Alaska news

• Alaska congressional delegation offers reluctant support of Trump - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  05-05-2016 23:12
  Alaska congressional delegation offers reluctant support of Trump
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  FAIRBANKS — With Donald Trump the final Republican candidate in the race for president after the rapid-fire dropouts of his opponents, Alaska's congressional delegation members said despite their misgivings they'll support the presumptive nominee.and more »
  
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• Ousted mayor confirmed as one of seven candidates in North Slope race

  05-05-2016 22:34
  
  Ousted mayor confirmed as one of seven candidates in North Slope race The North Slope Borough clerk’s office confirmed Wednesday that former Mayor Charlotte Brower is eligible to run again for the same seat voters recently removed her from and will join six other candidates, including former borough Mayor George Ahmaogak. May 5, 2016
  
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• Alaska not included in Kroger recall of sunflower products - KTUU.com

  05-05-2016 22:03
  
  Alaska not included in Kroger recall of sunflower products
  KTUU.com
  An official with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation now says that Alaska is not affected by the recall of potentially contaminated sunflower products. Lorinda Lhotka, food safety and sanitation program manager with DEC, said she got ...and more »
  
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• Valley Performing Arts presents The Fantasticks

  05-05-2016 21:54
  
  Garry Forrester as “El Gallo”Tune in this week to hear about the longest running musical in the world being presented by Valley Performing Arts. Director Dave Nufer and “El Gallo” Garry Forrester drop by the studio to talk about Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks which performs through May 29th.
  HOST:
  Steve Hunt
  GUESTS: 
  Dave Nufer, Director, VPA’s The Fantasticks
  Garry Forrester, “El Gallo” in VPA’s The Fantasticks
  ORIGINAL
  
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• Ulman selected new CEO of Alaska Public Media

  05-05-2016 19:27
  
  Ed Ulman has been chosen as CEO of Alaska Public Media.Ed Ulman has been named the new CEO of Alaska Public Media.  He currently serves as Executive Director and General Manager for KBTC Public Television in Tacoma, WA.
  “After an exhaustive national search that engaged leaders across the media and associated sectors in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and the Lower 48, the board is pleased to have found the best individual to assume leadership of this world-class media organizati
  
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• Sunrise Fire update 9:00 am Thursday

  05-05-2016 19:18
  
  The Sunrise Fire’s general location Wednesday afternoon. (Map Courtesy of Mat-Su Borough)Firefighters are making progress in fighting the Sunrise Fire in the Meadow Lakes area North of Wasilla. Fire information officer Norm McDonald says the fire is 60% contained. Crews will stay on the fire for the next couple of days for mop up operations.
  The blaze covers 30 acres. About 70 people are working on the fire, 30 from the state division of forestry and the others from local fire departments.
  
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• Eagle hit small plane in Alaska before it burst into flames, killing 4 - Fox News

  05-05-2016 05:06
  
  Huffington Post
  Eagle hit small plane in Alaska before it burst into flames, killing 4
  Fox News
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed and burst into flames just north of Anchorage last month, killing all four people on board, authorities said Wednesday. It is the nation's first civilian plane crash to result in ...
  Alaska Plane Struck Bald Eagle Before Fiery Crash That Killed 4: NTSBABC News
  Plane Hit Bald Eagle Before Crashing In Alaska, Killing 4Huffing
  
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• Legislature making little public progress

  05-05-2016 04:19
  
  
  The Terry Miller Legislative Office Building, April 20, 2016; the temporary location for the Alaska House and Senate for the 2016 extended legislative session.Download Audio
  Lori: It’s been more than two weeks since the Legislature was scheduled to finish its session. But not only have lawmakers not finished their work, there’s been little progress recently – at least in public. There have been no public meetings on the contentious oil and gas tax bill. And no recent meetings o
  
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• Liquor store opens in Bethel – first in 40 years

  05-05-2016 04:00
  
  
  The Bethel AC Quickstop. (Photo by Dean Swope / KYUK.)Download Audio
  AC Quickstop opened Bethel’s first liquor store in more than four decades on Tuesday.A line of about 10 people were waiting for the doors to open.
  
