Alaska news

• Man with gun forces evacuation at Alaska Dispatch News

  15-12-2016 21:36
  
  Employees from the Alaska Dispatch News evacuated the newspaper’s building Thursday morning, Dec. 15 after receiving information about a potential threat.
  APD police vehicles (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)Jennifer Castro, Communications Director for the Anchorage Police Department, said a man was taken into police custody at the ADN’s mid-town office where he was making “odd statements” and appeared “disgruntled.”
  The man is kno
  
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• Oil and gas companies snap up North Slope leases on state and federal lands

  15-12-2016 21:15
  
  Ted Murphy reads winning bids for state and federal lease petroleum sales. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk)State and federal oil and gas lease sales held Dec. 14 in Anchorage saw an unexpected surge of interest in the North Slope.
  “The bids started to come in and they kept running down to my office going, ‘you’re not believing this,’” Ted Murphy, Associate Director of the Bureau of Land Management said. “We were surprised.”
  High b
  
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• To Protect the Land, Jared Sternberg Turned to Tourism

  15-12-2016 19:12 via nytimes.com
  With trips to Africa, the Amazon and Alaska, the founder of Gondwana Ecotours wants to preserve wild places and support nonprofit groups.
  
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• Alaska Airlines and Virgin America Are Merging, Here's What It Means for You - Lifehacker

  15-12-2016 16:04
  
  Lifehacker
  Alaska Airlines and Virgin America Are Merging, Here's What It Means for You
  Lifehacker
  Alaska Airlines and Virgin America are coming together to form the fifth largest U.S. carrier, and if you fly either airline often their merger means a few changes for you. Here's what you can expect. Advertisement. Virgin America and Alaska Airlines ...
  Alaska Air Closes Virgin America AcquisitionWall Street Journal
  Alaska Airlines takes over operations of Virgin AmericaKOMO News
  Alaska Air begin
  
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• Trump's choices of Cabinet renew debate over opening Alaska's ... - Fox News

  15-12-2016 15:41
  
  Fox News
  Trump's choices of Cabinet renew debate over opening Alaska's ...
  Fox News
  Trump's nomination of Oklahoma Attorney general Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as ...and more »
  
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• Successes and shortcomings in Anchorage’s homelessness strategy

  15-12-2016 04:26
  
  As the year comes to a close, Anchorage officials are taking stock of the city’s problems with homelessness. Several assertive measures to connect people with housing and social services are succeeding, but the coordinated effort is showcasing just how much work is left to do.
  Members of the Assembly’s committee on homelessness listen to reports from different non-profit partners on Wednesday, December 14th, 2016. (Photo: Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)A 
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016

  15-12-2016 03:57
  
  
  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
  Listen Now
  Oil and gas companies scoop up North Slope leases on state and federal lands
  Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
  State and federal oil and gas lease sales held Wednesday in Anchorage saw an unexpected surge of interest in the North Slope.
  Environmentalists ready for ANWR fight, with
  
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• ACLU sues Kenai Peninsula Borough over religious invocation policy

  15-12-2016 02:56
  
  From left to right: ACLU staff attorney Eric Glatt, plaintiff Lance Hunt and ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Joshua Decker. (Photo courtesy of the ACLU of Alaska)The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU) is following through with its threat to sue the Kenai Peninsula Borough over its invocation policy.
  In the lawsuit filed Dec. 14 in Anchorage Superior Court, the ACLU alleges the policy currently in place violates constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection under the la
  
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• University of Alaska Southeast to house all UA education colleges

  15-12-2016 02:51
  
  University of Alaska Southeast (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)The University of Alaska is bringing its three colleges of education under one roof at the University of Alaska Southeast.
  The University of Alaska’s Board of Regents voted unanimously for UAS to lead the College of Education Wednesday morning – though originally the regents planned to vote whether to give UAF in Fairbanks authority over the college.
  City and Borough of Juneau Assembly member Jesse Kiehl said UAS is the obvious b
  
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• Enviros ready for ANWR fight, with vets in their camp - Alaska Public Radio Network

  15-12-2016 02:32
  
  Enviros ready for ANWR fight, with vets in their camp
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  genevievechase Genevieve Chase, an Army vet from Idaho, says she's inspired to preserve ANWR in its natural state. Photo: Liz Ruskin/APRN. With Donald Trump about a month away from the White House, Alaska's congressional delegation sees a chance ...
  
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• Environmentalists ready for ANWR fight, with vets in their camp

  15-12-2016 02:28
  
  Genevieve Chase, an Army vet from Idaho, says she’s inspired to preserve ANWR in its natural state. (Photo: Liz Ruskin/APRN)With Donald Trump about a month away from the White House, Alaska’s congressional delegation sees a chance to finally open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The environmental lobby is ready for the fight. And they’ve got some new, patriotic allies on their side: military veterans. It’s not clear, though, if dri
  
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• Police arrest two in Unalaska for phoney money

  15-12-2016 02:02
  
  Police in Unalaska have arrested and charged two men accused of making counterfeit money. Over the weekend, Henry Zablan and Nicholas Hough were taken into police custody and later charged with fraud.
  Deputy police chief Jennifer Shockley said in her 16 years with the department this isn’t the first case of counterfeit money found in Unalaska.
  “Typically nobody has any idea of where it came from,” Shockley said. “You know, somebody paid for something, the counterfeit bill
  
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• Restaurant chains to pay $835K in unpaid overtime, damages

  15-12-2016 01:54
  Two Alaska restaurant chains have to pay employees about $835,000 in overtime pay and damages. The state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development investigated Taco King and Gallo’s Mexican Restaurants after receiving several complaints by employees since 2007 and a number of anonymous calls.The unpaid overtime wages and damages will be distributed to 159 employees. The damages are equal to the unpaid amount, meaning the employees will receive double what their wages would have
  
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• Puffin die-off on St. Paul Island may point to larger ecosystem problems

  15-12-2016 01:39
  
  St. Paul residents have seen 300 puffin carcasses wash ashore since mid-October. Scientists say seabirds are good indicators of overall ecosystem health, which means the die-off could be a sign of trouble for all sorts of species. (Photo by COASST Island Sentinels)In the past two months, 300 dead puffins have washed up on St. Paul Island, alarming residents who had only seen six carcasses over the last decade.
  The die-off appears to be slowing down now, but scientists say it could be the sign of
  
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• Oprah hits the books, Alaska nabs Virgin, Trump shuts out Twitter - SFGate

  15-12-2016 00:18
  
  SFGate
  Oprah hits the books, Alaska nabs Virgin, Trump shuts out Twitter
  SFGate
  You've heard about Oprah's Book Club. Well, get ready to drop the “club.” Flatiron Books is working with Oprah Winfrey on a line of nonfiction books selected by the TV star. They'll appear with the imprint “An Oprah Book.” The first release, Winfrey's ...and more »
  
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• From rotten ice to wildfires: hunting and fishing becomes complicated in a changing Alaska

  15-12-2016 00:15
  
  Screenshot from the video Silavut Atlannuraqtuq, Our Changing Weather, about climate change in Northwest Alaska. (Image courtesy of the Maniilaq Association and ANTHC)Alaskans have heard stories for years about how climate change is affecting subsistence hunting and fishing. Now researchers are trying to quantify that impact– and they’re finding the biggest problem is access.
  Listen Now
  This summer, Maija Lukin set out to document changes around her home community of Kotzebue.
  For Lu
  
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