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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...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced legislation that extends the period during which States, Indian Tribes, territories, and local governments may use Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) payments, allocated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. If enacted, this bipartisan legislation will allow the relief funds to be used until September 30, 2021, rather than the original deadline of the end of this year, December 30, 2020. The CARES Act, signed into law on M...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration is taking steps toward a lease sale within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area President-elect Joe Biden has said he would move to protect from oil and gas drilling. Chad Padgett, state director for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for Alaska, said hearing from industry on which tracts to make available “is vital in conducting a successful lease sale.” The agency plans to make a formal call for nominations Tuesday. It said it also will seek comments on whether tract sizes should be re...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska island village plans to use an advanced version of an ancient renewable energy system to lower its high energy costs. The village of Kake wants to build a biomass district heating system to warm its public buildings while saving the community nearly $100,000 annually in energy costs, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Tuesday. Kake was awarded a federal Department of Agriculture grant to design its biomass system. The village is now seeking funding. The system planned for Kake, on Kupreanof Island south of Juneau, woul...
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A man has died after falling off his 75-foot (23-meter) fishing boat and into an Alaska harbor. Ronald Cameron, 65, drowned on Monday after trying to tie up his Washington state-based fishing boat in sizable winds, The Bellingham Herald reported. Sitka police said they received a report of a person floating face down in the water. Authorities located Cameron’s body and emergency workers pulled him from the water, police said in a statement. Cameron was pronounced dead at the scene. No foul play is suspected in Cam...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — When a Tlingit elder dies, leaders from the Alaska Native tribe’s two houses, the Raven and Eagle clans, typically come together along with family and well-wishers for a memorial ceremony featuring displays of traditional tribal regalia. After elder, tribal leader and college professor David Katzeek died last month, the tribe scrambled to find a way to observe their sacred traditions while keeping everyone safe during the pandemic, with coronavirus cases surging in the state. “We know that many of our people are griev...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s governor has announced a new COVID-19 disaster declaration for the state that will take effect Nov. 16 and last 30 days. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the updated declaration on Friday, ahead of the scheduled expiration of the emergency declaration he issued in March. Dunleavy said he took action because of “the rise in cases, and given the uncertainty over the next two to three months,” he said. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services on Saturday reported that the state hit a daily record in...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska election officials plan to begin counting more than 155,000 absentee and other ballots Tuesday, a week after Election Day. Some have questioned or criticized the lag, citing a provision of state law that says the counting of reviewed absentee ballots should begin the night of the election. But Maria Bahr, an Alaska Department of Law spokesperson, said absentee ballots are not deemed eligible for counting until voter histories have been run to guard against any possible duplicate votes. The process involves going t...