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• Researchers analyzing ash over Kodiak

  05-05-2016 03:58
  
  
  Download Audio
  Researchers are trying to determine whether strong winds blowing over the Valley of 10,000 Smokes on the Alaska Peninsula can transport dangerous amounts of ash into the Kodiak environment.
  To help them collect data, they’ll turn to a pair of particulate monitors they set up last week – one on Coast Guard property and another in Larsen Bay.
   
  
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• Fatal plane struck eagle before crash

  05-05-2016 03:17
  Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board say that a plane that crashed on April 20 killing four people aboard hit a Bald Eagle before it crashed.
  Shaun Williams, who is leading the investigation, says samples of an unknown substance found on the tail of the Cessna 172 were sent to Washington, DC for analysis.
  “Wreckage examination, after it was retrieved from the accident site, a foreign substance was found on the tail, or the tail section of the airplane. So we took sam
  
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• Sitka property hit by landslide still taxable

  05-05-2016 03:16
  A Sitka property wiped out by last year’s deadly landslide is still taxable, at least according to city code.
  The Sitka Assembly met Monday as the Board of Equalization, to hear an appeal from the owner of a home on Kramer Avenue. The home was demolished in the August 18th landslide, killing three men working on the subdivision.
  
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• Dry conditions spark Wasilla wildfire

  05-05-2016 03:04
  
  A grass fire near Wasilla was reported by a pilot about 3 Wednesday afternoon. The fire has burned into the trees and is covering about 7 acres, according to state fire information officer Norm McDonald:
  “Right now we have a fairly good response to there with cooperators the Mat – Su Borough, and division of forestry is our heli-tac crew and air tanker, two engines and a hand crew enroute. If we get those folks on there and utilize their resources, we are hoping to catch it before it
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, May 4, 2016

  05-05-2016 03:03
  
  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
  The Terry Miller Legislative Office Building, April 20, 2016; the temporary location for the Alaska House and Senate for the 2016 extended legislative session.Legislature making little public progress
  Andrew Kitchenman, APRN/KTOO-JuneauIt’s been more than two we
  
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• Educators debate responses to challenges facing rural schools

  05-05-2016 02:57
  Many if not most of Alaska’s rural schools are not working. Low student performance and high teacher turnover are just two of more obvious indicators of problems in these mostly Native school districts. Those working in the schools say it’s time for radical changes.
  Paul Berg has taught in Alaska for more than 40 years — 10 of them in villages.
  “You want to see racism go to a village school,” said Berg. “You’ll see Outside, usually Anglo teachers ha
  
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• Far-ranging education bill fails in House

  05-05-2016 01:57
  
  
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  A wide-ranging education bill emphasizing local and parental control failed after a vote in the Alaska House on Wednesday.
  House Bill 156 was introduced by Rep. Wes Keller, a Republican from Wasilla. The latest version would have suspended statewide standardized testing for two years, allowedparents to opt their kids out of any lesson, and put decisions about sexualeducation in the hands of local school boards.
  This version had already failed in the House. The
  
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• Far-ranging education bill dies in House

  05-05-2016 01:57
  A wide-ranging education bill emphasizing local and parental control hasdied after a vote in the Alaska House on Wednesday.
  House Bill 156 was introduced by Rep. Wes Keller, a Republican from Wasilla. The latest version would have suspended statewide standardized testing for two years, allowedparents to opt their kids out of any lesson, and put decisions about sexualeducation in the hands of local school boards.
  This version had already failed in the House. The conference committe
  
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• Big Lake Comprehensive Plan tests gravel plan

  05-05-2016 00:49
  
  Big Lake homeowner Cindy Moore speaks against a controversial gravel plan at Tuesday’s Mat-Su Assembly meeting. (Photo by Ellen Lockyer\KSKA)Dozens of Big Lake residents lined the hallways of the Matanuska Susitna Borough Assembly chambers Tuesday night to let their voices be heard in an argument over a local gravel pit.
  The public testimony on the proposed interim materials district was about evenly divided pro and con.
  More than forty people testified for or against the project, which wo
  
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• US won’t support trade ban on polar bear products

  05-05-2016 00:08
  
  (Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)The United States recently announced it will not support aninternational ban on the trade of polar bear products at an upcomingmeeting on endangered species.
  In a statement released last week, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service says it remains concerned about the commercialuse of polar bear hides, but it says it won’t encourage the ban.
  The agency says in a statement it will instead focus on mitigating climate change impacts to polar bears as the largest
  
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