Alaska news

• House, Senate Democrats paid Begich's firm $7,000 for two days of training

  16-03-2016 22:50
  
  House, Senate Democrats paid Begich's firm $7,000 for two days of training Alaska House and Senate minority Democrats paid former Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich's consulting firm $7,500 for two days of work in December and January, according to state records. March 16, 2016
  
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• Lawmakers struggle to fund pioneer senior homes

  16-03-2016 20:54
  
  The pioneer home system is older than the state of Alaska. The first home, in Sitka, was repurposed from abandoned marine barracks in 1913. The state-funded system now operates in six locations and provides care to 440 of Alaska’s senior citizens. And demand is only growing.
  But as lawmakers grapple with the budget, some wonder whether the state can keep funding the homes at all.
  If you’re walking around Sitka, you can’t miss the pioneer home. It sits on a hill, crowned in croc
  
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• Bernie Sanders Gets an Alaska 'Super PAC' Aimed At Millennials - TIME

  16-03-2016 20:20
  TIME
  Bernie Sanders Gets an Alaska 'Super PAC' Aimed At Millennials
  TIME
  First there were the cheerful nurses in red scrubs who followed Bernie Sanders across the country. Then there was the tiny Oakland firm that wanted to flip hundreds of Democratic superdelegates for their man. Now, there is a pro-Sanders super PAC just ...and more »
  

• Southeast tribal government seeks to protect trans-boundary rivers

  16-03-2016 19:34
  
  Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal government is pressing for an intensive environmental analysis of the region’s health. It’s part of a larger push for protection of trans-boundary rivers, which flow from British Columbia into the region.
  The Tlingit-Haida Central Council wants to document the region’s waterways so it can measure any damage that might be caused by mines on trans-boundary rivers.
  Council official Will Micklin said it’s lobbying the Environmental Prot
  
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• Skagway to host largest cruise ship to sail Alaska waters

  16-03-2016 19:16
  
  Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas is scheduled to dock in Skagway this summer.  It’s the largest cruise ship to land in the Gateway to the Klondike by about 1,000 passengers, and largest to ever cruise Alaska waters. The vessel will also make port calls in Juneau and sail the Inside Passage and Tracy Arm.
  The Explorer of the Seas will dock in Skagway this summer. Capable of hauling 4,000 passengers, it’s the largest ship Skagway, or Alaska for that matter, has seen. (
  
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• New Butterfly Discovered in Alaska for First Time in 28 Years - National Geographic

  16-03-2016 18:55
  National Geographic
  New Butterfly Discovered in Alaska for First Time in 28 Years
  National Geographic
  A scientist organizing butterfly specimens in a museum collection made a startling discovery: What people had thought was a variant of a common species is actually a totally new organism, and one with an interesting evolutionary history to boot. And ...and more »
  

• An emotional Brent Sass finishes Iditarod in 20th

  16-03-2016 15:56
  
  Brent Sass just couldn’t get his dogs to leave White Mountain. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)
  As Iditarod mushers continue trickling into Nome, on-lookers got a treat as Brent Sass roared at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night.
  Running beside his energetic, alert team, Sass sounded surprised to learn he’d placed 20th.
  “Just super proud of those dogs,” Sass said. “I mean, grateful, proud—they poured their hearts out for a thousand miles.”
  For most of the race
  
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• For some teams, Iditarod’s final miles make the biggest difference

  16-03-2016 15:47
  
  
  Wade Marrs, mushing along the Iditarod Trail on the outskirts of Nome. (Photo: Laura Collins, KNOM)
  The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race is 1,000 miles long, but for a couple dog teams, the most competitive stretch of trail came down to the final mile.
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  The crowd cheered as Wade Marrs came bounding down Nome’s Front Street behind his dog team.
  Somewhere between Koyuk and Elim, musher Pete Kaiser gained nearly two hours on Marrs.
  In the end, Marrs refused to give up.
  “He did
  
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• Capitol benches that provided comfort to lobbyists have been ordered removed

