod mushers Baker and Burmeister

  12-03-2016 21:50
  Noah Burmeister in Galena handling his dogs while children watch. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)
  Mushers and their teams are making their runs down the Yukon River. KNOM’s Emily Schwing caught up with two mushers who have roots in Western Alaska mushers to find out how their races are going.
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  Kotzebue musher John Baker pulled a tired team into the Galena checkpoint and declared his eight-hour layover almost immediately.  
  The former Iditarod champion says it was c
  
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• Mitch Seavey first to Kaltag, Brent Sass first out

  12-03-2016 20:49
  Mitch Seavy pulling in to McGrath. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)
  Iditarod veteran Mitch Seavey was the first musher into Kaltag on Saturday morning, checking in at  7:41 a.m.
  But, as has often been the case in the dash down the Yukon River, Brent Sass was the first one out, after spending only 7 minutes at the Kaltag checkpoint.
  Seavey is still resting in Kaltag as of 10:40 a.m.
  According to the GPS tracker, Aliy Zirkle is in third and should be checking into Kaltag soon.
  Zirkle and her
  
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• INTERVIEW: Jeff King describes snowmachine attack

  12-03-2016 19:00
  
  
  Jeff King was the first musher to the Yukon, wins a five course meal, and starts his 24 hour rest. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes / KSKA.)
  In the early hours of Saturday morning, Jeff King’s dog team was attacked by a reckless snowmachiner.  One of his dogs was killed, two are seriously injured. KNOM’s Emily Schwing caught up with King in the Nulato checkpoint to find out what happened.
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  On the incident on the trail:
  “Last night, about 12 miles before I arrived t
  
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• INTERVIEW: Jeff King comments on snowmachine attack

  12-03-2016 19:00
  
  
  Jeff King was the first musher to the Yukon, wins a five course meal, and starts his 24 hour rest. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes / KSKA.)
  In the early hours of Saturday morning, Jeff King’s dog team was attacked by a reckless snowmachiner.  One of his dogs was killed, two are seriously injured. KNOM’s Emily Schwing caught up with King in the Nulato checkpoint to find out what happened.
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• Sled dog dead after snowmachiner attacks Iditarod teams

  12-03-2016 17:30
  
  Aliy Zirkle wasted no time taking care of her dogs when she arrived in Galena Friday before noon. She was first in. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)
  Updated 3/12/16 at  8:30 a.m.
  In Saturday’s early morning hours, a snowmachiner repeatedly tried to harm Iditarod veterans Aliy Zirkle, Jeff King and their teams outside of Nulato, according to an Iditarod press release, killing one dog and injuring several others.
  Zirkle told Iditarod officials that as she was making her way to
  
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• Mushing world questions whether new Iditarod muzzle rule benefits sponsors or the sport

  12-03-2016 04:36
  
  Iditarod teams race to overtake-one another heading-toward Cripple. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)As Iditarod mushers drive their teams to Nome, a controversial rule-change is casting a shadow over the event. Some are accusing race organizers of siding with corporate sponsors by placing a so-called gag-order on mushers competing in the event. But even critics say that without those sponsor dollars, there might be no race at all.
  Wearing a bright neon snow-suit, Iditarod veteran Monica Zappa ha
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Friday, Mar. 11, 2016

  12-03-2016 03:00
  
  
  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
  Sass and Zirkle lead Iditarod down Yukon River
  Emily Schwing, KNOM,  – Iditarod Trail
  Aliy Zirkle was the first musher to reach the Yukon River checkpoint of Galena Friday morning. She arrived at 10:46 with 14 dogs. Brent Sass was next into
  
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• Sass and Zirkle lead Iditarod down Yukon River

  12-03-2016 02:00
  
  
  Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle reached the Yukon River checkpoint of Galena Friday morning. (Photo by Zach Hughes/KSKA)Dog teams moved swiftly down the Yukon River all Friday afternoon. Many came off an eight-hour rest, but some mushers chose to push their teams before taking the mandatory break on the river. KNOM’s Emily Schwing reports.
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  It was just before noon as Brent Sass’s dog team sped through the Galena checkpoint without picking up straw, grabbing only his drop
  
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• Native leaders urge Senators to give fair hearing to Obama’s Supreme Court nominee

  12-03-2016 01:40
  
  
  Alaska Native leaders held a press call Thursday urging Alaska’s senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, to give a fair hearing and a timely vote to President Barack Obama’s forthcoming Supreme Court nomination.
  The seat was left vacant when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February.
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  Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians, says leaving the seat empty could harm Native people.
  Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director of the National
  
