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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday urged lawmakers to act on his proposal to place in the state constitution a new formula for the annual check residents receive from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund as the current special legislative session slumped along. Some legislators have raised questions about some of the administration’s modeling assumptions and concerns with tackling the dividend issue without other pieces of a possible fiscal plan. “It’s like whack-a-mole,” Dunleavy said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Eve...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An agreement announced Tuesday between an Alaska Native village corporation and conservationists would restrict development on lands in the Bristol Bay region where a mine developer has proposed a road, a move that could create another obstacle for the proposed Pebble Mine. The Conservation Fund said it has launched a fundraising campaign to buy the land easements on more than 44,000 acres (17,800 hectares) from the Pedro Bay Corp. for $18.3 million. Terms call for the money to be raised by the end of 2022, said Ann S...
The Anchorage Assembly voted last Friday to immediately revoke the city’s mask mandate. On the same day, legislative leaders voted to make mask-wearing optional at the state Capitol — and then shed their own face coverings after the vote. The decision by the Legislative Council followed new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The new legislative policy recommends weekly testing for those who are not fully vaccinated and for those with COVID-19 symptoms or who...
Many students believe that the next natural step after graduating from high school is to go off to college. Secondary education has become such a common transition that many parents begin saving for college tuition as soon as their children are born. Although college can be the next chapter in a student’s education, many teenagers still choose to attend trade school. Television personality Mike Rowe says the country is in the midst of a skilled labor shortage because workers lack the necessary training to fill the hundreds of thousands of a...
Technology is essential in the daily lives of students. Whether it’s kids learning their ABC’s or graduate students pursuing advanced degrees, technology has transformed the way lessons are taught and learned. Statistics support the notion that technology in the classroom is irreplaceable. According to data from the tutoring resource PracTutor, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and various colleges, 98 percent of schools have one or more computers in the classroom. In addition, 77 percent of teachers use the internet for instruction, while 40 per...
Graduates, especially college graduates, wear some unique and impressive duds for their graduation ceremonies. Caps, gowns, tassels, and hoods all can be seen parading down the center aisle before making proud appearances at diploma presentations. Graduation clothing, also known as academic dress, dates back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Clerical garb was standard dress for professors and scholars, as many students during medieval times made certain religious vows in addition to pursuing their educations. Today, faculty, graduates...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska public health officials hope to begin vaccinating children 12 and up against COVID-19 as early as Wednesday. Parents were permitted Monday to sign up their children for appointments after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization to drug company Pfizer to provide its COVID-19 vaccine for people 12 through 15. Prior to the emergency authorization, the vaccine was approved for people 16 and older. The state was still awaiting final recommendations from the CDC, which are e...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A COVID-19 outbreak at a high school wrestling tournament held in April is linked to more than 20 infections in five communities across southeast Alaska, according to health officials. Ketchikan High School hosted the regional wrestling tournament, an annual event that this year attracted athletes from seven different schools, Anchorage Daily News reported. Officials from the regional school activities association issued a warning to the school last week on accusations of failing to test competitors and enforce mask o...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska public health officials hope to begin vaccinating children 12 and up against COVID-19 as early as Wednesday. Parents were permitted Monday to sign up their children for appointments after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization to drug company Pfizer to provide its COVID-19 vaccine for people 12 through 15. Prior to the emergency authorization, the vaccine was approved for people 16 and older. The state was still awaiting final recommendations from the CDC, which are e...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers have agreed to retroactively extend the state’s COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration as part of an effort to maintain state eligibility for food assistance benefits and other federal aid dollars. The measure, which would extend the declaration through 2021, was passed by the Senate and House Wednesday and sent to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Adam Crum, the state health commissioner, had told legislative leaders action on the bill was needed by Friday to ensure the state could access additional food assistance be...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Friday ended the state’s COVID-19 disaster declaration, saying the state is in such a good position he doesn’t need emergency powers bestowed by the Legislature. “Alaska is in the recovery phase where an emergency declaration is no longer necessary,’’ Dunleavy said in a statement. “Our systems are fully functioning with vaccine distribution, adequate testing, and health care capacity. It is important our focus remains on getting Alaska’s economy back on track and welcoming summer tourism...
