Alaska news

• Alaska Summer Showcase touts $20,000 in travel prizes

  24-03-2017 23:55
  
  An Alaska Airlines jet takes off at the Nome airport. (Photo courtesy of David Dodman.)Even though there’s still lots of snow and cold temps across much of the state, the Alaska Summer Showcase travel fair is coming to Anchorage.
  And the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Saturday will be chock-full of all sorts of travel deals and prizes.
  Scott McMurren organizes the annual event, and, as the man behind Alaska TravelGram, is an all-around travel guru. He said there will be more than $20,000
  
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• Video: Generating power from pollock

  24-03-2017 23:52
  
  Hoisted up from the Bering Sea, Alaska pollock finds its way into products that are distributed around the world. Sometimes, part of the fish doesn’t make it that far. Mark Hoffman, supervisor at the UniSea power plant, explains how the company uses some of its leftover fish oil.
  
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• Blood Bank cleared of wrongdoing, but critics still wary

  24-03-2017 23:45
  
  Alaska Blood Bank CEO Bob Scanlon, left, and Board Chair Ryan York talk to reporters in November of 2016. (Photo: Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)The Blood Bank of Alaska said it has been cleared of any alleged wrong-doing and financial impropriety by an audit that wrapped up earlier this month. But a critic disputes that conclusion.
  The Blood Bank said two auditors from the Food and Drug Administration made an unannounced visit to the facility, and spent about a week loo
  
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• It can power an ice rink in Fairbanks. Could it power rural Alaska?

  24-03-2017 23:08
  
  A hockey team plays a game at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. The Alaska Center for Energy and Power, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Fairbanks North Star Borough are hoping an innovative energy system can help power the lights. (Photo by Tim Ellis/KUAC)A system that could power remote Alaska is being tested in an unexpected place. Typically found in Scandinavian countries, a new cleaner energy technology is now coming to Fairbanks.
  “Our PR campaign has been this isn’t wood burn
  
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• After Drawn-Out Fight, Budget Quietly Passes Alaska House - U.S. News & World Report

  24-03-2017 22:06
  After Drawn-Out Fight, Budget Quietly Passes Alaska House
  U.S. News & World Report
  A version of the state operating budget passed the Alaska House with little fanfare Friday, following a drawn-out floor debate and bickering about process. | March 24, 2017, at 4:52 p.m.. MORE. LinkedIn · StumbleUpon · Google +; Cancel. After Drawn-Out ...and more »
  
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• Hear from the school board candidates

  24-03-2017 22:00
  
  U.S. Department of Education imageAnchorage has eight individuals running for school board in the April 4 election. Today’s Hometown Alaska features live interviews with seven of them; Christopher Jamison did not respond to an invitation to participate.
  The show’s normal call-in format is slightly different today; Hometown Alaska won’t take listeners calls during the show to allow us to move through seven candidate interviews in the hour. However, Hometown Alaska solicited ques
  
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• Meet Zaugun Tangbou, from Burma

  24-03-2017 21:00
  
  This time we meet Zaugun Tangbou, 42, who is originally from Burma but came to Alaska from Nepal.
   
  “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.
  Host and Producer 
  Independen
  
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• Alaska unemployment second-highest in nation amid statewide recession - Alaska Dispatch News

  24-03-2017 20:10
  
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska unemployment second-highest in nation amid statewide recession
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's unemployment rate in February was the second-highest in the nation as the state is wracked by a deepening recession. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics listed Alaska's February unemployment rate at 6.4 percent, ahead of only New Mexico's 6 ...and more »
  
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• The heart of conflict and the art of mediation

  24-03-2017 20:00
  
  Many divorces end after years of legal battles. Tens of thousands of dollars spent, kids torn apart by their parents’ conflict, and two people left filled with anger and animosity toward their parenting partner. Lawyers make a killing and the “Divorce Machine” drones on, leaving in it’s wake a path of destruction and despair that can last for generations.
  The great Abraham Lincoln Stated: “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you ca
  
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• Alaska volcano can't stop erupting in the ocean's 'ring of fire', tripling in size - AOL

  24-03-2017 19:32
  
  AOL
  Alaska volcano can't stop erupting in the ocean's 'ring of fire', tripling in size
  AOL
  An underwater volcano on a small, remote island in Alaska's Aleutian chain has erupted 36 times in the past four months. Dubbed by some as "one of the most active volcanos" in the United States, the volcano that sits under Bogoslof island has prompted ...
  
