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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska lawmaker faces charges of voter misconduct and interference with voting stemming from elections in 2014 and 2018. State prosecutors announced the charges against Anchorage Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux on Friday. Charges also were filed against Lisa Simpson, described in charging documents as a former chief of staff to LeDoux, and Caden Vaught, an adult son of Simpson. The state began investigating LeDoux after the Division of Elections reported ballot irregularities in her House race during the 2018 p...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State museums and schools are temporarily closed; restaurants, bars and gyms in Anchorage are shuttered for the rest of March and fans are urged not to fly to Nome for the end of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. These are among the responses to concerns with the new coronavirus in Alaska. The COVID-19 illness causes mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but severe symptoms are more likely in the elderly or those with existing health problems. Three people have tested positive in Alaska. Here is a round up of other vir...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A drop in global oil prices will likely add $300 million to Alaska’s current year budget deficit, state officials said. A state Legislative Finance Division official told lawmakers the state could experience a $600 million revenue reduction in the 2021 fiscal year starting July 1, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Friday. Oil price forecasts in the range of $60 per barrel now appear optimistic, officials said. Prices began falling in early February as traders reacted to lower demand forecasts from China due to...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — House lawmakers plan to turn their attention to the check residents receive from Alaska's oil-wealth fund and begin reviewing proposals that would change how the Permanent Fund dividend is calculated. Whether any new formula can be agreed upon is unclear. Debate over the size of the dividend has dominated recent legislative sessions. Many lawmakers believe the existing formula, last used in 2015, is unsustainable and at odds with a law seeking to limit withdrawals from Permanent Fund earnings for government costs and d...
JUNEAU – The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) vessel M/V Matanuska has arrived at the Ketchikan Vigor Shipyard for repairs to its propulsion system. The United States Coast Guard approved the sailing plan for Matanuska to travel to Ketchikan on one engine, along with a tug escort provided by Vigor Marine. The ship returned to service in November 2019 after a two-year, $47 million overhaul. AMHS anticipates that Matanuska's repairs will be completed at some point in May and hopes that the v...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal commission has issued the final environmental impact statement for the $40 billion Alaska LNG Project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released the document Friday that largely affirmed the plan proposed by the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp., The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported. The Alaska LNG Project is the latest attempt to commercialize large volumes of North Slope natural gas. State and energy company officials have tried since the 1970s to compile a plan to produce and sell the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska health care plan that has excluded coverage of gender-confirming surgery for transgender employees is discriminatory, a federal judge ruled Friday. The decision came in a 2018 case filed against the state by Jennifer Fletcher, a legislative librarian who said she was forced to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary transition-related care not covered by her insurance plan. Her attorneys, in legal documents, said a blanket exclusion of coverage for gender-confirming surgery v...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Shoppers will no longer see a blue-sticker label on Gulf of Alaska cod after its sustainability certification is suspended starting in April. The label designates which fish are sustainably caught. Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Friday that the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets standards for sustainable fishing, will suspend the label starting April 5. “What the MSC certification really does is along the supply chain it allows for there to be traceability,’’ council spokeswoman Jackie Marks previously told Alaska’s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Mike Dunleavy is freezing the hiring of state workers not essential to health or safety as oil markets roil, and state lawmakers are making plans to prepare for how they will handle their work should there be a confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the capital city. Restrictions also have been ordered on state employee and legislative travel. Sen. Gary Stevens, chair of the Legislative Council, said some things that could be looked at as part of the Legislature’s preparations include whether to close the Cap...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has suspended out-of-state travel for state employees, with his chief of staff citing a need to control spending amid oil market volatility. Concerns with the new coronavirus have roiled markets along with a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia over oil. Alaska relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government expenses. Dunleavy Chief of Staff Ben Stevens, in a memo dated Monday, said a hiring freeze also will be in effect b...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A funding injection to prepare for a new virus cannot erase years of budget cuts in Alaska, officials and legislators familiar with the state’s public health system said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed $13 million in new spending this week to monitor and prevent the spread of the virus that causes the disease called COVID-19, The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday. No virus cases have been found in Alaska, but Dunleavy asked the Alaska Legislature for the expenditure that includes $4 million in state fun...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A cruise ship turned away from ports in Asia over fears of a new virus will be cleaned to federal standards and carry a different crew when the vessel docks in Alaska, officials said. The MS Westerdam is expected to undergo a cleaning protocol approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before arriving in Juneau, The Juneau Empire reported Sunday. The ship is scheduled to dock in the port around March 22 after being denied permission to enter five ports over concerns about the virus that causes the d...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seeking to assert calm concerning the new coronavirus threat, said Monday he sees the fall in oil prices as a “momentary issue’’ that with the stock market will work itself out. The virus has affected global energy prices, with North Slope oil prices around $45 a barrel at the end of last week. The state, which has struggled with a long-running deficit, relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government. Alaska Permanent Fund Co...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The group attempting to remove Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office is 30% of the way toward its goal, an official said. The group reached the mark two weeks after beginning its effort to gather enough signatures to put the recall to voters, The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday. To call a statewide vote to recall the Republican governor, petitioners need to gather signatures from 71,252 registered Alaska voters. Recall Dunleavy said Monday it had gathered 21,678 signatures. Campaign Manager Claire Pywell did not p...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A landslide in a city near the southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle demolished the back side of a grocery store. No one was injured early Thursday when the landslide took out the back wall of Tatsuda's IGA in Ketchikan, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. The building suffered severe enough damage to be condemned. Rock, dirt and trees knocked over shelves and pushed ceiling beams out of place. The impact ruptured the sprinkler system, affecting the entire structure, including an attached liquor store, city public w...
