Alaska news

• Alaska Forum on the Environment to kick off next week

  04-02-2017 03:27
  
  
  On Monday Feb 6th, the 19th Alaska Forum on the Environment kicks off in Anchorage. The annual gathering draws hundreds of people from across the state and beyond to spend five days discussing a wide range of environmental concerns. Kurt Eilo is a former EPA enforcement officer and has been the executive director of the Alaska Forum since its inception. He spoke with APRN’s Lori Townsend.
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• Alaska News Nightly: Friday, Feb. 3, 2017

  04-02-2017 03:20
  
  
  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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  A day later, on-site cannabis issue still alive
  Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
  The state’s Department of Economic Development is trying to clarify the status of on-site cannabis consumption in Alaska.
  New measure puts Uber back before Anchorage Assembly
  Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Pu
  
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• Meet Jules Mermelstein from Fairbanks

  04-02-2017 03:02
  
  “New Arrivals” is Alaska Public Media’s profiles of people who recently moved to Anchorage, one of the most diverse cities in the world. Every Tuesday, we meet a New Arrival from another country, another state, or another part of Alaska. The stories air at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesdays during Morning Edition here on KSKA, Alaska Public Media.
   
  This week’s New Arrival 
  Guest – Jules
  Age – 17
  Last Location – On the campus of UAA
  Host and Prod
  
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• Alaska’s budget, easier to swallow with ice cream and beer

  04-02-2017 03:00
  
  
  Economist Gunnar Knapp and Cliff Groh, Chair of Alaska Common Ground, talk to a crowd about Alaska’s budget at McGivney’s a sports bar and grill in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Alaska’s Energy Desk)This story is by both Elizabeth Jenkins and Rashah McChesney for Alaska’s Energy Desk. 
  The Alaska legislature has a lot on its plate trying to fix the state’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit, and a couple of budget experts are adding to the menu.&n
  
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• New measure puts Uber back before Anchorage Assembly

  04-02-2017 02:13
  
  A screenshot of the Uber app on an iPhone taken in 2014.A new measure going before the Anchorage Assembly could clear the way for app-based ride services in the coming year.
  Anchorage Assembly member Bill Evans wrote the ordinance, which seeks to regulate what are called Transportation Network Companies (TNC).
  Those include the likes of Uber and Lyft, among others.
  According to Evans, one reason for the measure is that the city’s transportation code was written before smart-phones and star
  
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• A day later, on-site cannabis issue still alive

  04-02-2017 02:10
  
  The state’s Department of Economic Development is trying to clarify the status of on-site cannabis consumption in Alaska.
  A vote yesterday by the Marijuana Control Board in Juneau shot down a proposal that would have allowed for Dutch style marijuana cafes.
  But in a press release Thursday (Feb. 2), DED clarified this isn’t a permanent ban at using marijuana inside permitted retail locations.
  The Department is encouraging retail shops that are interested in allowing customers to use o
  
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• BLM listens to public input on plan for millions of Interior acres

  04-02-2017 02:02
  
  The Bureau of Land Management is taking public feedback on a new management plan for over 13 million acres of federal lands west of Fairbanks and the Dalton Highway.
  Central Yukon Resource Management Plan project manager Michelle Ethun said the Dalton Highway area alone encompasses diverse resources and uses.
  ”There’s a lot of mining that occurs in that area,” Ethun said. “There’s a lot of recreational access that occurs in that area. And it’s a utility corrid
  
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• AK: Options dwindle for orphaned sea otters

  04-02-2017 01:10
  
   
  A technician helps groom an orphan otter pup at the Alaska Sealife Center. Maintaining a healthy coat is essential for otter survival. (Photo: Alaska Sealife Center)In coastal Alaska, a bacterial infection has caused adult sea otter die-offs in record numbers. Meanwhile, researchers have seen a steep increase in the number of orphaned pups over the last several years.
  In North America, the places where rescued pups would normally live out their lives are nearly full, putting volunteers in
  
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• Legislature eyes limit on state government spending

  04-02-2017 01:07
  
  
  Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, at a Senate Majority press availability, Feb. 22, 2016. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)Some state legislators want to write into law a new limit on how much the state can spend each year. But policy experts say it’s a difficult strategy to put into effect. And Alaska already has a limit – one that critics say hasn’t worked.
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  In 1982, Alaska voters amended the constitution to say that the state would never spend more than two and a half bil
  
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• 49 Voices: Lawrence Bahovec of Wrangell

  04-02-2017 01:05
  
  Lawrence Bahovec (Photo: Aaron Bolton/KSTKThis week we’re hearing from Lawrence Bahovec in Wrangell. Bahovec has lived all over Southeast Alaska since he was a baby and recently celebrated his 100th birthday on January 4.
  BAHOVEC: My father was a fisherman and trapper. He came up in 1912 to see what the country was like. Most of it was around Wrangell, up towards Juneau a little ways. That’s where he met my mother when he was fishing up around a little village.
  My father first went t
  
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• Backcountry skiing

  04-02-2017 01:00
  
  Michael Hopper says his dog, Rowdy, almost always accompanied him when he went backcountry skiing – like this 2010 outing in the Eastern Alaska Range near Black Rapids.
  Credit Mike HopperBackcountry skiing comes in many varieties. On the next show, we’re looking at two extremes. On one end are the alpine daredevils who look for the hardest, steepest, most dangerous lines. They admit they ski places where one bad turn could mean death. On the other end are the touring skiers exploring
  
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