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• TBA presents Shakespeare’s Hamlet

  24-03-2017 17:47
  
  L-R Dana Mitchell, Wayne Mitchell, Jessica Faust, Isaac KumpulaOften considered the greatest play written in the English language, Shakespeare’s Hamlet is as complicated it its psychological examination of the particular characters as it is enlightening of the human spirit. TBA Theatre is presenting this timeless work at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on the campus of UAA March 24th through April 2nd and two of the actors, Wayne Mitchell and Jessica Faust drop by Stage Talk this week to l
  
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• Alaska military commander concerned North Korea threat has - KTUU - KTUU.com

  24-03-2017 06:56
  
  KTUU.com
  Alaska military commander concerned North Korea threat has - KTUU
  KTUU.com
  JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - On Thursday, the commander of the 11th Air Force told the Joint Armed Services Committee the threat from North Korea has ...and more »
  
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• From left and right, Young finds fault with ACA replacement bill

  24-03-2017 06:07
  
  Small groups in favor of Affordable Care Act protested and marched outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday morning. Photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media.Republicans in the House have postponed the vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act as they try to overcome opposition from members of their own party. As many as two dozen Republican conservatives oppose the bill on grounds that it doesn’t repeal enough of the ACA. A smaller number of Republican moderates say it doesn&rs
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, March 23, 2017

  24-03-2017 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
  Listen now
  Young on both sides of debate as House health bill vote is delayed
  Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
  Republicans in the U.S. House have postponed the vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act as they try to overcome opposition from members of their own party. As many as two dozen
  
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• Huge fine issued for dangerous incident at Anchorage power plant

  24-03-2017 02:46
  The state is fining three companies a combined $882,000 for violations that led to a dangerous incident last September at a power plant in East Anchorage.
  Listen now
  The companies were involved with construction of Municipal Light & Power’s Plant 2A, which started operating last year.
  Greg Cashen, deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said it’s one of the biggest fines he’s ever seen:
  “$882,000, yeah, that’s not an ever
  
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• Fox Spring could remain under state ownership

  24-03-2017 02:12
  
  Private funding could keep the Fox Spring in state ownership. The Alaska Department of Transportation has pursued sale of the Elliot Highway property to an adjacent land owner, as a cost saving measure, but a local group working to keep the longtime water source in public hands, has an alternative plan.
  Listen now
  Friends of Fox Spring chair Patrice Lee said the group plans to raise money to cover well upkeep.
  ”Get busy and raise between $25,000 and $50,000 to pay for the routine maintenan
  
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• Inter-Island Ferry attracts more passengers

  24-03-2017 02:08
  
  The Inter-Island Ferry Authority ship Stikine sails to its Ketchikan terminal in 2008. It and its sister ship, the Prince of Wales, are carrying more passengers following a drop in ridership. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/ CoastAlaska News)Southeast Alaska’s independent ferry system is working its way out of a ridership slump.
  The Inter-Island Ferry Authority sails a daily round-trip route linking Hollis, on central Prince of Wales Island, and Ketchikan. The authority is separate from the Alaska
  
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• Military officials discuss REAL ID urgency, other issues

