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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)– Alaska government officials and fishing industry professionals are making plans to ensure the state can have a strong summer salmon season amid changes forced by the outbreak of the coronavirus. Alaska’s chief medical officer says the state has a fisheries work group looking at how small communities can handle influxes of fishermen and processing workers while adhering to health guidelines, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday. “We know the fish are coming regardless of COVID-19 or not and we can’t ask the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)–An Alaska official trying to promote participation in the national census has urged residents to file their forms online and by phone as the state falls behind the national response average. The push for remote filing comes as efforts by the U.S. Census Bureau to collect residency data have been been hampered by the cornoavirus pandemic, Alaska Public Media reported Monday. The outbreak prompted the agency to close field offices and delay door-to-door interviews. The national response rate stands at nearly 43%, but l...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced wide-ranging budget vetoes Tuesday amid a collapse in oil prices, citing expectations that many of the larger cuts, including aid for schools and local governments, would be offset through use of federal funds tied to COVID-19 relief. Some legislators questioned whether the money can be used that way. “There is no guarantee that the federal government will pick up the tab. This approach is incredibly troubling to me,”House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, said in a state...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has launched a new virtual school for Alaska students in partnership with a Florida program, garnering some criticism from educators adjusting their lessons to online teaching amid the coronavirus pandemic. The state of Alaska signed a $525,000 contract through February 2021 with the Florida Virtual School, which had enrolled about 80 Alaska students by Friday, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported. “The ‘fourth-quarter solution’ that is suggested through the purchase of this Flo...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers fell short of a self-imposed goal of completing their most pressing work Friday, with key measures, including a state spending package and bills related to the coronavirus, yet to be finalized. Friday marked Day 67 of a legislative session that, under the constitution, can run up to 121 days, with an option to extend further. But many lawmakers are eager to get home amid concerns with the coronavirus, and Friday was targeted by legislative leaders as a goal for completing work seen as more critical. Senate...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaskans will have more time to apply for a Permanent Fund dividend this year. Anne Weske, director of the state division that determines dividend eligibility, on Tuesday said applications submitted before midnight on April 30 will be considered timely for the 2020 filing season. She said by email the action is related to a bill passed last weekend by lawmakers. The filing deadline had been Tuesday. But a bill passed by the Legislature, extending Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s public health disaster emergency declaration over the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers early Sunday approved a budget that set this October’s oil wealth fund check to nearly every single Alaskan at about $1,000, but did not approve a second dividend intended to help residents struggling with the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus. Lawmakers worked into the early morning hours to approve the budget, and then took an extended recess to allow members to go to their homes in response to the coronavirus. The Senate in its budget plan had included a $1,000 economic stimulus pay...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced the winners of the 2020 annual tag recovery incentive drawing for sablefish tag returns. The winners are: 1. Dale Bosworth, Petersburg, $1,000 2. Paul Sorenson, Kenai, $500 3. Bruce Bauer, Juneau, $500 4. Glenda Huff, Gig Harbor, WA, $250 5. James Phillips, Pelican, $250 6. Jim Hubbard, Seward, $250 7. William Hammer Jr., Port Townsend, WA, $250 All persons who return an ADF&G sablefish tag receive a tag reward (e.g., hat or t-shirt). Tag returns with valid recovery information...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Senate approved a budget provision Monday that would give residents a $1,000 payment as a way to blunt economic impacts from the coronavirus. The provision, an amendment to a larger state spending package, passed 12-7 after the Senate rejected a proposed $1,300 stimulus payment. The underlying budget passed 17-1 later in the day, with Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold voting in opposition. The House will have to decide whether to agree to what passed the Senate. If theHouse does not agree, differences typically a...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ They're tired of the deaths and multiple rescues near a decrepit old bus whose legendary status continues to lure adventurers to one of Alaska's most unforgiving hinterlands, and now officials in the nearest town want it removed, something the state has no intention of doing. The long-abandoned vehicle was made famous in the 1996 "Into the Wild"book and later in the movie of the same name. Scores of travelers have been rescued and two have died trying to cross the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Spread of the coronavirus, with businesses considered nonessential also ordered to close to the public. The order was to take effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday and last for two weeks. It orders Juneau residents to stay at home as much as possible, except to work in critical jobs, get health care, groceries or other goods deemed critical and get fresh air without contacting others. People, when they do venture out, are to stay at least six feet from others outside their household when possible. An extensive list of businesses deemed...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Democratic Party will hold its party-run presidential primary exclusively by mail and is moving back the deadlines for returning and tabulating ballots. The party announced Monday it is canceling in-person voting sites planned for April 4 due to concerns with the coronavirus. But it is extending the deadline to return ballots by mail. Originally, ballots were to be postmarked by Tuesday. The party now says they must be received in Anchorage no later than April 10 to be counted. Results are expected no l...
