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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers are contemplating sinking a ferry to save money. Members of the Alaska Legislature have considered turning the ferry Malaspina into an artificial reef, the Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday. The ship is one of the oldest of the state's eight ferries. The Malaspina has been tied down since 2019 because of a lack of funding, but it still costs the state about $450,000 in maintenance per year. Sinking the ship as an artificial reef could cost between $500,000 and $1 million, but may make long-term f...
Legislators started the session in January amid a shortage of revenues and debate whether the state could even afford a dividend this fall unless it exceeded its annual limited draw from the Permanent Fund. Significantly higher oil prices and more than $1 billion from this month's federal pandemic aid package may fix both problems, though only temporarily. The Alaska Department of Revenue told legislators last week that higher oil prices could produce an additional $790 million in revenues this...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines. The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday. The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice president for corporate communications at GCI....
ANCHORAGE (AP) – A Wasilla construction worker faces federal charges in the January breach of the U.S. Capitol. Aaron James Mileur, 41, was arrested March 16 by the FBI on charges of knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds. The charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol are misdemeanors. The case had been sealed until his arrest. He made an initial appearance March 16 in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, where federal prosecutors did not ask t...
Wednesday’s aerial herring survey covered Sitka Sound from Redoubt Bay to Shoals Point and north to Krestof Sound. Weather during the flight was poor with 20-knot winds, low overcast, and occasional snow flurries. No herring or herring spawn were observed. The highest concentrations of herring predators were observed near Vitskari Rocks, Bieli Rock, and east of Middle Island. Numerous whales were seen working the deeper waters east of Vitskari Rocks and near Bieli Rock. Two whales were also observed east of Middle Island. Groups of sea lions w...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to create a new state ferry system advisory board with one state official and 10 public members to replace an existing advisory panel, similar to a separate proposal from coastal lawmakers. The difference being that the legislative proposal would protect board members from dismissal by a governor, while under Dunleavy's bill the members would "serve at the pleasure" of the governor. The governor would appoint the entire board under Dunleavy's bill, while the Legislature...
After spending almost $1.1 million to keep the vessels out of service to save money and safely tied up the past several years, the state last week sold its two fast ferries - built at a combined cost of $68 million less than 20 years ago - for just over $5 million. Mediterranean-based catamaran operator Trasmapi had offered about $4.6 million for the Fairweather and Chenega. The company serves the Spanish island of Ibiza, about 70 miles off the coast. The state was able to negotiate the final...
Each year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) rewards all persons who return an ADF&G sablefish tag with a tag reward (e.g., hat or t-shirt). Additionally, each tag returned to the department with complete recovery information (fisherman’s name, date of recovery, and latitude and longitude) are entered into a random drawing for a cash prize. A total of 1,183 tags qualified for this year’s drawing. The following people were randomly selected from the list of qualified tags as the winners of the 2021 annual sablefish tag recovery inc...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers have identified two people killed in last week's crash of a small plane in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Pilot Christopher Maize, 45, of Anchorage and Glennallen and 36-year-old Andrew Broders of Washington state died in the Feb. 4 crash, authorities said. The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was notified just when an emergency locator transmitter was activated in the Cessna 185. The aircraft, which also carried U.S. mail, was flying from Gulkana to McCarthy. The plane fell in a r...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday she knows her vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his recent Senate impeachment trial could have political consequences, “but I can't be afraid of that.” If the people of Alaska decide that “because I did not support my party that I can no longer serve them in the United States Senate, then so be it,” Murkowski told reporters during a visit to the state Capitol. She also said that if the state Republican Party decides to censure her for her vote, “th...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ Three rural Alaska communities have launched a pilot program intended to create more culturally sensitive protocols on how government and law enforcement should respond to cases with missing or slain Alaska Natives. The Curyung Native Council in Dillingham, the Native Village of Unalakleet and the Koyukuk Native Village have launched the program, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska said in a statement. The three will work with state agencies to create a Tribal Community Response Plan that will...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska lawmakers, facing a looming deadline and disorganization in the House, have asked Gov. Mike Dunleavy to issue a new disaster declaration to aid the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic despite legal questions surrounding his authority to act. Dunleavy is "evaluating the options and will make an announcement soon," Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for the governor, said by email. In a statement late Friday, Dunleavy said in the absence of a declaration, "my...
On February 5, Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan, along with the Ketchikan Police Department, Ketchikan Airport Police, and Juneau DEA conducted a joint operation to disrupt the flow of illicit narcotics into Southeast Alaska. During the operation, 27-year-old Hydaburg resident Annette Dilts was contacted at the Ketchikan International Airport by law enforcement. During the contact and subsequent search of her person, Dilts was found to be internally body carrying 250 gross grams of suspected black tar heroin and approximately 206 suspected...
