Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 831
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday voiced his opposition to a push in Alaska aimed at recalling Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, with a decision expected soon on whether the effort will advance. Trump tweeted that Democrats are treating Dunleavy unfairly and trying to recall him because of an agenda that Trump said includes jobs, energy and the economy. Claire Pywell, who manages the Recall Dunleavy campaign, said the effort is not partisan and the group is being mischaracterized. “Yes, it is charged. Yes, it is political,...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — Attorneys in Alaska have filed a class-action lawsuit that seeks to reverse a recent rate increase in a group of state-owned homes providing assisted living care. News organizations reported the lawsuit filed in Ketchikan Superior Court Monday asks a judge to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction against rate increases at Pioneer Homes. The lawsuit names the state of Alaska, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials as defendants. The Sept. 1 rate changes i...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An emergency has been declared by officials in an Alaska city involving a lack of air service following a fatal plane crash that led to the suspension of regular flights. The Unalaska City Council also passed a resolution Tuesday that states the city wants to start organizing charter flights and selling seats at the basic cost, the Anchorage Daily News reported . The council approved funding for up to three weeks or until the return of regular flights. To organize the charter flights, the city would need a waiver of p...
JUNEAU – Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) was recently informed that the M/V LeConte is in need of more extensive repairs than originally anticipated. AMHS budgeted $1.2 million for overhaul of the 45-year-old LeConte, but after an extensive survey of the steel hull, it was determined that considerable repair work is needed. The additional repairs are estimated to cost $4 million. Repair work has temporarily stopped on the LeConte. On Nov. 4, AMHS will bring the M/V Aurora into the Vigor shipyard dry-dock in Ketchikan for annual overhaul and...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The rate of fatal airplane crashes in Alaska is higher than the national average, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB has preliminary reports for 10 fatal plane wrecks in Alaska for the 2019 calendar year. The figure does not include an Oct. 17 crash in Unalaska, which does not yet have a federal report, The Juneau Empire reported Sunday. Alaska had nine fatal plane accidents last year, eight in 2017, 12 in 2016, and 11 in 2015, the newspaper reported. The NTSB website indicates 5.4% of the 2...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A study by a military behavioral health team has failed to pinpoint definitive reasons for soldier suicides at Fort Wainwright, but it found possible risk factors. A report obtained by KTVF-TV outlines steps taken by the team that responded to the post after U.S. Rep. Don Young asked for medical professionals to examine the situation. The review took place between March and September. Since May 2018, nine Fort Wainwright soldiers have died in cases not attributed to accident or other known cause. Four have been c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Backers of a proposed ballot measure calling for ranked-choice voting in statewide elections should be allowed to begin signature gathering, a judge has decided. The state plans to appeal the ruling. Superior Court Judge Yvonne Lamoureux in Anchorage found the application should have been certified and that the Division of Elections should let supporters begin gathering signatures to try to qualify the measure for the ballot, reported the Anchorage Daily News. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, following advice from Attorney General K...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has extended its deadline to review numerous comments submitted for a draft environmental review of the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region. Assistant Secretary of the Army R.D. James extended Thursday's deadline to Feb. 28 to consider comments, including those from the Environmental Protection Agency and to draft a preliminary final environmental impact statement. In a letter to the EPA, James says the corps, the EPA and others will meet soon to resolve outstanding i...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Opponents of oil drilling in America's largest wildlife refuge have a message for oil drillers and the people who finance them: Don't become the company known for the demise of America's polar bears. The Department of the Interior hopes to conduct a lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by the end of the year but environmental groups say they will challenge those plans in federal court and the court of public opinion. “We will not tolerate the administration's brazen attempt to paper over the impacts of thi...