  24-03-2017 01:58
  
  Laurel J. Hammel, Major General, Alaska National Guard, speaks before the Joint Armed Services Committee of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)Time is running out for Alaskans who work on military bases to get IDs like passports that comply with federal law ahead of an early June deadline. Alaska National Guard leader Major Gen. Laurie Hummel spoke about the effect of federal REAL ID Act requirements during the state’s military leaders’ annual visit to
  
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• Palmer man faces federal charges in 2016 double homicide

  24-03-2017 01:57
  
  Acting Alaska U.S. attorney Bryan Schroder speaking at a press conference on March 23, 2017 (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)A Palmer man faces federal charges in a Wasilla double homicide last summer, and the defendant, 30-year-old John Pearl Smith II, could face the death penalty.
  Prosecutors say the decision to charge Smith in federal court aims to fulfill a nationwide directive by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to use federal resources in fighting violent crime a
  
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• Emperor goose hunt will bring temporary jobs to 6 YK Delta villages

  24-03-2017 01:50
  
  Emperor goose in Gibson Cove.
  (Lisa Hupp / U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)The subsistence emperor goose hunt expected to open April 2 will bring more than meat and a resumed tradition to the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. In some communities, it will also bring jobs.
  For April and May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hire a worker in each of six communities to collect data on the goose harvest: Chefornak, Chevak, Hooper Bay, Newtok, Nightmute and Toksook Bay.
  “Basically, they a
  
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• Fish and Game says crab counts were low this season, fishermen disagree

  24-03-2017 01:26
  
  When Captain Daher Jorge and his crew fished for Opilios, they found a surprising number of Bairdi crab. (Laura Kraegel/KUCB)The Bering Sea Bairdi (or Tanner) crab fishery stayed closed this year, for the first time in four years. State biologists decided there were too few crab to safely harvest. But fishermen are questioning that decision. They say there were plentiful Bairdi when they were fishing for other species.
  At a Board of Fisheries meeting in Anchorage this week, commissioners wi
  
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• Ask a Climatologist: Clear and cold on repeat

  24-03-2017 01:06
  
  Spencer Glacier on a cloudless day, March 11, 2017 (Photo by Dave Bass)For most of the state the weather forecast has been pretty simple for the entire month of March: cold and clear. But how unusual is that?
  Climatologist Brian Brettschneider said temperatures for the month have been colder than normal for most of the state, and well below normal for Anchorage and Fairbanks.
  “It’s been the coldest March since 2007 and the second coldest March since the 1970s,” Brettschnei
  
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• State fines Hilcorp an additional $160K for violations

  24-03-2017 00:45
  
  In September 2015, three men nearly died at Hilcorp’s Milne Point Unit on the North Slope, after the trailer they were working in filled with nitrogen. Image courtesy of AOGCC.The state is fining oil and gas company Hilcorp an additional $160,000 for using nitrogen without permission while working on two wells in 2015 — the same practice that nearly killed three North Slope workers.
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  Earlier this month, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) fined Hilcorp $2
  
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• Will a Texan-Australian partnership bring the ‘shale revolution’ to the North Slope?

  24-03-2017 00:41
  
  Conventional oil is what’s traditionally flowed through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. But some companies hope to bring shale oil into the mix. (Photo courtesy the Center for Land Use Interpretation)Amid a wave of new oil discoveries in Alaska, other companies are hoping to get lucky, too. And in pursuit of the next billion-barrel find, two companies from Texas and Australia are trying something a little different.
  Listen now
  After the State of Alaska’s oil and gas lease sale in December
  
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• Police on lookout for Fairbanks library shooter

  24-03-2017 00:07
  
  Fairbanks Police Department commander’s Dodge Charger. (Flickr Creative Commons photo by Steven H. Robinson)A man was shot in a Fairbanks North Star Borough library. A press release from Fairbanks Police says fire fighters initially responded to the Noel Wien Library on Airport Way at about 1:15 PM Wednesday (March 23), after receiving a call about a patron being injured by an exploding cell phone battery. They say investigation revealed that a wound to the 18 -year-old man’s fo
  
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