Alaska news

• I’m an Underground Explorer | INDIE ALASKA

  30-06-2016 22:48
  
  Juneau is here because of gold mining, according to Brian Weed, the co-founder of Juneau’s Hidden History. Pieces of that history are scattered all throughout the Tongass National Forest, where small miners set out to strike it rich during the Alaskan gold rush. Brian and his team of adventurers work to preserve that history through photos.
  He has found over 300 small mine tunnels by following data collected by Earl Redmon and plans to publish a book telling the story of the small-time mi
  
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• Salmon runs on Yukon River strong enough to allow for larger, mesh nets

  30-06-2016 20:58
  
  Yukon River subsistence fishermen are getting a chance to put their king salmon nets in the water.
  So far this summer, state and federal managers have allowed for the retention of kings from 6-inch mesh gillnets, which are designed for chum salmon. But now, short openings utilizing 7.5-inch mesh nets to target king salmon are being scheduled or have already occurred.
  7.5-inch mesh is the legal maximum for gillnets in the Yukon River drainage, but restrictions on king salmon f
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, June 29, 2016

  30-06-2016 03:40
  
  
  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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  Gov. Walker’s budget vetoes total $1.29B; dividend cut in half
  Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
  Governor Bill Walker cut Permanent Fund dividends Wednesday to $1,000 per person, about half of the projected amount. The cut was one of a series
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: June 29, 2016

  30-06-2016 03:40
  
  
  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
  Gov. Walker’s budget vetoes total $1.29B; dividend cut in half
  Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
  Governor Bill Walker cut Permanent Fund dividends Wednesday to $1,000 per person, about half of the projected amount. The cut was one of a series
  
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• Legislative Council votes not to appeal Walker’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility

  30-06-2016 03:13
  
  The Legislative Council voted today not to appeal a decision that upheld Governor Bill Walker’s action to expand Medicaid eligibility in the state. The vote ends the lawsuit less than a week after a separate court decision ruled that the House can’t take over the appeal from the council.
  The council voted nine to five against pursuing the appeal. Every senator on the council except for Eagle River Republican Anna MacKinnon voted not to appeal.
  Walker’s administration cited stat
  
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• Industry, lawmakers criticize Walker’s oil tax credits veto

  30-06-2016 03:08
  
  One of the budget vetoes announced Wednesday would eliminate more than $430 million in funding for oil tax credits. It’s the second year Walker has used his veto power to cut funding for the program.
  The governor’s podium and seal of the state of Alaska in the governor’s temporary offices in Juneau, June 19, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO – Juneau)Walker is now under fire from industry representatives and lawmakers who say the state is backtracking on payments it alre
  
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• Walker shuts down mega-projects in wake of budgetary woes

  30-06-2016 02:57
  
  In addition to discussing vetoed items in the state budget, Governor Bill Walker used this Wednesday morning’s press conference to announce that he is shutting down two mega-projects in the Mat-Su:  the Knik Arm bridge, and the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project.
  A conceptual concept rendering of the KABATA bridge. Image from the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority.Large projects can often be contentious, and two of the more controversial projects in the last few years have been the
  
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• Walker cuts $58M from schools

  30-06-2016 02:35
  
  Members of the Great Alaska Schools coalition have repeatedly lobbied and rallied for school funding.(2014 file Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)Gov. Walker’s vetoes fall heavily on K-12 education, which would lose $58 million.
  “We wanted to impact public education as little as possible, but there had to be some modification,” he said.
  The largest share of that cut is to the account the state uses to partially reimburse local governments for school bonds. Walker,
  
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• Anchorage citizens react to PFD cuts

  30-06-2016 02:29
  
  Among Governor Walker’s cuts today was a cut to Permanent Fund Dividends that would cap the amount at 1000 dollars. A controversial decision among lawmakers and the public, it was one of many ways the Governor tried closing the budget deficit.  Anchorage citizens had varied opinions on how the cut to the dividend would affect the public and if the cut was justified.
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  Elaine Maui, Cley Openiano, Jon Borstad, William Borstad, Jennifer McKay, Alexia Guedea and Zaide Manzano
  
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• HUD seeks input on Alaska Native, American Indian housing

  30-06-2016 01:47
  
  The federal government wants to know, among other things, how tribes use federal resources to improve housing.
  The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Washington, D.C., in the United States. As of September 2010, the building housed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Creative Commons photo by Wikimedia Commons)The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to create a special committee to gather that information. Lourdes Castro Ramírez is head of HUD&rsquo
  
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• DOC to close corrections facility after Governor’s veto

  30-06-2016 00:14
  Governor Bill Walker’s $3.5 million cut to the Department of Corrections will cause the department to close at least one corrections facility and possibly some probation offices. Department spokesperson Corey Allen-Young will not specific which ones.
  The department is looking internally at possibilities. “It’s part of doing a study and researching which ones we can cut that doesn’t affect services and still provides security and safety for our community,” Allen-Youn
  
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