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• Aliy Zirkle arrives first into Galena

  12-03-2016 01:22
  
  Aliy Zirkle was the first musher to reach the Yukon River checkpoint of Galena Friday morning. She arrived at 10:46 with 15 dogs. Brent Sass was next into the checkpoint but swiftly moved through without stopping with his 14 dogs. Mitch Seavey pulled into Galena by 2:45. Seven other teams are en route from Ruby, including Noah Burmeister, Robert Sorlie, John Baker, Joar Ulsom, Wade Marrs, and Dallas Seavey.
  Mushers must take an eight-hour rest in one the Yukon River checkpoints of Ruby, Galena,
  
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• Walker seeks to streamline three agencies

  12-03-2016 01:20
  
  
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  Governor Bill Walker is seeking to streamline three state agencies responsible for financing economic development, housing, and renewable energy.
  He signed an administrative order Thursday requiring the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Alaska Energy Authority, and Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority to find opportunities to become more efficient or consolidate.
  The agencies have more than $3 billion in assets and employ 440 people. Walker says the state hasn&rsqu
  
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• PFD voter initiative gets on ballot

  12-03-2016 01:08
  
  
  A proposal to streamline voter registration with permanent fund dividend applications has secured a spot on Alaska’s ballot this summer.
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  The PFD Voter initiative is slated to appear on the August 16th primary election ballot. This will be the only measure in the primary, according to the Division of Elections.
  The Division verified nearly 37,000 voter signatures and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallot signed certification documents this week.
  Supporters of the measure say it would elimina
  
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• Protection of bodies of water to be delegated by Legislature

  12-03-2016 01:02
  
  
  The state legislature may soon take a clear line of authority over designating Tier 3 or Outstanding Natural Resources Waters in Alaska, which is the highest level of protection for bodies of waters in the US. [Both the Koktuli and the Bristol Bay Watershed as a whole have been nominated in the past.] Governor Bill Walker says the consequences of Tier 3 status are too far-reaching for a state agency to have control over. KDLG’s Dave Bendinger has more.
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• Avalanche Prediction in Chugach National Forest

  12-03-2016 01:00
  
  It’s been a bad year for avalanches in south central Alaska, with several deaths occurring in the mountains. Still, we have more information to avoid avalanches than ever before. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll visit with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center to learn how the staff there studies the snow and predicts whether or not backcountry activities will be safe, and what you need to know for your own adventures. 
  HOST: Charles Wohlfort
  
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• Aging Southeast: Older residents impact region’s economy

  12-03-2016 01:00
  
  
  As senior populations grow throughout Southeast Alaska, what kind of impact do they have on the economy? According to experts, it’s a good one. A state report on Alaska’s aging population said seniors contributed an estimated $2.4 billion to the economy in 2014. That comes mostly from retirement income, health-care spending and wages.
  As part of CoastAlaska’s Aging Southeast series, KHNS’s Emily Files takes a look at the senior economy from Haines.
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  Haines p
  
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• Choosing Alaska’s judges

  12-03-2016 00:34
  
  Much like visiting the doctor, most of us don’t look a judge in the eye unless we have to. But also like medicine, justice is important. It’s a complex  system meant to keep civil society moving forward.  Just because it’s complicated doesn’t mean we can’t get a grip on it. Every citizen should.
  Justice Alaska, a once-a-month special edition of Hometown Alaska, aims to give you a clearer understanding of how our courts, our laws and our system of justice w
  
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• Tugboat dismantling winding down in Juneau

  12-03-2016 00:33
  
  The operation to raise and dismantle the old tug Challenger is winding down in Juneau.
  “The Challenger is gone,” said Coast Guard Commander Patrick Hilbert. “This is the remnants of the hull. The metal parts are disposed of.”
  After it was raised from the bottom of Gastineau Channel in Juneau last month, the World War Two era tug was towed to the A-J cruise ship dock for removal of hazardous materials. The vessel was just demolished by excavators on a beach south of the ro
  
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• Warm water Blob could impact Alaska’s $1 billion pollock fishery

  12-03-2016 00:26
  
  Fisheries biologists are worried that many of last year’s new pollock around Kodiak Island may not have survived recent warm ocean temperatures.
  Trawl catch of pollock caught during an acoustic trawl survey in Stephens Passage in 2004. (Photo courtesy of David Csepp NOAA/NMFS/AKFSC/Auke Bay Lab)
  The findings of a study on the issue were announced in January at the Pacific Anomalies Workshop in Seattle.
  Most people are familiar with the recent warm water anomaly by its nickname of The Blob.
  
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