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Senate Begins Immigration Debate, Alaska’s Senators In The Middle
Peter Granitz, APRN – Washington DC
The Senate has started debating a plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. If successful, it will be the first time Congress revamps immigration laws in a quarter century. Passage is more likely in the Senate than the House. And in the Senate, both Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski could be at the center of the debate.
APD Bans Officers From Shooting At Moving Vehicles, Most Of The Time
Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage
Anchorage Police announced a new policy today aimed at preventing officers from shooting at moving vehicles, a practice that has increased over the past few years.
Fisheries Regulators Take Steps Toward Conservation Of Bering Sea Canyons
Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN – Juneau
Carved into the Bering Sea shelf are some of the ocean’s largest underwater canyons. The bigger ones run more than a mile deep, and in spots they’re dense with corals and sponges. They’re also home to some commercial fisheries, and factory trawlers often catch pollock there. Now, fisheries regulators have charted a path for managing this unique habitat, which allows for future conservation measures.
Gyre Project To Study Marine Debris Through Science And Art
Sara Bernard, APRN – Anchorage
An ambitious expedition to study ocean trash launched from Seward on Friday. The “Gyre” Project is a collaboration between the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska SeaLife Center, among other organizations, to document the impact of marine debris along Alaska’s shoreline – and across the globe.
UAF Professors Collaborate To Develop Engineering School In Mongolia
Emily Schwing, KUAC – Fairbanks
A group of University of Alaska, Fairbanks Professors will develop an engineering school in Mongolia over the next few years. UAF signed a contract this spring with the American University of Mongolia in that country’s capital, where the new school will be based.
Sitka Barge Line Plans Southeast Expansion
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
A Sitka-based barge line hopes to return to serving Southeast by the end of the year. It depends on a shipping-industry shuffle, where a much larger company is trying to absorb its chief competitor.
Brown Bear Cub Found Near Platinum
Angela Denning-Barnes, KYUK – Bethel
A young brown bear cub was recently found near Platinum and turned into the Fish and Game office in Bethel.
Sitka-Area Landslide May Have Helped Sockeye Populations
Robert Woolsey, KCAW – Sitka
The US Forest Service believes fish populations in Redoubt Lake near Sitka survived last month’s devastating landslide unharmed.
The massive avalanche piled up debris over twenty-feet thick across the lake’s inlet stream, completely destroying a nearby recreational cabin whose occupants escaped in the nick of time.
A watershed team recently surveyed the area and concluded that the lake’s sockeye run was likely unaffected — and may even be improved. They’re expecting this year’s subsistence fishery — the most popular in the Sitka area — to take place normally.
