Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 441
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska state proposal to limit commercial salmon fishing in Alaska’s Cook Inlet has been approved despite opposition by many anglers. The proposal was approved Monday by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees fishing in most federal waters off Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. Opposition came from commercial fishermen and community and state leaders who said the move threatens seafood processors on the Kenai Peninsula and hundreds of fishing operations. Gov. Mike Dun...
JUNEAU Alaska (AP) — The traditional holiday open house at the governor’s mansion in Juneau won’t be held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson for Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Tuesday. Spokesperson Jeff Turner, by email, said the pandemic “has fundamentally changed how Alaskans will observe the holidays. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect the community of Juneau, the decision has been made to cancel this year’s holiday open house.’’ The mansion in years past has opened to the public for the event, with the gove...
Three new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in town since last week's COVID-19 community update, according to joint press releases between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The first two cases were identified on the morning of Nov. 14. One positive case was confirmed to be a local resident who is traveling out of state, according to a joint press release. The individual is isolated at their destination and will remain there until they have recovered. The person was not in...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s governor has announced a new COVID-19 disaster declaration for the state that will take effect Nov. 16 and last 30 days. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the updated declaration on Friday, ahead of the scheduled expiration of the emergency declaration he issued in March. Dunleavy said he took action because of “the rise in cases, and given the uncertainty over the next two to three months,” he said. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services on Saturday reported that the state hit a daily record in...
In the form of utility credit and business grants, the borough assembly approved $600,000 in community aid from the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act special revenue fund at their meeting on Monday. If a local resident could prove they suffered financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic they could be eligible for a $500 one-time credit to their borough utility account. If more than a thousand individuals apply for the credit, the borough will adjust the credit...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Eligible Alaska residents receiving unemployment checks from the state are expected to receive a $300 increase to their weekly payments beginning next week, officials said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved the increase in August to replace a $600 increase from Congress that ended in July, The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday. The increase will be paid from a federal disaster relief fund for unemployment aid to counter the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump in August signed an e...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. government ignored the requests of some Alaska Native groups to uphold national Roadless Rule restrictions in the Tongass National Forest, tribal officials said. The U.S. Forest Service recommended lifting the rule completely and is expected to make the decision official before the end of October, CoastAlaska reported Friday. The agency started a 30-day clock last month to completely exempt Tongass National Forest from the 2001 regulation. “It's just another broken promise to tribes as far as we're con...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge on Friday ordered the state to pay about $190,000 in attorney fees and costs after losing a case to the group seeking to recall Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Department of Law spokesperson Maria Bahr said the department was reviewing Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr.’s decision. The order can be appealed. The Recall Dunleavy campaign sued last year after Alaska’s then-attorney general, Kevin Clarkson, found the statement of grounds for recall to be “factually and legally deficient” and an election official...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump has said he will issue a permit for a rail line connecting Alaska and Canada, he said. Trump sent a tweet last Friday citing the influence of two members of Alaska’s congressional delegation on his decision, The Anchorage Daily News reported. “I will be issuing a Presidential Permit for the A2A Cross-Border Rail between Alaska & Canada. Congratulations to the people of Alaska & Canada,” Trump said in the tweet. Trump credited what he called a “strong recommendation” by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and U...
This year's pink salmon harvest came in at around 7 million, which is considerably down from the 35 million ten year average. Troy Thynes, regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the pink salmon run in Southeast Alaska hasn't been this low since 1976. There are several causes for this year's poor salmon run. In 2018, the parent year for this year's pink salmon, escapement was poor in Northern Southeast Alaska, said Thynes. In...
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska has faced its share of monumental challenges. The testing of all incoming travelers, providing relief for devastated tourism businesses, creating a new unemployment program from scratch. Yet none compared to the challenge of protecting our critical seafood industry and the communities that rely on their economic production. We commend Alaska's seafood industry for successfully navigating the most difficult season Alaska has ever experienced. Captains,...
Following the announcement last week that the Alaska Department of Fish & Game will be shutting down its Southeast Alaska enhancement program due to an absence of funding, F&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the state and federal government is committed to provide Crystal Lake Hatchery (CLH) with $317,300 annually. Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association operates CLH under a contract with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fishing for an annual total of...
