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The borough assembly unanimously approved the extension of an emergency ordinance that allows the assembly and certain staff members of the borough to put civil emergency provisions in place in the event of a civil emergency for another 60 days. Emergency ordinance #2020-08 was first adopted on March 20 and had an expiration date of May 18. The assembly extended that expiration date in emergency ordinance #2020-17 on Monday by an additional 60 days, though the emergency mandate can be repealed...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on Tuesday that phases three and four of his Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan will take effect Friday morning, but Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said communities are still waiting for more details on what businesses can expect to happen later this week. "[Dunleavy's] obviously making some leaps here to move the state ahead and jumpstart the economy, but the details of how or what restrictions are expected of every business hasn't been released," said...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature reconvened Monday for the first time since recessing in late March over coronavirus concerns, with new screening protocols aimed guarding against the virus. Under the protocols, details of which were released Monday, legislative staff and reporters were required to undergo screening, consisting of a temperature check and questions about travel, contacts and symptoms. Screenings were done by Capital City Fire/Rescue, and badges with a colored sticker were issued to be worn in the Capitol noting that a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska airline has made a purchase offer for another regional carrier whose parent company declared bankruptcy because of the economic impact of the coronavirus. Alaska Seaplane Services LLC says it wants to buy Peninsula Airways Inc. and save the Southwest Alaska airline’s operating certificate, Alaska Public Media reported Sunday. Juneau-based Alaska Seaplane Services, doing business as Alaska Seaplanes, declined comment on the amount of its offer to buy the air carrier certification of Peninsula Airways, known as...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House abruptly adjourned Tuesday after ratifying plans for using more than $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief aid, one day after reconvening to take up the issue. The Senate passed its own ratification bill but stayed in session to consider the House version, which aides said is identical. A vote is expected Wednesday, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration moves ahead with plans for distributing funds, including community and small business aid. Payments to communities could begin as early as Friday onc...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has no income or statewide sales taxes, and it cuts residents a check every year from its oil wealth. But the future of that unique payout is in question amid low oil prices and an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic. The size of the check — expected to be about $1,000 this year — has become a political battle in a state that already struggled to pay its bills. Many of Alaska’s 730,000 people see the money as a right. For some, the checks go toward vacations, vehicles or college savings. For others,...
Giving COVID relief funds to the seafood industry and stepping on the gas for offshore fish farming are two big takeaways from the executive orders and congressional packages coming out of the nation’s capital. Recent news that Alaska would receive $50 million from the $300 million fisheries relief funds in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was well received by industry stakeholders and it’s likely to be followed by more. A May 15 hearing called “COVID 19 impacts to American Fisheries and the Seafood Supply Chain...
Congratulations to the PHS Class of 2020! Despite the onset of a global wide Coronavirus pandemic that up-ended traditional end-of-year high school events and activities, the class of 2020 has persevered. Thanks to the generosity of parents, teachers and school administrators, the class will still receive a celebratory send-off that will be both memorable and meaningful. What graduating class has ever had individual photos displayed on giant banners lining main street? Way to go parents. To top...
The Petersburg School Board approved the 2021 fiscal year operating budget at their meeting on Tuesday, which has a revenues budget that is $105,060 above expenditures to account for unknowns in the coming school year. The budget has $8,832,258 in revenues, with most of the funding to Petersburg School District coming from the state and Petersburg Borough, according to PSD Director of Finance Karen Morrison. The state contributes $6,861,054 to the Petersburg School District, making up 78...
PALMER, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska school board postponed a vote over rescinding a ban on selected English course books after taking public testimony on the issue that attracted national attention when a Grammy-winning rock group pledged to purchase the banned books for students. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District board heard three hours of testimony Wednesday on a proposal to rescind last month’s vote to remove five American literature classics from high school English elective courses. The board is scheduled to vote on the pro...
Sales of Alaska’s most popular seafoods are being hit hard by markets upended by the coronavirus, but perhaps none is getting battered worse than halibut. Along with the big losses in the lucrative restaurant trade, Pacific halibut also is facing headwinds from increasing foreign imports. Starting three years ago, sales of fresh Pacific halibut to established markets on the east coast were toppled by a flood of less expensive fish flowing in primarily from eastern Canada. Trade data show that for 2019 through February 2020, total Canadian h...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A legislative committee set aside lingering legal questions and agreed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plans for $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief aid. Many Legislative Budget and Audit Committee members Monday said getting the money out was more important than haggling over legal authority for the spending, KTOO Public Media reported. The committee, made up of House and Senate members, previously agreed to Dunleavy’s plans for about $125 million, a fraction of his total request, while working through remaining items...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Organizers of the Southeast Alaska State Fair said Friday that the summer event in Haines has been canceled this year due to COVID-19. In a statement, fair officials said it was a difficult decision but the right one to make. “For us and many across Southeast Alaska and the Yukon, the Fair is something to look forward to at the end of the summer, a moment of congregation and fun separate from the rest of the year,” the statement reads. “2020 has instead united us with the common goal of preserving the health and safety...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska's largest newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for its work examining law enforcement in rural communities, a feat coming less than three years after the outlet was rescued from the brink of financial collapse. This is the third such award won by the Anchorage Daily News. The award announced Monday was won in collaboration with ProPublica for "a riveting series that revealed a third of Alaska's villages had no police protection, took authorities...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Nearly 70% of this summer’s Alaska cruise ship voyages have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of expected passengers staying away from the staple of the state’s tourism industry. Alaska cruise industry representatives delivered the disheartening update to the state’s Board of Marine Pilots, CoastAlaska reported Wednesday. Mike Tibbles of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska told board members that 408 voyages have been canceled so far. “It’s a little over 800,000 pas...