The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2021 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 33,304 tons of mature herring; however, based on input from processors involved with the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, it is expected that the commercial harvest in 2021 will not exceed 20,000 tons. The 2021 GHL was calculated by reducing the Age Structured Analysis (ASA) derived GHL by 21%, which approximates the harvest level available if the number of age-5 fish is 75% of that projected. This precautionary approach in determining the GHL takes into a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge has refused to invalidate more than 90 appointments made by Gov. Mike Dunleavy who haven’t been confirmed by Alaska lawmakers. The Legislative Council, composed of House and Senate leaders, argued appointments presented by Dunleavy early last year lapsed in December after lawmakers failed to act on them. The council asked Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg to block Dunleavy from continuing with those appointments and from reappointing people to posts until the start of the next legislative session on Jan. 19....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state will appeal the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rejection of a key permit for a proposed copper and gold mine in a region that supports the world's largest sockeye salmon runs. Dunleavy, in a statement Friday, called the corps' decision flawed and said the state has to keep a federal agency "from using the regulatory process to effectively prevent the State from fulfilling a constitutional mandate to develop its natural resources."...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Department of the Navy released details of a new strategy for operations in the Arctic as competition for resources among nations increases in the region. Members of Alaska’s congressional delegation have expressed support for the increased focus on the Arctic, the Juneau Empire reported Saturday. The Navy statement titled “A Blue Arctic” provides an outline of planned operational changes for the military’s sea services in and around Alaska, including the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. The services will oper...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Small businesses in Alaska say new federal coronavirus relief funds will provide needed aid, especially for those in the service industry facing their slowest time of the year. The aid package grants almost $300 billion nationwide in new forgivable loans. The first round of federal aid in March provided about $1.3 billion to roughly 12,000 Alaska businesses, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. The new package provides extra money for restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels, live venues, movie theaters and c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting of a bald eagle near Alaska’s capital city, which led to the protected bird being euthanized. The injured eagle was rescued Dec. 22 in Juneau, but it was not clear the bird had been shot until the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka did an X-ray, The Juneau Empire reported Friday. The bird’s pelvis was shattered and there was mounting lead poisoning from a type of shotgun ammunition that is illegal in Alaska, and it had to be euthanized, Juneau Raptor Center Manag...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — A bill to establish the nation’s first ever federal program to train prospective commercial fishermen has passed Congress and awaits approval by the White House. The Young Fishermen’s Development Act was passed unanimously by both the U.S. House and Senate, the Sitka Sentinel reported Monday. The law would provide grants to foster the growth of budding fishermen across the country. The bill introduced by Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2019 had bipartisan support, with co-sponsors that included Democratic U.S. Sen....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A bald eagle that had been shot has survived with a broken leg and is being treated at a bird hospital in Alaska. The eagle was rescued on Tuesday after Kathy Benner, the manager of the Juneau Raptor Center, received a report about an injured bird in a person’s yard in Juneau. It is illegal to harm bald eagles under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 unless a permit from the Secretary of the Interior is provided. Violating the law can result in up to $100,000 in fines for individuals and $200,000 in fin...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The federal Bureau of Land Management said it will remove nearly 750 square miles (1,942 square kilometers) from its Jan. 6 oil and gas lease sale for a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The agency said Friday it would begin taking bids the following Monday for the rest of the land. The land available for purchase is in the refuge’s northernmost region. The land management agency had initially proposed to offer the vast majority of the plain to bidders, which would have encompassed about 2,500 square mil...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A package of coronavirus vaccines meant for the southeast Alaska city of Ketchikan were unusable because the shipment was too warm, officials said. The 20 doses meant for fire department and public health workers had originally been sent to a bigger Alaska city by Pfizer, then transferred to be shipped to the smaller city of Ketchikan, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. The transfer left the doses outside of the company’s mandated low temperature range for too long of a period. The vaccines that were sent on Wed...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ Congress has passed a bill authorizing the addition of Coast Guard Polar Security Cutters for use as icebreakers, and an Alaska senator said the Trump administration is considering leasing an icebreaker owned by a Republican donor. The Coast Guard has two icebreakers, but only one is operating following an August fire that damaged the cutter Healy. Ongoing construction work on a new icebreaker is not expected to be finished until 2024. The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act is part of the National Defense Authorization Act...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has begun receiving its initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, state officials announced Monday. Some hospitals had received vaccine Monday, and it was expected some Alaskans would be vaccinated as early as Monday, said Tessa Walker Linderman, co-lead of Alaska’s Vaccine Task Force. She said hospitals could decide whether to publicize the doses they are receiving. A vaccine shipment arrived Sunday night on a UPS plane, the state health department said in a statement. The state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne...