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game will be shutting down its Southeast Alaska enhancement program due to an absence of funding, leaving the future of Crystal Lake Hatchery (CLH) in jeopardy, said David Landis, Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association general manager, in a prepared statement. SSRAA operates CLH under a contract with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fishing for a total of $517,300. A portion of the funding that the hatchery receives, $200,000,... Full story
A letter asking state officials to declare Southeast Alaska an area impacted by an economic disaster due to fishery losses was approved by the borough assembly at their meeting on Tuesday. The letter, addressed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Julie Anderson, commissioner of the department of commerce, community, and economic development, requests that they take steps to secure relief funding for fishermen in Southeast Alaska. The assembly also requested Dunleavy direct the Alaska Department of Fish...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The choice of a director of the disputed Pebble Mine project to sit on the Alaska Board of Fisheries has drawn opposition from fishermen and critics of the proposed mine. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Abe Williams to a three-year term on the board in April, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday. Alaska legislative committees are holding confirmation hearings on the selection after the process was recessed in the spring because of the coronavirus outbreak. Williams serves as regional affairs director f...
The most recent confirmed case of COVID-19 in the community was declared recovered last Friday, Aug. 21. At the COVID-19 community update on Friday, acting Incident Commander Sand Dixson anticipated the individual, a non-resident tested positive for the virus on Aug. 14, would later that day be declared recovered. Public Health Nurse Erin Michael said in order for an individual who has tested positive for the virus to be deemed recovered, the person should not have any symptoms or have had...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson has resigned, shortly after details of text messages that the state’s married and socially conservative top law enforcement officer sent to a female state employee were revealed Tuesday. “Kevin Clarkson has admitted to conduct in the workplace that did not live up to our high expectations, and this is deeply disappointing,” Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement. “This morning he took responsibility for the unintentional consequences of his actions and tendered...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska tribal group has filed a lawsuit against state officials claiming the commercial fishing permit system unfairly prevents local anglers from fishing on their traditional grounds. The lawsuit filed by the Metlakatla Indian Community asks a federal judge to prevent the state from requiring commercial fishing permits for tribal members, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday. The tribe named Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and other administration officials in the lawsuit that says the tribe’s fishing rights are g...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska’s governor has named an investment executive with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to serve on the board of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Ethan Schutt last week to serve as a trustee of the $67 billion fund, Alaska Public Media reported Monday. “The permanent fund touches every Alaska household, so it’s an awesome responsibility,” said Schutt, who will serve a four-year term on the board. The state-owned corporation in Juneau manages the financial assets of the Al...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration gave final approval Monday for a contentious oil and gas leasing plan on the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where critics worry about the industry’s impact on polar bears, caribou and other wildlife. The next step, barring lawsuits, will be the actual sale of leases. Development — should it occur — is still years away. Environmentalists have promised to fight opening up the coastal plain, a 1.56-million acre swath of land along Alaska’s northern Beaufort Sea coast a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An outside group focused on defeating President Donald Trump in November and “Trumpism” is running an ad in Alaska in support of independent Al Gross in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race. Gross is seeking to challenge first-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The ad, sponsored by The Lincoln Project and shared on its website, doesn’t mention Sullivan but an accompanying press release does. The release refers to Sullivan as “no longer a Republican nor a conservative” but a “Trumpist.” Trump carried Alaska with 51% of the vote in 20...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The largest city in Alaska has mandated residents wear masks in public to limit the spread of COVID-19, but several other cities and boroughs declined to follow suit, arguing the mandates weren’t needed, would be difficult to enforce or were illegal. Anchorage, Cordova, Dillingham, Kotzebue, Seward, Unalaska and Valdez were the only large cities to require masks in all public indoor spaces, including stores and restaurants, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Northwest Arctic Borough was the only borough to do so....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Public Safety accused Google of censorship for canceling a recruitment advertisement for state troopers considered to be political, but the tech giant said it was a miscommunication. The pay-per-click advertisement shows civil unrest, talks about how Alaska is different and features Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who makes an appeal for people to come to Alaska to become a trooper. A pay-per-click advertisement is an ad where advertisers pay every time someone clicks it. The one-minute video was s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state court judge Friday denied a Juneau man’s request to block distribution of federal coronavirus relief aid under expanded rules proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration. Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg ruled Eric Forrer had not shown a “clear probability of success’’ on the merits in his underlying case. Even if Forrer had, Pallenberg in his order wrote he would not have blocked disbursement of funds amid the virus’ economic fallout. “The current situation is too grave, and the needs of Alaskans too gr...
The biggest red salmon run in the world is building at Bristol Bay. Up to 50 million fish could surge into its eight river systems in coming weeks, on par with past seasons. When it's all done, the fishery will provide nearly half the global supply of wild sockeye salmon. But this summer is different. Not only due to the restrictions and fears and economic chaos caused by Covid-19. At the height of the fishery, fishermen will learn if a massive gold and copper mine that's been hanging over...