The value of Alaska salmon permits is another casualty of the coronavirus with prices dropping for all fisheries across the state. There are a lot of permits for sale - and the most offers ever to lease permits, especially at Bristol Bay. The virus has changed everything, said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. “There’s so much uncertainty about if there will even be a salmon season here and there, and if so, what kind of a price can be expected and so on. I can’t think of one salmon permit that is going up in value. And if there...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration announced plans to begin allowing this week the limited reopening of restaurants, retail stores and other businesses that were shut down amid coronavirus concerns. Starting Friday, restaurants, retail outlets, hair and nail salons and businesses that fell under the category of nonessential will be allowed to reopen, with limited services. Bars, theaters, bowling alleys and bingo halls will not be allowed to reopen yet, the state's health...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska ferry system is expected to receive an initial injection of $10 million in federal coronavirus recovery funding, officials said. The allocation for the Alaska Marine Highway System is part of $29 million in funding that the state received for rural transit needs from the Federal Transit Administration, CoastAlaska reported Saturday. The state had initially said the amount was $5 million but corrected the figure to $10 million on Monday without providing further...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Some midsize coastal towns in Alaska have voiced opposition to state rules barring the communities from establishing their own restrictions on workers arriving for the fishing season. Updated guidelines issued by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy say only the smallest, most isolated towns and villages can restrict travel or require mandatory quarantine for workers in industries the state deems critical during the coronavirus pandemic, CoastAlaska reported Wednesday. The April 9 amendment allows special rules to be drafted o...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Initial unemployment claims in Alaska are down slightly from a historic high, but they are about 12 times what is typical for this time of year amid the economic fallout from coronavirus concerns, according to a state official and government figures Thursday. Initial claims for the most recent reporting week totaled 12,007, said Lennon Weller, actuary for the state’s unemployment insurance system. That compares with 14,590 claims the prior week, which the state labor department said far exceeded anything in Alaska’s histor...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state will work with communities, industry leaders and others as it makes decisions on how to proceed in reopening sectors of the economy impacted by the coronavirus. Dunleavy said key to this will be monitoring case numbers. As of Tuesday, Alaska had reported 285 total cases of COVID-19, and nine deaths related to the coronavirus. The health of Alaskans will be a top consideration, Dunleavy said, adding he doesn’t “want anyone to get the wrong idea that we’re going to put the economy ahe...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Four employees at a state-run prison in Juneau have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Monday. No staff at other Department of Corrections facilities have tested positive, and no inmates within the system have tested positive, department spokeswoman Sarah Gallagher said by email. Three recent cases in Juneau have involved staff from the Lemon Creek Correctional Center. Results from a fourth case came in as positive but given reporting protocols will show up in the state’s count Tuesday, according to the state hea...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The largest private landowner in Alaska has criticized a state agency for using an emergency meeting intended to discuss the coronavirus to set aside $35 million for a mining road in northwest Alaska. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority approved funding for the proposed 200-mile (320-kilometer) industrial road, which would stretch from Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District northeast of Kotzebue and cross Gates of the Arctic National Park to access an undeveloped copper-zinc mineral belt, the A...
How can fishermen be sure their vessels are clean of coronavirus contamination? Where can they find out about relief funds that are newly available for fishermen? COVID-19 has Alaska’s seafood industry traveling in uncharted waters as more fisheries continue and get underway, and fishermen and processors prepare for a salmon season that’s just a month away. Information in an upside down world changes daily, making it tough to plot a course. United Fishermen of Alaska has crafted a “one stop shop” for the latest fishing-related COVID-19 updates...
Experts can disagree. And they ARE disagreeing, both about the lethality of the coronavirus, and about the appropriateness of the steps that have been taken to protect public health. Compare the differing perspectives of Knut M. Wittkowski, PhD, and Dr. Michael Ryan. Wittkowski, former head of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design at the Rockefeller University, suggests children should return to school and pass the virus around just like every flu season, while... Full story
