Alaska news

• Bear attack survivor: ‘Grace was extended to me’

  24-05-2016 21:12
  
  The survivor of a brown bear mauling near Yakutat on May 13 said the animal was startled, and attacked instinctively.
  Ken Steck is recovering from his wounds with family in Anchorage. He spoke recently with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey about his experience.
  Survivor Ken Steck says he “did not anticipate a bear threat” in his party’s camping area in Disenchantment Bay. “I could have done more to warn this bear,” he says. (Flickr photo by user sach1tb)Some of
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, May 23, 2016

  24-05-2016 03:53
  
  
  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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  Lawmakers have rather slow, short first day of special session
  Rachel Waldholz, Alaska Public Media – Juneau
  Lawmakers met in Juneau today for the first day of the special session. Governor Walker called the Legislature back to work after it faile
  
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• Former Anchorage prosecutor sentenced for biggest wire fraud in state history

  24-05-2016 03:29
  
  Former Anchorage resident and former municipal prosecutor Mark Avery was sentenced Monday for 160 months for the wire fraud and money laundering of about $52 million. This marks the largest wire fraud and money laundering conviction by amount ever prosecuted in Alaska.
  Avery was convicted of three counts of wire fraud, six counts of money laundering, one count of bank fraud, and one count of making false statements to a bank. Of the $52 million that Avery laundered, $31 million wa
  
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• Cost for recently concluded Legislative session: $520,000

  24-05-2016 03:06
  
  
  Personnel and per diem costs tallied for the recently ended extended legislative session –so far– total about $520,000.
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  That’s according to figures provided by Jessica Geary, the Legislative Affairs Agency’s finance manager.
  The biggest piece of that was for the daily allowance allotted lawmakers, known as per diem, totaling more than $407,000.
  Other items included payroll costs and staff per diem. Geary said by email that not all staff per diem claim forms
  
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• Cost for day one of special Legislative session: $520,000

  24-05-2016 03:06
  
  
  Personnel and per diem costs tallied for the recently ended extended legislative session –so far– total about $520,000.
  Download Audio
  That’s according to figures provided by Jessica Geary, the Legislative Affairs Agency’s finance manager.
  The biggest piece of that was for the daily allowance allotted lawmakers, known as per diem, totaling more than $407,000.
  Other items included payroll costs and staff per diem. Geary said by email that not all staff per diem claim forms
  
  Read more

• Navigating race as a family

  24-05-2016 03:02
  
  
  Nathan (l) and Mike (r) Daigneault at Alaska Public Media.Nearly 16 years ago Mike Daigneault and his wife decided to adopt from the foster care system. They are white. The children they adopted are black. This is the story of Mike and his oldest son, Nathan. Part of their conversation contains a racial slur that may be objectionable to some listeners.
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  Mike: There’s a little bit of apprehension, just in more feeling like whether or not we’d be accepted by the black com
  
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• Special session off to slow start, despite looming deadlines

  24-05-2016 02:58
  
  
  It was a slow Monday in Juneau, as lawmakers gaveled in for the first day of their fourth special session in two years.
  Gov. Bill Walker called the legislature back to work this week after it failed to pass a budget by the end of the regular session last Wednesday.
  Lawmakers now have 30 days to try to accomplish what they couldn’t manage in the last four months: pass a budget and make some progress toward closing the state’s $4 billion deficit.
  APRN’s Rachel Waldholz
  
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• Lawmakers have rather slow, short first day of special session

  24-05-2016 02:58
  
  
  Lawmakers met in Juneau today for the first day of the special session. Governor Walker called the Legislature back to work after it failed to pass a budget by the constitutional deadline last week. Lawmakers now have 30 days to try to accomplish what they couldn’t do in the last four months,: pass a budget and make some progress on closing the state’s $4 billion deficit.
  APRN’s Rachel Waldholz is in Juneau this week.
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  House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, Rep.
  
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• BP announces sale of midtown Anchorage building

  24-05-2016 01:20
  
  BP announced Monday that it’s selling its midtown Anchorage building. In a statement, the company says the sale will “reduce costs and free up capital, allowing BP to focus on its core business.” BP will become a tenant in the building rather than the owner, in what the statement describes as a “real estate transaction.”
  BP’s Anchorage headquarters. Image: Wikimedia CommonsBP spokesperson Dawn Patience declined an interview request about the sale.
  The building
  
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• Observation group launches info hub on Cook Inlet beluga whales

  24-05-2016 01:15
  
  The Alaska Ocean Observing System recently rolled out a new information hub that’s all about beluga whales. The Cook Inlet Beluga Ecosystem Portal is a one-stop shop for beluga data that its creators hope will help scientists and the public make more informed decisions in the future.
  Beluga coming to the surface to breathe. (Creative Commons photo by Eva Hejda)From aerial views of Alaska’s coastline to environmental data to social statistics, the new beluga ecosystem portal has a lot
  
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