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Alaska delegates criticize Trump’s remarks on Gold Star families
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Alaska’s congressman and both U.S. senators are among the Republican lawmakers criticizing remarks Donald Trump made about the family of Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American Army officer killed in Iraq.
Walker sacks industry advocate from Marijuana Control Board
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
One of the state’s key regulators on commercial cannabis has been unexpectedly ousted by the governor.
Marijuana Control Board Chair under fire for initiative to ban commercial pot on Peninsula
Jenny Neyman, KBBI – Homer
The chair of the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Board is gathering signatures to have Kenai Peninsula Borough vote on outlawing commercial cannabis operations in areas of the borough outside cities. That isn’t sitting well with members of cannabis industry on the peninsula.
Military’s $4B moving program keeps climbing — and no one is sure why
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Every year, the US military moves hundreds of thousands of service members and their families all across the globe. And it isn’t cheap. In 2014, the Department of Defense spent more than $4.3 billion on moving costs — and a federal report found those costs are shooting up much faster than inflation. Officials don’t know where all that money is going. And they’re not even tracking enough data to start making reforms.
To prevent Fairbanks flooding, Moose Creek Dam starts regulating the Chena River again
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The Chena River Flood control project was built by the Army Corps of Engineers after the devastating 1967 flood in Fairbanks. The project’s main features, a dam and connected spillway, protect the community during heavy rains and reports the facility has gotten heavy use in recent weeks.
Warm water Blob survives as El Niño dies
Matt Miller, KTOO – Juneau
It’s being called a marine heat wave. The combination of the strongest El Niño in recent history and the warm water anomaly known as the Blob generated the greatest amount of warm ocean water that has ever been recorded, possibly affecting marine life up and down the West Coast.
Small dam on slough helps Big Delta man protect his home along Tanana River
Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks
Big Delta resident Tom Gorman said a small dam he built earlier this year to protect his home from the meandering Tanana River held steady over the past couple of weeks as the river rose to near-flood level, due to recent rains. Gorman now hopes the river falls quickly enough to allow him to finish work on the dam before snow flies.
