Alaska news

• Propeller problems postpone ferry Columbia’s return

  14-06-2017 21:33
  
  The largest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway fleet will be late to return to service this summer.
  The state ferry Columbia (KFSK Ffle photo)The 418-foot ferry Columbia was due to return to service June 28th with service from Bellingham, Washington to communities in Southeast Alaska. The vessel has been in a Portland, Oregon shipyard undergoing repairs to a propeller which struck an unknown object and was damaged last September.
  “So there were some extensive repairs that needed to be don
  
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• Naknek’s Fishy Fabrications takes on skiff building this spring

  14-06-2017 19:01
  
  George Wilson puts the finishing touches on the second skiff Fishy Fabrications has built this spring. (KDLG)Bristol Bay has a big fishery but not a big marine services industry, beyond the seasonal shops that show up in the summer. This spring a local fabricator in Naknek expanded their business to try building a few set net skiffs from the ground up. KDLG’s Caitlin Tan reports on how that’s working out.
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  ‘Fishy Fabrications,’ a local business in Naknek, has st
  
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• Ask a Climatologist: Alaska’s hottest temp ever matches Hawaii’s

  14-06-2017 18:55
  
  Fairbanks hit 90 degrees last week for the first time in four years. The heat was very localized to the Tanana and Yukon river valleys.
  Graphic courtesy of Brian BrettschneiderListen now
  We asked Brian Brettschneider, with our Ask a Climatologist segment, which areas of Alaska usually see the hottest temperatures in the summer.
  He says the warmest temperatures are almost always found in the Interior.
  Interview Transcript:
  Brian: Somewhere from about Tanana and then eastward to the Canadian borde
  
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• Alaska News Nightly Tues., June 13

  14-06-2017 03:54
  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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  Senator Murkowski not happy with way health care reform being handled
  Liz Ruskin/APKM – Washington, D.C.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski said today [TUES] she’s not happy with the fast-track process the Senate Majority leader is using to bring a health care bill to t
  
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• Former lawmakers join Senator Wielechowski to challenge Governor Walker’s PFD cuts

  14-06-2017 03:16
  
  Former Republican Senator Clem Tillion. (Credit: Alaska State Legislature)While the Legislature considers making changes to how Alaska Permanent Fund earnings are spent, a pair of former lawmakers are working to block a reduction to Permanent Fund dividends.
  Clem Tillion has a message to lawmakers who want to reduce the PFD: Don’t think any changes you make are going to last.
  “I’m opposed to any changes in the Permanent Fund and I’ll fight it,” Tillion said. “
  
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• What’s the feds’ cannabis enforcement policy? ‘Confusing’

  14-06-2017 03:15
  
  Cannabis plant (Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)Whether the Trump administration will enforce the federal ban on marijuana in Alaska remains ambiguous.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about cannabis policy at a hearing Tuesday. Rosenstein at times took a hard line.
  “We follow the law and the science. And from a legal and scientific perspective, marijuana is an illegal drug,” he said “It’s properly scheduled under schedule
  
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• No hearing for Senate health bill and, says Murkowski, no sighting, either

  14-06-2017 02:53
  
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks to reporters at the Capitol. File photo by Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public MediaSen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s not happy with the fast-track process the Senate Majority leader is using to bring a health care bill to the floor without any hearings.
  Murkowski is a member of the HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee, so she would have a chance to work on the bill, if it were going through the normal committee process. But Senate Majority Lea
  
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• Pebble Partnership contracts with ASRC Energy Services

  14-06-2017 02:09
  
  The Pebble Partnership has contracted with ASRC Energy services.The Pebble Partnership announced today a new contract with a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. ASRC Energy Services (AES) bills itself as a “one-stop shop” for consulting and contracting services for a number of industries, including natural resources.
  Pebble spokesman Mike Heatwole said that the purpose of contracting with AES is to identify and streamline potential and existing relationships with Alaska
  
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• Midnight Oil: Alaska, the oil state that almost wasn’t

  14-06-2017 00:38
  
  Oil started flowing down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline forty years ago, transforming Alaska into a wealthy oil state. But if it weren’t for a few determined individuals, the giant oil field that started it all might still be hidden under the tundra today. Preview the episode before it’s released on June 20th.
  
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