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, today joined in celebrating the life and legacy of the late Senator Ted Stevens and his contributions to Alaska and the nation. The Alaska Congressional Delegation joined members of the Stevens family, friends, congressional colleagues, and former staff at a ceremonial unveiling of a portrait of Senator Stevens, which will be hung in the U.S. Capitol. At the time he left office, Senator S...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Anchorage high school has adopted a no-cellphone policy to reduce distractions caused by the devices, officials said. The 67 students at Lumen Christi High School must leave phones in designated shelves or plastic pockets in their homerooms, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. “There had been just too many disruptions, and too many distractions,” said Principal Brian Ross. “We’ve become almost addicted to this technology.” Students must relinquish their phones until the school day is over unless teachers decide... Full story
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Federation of Natives convention approved a declaration of a climate change emergency after a dispute over climate change and resource development, news organizations reported. Delegates to the group’s convention in Fairbanks approved the declaration Saturday. The resolution calling for the reinstatement of a climate change task force was the result of a measure drafted at a prior Elders and Youth Conference and presented by two high school students, 15-year-old Nanieezh Peter and 17-year-old Quannah Cha... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A warmer and wetter winter than normal has been predicted for Alaska by federal weather forecasters. News agencies reported the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration released the winter outlook following an unusually warm summer. The agency says the above-normal temperature prediction is in large part due to a lack of sea ice, which is expected to result in warmer water that sustains higher land temperatures into the winter. NOAA says Alaska’s winter will be wetter than normal because warmer air holds more moi... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The suspect in a brutal torture killing in Alaska’s biggest city ended up leading police right to him, first by losing a digital memory card labeled “Homicide at midtown Marriott” that contained video of the dying woman. Then came an even more innocuous blunder: He spoke on the tape in his distinctive, very un-Alaska accent. When a woman found the memory card on the street and turned it over to police, what detectives saw was horrific. At one point, the suspect complained to the victim, whose face was swollen and bloodi... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska school district has introduced a new computer monitoring program prompting concerns over student privacy and data collection. The Juneau School District installed and launched the Bark program Sept. 13, Juneau Empire reported . An email was sent Sept. 15 with initial details and that more information would be provided to students, parents, staff and board members. The software monitors for content deemed harmful including school shooters, self-harm, pornography and cyberbullying, school district officials said. T... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Corrections plans to seek bids for housing inmates out of state, saying its institutions are near capacity and opening a moth-balled facility will take too long. Corrections Commissioner Nancy Dahlstrom says the proposal to send inmates outside Alaska is the best way to address immediate growth in the prison population. The department projected an increase in inmates with the passage of legislation rolling back provisions of a criminal justice overhaul. The department Tuesday said reopening the P...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska doctor and nurse practitioner face federal charges of illegally distributing millions of opioid doses to patients that resulted in addiction, overdoses and deaths, officials said. The Alaska U.S. attorney announced Wednesday that 48-year-old Jessica Joyce Spayd and 74-year-old Lavern Davidhizar were arrested and charge separately with providing opioids to patients who did not medically require them. Spayd, an advanced nurse practitioner and owner of Eagle River Wellness in Eagle River, has been charged with d...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A young Alaska Native woman left an impression on Alaska's territorial Senate in 1945, delivering a speech that led to the passage of the nation's first anti-discrimination law. Now, the late Elizabeth Peratrovich is leaving her impression on a $1 coin. The U.S. Mint unveiled the design of the coin Oct. 5 at the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood convention in Anchorage. The 2020 Native American coin will go on sale early next year. The coin will feat...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improperly withdrew proposed restrictions on mining activity in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by critics of the proposed Pebble Mine. The lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing fight over plans to develop a copper and gold deposit in southwest Alaska. Opponents of the Pebble Mine worry about the impact it could have on the region known for its salmon habitat, including a prominent sockeye salmon fishery. The Pebble Limited Par... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A Tlingit clan hat was welcomed back to southeast Alaska with ceremony and dance after spending more than a century away. A ceremony Sept. 25 included both an original sculpin hat that was taken in 1884 from Sitka and became part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, and a newer replacement hat, which was given to the Kiks.adi clan. “It’s like seeing an old friend come around the corner when you thought you’d never see them again,’’ said clan leader Ray Wilson in an interview with the Juneau Empire. During part o... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s northern fur seal population for three decades has been classified as depleted, but the marine mammals are showing up in growing numbers at an unlikely location: a tiny island that forms the tip of an active undersea volcano. Vents on Bogoslof Island continue to spew mud, steam and sulfurous gases two years after an eruption sent ash clouds into the path of jetliners passing over the Bering Sea. Still, northern fur seal moms find the remote island’s rocky beaches perfect for giving birth and mothering pups.... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The number of moon jellyfish floating in Alaska waters has increased and residents should be prepared, scientists said. Warm ocean temperatures and plentiful food in the form of zooplankton have contributed to the increased sightings, the Juneau Empire reported Friday. The moon jellyfish, also known as Aurelia aurita, released sperm and eggs freely into the water during spring spawning season, said Sherry Tamone, a professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast. The jellyfish fertilized independent of t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska had its highest violent crime rate in five years in 2018, with rises in rapes and aggravated assault helping drive the increase. But the state’s overall crime rate dropped, with property crimes down. The Alaska Department of Public Safety’s annual report on crime is based on information supplied by law enforcement agencies representing 99.5% of the state’s population. It was made public Monday, as was the FBI’s national report on crime that uses the same information, the Anchorage Daily News reported . The Alask...
This year, during the fishery's 2nd largest harvest on record, Bristol Bay commercial fishermen hit another historic number: the 2 billionth sockeye salmon caught by commercial fishermen since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. "It wasn't supposed to happen this fast, but the last couple of seasons had huge returns," said Nushagak/Togiak Area Management biologist Timothy Sands. 2019 was the fifth consecutive year that more than 50 million sockeye salmon returned to Bristol Bay. In 2018,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Nearly every Alaska resident will be $1,606 richer next week when they get their share of the state’s oil wealth. The Alaska Department of Revenue announced the amount of this year’s check in a release Friday. It said nearly 631,000 Alaskans will receive the check, starting with disbursements Thursday. The total amount of the payout is just over $1 billion. The announcement used to come with great fanfare, with the governor and revenue commissioner announcing the amount of the check — written on a giant fake check ...