As the governor’s Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Work Group gets underway, our directive is clear: chart a sustainable, long-term path that delivers the transportation services our coastal communities need with the reliability, safety and efficiency that all Alaskans deserve. As group chair, I am fortunate to share this endeavor with experienced and talented individuals representing a wide swathe of Alaskan perspectives. While I won’t speak for my teammates, I know that each is committed to delivering a work product that positions the system f...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A pair of Alaska communities meant to receive supplemental ferry service under a state agreement with a private contractor are waiting for the ships to arrive. Gustavus and Pelican had not yet received ferry service by Wednesday despite a contract to provide temporary transportation following budget cuts and mechanical issues that halted the Alaska Marine Highway System, CoastAlaska reported. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities signed a Feb. 26 agreement with urban Native corporation Goldbelt I...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska lawmaker faces charges of voter misconduct and interference with voting stemming from elections in 2014 and 2018. State prosecutors announced the charges against Anchorage Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux on Friday. Charges also were filed against Lisa Simpson, described in charging documents as a former chief of staff to LeDoux, and Caden Vaught, an adult son of Simpson. The state began investigating LeDoux after the Division of Elections reported ballot irregularities in her House race during the 2018 p...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State museums and schools are temporarily closed; restaurants, bars and gyms in Anchorage are shuttered for the rest of March and fans are urged not to fly to Nome for the end of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. These are among the responses to concerns with the new coronavirus in Alaska. The COVID-19 illness causes mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but severe symptoms are more likely in the elderly or those with existing health problems. Three people have tested positive in Alaska. Here is a round up of other vir...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A drop in global oil prices will likely add $300 million to Alaska’s current year budget deficit, state officials said. A state Legislative Finance Division official told lawmakers the state could experience a $600 million revenue reduction in the 2021 fiscal year starting July 1, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Friday. Oil price forecasts in the range of $60 per barrel now appear optimistic, officials said. Prices began falling in early February as traders reacted to lower demand forecasts from China due to...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — House lawmakers plan to turn their attention to the check residents receive from Alaska's oil-wealth fund and begin reviewing proposals that would change how the Permanent Fund dividend is calculated. Whether any new formula can be agreed upon is unclear. Debate over the size of the dividend has dominated recent legislative sessions. Many lawmakers believe the existing formula, last used in 2015, is unsustainable and at odds with a law seeking to limit withdrawals from Permanent Fund earnings for government costs and d...
JUNEAU – The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) vessel M/V Matanuska has arrived at the Ketchikan Vigor Shipyard for repairs to its propulsion system. The United States Coast Guard approved the sailing plan for Matanuska to travel to Ketchikan on one engine, along with a tug escort provided by Vigor Marine. The ship returned to service in November 2019 after a two-year, $47 million overhaul. AMHS anticipates that Matanuska's repairs will be completed at some point in May and hopes that the v...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal commission has issued the final environmental impact statement for the $40 billion Alaska LNG Project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released the document Friday that largely affirmed the plan proposed by the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp., The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported. The Alaska LNG Project is the latest attempt to commercialize large volumes of North Slope natural gas. State and energy company officials have tried since the 1970s to compile a plan to produce and sell the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska health care plan that has excluded coverage of gender-confirming surgery for transgender employees is discriminatory, a federal judge ruled Friday. The decision came in a 2018 case filed against the state by Jennifer Fletcher, a legislative librarian who said she was forced to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary transition-related care not covered by her insurance plan. Her attorneys, in legal documents, said a blanket exclusion of coverage for gender-confirming surgery v...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Shoppers will no longer see a blue-sticker label on Gulf of Alaska cod after its sustainability certification is suspended starting in April. The label designates which fish are sustainably caught. Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Friday that the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets standards for sustainable fishing, will suspend the label starting April 5. “What the MSC certification really does is along the supply chain it allows for there to be traceability,’’ council spokeswoman Jackie Marks previously told Alaska’s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Mike Dunleavy is freezing the hiring of state workers not essential to health or safety as oil markets roil, and state lawmakers are making plans to prepare for how they will handle their work should there be a confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the capital city. Restrictions also have been ordered on state employee and legislative travel. Sen. Gary Stevens, chair of the Legislative Council, said some things that could be looked at as part of the Legislature’s preparations include whether to close the Cap...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has suspended out-of-state travel for state employees, with his chief of staff citing a need to control spending amid oil market volatility. Concerns with the new coronavirus have roiled markets along with a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia over oil. Alaska relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government expenses. Dunleavy Chief of Staff Ben Stevens, in a memo dated Monday, said a hiring freeze also will be in effect b...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A funding injection to prepare for a new virus cannot erase years of budget cuts in Alaska, officials and legislators familiar with the state’s public health system said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed $13 million in new spending this week to monitor and prevent the spread of the virus that causes the disease called COVID-19, The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday. No virus cases have been found in Alaska, but Dunleavy asked the Alaska Legislature for the expenditure that includes $4 million in state fun...
