Alaska news

• The future of the pot business in AK

  01-04-2016 23:02
  
  
  This week on Alaska Edition, we are discussing the pot industry in the state. Since Alaska voters passed a state ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in 2014, the state has been wrestling with just how to regulate the substance. Just as Alaska’s Marijuana Control board is ready to roll out licenses for retail shops and grow operations, competing Senate and House bills could make changes in the process. On this week’s program we learn about this bill, and hear from Hous
  
  Read more

• Legislators offer $32.5 million for Anchorage LIO

  01-04-2016 22:20
  
  
  The state government would buy the Legislative Information Office in downtown Anchorage for $32.5 million, under a recommendation made Thursday night by the Legislative Council.Download Audio
  The sign outside the Anchorage Legislative Information Office, March 4, 2016. (Photo by Megan Ahleman)But it’s not a done deal. The council’s final offer is more than a million dollars less than what building’s owners 716 West Fourth Avenue LLC have said they’d accept.
  Council Chairm
  
  Read more

• Mosquito Borne Illness

  01-04-2016 21:00
  
  Mosquito biting a human, courtesy of the USDAMosquitoes are estimated to transmit various diseases to more than 700 million people each year and over one million people annually die of these diseases. This makes mosquitoes the deadliest animal in the world. Another mosquito borne illness caused by the Zika virus is making headlines, particularly as a possible cause of microcephaly.  On this program Anchorage infectious disease specialist Dr. Ben Westley will discuss common mosquito borne i
  
  Read more

• Greetings from 'Uno, Alaska.' Capital city teams up with Mattel for April Fools' Day - KTUU.com

  01-04-2016 19:08
  KTUU.com
  Greetings from 'Uno, Alaska.' Capital city teams up with Mattel for April Fools' Day
  KTUU.com
  To kick things off, the City and Borough of Juneau has temporarily retooled its website and Facebook page to “rename” Alaska's capital the city of Uno. Announced in a news release from Mattel, the event promotes a new version of the popular card game.
  No joke: Alaska city temporarily renamed for card game UNOChattanooga Times Free Press
  The card game Uno is renaming Alaska's capita
  

• Advertisement

• Church needs legal shield to deny same-sex services, bishop tells lawmakers

  01-04-2016 16:36
  
  Church needs legal shield to deny same-sex services, bishop tells lawmakers The Catholic Church in Alaska wants protection from civil and criminal liability for refusing to perform same-sex marriages in its landmark chapels, a bishop told a legislative committee Thursday.April 1, 2016
  
  Read more

• Alaska Airlines Changes Mileage Plan to Crush Loopholes for Frequent Flyers - Skift

  01-04-2016 12:04
  Skift
  Alaska Airlines Changes Mileage Plan to Crush Loopholes for Frequent Flyers
  Skift
  For Alaska Airlines, sudden changes to its loyalty program may be a lesson learned in how temperamental frequent flyers can be. But in the end, travel hackers will have to either play the game that the airlines create or quit. — Grant Martin. Alaska ...and more »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016

  01-04-2016 03:51
  
  
  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
  Sanders fan vs. ‘superdelegate’: Re-enacting a 100-year feud
  Liz Ruskin, APRN – Washington D.C.
  A Facebook confrontation between an Alaska Democratic Party stalwart and ayoung Bernie Sanders supporter has gone viral. Levi Younger of Ea
  
  Read more

• New high-quality digital Alaska maps available to the public

  01-04-2016 03:48
  
  
  Anyone from land managers to off-road enthusiasts will now have access to high-grade digital maps for Alaska. The University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Department of Natural Resources partnered to produce the first high-resolution satellite image map of the state. KUAC’s Robert Hannon has more.
  Download Audio
  CREDIT UAF GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTEThe map can be viewed here.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The temperature just hit 71 degrees. In Alaska. In March. - Alaska Dispatch News

  01-04-2016 03:43
  Alaska Dispatch News
  The temperature just hit 71 degrees. In Alaska. In March.
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska has had plenty of uncharacteristic weather in recent months, but Thursday took it to a new extreme. The temperature measured at Klawock Airport in Southeast Alaska hit 71 degrees, which University of Alaska Fairbanks climate researcher Brian ...
  71 degrees in March: New record set for AlaskaKTVA.com - Alaska News and Weatherall 2 news articles »
  

• Ex-EPA official Phil North returns to U.S. for lawsuit between EPA and Pebble

  01-04-2016 03:37
  
  Former EPA official Phil North returned to the United States and is cooperating with a deposition in a lawsuit between the Pebble Partnership and the Environmental Protection Agency. KDLG’s Dave Bendinger has more:
  (EPA logo courtesy of the Environemntal Protection Agency)
  
  Read more

• Palmer’s Meat and Sausage fights to stay open

  01-04-2016 03:31
  The state’s Board of Agriculture and Conservation (BAC) today Thursday heard public comments on a new proposal that could keep Palmer’s Mt. McKinley Meat and Sausage open.
  Todd Pettit raises bison at Little Pitchfork Ranch in Palmer (Photo by Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage)The state-subsidized meat packing plant faces closure at the end of June if the legislature does not approve funding for one more year, and local meat producers fear that if the plant shuts down, they will b
  
  Read more

• $50K for a pot permit. If you’re lucky.

