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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...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Coronavirus vaccinations reached the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage as the rollout spread across the state. Front-line medical workers at the center waited Tuesday to receive their first shot and get instructions on when to return for a second injection as part of the two-step process. “I’ve been looking forward to this,” Dr. David Zielke, a pulmonary critical care physician at the medical center, said before Emily Schubert, the employee health nurse, administered his shot. Zielke said he’s read the safet...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An analysis of federal data shows Alaska’s high school seniors applied for college financial aid at a lower rate than students in all other U.S. states. Only 11.5% of Alaska’s 2021 senior class applied for higher education financial assistance as of Dec. 4, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, widely known as FAFSA, started accepting submissions in October. The application, which students usually complete ahead of submitting college applications, provides access to fe...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed an “extraordinary response” to revive Alaska’s pandemic-stunted economy Friday, including about $5,000 in direct payments to residents from the state’s oil-wealth fund and an infrastructure plan he said is intended to create jobs. “Alaskans are suffering now. Businesses are suffering now. This is the time for us to act. This is the time for us to act quickly,” he said in rolling out his budget plan for next year. The state’s economy has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with tourism and h...
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 USS 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 p...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Indigenous and conservation groups asked a federal judge Tuesday to block the Trump administration from issuing oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The groups in separate filings requested a decision by Jan. 6, the date of a scheduled lease sale. They say the issuance of leases and proposed seismic exploration should be halted pending resolution of their claims challenging the adequacy of environmental reviews on which the sale and exploration plans are based. Karlin Itchoak, Alaska state director...
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Wednesday announced plans to furlough more than 40,000 state workers to balance the budget as tax revenue takes a hit during the coronavirus pandemic. The furloughs will take effect Jan. 1 and cut worker pay by 9.2%, Ige said. The governor said he and members of his Cabinet would take the same percentage salary cut. The economic effects of the pandemic have been particularly hard on Hawaii, its workers and tax revenue, Ige said. The state has had the nation’s highest unemployment rate for months as tra...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard’s second-highest ranking officer assumed some of the blame for Russian military intimidation of Bering Sea commercial fishermen this summer. Adm. Charles Ray told a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday that the Coast Guard knew Russia was conducting military exercises in August and failed to inform members of the U.S. Bering Sea fishing sector, Alaska Public Media reported. “This was not our best day with regards to doing our role to look after American fishermen,” Ray said. “I’ll just be quite frank: We o...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska regulators conditionally approved the transfer of BP’s interest in the trans-Alaska pipeline system to an affiliate of Hilcorp as part of a proposed $5.6 billion sale that also includes other BP interests and assets in the state. In an order dated Monday, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska also conditionally signed off on the transfer of interests in Point Thomson and Milne Point pipelines. The order requires updated filings by Harvest Alaska LLC, to reflect it is now considered a Hilcorp affiliate. It also r...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An audit of a statewide ballot measure sought by Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer affirmed the measure’s passage, the Division of Elections said Monday. Meyer, who oversees elections, last month said he would seek an audit of Ballot Measure 2 to help put to rest questions some had raised about the “validity” of election results tied to vote tabulation equipment the state uses. The ballot measure would end party primaries and institute ranked choice voting for general elections. The audit, conducted last week, followed certifi...
HAINES, Alaska (AP) - Officials in southeast Alaska have repeated warnings about possible landslide danger in the community of Haines, where two people remain missing after a large slide last week. Torrential rain across much of the region caused havoc in many communities, including Ketchikan, where emergency officials announced there was no longer a danger of dam failure. Searchers were still trying to find two people reported missing after a massive landslide crashed into Haines last...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. House has passed a bill to reduce the deadliness of landslides a day after one in Alaska, though the motivation for the proposed law came from a 2014 Washington state landslide. The bill, which passed on Thursday, was initially introduced in 2016, two years after the Oso landslide killed 43 people. Washington Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene, who introduced the bill, said its provisions would help broaden scientific knowledge about landslides and develop better protocols on how best to respond to them. “As the...