JUNEAU (AP) - The Alaska Court System has temporarily disconnected most of its operations from the internet after a cybersecurity threat on Saturday, including shutting down its website and removing the ability to look up court records. The threat blocked electronic court filings, disrupted online payments and prevented hearings from taking place by videoconference for several days, officials said. “I think for a few days, there may be some inconveniences, there may be some hearings that are canceled, or some judges who decide to shift from v...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A derelict tugboat that the U.S. Coast Guard says had been abandoned has been sunk in waters off southeast Alaska. The Coast Guard, in a news release, said the 107-foot tugboat called the Lumberman was sunk in more than 8,400 feet of water on Sunday. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Janessa Warschkow said Tuesday that scuttling of the tugboat, about 145 miles west of Juneau, included flooding by opening water valves on the tug and rounds fired from the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick to help speed the process. The C...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An advocacy group is evaluating the use of tiny homes to provide housing for people who are homeless in the southeast Alaska city of Sitka. Gayle Young, co-founder of the Sitka Homeless Coalition, said there are few services in Sitka for those who are homeless and that over the years, a number of groups have worked on ideas to fill in the gaps. A project her group is working on involves building a tiny home community to help provide a safe place to stay. Young estimates between 15 and 25 people in the city of about 8...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal agents served a search warrant at a boutique resort in Homer, Alaska, saying they were looking for a laptop stolen from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of the Homer Inn and Spa owners said. Agents on Wednesday confiscated laptop computers and a cellphone, owner Marilyn Hueper said. A cellphone belonging to her husband, Paul Hueper, was also forensically audited by agents but not confiscated, she said. Marilyn Hueper said agents also claimed there was pho...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s population grew by 23,160 people, or 3.3%, in the last decade, according to the first numbers released Monday for the 2020 Census. Overall, the U.S. had a 7.4% growth over that same time, which the U.S. Census Bureau called the second slowest in the nation’s history. The U.S. Census kicked off in Alaska in January 2020 when Lizzie Chimiugak of Toksook Bay was the first person to be counted in the decennial census. The Census said the 2020 population count for the U.S. was 331,449,281 people. In Alaska, the s...
NENANA, Alaska (AP) — The ice has gone out on the Tanana River, ending the annual Nenana Ice Classic, one of Alaska’s most famous guessing games. Ice classic manager Cherrie Forness said the game ended at 12:50 p.m. Friday when the ice shifted and the clock inside a tripod set up on the river ice tripped. And in this pandemic year, it’s probably no surprise that it all happened backwards, she said. When the ice goes out, the tripod usually starts going downriver or toward the south bank. This year, it went the other direction, upriver, apparent...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A bill moving through the Legislature would require state recognition of Alaska’s 229 federally recognized tribes. Supporters say the measure is needed to encourage better collaboration and consultation between the state and tribes; formally acknowledge Alaska tribes’ sovereignty, history, culture and contributions; and potentially allow them to access additional resources, Indian Country Today reported. “By supporting this bill, you are uplifting these unique and resilient people that have been here for 10,000 years,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has agreed to settle for $85,000 with a former state employee whose application was rejected because she supported the recall of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The out-of-court settlement was announced Monday by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Keren Lowell, a former employee for the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Lowell had worked for the Alaska art council in 2019 when Dunleavy vetoed the organization’s funding and caused Lowell to lose her job. Lowell then bec...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has decommissioned a ship whose home port was in Alaska after almost 50 years in service. The cutter Douglas Munro was decommissioned in a ceremony in Kodiak on Saturday. The ship was commissioned in 1971 and has served across the world. The Coast Guard said the Douglas Munro had been used for search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, counterpiracy efforts, disaster relief and oceanographic research support. “During my time aboard I have witnessed the sacrifices of the crew as they spent time away fro...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal agency announced Wednesday it has awarded a contract to rebuild its port facility in Ketchikan, work state leaders called overdue. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it awarded an $18.8 million contract to Ahtna Infrastructure and Technologies, LLC for the project, which includes upgrades such as a new office building, a floating pier and revamped utility systems for use by visiting ships. The existing pier will be removed, the agency said in a release. The project is set for completion i...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state health department Tuesday said upcoming appointments for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Alaska are being canceled or delayed after federal agencies recommended a “pause” to review reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. State health officials told reporters the federal recommendation shows that safety checks are working and they hope this bolsters rather than hinders confidence in the vaccine rollout. Dr. Joe McLaughlin, the state epidemiologist, said people with appoi...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A preliminary report from the federal agency investigating the fatal helicopter crash in Alaska that killed five people, including the richest man in the Czech Republic, sheds little light on the cause. The Tuesday report from the National Transportation Safety Board said the helicopter involved in a heli-ski operation in the Chugach Mountains just north of Anchorage flew multiple legs on March 27, transporting the skiers to several starting points near Knik Glacier. Data obtained from a handheld GPS unit shows the h...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal regulators have ordered Hilcorp Alaska to replace a 7-mile (11-kilometer) undersea pipeline after a helicopter pilot spotted a natural gas leak bubbling to the surface last week. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Tuesday said the company must also submit and the agency must approve a restart plan before the line in Cook Inlet can resume operations. The leak is the fifth one for the line since 2014, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The line must be temporarily repaired by April 17 a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A plan to upgrade an Alaska airport has faced criticism from residents as contractors plan to begin construction on the $20 million federally funded project this month. Residents and organizations such as the Gustavus PFAS Action Coalition want more state accountability after toxic chemicals were found at the Gustavus airport in 2018, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday. The contaminants found are known as PFAS, a group of toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam that used to be required at airports and defense sit...