SITKA — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this week the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery will likely not occur in 2020. The department has contacted all processors with known interest in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery and they have all indicted that at this time they do not intend to purchase herring due to market requirements and the forecasted herring return. Current market conditions require herring with an average weight of 110 grams or more and roe recovery of 11% or better. The forecast is comprised primarily (...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities will use one or more private companies to operate ferries during an ongoing breakdown in state service, the governor said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state needs private companies to operate ferries to coastal communities, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday. “We’re going to have to rely on the private sector as a stopgap to some degree,” Dunleavy said Wednesday. Only one of the state’s fleet of 12 ships is operating, with four laid up i...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state is pursuing an expansion location for motor vehicle services in southwest Alaska, an official said Thursday, ahead of a fall deadline for special licenses many will need to board commercial flights in the U.S. Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka told House lawmakers the site would target 20 communities where the state sees a need. Preliminary talks are underway for other expansion possibilities, she said. The state Division of Motor Vehicles falls under Tshibaka’s department. DMV Deputy Dir...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A campaign to recall Alaska’s governor has started with the distribution of petition booklets that will be used to collect signatures. The Alaska Division of Elections delivered the booklets that organizers will use to try to gather the minimum of 71,252 signatures required to initiate an election to recall Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, KTOO-FM reported. Organizers received the booklets Friday before mailing about 60 packages to supporters. The recall group said Dunleavy, who took office in late 2018, violated the law...
Today, Alaska’s ferries are one step closer to receiving badly needed funds. Members of the budget subcommittee working on the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ budget voted to add $18.7 million into the AMHS budget. Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) is a member of the DOT budget subcommittee, chair of the House Transportation Committee, and serves on the Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Work Group. Representative Stutes said, “Shelves in grocery stores are empty. Alaskans are missing medical appointments. Mothers are turni...
The M/V Matanuska will be out of service through March 1 to address issues with the reduction gear system, according to a prepared statement released late Feb. 5 by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The ferry will travel to the Ketchikan shipyard where it can be inspected in a dry dock to determine if further repairs are needed. The Alaska Marine Highway System has refunded fares for passengers that have already booked travel onboard the M/V Matanuska and has assisted with...
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have identified a new species of thalattosaur, a marine reptile that lived more than 200 million years ago. The new species, Gunakadeit joseeae, is the most complete thalattosaur ever found in North America and has given paleontologists new insights about the thalattosaurs' family tree, according to a paper published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. Scientists found the fossil near Keku Island near the village of Kake in 2011....
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) _ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for a cruise ship dock in southeast Alaska, but the dock's opening date is unclear, agency officials said. The permit was issued Tuesday for the 1,300-foot (400-meter), two-berth cruise ship dock in Ward Cove, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Juneau, Ketchikan Daily News reported Thursday. The permit was approved after two months of public comment and four months of review, officials said. The permit was issued to Power Systems & Supplies, owned by Dave and...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Tyson Steele watched his remote cabin go up in flames, mourned the death of his dog and then spent weeks in the Alaska wilderness, bundling up in an makeshift shelter against the subzero temperatures and eating canned food _ unable to reach the outside world. He knew his best chance for rescue would come from worried loved ones sending a plane to check on him. Help came about three weeks later. Steele, 30, was rescued Thursday, apparently in good health, according to Alaska State Troopers. He was waving his arms, an SOS si...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska experienced its warmest year on record, according to federal climate officials. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in its U.S. Climate report said Alaska had a statewide average temperature of 32.2 degrees (0.11 Celsius). That was 6.2 degrees (4.4 Celsius) above the long-term average. It also surpassed the previous record statewide average temperature of 31.9 (-0.06 Celsius), set in 2016, the agency said. Four of the last six years in Alaska have been record warm years, NOAA said. Ten cities e...