JUNEAU, AK – This year’s Together Tree, a 16-foot Lodgepole Pine harvested from Petersburg on Mitkof Island, was delivered to the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau late last week. The Together Tree’s arrival continues a multi-year tradition of highlighting the special relationships between the USDA Forest Service, Alaska Native Peoples, the State of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard and rural communities in southeast Alaska. “We are honored to continue the tradition of the Together Tree, and all it symbolizes. We come together each year with local com...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska state proposal to limit commercial salmon fishing in Alaska’s Cook Inlet has been approved despite opposition by many anglers. The proposal was approved Monday by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees fishing in most federal waters off Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. Opposition came from commercial fishermen and community and state leaders who said the move threatens seafood processors on the Kenai Peninsula and hundreds of fishing operations. Gov. Mike Dun...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal court blocked an Alaska offshore drilling prospect, while the Trump administration announced plans to auction drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. An appeals court on Monday overturned approval for the Liberty Project, a Hilcorp Alaska LLC offshore drilling prospect located in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska Public Media reported. The government granted the Liberty Project approval in Oct. 2018 to become the first oil and gas production well in federal Arctic waters. But the 9th...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A third inmate within the Alaska Department of Corrections has died from complications related to COVID-19, the department said Tuesday. The 78-year-old with underlying conditions died Tuesday, four days after being taken from a correctional facility in Anchorage to a hospital, the department said. The person had been in custody since 2017 on a sexual abuse charge but was not sentenced, the department said. The two prior COVID-19-related deaths announced by the department involved individuals who had been held at the G...
JUNEAU Alaska (AP) — The traditional holiday open house at the governor’s mansion in Juneau won’t be held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson for Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Tuesday. Spokesperson Jeff Turner, by email, said the pandemic “has fundamentally changed how Alaskans will observe the holidays. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect the community of Juneau, the decision has been made to cancel this year’s holiday open house.’’ The mansion in years past has opened to the public for the event, with the gove...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A recount Friday affirmed a win by Democrat Liz Snyder over Republican House Minority Leader Lance Pruitt for an Anchorage House seat, though her margin of victory narrowed slightly. Results certified Monday showed Snyder had defeated Pruitt by 13 votes. But Friday’s recount showed an 11-vote margin of victory, with 4,574 for Snyder and 4,563 for Pruitt. This year’s election was a rematch from 2018, when Snyder lost to Pruitt. The recount was not requested by Pruitt but by 11 others identified in their petition as voter...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s longest-serving Republican representative was one of only five members of his party who voted in favor of a U.S. House bill to decriminalize marijuana nationwide. Congressman Don Young voted in favor of the reform bill that passed the House 228-164 Friday, but is unlikely to go further before Congress adjourns for the year, Alaska Public Media reported Sunday. The bill would decriminalize and tax marijuana, or cannabis, at the federal level — reversing what supporters call a failed policy of crimi...
Stuart Medalen graduated with honors in May from Western Washington University. He earned a BA in Political Science, Philosophy and Economics....
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A group of Alaska communities collecting remote sales tax is projected to take in between $8 million and $10 million in new revenue this year. The 33 communities are part of the Alaska Remote Sellers Sales Tax Commission formed by the Alaska Municipal League in November 2019, KTVF-TV reported Saturday. The league was formed to help local governments statewide collect sales tax from purchases made from outside Alaska. Most of the taxes are collected from online sales, but can also be applied to phone purchases. The U...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The results of Alaska’s general election were certified Monday, the Division of Elections announced. Certification followed a review of ballots, voter registers and other materials by a bipartisan board. Certification initially was targeted for Nov. 25. Nationally, state-by-state certification of results has generated interest as President Donald Trump and some supporters have sought to sow doubt about the outcome of his race, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Alaska was among the states Trump won. In a tight Anchorage House rac...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A group of four nonprofit organizations in Alaska’s capital have been awarded a grant of more than $860,000 to counter homelessness amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Juneau Empire reported Friday that the grant from the Alaska Housing Financial Corporation will be shared by the Juneau groups following their joint application to the corporation. The award is part of a federal coronavirus recovery fund emergency solutions grant to help prevent those affected by the pandemic from experiencing homelessness. The Glory Hal...
The Coast Guard rescued a 70-year-old man from the waters of Union Bay, Alaska, northwest of Meyers Chuck, Sunday. A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the man, who was in the water clinging to a piece of debris, and took him to awaiting emergency medical services in Ketchikan, Alaska, according to a Coast Guard press release. The man was reported to be in stable condition. Coast Guard 17th District command center personnel notified Sector Juneau watchstanders of a search and rescue satellite alert from the...
YAKUTAT, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Airlines jetliner struck a brown bear while landing early Saturday evening, killing the animal and causing damage to the plane, officials said. None of the passengers or crew members on board the plane were injured during the accident at the Yakutat Airport in southeast Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reported. The Boeing 737-700 killed the brown bear sow, but a cub thought to be about 2 years old was uninjured, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesman Sam Dapcevich said. Airport c...