  01-04-2016 03:26
  
  
  Hundreds of people across Alaska are trying to figure out how to sell pot. Just over a month ago, the state opened up the permit process for businesses hoping to grow, process, and sell cannabis products, and applications continue to pour in.
  Download Audio
  As part of an on-going series, we’re looking at one prospective businesswoman, Jane Stinson of Enlighten Alaska, LLC, to find out what that application process is like.
  “That’s Mason, and that’s Bailey,” St
  
  Read more

• Alaska experiences second warmest winter in last 90 years

  01-04-2016 03:10
  If you thought Alaska was pretty warm and dry this winter, you were right. In fact, it could come close to setting a record.
  Average Alaska temperature rankings for this past winter. (Photo courtesy of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information)The latest figures released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information show it may be the second warmest winter since they started keeping Alaska temperature records 90 ye
  
  Read more

• Anchorage mayors battle it out over tax cap initiative

  01-04-2016 03:03
  
  Anchorage mayors battle it out over tax cap initiativeA ballot initiative on the April 5 Anchorage city ballot, Proposition 8, would require the city to adopt a more rigid interpretation of how the tax cap is allowed to increase each year. March 31, 2016
  
  Read more

• Anchorage mayors battle it out over city tax cap initiative

  01-04-2016 03:03
  
  Anchorage mayors battle it out over city tax cap initiativeA ballot initiative on the April 5 Anchorage city ballot, Proposition 8, would require the city to adopt a more rigid interpretation of how the tax cap is allowed to increase each year. Former Mayors Dan Sullivan and Rick Mystrom are campaigning for it, and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is helping fund the campaign against it. March 31, 2016
  
  Read more

• Petersburg schools testing down due to Kansas cable debacle

  01-04-2016 02:49
  The state of Alaska has suspended a state-mandated test because of ongoing problems with the computer based assessment.
  Students across Alaska started taking the online Alaska Measures of Progress assessment Tuesday. Testing that day was ended when a construction crew severed a fiber optic cable at the University of Kansas, where the vendor Achievement and Assessment Institute is based.
  Statewide the assessment was on hold until Thursday morning. However, districts again had problems after the v
  
  Read more

• Legislative council meets to discuss fate of LIO building

  01-04-2016 02:34
  
  The Legislative Council meets Thursday to decide what to do about the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. A judge recently ruled the state lease for the building is illegal, because the state didn’t open it up to competitive bidding.
  The Anchorage Legislative Information Office, March 4, 2016. (Photo by Megan Ahleman)The council could decide tonight whether to buy the building, or to move the office to a smaller space in the state-owned Atwood Building.
  The LIO owners have offer
  
  Read more

• Sanders fan vs. ‘superdelegate’: Re-enacting a 100-year feud

  01-04-2016 02:29
  
  Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail in New Hampshire in 2015. (Photo: Marc Nozell, Creative Commons)A Facebook confrontation between an Alaska Democratic Party stalwart and a young Bernie Sanders supporter has gone viral. Levi Younger of Eagle River sent a message to Juneau’s Kim Metcalfe via Facebook this week, trying to sway her to Sanders. Metcalfe is a superdelegate, so she can vote for whoever she wants at the national convention. And Metcalfe firmly told Younger she’s for Hill
  
  Read more

• Tractor falls in Tuntutuliak River causing oil spill

  01-04-2016 02:27
  
  Glen Daniel, an AVCP Regional Housing Authority mechanic, was walking 50 feet behind a construction vehicle on the frozen river when he saw the excavator suddenly break through the ice.
  (Photo courtesy of Google Maps.)Daniel watched helplessly as Lee Wilson, his boss, and the driver of the rig, jumped from the sinking vehicle as it fell in the water.
  “Better [to] not lose life than the equipment, and I was really glad that everybody was safe,” said Daniel.
  Daniel, Wilson, and the pil
  
  Read more

• KTVA Viewer Photos: Best of March in Alaska - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  01-04-2016 01:51
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  KTVA Viewer Photos: Best of March in Alaska
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  March means the arrival of “Spring” here in Alaska. Well, according to the calendar anyways. This was quite a month for news coverage: The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race saw its share of interesting stories, snowstorms caused chaos for drivers in ...and more »
  

• Alaska village receives $450K in HUD grant for fire repairs - Bryan-College Station Eagle

  01-04-2016 00:54
  Bryan-College Station Eagle
  Alaska village receives $450K in HUD grant for fire repairs
  Bryan-College Station Eagle
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A tiny village in Alaska's interior is getting $450,000 in federal funding for repairs to a fire-damaged building housing the water treatment system. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says the "imminent ...and more »
  

• Alaska lawmakers looking at oil, gas tax credit changes - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  01-04-2016 00:39
  Alaska lawmakers looking at oil, gas tax credit changes
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Oil and gas tax credits are setting up to be a major debate as the Alaska Legislature enters what are supposed to be its final weeks. The oil and gas industry is warning against big changes at a time when the industry is being hit ...and more »
  

• RUNNING Highlights | Assembly Seat D, West Anchorage

  01-04-2016 00:37
  
  Highlight reel of candidates running for Anchorage assembly seat D, serving West Anchorage.
  Click here for more 2016 RUNNING.
  
  Read more

• The true cost of a marijuana permit? $50,000. And then some

  01-04-2016 00:08
   
  
  Read more

• Alaska Airlines Wants To Buy Virgin America, But Is It A Good Fit? - OPB News

  01-04-2016 00:02
  OPB News
  Alaska Airlines Wants To Buy Virgin America, But Is It A Good Fit?
  OPB News
  Bloomberg News reported this week that Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. have both submitted takeover bids to Virgin America, Inc. An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 painted with the airline's new tail logo and livery ...
  Virgin America: Why Alaska might be the better fitATWOnline (blog)all 17 news articles »
  

Follow @News_Alaska on Twitter!