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Alaska To Form Space Partnership With Virginia
Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN-Juneau
Seven hundred and three days. That’s how long it’s been since a rocket has taken off from the Kodiak Launch Complex. With huge costs and so little business, Alaska lawmakers have threatened to cut funding for the program. But now, a new arrangement with the State of the Virginia could help bring the Alaska Aerospace Corporation the contracts it needs to survive.
King Salmon Fail to Reach Spawning Grounds
Angela Denning-Barnes, KYUK-Bethel
Kuskokwim Chinook salmon—or Kings as they are known locally–did not make it to the spawning grounds this year as managers had expected. Counting projects are showing the lowest escapements in history for nearly all of the river’s tributaries.
Palmer Men Killed in Sutton Plane Crash
Phillip Manning, KTNA-Talkeetna
A plane crash north of Sutton Thursday night claimed the lives of both men on board. Alaska State Troopers say the Rescue Coordination Center received a report of an overdue aircraft Thursday night. No formal flight plan had been filed, and the plane was reported overdue by family members. The 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons were deployed and located the aircraft, a Citabria Champion, early Friday morning using its emergency beacon. Rescue personnel were unable to land, and were hoisted to the ground, where they discovered that Adam Norton and Derrik Swanson, both of Palmer, were deceased.
EPA Chief Praises Fairbanks for Response to Smoke
Dan Bross, KUAC-Fairbanks
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy wrapped up her Alaska trip yesterday in Fairbanks. She toured the area, which suffers from elevated wintertime fine particulate pollution that often violates federal clean air standards. McCarthy had only praise for how Fairbanks is responding to smoke from wood and coal burning.
Quake Rattles Adak
Audrey Carlsen, KUCB-Unalaska
Residents of Adak, in the western Aleutians, are used to frequent earthquakes. But Friday morning’s magnitude 7.0 quake left residents a little more rattled than usual.
Veniaminof’s Rumbling Intensifies
Mike Mason, KDLG-Dillingham
 The eruption of the Veniaminof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula increased in severity Friday morning.
Team Trying to Free Entangled Whale
Jeremy Hshieh, KTOO-Juneau
The humpback whale that was tangled up in a gill net near Petersburg earlier this week has made its way to Juneau waters. A National Marine Fisheries Service spokeswoman said a disentanglement team was out Wednesday observing the whale. On Friday, the three-person team was out trying to cut it free.
AK: Surfing Turnagain Arm
Dave Waldron, APRN – Anchorage
It’s one of the few sports that most Alaskans haven’t tried in the state. Our water is freezing, our beaches are rocky and there aren’t many places to catch good waves. But none of that kept Anchorage resident Robert Stormo from attempting a daring surfing adventure along Turnagain Arm.
300 Villages: Chefornak
Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage
This week, we’re heading to Chefornak – a small village on the Bering Sea – to talk Alexandra Anderson, the city clerk.
