Alaska news

• Voices of Sitkans mourning Orlando shooting victims

  15-06-2016 18:00
  
  
  A crowd of more than 50 Sitkans gathered in Totem Square Monday night, to honor the 49 victims of Sunday’s shooting at Pulse, an Orlando nightclub. Organized by Sitka resident Hannah Guggenheim, the group gathered beneath a blue sky in a big circle and, holding strips of orange paper, took turns reading the forty nine names aloud. KCAW’s Emily Kwong was there and spoke with Guggenheim.
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• Anchorage PrideFest to see increased security after mass shooting in Orlando

  15-06-2016 16:00
  
  The PrideFest 2016 logo. (Courtesy of Identity, Inc.)Anchorage PrideFest will have increased security this year and will include memorials for the victims of Sunday’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
  Anchorage’s annual PrideFest celebrates the local LGBT community, but this year the celebration is tinged with both sadness and wariness. Drew Phoenix, the director of Identity Inc, said he spoke with the Anchorage Police Department, the mayor’s office and the FBI about
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, June 14, 2016

  15-06-2016 04:08
  
  
  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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  Permanent Fund bill stalls in House Finance Committee
  Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
  Since the Senate passed the bill last week that would draw money from the Permanent Fund to pay for state government, two things have happened. One is that many
  
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• 64 years later, closure sought for Colony Glacier plane crash

  15-06-2016 03:52
  
  
  Mountaineers, morticians, and a forensic anthropologist are scouring the surface of a glacier as they hunt for the remains of a military plane that crashed 64 years ago.
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  Members of the 11-person crew excavate 40-by-40 meter squares along a grid. Photo: Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media.All 52 service members aboard a C-124 Globemaster traveling from Washington to Alaska were presumed dead after it went down in November of 1952. But the wreckage was quickly covered by
  
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• Obama’s opioid addiction treatment plan could result in millions for Alaskan treatments

  15-06-2016 03:36
  
  
  Alaska could receive up to $4 million in federal funding to increase access to opioid addiction treatment options. It’s part of the Obama administration’s $1.1 billion dollar nationwide plan to fight the epidemic. According to a White House press release, the amount is determined by the severity of the local problem, and the strategies each community has to respond to it. Alaska ranks 20th nationwide for drug poisoning death rates. Congress has not yet approved the spending.
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• Permanent Fund bill stalls in House Finance Committee

  15-06-2016 03:15
  
  
  Since the Senate passed the bill last week that would draw money from the Permanent Fund to pay for state government, two things have happened. One is that many Alaskans have raised concerns with the part of the bill that would cut Permanent Fund dividends in half, (from $2,000 to $1,000). The other is that the bill was sent to the House, where it’s having a harder time moving. In fact, it might not even get out of the Finance Committee.
  Andrew Kitchenman of APRN and KTOO in Juneau has bee
  
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• Police release name of moose attack victim

  15-06-2016 03:14
  
  
  Anchorage police have released the name of the man critically injured last week in a suspected moose attack.
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  According to police, the injured man is 50-year-old Fred Mayac.
  Anchorage television station KTUU reported Department of Fish and Game officials are waiting to interview him until his condition improves.
  Mayac was found June 8 bleeding from multiple wounds near Campbell Creek Estuary Park.
  Police at first suspected he had been stabbed but medics said the nature of his
  
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• Anchorage Fire Department: Dangerous fire conditions

  15-06-2016 03:14
  
  
  The Anchorage Fire Department is warning of dangerous fire conditions.
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  The department said dry conditions exist and warm, dry weather is forecast in south-central Alaska for the next three days.
  Dry, gusty winds forecast for Tuesday night and could make the threat worse.
  All burning is suspended in the municipality.
  The department says people should use extreme caution with fire until conditions moderate.
  The department is also warming private pilots and drone operators to stay at
  
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• Bear gets head stuck in can, officials jump to aid

  15-06-2016 02:56
  
  
  State officials came to the aid of a bear with a can stuck on its head along the Alaska Highway.
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  Wildlife Technician Bob Gingue approaches the bear after it’s been darted, preparing to remove the coffee can. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Wells, Alaska Department of Fish and Game)Tok Area Alaska Department of Fish and Game assistant biologist Jeff Wells said the agency and State Troopers were notified about the bear Monday morning by drivers who spotted in along Alcan about 15 mile
  
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• Third major ratings agency downgrades Alaska credit

  15-06-2016 02:54
  
  
  Credit ratings agencies have cited Alaska’s $3.8 billion budget deficit and ongoing legislative gridlock in downgrading the state’s credit. Lawmakers were unable to pass a budget in the constitutionally-mandated 121-day regular session, and are currently meeting in a special session called by Gov. Bill Walker. Construction on the Capitol building in Juneau (shown here on May 24, 2016) has forced that work into temporary quarters. Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRNThe third major credit rati
  
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• Murkowski puts riders in spending bill; Dems decry ‘poison pills’

  15-06-2016 02:21
  
  Photo: Committee homepageU.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski had a chance to flex some legislative muscle today. As chair of an Appropriations subcommittee, Murkowski writes the legislation that sends money to the Department of the Interior, the EPA and the Forest Service and tells them how to spend it. Her subcommittee passed that bill today. Murkowski also added several of her favorite environmental policy changes, which Senate Democrats are calling “poison pills.”
  Murkowski says she&rsq
  
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• AVCP reports near bankruptcy to board of directors

  15-06-2016 01:33
  The Association of Village Council Presidents has confirmed near bankruptcy, authorless financial investments, and three pending audits.
  Wednesday, June 8th, Tribal leaders from across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta came together for what many thought was a long overdue discussion on the state of AVCP’s finances.
  Harold Napoleon, tribal delegate and former AVCP president, said the organization is like a sinking ship without a caption.
  “It should be of a very great concern to the Yupik peo
  
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• Alaska, producers in talks on new commercial terms for LNG project - Platts

  15-06-2016 01:11
  Alaska, producers in talks on new commercial terms for LNG project
  Platts
  Alaska and North Slope producers are discussing possible new ownership structures for the large Alaska LNG project, a state official acknowledged in an interview Tuesday. BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and the state of Alaska have been working on a ...
  
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