  16-03-2016 05:01
  
  Capitol benches that provided comfort to lobbyists have been ordered removed Legislative leaders have ordered the removal of a plum perch for lobbyists, visitors and staff on the Capitol’s second floor, citing congestion and security risks.March 15, 2016
  
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• Capitol benches out, will no longer offer solace and comfort to lobbyists

  16-03-2016 05:01
  
  Capitol benches out, will no longer offer solace and comfort to lobbyists Legislative leaders have ordered the removal of a plum perch for lobbyists, visitors and staff on the Capitol’s second floor, citing congestion and security risks.March 15, 2016
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, March 15, 2016

  16-03-2016 03:11
  
  
  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.
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  BP to lay off more workers in Anchorage
  The Associated PressBP says it is planning to further reduce its workforce in Alaska as the state continues to struggle with low oil prices. BP spokeswoman Dawn Patience told KTUU-TV on Monday that about 4 percen
  
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• Fallout from BP job cut announcement ripples across Alaska - KTUU.com

  16-03-2016 02:36
  CNBC
  Fallout from BP job cut announcement ripples across Alaska
  KTUU.com
  Monday's announcement from BP of deeper job cuts within Alaska's oil and gas sector came as another blow to the state, as the fallout from low-oil prices continues to gnaw away at Alaska's economy.
  Alaska's Schools Face Cuts at Every Level Over Oil CollapseCNBC
  BP reveals plans for more job cuts in AlaskaWashington Times
  Oil price collapse drains Alaska's wide-ranging education systemAlaska Dispatch Newsall 36 news article
  

• Offshore leasing plan leaves door open to Arctic drilling – for now

  16-03-2016 02:31
  
  The Obama Administration today released its draft plan for offshore oil and gas drilling over the next five years.
  The proposal keeps the door open to more drilling in the Arctic Ocean — for now.
  But one option the administration is considering would offer no new leases at all.
  AUDIO HERE
  Shell’s Polar Pioneer leaving Dutch Harbor on Monday, Oct. 12, heading for Washington State. (Photo: John Ryan, KUCB)
  The Department of the Interior plans for offshore oil and gas leases i
  
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• BLM director visits North Slope

  16-03-2016 01:34
  
  
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  The director of the Bureau of Land Management is visiting the North Slope this week. Over the next two days, director Neil Kornze will meet with Native corporations, local government officials, and community leaders in the region. On Tuesday,  Kornze was helping cap two legacy wells south of Barrow. The Simpson Core and Iko Bay were both drilled by the U.S. Navy in the 1950s. They’re among 18 legacy wells the BLM plans to clean up this year.
  The trip is part o
  
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• Juneau goes to the polls to elect a new mayor

  16-03-2016 01:04
  
  
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  Juneau residents are hitting the polls on Tuesday to elect a new mayor. Two candidates are vying for the spot: Ken Koelsch  and Karen Crane. The city decided to hold the $35,000 special election after the death of Mayor Greg Fisk. Fisk died of natural causes shortly after winning last year’s election. The mayoral candidates have served on the Juneau Assembly before.
  
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• Critics call feds’ new ‘mitigation’ a coerced fee

  16-03-2016 01:03
  
  File image: USGS
  The concept of “mitigation” comes up a lot in stories about development in Alaska. Typically, it’s compensation a company has to pay for filling wetlands. Their permit may require that they improve another patch of wetlands nearby, or pay an organization to preserve wetlands somewhere else. But federal agencies have begun requiring mitigation for other kinds of environmental damage, and at a U.S. Senate hearing today, critics said it amounts to a coerced paymen
  
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• Pot petitions duel in Juneau

  16-03-2016 01:00
  
  
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  Dueling petitions about commercial pot grow houses in Juneau neighborhoods have been making the rounds. The Assembly voted back in November to allow limited cultivation on parts of North Douglas and other low-density areas. After one red public notice went up at the end of a driveway, it caught some in neighborhood off guard.
  
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